|
Philadelphia story: MC’s Tanney
completes workout with NFL team
Release Date: September 22, 2006
 |
|
Mitch
Tanney '06 |
MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College quarterback Mitch Tanney spent his
summer playing football in Europe. If his situation continues to
progress, his next summer might be spent in NFL Europe.
The record-setting Fighting Scots passer recently suited up for the
Limhamn Griffins in Sweden, even missing his MC graduation in May to
play in the five-team professional league.
“It was definitely something I’ll never forget,” Tanney said. “I
made a lot of good friends there. The football was important, but
the most important thing was the cultural aspect.”
Now back in Monmouth and serving as a volunteer quarterback coach
with the Scots, Tanney got a taste of the National Football League
earlier this week when he participated in a workout for the
Philadelphia Eagles.
He arrived in Philadelphia in the late afternoon on Monday, then
reported to the Eagles’ training facility at 7:30 Tuesday morning.
Tanney signed a waiver form and then went through a measurement
session with the other 12 tryout participants. Recorded were such
vitals as height and weight, as well as wingspan and the size of
Tanney’s hands from the top of the thumb to the top of the pinkie.
Unlike the rest of the players there, Tanney – along with former
Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz and a punter – did not have to run a
timed 40-yard dash. After that, Tanney and Mroz threw routes for
about an hour.
“I felt like I threw the ball pretty well,” he said. “The first
throw was a little shaky, a little wobbly, but after that, it was
just like I was throwing to anyone.”
Tanney said no Eagles coaches were in attendance, only scouts. He
visited with Scott Cohen, the Eagles’ director of pro personnel, who
explained the Eagles’ situation at quarterback.
“Their three guys have all been (NFL) starters, and they said they
didn’t need a quarterback for the taxi squad,” said Tanney. Those
signal-callers include Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia and A.J. Feeley.
McNabb and running back Michael Westbrook were two of the players
that Tanney noticed while eating lunch at the training facility
following his workout.
While it’s unlikely that Tanney will land a spot on the Eagles’
quarterback-rich roster this season, he hopes something will come of
the workout.
“The NFL is networked pretty tight, so I hope this leads to offers
to work out with other teams,” he said. Asked if he was regularly
checking the NFL’s injury report to see the quarterback situations
around the league, Tanney quickly replied, “I am now.”
One thing that could be on the horizon for Tanney is a roster spot
with an NFL Europe team. There are only six teams in the league with
three quarterbacks apiece, so at most there are 18 spots open.
It would be hard to believe that any of those 18 quarterbacks had a
more impressive 2004-05 than Tanney, who set national game and
season records for accuracy last fall, going 21-of-23 for 405 yards
against Knox and finishing the season 215-of-292 for 2,587 yards.
His season completion percentage of 73.6 broke a 12-year-old
Division III record, and he threw just three interceptions as a
senior and just six in his two years with the Scots. Monmouth’s
record during that time was 19-1 in the regular season, and Tanney
was named the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year after
leading the Scots to their first-ever national playoff appearance
his senior season.
Tanney’s coach at Monmouth, Steve Bell, said last spring that “Mitch
is going to be successful in whatever he does.”
As it stands right now, the occupation of “professional football
quarterback” is still a distinct possibility.
Football Homepage
|
