Erik Holladay | Kalamazoo GazetteCentral Michigan's Vince Agnew, left, looks to tackle Western Michigan's Brian Fields last fall.
When Vince Agnew was a three-sport standout at Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, his first love was basketball.
But when a hoped-for growth spurt never happened, he turned his focus to the track team and a possible scholarship as a sprinter.
Finally, he arrived at Central Michigan University and turned his focus to football.
It turned out to be the right decision.
He acknowledged that he never saw it coming, but Agnew developed into a standout cornerback for the Chippewas and now is looking to take that trade to the NFL, where he hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow CMU standout Antonio Brown, who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers reach the Super Bowl last season.
The Press recently caught up with Agnew, who has spent the past several months training in Atlanta with the NFL draft approaching this week.
Q: How many teams have you met with?
I met with Jacksonville recently, and Chicago and Buffalo.
Q: What have the scouts and teams been telling you?
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things. Jacksonville has been saying they need a young nickelback and special teams player right away.
Chicago has been looking for more of a straight corneback because they play a more simple defense with the straight Tampa Two, and they love my physicality and sure tackling. Buffalo said they would love to use me as a safety with my tackling ability and high football IQ I’ve been hearing just about the same things from all the teams. It’s been pretty uniform.
Q: How would you sell yourself to teams?
I think I bring a versatility to the table that a lot of guys don’t have. For three solid years, I’ve played nickel and started at cornerback and safety, and I’ve had the ability to have an impact on the game a lot on special teams. I bring a wide range of abilities to the table that another guy won’t have. The Bears told me they like my speed and that it’s going to be hard for a lot of teams to overlook that.
Q: Did they make you take the Wonderlic?
Yeah, but I took a different type of exam for the Jaguars. I think I did good, but there were no words, it was all patterns and shapes and figures. ... I can’t even begin to explain it all to you.
Q: What have you done to prepare for the NFL?
I’ve been training down in Atlanta.I came down in January and started with heavy cardio and started lifting a little more before pro day. Since then, I’ve done more drills that are pro specific. I’ve worked out six days a week, twice a day, but since then I’ve focused more on drills.
Q: What are your plans for the draft weekend?
I hope to get back home and watch with my family. That’s my plan right now.
Q: Where do you think you'll go?
The majority of things I’m hearing is late rounds, anywhere from the fifth to seventh round to free agent. With the way the NFL is right now, if you go in the late rounds it’s really no different than being a free agent. I just want to play. I just want to have the opportunity to come in and compete.
Q: What will you do if the NFL dream doesn't work out?
Maybe I’ll be writing sports articles with you. I was a journalism major.
Q: What are your thoughts on the current NFL labor strife?
I think it’s really hurt a lot of fans, but I think what has been overlooked is a lot of guys, like myself, will end up going in the later rounds or being a free agent and maybe missing a chunk of training camp. We’ll kind of be in limbo over the summer and maybe be a bit behind some of those other guys and it may hurt us in the fall. I just have to try to control what I can control and hope for the best.