PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University (WSU) running back Max Borghi is working to make his dream of playing for the National Football League (NFL) a reality. Following his final season with the Cougars, the WSU senior earned an invite to the NFL combine on Monday.
"It hasn’t really sunk in that I’m training for the NFL even. It’s all kind of surreal," Borghi said.
Borghi said he was never unleashed like he could have been throughout his college football career, and he believes he has more to show the world than what he did at WSU.
"I would like to be in an offense where I’m running the ball amount and catching the ball a good amount. Obviously, in Leach’s offense, it was mainly just catching the ball and not really running the ball at all," he explained. "Under Rolo’s offense, it was kind of just running the ball a little bit and not really catching the ball. I think if you mix a little bit of both of those offensive styles and I find the right place, I think it can be real special and real explosive."
While he is striving to increase his explosive moves and runs, other people have doubts, including NFL scouts.
However, Borghi said that doubt motivates him to work harder.
"It’s like, ‘He lacks speed. He lacks quick feet and agility.’ It’s almost a good thing they think that because I know what I’m capable of," he said.
Borghi will have a chance to prove those doubters wrong at the NFL combine, which he received an invite to on Monday.
"Obviously, I’ve worked really hard to get to this point and the combine event is a pretty big milestone just to go show everyone all your athletic abilities," he said. "I’m excited to do that."
Ahead of this exciting milestone, Borghi did make the decision to opt-out of the Sun Bowl game against Central Michigan. He said the decision was not made lightly, but his teammates and coaches were understanding of his decision.
"It’s obviously a really tough decision. I’m a team-first guy, and I love my teammates and have been through so much with my teammates. Looking at my future, obviously, three of my starting [offensive] linemen that it’d been playing with this season were out due to injuries, opt-outs, transfers," Borghi said. "Without them, I’m really nothing in my opinion. It was a tough decision, but at the end of the day, I looked at it and say, ‘Hey, I can go start training early and get ahead of people and get going on my dreams and my goals."
Borghi said WSU is the place that gave him the opportunity to establish his dreams and goals.
"I just want to say thank you to every single one of [the fans]. They’re always going to have a special spot in my heart," he said. "Just looking back and thinking about those games where we’re down and they’re chanting my name and we get the ball and score. Being a Coug is special and only Cougs know what being a Coug is all about."