NFL Draft 2014: Interview with Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith
By Peter Smith
Recently, Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith did an interview with Pete Smith from Withthefirstpick.com. Here are a few of the highlights.
On not being invited to the Scouting Combine:
"I would have done absolutely every drill. I would have thrown, I would’ve… it’s just that at a place like that, I’d be so humble. I would do every single event, get to meet all of those teams and compete. It’s not a situation where I’m trying to protect whatever stock I have, but it’s a chance to up it."
On his decision to declare for the NFL Draft:
"It was extremely difficult. Gosh, there were so many things that I had to think about and I was thinking about even before Christensen left, because obviously you think about it. I was focused on the year, but there was always that kind of feeling of, you know, once the season is over, what’s gonna happen? What are the options? You hear so many rumors, there were many things going on towards the end of the year about is this gonna happen with Christensen? Is it not? You know, What’s the deal? A lot of distractions that were weighing in; I thought the team did a great job of not letting it get to them. But yea, it was hard just thinking about what the deal was.When I met Coach Bohl, I was actually very optimistic, very open to talking with him and seeing what we were going to do and his direction of the program. I think it was a harder decision not going back because he was a guy that I wanted to play for, that I wished I could have played for at some point. I just think that the way everything has played out, with what’s going on, I just wanted to chase my dream of being an NFL quarterback. I felt like the high demand the NFL has for quarterbacks this year, I just felt like I had a shot to hopefully get picked up at some point. That was just an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. If they take a lot this year, that demand is gonna decrease next year. And it’s my dream; it’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to wait any longer. I wanted to try to go take it."
On throwing in Laramie in October:
"Not as bad as throwing it in November. It’s definitely hard. When the temperature gets into the negatives with the wind chill, it can definitely get challenging. It’s something we just had to deal with, living up there.There have been some that have said, “Yea, I felt it. I couldn’t breathe” and then others that have said, “I didn’t even notice it.” The guys that said they didn’t even notice it, I don’t know how that works because when I first got there, it was a joke how bad it was for me. I was gasping for air; those first couple workouts were extremely challenging. Obviously, playing in the factors where you have a helmet and shoulder pads and it’s 10 degrees and you’re up there on the high plans of Laramie, I don’t know how you don’t feel it. But some guys said they couldn’t."