Editor's note: Former Notre Dame nose guard Ian Williams shares his thoughts on the 2011 NFL Draft, the process leading up to it and all things Notre Dame each Thursday through the end of April.
Pro Day at Notre Dame is only about a week away, and we’ve been waiting for this moment for years, but you’ve got to be relaxed.
You’ve got to take every step slowly and just be an athlete and be who you are, and you’ll be fine.
Physically, we start to taper down on our bench pressing and running, because you don’t want to be sore going into Pro Day. We’ll start doing walk-throughs to make sure we’re good and everything.
I really didn’t do anything unusual to prepare for his - no yoga or anything like that. What I do, though, is physical therapy, getting your body worked on to try to get every part of your body working at 100 percent. That’s so, when you’re running, you don’t have any part of your body holding you back.
Being back on campus for classes gets me plugged back into a lot of different things.
I haven’t made it to any of the Notre Dame football practices yet. I drive back and forth to Chicago so much for my workouts, I haven’t had time, but next week, when I’m in town longer for Pro Day, I’m going to make sure I get out.
I heard Notre Dame’s game this year against USC in Notre Dame Stadium is going to be a night game. No. 1, I’m jealous. I wish I could go back and participate in that.
No. 2, I know I’m going to try and get back for that game. I know the guys will be amped for it and ready to go.
I hear the team added some walk-ons. Walk-ons are very important to the Notre Dame program.
I remember one time my sophomore year, I got in trouble and I had to come in at 5:30 in the morning with (strength) coach (Reuben) Mendoza.
They were having walk-on tryouts then. Those guys were in there at 5 in the morning, pushing sleds, running up and down. They were like dog tired. They were doing harder things than we did.
Those guys will come out every day for practice and they’ll try hard and have fun, knowing that they may never step on the field in a game. So more power to them.
It’s tough to say who the best walk-on is I’ve ever faced, because there’s a lot of them. If I had to pick someone, stat-wise and for playing time, it would be Mike Anello.
I bumped into Ben Hansbrough the other night and also Joey Brooks. I’ve been an Irish basketball fan - a fan of any Irish sport, for that matter - for years now.
I told Ben I was at their game (a season-ending loss to Florida State in the NCAA Tournament) and that I was sorry about the loss. He was like, “Things like that happen.”
I can’t wait for next season, when the guys pick it up again.
And I can’t wait for this weekend for the women’s game in Indy. I’m probably going to make it down. I was just getting done with a workout when they beat Tennessee. I had it on TV.
I came in with Brittany Mallory and Becca Bruszewski. I’m cool with Frad and Skylar and Novosel and Dev. I’ve been rooting for them for the past four years.
I know UConn has had our number for the past couple of years, but so did Tennessee. So the same thing can happen with UConn. I just hope the girls go out there and play with confidence and play their hearts out. I know they will.
Speaking of playing their hearts out, our guys will be doing the same thing at Pro Day, but football is going to end for some guys that day.
The right thing to say is you don’t let yourself think about it, but we’re all human. So some guys are thinking about, “What if I make it?” “What if I don’t make it?” “What if I have to find a job, if I have to move back home with my mom or something like that?”
It’s human to think that, but you’ve got to go out there and do what we’ve been doing. We’re football players, and you have to go as hard as you can during that pro day and hope for the best.
Listen to Ian Williams' Draft Diary live on Budweiser's Weekday SportsBeat every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on WSBT Radio 960 AM.
