Bad weather isn't foreign to Towson running back Terrance West. He shredded the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs despite blizzard-like conditions.
So when it came to pouring rain at his NFL pro day Monday afternoon, West simply shook it off and went through his drills as planned.
"If I had to run on fire I'd do it, man," West said. "Whatever the weather is, I'm going to have to adjust to it. It's football."
West stood on his strong combine numbers in terms of the 40-yard dash and bench press, but went through shuttle drills and running back drills in front of an audience of 22 NFL teams.
He said the running backs coach from Jacksonville, who put him through the drills, told him he looked "real smooth" running the ball.
As the local team, the Ravens had a couple of scouts present at the workout. New England Assistant to the Coaching Staff Michael Lombardi, formerly the general manager of the Cleveland Browns, was in attendance. The New Orleans Saints were also heavily represented.
West said he has only formerly met with the Tennessee Titans thus far, but has six or seven more trips to team facilities planned.
"Bring out the GM, owner, scout," West said. "Everybody that came out, I appreciate it."
West measured in at just over 5-foot-9 and weighed in at 230 pounds. At the combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.54 seconds, put up 16 reps on the bench press and had a 33.5-inch vertical jump.
West accomplished what he wanted to on Monday. He wanted to show that he is not only a good runner, but also smooth catching the ball out of the backfield. Not a single pass hit the ground despite the wet conditions.
"It wasn't pretty but I caught them," he said. "I always knew I had great hands; I just had to show the scouts what I could do that I could be versatile out of the backfield."
Now it's a matter of where West will get drafted. He's generally regarded as a mid-round pick, possibly in the third round. During the combine, he said it would be "amazing" to be picked by his hometown Ravens, but is happy to go wherever.
"I can only control what I can control and that's work hard," West said.
"I don't care what team it is; football is football. But whatever team that gets me is going to get a guy that wants to come in and compete and play immediately."
Ravens running back Bernard Pierce was in attendance to support West. The two have become close over the past couple of years. Pierce has taken West under his wing since they both had rough upbringings in Philadelphia and Baltimore, respectively.
Pierce said he and West would talk a couple times a week during the season and now they hang out pretty regularly. "It meant a lot [for him to be here]," West said. "He's been like my mentor. Me and Bernard Pierce are real close. That's my big bro."
