CHARACTER COUNTS

QB Malik Willis lends helping hand outside NFL Draft Combine

Mar 3, 2022, 1:51 PM | Updated: Mar 4, 2022, 11:07 am

Prospects flex their athleticism in drills and check character boxes during interviews at the NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, but Liberty quarterback Malik Willis may have made quite the impression when he thought nobody was watching.

Somewhere outside the combine, Willis was caught on camera handing clothes out of his travel bag to a person sitting on the street.

After he wowed observers with his workout, Willis explained on the NFL Network broadcast, “I walked past her on the way to the Nike suite and I chopped it up with them and I walked out with a suitcase and whatnot. And I felt bad because I saw her son. It was a pregnant lady and she was homeless.

“And I was just like, ‘Shoot, I don’t have no money, but I can give you a couple of shirts.’”

Willis didn’t know anybody was watching his spontaneous act of kindness.

“I just felt like I had to do that,” he said. “I mean, I’m at a position right now where I’m not worried about much of anything except getting better. So, if I can help her out any way, I felt like I had to.”

Willis threw for 2,857 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season for the Flames, completing 61% of his passes. He also rushed 197 times for 878 yards and 13 scores.

The quarterback measured in at 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds Thursday, and he may not need much work to rise up the board.

He, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett and Ole Miss’ Matt Coral are among the likely quarterback prospects who could go off the board in the first round of the draft.

Willis, who spent time in college at Auburn before starring at Liberty, is making good impressions before the on-field work.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Western Governors University

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