Von Hutchins barely had enough time to wink at the hotel clerk, pick up his room key and drop his bags before heading to an Indianapolis hospital where he spent 4 1/2 hours undergoing 20 X-rays, EKGs along with blood and urine tests.

Interviewing for a classified job with the CIA? Auditioning for the upcoming season on &uot;The Bachelorette?&uot;

Neither. It was late February’s NFL Combine, one of the several mile markers Hutchins passed on the interstate that is this weekend’s NFL Draft.

The former Cathedral standout and Ole Miss cornerback will watch the Draft from the end of his parents’ couch cushions, leaning closer to the television set every time NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue steps to the podium to announce another selection.

However, the mental anguish he’ll endure Saturday and Sunday won’t compare to those four tortuous days in Indy.

&uot;It was strictly a business trip. There wasn’t any going out or going to the mall,&uot; the 5-9 corner said. &uot;Those were the four most important days of your life as far as your future is concerned. You’ve gotta use it wisely.&uot;

No curfew was set for the prospective players, but Hutchins said the guinea pigs hit the hay between 10:30 and 11 p.m. so they could be up at 7 a.m., ready to endure team’s psychological tests, such as the N.Y. Giants’ questionnaire sheet that included 250 multiple choice, true/false short answer and discussion queries. Hutchins couldn’t confirm it, but I’m told some players were heard uttering, &uot;So this is what a ‘Scantron’ looks like.&uot;

One unmentioned organization had a puzzle where it challenged players’ mental reflexes. On flash cards were labeled names of colors, and players were told to holler out the color each time a new card was flipped over.

Sounds simple enough, right? The twist came when the color on the card was in a different hue than the actual color, e.g. &uot;blue&uot; was in purple, &uot;red&uot; was in orange &045; I’ll stop insulting your intelligence any more than I already have.

&uot;A lot of people don’t understand all the psychological tests we take,&uot; Hutchins said. &uot;All you hear about are the 40 (yard dash) times and agility stuff. You don’t hear about what’s behind the scenes. We didn’t do any physical testing until the fourth (and last) day.&uot;

But when they did, Hutchins had no problems standing out. With 30 of the nation’s best cornerbacks split into two equal groups of 15, Hutchins’ found himself among some of the elite. His huddle included Virginia Tech speedster DeAngelo Hall, Arkansas leaper Ahmad Carroll and South Carolina punisher Dunta Robinson.

Among those three and 26 other notable names, Hutchins had one of the 10 fastest 40 times at 4.46 seconds.

&uot;We were physically and mentally poked, prodded, pulled and examined every way possible that you were sort of glad when it was over,&uot; said Hutchins, who worked with Atlanta-based Competitive Edge Sports to improve his strength and speed. &uot;I would’ve never guessed it. It was a crazy, weird process.&uot;

Chuck Corder

is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

chuck.corder@natchezdemocrat.com.