CARSON, CALIF. » In preparation for Monday’s pro day, former Hawaii linebacker Corey Paredes was told he had to make a difficult sacrifice.
"His wife makes some of the best desserts," said Chad Ikei, Paredes’ trainer, of the pumpkin crunch and blueberry cheesecake. "That was the first thing that had to go."
Paredes got healthy, slimmed down and then wowed more than 50 pro scouts with an impressive showing in the combine-like event at the Home Depot Center.
Paredes ran the 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds, had a vertical jump of 37 inches and bench-pressed 225 pounds 27 times.
"He was Mana," Ikei said, a reference to safety Mana Silva’s breakout workout at last year’s pro day.
"I felt good out there.
I ate my Wheaties.”
Corey Paredes
Former UH football player, on Monday’s Pro Day
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Several scouts approached Paredes after his performance. The Denver Broncos had one scout serve as a bouncer while another scout interviewed Paredes. Later, an Atlanta Falcons scout asked Paredes to take a pop quiz. A scout from the Patriots then gave Paredes a take-home questionnaire.
Paredes was told he projects as an inside linebacker, a special-teams player for sure and, possibly, a fullback.
"I felt good out there," Paredes said. "I ate my Wheaties."
Paredes was admittedly an "under-the-radar player." The focus was on defensive tackles Vaughn Meatoga, who was the only Warrior to participate in last month’s NFL combine, and Kaniela Tuipulotu.
Meatoga decided to rest on his combine numbers — he was credited with a 40 time of 4.93 seconds — and only participated in the jumping events on Monday.
Tuipulotu, who will undergo a shoulder procedure, opted not to participate in the bench press. After crossing the halfway point of the 40-yard dash, Tuipulotu screamed in frustration as he grabbed his right thigh. He suffered a pulled hamstring and, a few minutes later, he was under a tent, his right thigh covered with an ice pack.
"I felt I was running like I always run, and the bad boy just gave out," Tuipulotu said. "It felt like a balloon popped. There went my pro day after one 40."
Linebacker Aaron Brown was well on his way to a big day when he suffered a tweaked right hamstring on his second 40-yard sprint. Brown had 31 reps of 225 pounds, and a vertical jump of 34 inches.
"I knew I was going to do well," Brown said. "I had to stay healthy, and then it happened. It is what it is."
Offensive lineman Brett Leonard and defensive back Richard Torres were limited because of hamstring injuries. Leonard said he has to decide between continuing to rehabilitate the hamstring or participating in an upcoming workout with the San Francisco 49ers.
Torres, who tweaked his hamstring this past Friday, was cushioned by his solid workout at a regional combine in Houston a couple of weeks ago.
Quarterback Bryant Moniz, who is nearly recovered from a broken ankle, participated in the bench press (24 reps of 225 pounds) and position drills. More importantly, the scouts measured Moniz at a little taller than 6 feet. At a testing at UH last year, he was measured at less than 6 feet.
"I knew I was 6 feet," Moniz said. "I went to a doctor in the ninth grade, and I was 6 feet."
Paredes, meanwhile, was 239 when he started Ikei’s nine-week program.
"I whupped his okole," Ikei said of the regimen of twice-daily workouts.
Parades weighed 230 on Monday, and was pain-free from the injuries he incurred the past two seasons. As a reward, he received his just desserts.
"We get to cheat on Saturdays," Paredes said. "We get to eat whatever we want. I can eat pumpkin crunch. It’s so good it’s dangerous."
