Bruce Johnson alone in Indy

Former UM cornerback Bruce Johnson is learning one is the loneliest number.

He is the only Hurricanes player in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. He's been met by surprised faces since arriving Saturday morning.

"I never thought I'd be the only one here," Johnson said. "I thought it would be a whole bunch of us. Everyone here is shocked that I'm the only one. A lot of people are like, `You're the only Miami guy here? They're used to a bunch of us being here."

Seniors Eric Moncur and Randy Phillips were granted extra years of eligibility and the Hurricanes had no underclassmen declare for the draft. Johnson received UM's only invite.

Still, Johnson is enjoying the experience. He compared the way players are shuttled around to a cattle farm. On Sunday, he had to awake at 4:30 a.m. for drug testing and spent all day interviewing with representatives from the 32 NFL teams.

"You feel kind of like a piece of meat," Johnson said. "But I'm here to hold it down (for Miami). I'm going to do my thing."

Tuesday is when most of the performance testing takes place. It will decide whether Johnson is a late-round pick or has to take the free agent route. If Johnson isn't selected, it will mark the first time a UM player wasn't drafted since 1974.

"I'm getting a lot of good feedback," Johnson said. "They haven't really talked about my draft status just yet. I'm getting a lot of good interviews with some teams. I've had a lot of positive interviews. Some teams are spending a little more time than others. It's just been real positive."

(sun-sentinel.com)