Danville’s McDuffie projected to go late in NFL Draft

By Jason Wolf

Published: April 25, 2008

Chris McDuffie was much too big to play football.

It doesn’t sound like it makes much sense, but it’s true. When the Danville native was growing up, the city league programs had weight limits that didn’t allow him to play.

“The first time we noticed him was in eighth grade playing baseball. He was about 6-foot-3, 260 pounds at that time, so he was a big kid and he had never played football,” former George Washington football coach Everett Woods said. “He really thought he was a great baseball player. Once we convinced him that he was a football player, he put a lot of time in the weight room and got strong.”

Maintaining his ideal weight and keeping in shape have been battles ever since for the Clemson University guard, who is projected by many outlets as being a sixth- or seventh-round pick in this weekend’s National Football League draft. The recent Clemson graduate, who is listed by the school as 6-5, 330 pounds and has dealt with a number of injuries this season, is in Danville today, where he’ll watch on television as the draft gets under way at 3 p.m. in New York City.

Hargrave post-graduate football coach Robert Prunty, who McDuffie spent a season playing for after graduating from GW, said he’s been contacted by at least eight NFL teams seeking a character reference for McDuffie, including the Panthers, Chiefs, Raiders and Steelers. McDuffie said he knows the Jaguars, Vikings, Steelers, Chiefs and Falcons have expressed at least some level of interest in his services, but admitted that getting his weight down and getting healthy are his biggest concerns.

McDuffie has fought through knee, ankle and elbow injuries this season and said last week that he weighed “probably 328” pounds. “I need to get down to about 320, so I can really be able to move,” he said.

McDuffie sat out the Duke game and had elbow surgery for a torn ligament two days after Clemson’s regular-season finale. He put up 29 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where he strained his left quad, following the surgery. He also pulled his right hamstring and was unable to complete his workout for scouts during Clemson’s Pro Day.

“We kept him in shape. One thing that was good when we had him at Hargrave is we did a lot of running and Chris kept his weight under control,” Prunty said, adding that McDuffie looks more like 345 or 350 pounds, much bigger than his listed weight. “If you’re in great shape, I think that cuts down on your injuries.”

Prunty said McDuffie has the talent to make an NFL roster, even if he has to sign as a rookie free agent, and said he’d likely be drafted higher than the sixth or seventh round if he stayed on the offensive line for his entire career.

McDuffie redshirted his first season at Clemson after being recruited as a defensive tackle. He played in 10 of the Tigers’ 11 games in 2004 before switching back to the offensive line, where he played at Hargrave.

McDuffie ran into trouble with the law in July 2004 when he was charged with marijuana possession and intent to distribute near the school. He entered a pre-trial intervention program and returned to the team.

“I had a rough start, got in a little trouble, but everyone makes mistakes,” McDuffie said. “All I’ve got to say about that is I feel like I have good character. I haven’t been in trouble, I got my degree and that means more than anything. I got a second chance and I’m going about my life.

“Everybody makes mistakes, and if you get that second chance you have to take advantage of your opportunities.”

McDuffie played on special teams in 11 games in 2005 and started the final five games of the 2006 season at offensive guard after starter Roman Fry suffered a torn ACL. McDuffie started 11 of 12 games this past season, earning all-Atlantic Coast Conference first team honors and paving the way for running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller to combine for 1,648 rushing yards.

He’s ranked the fourth-best offensive lineman and 25th-best player in the ACC, regardless of position, by scout.com and was an All-American second-team selection by The Sporting News.

“God has a plan for everybody, and if God’s plan is for Chris McDuffie to make the NFL, then Chris McDuffie will make the NFL,” Prunty said. “I’ve got 16 (former) players who are projected to (be drafted), and that’s what I tell them all.”

McDuffie was an all-state pick at GW and the Group AAA Defensive Player of the Year his senior season, just a few years after playing organized football for the first time.

“I really didn’t know what I was doing at first. I was just out there taking up space,” McDuffie said. “I hated running. Then I got introduced to … a summer-type camp for conditioning, and I really didn’t like that. I started hating football and I wanted to quit, but coaches told me I had something that other people didn’t have, and I kept with it.”