Jake Long on the Dolphins, the Tuna and the NFL Draft
April 9, 2009 – 8:35 am by Will Brinson
Jake Long was the No. 1 overall pick last year, but unlike Matt Stafford, David Carr or Matt Ryan, Long quietly was just great and never had any heavy speculation thrown on him (HINT, DETROIT: It’s why you pick a lineman; they have to totally meltdown or have the person you passed on be a potential Hall of Famer for you to catch grief for the pick.)
Anyway, because it’s NFL Draft time, Long got on the horn with Petros and Money of Fox Sports Radioand talked about the upcoming draft and the pressure that’s on guys like Stafford, Jason Smith and Aaron Curry, as well as how he handled top-pick negotiations last year. Additionally, he talks about Bill Parcells and discusses who deserves credit for the Miami Dolphins turnaround last year.
On preparing for the NFL Draft last year and the preparation being nerve-wracking:
“Yeah, definitely. And it’s just so much stuff. The minute you get done with college you go right to wherever you’re training. I went out to Arizona and trained out there – you train for all the mental tests, the running, the lifting, the drills, for a month or so, until February, when the combine is. And then you go through that whole process and then come back and keep training and do all the personal workouts. About now, it’s good, it’s slowing down for them a little bit with the draft coming up.”
On pre-draft negotiations:
“Yeah, I was just sitting back. My agent was taking care of it and said they were talking with Miami and they were very interested and all this. And then, about a week before the draft he called me up one day and said ‘the contract’s done they want you to fly down tomorrow,’ so me and my parents got on a flight the next morning and went down and signed the contract. So I really just sat back and my agent took care of everything.”
Long on the Dolphins turnaround, Bill Parcells, and the full interview after the break.
On where the turnaround for the Dolphins came from:
“I think a lot of it started with the people upstairs. They brought in great players, great team guys and then it came into the players – the older guys, the vets that have been around, they really set a great example. Everyone was a huge team guy, really wanted to turn it around, really wanted it to win.”
On Parcells’ presence at Dolphins’ training camp:
“He’s around a lot. During the season, he’ll be at every practice. Doesn’t talk much, every now and then might pull you aside and talk to you. But he’s at every single practice. We just started off the preseason program a few weeks ago. He’s been coming to some lifts, been walking around the weight room, watching us, he’s around a lot. And actually, he’s real easy to talk to, when he’s not on the football or in coach mode, he’s very laid back and easy to talk to. And as long as you work hard for him and earn his respect, he’ll give you that respect back.”
Listen to Jake Long on Fox Sports Radio with Petros & Money
Tags: Aaron Curry, Bill Parcells, David Carr, Jake Long, Jason Smith, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Miami Dolphins, NFL, NFL Draft, Rich Rodriguez
