By Nate Owen, News Staff

Northeastern tight end Brian Mandeville has already made his talents known in the Colonial Athletic Association. Now he’s getting ready to’ take those talents to the big stage in preparation for continuing his career in the NFL.
After having already played in the East-West Shrine game in Houston Jan. 17, the senior will head to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to take part in the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine from Feb. 18 to Feb. 24.
The 6’7, 253-pound Walpole native is one of 16 tight ends invited to the combine and one of only two from from’ the Football Championship Subdivision. He is the first Husky to take part in the event since linebacker Liam Ezekiel’ in 2005. The combine will be’ televised on NFL Network and puts players through a series of drills, tests and interviews with more than 600 NFL personnel including head coaches, general managers and scouts.
‘I’m a little bit nervous,’ Mandeville said of going to the combine. ‘[But] I’d say I’m more excited.’
The two-time second team All-CAA Football selection and two-time All-New England pick said he first got an inkling he would be invited to the combine last season when he talked to several scouts.
The process of selecting a player to participate is an elongated one, said Northeastern football head coach Rocky Hager.
NFL scouts review film of’ noticeable players and pass it along to their respective front offices. When a player becomes a rising senior, scouts come to look at film from a player’s junior season.
‘Brian’s junior season had some very nice highlights for him,’ Hager said.
In April, Mandeville impressed several scouts by running at the Reggie Lewis Center, which sparked even more interest, Hager said.
‘More and more teams started to come in and pay attention to him,’ Hager said. ‘We had summer inquiries about coming to see him during camp. I believe all but two franchises have been in here to watch him with no less than one particular evaluator. We’ve had player personnel directors in here from three clubs, some of those player personnel folks are vice presidents, not just player personnel guys. I would say the interest is quite sincere.’
To prep for the combine, Mandeville is currently training in Carlsbad, Calif. with several other rookie clients who share the same agent, including running backs Ian Johnson (Boise State) and Javon Ringer (Michigan State) and quarterback Hunter Cantwell (Louisville)
‘It’s good being around this level of competition, it drives you a little more and makes things competitive,’ he said.
Mandeville said his workouts for the combine have consisted of running the 40-yard dash, working on shuttle drills and bench press work. It’s been ‘pretty repetitive,’ he said.
He’s heading to the combine after a strong showing at the East-West Shrine game.
‘ ‘A very good friend of mine was [at the Shrine game],’ Hager said. ‘I asked him to call me when he was finishing the East squad practice. He shared his observation of Brian [and said] ‘He’s the best tight end [of the three] on the East squad. He works very hard, maybe a tight end on the West squad would be comparable.”
For Mandeville, the game gave him a chance to test his skills against higher level competition.
‘It was awesome,’ he said. ‘It was a great opportunity, especially coming from a [FCS] school. It went well. I definitely helped myself out.’
As he prepares to play at the pro level, Mandeville said he has gotten advice from former teammate and friend Kendrick Ballantyne. The former Northeastern tight end went through a similar routine two years ago before ultimately being signed by the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent following the NFL draft.
‘He’s a good friend of mine,’ Mandeville said. ‘He’s a great person to talk to because he went through this process a couple years ago. He gives me techniques for the drills, but mostly he said to try and stay level headed. Bad things are going to happen so don’t get discouraged and keep my spirits up.’
In addition to the workouts at the combine, Hager said each player goes through a series of interviews to give prospective clubs a better look at their personality.
‘The player personnel guy comes in for an interview [and they’ll] probably have their tight end coach there too, just to find out what kind of demeanor you have in those settings,’ Hager said. ‘Brian is confident but isn’t a cocky guy. He’s really special. He’s one of those guys that when good things happen to him you feel really good for him.’
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