Run Like Hell - The Legend of Dillon Powers

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Rookie Diary
Dillon Powers
Runningback - Eastern Washington

From time to time we will feature a guest blog by former Eastern Washington RB Dillon Powers as he attempts to make the journey to the NFL

Hey everyone, not a whole lot to report just yet. I've been working with a trainer to bulk up before the draft. The goal is to get to 210. I was at 189 when we started and I just weighed in at 196 this morning so we're making progress. I have been lucky in that my cousin Ronnie has been a sports agent for about ten years so signing with him was a no-brainer. He's been a big help telling me what to expect and what obligations I have. I was pretty pleased with my performance at the combine, I wish I could have done a bit better in the 40 though. The draft is still over a month and a half away so until then I'll mostly be focusing on my workouts and meeting with different teams I guess. We're hoping for a team to pick me in the 5th-7th round. Ronnie says that's realistic. I really don't have a preference where I get drafted as long as I am given an opportunity to show what I can do and to contribute. Aside from trying to bulk up we have been working on my hands some too, I'll be expected to catch the ball a lot more at the next level. Well, not much else to report right now but I'll keep posting when I can. Thanks for reading!

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Dillon gazed out the window, daydreaming about his future as the Yukon pulled into the school parking lot. Dillon was there to run routes, which he had been doing for a couple weeks as part of his preparation for the draft.

"Is Mike gonna be here today?" He asked as they got out of the truck, referring to Mike Johnson, the quarterback he had been working with primarily.
"Yeah," Dillon's trainer Greg answered "he's here."

Dillon sat down and put on his cleats as he surveyed the field. Today would just be him and Mike, some of the past workouts had involved others.

After a good stretch and some calisthenics Dillon was ready. He pulled off his EWU hoodie, pulled on his gloves and joined Greg and Mike.

"Alright fellas, we'll start with some swing routes and screens, then we'll go to some wheel routes."

Mike and Dillon nodded and took their places. Greg tossed the ball to Mike and Dillon ran a crisp swing to his right, Mike's throw was a bit off but he easily adjusted, made the catch, tucked the ball away and jogged a few strides upfield.

"Good adjustment Powers, nice catch." Greg encouraged.

Dillon made a few more catches on routes from the backfield before Greg instructed him to line up as a slot receiver. Dillon caught a quick screen, then a slant and a five yard in.

"Sluggo." Greg barked as Mike and Dillon lined up.

Dillon clapped his hands together as Mike got into his stance.

"Red 17, Red 17, set, hut!" Mike shouted. Greg tossed the ball through the air to Mike, who started his drop.

Dillon pushed off the line hard and planted his left foot to get into the first part of the route. He took five strides and prepared to make his cut. As he planted his right foot to break deep he felt the grass give out and his ankle buckle hard, sending him crashing to the ground as he reached for his right ankle, feeling a sharp, shooting pain. He attempted to get to his feet but fell back to the ground when he tried to put any weight on the ankle.

"****!" Dillon shouted, punching the grass as Greg and Mike attempted to help him up.

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Rookie Diary
Dillon Powers
Runningback - Eastern Washington

From time to time we will feature a guest blog by former Eastern Washington RB Dillon Powers as he attempts to make the journey to the NFL

Been a while since I've had a chance to write. Yesterday was a pretty terrible day. I lost my footing while running routes and sprained my ankle pretty bad. I go in for a more thorough evaluation tomorrow but my regular doctor said it looks like a grade two high ankle sprain. I'll find out tomorrow if it's going to require surgery. This is not what I need to be dealing with a month from the draft. If it requires surgery it could be months, no surgery will hopefully 4-6 weeks. Either way it's a big setback. I will try to post tomorrow after I see the specialist.

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Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Bzzzzt.

Dillon fumbled for his phone, knocking it off the night stand.

"Son of a bitch." He mumbled as the threw off the covers and reached for his phone.

"Hey man good luck with the doc today, let me know what you find out"

It was a text from Mike. Dillon was not looking forward to having his ankle evaluated later in the day. The specialist would determine the severity of the sprain and whether or not surgery would be needed.

"Honey, are you awake?" Dillon's mother asked from the hall.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute."

It felt good being back home, Dillon had certainly enjoyed the college life, a bit too much at times, but nothing compared to home sweet home. The familiar smells of his mother's cooking, familiar faces around town and the house he had called home for the first 17 years of his life.

He pulled on some basketball shorts and a tee shirt, grabbed his crutches and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning sweetie." His mom said as she patted him on the back.
"Morning mom." He answered with a smile.
"How's the ankle?" Tim, Dillon's step father, asked over the business section of the newspaper.
"Not as bad as yesterday. Far from good though." He replied with a sigh.
"Good luck today, Dr. Hartman is the best, very thorough."
"Hopefully ha has good news."

Dillon reached for the sports section and flipped through, nothing really grabbing his attention. He was focused on the appointment that would have a large effect on his future. He sipped his orange juice and picked at his eggs, staring out the window.

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"Well Dillon..." Dr. Hartman started, trailing off as he looked over his notes from the evaluation.

"Yeah?" Dillon asked, his impatience evident.

"Basically there are three grades of ankle sprains. Grade one is always some stretching of ligaments with no surgery required. Grade three is always ligament tears with surgery always required. Grade two can range from exaggerated stretching to some slight tears. Lower level grade twos don't need surgery, higher ones with tearing do."

Dillon caught himself drifting off when he realized Hartman was about to get to his diagnosis.

"What we are looking at here is a mild grade two. We are not going to need to do surgery. I'll give you some exercises and things to do with it but you're looking at four to six weeks of rehabilitation and you should be good. We will set up for a reevaluation in four weeks."

"Thank you sir." Dillon replied.

The news was music to his ears. Four to six weeks of rehab certainly beat surgery followed by months of rehab. Dillon sighed in relief as he gathered his things and exited the exam room.

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Rookie Diary
Dillon Powers
Runningback - Eastern Washington

From time to time we will feature a guest blog by former Eastern Washington RB Dillon Powers as he attempts to make the journey to the NFL

Hi readers, just wanted to post a quick update. Got some good news a couple days ago about my ankle. Not going to need surgery, just 4-6 weeks of rehab. Also weighed in at 203 yesterday so still making progress there. I feel a lot stronger and more durable so that's definitely a good thing. Was getting more comfortable running routes and catching the ball before the ankle injury. Just going to focus on getting back to 100%. Draft is about two weeks out. Honestly, I'm nervous but not in a panic. At this point it's basically out of my hands. I'll have a few meetings and stuff between now and the draft but that's basically it. Just need to focus on healing up. Thanks for reading, I'll post again soon.

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"Let's see if we can get some mild cuts off it, half speed." Greg directed.

Dillon had been working hard to rehab his ankle over the past couple weeks since his visit to Dr. Hartman. Things had been progressing well but with the draft just days away Dillon was getting anxious to go at one hundred percent.

He took a sip from his water bottle and took a moment to take in his surroundings. Back at the place where his love for football really blossomed, Clackamas High, home of the Cavaliers. It seemed like ages since he was tearing up the field here. Since he'd been back he really began to realize how much he had missed it while he was away at EWU. This was Dillon's true home and he knew it always would be.

"Let's go Powers!" Greg shouted, snapping Dillon out of his daze.

Dillon lined up in a receiver's stance.

"Go!"

He jogged forward at about half speed, his ankle feeling solid.

"Cut!"

Dillon planted his foot in the ground and made a cut, pushing off at a little more than half speed. Everything seemed fine to him.

"Looked good, how's it feel?" Greg asked.
"Seemed fine, no pain. Seems stable." Dillon replied, hiding a smile.
"Let's do five more like that, then we'll pick up the pace."

Dillon ran through the five half speed reps without incident.

"Three quarter speed."

The reps at three quarter speed also went well.

"I feel good Greg. Real good."
"That's what we want."
"Should we go full speed?" Dillon asked, hopeful.
"Not today. We don't want to push our luck."

Dillon was frustrated with the answer but knew it was the right call. The last thing he needed was another setback.

Greg and Dillon headed to the weight room and went through their regular routine. When they finished Dillon headed for the scales.

"Two oh five. Nice progress." Greg said when he had finished adjusting the scale.
"Nice. I feel way stronger, more durable for sure."
"You should, sixteen pounds of muscle is a big deal. Wait until we get that last five on there."