Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly ran a slower-than-expected time in the 40-yard dash during his Pro Day workout on Wednesday. And he’s now blowing more wind into that red flag by not taking responsibility for his so-so results.
According to the Associated Press, Kelly blamed the school for his performance, claiming that there was an unexpected change in the surface on which he ran.
“This is my life. You know what I’m saying? This ain’t no school. This ain’t no classroom. This ain’t got nothing to do with that,” Kelly said. “This has to do with me; my family. This is what I do. I play football. And I’m supposed to come out here and run as fast as I can.”
Kelly says that he’d arranged to run on an Astroturf infield at the school’s indoor track facility. Instead, he ran on FieldTurf at the Sooners’ indoor football facility.
“I already had everything set up for where I want to do it at,” Kelly said. “I get out here and it’s a whole different deal.
“People want to say surface is surface, but it’s a lot more to it than that. You have to think about how much ground time you have running on this mushy surface here and how much ground time you have on Astroturf.”
Fine, Malcolm. But what you’re missing here is that the scouts are aware of this, and so they add time when the surface is believed to be too fast. Besides, given that no NFL games are played on Astroturf and many are played on FieldTurf, it makes much more sense for prospects to run on the current generation of plastic grass.
Kelly didn’t run the 40 at the Scouting Combine, due to a lingering quad injury. The surface at the RCA Dome is FieldTurf.
As to the quad injury, Kelly also criticized the Oklahoma medical staff for not accurately diagnosing the injury.
In our view, Kelly’s childish effort to push the blame for his performance to the school that invested plenty of time and money into him isn’t the best way to persuade an NFL team to invest even more time and money. Because if/when things don’t go well for Kelly at the next level, it’s safe to say he’ll be looking to point the finger for his failures and/or frustrations at the team.
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April 9th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
no matter how you put it surface this surface that 40 time this 40 time that when you pop in tape on malcolm kelly you say wow did he catch that or man this guy is strong even though he ran a slow time if a team that needs a wide out passes up on this guy based on his pro day they are sadly mistaken and will pay for it later on down the line.
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Rating: 1.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
The Marines have a little saying about excuses…
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Kelly, you are right, you are playing football. Which means the surface will suck — a lot of the time. Get used to it. If you want to whine, go do something else. Only real men play football.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
He needs more protien for a faster time.
More beef would do him some good.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I could live with the slow 40, but Malcolm is doing himself a big disservice with all of his comments. 227 pound receivers don’t have to be blazing fast. Seeing how he handles adversity is what is really bothering me. I still think he’s a heck of a WR. Just shut up, dude.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Aww poor baby. Hope the kid knows that roster spots aren’t just handed out. I hope he runs a route over the middle and gets a hearty “Welcome to the NFL” from Ray Lewis.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 9th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Open mouth, insert used Mini-Van.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Oklahoma may have a bigger problem in the English Dept. than in the Turf Dept. Oh wait dis ain’t no university… I just forgot. Mr. Kelly practice with me, ” would you like that Super sized for just 89 cents?”.
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Rating: 4.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Sounds like the Arena Football League would be a better fit into Kelly’s dim professional future.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Say hi to the 2nd round Kelly, maybe even the third.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Another athlete that can’t take responsibility for his actions.
You didn’t get your preferred surface, you can’t run on FieldTurf, the school screwed you, blahblahblah. Maybe next time the scouts will let you have your own personal workout on AstroTurf, with a 20-yard head start, while wearing rollerblades.
You sucked. Accept it. You were presented with a minimal amount of adversity and broke like a piece of fine china.
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 12:29 am
I guess pittsburgh, with it’s immaculate field WON’T be drafting him
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Whoa, what a brutal article. I hope Kelly reads it too, and takes it to heart. Scouts REALLY know what they’re doing; some of those old codgers out there with stop clocks around their wrinkled, liver-spotted necks have been doing their jobs for decades. I mean c’mon its one of the best jobs in the world - getting paid by professional football franchises to evaluate talent! None of those guys are noobs.
I’m just glad Kelly went to OU and not Texas. Hook ‘em Horns…
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April 10th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Should have run at the combine. The surface in Indianapolis is one of the fastest in the world.
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April 10th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Listen to all that moaning and the blame he is laying on someone else. Let’s see, big baby who cannot take any responsibility…yep he’ll make be a good NFL WR! Watch out TO and Randy here comes Malcolm!
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I have a hard time respecting the El after a buddy of mine sent him a hooker at the Mondrian after he was partying with Wagner. BTW, he polished that off.
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April 10th, 2008 at 1:26 am
I hope Kelly gets drafted by the Steelers, and has to play 8 games a year in mud.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 1:32 am
This is ridiculous. OU has excellent medical staff. I doubt they mistreated him. Dude needs to shut up.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 1:35 am
My guess is that Kelly would not like running the 40 on Heinz field in Pittsburgh…just a hunch.
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April 10th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Everyone is all over Kelly’s junk in this draft, but I think that James Hardy from Indiana is going to be a much, much better WR. I mean, when I think Oklahoma I don’t exactly think WR-U.
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April 10th, 2008 at 3:01 am
Kelly you are absolutely right its the schools fault you sucked today. You must not have realized it wasn’t astroturf until AFTER you saw your putrid 40 time. You might as well blame the school for your immaturity too. They’ve never done anything for you such as…oh i dunno…offered you a college education and admission into the NFL for free.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 3:10 am
I thought only real mean talk crap to professional athletes via internet websites.
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April 10th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I’m more disappointed at the OU English Dept than their athletic department, pathetic. This type of situation does say a lot about a person though, and it “ain’t” good…buyer beware!!!
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am
If you were about to be drafted, you’d be nervous and upset too. While his 40 time certainly won’t help, I don’t think it will kill him either. I thought he was a 2nd round guy before he ran and I still think he could go in the 2nd round. Even if he slips, he can prove himself in training camp. It’s not like he won’t get selected. Very few plays require a wide receiver to run in a straight line for 40 yards. While his reaction doesn’t help his cause, it at least shows that he cares about his performance and wants to play at his best.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 10th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Given Kelly’s profusion (thanks Tiki) of ain’t no’s, I doubt he knows what the inside of a classroom looks like. Whoever drafts him should be prepared to pay him in one dollar bills.
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