STOVER: Pro Day workouts are too built up for what they are worth

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He was anxious. Curious. Nick Bellore was worried.

“Did you hear anything?” he asked, fresh off his first attempt of the 40-yard dash at CMU’s Pro Day on Monday.

These days can make or break a career before it even gets off the ground. That’s why Bellore was so desperate to see if he clocked in a better time in the 40 than he did at last month’s NFL Scouting Combine, where he finished in 4.83 seconds.

“Get a time?”

This is what pro days do to athletes.

All the drills, the physical tests, they are done in hopes of catching someone’s attention, maybe just enough to get a chance at the next level — the NFL.

The NFL-types swarm these things. Last year, with Dan LeFevour and Antonio Brown participating, the Indoor Athletic Complex was a circus.

Even Charlie Weis made an appearance, the then-offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs. So did media members from across Michigan.

But without a true marquee name in this year’s crop of CMU seniors, it was low-key, at least as far as the amount of media.

Former CMU stars LeFevour and Frank Zombo — a Super Bowl winner this year as a rookie with the Green Bay Packers — were in attendance. So was former linebacker Ike Brown, who plays for the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger Cats.

But the atmosphere was watered down in comparison to 2010.

That’s not to say the pressure was any less.

Just ask CMU linebacker Matt Berning.

“The last three days, it’s just been like, you’ve been on edge, you’ve been nervous. All you think about is football. I hope I do well, I hope I ate right, I hope I slept enough.”

The most highly regarded prospect present, Bellore, was the only athlete invited to last month’s Combine. It was important for him to try to improve on his numbers.

For the others? This was it. It was their only chance.

“I was petrified going into the vertical,” said Berning, who said he was clocked by one scout at 4.76 and another at 4.61. “I lost all my technique. I just dropped it.”

But really, what do pro days prove? Does running a 40 show true football speed?

Here’s a question: When is the last time you saw a football player — even the fastest of the fast — line up in a track starting position before a snap?

Because, don’t be fooled, if you have a bad start, you might as well dock yourself a few tenths of a second.

And maybe some players can handle the extra weight and dimensions of shoulder pads and a helmet better than others.

The brutal truth is, these things are overrated, over-weighted and over-scrutinized.

A guy’s tape should be the most important and, for the most part, it is. How did this guy perform on the field? What can we see when we turn on the film?

But it makes you wonder when some teams put so much emphasis on workouts and numbers — hello, Oakland Raiders — rather than college gameplay.

JaMarcus Russell wasn’t the top quarterback to begin the draft process in 2007. Then he threw a football 80 yards downfield — on his knees.

And there’s no coincidence the Raiders snagged Clemson wide receiver Jacoby Ford this past draft after he ran a 4.28 second 40. Darrius Heyward-Bey? Oakland took him in 2009 after he a ran a 4.30 second 40 at the combine.

Really, as the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock always says, a workout’s purpose should be to force scouts and executives to take another look at the tape. If a guy appears slow, but runs a 4.38 40, it raises questions. Those questions can be answered by further diagnosing a player’s tape.

On Monday, Vince Agnew ran a 4.41 40, the fastest of the day. He was balanced in his backpedal, and his hips appeared much looser than his counterparts, which is key to a defensive back’s ability to flip his hips and run with receivers.

He helped himself.

But does it match the tape?

It warrants further investigation toward his college career. The findings should dictate whether he makes it to “The League.”

Not an overhyped workout with a few too many stopwatches clicking, a few too many eyes watching.