Of all high school athletes who compete for their high school’s football team, only 6.9 percent of these athletes will go on to play at a NCAA sponsored school. Then, of those 73,063 NCAA college athletes, only 253 of those will be drafted into the NFL.

With these statistics, the odds of any high school football player making it to the professionals are very slim. Despite these low chances, it doesn’t stop sophomore Hunter Push’s efforts and dreams of one day playing for an NFL team.

“My goal is to play in the pros, but for now I’m just focusing on making it to college,” said Push.

To help with these odds, on Jan. 4, 2019, Push attended a football combine, hosted by Football University (FBU) in San Antonio Texas, at the Alamodome.

FBU has a reputation of putting out college and NFL level athletes that go on to be successful, and competitive in their sport. One out of every two FBU camp participants receive scholarships or funding from colleges to play football.

FBU has put out players such as Trevor Lawrence, the University of Clemson quarterback who recently won the national championship, Nick Chubb, the Cleveland Browns running back, former Heisman trophy winner and Marcus Mariota quarterback of the Tennessee Titans, and 46 alumni drafted in the 2016 NFL draft.

With Push attending this program, it helped his efforts of becoming a college and NFL football player.

The combine Push participated in was attended by the top 600 underclassmen in the nation.

“I scored pretty well in my combine events,” Push said.

Even having to go up against some five-star recruits from Texas, Push “paired up pretty well against them.”

Each participant went through drills to put up their best scores in the 40 Yard dash, short shuttle, vertical jump, and one on one competition.

Attending the combine was a big step for Push towards achieving the goal of playing college football. With college scouts there to witness the 600 athletes, it gave Push a chance to show colleges that he is the “real deal.” This is not the first time that Push has had an interaction with a college football coach.

Push has previously been visited by University of Nebraska coaches and Kansas State coaches.

Becoming a professional athlete, let alone a college athlete, is no simple task. Statistically, the odds are against anyone who tries. This does not stop Push from competing and achieving his goals that will lead him to the big stage which is college and professional football.