Kelly critical of Oklahoma after disappointing performance

[Spider-Dan]

Um, yes, yes they did.

OU told Kelly, "Hey, you can run wherever you want," which, as I said before, is technically true; he could have ran in the parking lot if he wanted to, and no one would have stopped him.  They'd just ignore his time or write down whatever they wanted instead.

The problem was that OU's staff told him, "Sure, you'll be running on the astroturf," and then turned around and told the scouts, "Sure, we can have the run on the indoor field."  Had they told him, "You'll be running on the indoor field" to begin with, there would have been no problem.  His custom shoes would have been for that surface, and that's what he would have practiced on.

[Phishfan]

Maybe, just maybe it broke down like this. Kelly told OU that he wanted to run on the indoor track surface and they said yes. Maybe OU had nothing to do with that at all, which is what I suspect.

Kelly had his hands in on this as well.

[Spider-Dan]

Oh, I wouldn't doubt that he requested the astroturf.  But the point is, OU should have spoken up beforehand.  If the indoor field is the "more realistic surface," why didn't this come up before the day of the run?

The entire reason he was having this run was because he missed the original OU pro day while recovering from an injury.  So why didn't this come up then?

Again, my problem isn't with OU's staff switching the run to the indoor field.  My problem is with them doing it at the last minute.  It was, frankly, unprofessional.

[Phishfan]

But that was not at the request of OU. The scouts who showed up that day requested it. I doubt the scouts even knew the plan beforehand. How can there be advance notice by OU when they never made the decision and they did not know about it beforehand?

[Spider-Dan]

Read again: they already had a pro day a month ago.

Kelly skipped Oklahoma's original pro timing day last month while recuperating from a tear in his quadriceps, and said he had arranged with Oklahoma strength coach Jerry Schmidt to run on the Astroturf infield at the indoor track.

So if the astroturf is a problem, wouldn't it have come up last month?  Why didn't the strength coach say something to Kelly then?

Instead, OU waits until the day of the run and then tells him that scouts prefer the indoor football field over the astroturf.

[Phishfan]

You are making the point I am trying to get at for me. OU had nothing to do with the scheduling of the astorturf track field, Kelly did and he missed the original workout. It was not an issue because the NFL scouts probably had no idea Kelly was planning to run there.

See what I am saying? OU had nothing to do with Kelly running on the track surface. If OU had, wouldn't all the guys have been scheduled to run on it?

[Spider-Dan]

And here's the rub:

If OU already had a pro day a month prior, and on said pro day, the scouts had requested that the players run on the indoor field, wouldn't this have been a relevant fact to mention when Kelly later arranged to run on the astroturf?  I mean, seeing as how the OU staff was there (for the original pro day) and Kelly wasn't, it seems like that would be a good time to bring up a detail of that sort, instead of springing it on him on the day of his run.

Once again: had OU's staff shown some integrity and told the scouts, "this is what we arranged for, this is where we're running; the indoor field will not be available," then one of two things would have happened:

a) the scouts would have chalked the running surface up to "a factor out of the player's control" and taken his time as-is
b) the scouts would have penalized him anyway, but at least OU would have held up their end of the bargain and kept their word

But instead, OU chose to dump their responsibility in the player's lap at the last minute, which effectively removed any real choice he may have had.  By telling the scouts, "Oh, sure, have the run anywhere you want," they threw him under the bus.

[Phishfan]

That is where our difference lies. I am under the assumption that the indoor track facility was never in discussion during the Pro Day because OU arranged for that day to be handled at the correct facility. You seem to be under the assumption that they tried to have all the runs there. I am also under the impression that since Kelly was training on his own and not at OU that he made a special arrangement with them to run on the indoor track surface as it was similar to his training site. You seem to be under the impression that the OU staff and pro scouts had discussed this facility earlier and I assume that these discussions did not happen until the day of the run.

[Spider-Dan]

That is where our difference lies. I am under the assumption that the indoor track facility was never in discussion during the Pro Day because OU arranged for that day to be handled at the correct facility.

...and that's perfectly fine.  But if the indoor football field was the "correct" facility, why didn't they tell that to Kelly a month ago (when he arranged to run on the astroturf) instead of the day of the run?

I am also under the impression that since Kelly was training on his own and not at OU that he made a special arrangement with them to run on the indoor track surface as it was similar to his training site.

I'd say that's more of a chicken-or-the-egg question; it's impossible to know whether he trained for astroturf because that's where he arranged to run, or if he arranged to run on astroturf because that's where he was training.

However, I think it's pretty reasonable to say that if the OU staff had told Kelly, "Listen, we're running on the indoor field for our pro day, and we've been running on the indoor field for the umpteen years we've been having pro days," he probably wouldn't have invested so much time and energy into preparing to run on astroturf.

Furthermore, had all that happened, the staff wouldn't be standing around today saying, "Well, we told him he can run where he wants."  They'd be standing around saying, "We advised Malcolm that the astroturf was not the best location when he made the arrangements a month ago, but he wanted that location anyway."

[Spider-Dan]

So it looks like he's getting a re-do:

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/04/11/kelly-will-run-for-scouts-on-april-16/

KELLY WILL RUN FOR SCOUTS ON APRIL 16
Posted by Mike Florio on April 11, 2008, 3:23 p.m.

Well, I’m in the awkward position of having to contradict something that was posted by MDS while I was tending to other non-PFT business (I had Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and Scrubs on DVR).  But since MDS was merely repeating something that was posted elsewhere, I don’t feel so bad about it.

Anyway, agent Chad Speck says that the report that receiver Malcolm Kelly will run the 40-yard dash in Atlanta on Sunday without scouts present is flat-out wrong.  Instead, Speck says that Kelly will run again, for scouts, on April 16 in Oklahoma.

Kelly will run on the Astroturf surface on which he’d been preparing to run before this week’s Pro Day workout, during which he ultimately ran on FieldTurf.  Though Kelly presumably realizes that scouts will add time to his outcome on the faster surface, there’s a chance that, even with added time, his final number will come out faster on the surface on which he feels more comfortable.

The fact that Kelly is running again at Oklahoma suggests that an effort has been made between the player and the program to mend fences.  Even though it wasn’t wise for Kelly to bad-mouth his school, it’s also not good for Oklahoma to be perceived as unfriendly to the pro prospects of its recruits, or its recruits will end up going elsewhere.

Looks like it's time to put up or shut up.

[Spider-Dan]

Update: much ado over nothing

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d807cc5dc&template=with-video&confirm=true

Kelly comes away with similar results after running again
By Gil Brandt  |  NFL.com

After the controversy surrounding last week's pro day at the University of Oklahoma, Sooners wide receiver Malcolm Kelly had another workout Wednesday afternoon in Norman.

After complaining last week about the way the workout was conducted, Kelly ran this time on what the scouts considered to be a fast track -- and he posted similar numbers to those he ran last week.

Three NFL teams were on hand -- Cleveland, Green Bay and the New York Giants. Once again, he caught passes from former Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch.

WR Malcolm Kelly (6-3 7/8, 225): Ran the 40 in 4.63 and 4.65, had a 4.15 short shuttle, 6.83 cone drill, had 14 reps in the bench press and once again looked good catching the ball. Crouch threw him 22 "catchable" passes, and Kelly caught all but one.

Sucks to be him.  Seems that he should have kept his mouth shut, if he couldn't back it up.

Still, at least he may have saved a future prospect from the same fate.