Just My Type
The Interview
Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford
QBS
The former Texas and Oklahoma quarterbacks, who will be drafted this spring, are both recovering from injuries to their throwing shoulders.
Dan Patrick:Is being a running quarterback a negative going into the draft?
Colt McCoy: I don't think so. Your ability to move in the pocket, to make plays with your feet when you need to, that's an advantage in the NFL.
DP:Who is the fastest quarterback in the draft?
CM: Forty time or field speed?
DP:Is there a difference?
CM: There's a difference. If somebody's chasing me, I'm pretty fast.
DP:Let's clear up the shoulder injury from the national title game. Are you still in pain?
CM: No. In fact, in the game there was no pain. It wasn't an issue [whether] I was tough enough to come back in the game or could I play through pain. I couldn't grip a ball; I couldn't throw a ball. I was champing at the bit trying to get back in, but my arm was dead.
DP:What's more frustrating—playing in a game you lose or watching your team play a game and lose?
CM: That was the first time I had ever not played a game in my four years. I had never missed a snap. To stand on the sideline and have to be a cheerleader was one of the toughest things I've ever had to be a part of.
DP:You got engaged in January. Describe the scene. All the girls will go, "Awww!" and all the guys will go, "I hate him."
CM: I bought the ring over Christmas. Once I got a good report [from the doctor about my shoulder] and once I decided on an agent, that was two great things after some negative things, like the national championship game. I was feeling better and my mind was clearing up, and I just decided to make it three great things in one day. I asked her if she wanted to grab some dinner. I told her I needed to run by the field house to grab my cleats because I was flying out the next day. She walked into my plan. She said, "I want to walk on the field. I know you have the keys. Let's go out there."
DP:Wait, you have the keys to the stadium?
CM: Every quarterback has to have the keys to the stadium, right?
DP:Continue.
CM: I was walking around the end zone saying I made this move here, or I threw a touchdown here, something silly like that. We were having a good time. I had cued the guys up in the press box and said once we got to the 50 to have the scoreboard say rachel, will you marry me? It was all pretty sweet.
DP:Were you more nervous doing that or going into the national title game?
CM: I was more nervous doing that. That was the most nervous I've ever been on the football field.
Dan Patrick:You got hurt on a sack against BYU in the season opener. Did you know right away what had happened?
Sam Bradford: I didn't know exactly what happened, but I knew something was wrong. I'd never been hurt like that before.
DP:How are you doing healthwise?
SB: Really good. The shoulder feels great. I should be 100 percent by the draft. It should be stronger than it was before.
DP:What's it like when you see those mock drafts? Are you checking out real estate in any of the places you're being mentioned?
SB: I try not to pay attention.
DP:How can you not pay attention? You don't know where you're going to be living.
SB: I don't think anyone who's created a mock draft has ever sat in a draft room and made a pick on draft day. I don't know how accurate it is.
DP:When you go into interviews with teams, what is the first thing you expect them to ask?
SB: Someone told me I'll get asked at the combine if I could be a tree, what kind of tree I would be? I thought that was a little odd.
DP:You're going to get, "Dog or cat?"
SB: Dog or cat?
DP:Yeah, you'll get that. Which one would you rather be?
SB: Dog.
DP:I'm going to play a coach who's interviewing you. I'm going to spend $50 million on you—tell me why.
SB: There are a lot of reasons why. I'm extremely accurate, extremely competitive.
DP:Can you start right away?
SB: I want to earn the position.
DP:Could you beat up Jimmy Clausen?
SB: [Laughs.] No comment.
DP:It's a question you could get asked. Now, you played basketball in high school. Were you good enough to play in college?
SB: I think so.
DP:Where? Oklahoma?
SB: If I'd have put all my efforts into basketball, possibly.
DP:And you played with Blake Griffin?
SB: I did. That was AAU ball.
DP:What's the difference between you and Blake Griffin?
SB: Besides size? I think I'm more athletic than Blake Griffin. [Laughs.] No, he's a tremendous player. He loves to dunk. I probably saw more highlights in AAU than on [an episode of] SportsCenter.
Now Hear This
Listen to the podcasts at danpatrick.com/interviews
1. Super Bowl hero Tracy Porter discusses the Saints' season.
2.Larry the Cable Guy talks NASCAR and football.
THE FINE PRINT: Too many events at NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas. Did we really need a skills competition between Jerry Jones's plastic surgeons?
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MICHAEL J. LEBRECHT II/1DEUCE3 PHOTOGRAPHY (PATRICK)
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JOHN BIEVER (MCCOY)
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RICHEY MILLER/CAL SPORT MEDIA (BRADFORD)