First, why choose Pittsburgh as your landing spot after the draft?
It was a long wait Saturday yes, but I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out yeah.
Pittsburgh was the first team to reach out to me. Living in New England, playing n Pittsburgh is close so my family can come out and see me play easily. And their style of play fits my personality. It checked all of the boxes for me. I’m excited to learn from some of the great veterans there and a great coaching staff to work with.
About New England – I saw your bio on your school website -favorite player is Tom Brady? Any way to fix that before you get to Pittsburgh?
Ha – oh yeah, I’ll need to blur that one out!
Any position they want you to focus on on the line – and what would you prefer?
I think I’m a versatile guy – I played all of the interior line positions at Brown – right guard, center, and left guard – and started at center all 13 games at Tulane just because of the guys they had there. So, I’m flexible.
What makes you a successful lineman? What do excel at most?
I think it’s how I prepare – I put in the work when no one is looking. I’m the first guy in the locker room and weight room and the last to leave. I’m easy to get along with too – I think I’m a good teammates.
On the field I’m a cerebral player. I understand defenses and what they run against you. I can see the leverages they use on the line and secondary and what they are doing.
I know you also were part of a bone-marrow program that helped save someone’s life – what was that experience like?
It started at Brown – I signed up for the Bone Marrow Registry – they have a program to get people to sign up for it there. I heard nothing from them for four years then in my last year they contacted me and told me I was a match. The contacted me again and asked me to donate and I did. There’s a one-year no contact period that recently ended – so a year later I was able to meet the person I donated it too in New York – and he’s doing better now. It takes two years to be declared cured but he’s had no cancer so far.
How was the experience for you physically?
I was sore a little bit. They put you under a general anesthesia and have a special needle they use to extract the marrow from your hip. It’s not fun but if you’re a healthy person you can do it.
Scheme-wise, how prepared do you think you are for the NFL schemes?
I’m very fortunate – Coach Hall at Tulane is an excellent offensive coordinator. He ran a variety of schemes – gap, pin and pull – he implemented a variety of different schemes depending on the weaknesses of the defenses we played. It challenged us but I can benefit from that variety now at the NFL level.
Coach Sarrett – I’m really looking forward to working with him now and all of the veterans there.
You were honored with the Walter Camp Football Foundation Connecticut Player of the Year. Tell me about that and about and about what makes you tick in general off the field?
That was an honor to get that yes. The award is presented to the top college football player who is a resident or played in the state of Connecticut.
As for what makes me tick – I don’t like sitting around a lot – I like going out with the guys , going hiking and fishing.. It’s funny, I grew up in Connecticut, but when I went and played for Tulane in Louisiana I went and did things like bowfishing – things I never expected I would be doing. But I enjoyed it – it was great experiencing that.
Anyone you know in the NFL that’s helped you get ready for the NFL?
Tuzar Skipper actually – he reached out as soon as he heard I was coming to Pittsburgh and is excited for me. We both signed with the same agent – my agent Joe Linta was actually my high school football coach, and he held a kids football camp and Tuzar and I met there and got to know each other.
Coach Tomlin indicated that he felt the expanded rosters may help teams keep extra centers -any thoughts on that as a center?
It makes sense – the center is a unique skillset – you have to be able to snap the ball and understand how to read defenses and keep people lined up correctly. With the new CBA and more games and playoff games, keeping extra linemen helps reduce some of that wear and tear on guys.
Anyone you’re looking forward to meeting and working with most in Pittsburgh?
I think the whole offensive line really – there are some legends there like Al Villinueva and Pouncey. I just want to learn from them. Once you stop learning you’re just preparing for the death of your career. So I just want to watch them and how they prepare – how they watch film, handle themselves in the training room and the way they carry themselves in general, and embrace all that for myself.
I’m just excited to get started. I hope I can get to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later and get things started!
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