CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Lining up for the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine certainly comes with some nerves.
But for Jovaughn Gwyn, it didn't come close to what he felt before his recent beach proposal to his girlfriend.
"I would probably say I was more nervous for the question than the fourty," Gwyn said. "Once we started walking on the beach, and she started shaking a little, it made me shake a little. But it was good."
Life is good these days for Gwyn, who is training for the NFL.
The guard who helped Harding University High School to a memorable state championship run in 2017 just wrapped up an All-SEC career at South Carolina.
"Once I made it to the combine, and just talking to all the coaches, meeting all the players and everything, that's when I was like, this is real," Gwyn said. "Especially right before I ran the fourty."
Reality is setting in for the Charlottean.
He's just a week away from potentially being selected by an NFL team.
But on a recent visit to speak with high school football players in Charlotte, he drove home another important note.
"The biggest thing, especially in high school, keep your grades up," Gwyn said.
He backs that up, as he was oftentimes on the SEC's Academic Honor Roll, and graduated in 2022 with a degree in information science.
Now Gwyn will watch the draft here in Charlotte with his family.
"For me just to be able to make it not just because the hard work I put in, but just because of the things they did," Gwyn said. "I owe them a lot."