COURTESY OF TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
(On his reaction to being selected by the Buccaneers and the moment he sent out on social media earlier in the day rolling out a red carpet for his mother)
“It was a pretty special moment. When your phone starts vibrating, you kind of get this wave of excitement and fear and all of these emotions. Then the red carpet, that was a pretty special deal. We were trying to give her a night kind of like Las Vegas – obviously it’s not near as fancy and we’re not dressed up or [anything], but we just rolled the red carpet out on our front lawn. Still, I was trying to make it special for her.”
(On knowing he will be blocking for Buccaneers QB Tom Brady)
“It’s pretty crazy to think about. Tom Brady has been in the league since 2000. I was born in 1999, so he’s been in the league almost as long as I’ve been alive. It’s pretty cool to get to protect him.”
(On his phone call with Head Coach Bruce Arians and General Manager Jason Licht telling him that he was going to be a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
“That’s pretty much what they told me. Coach [Bruce] Arians said, ‘We just traded with San Francisco. You’re going to be a Buccaneer.’ It’s kind of like a culmination of all of the hard work – blood, sweat and tears – and everything coming together in just a big wave of emotions. It was incredible.”
(On if there was someone he looked to for advice throughout the draft process)
“Coach [Kirk] Ferentz – he always kept telling me, ‘Keep working hard. Never lose that mindset or that mentality.’ That’s what I’ve been trying to do. It’s been different with this whole virus thing going around, but I’ve been lucky enough to have access to a gym so that’s been nice. It’s keeping me busy. But just keep working hard – that’s all you can do.”
(On what he feels his strengths are as an offensive lineman)
“I think I’m a pretty powerful guy. I think I come off the line of scrimmage pretty quick. I know I can pull and get out in space well and I think I can get up to the second level pretty fast.”
(On how he felt heading into the night and where he thought he might land in the draft)
“I think I came into the night pretty calm and collected. Coming from Iowa, we run a pretty pro-style offense and I know when I was at the combine, hearing all the [terminology] that teams were using for fronts and play calls – it was pretty similar to what I was taught and what I heard at Iowa. I just felt like wherever I went I was going to come ready to work. That’s kind of the mentality that was instilled in me at Iowa and I’m going to be coming from a great coaching staff who knows a pro-style offense. I was just excited to see where I end up and I’m ready to go.”
(On how much interaction he had with the Buccaneers during the pre-draft process)
“I had one Zoom call with the Bucs. I thought it went pretty good. I think I had a total of like nine or 10 Zoom calls [overall].”
(On playing at Raymond James Stadium in the 2019 Outback Bowl against Mississippi State)
“Playing at Raymond James, it’s a pretty awesome stadium. I love the ship they’ve got [in the North] endzone or something like that, with the big boat. I loved that game. I got to block Montez Sweat playing against Mississippi State. That was a great game coming out of there with the W (win). I remember I was so hyped up about it. It was incredible.”
