INDIANAPOLIS – Colston Loveland looked like he’d been in a rodeo accident.
Perhaps somewhere in the multiverse, he was?
Loveland, an All-Big Ten tight end who played for Michigan the past three seasons and projects as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, met with reporters at the scouting combine Thursday morning with his right arm in a heavy sling (no, he won’t be running the 40-yard dash).
He’s recovering from shoulder surgery and won’t be cleared to participate in full-contact drills for a few more months. However ESPN reported that Loveland’s surgeon wrote a letter to all 32 NFL teams in a bid to assure them that the former Wolverines star should be ready to roll for rookie minicamp in May and that he’d be a full participant whenever his future team’s training camp opens.
“It’s doing good, yeah, it feels great,” Loveland said when asked about his arm.
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“Surgery went great, got some X-rays – they look really good. Just taking it day by day.”
Loveland suffered the injury early last season and, though he often played through it, was limited to 10 games and couldn’t post against the hated Ohio State Buckeyes or in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama. He still managed 56 receptions and five touchdowns – personal bests during his time at Ann Arbor.
But a 20-year-old who grew up in Gooding, Idaho, nearly strayed from his football path as a teenager … because of the allure of rodeo.
“I got like into rodeo because of my cousin,” beamed Loveland, “he was big into it – all my cousins were. And I kinda started getting into it, and I was loving it. But it’s a lot – you’ve got to get horses, trailers, saddles – you’ve got to get the whole deal. And I was still playing football and basketball at the time.
“And I did talk about it with my family, but I was like, ‘I’m just gonna play basketball and football, keep it at that, and I’ll just hang around my cousins and do it with them.’ It’s fun, the rodeo stuff.”
And indicative of how Loveland’s Idaho roots have shaped him.
“I just love just like being out there, like every time I go home,” he said, “the land, it’s just open. All my family, my cousins, everyone’s out there.”
He cites Gooding’s small-town values and the blue-collar work ethic he consistently witnessed as positive influences on his football trajectory, saying, “That definitely had an impact on me.”
Yet he did enjoy occasionally missing school when it was time to brand his uncle calves ever year.
“That was always a good time,” said Loveland.
Asked if rodeo translated at all to football, he cited the toughness required and need to convert every time you get opportunities to be in the spotlight.
And though he won’t be riding Broncos, Loveland might be playing for them – relatively close to home – next season after meeting with Denver officials this week. Sean Payton is admittedly seeking a “Joker” type player for his offense and, coincidentally, Loveland tries to model his game after Jimmy Graham, who filled that role sublimely for Payton when he was coaching the New Orleans Saints.
“I would say I’m one of the best route-runners in this draft, I truly believe that. Think I’ve got great hands,” said Loveland.
“Feel like I’m pretty polished.”
If still a bit banged up as football is apparently a more dangerous endeavor for Loveland than rodeos ever were – given his answer when asked if he was ever hurt during one.
“No, I actually never did (get injured), which I was lucky enough not to,” he said.
“This is really the first kind of injury I’ve ever really had.”
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