Draft Diary: Tonka Hemingway - Part 2

Former South Carolina defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway (2020-2024) is counting down to draft day. Hemingway was a Gamecock for five years, earned his degree, and now he’s chasing his dream of making it to the NFL. GamecocksOnline caught up with him for part two of his online diary after his recent workout at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis where he was one of 11 former Gamecocks invited to compete. (If you missed Part 1, click here.)

Tonka’s Draft Diary- Part 2

“My mindset going into the NFL Combine was to learn a little bit and just take in and enjoy the whole experience. You only go through that one time. It was a different experience, and I really enjoyed it. I learned some things and met some new people.

“I went to the Combine to show off my skill set, show that I could work hard, and show that I had good movement.

“I wasn’t nervous at all. I was more excited to see what would happen.

“You have some meetings with (NFL) teams – formal and informal. They ask a lot of questions about football and try to learn about how you are from the neck up. They get to know more about us and how much football we know.

“When it was over, I felt good. My brother (Junior, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs) went through it. I had talked to him a lot about the things he went through, so it was sort of a full-circle moment.

“I haven’t had a lot of feedback yet, other than from teammates and friends. It feels good to have so many of my teammates do it. All that work we did the last few years is showing up now. It was great that they got to show off their talents.

“Now, I just need to continue training. I’m back in Columbia to do that. It’s an everyday thing, Monday through Friday. I’ll probably have some weekends off. I feel more comfortable, for sure, training here because it’s somewhere I’ve been for five years.

“Now that I don’t have classes, I’m just playing the game and trying to get all the work in that I can get.

“Draft Day is next month, and I’m just taking it one day at a time. I haven’t planned out my draft day. I’ll just try to treat it like another day. I’ll be at home in Conway, South Carolina – Bucksville. I’ll probably just have my immediate family there. My mom and my dad and sisters.

“I don’t really know what round they think I’ll go, but I’m not worried about it. I’m going to get my shot.”