Emmanuel Acho

You got to write it down, commit it to memory.

So I highlighted the sheet of paper, Dear Emmanuel, you won't be drafted in the first three rounds, and I put it above my bed in my condo in Austin, Texas.

Every morning I woke up, I looked at it.

Dear Emmanuel, you won't be drafted in the first three rounds.

Every night before I went to sleep, I looked at it.

Dear Emmanuel, you won't be drafted in the first three rounds.

I worked tirelessly my senior year in college with one goal in mind.

be drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL draft.

Those are the most prestigious rounds after all.

6 a.m.

workouts in college, study hall, class, I'm doing it all with one goal in mind.

Well, fast forward one year later.

I'm at the NFL Combine.

The NFL Combine, it is the job interview.

I'm in front of 32 billionaires, 32 of the richest men in America, if not the richest men in the world.

They are the owners of every NFL team.

I'm running the 40-yard dash.

The 40-yard dash is one of the testing metrics you use at the NFL Combine.

With millions of dollars on the line, the faster you run, the higher you get drafted.

I take my mark.