Pharoh Cooper won’t run 40-yard dash at NFL Combine

Pharoh Cooper lost a chance to win $1 million when he decided he couldn’t run the 40-yard dash here at the NFL Combine because of a quadriceps injury, but the former South Carolina star figures he wasn’t going to win it anyway.

The money is the prize offered by Adidas to any prospect here who can beat the Combine 40-yard dash record while wearing their new 5-Star 40 cleats. Cooper has a sponsorship agreement with Adidas, but doesn’t think he was going to touch Chris Johnson’s 2008 record of 4.24 seconds no matter the shoes.

“That’s a fast time,” Cooper said Thursday. “I don’t think I would have been that fast.”

Cooper will do all the other on-field drills here this week and then will run the 40-yard dash at South Carolina’s pro day March 30 in Columbia.

“I strained my quad early in the (training) process,” Cooper said. “I tried to get back running last week, but it was just too tight.”

Cooper, who could be as high as a second-round selection, believes his versatility will impress scouts here.

“Being that I am 200-plus pounds, I am used to going across the middle and getting big hits from the linebackers, getting around linebackers on the seam routes, just quickness and vision,” he said.

No Hard Feelings

Jeff Driskel’s career didn’t go well when he was playing for Will Muschamp, but Driskel doesn’t have any hard feelings. Driskel and Muschamp arrived at the University of Florida in 2011, Driskel as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country and Muschamp as the first-year head coach. Four years later, Driskel transferred to Louisiana Tech and Muschamp was fired.

“He sat down with me and said, ‘You’re our guy,’ and he was a great, great person, great coach,” Driskel said. “I wish him the best at South Carolina, and I’m sure he’ll do well.”

Driskel played well enough at Louisiana Tech that he resurrected his draft prospects, and Muschamp is now the first-year head coach at South Carolina.

Hemingway Here

Temarrick Hemingway is one of two S.C. State players invited to this year’s Combine. Hemingway, 6-foot-4, 229 pounds, was a first-team All-MEAC tight end for the Bulldogs last year after catching 38 passes for 418 yards.

“Coming from a small school, you always have to have a chip on your shoulder because you always have something to prove,” Hemingway said. “I am pretty much a nobody so I have a lot to prove.”

Hemingway is projected as a late-round pick or undrafted free agent, but the Loris native hopes to improve his draft status with a fast 40-yard dash.

Charleston Connection

Brandon Shell revealed this week he had a connection to the Charleston church shooting in June. One of the shooting’s nine victims was Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, who was the girls track coach at Goose Creek High School, where Shell finished his prep career.

“Any tragedy like affects everybody in that city,” Shell said. “If you didn’t know somebody inside there, you knew somebody who knew that person and just seeing them hurt affected you. Me and Ms. Singleton, we weren’t really close.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Pharoh Cooper won’t run 40-yard dash at NFL Combine."