Seventy-five high school athletes from across the state took an extra day to work out last week, participating Saturday in a free pro-style combine at Oak Mountain High School.

A number of local players, including a handful from Vincent High School and a dozen from Opelika, attended the event, which tested their strength, agility and conducted a medical and psychological evaluation. The design of the combine was modeled of that hopeful NFL players go through each year.

With an active schedule of camps going on over the weekend, the combine format is what helped draw certain players and parents to the Eporro.com-sponsored event.

“I like that it’s a combine and something that will help him go to the next level,” said George Mickens, whose son Tamar plays at Spain Park.

Vincent player Ben McKinney said the hardest part about the event was to work through the tightness and running with parachutes strapped to his waist.

Before the event started, former University of Alabama quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Bart Starr spoke to the group about attitude.

The combine will take place again this Friday and Saturday, as participants will be able to have their drills videoed to go on their Eporro.com Web site.

Eporro is a recruiting service based out of offices in Hoover and Upstate New York.