Alex Mack Press Conference Transcript - Sun, Apr 26 2009 at 6:50 pm
(On if he took the red-eye flight to Cleveland) – “Do I look like that (joking)? Yeah, we flew out last night. I got on a plane at about 11:00 p.m. and showed up here around 10:00 a.m. I’m excited to be here and hopefully I’m chipper enough for all of you.”
(On things about him that people didn’t learn on his conference call on draft day) – “Wow, hard to remember what was yesterday. It was a big day for me so I don’t really remember what I covered. Primarily I’m a hard worker, I’m excited to be here and I think that it’s going to be a really great fit. I’m excited to show up here and do the work I need to do to earn a spot.”
(On how having Hank Fraley on the roster impacts where he will play on field) – “I plan to be the best player possible. If that means being a guard or being a center, I think I’m open for either spot. I think him being in the league for a long time is a benefit to me because he has a lot of experience. I think everyone on this team probably wants to win games and I’m excited to do everything I can to help that happen. If I’m one of the best five linemen, I hope to be playing alongside him.”
(On what his visit with the Browns was like and how it differed from other teams) – “They took me out at the last minute. We had not planned originally to come out all this way and at the last minute they wanted to fly me out. It was really exciting because it means they really liked and showed some interest and they wanted to meet me. I was excited to come out here and meet one last team. They put me through a lot of meetings, had me meet a lot of people and coach (George) Warhop even had an o-line test for me after he tried to teach me some stuff. They were definitely really interested to see how well I actually learned the material.”
(On if the Browns testing differed from visits with other teams) – “A lot of other teams, they’ll fly you out and they just kind of meet and greet and see your personality. Every once in a while they would get you up on the board an see how well you could explain some plays. Here, they explained plays to me, distracted me with another interview and then had me come back and see how much I remembered. It was pretty fun.”
(On what is expected of him as an offensive lineman in the AFC North) – “I think my job is to work hard and see if I can earn a starting spot. I’m here to do the best I can but as for the Cleveland area, I’m excited. I have a lot of family from Ohio, so I know about half of my family was beside themselves yesterday, seeing me come out to Ohio again.”
(On where his family members live in Ohio) – “Lima and Lakeside.”
(On which centers he has studied during his development) – “I know when I got to Cal (Berkeley) we had Marvin Philip right in front of me. I think he’s with the Bills now, I’m not entirely certain, but he was an All-American when I first showed up. He taught me a lot and so I know the benefit of having an older lineman ahead of you who has more experience and you can really learn a lot from them. He did a good job of teaching me some things and at Cal I passed that down to the other guys below me. I just try to be the best player possible and be aggressive.”
(On possibly facing Pittsburgh’s DT Casey Hampton) - “It’s going to be a lot of work and I know that and I’m excited for the challenge.”
(On if he feels his academic prowess translates onto the football field) - “I think offensive line is a very intelligent position. You have to know what the play is and what the defense is doing and how to work together with everyone else on the field in order to get the play done right. Being a smart player, knowing the playbook well and knowing how to communicate and how to get a play accomplished is important. So being a smart player, offense isn’t simple, you have to know who to block and how to do it and who needs to know certain things and what if the defense does something weird, you need to know how to react. There are a lot of things you have to know and so being a smart player is beneficial.”
(On maintaining a high academic standard at Cal) – “It took some work. It was a matter of just having some discipline. You would be tired after practice and instead of sitting on the couch and watching T.V., you had to force yourself to get in front of the books. It was just a matter of knowing how to manage your time and how to get the work done that you needed to do. If you had a paper due, you had to be smart enough to either have it a couple days ahead of time or just stay up late.”
(On what the Browns were trying to find out about him in their meetings) – “I think so. I think they wanted to see if I could retain knowledge and if I was actually a smart guy. I know I pride myself on being intelligent and I take a lot of pride in being a graduate from Cal. It wasn’t just a meet and greet to see what kind of personality you are, they wanted to really know who I was, what I could do, what I knew and they were interested to see if I was going to be a fit.”
(On if the Browns let him know how he did in his interviews) – “I think yesterday was the biggest acknowledgment of how I did.” (On if there were any moments of doubt during his meetings with the Browns) – “I missed, I think, two questions. I forgot the terminology they used for certain blocks.”
(On how many questions there were) – “(There were) 30? 20? 40? I don’t remember. They had a bunch of pictures and they had to fill in all the little X’s and O’s and how to block everyone. I just remember two things that I didn’t quite get right.”
(On how he would characterize Eric Mangini’s style) – “Huh, that’s a tough one. Nice guy. I like coach Mangini, he’s been really good to me so far. He was really interested in a lot of the obscure questions that you get in those interviews, like if you had to meet anyone in time, who you would meet or if your house was on fire, what you pull out of your house, those kinds of questions.”
(On his progression on making line calls from college to the NFL) - “It’s going to be a challenge. I think Cal had a lot thrown at me, but it’s going to be wait and see if the Browns have an equally more complex or less complex offense. I know coach (Jeff) Tedford at Cal has a complex offense so there was a lot required of me there, so I’m up to the challenge.”
(On his reaction to playing with other linemen who were high draft choices, Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach) – “Excited. They’re good at what they do and I hope to learn from them.”
(On how much interest the Steelers and Bengals show in him with their needs at center) – “I got a pretty unanimous response from most teams, ‘we really like you, we think you’re a great person, a great player, but we’re just not sure of when we can take you’. So I’m happy to be at a team that took a lot of initiative and really wants me.”
(On playing against USC and playing in the PAC-10) – “They’re a good defense. Loud stadium to play in, not an easy place to play so it was tough at times. I think anytime you have a challenge you get better from it.”
(On if he played against Baltimore Ravens DT Haloti Ngata as a freshman) – “No, I didn’t play against him.”
(On what a center can do to help win a football game) – “I think just being an offensive lineman, I think the offensive line has a lot of power over how a game goes. If you can control the line of scrimmage, you can protect the quarterback so he can make throws or you can move the line of scrimmage and get some run yards. At Cal we always took a lot of pride in controlling the game. If we were able to run the ball, if we gave the quarterback time, we should be successful. So as a center, I’m just one part of five and if we all work together and get the job done, I think you can be aggressive and really start to wear on a defense. There are times in games where if you do your job right, you can make a defense quit.”
(On if he has a sense with what the Browns coaches want to do with the offensive line) – “Be good, I think. I think they are ready to see where I can fit in and they’re ready to put me to work. I think I’m going to go upstairs and learn some offense right after I’m done with you guys here. So they’re excited and I’m fired up.”
(On his aspirations beyond football) – “Play football as long as possible. I love the game of football, I’m fired up to be here and I never really expected to be here. I wasn’t the kid in Pop Warner that was convinced that he was going to be in the NFL. It was one of those things that have happened and I love playing the game and I have great joy from it so I want to do this as long as possible. After I can’t do it anymore, I’ll figure out what to do with the rest of my life.”
(On if he has played any other positions) – “I have played defensive line as well.”
(On what one does with a degree in legal studies) – “You play football (joking). It was a fun major, I thought it was really enjoyable. I enjoyed going to class, I thought there were great teachers and I got a degree from Cal. I enjoyed doing it and I think I learned a lot about the legal system.”
(On how important intelligence is to the success of a football team) – “I think having high character, having guys that work hard and that know how to work and know what it takes to win games is important. I think you have to do the right things, I think you have to have to take care of all the little things and the big things take care of themselves. I’m not saying I’m a genius, I think I work hard. I think that reflects in the school work. Things didn’t come easy, I just did the work that was needed of me. So to work hard to do the right things and to work together and be around the facility and have everyone going in the same direction and doing the right things, good things will happen.”
(On how he answered the question about what he would save from his burning house) – “Actually, I cheated on that one because I got that one already, once at the combine and I said my diploma. Then I realized that I could always get another diploma, they could just print me another one. In retrospect I said I would take my computer because it has all my pictures and everything I’ve done in college and everything on it.”
(On whether he prefers run blocking or pass blocking) – “I believe I can get better at both. I pride myself at being an aggressive run blocker. I think that’s a fun thing to do when you get to run the ball and really get to impose your will on a defense. Pass blocking is fun because you just stop the guy and all of a sudden 30 yards of the field is gone and you get to jog down there and you’ve done your good work. Running the ball is something that is blue-collar and dirty and it’s fun to do as an offensive line. It’s also a lot of work.”
(On where he thought he would be sitting after the draft) – “I had no idea. Every time anyone would ask me ‘where do you think you’re going?’ I’m like ‘I have no idea’. I’m excited to figure out where it’s going to be and I’m happy it’s here.”
(On if he has an agent) – “I do. It’s Marvin Demoff.”
(On playing against USC being good preparation for the NFL) – “Unfortunately, I never got to beat USC which still hurts me, but they’re just another college team. It was always really close to beat them but they always had a lot talent and skill on the field. You could go back on the game and think about the things you could have done differently or the plays we could have done better and see how the game could have changed or turned out differently. To win football games, it just takes everyone on the same page, doing the right thing every play and putting together a game. To win games, that’s all it takes, so no matter who you’re going up against or what the skill level is, it just takes doing the right things and getting your job done.”
