S MYRON ROLLE
(on if it's been a long couple days for him)
**
It certainly has. I really didn't expect to go on the first or second day. A small chance in the late second day. I didn't expect to wait as long as I did today. But it's a blessing and a reward to be an NFL draft pick. I'm ready to compete and help Tennessee win.
(on why he thinks it took so long to be drafted)
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I'm not sure. One thing I asked my father we would love to see what the draft process is like in the back war room with teams. What are they looking at and how are they evaluating players. The Titans noticed my ability and see that I have potential and I'm ready to compete and help the franchise in any way I can.
(on how he thinks sitting out last year hurt his draft stock)
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I think that hurt a bit. I'm trying to quantify how many rounds and how much financial dollars it actually impacted. God has a way of working things out. He has a way of putting you in places where you belong. It's ironic that I was actually talking to Samari Rolle right as I got the call from Coach Fisher. It's a blessing. I'm excited about it. I'm ready to move on and try to be the best football player I can be.
(on if he's close to Samari Rolle)
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We're very close. We talk every day. We text and call every day. I'm very close to his family. I take care of his kids when I'm in town down there in Del Ray. I've been to several games in Baltimore. I've workout out with him at D1 in Nashville. It's a very close relationship. He's my mentor and distant cousin.
(on how distant a cousin Samari is)
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I'm not exactly sure. His family is from Exaumus, Bahamas and my family is from there as well. It's a very small island off the coast of Nassau. We call each other cousins when we have a chance.
(on what he thinks about Nashville and the Titans)
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I had a chance to spend time with Samari in Nashville when he was playing for the Titans. I remember going to a golf course there. It was a lot of fun to see the town and to see how he interacted with his teammates. He said it was a great organization. He also said that the only person from the Titans who had talked to him was one guy at pro day that asked if he liked to play man to man. He said yes and they ended up drafting him. He never talked to them at the combine and never took any visits there or anything. He said you never know how it is going to work out. To be honest I never really talked to the Titans either. It's pretty ironic how our paths are similar. He went in the second round. I went in the sixth. We're very excited about what happened today.
(on how many football reps he has seen)
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I saw some reps in Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl the first or second day. The third, fourth and fifth day there was a lot there. It went a lot smoother. My footwork was a lot better and I impressed down there. That's what got me back on the radar. I expect to go forward like I've been playing football my whole life. Do the same thing I've been doing in middle school, here in Galloway, New Jersey, in high school and in college at Florida State, to just be the same type of player.
(on what he did at Oxford to stay mentally focused athletically)
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I worked out from 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. with my brother McKinley at the rugby gym. Tom Shaw from Orlando gave us a book to follow six days a week. Lifting and running and drills and things like that to keep me in shape for the Senior Bowl. He knew I was coming back to that. We did that, worked hard, ate well. The food wasn't great over there in Oxford so we tried to make sure our nutrition was on point. When we got back to the states, two or three weeks before the Senior Bowl, we went down to Orlando to keep working. It helped me a lot.
(on what he says to the people that question his commitment to football)
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I say the fact that I have a lot of options to go to medical school, to get a VISA at Oxford, to enter politics now and keep my foundation going strong. There are so many different avenues I can take right now. The fact that I chose football is something that academics and people in the education realm can't really understand I think shows my testament. I gave up a lot and sacrificed a lot to get my Rhodes scholarship experience. To stay in shape and make sure I was ready for this exact moment here. For my team and for my classmates who were drinking in pubs at 1:30 in the morning or traveling to different parts of the EU, I was working out, training and going to sleep and resting my body and making sure I was ready to compete. I love this game and I love this sport and I want this to be my vocation for the next 10 years.
(on his scouting report on his game)
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I'm a very suret tackler. I'm a very reliable player, aggressive, instinctive and a leader. I'm certainly a leader. I'm long and I can play down in the box if they need me to roll down. I have the ability and quick enough feet and straight ahead speed to cover spot receivers and tight ends who are able to run in the NFL. I look at myself as a player with a lot of talent and off the field issues that are positive.
(on what he ran and if he thinks that is what caught some people's eye)
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At the combine I ran 4.68 by some people' standards. 4.64 by some people's spots. At my pro day I ran from a 4.48 up to a 4.54 from clocks they had. So I ran much better on my pro day. My three cone drill was 6.94 at the combine and it was 6.47 at my pro day. My time improved and I had to take a chance and do it.
(on his plan this offseason)
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Definitely go to mini camp and participate in organization activities that I need to. I have one week of exams at Oxford then my commitment is over. There is nothing left to do over there. I can put that stage of my life behind me. But that is mandatory, the one week of exams. Other than that, it's all football, it's all Titans football.
(on what subjects the exams are on)
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It's just written exams on everything for the year, everything we studied. Anthropology of the body, nutritional anthropology, material anthropology. All kinds of different things that relate under the umbrella of medical anthropology.
(on if he's talked to former Rhodes Scholar athletes that have returned to enter pro sports)
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I have. Senator Bradley talked to me a bit before I left for Oxford and said don't eat as much as he did or drink as much as he did. He gained about 30 pounds. He was able to play overseas I think in Italy, maybe Milan, I'm not sure. He played a little bit over there and did his thing and came back and the New York Knicks wanted him badly. He was a top college player as you all know.(Unaudible) a few days ago that told me that he had a different situation where he would play in the fall for the Rams and then would go back to Oxford and finish up he PPE courses over there on the Rhodes Scholar. Their situation was a little different but they all said that you can do it. Don't be surprised if you are the butt of the jokes in the locker room or they look at you as the smartest guy and will try to make you the absolute arbitrator on all the different arguments in the locker room. They said have fun with it and you will do well.
