Bentley's Bernadeau just hoping for NFL shot

By Lenny Megliola, Daily News Staff



CHESTNUT HILL — It's only a few miles from Bentley College to Boston College. In a football sense, the distance is much greater. Scores of BC players have not only made it, but starred in the NFL. Bill Romanowski, Doug Flutie, Matt Hasselbeck, Marc Colombo, Fred Smerlas, Damien Woody, and that's just a sampling.

Number of NFL players that have come out of Bentley: Zero.

"We had a safety a few years ago, Ryan Ferguson, who played in a preseason game for the Patriots and intercepted a pass against the Cowboys," said Bentley coach Pete Yetten. But Ferguson was cut and never played in a regular season game.

Yesterday was Pro Day at Boston College. Twenty Eagles were there being weighed, timed, measured and questioned by some 22 teams. The main attraction was quarterback Matt Ryan, who could be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft next month.

There was one Bentley player, and he flew under the radar screen, which is hard to do when you're 6-foot-4, 307 pounds. But, hey, Mackenzy Bernadeau, an offensive lineman, missed the second half of last season after blowing out his knee against C.W. Post. So what was a Bentley guy who'd played in just five games in his senior year even doing at this Pro Day?

"It's been a dream of mine to play in the NFL since I was a freshman in high school, I just didn't think it'd come to this," said Bernadeau. "It's more than I expected."

He'll take anything of course. If he could sign as a free agent, that'd be OK. If he's the very last pick in the draft, he could live with that.

Contrast that with Ryan, who will be worth millions if he's just selected in the first round. Bernadeau, who played at Waltham High, didn't know which teams were paying serious attention to him. Ryan damn well knew they all were. The NFL's been tailing Ryan since his junior year.

While Bernadeau was mad at himself for not doing better - "I wasn't pleased" - Ryan felt he made a good impression. "I thought it went well."

Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards liked what he saw of Ryan, without going overboard. "He's going to play in our league, no question about that."

Here's what else Edwards said. "He's very athletic," only now he was talking about Mackenzy Bernadeau! These coaches don't miss a trick. But he's from Bentley, Herm. "It doesn't bother me that he played in a little division," said Edwards. NFL rosters were loaded with players from small schools, even some from Division II. Besides, said Edwards, "You never have enough linemen (in the NFL)."

The Bentley coaches helped arrange Bernadeau's audition yesterday. He would have crawled to BC on his hands and knees. A chance to impress NFL people doesn't come around every day to Bentley players.

"I knew I had to get to a Pro Day," said Bernadeau. Any time, any place.

Contrast that with Ryan. He didn't even throw at the Combine in Indianapolis, and didn't go to the Senior Bowl. The two-time ACC Player of the Year just wouldn't show his hand. Or arm. The NFL brain trusts weren't pleased of course, but Ryan felt he was in a good position. He would wait until yesterday to show off his golden wing, throwing to handpicked receivers, all former BC teammates, including Kevin Challenger and Framingham's Tony Gonzalez. "They caught a lot of touchdown passes" at BC, said Ryan. All from him. "I haven't thrown to Gonzalez for two years. He was one of my favorite receivers."

Early in the workouts linemen were tested for speed and agility under the Alumni Stadium practice bubble. Players were all over the turf, trying to run faster than they've even run in their lives, hoping someone would notice. Then it was time for Ryan. The makeshift field was cleared. It was like the Red Sea parting. Everyone stopped and stared at the 6-foot-5 tanned and handsome quarterback at center stage. There should have been a drum roll.

It was Matt Ryan's shining moment, or at least his moment to shine. Most of his 52 passes were on the money. But the coaches and scouts were looking at more than that. Quickness, arm strength, footwork, release. "He's the reason we're here," said Edwards.

Edwards had sat on the turf next to Ryan while the linemen were doing their thing. "Just trying to relax him," said Edwards. "He'd been waiting around since 10 a.m." It was about three o'clock when Ryan started slinging.

Edwards understood why Ryan waited until now to actually, you know, toss passes. "I think he's more comfortable in this home environment." Indeed. When his workout and press conference were over, Ryan did a number of interviews with local reporters who had covered his entire BC career. The same BC media relations people were setting up the interviews in a Conte Forum corridor very familiar to Ryan, who earnestly thanked all the BC people and fans. He even went over to a cop he knew and shook his hand. "He's a good kid," said Edwards.

But little was resolved yesterday. After all, Ryan was wearing shorts in a chosen environment and no 300-pound defensive lineman was steaming at him, no 60,000 fans were screaming. All Ryan had to do was throw. Edwards called it a "beauty contest." Teams interested in Ryan would still have to go back and look at game films. "Real football," said Edwards.

Bernadeau would like them to look at some Bentley films too. "I hope I impressed some people," he said. "They said they were pleased with my athleticism for my size. They said I moved my feet real well."

Yetten feels "he can be a sleeper. If he didn't get hurt his stock would've been a little higher. He's very intelligent, but he's got a lot to learn. He's only 21. He's only a baby. A 307-pound baby."

Matt Ryan's playing on Sundays. Sure thing. Different story for Mackenzy Bernadeau. "I can't be greedy," he said. "I just want a chance."