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For Penn State's Brandon Bell, a chance to impress scouts at pro day

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Over dinner the night before pro day, Eric Bell had a question for his son, Penn State linebacker Brandon Bell.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Over dinner the night before pro day, Eric Bell had a question for his son, Penn State linebacker Brandon Bell.

"He said, 'Did you see yourself being here?' " Brandon Bell recalled Thursday. "I said, 'Oh yeah, that is what you play football for.'"

The Mays Landing native and Oakcrest High School graduate displayed optimism about his future despite the obstacles that have filled his last few months.

After suffering an elbow injury in Penn State's Rose Bowl loss to Southern California, Bell did not receive an invitation to the Senior Bowl or the NFL scouting combine.

"Pro day was big for me, obviously," Bell said. "A lot of people wanted to see how I am physically."

Bell made 88 tackles in 10 games this season. But inside Holuba Hall on Thursday morning, he had something to prove.

He wasn't the only one. Eleven Penn State players took part in this year's pro day, doing drills in front of a bevy of NFL scouts, including three representatives from the Eagles.

Bell said he was pleased with his 40-yard dash and his vertical jump but did not disclose what his times and measurements were. Official results were not released.

Penn State's pro day participants included two who had already worked out at the combine: defensive end Garrett Sickels and wide receiver Chris Godwin, who has received considerable buzz after an impressive showing in Indianapolis. CBS Sports predicted Godwin would be a second-round prospect after the combine.

Godwin chose not to redo any of the tests he completed at the combine. Instead, he just took part in positional drills, making difficult catch after difficult catch in front of the scouts. Godwin said he has private workouts scheduled with a "good amount of teams," including the Eagles and Steelers.

At the combine, the 6-foot-1, 209-pound receiver ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash. He logged a 4.0-second 20-yard shuttle time and 19 reps on the 225-pound bench press.

Godwin said he was excited to see what the coming months would bring.

"Now I can just focus on the football," Godwin said. "After the draft, whichever team I'm with, I'm going to be ready to play."

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-3, 253-pound Sickels went into pro day looking to bounce back from a lackluster combine performance. In Indianapolis, Sickels ran a 4.9-second 40-yard dash and recorded a 28-inch vertical jump and a 104-inch broad jump, the worst broad jump by a defensive end.

"I wasn't really happy with the way I performed at the combine. I don't think anyone would be," Sickels said. "Today was a day to just check off some boxes for myself."

One of those boxes? Improving his 40-yard dash time. Sickels said his time dropped to 4.7.

The defensive end also did positional drills with the defensive line and linebackers group. He said he would be willing to play either role if given the opportunity in the NFL, noting that he played linebacker in high school.

Philadelphia native Nyeem Wartman-White took part in linebacker drills on Thursday. He did not do any other testing but said he finally felt healthy after tearing his ACL in September.

Despite having hardly any recent film to show teams (he missed most of the last two seasons with injuries), Wartman-White said he couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to advance to the next level.

As a child, even before he played football, Wartman-White said, he would run 40-yard dashes in his front yard every time the combine came around.

"I can't see myself just giving up," Wartman-White said. "I love football and I have too much pride to look back 20 years from now and think, 'What if I tried?' "

@ErinMcPSU