Laiatu Latu knelt down on the turf at the starting line of the 40-yard dash in a position he had seen so many NFL stars take before him. He felt the eyes of general managers and coaches at the NFL combine in Indianapolis lock onto him. His heart was pounding.
He was not supposed to be here.
After medically retiring because of a neck injury suffered at Washington, Latu improbable comeback could soon make him UCLA’s first first-round draft pick since 2018. The rise from being told he would never play football again to getting texts of encouragement from NFL idols such as Maxx Crosby all feels “surreal as hell,” Latu said Friday after UCLA‘s pro day on campus.