Pierce explains why he left Temple

INDIANAPOLIS - Having a baby due in July helped Temple running back Bernard Pierce make the decision to leave school early and enter the NFL draft, he told reporters here Friday.

"That was the deciding factor of me coming out, yes," Pierce said. But he added that several other considerations also played into his decision to skip his senior season.

Pierce, who said he hopes to "turn a couple heads" with his 40-yard dash time here Sunday, also cited his success at Temple and the wear on his body after carrying a heavy workload.

"I felt like I accomplished a lot, and you know I've been taking 250-plus carries a year, so it's a lot of wear and tear on the body," said Pierce, who had 273 rushes last season, 154 in 2010, and 236 as a freshman. "You never know what's promised for next year. I could possibly break something, or something could happen, and it would be a changing factor in my life."

Pierce, from Ardmore, said NFL advisers have given him a third-round grade.

"It was time for me to become a man. I'm about to start my own family and I need to be able to support my family and my child," he said.

Pierce scored 27 touchdowns last season, but scouts have knocked his speed.

"I want everybody to know that I am fast. A lot of people are saying that I'm a 4.6, 4.7 guy, so [Sunday] I'll prove to everybody that I do have speed on me," he said. "And I want to show people that I can catch the ball, because in our system they really didn't feed the back the ball as much as I would like. Those two subjects . . . that's really what I'm here for."

Pierce would not say what he hopes to run in the 40.

"I'm trying to turn a couple heads, so I can't really say that right now," he said.

Pierce is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad Wilkerson and the Eagles' Jaiquawn Jarrett, Temple alumni who were picked in the first and second rounds last year.

"I'm thankful for the people that were before me that set the foundation," he said. "We're just building on top of it."

Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez ran the 40 in 4.58 seconds, the third-fastest at his position. . . . Penn State offensive lineman Johnnie Troutman (Pemberton High) bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times, tied for fifth best among linemen. His time in the three-cone drill was near the bottom of the class.

Former Ravens coach Brian Billick had an eye-popping assessment Friday of quarterback Robert Griffin III.

"This is the best throwing athlete I've seen come out in a while. Far better than Michael Vick in my opinion. Far better than Cam Newton," Billick said.