The Full Monty Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Been meaning to post this long story but I've been busy. Anyways, on the second night of the draft, Friday April 29, I was in Atlanta International airport connecting on a flight to Florida. I noticed a massive guy with a football player's build and I try to look for any sign he's an NFL player, and sure enough, I see on his gym bag an official tag for NFL SCOUTING COMBINE 2011, with the printed name Pernell McPhee. I said, "hey man, you were at the combine?" and he says yes, and that he played defensive end for Mississippi State. He was on his way home to Florida and I asked him about playing in such a tough conference. There was a copy of USA Today on the table in front of us with Cam Newton on the Sports Page and McPhee said "that man's a beast." He said he wasn't too nervous about the draft but only that he hoped to get picked in the 2nd or 3rd round. When I told him I was a Redskins fan McPhee said, "I visited the Redskins." He then followed by saying he really liked the area. His phone kept getting text messages throughout our 10 minute conversation, he said sorry and that "this is going on all day." This goes to show that even mid-to-late round draft picks have their phones blow up during Draft Weekend. I asked McPhee who he met with and he said he met Shanahan, Haslett, and Bruce Allen. He said something like, "They told me if they draft me, I'd be a linebacker." He said they showed him linebacker drills and concepts. I asked him if he thought it was too big a change to be an outside linebacker mentally and he surprised me and said something like, "No, I study hard so I think I could do it. It's still football and football is easy if you study. What's hard is that covering gets you tired in a different way than being on the line. I could do it if they asked me." I asked him if he thought Shanahan was intense, which I had assumed, and he said actually both Shanahan and Haslett were really friendly and laid back. I asked about Allen and he said that Bruce Allen was really quiet during his visit. I had to leave but I wished him well and told him I hoped he got drafted early as possible. Anyways, he did end up getting drafted by the Ravens in the 5th round. I read there that they are considering asking him to bulk up so he can play 5 technique and stay on the d-line. Hope you all enjoy this little one-person insight into our draft this year. I was really hoping that we drafted him after our convo, but oh well. We had a solid draft in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew_Fl Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 cool story. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destructis Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I always enjoy reading things like this. Most of the time, the only thing we really know about players is what we read in the "media". Nice to hear an average fan get a chance to find out more about a player. Thanks for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
authentic Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks for sharing bro. So i assume that Danny wasn't in the room............................right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Full Monty Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Dang I should've asked that, McPhee was really straightforward too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTerps26 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Ravens and Steelers are always stockpiling on guys like this in all sorts of rounds in their drafts and almost every single year. Get used to fighting for these type of guys, they are the glue that makes the 3-4 work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jflow78 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks for sharing bro. So i assume that Danny wasn't in the room............................right? that's what I thought too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewCliche21 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks for sharing! I'm glad that Snyder wasn't there and that the coaches were up front about what they wanted from the player, especially since it was different from the player's college position. I'm guessing that they had the same talk with Kerrigan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftCoast Skinz FAN Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Cool story, thanks for sharing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gortiz Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Hope you all enjoy this little one-person insight into our draft this year. I was really hoping that we drafted him after our convo, but oh well. We had a solid draft in the end. probably the best thing about this site ... i love these cool stories. I know this one is not exaclty juicy, but still cool! thx man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumboSauce Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Like what others said...appreciate you sharing that. I enjoy stuff like this...a facet of what makes information/a fan board like this so great. Hail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan2k Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Man I dont know how you remember all that and actually posted that. I would have forgotten 5 mins after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Wu Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I would assume he flew into Leesburg Executive Airport and drove to the park in Ashburn. Anyone would love the area after that ride, it's like the damn Shire. All hilly and farmy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skins2victory Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Great story..... thanks for sharing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubbs Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Sounds like a smart guy. Damnit, now I wish we had drafted him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwich Hog Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Great story. But did I read somewhere that the Ravens are moving away from 3-4? He'll probably be a conventional 4-technique? The kind of player to move them back to the 4-3... Could be wrong ::waits nervously:: Edit: As for transitioning players to new positions i've always been a bit nervous when teams ask players to "bulk-up". I'd prefer to get an athletic 4-3 DE transitioning to 3-4 OLB or a 4-3 DT transitioning to 3-4 DE. The story of Erasmus James blowing out his knee after the Vikings told him to gain 30lbs always springs to mind. I'm sure there are some players that have done it successfully but just bothers me. It basically ruined his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annonymous Source Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 The problem is when players are told to add bulk for the sake of meeting a certain weight requirement. If they have an obvious strength deficiency such as Jarvis Jenkins then they are going to be told to hit the weight room hard, but if they already have the strength that they need then it is more trouble than it is worth expecially with large amounts of weight like 20 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Really, there's talk out there that the Ravens are moving away from the 3-4? Interesting...I don't believe it, but interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annonymous Source Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Really, there's talk out there that the Ravens are moving away from the 3-4? Interesting...I don't believe it, but interesting. Hey I heard that the Ravens are going to try a 6-1 formation. I dont believe it, but it is interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Hey I heard that the Ravens are going to try a 6-1 formation. I dont believe it, but it is interesting... Nah. That's not really interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Wiggles Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I would assume he flew into Leesburg Executive Airport and drove to the park in Ashburn. Anyone would love the area after that ride, it's like the damn Shire. All hilly and farmy. I found this incredibly funny since that area is practically all houses now. It was a boring drive sixteen years ago and I'm willing to bet it still is. Just with a lot more traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercuryrising Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Real good stuff! Thank you for sharing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Full Monty Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Ravens and Steelers are always stockpiling on guys like this in all sorts of rounds in their drafts and almost every single year. Get used to fighting for these type of guys, they are the glue that makes the 3-4 work. Yeah I think it's real encouraging for our front office as we move forward on the 3-4 that a guy we brought in for a visit was drafted by one of the more successful 3-4 teams, whether they make him a linebacker or not, that report I cited is just a draft-day observation, who knows what happens. Bottom line, from a scouting standpoint, I think we're moving in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dukes and Skins Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I found this incredibly funny since that area is practically all houses now. It was a boring drive sixteen years ago and I'm willing to bet it still is. Just with a lot more traffic. haha yeah its all houses now and if he came to Leesburg he took Sycolin which is all paved and is now 45mph as the speed limit. Things do definitely change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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