If Konata Mumpfield doesn’t make it in the NFL, rest assured it won’t be because the stress of the moment gets too big for him.
An honorable mention all-ACC wide receiver for Pitt this past season, Mumpfield was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Rams at No. 242 overall Saturday. With 217 catches, 2,691 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns on his four-season college resume, Mumpfield insists he never allows any pressure to perform to get to him.
“For me, I don’t really stress a lot of things,” Mumpfield said during Pitt’s pro day last month. “I don’t really have too much pressure. I always just try to give (my fate) to God. I put the work in during the week. I prepare as much as I can, and then after that I just give it to God. Once I do that it’s pretty easy. Knowing he has everything under control. That’s really how it was (performing for scouts), at the combine, a game, whatever I do.”
Mumpfield, a Georgia native who spent his freshman season at Akron, was a three-year starter at Pitt who was a team co-captain as a senior. He had at least one catch in every college game he played.
The son of a U.S. Army officer, the 5-foot-11, 186-pound Mumpfield said his resulting nomadic childhood combined with playing at two colleges, under three offensive coordinators and catching passes from nine different college starting quarterbacks proves he is adaptable for anything the pro game might throw at him.
“Being from a military background with my dad being in the military, having to move from place to place and being in a different environment, different cultures and even just with schools, different offensive coordinators, different quarterback play, I feel like that’s a great skill to have,” Mumpfield said, “because you never know what can go on at the next level. You could get traded … coaching changes, and being able to adapt easily, I feel like you can stay in the league for a long time.”
