Pro football players come to the SGV …


QB Jimmy Clausen directs the huddle during Wednesday’s workout at Charter Oak

Here’s a PHOTO GALLERY of the day’s events from the best sports photog in the biz, Keith Birmingham.

OK, I’m gonna do this less formal than my article about Wednesday’s workout which will run in tomorrow’s Tribune.

First off, I would like to thank, no praise, AquaHydrate for supplying everyone (fans included) with free water. Not only is their product EXCELLENT, they probably saved a dozen or so lives by keeping us hydrated. By the way, coaches, you may want to look into these guys hydrating your teams. They have a very interesting formula geared toward athletes (and they’re local).

About the action, it was just awesome to see this type of talent in the flesh. As you might expect, these guys are another level. Their athleticism and speed is sickening. Watching pro DBs Kerry Rhodes and Antonio Cromartie one-hand catch balls out of the air blew my mind. It’s like the ball is nothing to them.

And what can you say about Jason David? The guy has become a friend over the past year so I’m a tad biased, but there is no denying what a great job he does VERY OFTEN of giving back to the community. He basically ran the event, conducted the practice, signed autographs and buddied up to his pro friends, all without missing a beat. That’s the way a local legend should give back.

My favorite part of the day was when Charter Oak QB Travis Santiago was pressed into action. That’s right, the Summer of Santiago continues with the kid getting to throw to pro receivers against pro defenders. It was just awesome. And I got some comments from Travis afterward (because he’s about all I could interview thanks to the no-media policy).

“I wasn’t nervous or scared, it was more like an adrenaline rush. My first pass came out of there a little rushed,” Santiago said. “I was expecting to come out here and watch and learn. Then, I got a chance to get in there and throw three passes.

“I’m not going to brag about it to people or anything, but if people ask I’m going to tell them how fun it was.”

Also out there throwing was former St. Francis QB Justin Posthuma, who looked REALLY GOOD. Posthuma was a walk on at UCLA last season, but informed me he will either be at ELAC or PCC this fall. If Wednesday was any indicator, he’ll be at D-1 university again very soon.


Travis Santiago (left) and Justin Posthuma (right) soak it all in.

Freshman All-American Keith Smith, formerly of Charter Oak and now at San Jose St., also took part. This guy is just awesome. No wonder he was a frosh All-American last year. He looked right at home with the pro ballers. Smith informed he leaves for SJSU at the end of the week, so we won’t see him working out with JD until next offseason.

Watching Smith was his girlfriend and the first lady of SGV softball Courtney Gano. I asked why her dad (Greg Gano) wasn’t there on Wednesday and then suddenly remembered where I was. Stupid me. Anyway, Courtney G. is on her way to begin her career at Washington in Septiembre.

Lastly, I got to meet the blogger “D-Mo”. That was cool. He was driving a nice ‘vette, but still wasn’t allowed to park in the player’s lot. If you blog on here and see me somewhere, please introduce yourself by screename. I get a kick out of that.

Line of the day:
While walking out to the field I saw CO coach Lou Farrar and said “Looks like Charter Oak got some transfers in” in reference to the pro talent on Big Lou’s field.

Roll call: From what I could gather, here’s who was out there: Jimmy Clausen, George Wrightster, Dominique Byrd, Husain and Hamza Abdullah, Kerry Rhodes, Antonio Cromartie, Samie Parker, Darnell Bing, Matt Ware, Bruce Davis.