Washburn’s Hinton continues chasing NFL dream through pandemic

TOPEKA, KS (KSNT) – Washburn All-American Kyle Hinton continues to train for the NFL and despite uncertain times, his resolve remains the same.

“You’re not gonna find many guys my size that can move like I can,” Kyle Hinton says when asked why NFL teams should draft him.

Hinton was a four time all-conference player on the offensive line for the Ichabods, but the coronavirus pandemic has made training for the NFL more difficult.

“I can’t really work out at the school anymore,” says Hinton. I can’t really go to commercial gyms anymore, so mostly doing at home workouts, running around trying to keep in shape.”

Hinton had multiple workouts with NFL teams that were canceled.

“Teams like the Colts, Patriots, Jaguars and other teams calling me, calling my agent, trying to schedule workouts and things like that,” said Hinton.

Hinton is missing out on key exposure opportunities because of that.

“Definitely for somebody like me, a small schooler that really needs the exposure to go face to face with these front offices to get to know me not just on film, but me as a person,” he adds.

Those workouts have been substituted with online meetings. Hinton says he’s facetimed with the Colts twice and the Patriots once.

Fortunaely for Hinton, he had a standout performance at K-State’s pro day earlier this month.

“That was a great experience. I trained two months in Phoenix for it, so it was just a really big day for me,” says Hinton.

Hinton benched 225 pounds an impressive 34 times.

“It was actually pretty tiring benching that long, so I was really happy to get 34 and get it over with,” Hinton tells KSNT.

Hinton also played in the NFLPA Bowl back in January at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

“That experience really went well for me. It allowed me to showcase my skills going against top-tier guys and exposed myself to other NFL teams that I can hang with the big dogs,” said Hinton.