Kennedy shines in shuttle, bench press at pro day

NFL draft hopeful Trevor Kennedy of Firestone High School didn’t run the 40-yard dash in the 4.4-second range as he’d hoped, but there were bright spots at his pro day Tuesday at the University of California-Pennsylvania.

The record-setting Mercyhurst University wide receiver was pleased with his 60-yard short shuttle, in which he said he clocked 11 seconds flat.

“That’s excellent,” said Kennedy, a former quarterback at Firestone.

The top receiver at this year’s combine, Jerrell Jackson of Missouri, clocked 11.08 in the 60-yard shuttle, followed by Junior Hemingway of Michigan and Keshawn Martin of Michigan State with 11.16. The recent best in the event  at the combine was by Arman Shields of Richmond, who went in 10.87 in  2008. Stephen Hill of Georgia Tech, who tied for this year’s fastest 40-yard dash of 4.36, turned in an 11.43-second 60.

Kennedy, 5-foot-11 ¼ and 200 pounds, said he recorded 19 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press, which would have been good enough to tie for sixth among receivers at the combine.

He wasn’t sure of his official 40 time.

“I think I ran in the 4.5s. It was OK,” he said.

Kennedy said Mercyhurst assistant coach David Arnold “tried to listen around” to get Kennedy’s time and that Arnold is still making calls trying to find out.

Kennedy sounded somewhat disappointed in his performance.

“When you’re a perfectionist, you’re never completely satisfied,” he said.

Kennedy said 20 draft hopefuls from area schools went through pro day drills and between 28 and 30 NFL teams were represented.

“When I got there and saw how many scouts there were, I was shocked,” Kennedy said.
“Then I was excited.”

Kennedy said he spoke to a New York Giants scout who wanted to get his film. Another from the Oakland Raiders said he wanted to talk, but they didn’t get the chance.

“When I walked in the Browns guy came up and asked if I remembered him and wanted to know where I’d been training,” Kennedy said.

His home base for workouts is Athletic Republic in Erie, Pa. Kennedy said he is taking the rest of the week off to let his body recover, then will resume workouts there on Monday.