36 // VARSITY February 20, 2014
T
he interview started off like many others for
Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland. There
was a standard set of questions that all NFL
teams pose to college prospects in advance of the
May draft.
"What makes you tick?"
"How would you describe your season?"
"Are you a team leader?"
Borland was asked everything from "Wonderlic-
like" test questions to some things "I had never seen
or heard about" during the Q&A sessions the week of
the Jan. 25 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
"There was a certain team that was conducting an
informal interview and they were taping it with an
iPad right in your face," Borland said.
"In the middle of the interview, they
slipped it in."
The "it" was the curveball ― when
the questioning went from the sublime
to the ridiculous.
"Tell me," he was instructed, "every-
thing you can do with a brick in one
minute … ready … go."
A brick? To say the least, Borland
felt like he had just been hit by a ton
of them.
"They pressed a timer and you had
to tell them everything you could think
of in that one minute," he said. "I don't
know what they wanted to see. Maybe
how you think on your feet?"
What did Borland come up with?
How many different ways can you use
a brick?
"There's everything from a paper-
weight to a doorstop to using it for
building construction," he said. "I went
for a good 40 seconds. It got tough to-
wards the end. But I was able to pull
some things out.
"I said you could study the min-
eral composition of bricks. I was re-
ally reaching and it was a lot of BS.
But I think I did well. It was definitely
unique. I had never been asked any-
thing like that before."
Borland anticipates fielding many
other unique questions during the
2014 NFL Scouting Combine, running
Wednesday through next Tuesday (Feb. 19-25), at
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The NFL has invited 335 prospects, including 36
from the Big Ten, to take part in the position group
workouts, medical examinations and psychological
testing and interviews.
Borland will be joined in Indy by five former Wis-
consin teammates: tailback James White, receiver
Jared Abbrederis, tight end Jacob Pedersen, guard
Ryan Groy and safety Dez Southward.
Unlike the others, Borland has opted to stay in
Madison and train for the combine under the guid-
ance of John Dettmann, UW's Director of Strength
and Conditioning.
