Feb. 19--INDIANAPOLIS -- DaVaris Daniels was eager to arrive here at the NFL scouting combine. Not only does the former Notre Dame receiver want to get back to football after he was suspended last season for his involvement in an academic cheating scandal, this week of interviews with NFL teams also is an opportunity for him to explain himself.
"I know what I can do," Daniels said Thursday. "People haven't seen me in a while. Even getting the story out there -- getting them the details of what actually went down, everything -- the whole combine is big for me."
Daniels last month decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL draft. It ended a rocky college career interrupted by two academic suspensions. Daniels said he is being honest with teams about it all, but he declined to publicize specifics during Thursday's media session when asked what teams want to know.
"Just the details of it, which I can tell them," he said. "I'm not really going to release it to anybody. It's some things a lot of people would never understand. I pretty much just break it down for them and give them that insight, and I think it's going well."
Daniels said he never thought about transferring from Notre Dame.
"I always wanted to go back to Notre Dame," he said. "Unfortunately, some things happened that, you know, wasn't a choice for me, and this is what I'm choosing and this is what I'm going to stick with."
The experience spurred personal growth, Daniels insists.
"That whole thing, the way it went down, really changed my outlook on life," he said. "My focus on what's important to me and things like that, I just want to take full advantage of every opportunity God gives me."
As that relates to the combine, Daniels, a Vernon Hills High School product, has been training at EFT Sports Performance in Highland Park. He hasn't played in a game since Dec. 28, 2013.
The son of former Bears defensive end Phillip Daniels, DaVaris had 80 receptions for 1,235 yards and seven touchdowns in 24 career games for the Fighting Irish.
"I think I'm ready," DaVaris said. "I know I am ready for the NFL. Obviously, there are some technique things that I'm going to learn on the next level that are going to get me even better. So just physically and mentally I was ready for the NFL, and I think I made a good decision."
