NIU football players hoping for attention at the professional level will have a chance to show their strengths to scouts at the NIU Pro Day, which begins at 8:30 a.m. today at the Convocation Center.

All players will be timed in the 40-yard dash and several weight-lifting events, including the bench press.

“It’s a chance for everyone on the team to get timed,” junior quarterback Josh Haldi said, “but it’s more targeted toward juniors and seniors.”

Following a year of national recognition for an NIU team that finished No. 26 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, players said they expect Pro Day to be a larger event than in previous years.

“From what I’ve hear, there will be more scouts than there have been in the past,” Haldi said. “That says something about our senior class.”

Michael Turner, who participated in the NFL Combine in Indiana several weeks ago, also will participate with the team at Pro Day.

“Michael Turner has brought an opportunity for scouts to come, so more people will notice us,” senior defensive end Vinson Reynolds said. “If you don’t have the talent, they still won’t take you – they don’t pay you for nothing. They know we have to have some talent, so that’ll bring more scouts to the table, giving us an advantage.”

Turner said he was participating in Pro Day to bring more scouts to NIU and to help his teammates.

“He’s certainly going to be there,” NIU football coach Joe Novak said. “I don’t know if he’ll run again; he certainly doesn’t have to, but that’s up to him.”

Despite the emphasis on NIU’s senior class, the day is more for juniors, Novak said.

“Pro Day is really a day for pro scouts to evaluate and time our juniors,” Novak said. “The seniors have already been evaluated. Some of our seniors will run tomorrow, but it’s really a day for us to work on next year’s draft.”

Haldi said he had not given much thought to Pro Day but that it would be good to see the physical shape of himself and his teammates.

“In some sense, it’s important,” Haldi said. “But it changes when you’re on the football field. Just because you can run a good 40 time doesn’t mean you’d make a good football player.”