INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — David Blough spent the past four seasons bouncing around the NFL as a backup quarterback, who became a feature on both of last season’s “Hard Knocks” series, training camp with the Detroit Lions and in season with the Arizona Cardinals.
He has one huge fan at this week’s NFL annual scouting combine — Christian Gonzalez, who some consider the best cornerback prospect in this year’s draft.
The reason: Blough is Gonzalez’s brother-in-law and football consultant.
“He’s been a big resource,” the former Oregon star said Thursday as defensive backs and special teams players arrived in Indianapolis. “He’s someone in my direct family that I can talk to, who has been through the process.”
At 6-foot-2, 201 pounds, Gonzalez has the size/speed combination teams crave and quarterbacks fear.
It’s all part of the family tree.
Blough’s wife, Melissa, competed for Colombia in the 2020 Olympics. Another sister, Samantha, was a track and field All-American at the University of Miami. Gonzalez’s 6-foot-9 father, Hector, played basketball at UTEP.
And then there’s Blough, the former Purdue quarterback and undrafted free agent who become a regular around the family home.
“He’s somebody I talked to growing up all the time,” Gonzalez said. “I remember playing with him when I was like 10 years old, just running around throwing the ball. It’s come full circle. It’s great to have him in my corner.”
Now, with Blough set to become a free agent again later this month, Gonzalez would like one more chance to run around his old pal — on an NFL field.
“I would love that, we talked about that all the time,” Gonzalez said when asked about playing against Blough. “Back home, you know, we’re a real close-knit family. We’re always talking about it. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve never done it, but it would be exciting. He doesn’t talk the most smack, but he still talks smack.”
DOUBLE TAKE
When the NFL released its alphabetical list of combine invitees in late January, some readers may have thought there was a misprint near the bottom of the defensive linemen.
The successive lines read: Byron Young, Alabama and Byron Young, Tennessee.
It’s no mistake.
The former SEC players first met when they were both coming out of junior college. Naturally, it was because of a mix-up.
“Someone tagged me instead of tagging him, and I found out that it was another Byron Young,” the Volunteers alum said. “So, we just follow each other on Instagram and Twitter and stuff like that.”
As if seeing the names together wasn’t confusing enough, the two also have been preparing for the combine at the same training facility.
How can football fans separate them?
“He goes by B-Y, I’ll go by Byron,” the former Crimson Tide player said. “He’s a great guy.”
EARLY START
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. also is considered a likely first-round prospect and not just because of family pedigree.
As the son of the former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro linebacker, Porter got some early insight into the pro game that most children — or adults — never do.
“I remember as a kid I did one-on-one against Antonio Brown, so that was a nice treat,” Porter said. “I know he wasn’t going 100 percent, but just to be able to line up against him was something special.”
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