Lex gearing up for the NFL

Kalispell native training in Indianapolis for combine

By CARL HENNELL/The Daily Inter Lake

We haven't seen the last of Lex.

Kalispell's Lex Hilliard, the former University of Montana running back who finished atop the school's career touchdown lists and No. 2 in rushing yards, has been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

The combine (or National Invitational Camp) is an intense, four-day job interview for prospective NFL players.

Although the NIC Invitee List will not be officially released until Feb. 1, preliminary reports have Hilliard as one of 25 running backs who are invited. He confirmed his participation on Tuesday.

"I'm already here in Indianapolis training," Hilliard said. "I've been here for two weeks."

More than 300 of the best college football players participate, by invitation only, in the event each year in Indianapolis. Top executives, coaching staffs, player personnel departments and medical personnel from all 32 teams will be on hand to evaluate eligible players for the upcoming NFL Draft. The event is closed to the general public, including the media - although the NFL Network now supplies wire-to-wire coverage. This year's combine will run from Feb. 20-26.

"I will report there on Feb. 22, and then all the agility drills and whatnot will start on the 24th," Hilliard said. "The first couple of days are full of MRIs and medical tests, where they go all over the injury reports, X-rays and physicals. And then we'll go from there."

Those first two days could prove to be busy for Hilliard.

He had surgery to repair a partially torn labrum and a loose capsule in his shoulder two weeks after the Grizzlies lost to Wofford in the playoffs. He still has another week of rehabilitation to go with his shoulder. The thumb he had surgery on during the season is fine, he said. And judging by his 1,132-yard (at 4.7 yards per carry), 16-touchdown senior season, his Achilles' tendon injury has mended.

"I actually messed my shoulder up during fall drills," Hilliard said. "I needed surgery all season long, but played through it. Now, it's feeling the best it has in about 17 or 18 weeks."

HILLIARD SIGNED with the National Sports Agency and agents Harold Lewis and Marc Lillibridge out of St. Louis after the season. They were one of about 25 agencies wanting to represent Hilliard. Lewis and Lillibridge introduced Hilliard to the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis, where he is training right now. He is there with 13 other NIC invitees, including Montana's Buck Buchanan Award winner Kroy Biermann.

"We are basically training for the eight agility tests and getting mentally prepared for what's to come," Hilliard said. "All we do is train. We've figured it at six hours of hard-core training each day, but we're there for eight hours. They provide a nutritionist to feed us, and we eat there."

Hilliard has lost almost 10 pounds since the season and weighed in at 224 pounds on Monday.

Hilliard is staying at the Homestead Studio Suites, about two blocks away from St. Vincent's, and said he hasn't gone out into Indianapolis much.

"This city is too big for me," he said. "It takes like an hour to get from one end of the city to the other. So I'm going to stick to this side of the street."

He will be back in Missoula at the end of January for a follow-up shoulder appointment with Dr. Larry Stayner at Community Medical Center. Then he'll head back to Indianapolis.

Hilliard said one of the toughest things about this whole process is being away from his 2 1/2-year-old son, Lex Jr.

"It was tough enough finding the time to get to see him every night when I was home, but now that I'm out here I don't get to see him at all," Hilliard said.

RUNNING BACK talent is deep in this year's NFL Draft.

Last year, scout.com ranked Hilliard (just after his injured Achilles' tendon season) as the 23rd best NFL running back prospect. Had he not been able to medically redshirt, he was projected to be drafted in the seventh round last year.

Currently, nfldraftscout.com ranks Hilliard No. 32 on its running back rankings. Scout.com ranks Hilliard No. 40 on its running back draft tracker. And sportingnews.com doesn't have him ranked in the top 43.

"From what I understand, (experts) think they know what's going on, but they don't know until it's over," Hilliard said.

Last year, scout.com characterized Hilliard as an "overachiever," with the necessary size for the position, plus a good competitive nature, but lacking speed. His 40-yard dash time was 4.65 seconds. Hilliard said his 40 speed is around 4.5 seconds - but he hasn't been able to perform the drill while recovering from his shoulder surgery.

Hilliard said no NFL teams have expressed interest, other than a letter, in him.

"It looks like it is the same letter with different team logos on the top," he said.

HILLIARD FINISHED his career at UM just 51 yards shy of breaking Yohance Humphery's career rushing yards mark. He had 4,016 rushing yards (at 5.0 yards per carry) and 50 rushing touchdowns. Add in his 57 career catches for 591 yards and two touchdowns and he finished with 4,607 yards of total offense and 52 touchdowns.

At Flathead High School, Hilliard is the all-time school leader with 3,419 rushing yards (at 5.6 ypc) and 44 touchdowns. His sophomore and senior seasons rank Nos. 1-2 in the Braves' single-season record book.