It’s become nearly a daily experience for former San Benito High and Gavilan College standout Wade Jacobson. A trip to Gold’s Gym will be filled with the same thing each day: Lots of sweat, some heavy lifting and a ton of handshakes.
Jacobson, who spent three years at Washington State, is one of the many hopefuls waiting for the chance to hear his name during the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday and finishes Saturday. And because of that, the six-foot-six-inch, 300-pound, curly headed lineman is a hard person to miss each day at Gold’s Gym.
Despite the circling crowd or the gawking eyes, it’s not a social hour for Jacobson, instead it’s nearly two hours of hard work getting ready for what’s to come in the weeks ahead.
After nearly four months dedicating his life for the last weekend of April and his future, Jacobson is aching to finally receive that phone call telling him his destination.
“I’m not a big fan of the unknown, “ Jacobson said. “I was telling my parents I got to pick my college. I knew where I was going. I knew where I was going to live. Right now, I have no idea. I can be in Florida. I can be in New York. I can be down the street. I can be anywhere. Once I get that phone call and I know where I’m going it will be a sigh of relief. I’ll know where I’m going.”
And the anticipation is only building until Saturday night, when no matter what happens he’ll know what city and franchise he’ll play for.
“I’ll know Saturday night,” he said. “I’m stressed waiting. It’s stressful sitting around doing nothing but this is something that is four or five years in the making. It’s going to be real exciting.”
After spending nearly two months in Utah preparing for his pro day at Washington State, Jacobson has spent the last month and half building strength and fielding calls from NFL teams. More than 10 organizations have contacted him over the last couple of months, asking questions about his past, Jacobson said. Over the last week, they’ve been confirming his contact information just in case his name is called.
“You can’t over think the situation,” he said. “You get a phone call and you think of it as a positive and don’t get your hopes up. You stay strong. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.”
After a relatively quiet period following Washington State’s final game of the year, Jacobson receives a phone call or email from a team almost daily, he said. After nearly two months of fielding calls, its become part of his routine.
“I’m trying to find things around the house to do to keep my mind off it,” he said. “Basically, I’ve thought about going out of town but I won’t. A few weeks ago, my parents went out of town and I wasn’t going to go because I was afraid I was going to miss a phone call from a team.”
His daily workout has also because a routine. When he wakes up in the morning, he quickly stretches out to get his body moving. After finishing chores, he gets body treatment. Later in the day he returns to the gym to load up on muscle building and getting into football shape.
“It’s transitioning from cutting my weight back in Utah and getting my numbers up there to getting in shape and more of football workout,” Jacobson said. “It’s no longer the lower weights, I’m working on the heavier weights. Basically right now it’s trying to say healthy.”
Over the weekend, though, that workout will transition to waiting with family and friends in front of the television and phone. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’ve always thought about having a big party with a barbecue,” Jacobson said. “But I don’t want to be stressed on that day. I’m already going to be. It needs to be quiet. I want to be able to answer the phone when I need to. We are going to have a family barbecue and have a few friends over. I want to get that phone call in my living room with them there.”
When the call comes in, the last five years will be worth all the pain, he said.
“It will show just to see how far I’ve come,” Jacobson said. “I’ve had a lot negatives in my career, whether it’s injuries or not winning games. It’s funny you go back and my best season I’ve ever had was my sophomore or junior year of high school and we won like five games. That’s the most wins I’ve ever had in a season. To come from there to this. All that hard work and dedication paid off and there is no greater feeling than that.”
