For many who have followed Matt Elam since his early days playing football in Palm Beach County, it is surreal to see him on the verge of starting his pro career.
Not to Bobby Sifrit.
“I know it’s going to sound like I think I know everything, but honestly, I always expected this of Matt,” said Sifrit, who coached Elam for three years as Dwyer High School’s defensive coordinator. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I could tell immediately he had special skills. His acceleration, his toughness, his smarts. I knew he’d get here.”
Others have seen that potential along the way — including Urban Meyer and Jimbo Fisher, who battled for his commitment in the final days of his recruitment — and NFL teams recently have taken notice, too. When the NFL draft begins Thursday (8 p.m., NFL Network and ESPN), Elam has a strong chance of being taken in the first round. If not, the safety should go early in the second round Friday (6:30 p.m., NFL Network and ESPN).
He plans to watch it unfold on television with family and friends in his hometown of Riviera Beach.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have him as a second-rounder, going 37th to Cincinnati and 34th to San Francisco, respectively. Many analysts have him going in the first round, as high as No. 19 to the New York Giants.
Elam has been working toward an NFL destination for years. The majority of that effort has been in the weight room and on the field, though the last few months have presented a different type of challenge.
Since wrapping up his Florida career at the Sugar Bowl in January, he has been through a flurry of training, evaluations and meetings. He navigated without an agent, relying on his older brother and a publicist to fill many of the roles.
“It’s been a very tough process,” Elam said. “You just go day by day and get yourself fired up by going to the gym. You go out there and work and let everything else happen by itself and just wait. Whatever team I go to, it’ll be a blessing.”
Abram Elam, an NFL safety who played at Cardinal Newman, is advising him on draft preparation and helping pay his expenses. Matt Elam also has hired Atlanta-based publicist Ashley Kerns. In addition to managing media opportunities, Kerns assisted him with travel itineraries, trading card endorsements and an appearance at Sports Authority in Gainesville. She also has been in contact with Nike, Adidas and Under Armor.
For someone like Elam who would prefer to concentrate strictly on football, Kerns and his brother are vital teammates.
“I’ve worked with players who will do three interviews a day; Matt’s not that guy,” Kerns said. “He’s not pushing an agenda or launching a brand. He just wants to stay fresh and focus on football.”
Elam, 21, is believed to be the only potential first-round pick without an agent. It does not seem to be hindering him. Kerns said he recently worked out for Carolina, Atlanta and Kansas City, and has been in discussions or meetings with at least eight other teams, including Miami.
While he intends to hire an agent after he is picked, he has been counting on his brother in the meantime. Abram Elam, 31, has been in the league since 2005 and advised him to take as much time as he wanted.
“We’ve delayed the agent process,” Abram Elam said. “A lot of kids don’t have the resources to pay for training and things like that, but we’ve been able to push that back because he has somebody like myself to enable him to do those things.”
Most of Matt Elam’s training has been in Delray Beach and Gainesville.
He was at XPE Sports in Delray under Tony Villani, who described him as a 5-foot-10, 208-pound missile. He honed Elam’s running form and flexibility alongside several other draft hopefuls early this year.
Villani was pleased with Elam’s performance and believes he has a great handle on his upcoming plunge into the NFL.
“He’s ahead of where he needs to be,” he said. “Most of these kids have a hard time grasping what’s ahead of them, but Matt gets it. Some of these kids think they’ll just be handed a 10-year NFL career and it’ll be easy. Matt understands that these two months are just one step on a big stairway.”
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