First, tell me a bit about what’s next for you after mini-camp?
I’m just trying to stay in shape and staying prepared for an opportunity. I felt good at Steelers camp. There was great competition there and now I’m just waiting for a call. I don’t have other teams calling yet but my agent is talking to teams and I feel good – he said he’ll be getting back to me with opportunities soon.
How did the team discover and reach out to you?
I think it started off when scouts went to my Junior Day workout last year. I actually never talked to the Steelers so it was a great surprise. I had a good pro day and I heard that scouts were impressed enough with my film and combine results, according to my agent.
Someone in the front office called me for mini camp and told me they wanted to bering me in and see see how I performed. It was a quick and exciting call.
Any one you get close to and form any bonds with there?
I thought the entire group of us had great competitors. Edmunds and Allen were great leaders. Malik Boynton and Jeremy Taylor were great guys. It was fun seeing Penn quarterback Alek Torgesen there too. I was injured when we played against him but I watched film on him. He’s a great competitor. He was a great guy, though there was a little bitterness since we lost against them. We had to give each other a hard time!
What do you think you did well at camp?
I think coming from a smaller school like Dartmouth, I had a lot to prove. I think I stood out on the little things, learning the playbook fast and playing at a high level. I flew around a lot and think I did a good job. I gave a bunch of effort and tried to show good focus on the details they were coaching.
It was cool to see everyone support each other. It just shows the quality of guys the Steelers like to bring in. I was fortunate to come up with an interception and it was nice to see the support they gave.
And anything you felt you could improve upon?
It’s hard to say what I need to work on most. I guess learning the playbook faster. It’s hard coming in and having one day to learn everything. The speed of the game is also an adjustment but I think I handled that well.
Communication was a big stress of the coaching staff in camp, correct? How did you do there?
Coach Bradley and Coach Cousins really pushed that yeah. Especially things like down and distance, formations, those types of things. Definitely wanted us all learning the playbook fast and lining everyone up so we’re all on the same page. I feel like I got better every day doing that. I missed a couple of calls the first day and worked hard to fix that on the next day.
Lastly, tell us a bit about yourself – off field interests?
Oh wow…that is hard. I’m an outdoors guy. I was actually a downhill alpine ski racer, which is off the norm for football players I think. I almost decided to alpine ski race race in college, but football was a bigger passion for me. I also like to hunt and fish as well.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
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