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Chattahoochee High's Clint Boling Tests the NFL Waters

Varsity and UGA star meets prospective teams at NFL Combine.

From the beginning of his career at the University of Georgia it looked like Clint Boling was destined for the National Football League.

When the Chattahoochee High star started the third game of the 2007 season —his freshman year — he immediately became a staple along the offensive line, protecting quarterback Matthew Stafford, the NFL’s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2009, and later on a potential future top pick in Aaron Murray.

Few players can start in 49 college games in a career, second on UGA’s all-time list for non-kickers, and not have a resume built for the NFL. Boling has done just that and he’s spending this offseason sharing that resume.

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Boling was in Indianapolis recently working out and interviewing with prospective teams at the NFL Combine, the annual scouting showcase for college’s draft-eligible players.

In January, Boling spent a week in Mobile, Ala., participating in the Senior Bowl, an invitation-only All-Star game. There the league’s scouting process truly began and his contacts with interested teams started. The interviews he had there, Boling felt, were a good precursor to the more formal and intensive ones he would participate in at the Combine.

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“Going to the Senior Bowl helped as far as meeting a lot of scouts down there,” Boling said. “I’m just trying to go through the process. There are a lot of things about all that that helped me prepare for the Combine. “

The process for the offensive lineman is to get at least one team to believe he can contribute somewhere on their offensive line. That’s what the Combine is for. There, every interested franchise could see him push through workouts to determine if he was the right fit.

“I really just want to prove myself to the coaches,” Boling said. “You get an opportunity to meet offensive line coaches, offensive coordinators. I’m really trying to make an impression on them in the interview process and then go out there on Saturday when we run and show them I can compete.”

The offensive tackle is the high-profile position at the NFL level, the players on the outside edge paid to protect the quarterback, and while Boling believes he’s capable of playing that position, he also knows he can slide inside to guard, a more blue-collar style position.

He appreciates the fact that he played both positions at a high level in college and thinks teams will as well. The NFL’s roster numbers game means players that can do a variety of things can be very valuable.

“I started at right guard, right tackle and left tackle,” he said. “I think it helped a lot because NFL teams are dressing seven or eight guys (on offensive line), you have to be able to play multiple positions.”

He spent much of his time at the Senior Bowl showing off his versatility, taking many of his practice reps at guard, but also working out at tackle for one day.

Boling still believes the best recommendation he can make for himself to the league’s decision-makers is the game film he produced playing at UGA in the Southeastern Conference. Every year the SEC produces some of the top defensive linemen entering the NFL, many of which Boling played against.

“I feel like it’s helped me,” he said. “Obviously I feel like the SEC is the best conference. We’ve won national championships over the past four years. That’s a big accomplishment. Every year there are top-five and top-ten guys coming out of the SEC and I feel like playing against a lot of those guys has definitely helped me prepare my game to play at the next level.”

Everything about Boling’s college experience wasn’t just about preparing to take the next step. He cited his freshman year as one of his most thrilling experiences, a season that saw the Bulldogs win the Sugar Bowl and finish ranked No. 2 in the country.

Now, as he turns his eyes to the NFL, he carries with him the reputation of a player that is smart, reliable and talented. Many never even have the opportunity to prove any of those traits. He’s thankful he not only got his, but he took advantage of it, having his name in the starting lineup for those 49 games.

“That was a pretty big honor, it was definitely a huge accomplishment,” he said. “I got lucky too, it’s not all skill, I was lucky to be injury-free so it’s something I’m proud of.”

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