NFL Draft Prospect Cade Stover Is Massaging Cows, And Rich Eisen Can't Get Enough

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There's gym strength — the ability to put up several reps of a 225-pound bench press with ease. And then there's farm strength — the ability to effectively massage a 2,000-pound bull with your bare hands. Cade Stover has both.

The former Ohio State tight end regularly posts videos of himself on social media performing tasks around his family farm. And some of those tasks translate to better performance on the football field.

During a Friday segment at the Scouting Combine, NFL Network showed a TikTok video where Stover massaged a cow with both hands. Rich Eisen asked Charles Davis if he had the answer to what Stover was doing in the clip.

"Gentlemen, I was actually correct in my assessment: he says he’s doing it to strengthen his hands," Davis said. "He looked me dead in the eye, and he said, ‘I’m massaging the leather.’ There you go, guys."

Eisen immediately fell in love with the phrase — commenting that "massaging the leather" would be his fantasy football name. "And I have my avatar," he added.

Later, after the broadcast showed a highlight of Penn State tight end Theo Johnson making a catch, Eisen enthusiastically noted, "And it’s just like massaging the leather!"

Cade Stover: From Farm To Football

Stover grew up working on his family farm in Mansfield, Ohio. There, he tends to more than 250 acres of Black Angus cows, corn and alfalfa.

"The work ethic from the farm translates tremendously to what I do on a football field on a day-to-day basis out there," Stover told the Ohio Beef Council website. "The harder you work and the more stuff you put into, that’s what you’re going to get out of it. And I think that the farm really shows you that."

RELATED: Ohio State Player Cade Stover Says He Wants To Be Paid In Tractors

While he's focused on making an NFL roster right now, he's still putting his degree in agricultural management to good use.

"I hope to be a role model for farmers," Stover said in September. "It’s not very often that you see someone that does play football at a higher level and has (a farming) background."

In 2023, Stover helped the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record in the regular season with 41 catches, 576 yards and five touchdowns. He is widely regarded as the No. 3 tight end in the 2024 NFL Draft. Among his other strengths, NFL.com praises the 23-year-old for his "sticky hands."

You know, from massaging the leather.