Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, Blake Hayes was never able to watch the Super Bowl live. With the time zone difference being 17 hours, the game always fell on a Monday, right in the middle of Hayes' school day.
But what he could watch was the NFL Combine. Once he started playing football in Australia, he sat down each year and watched NFL prospects showcase their talents before the draft.
"It's just an amazing opportunity," Hayes said, "As soon as I started this whole process back home, the combine was one of the first things I watched. And I used to not be able to take the day off school to watch the Super Bowl because it is on a Monday and second option was watching the combine. So it's kind of crazy, full circle to come back to this. But it's such a great opportunity. I've already had such a great time learning from these guys, and also speaking to teams, and just understanding what the next level is about and what the expectations are."
Hayes participated in the combine's punting drills on Sunday evening, giving NFL scouts and teams the chance to see the consistency he's built through the last five years. But Hayes' conversations with teams and the other punters at the combine was equally as important for him.
Because there are just nine specialists invited to the combine, Hayes was familiar with everyone and the group spent a lot of their down time discussing their punting processes and college careers.
While Hayes spent a lot of time telling teams about his punting process and how his career at Illinois progressed, he made sure to learn from NFL coaches and staff as well. For teams who have veteran punters on their teams, he asked what those players do well and why they've become so successful. He was also able to learn what teams want him to work on what parts of his game they see as NFL ready.
"My time at Illinois, specifically with punting, I thought I was able to show some good things. There was some things that I needed to work on after the season. Specifically with my hang time, and I think, coming out of the season, I've been working really hard on that. I'm excited to show those guys that improvement that I've been making, and just continuing to show that throughout the process. And just learning about how to communicate with the guys and with the teams. It's been a great process just picking their brains, them picking my brain about what goes into it and my process my routine and all that that's been really good."
Hayes, a five-year starting punter at Illinois, was one of just five punters invited to the NFL Combine. Earning the invite was a nod to Hayes' consistency but also steady improvement throughout college.
By his sophomore year, Hayes already held the second-best career punting average in Illinois program history. The next season, Hayes was named the 2019 Big Ten Punter of the Year as he broke six Illinois single-season punting records.
In 2020, Hayes officially become Illinois' leader in career punting yardage and was named a top NFL Draft punting prospect by Mel Kiper. But his final season with the Illini was arguably his best, averaging a career-high 45.12 yards per punt and landing 34 punts inside the 20-yard line. He was named a Ray Guy Award semifinalist, one of just 10 punter in the nations to be honored.
"Coach Bielema put me in such a great position to be successful," Hayes said. "The staff he built around special teams with Coach Miller and Coach Froelich, they really just gave me that platform to be myself and punt the way I wanted to. And I think it really panned out really well. And just the way they developed me on and off the field. Coach B took a great interest in me as a person which I really valued and that kind of transcended into my game a little bit. it made me a little bit more comfortable out there, he gave me a few more responsibilities, which I always like. And Coach B just did a great job organizing the special teams unit and making sure that we're 100% on game day."
Since the 2021 season, Hayes has spent most of his time in Champaign as he is finishing up classes this semester. He has been able to train with some of the former Illini who are preparing for Illinois' Pro Day. Hayes will be one of the guys participating in drills this Friday in front of more NFL scouts and coaches.
The entire experience of preparing for the NFL Draft, specifically the combine, has been surreal for Hayes. He feels he has established a solid foundation with some teams and hopes to keep proving why his name should be called on draft day.
"I'm excited to showcase just the direction that I showed in college, a very old school way of putting, which a lot of coaches value. And then as I said before, I've been working on the hangtime, been trying to improve that over this course. And I'm excited to show that I've done that improvement to the coaches and give them confidence that I can do that on the field."
