Combine interview: Mike Jenkins verbatim

I'll have more on news from the NFL scouting combine, but first wanted to offer up a transcript of an interview former USF cornerback Mike Jenkins gave to reporters in Indianapolis. It's made available through the Pro Football Writers Association, and I want to thank our NFL writer, Stephen Holder, for passing it along. Here you go, and check back for plenty of live blogging from basketball tonight.

Q: (How did South Florida become so prominent in college football?)
MJ: "I think it's more of coaching - they've done a great job of getting guys ready."

Q: (How did he end up at South Florida after being recruited by Florida, Oregon, Nebraska, and Clemson?)
MJ: "My mother was sick. She had diabetes. On my signing day, she actually went into the hospital. I was keeping my little brother. It was only an hour from Bradenton to Tampa, so I could commute to take care of my brother."

Q: (What did you do to get ready for the combine?)
MJ: "I trained down in Orlando."

Q: (What teams have you talked to?)
MJ: "I haven't done any interviews yet, but yesterday I did 'preinterviews' with
the Rams, the Saints, Panthers … there was a lot of teams."

Q: (Can you talk about kickoff returns, and your 100-yarder?)
MJ: "I did kickoff returns back in high school. I hadn't done it in college until we played at Cincinnati - I was always behind another guy. He got hurt that week and they put me back there. My first time returning a kickoff, I ran it back 100 yards."

Q: (What was it like, the team getting ranked so high?)
MJ: "There definitely was a lot of attention, coming from the fans. Even in school - our school isn't really that big."

Q: (What makes you a good returner?)
MJ: "My speed. I'm a 10.5 hundred guy."

Q: (Would it be neat to be drafted by the Bucs?)
MJ: "It would mean a lot. Staying in Tampa, I could give back to the community."

Q: (Best receiver you faced?)
MJ: "This year, probably Harry Douglas from Louisville."

Q: (Q: How'd you do against Brian Brohm?)
MJ: "I picked Brian Brohm off once."

Q: (What corners did you pattern yourself after?)
MJ: "Champ Bailey, DeAngelo Hall and Al Harris."

Q: (Why Al Harris?)
MJ: "I like his aggressiveness."

Q: (What would it be like to be USF's highest-ever draft pick?)
MJ: "It would be an accomplishment for me - I had a lot of doubters, people saying I wouldn't go too high, just because I went to South Florida out of high school. So it would be a big accomplishment."

Q: (Why didn't you show for the Senior Bowl?)
MJ: "My first week in Orlando training, I kind of tweaked my hamstring. My agent kind of held me out from there." (Agent is Eugene Parker).

Q: (What has the combine process been like, with the medical exams, etc.)

MJ: "It's definitely something I understand, because they're going to invest a lot of money in you ... it's been pretty rough going through this whole process. They wake you up early in the morning. They check your body; if nothing's wrong with you, they're going to make something be wrong with you. If they see anything wrong with you, you have to get X-rays … It's just a long process, but it's pretty cool being up there with all the guys and the scouts."

Q: (How long did the medical testing take?)
MJ: "Aw, man. I got down there at 7 o'clock this morning. I didn't get back to my room until 1-something."

Q: (Weirdest question asked?)
MJ: "Pretty much all the questions have been the same, my talent, my parents' history - that's pretty much the craziest. A lot of scouts try to compare me to my father. He made his mistakes coming up. I feel like a lot of scouts are trying to compare me to him, but we're different people … He played at Tennessee State."

Q: (What mistakes?)
MJ: "I'd rather not discuss it."

Q: (A lot of good corners high in this draft?)
MJ: "I think all the corners are pretty much the same (physically) … I definitely don't compare myself to anybody. We all have different games."

Comments

[Kyle]

LoL, not a big school?
45,000 students 9th largest in the country

[Steve]

this is a link from SI... Looks like Mikey may have done ok for himself...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/02/26/combine.db/index.html?eref=T1

[AGW]

where did he train in orlando? What facility? Anyone know because they did a great job getting him ready if u look at the numbers he posted at the combine.

[Steve]

i think he trained at disney... My best friend trains at NTC (National Training Center) with Dennis Mitchell and he wasn't there...