Ben Tate may have earned himself a new nickname Tuesday.

“Keeping Indy.”

Every time Tate’s name was announced to compete in one of the six individual agility drills, another scout would quickly follow with “keeping Indy,” referencing that Tate was satisfied with the marks he registered at the National Combine and would not be participating.

That made Tate’s Pro Day one of the more relaxing ones out of the 13 in attendance Tuesday.

“When you work as hard as I’ve been working, just to go in and do well at the combine, that makes Pro Day a little bit easier,” Tate said. “I can sit back and watch those other guys doing those drills.”

The other players could have taken a lesson from Tate, who may have maximized his draft stock with impressive times and results.

Tate tied for first among running backs in the broad jump and bench press, finished second in the vertical leap and third in the 40-yard dash at the National Combine. His times in the 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drill were also good, so Tate had plenty of time to stretch, jog in place and shoot some video before the second half of Pro Day, when players worked with their individual position groups.

“I think a lot of people were surprised,” Tate said. “A lot of the scouts and a lot of you guys in the media, but I knew what I could do the whole time. I’ve been telling y’all I was fast, but no one really wanted to listen to me.”

Tate said he wanted to show the 38 scouts in attendance Tuesday that he could catch the ball out of the backfield.

Like everything else, Tate said he considered it a success.

“I’m a competitor,” Tate said. “I never back away from competition. So I definitely wanted to come out here and show them what I can do.”

Looking the part
Gabe McKenzie, dressed head to toe in white Under Armour, looked every bit like a professional prospect.

McKenzie weighed in at a chiseled 256 pounds and had a strong showing in a number of the individual drills. He bench-pressed 225 pounds a Pro Day-high 22 times and his 37-inch vertical leap was the best among the 13 participants. He also notched a 10-foot, 4-inch standing broad jump, which was
second behind Montez Billings.

“I could go all day. I could go again,” McKenzie said. “I think they like me.”

McKenzie never had it all come together for him during his Auburn career. He moved back and forth from tight end to defensive end and had personal issues derail his senior season before it even started. McKenzie finished the 2009 season as a sparsely used, second- or third-team defensive end.

“I went through a lot, lot of stuff back home,” McKenzie said. “I can’t let stuff stress me out. I can’t let that happen again.”

Todd thinking big
Chris Todd was the only quarterback in attendance Tuesday.

Todd, who is not expected to be drafted, said he plans to pursue a career in football.

“You never know. We’ll keep working until we find something out,” Todd said. “The big point was getting to this day and coming out and having a decent day. We got there and we’ll find out pretty soon after this. We’ll see what the future holds.”

Ricks hurt
Defensive tackle Jake Ricks had his Pro Day come to an abrupt halt when he pulled his left hamstring on his first vertical leap attempt.

Ricks notched a 4.95-second 40-yard dash before the injury.

He did not participate in the broad jump, 20-yard shuttle run or three-cone drill before putting up 15 repetitions in the bench press.

Jamaican it happen
Maurice Smith has never played a game of organized football in his life, yet he was catching passes with ease from Todd by the end of Tuesday’s Pro Day.

Smith, a former Auburn and Olympic decathlete, said he’s hoping to land with a professional football team and serve as a wide receiver, defensive back or punt returner.

“I figured it wouldn’t be that hard for me,” Smith said. “I played a lot of soccer in my life, too, so hopefully a few teams will call me to come down and work out with their team.“

Smith, 29, represented Jamaica in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, serving as the team captain in the latter. He picked up a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, in the decathlon.

“I was well-relaxed, I was having fun with it,” Smith said. “I’ve still got my track schedule ready just in case, but I felt good about what I did today.”

Another blast from the past
Former Auburn tight end Robert Johnson, four years removed from professional football, returned to his alma mater Tuesday in hopes of resurrecting his career.

Johnson, most famous for catching two touchdown passes in Auburn’s 2002 Iron Bowl upset of then-No. 9 Alabama, spent a few years bouncing around the NFL before calling it quits in 2006.

Johnson weighed in at 278 pounds and participated in every drill except broad jump.

agribble@oanow.com | 737-2561

Pro Day Marks
Name 40 Vertical Long Jump Bench
Antonio Coleman 4.72 33.5 9-8 N/A
Walter McFadden 4.39 35.5 10-3.5 5
Gabe McKenzie 4.74 37 10-4 22
Jake Ricks 4.95 24.5 N/A 15
Ben Tate N/A N/A N/A N/A
Chris Todd 4.84 27.5 9-1.5 13
Gabe Barrett 4.60 32.5 9-6 14
Robert Dunn 4.70 28 9-6 N/A
Robert Johnson 5.01 28 N/A 12
Brad Lester 4.46 38 10-2.5 22
Maurice Smith 4.69 33.5 10-3 12
Montez Billings 4.42 34 10-6.5 N/A
Clayton Jones 4.72 30 9-4 13
* Bench = How many reps at 225 pounds