Trevon Mason threw up during his pro day workout Tuesday.
It wasn’t the first time Mason had vomited at Arizona Stadium. It was a regular occurrence during his time as a Wildcat.
The big defensive tackle said he has been batting mental-health issues, including anxiety and depression, for as long as he can remember. If he’s able to make a living in pro football, or whatever he ends up doing, he wants to help people who are enduring similar struggles.
“It's serious,” Mason said. “I didn’t want to admit it, but I've been dealing with it so long, I just had to come out to people to feel better.”
Mason can take comfort in knowing he’s not alone. NBA player Kevin Love, tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles are just some of the elite athletes who have brought mental health — once view as a taboo topic — to the forefront in recent years.
Mason said he once missed a practice because he needed a mental-health break.
“Sometimes you can't take it,” he said. “You can't deal with stuff.”
Mason almost always showed up for his team on game days. He appeared in 28 of 29 games over three seasons, including 25 starts. He compiled 106 tackles, 15 stops for losses and seven passes defensed.
Mason isn’t currently projected to be selected in the 2022 NFL draft. But neither was UA defensive tackle Roy Lopez heading into last year’s pro day. Lopez had an excellent workout, got picked in the sixth round and appeared in 16 games as a rookie for the Houston Texans, recording 29 tackles.
Lopez sent Mason a direct message Monday night, checking in on him and wishing him good luck. Pro day was as much about former Wildcats supporting one another as it was trying to make an impression on the NFL scouts in attendance.
Stanley Berryhill III said he was offering “little words of encouragement” to fellow receiver Thomas Reid III while they were running their routes.
“People were telling me they couldn't sleep last night,” Berryhill said. “My parents couldn't sleep. Players couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep. I know there's nerves and different types of feelings because it's a big interview right now.”
Berryhill said he wasn’t aware of Mason’s mental-health battle. Despite increasing awareness and acceptance, it’s still hard to open up. Mason said he didn’t want the scouts to see that he had vomited.
“If anybody’s struggling, you want to be there for your brother,” fellow defensive tackle Leevel Tatum III said. “I always ask everybody, ‘How you doing? You good?’ Something motivational to keep them going, because you never know what somebody's going through.”
Speedy Stanley
Berryhill already had made an impression on the NFL scouting community thanks to a strong showing at the East-West Shrine Bowl. But he still had something to prove on pro day.
Berryhill ranked second in the Pac-12 with 83 receptions last season. He also stood out on special teams and made first-team all-conference as an all-purpose player.
Questions lingered about Berryhill’s top-end speed, though. He averaged just 9.0 yards per catch and scored only one touchdown.
Berryhill put those concerns to rest by running the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds. That figure would have been 16th among wideouts at this year’s NFL scouting combine. Berryhill’s 37-inch vertical jump would have ranked ninth.
“It’s been a minute since I’ve gotten to run full speed during a play or a game,” Berryhill said. “Being able to check that box felt good.”
Berryhill, who grew up in Tucson, had a large cheering section — about 20 family members, many of whom wore jerseys bearing the Berryhill name.
Berryhill, Reid, fullback Clay Markoff and former UA walk-on and Tucson product Bryce Coleman, who finished his career at Western New Mexico, ran routes after the tests were completed. Current Arizona QB Will Plummer served as their quarterback.
Berryhill had thrown with Plummer before and after the UA’s spring break. They had a script, but the scouts changed it.
“We ran some different routes that we weren't expecting to run,” Berryhill said. “But we just go with the flow. Whatever they told us to do, we executed to the best of our ability.”
‘All you need is a shot’
If anyone can relate to Berryhill’s journey from walk-on to NFL hopeful it’s UA center Josh McCauley.
McCauley joined the program as a walk-on in 2016. He left as a four-year starter.
“I just hope to get a shot,” he said. “All you need is a shot. It's just ingrained in me now that an opportunity goes such a long way. It’s whatever you make of it, and I'm fine with that.”
If McCauley gets a chance in the pros, it almost certainly will be at center or guard. He did play tackle once this past season, when injuries decimated Arizona’s offensive line during the Cal game.
“I don’t know if I can, but I did,” McCauley said, laughing. “So that's out there. I don't really know what they're thinking. I did center stuff today. I did guard stuff today. So whatever they want me to do, I’ll do it.”
Former UA kicker Lucas Havrasik watches with pro scouts as his ball sails toward the uprights.
Long-range Lucas
Kicker Lucas Havrisik began his workout for scouts by kicking an NFL-distance extra point — 33 yards from the goalposts. He then moved farther and farther away.
Havrisik eventually made field goals from 60 and 66 yards — not a huge surprise for a player who twice tied the school record with 57-yard field goals.
Leg strength never has been a problem for Havrisik, who regularly ranked among the national leaders in touchback percentage. Consistency accuracy eluded him, however, so Havrisik spent the past two months trying to address that issue.
Havrisik trained at Carney Coaching under former NFL kicker John Carney, who ranks sixth all time in field goals made. Carney had an 82.4% success rate during his 20-plus-year career.
“He's a great coach, great mentor,” Havrisik said. “Kicking is really simple at the end of the day. He just told me to slow down my tempo, don't be so fast to the ball, just small stuff like that.”
Havrisik’s supporters included girlfriend Sam Thomas of the UA women’s basketball team. Havrisik will reciprocate by attending this weekend’s NCAA regional at McKale Center.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I’ll be there. Got to.”
Former UA linebacker Kenny Herbert performs the vertical leap under the watchful eyes of scouts at Tuesday's pro day.
Extra points
• Markoff had the most bench-press reps, racking up 38. Tatum was second with 34. Both would have surpassed anyone at this year’s scouting combine. Mason did not participate in the bench because of a shoulder injury suffered early in the 2021 season.
• Linebacker Anthony Pandy recorded 19 bench-press reps and ran the 40 in 4.65 seconds — .01 faster than projected first-round linebacker Devin Lloyd of Utah at the combine.
• Mason checked in at 290 pounds, about 20 below his usual playing weight. He’s been eating healthier food to try to change his physique. “They don't like my body type,” Mason said. Any parts in particular? “My stomach,” he said. “And I ain’t got no booty. So lift that up too.”
