F
ootball players that have been out of
high school for at least three years
can declare themselves eligible for
the National Football League Draft.
The rule, put into place by NFL executives
to ensure players mature both physically and
mentally before they enter the league, does
not state that a player must attend college.
The rule does not state that the players
must complete their degrees in challenging
majors, lead their teams to success by
effective leadership and impeccable work
ethic, or complement their athletic success
by steadfast spiritual and academic studies.
With that in mind, Brandon Coleman '10
and Jerome Couplin III '09 are anomalies
in their chosen field.
Brandon, a Labor Employment Relations
major at Rutgers University, left his senior
season on the table to pursue his NFL
dreams with less than 10 credits left to
his degree, which he plans to finish in the
coming semester. Jerome, a Kinesiology
major at The College of William and
Mary, walked to receive his diploma and
was featured by Forbes Magazine in an
article titled, "Here Comes the Next NFL
Superhero" in the same month. Both signed
Free Agent contracts following the NFL
Draft – Brandon with the New Orleans
Saints and Jerome with the Detroit Lions
– and have a realistic chance at having their
names called when rosters are finalized.
Couplin, as a Kinesiology major, studied
the movement of the human body. "By
following Kinesiology, I left the door open
to pursue a career in Physical Therapy or
Occupational Therapy once my days in
the NFL are over," he said. Despite his
academic sense, though, he's incapable of
explaining how he propels his body to such
athletic feats.
For one, Couplin can fly. With a 42" vertical
leap (LeBron James, for reference sake, has
only ever recorded a 40.3" vertical leap) and
81" arms, he can, from a standing position
catch a football 13 feet above the ground or
a car's length away in any direction. Coupled
with his natural ability to read quarterback
movements, Jerome garnered the nickname
"Osprey" from his teammates after the bird
of prey. His explanation? "I used to play
basketball, so jumping has always come
naturally for me," he laughed. "Though I
guess that's not much of an answer from a
Kinesiology major."
The safety is also 6'2", weighs in at 215, can
run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, and
has a near 11.5-foot broad jump – the best
for a safety in the last 10 years of the NFL
Combine.
Only, Jerome wasn't invited to the NFL
Combine. In 32-degree weather in the
middle of February, with rain coming
down and footballs flying with the terminal
velocity and weight of bricks, Jerome
outperformed nearly every one of his
fellow safeties on the national scale at his
school's pro day. His performance backed
up a season that brought him first team
All-American honors from The Associated
Press, The Sports Network, and the Walter
Camp Football Foundation, All-Colonial
Athletic Association Honors, and propelled
him as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan
Award for the top defensive player in the
nation.
His former teammate, Brandon, also
stands a head above the competition –
both figuratively and physically speaking.
Standing at 6'6" (without cleats), the
wide receiver is reminiscent of Calvin
"Megatron" Johnson, arguably the best
wide receiver in the NFL, who uses both
his height and size to torch defensive
secondaries.
Brandon's height mixed with his speed
and strength – he ran a 4.5-second 40-yard
dash and benched 225 lbs. 21 times at the
NFL Combine – present a rare football
player. In his entire draft class, he was
one of only three Wide Receivers eligible
over 6'4. He played a tall (pun intended)
role in getting his Scarlet Knights to two
consecutive FBS Bowl Games to conclude
his collegiate career.
He also was a tap dancer.
Mrs. Cindy King, a dance teacher at Bishop
McNamara High Sc