'It's just a great experience': Tonka Hemingway's takeaways from Pro Day 2025
After a solid performance at the NFL Combine, Tonka Hemingway participated in South Carolina’s Pro Day last week. All 32 NFL teams were represented at Pro Day and watched Hemingway and others perform in testing and drills.
As a result of how Pro Day went, Hemingway is grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I feel good,” Hemingway said. “I was telling everybody, I’m just taking it all in. This only happens one time, I’m just taking it all in. It’s a fun experience. Knowing me I’m not really a talking person but this whole process is nothing but talking really from the head up so it’s just a great experience.”
Hemingway ran just over a five-second 40-yard dash timing in at 5.01 seconds. However, the 40-yard dash was the only testing Hemingway participated in at Pro Day.
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Despite the hype and honor around receiving an invitation to the NFL Combine, nothing beats performing at home.
“I’ve been here for 5 years,” Hemingway said. This is where I’m more comfortable. It’s like when you go home it just feels like it’s right.”
As a part of the NFL Combine, Hemingway recorded a 32-inch vertical, a 9’4″ broad jump and a 4.48-second 20-yard shuttle. Hemingway found himself graded 5.94 after the NFL Draft, landing him as the 28th-ranked defensive tackle from the combine.
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“All the prep started when you went to train so that’s back in like January, February,” Hemingway said. “All that work to come out here for a total of 30 minutes every exercise but it all pays off in the end.”
The process of interviewing and practicing with NFL teams is similar to the college recruitment process. However, Hemingway is not known for his talkative personality and the NFL interviews have been a process of its own. But that’s starting to change now that he’s entering a whole new ballgame.
“It’s like starting the process all over,” Hemingway said. “You’re trying to come to college and really just talking up yourself really being honest, really being yourself.”
