Pro Day: Callaway & Elam Return, Mullen Video, Gators Tidbits

Receiver Antonio Callaway runs the 40-yard dash on Wednesday at UF's annual Pro Day. (Photo: Carly Mackler/UAA Communications)

Pro Day: Callaway & Elam Return, Mullen Video, Gators Tidbits

Wednesday, March 28, 2018 | Football, Scott Carter

The Gators held their annual Pro Day on Wednesday in front of NFL scouts in town to get a closer look at the team's draft prospects.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The last time we saw Matt Elam on a football field at UF, the former Gators All-American served as honorary Mr. Two Bits in November 2014, his second season in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

"It made me feel good," Elam said that day. "That means the Gators really care about me because I know how big Mr. Two Bits is for them to think like that."

The last time we saw Antonio Callaway running around in orange and blue was during the 2016 season when the former Gators receiver became the first player in school history to record a rushing, passing, receiving, kickoff return and punt return touchdown in his career.

34691 — Receiver Antonio Callaway. (File photo)

Elam and Callaway returned to campus Wednesday for Florida's Pro Day, seeking second chances at restarting promising careers that ran off the rails due to multiple off-the-field issues.

"He's still looking the same to me," Gators defensive back Duke Dawson said of Callaway, who was suspended for the entire 2017 season. "I feel he didn't lose a beat, didn't lose a step."

Callaway is one of the NFL Draft's biggest mysteries. While obviously talented, will a team take a chance by drafting him? He has faced a continuous line of questions about his past leading up to the draft and the same held true Wednesday.

"I matured. I'm past that. I don't dwell on it or nothing. It happened," he said. "It happened, I can't cry over spoiled milk. I was young. I was dumb. I was immature. I've grown a lot, actually."

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old Elam is a former first-round pick who started for the Ravens and played in 32 regular-season games over the 2013-14 seasons. However, he suffered a torn bicep and missed the 2015 season, played in only nine games in 2016 and missed the entire 2017 season while making headlines with a pair of arrests.

Former #Ravens first rounder Matt Elam was really emotional about the chance to work out at #Gators pro Day pic.twitter.com/ZITZdO4vZQ
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) March 28, 2018

Elam said he got complacent due to early success in the NFL and it cost him dearly in his professional and personal life. He took a job at Dick's Sporting Goods last fall when no teams offered a contract.

"It's all right to be confident, but you've still got to work," Elam told reporters. "Having that taken away from me — what I've been doing all my life — that's going to change you. Not being out there playing the game I love, it's tough. One mistake don't define a person. I feel like people make mistakes. It's what you do with that second chance. That defines what type of person you really are."

Gators coach Dan Mullen's relationship with Elam's older brother, former NFL defensive back Abram Elam, helped Elam get an opportunity to work out Wednesday.

Mullen was glad to help Callaway and Elam as they chase their second chances.

"We're going to make sure they have the opportunity to showcase themselves in front of these coaches," Mullen said. "People deserve second chances in life. They're part of the Gator family."

Callaway and Elam each had family and former teammates to lean on for support Wednesday. Now, they must wait on their next opportunity.

EYE OPENER

Defensive tackle Taven Bryan is projected to be the first Gator selected in next month's draft, perhaps as early as the middle of the first round.

The 6-foot-4, 291-pound Bryan is an impressive physical talent, but based on the physical transformation he has seen from his former teammates during their first offseason conditioning program under new strength and conditioning coordinator Nick Savage, Bryan feels out of shape.

"We look like the Pillsbury Dough Boys and now they're like swole," Bryan said Wednesday. "It's unreal. They're huge."

Trust the process.#GatorMade pic.twitter.com/mz2MTF1bPd
— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) March 28, 2018

Bryan praised Savage for the quick turnaround the Gators have undergone in the weight room the past three months.

"They are pretty yoked," he said. "That's some next-level stuff. They all looked really good. Savage is an unreal weight coach. Just how he changes their bodies. I just think it's his style. This team should be a different team for sure."

MULLEN MEETS MEDIA

Mullen spoke to the media on a wide range of topics near the end of Pro Day, including how much input he'll have on the design of the team's new stand-alone facility, Friday's scrimmage plans and the impact of ex-players returning to campus since he has taken over the program.

To hear what Mullen had to way about those topics and much more, check out the video below:

DBU REUNION

Elam was not the only former UF defensive back to return for Pro Day. Brian Poole, Keanu Neal, Marcus Maye, Quincy Wilson and Marcus Roberson also came back to support their former teammates.

They gathered for a group photo that also included current players Trey Dean and Jeawon Taylor.

#Gators took a DBU picture after pro day.
Top L-R: Keiwan Ratliff, Marcus Maye, Keanu Neal, Brian Poole, Quincy Wilson, Nick Washington, Marcus Roberson, Chris Thompson (WR), Trey Dean
Bot L-R: Matt Elam, Marcell Harris, Duke Dawson, Jeawon Taylor. pic.twitter.com/SXWvMLbj9W
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) March 28, 2018

EXTRA POINTS

Former Gators running back Mark Herndon caused a brief stir when he was clocked unofficially at 4.44 in the 40-yard dash. Herndon, injured much of his senior season in 2016, is healthy and in noticeably much better shape than his UF playing days. He has been working out with Neal in Ocala and refining his techniques as a pass catcher out of the backfield to improve his chances of latching on as a free agent … Former UF quarterbacks Malik Zaire, Austin Appleby and Luke Del Rio all attended Pro Day. Zaire and Appleby worked out for scouts; Del Rio did not and has plans to start a career outside of the game … Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was the only NFL head coach in attendance Wednesday.