| Miami CB Mike Rumph emerged onto the college football map as a freshman
at Miami (Fla.), playing in every game while starting three. He doubled as a star on the
track team, where he recorded the team’s best triple jump as a freshman and
sophomore. Pro scouts are impressed with his size-speed combination but say he plays too
stiff at times because of his size. Rumph answered questions at the Scouting Combine in
Indianapolis about playing too stiff, why no Miami players chose to work out at the
Combine and what he expects to run at the Hurricanes’ pro timing day Monday. Q:
Five Miami players can potentially be drafted in the first round. Has there been any talk
amongst you who will be drafted first?
A: There’s some competition there. We train together everyday in Miami at like 2
o’clock Monday thru Friday. Everybody makes jokes about who is going to lose money
not working out as well as the other person.
Q: Do you help push each other to improve?
A: Of course, it’s criticism, but it’s fun. At the same time, it’s in
the back of your mind that you want to be just as good as the other person.
Q: Have you started working on improving your 40-yard dash times?
A: Yeah, mainly on our starts, 20- and 10-yard starts, because that is what the 40
consists of — getting a great start on the jump out and then finishing with great,
great form.
Q: What are you expecting to run when you run (at your individual workout in Miami)?
A: I would say 4.5 to a 4.4. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and pull
anybody’s chain. I’ve run faster, but I’m not going to say it. I’m
going to wait.
Q: Do you think you will surprise people if you run in that 4.4-4.5 range?
A: If they tune in, I think they will be in for a shock.
Q: It has been said that whatever team you go to, your college secondary could be
better than the pro secondary you play in. What do you think about that?
A: Even though I was the guy with no interceptions, I think as a secondary, we
contributed to a lot of success on the team. We had experience. We made big plays.
We’re just as good as some of the NFL guys. Our coordinator coached in the NFL, and
he said talentwise, we are better than a lot of teams, but we have to get all of the
mental parts down.
Q: Have you seen your former coach, Butch Davis, this week?
A: I have seen (Cleveland coaches) Pete (Garcia) and coach (Chuck) Pagano. I think
Butch left early. They said, "We know you. We don’t want to interview or
anything. Good luck. We’ll see you in Miami."
Q: Did they talk to you at all about possibly becoming a Brown, or have you thought
about that?
A: Yeah, there’s a rumor out there that Coach Davis is going to take all of the
Hurricanes (laughter). Everybody is kind of like, "If this guy doesn’t take me,
I’ll get Cleveland." But we have been joking that on Draft Day, we are going to
be calling teams instead of them calling us; we are going to be calling them and begging
them. But if you just hang out with the 13 guys out there, it’s just kind of fun.
It’s not real nerve-racking. I sense that a lot of guys are very nervous and uptight
about this, but we at Miami are just planning to have fun and show what we got.
Q: Bryant McKinnie said the Hurricanes could break a school record by having five
players drafted in the first round. Can you comment on that?
A: I think it is possible. It is very possible. Everybody out there is working hard.
The environment is great. Miami is hot. The field is nice. I think our Combine numbers are
going to be off the charts. As far as getting drafted, I think we have a good chance of
getting five guys drafted in the first round.
Q: Do you think your draft status was affected by teammate CB Phillip Buchanon
coming out early?
A: Of course. Of course. He is one of the best guys I have played with and one of the
best college players. He came out. He’s a first-rounder. I’m predicted second to
first round. I’m predicted in between. If he weren’t there, I would say I would
be up a little bit, but that is something you have to live with. I hang with Phil every
day. He’s like a best friend to me. He’s my roommate, and I told him he should
come out.
Q: I was going to ask you if you tried to talk him out of it?
A: Nah. I knew the consequences of him coming out, and I told him, "If I were you,
I would come out. If I had the stuff that you had this year, I would come out." And
he made a wise choice and came out.
Q: How many teams have asked you about the interceptions, not having any this year?
A: A couple of teams. Some people were shocked that I am on such a good secondary, and
I am the only one without an interception. They want to know what’s happening. I
didn’t get thrown on as much as everybody else. It’s just — I don’t
know. I worked just as hard as everybody else. I watched extra film. It just didn’t
fall my way sometimes.
Q: Did teams ask you to describe the defensive schemes and why certain things
happened in Miami’s defense?
A: Yeah, they basically asked me about how we play up front. We let the defensive
linemen run — we have the greatest D-linemen in the country. They don’t get
enough credit. They bring the pressure. The safeties are sitting back deep, and me and
Phil are undercutting everything, just waiting for something to happen.
Q: Did you have any interception drops?
A: I had one drop against West Virginia. It was a "china seven route curl."
This guy ran a seven, and I got up under the seven and I went up. It went right through my
hands and hit my facemask. I bobbled it. I was too anxious. I knew when I was going for
the ball and it hit my hands. I was thinking about running before I even caught it.
Q: Did they give you a hard time on the sideline?
A: Oh yeah, I did push-ups for it. That’s one thing we did this year in practice.
If you dropped a pass in practice, you had to do at least 10-20 push-ups. So I did my
push-ups in the middle of the game on the field.
Q: Who did the most push-ups?
A: Markese Fitzgerald. He was the nickel guy. He was kind of swollen doing all those
push-ups.
Q: Who did the least?
A: Probably (Ed) Reed because a lot of his balls were slower. He is like an outfielder.
He is almost a fair-catcher, so he didn’t drop many.
Q: Have you had any contact with the Colts while you have been here?
A: Yeah, actually I just met with the orthopedic doctor. He’s a real nice guy. He
talked to me a lot about Edgerrin (James) and Reggie (Wayne), because I see them almost
every day they are down there working out. That is mainly who I talked to more than anyone
else.
Q: So they didn’t express much interest in you?
A: Every team shows you that they have interest in the interviews, but I won’t
know until Draft Day who is really interested.
Q: The Colts have kind of tapped into the Miami talent down there with Edgerrin and
Reggie, haven’t they?
A: Edgerrin opened their eyes up. Reggie opened them a little more, and hopefully they
will try to get some more of us down here.
Q: If you talk to Edgerrin, maybe he can slip in a good word for you.
A: Yeah, he already does. He tells me, "They are looking at you. They like this
about you, and they don’t like this about you."
Q: What do they not like?
A: It’s really not what they don’t like. It’s what they question. They
question my hips because I am taller. They question my speed because I am taller.
That’s basically it. Other than that, they like a lot of stuff about me.
Q: What did you measure here?
A: 6-2, 205.
Q: Why don’t the Miami guys work out here?
A: It’s almost turned into a tradition. It’s a better environment. Since I
have been a freshman, pretty much all of the teams come back to Miami on pro timing day to
watch us work out. So I think it is pretty much the same as here without the general
managers. We feel like we get great support around there from our teammates, and the heat
is hot. That’s where I have been working out for the last four years, so why change
it?
Q: But it’s the favorable conditions down in Miami?
A: Yeah, of course. It’s freezing cold here. I’ve been on my feet all day,
all weekend. I haven’t had a good chance to rest. I’ve been up to 12
o’clock. And I don’t want to run when I’m drained. They want us to get up
at between 4:30 – 7 a.m. to pee. I got up at 6 a.m. and peed. I tried to go back to
sleep, but I couldn’t. I got up and ate breakfast and then tried to go back to sleep
at 9. It’s crazy here, up and back, up and back. It’s not a good condition to
run in. A lot of these guys are uptight because they don’t have enough sleep,
they’re not eating well. You’re standing up, walking around eating, instead of
getting a chance to sit down and let your food settle. So I don’t think it’s a
real good environment. We’re doing all these tests with the machines and stuff on
your legs. I’d rather be at Miami where I got good rest, and I can come out and
perform.
Q: Former Miami LB Dan Morgan said last year that his knees were sore from the
medical testing with all the pulling and prodding. How do you feel?
A: I just went through that. I mean, I am very healthy, so I didn’t have a problem
with that. They didn’t pull on me too much, but if some of these guys have problems,
they put a lot of machines on them, a lot of pulling and a lot of banging.
Q: There are some secondaries in the NFL that aren’t as deep as the
Hurricanes’ secondary was this past fall. Does that make you any more ready?
A: Oh yeah, I think we watched the same amount as almost any other NFL team when it
comes to watching film. We come in on our own without a coach at 7 in the morning Monday
thru Thursday. We watch film as a secondary for an hour. We go home, get a two-hour-long
VHS tape and watch film. As far as talentwise, we knew we had the talent. We just need to
get the mental part down pat. A lot of us are faster than NFL corners, and our safeties
are faster and made a lot more plays, so that’s why they’re comparing us to NFL
secondaries.
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