PHOENIX — Inside a state-of-the-art training facility near Loop 101 and Cave Creek Road, the sound of determination, motivation, and hard work echoes throughout. The athletes at EXOS in north Phoenix are bringing all of it to reach their dreams of sports stardom.
“You got to put in what you’re going to get out,” said Rashaad White.
When ABC15 toured EXOS earlier this year, draft prospects like Arizona State University running back Rashaad White were honing their skills.
“The NFL dream, you know, you’re almost there but you still have some walls to knock through,” said White.
To get there, White competes daily with the best of the best. It's a camaraderie of competition EXOS Coach Nicholas Hill has carefully crafted.
“These guys are competitors, their sport is competition, they need to feed off of that,” said Hill.
They need not look far, being cheered on and challenged by the NFL hopefuls all around them.
“I know what the top looks like, so every time I’m in that drill, it’s good to get the close numbers, try and reach and beat and just compete with all the guys,” said Kyler Gordon.
Kyler Gordon, cornerback at the University of Washington, says the atmosphere is unlike any other. He is seeing the changes in his body and numbers by trusting the process and those he now considers friends.
“No one's hating on anybody, no one's envious or anything like that. Everyone's motivating each other, pushing each other, and bringing them up so everyone's here to get better and achieve their dreams,” said Gordon.
That’s why EXOS has trained the likes of star receivers Odell Beckman Jr. and DK Metcalf, not to mention hundreds of Olympians.
“For me, this is everything that I’ve always dreamed of, the moment we’re living in right now is everything (we) football, top-level football players dream of so just giving the best we got out here,” said UCLA defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight.
