Blast from the past: 7 memorable quotes from Browns players at the NFL Combine

For players who are going on minimal sleep, one small piece of the NFL Scouting Combine process is a 15-minute interview with hundreds of reporters inside the concourse of Lucas Oil Stadium. For the players projected in the first or second round, the scene can be large and vast with questions from all directions. For the lesser touted players, it’s a bit more intimate with maybe 5 or 10 scribes sitting at a table. Some Browns, such as cornerback Joe Haden and linebacker Barkevious Mingo, went through the former while others experienced the latter. With three days separating us between the start of the Combine, we decided to unearth some of the more memorable soundbites from current Browns who went through this experience. All quotes were obtained from archives of group interviews conducted in Indianapolis.RB Terrance West, on coming from a small school. (2014) “Some of the greatest guys who played the game in the NFL come from small schools. Some guys like Jerry Rice. Competition doesn't change. The rules of the game doesn't change. Football is football no matter what level you're on." LB Tank Carder, on how he convinced his high school coach to make him more than a kicker. (2012) “It was actually funny. Because I kicked PATs as well. I’d kick the extra points after touchdowns. He never let me do anything. He just let me kick it. So one day he fumbled the snap. It was just sitting there. I picked it up and took off running. I got to the sideline. I scored a touchdown, got two points. I came back to the sideline and my coach, he said, ‘You do that, you ain’t kicking no more.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’” LB Barkevious Mingo, on his bet with former LSU teammate Sam Montgomery with who would get drafted first (2013) “We've had quite a few bets in our career. I think our first one was the first sack for the season. He was supposed to wash my car because I won, and he hasn't done that. Then, we have most sacks in the season and on down the line. I'm pretty confident in myself. He's gonna have to come with that one, and I get a car wash. (Mingo was selected with the sixth overall pick. Montgomery went in the third round.) DL Billy Winn, on his NFL Draft hopes (2012) “All I can say is I want to be part of a team. I want the opportunity to be able to play. Any team would be A-plus in my book because I've never been on an NFL team, and that's been a dream of mine for a long time. Whether the team is winning or losing, it doesn't matter, as long as I get a chance to prove it to them that I am a great player.” CB Joe Haden, on how he became a cornerback at Florida (2010) “When I first got to Florida I had a little dream, I was going to play quarterback, but they had somebody named (Tim) Tebow there, so that kind of went out the window. Then I changed to receiver and I was second-string behind Percy (Harvin), I just couldn’t get right. After that coach (Urban) Meyer asked me if I felt like going to the defensive side of the ball. At first I just wanted to play. I came in spring, so I had a lot of time to adjust. He moved me to corner, something I never did before. But I had coach (Chuck) Heater, he said, ‘As long as you go hard, as long as you run as fast as you can, just tackle, toughness, you’ll be able to play.’ That’s what I did and they let me start as a freshman.” C Alex Mack, on if he misses making weight as a wrestler (2009) “Actually, I was lucky enough; I was a heavyweight, so making weight for me was never that much of a problem in high school. Now, it would just be near impossible, because I’m a little heavier.” QB Connor Shaw, on if he believed his winning was appreciated enough (2014) “No, I think people look at your individual stats more than what you did as a team and this is a team game. Priority No. 1 wherever you go is to win, and we did a bunch of it.” This article is part of the Road to the Draft series, driven by Liberty Ford.

2020 NFL Draft

Blast from the past: 7 memorable quotes from Browns players at the NFL Combine