Fox says he’s ready for NFL challenge
Ex-OSU cornerback might be asked to switch to safety
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
INDIANAPOLIS — Safety or cornerback? Doesn’t matter.
Concerned about the risk of working out at the NFL scouting combine? Not at all.
Fretting about where you’ll be drafted? Nope.
To Dustin Fox, attending the combine is a privilege he plans to make the most of. Same with an NFL career.
Besides, having the Fox name and playing a high-risk position like cornerback at a highpressure college like Ohio State is pretty good preparation for the meat grinder that can be life as an NFL prospect.
"It’s a big transition going from being a student-athlete to being a professional," he said Sunday. "It’s a step I think I’m ready for. I’m mature enough to handle the situation. My coaches have prepared me for it."
So has his family. Four of his uncles played at Ohio State and his brother Derek played briefly in the NFL after a career at Penn State.
"Having a great family tree helps as far as the scouts looking at it and seeing that the kid has a lot of background and he’s athletic and he’s been successful at all phases and levels," Fox said. "That’s good. For me, it creates expectations — having to live up to things my uncles and my brother have done. It’s tough at times, but it keeps me motivated and challenged."
Fox said any pressure has been self-imposed, never from his family. During the combine, he and Derek have been in continual contact through text-messaging.
"He says, ‘Relax, just have fun,’ " Fox said. "He didn’t get invited to the combine when he came out. He was a free agent. He thinks I’m in a better situation than he was and that I should take advantage of it to the fullest."
That’s why Fox has decided to work out here today rather than wait until Ohio State’s pro day March 9. He’s not worried about posting a subpar 40-yard dash time on the notoriously slow turf in the RCA Dome. He said he consistently has run in the 4.4 range.
"Whatever you put into your training should show here," he said. "We train on AstroTurf all the time."
Fox came to Ohio State as a safety and was switched to cornerback early in his career. Many scouts have projected him as a free safety in the pros, though at 190 pounds he’ll probably have to bulk up.
"A lot of teams have me as a safety. A lot of teams have me as a corner," he said. "The thing I tell them is I have no preference. Whatever they want me to play is what I’m going to do."
Fox missed three games his senior season because of a broken forearm. He said teams have been "poking it like crazy," but that the arm is good. He will return to Indianapolis on April 1 for further examinations.
Early draft projections have Fox as a secondday selection, possibly a fourth- or fifth-rounder.
"Wherever," he said. "Honestly."
Fox laughed when told he’ll be playing in front of smaller crowds in the NFL than he did in the Horseshoe. The spotlight in the pros won’t be any harsher, either.
"There’s a ton of pressure and a ton of expectations (at Ohio State)," he said. "If you get beat for a touchdown, people think you’re a bad player. If you lose a game, you can’t walk the street. How seriously they take it in Columbus has prepared me for going to the next level."
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