The echoes bounced hard and loud, and the scouts could be counted by hand about as fast as a D.J. Hall 40-yard dash. Those are the two things I remember most about the morning of Wednesday, March 12, 2008. The setting was Alabama football's pro day in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility.
Hank's place was too big.
It could've been held on half a practice field. The Waysider could've sat every NFL man in the building for breakfast that morning, with elbow room to spare. That's how much interest there was in seeing the 2008 Alabama draft class work out just a couple weeks after only three UA players – Hall, wide receiver Matt Caddell, and cornerback Simeon Castille – had been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.