Rackley meets the Jacksonville press

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Lehigh's Will Rackley has met the Jacksonville press and I am sure just as he was with dealing with the Lehigh Valley media, Will was soft-spoken, but forthright in his answers.

This is a very level-headed kid who is doing the smart thing by pursuing his degree.

Anybody who knows Will will be rooting for a long, healthy and prosperous career in the NFL, but just in case, a degree from Lehigh is not too bad of a backup plan.

From the Jacksonville website, here's a transcript of Rackley's comments from his first NFL media session:

* On if he has his degree -- WR: “I’m getting it on May 23.”

* On if he is a team captain -- WR: “Yes.”

* On what he is getting his degree in -- WR: “Product design. You can design anything from toys, appliances, furniture to even software.”

* On the last time he did not start -- WR: “I didn’t start the last regular season game of my freshman year. After that I started every game.”

* On why he didn’t start that game -- WR: “I’m not sure. I think I didn’t play too well the week before and kind of lost my job.”

* On if third round is where he projected he would go in the draft -- WR: “No. There was talk of me going around the third round but to be drafted at all is a very humbling experience and truly a blessing.”

* On if he visited Jacksonville -- WR: “No. I didn’t get a chance to visit Jacksonville.”

* On where he visited -- WR: “I went to Dallas, Cleveland and St. Louis.”

* On if the Jaguars came to his pro day -- WR: “No. They didn’t come to my pro day but I did a private workout for them.”

* On if he was surprised he was taken by the Jaguars -- WR: “I’m not surprised. I thought my private workout with them went pretty well so I was hoping.”

* On how much he has played along the interior line -- WR: “I started at guard my freshman year and after that I did in practice but it was mostly tackle in games.”

* On the transition to moving back inside -- WR: “It’s just dealing with bigger guys and shorter distances will be the biggest thing. I don’t think I will have too much trouble with that.”

* On if it’s a different mentality playing inside -- WR: “I wouldn’t necessarily say different mentality. You definitely go in there with a mauler mentality. You go against this guy across the ball that is three feet in front of your face. You have to get after him and maul in.”

* On how much competition the East-West All-Star Game gave him considering his level of competition in college -- WR: “It gave me a great deal of confidence. It was really exciting to play against Division I-A talent and stacking up pretty well against them definitely built up my confidence level.”

* On where he grew up -- WR: “I moved around quite a bit. I was born in Athens, Greece. My father was in the military. We moved to North Carolina, Virginia for eight months and then finally Atlanta in 1999. Been here ever since.”

* On if he was glad to get picked by Jacksonville with the warmer weather and the opportunity to stay in the south -- WR: “Definitely glad. Florida is a great state and Jacksonville is a great team. Staying somewhere where it’s warm, I’m definitely excited.”

* On the size of Riverdale High School -- WR: “About 2,000. It’s Class 5A, the highest.”

* On if he was heavily recruited out of high school -- WR: “No. I was only about 6-2, 260, coming from a wing-T offense. I had pretty good academics so I was recruited by a lot of Patriot League schools like Lehigh, Lafayette and Colgate.”

* On what he did to get to his current weight of 309 -- WR: “It was a progression. My freshman year I played at about 265 and got up to 280 my sophomore year. By my junior year I was up to about 295, 300. I played at 310 my senior year. It was just a lot of working out and eating.”

* On if he knows anyone personally on the Jaguars roster -- WR: “No, not personally.”

* Who's his agent -- WR: “Alan Herman.”

* On where he watched the draft -- WR: “I was with my family and we watched the whole thing.”

* Where he watched the first round -- WR: “My father and I were up in New York. We went to Radio City (Music Hall). My agent had some tickets so we figured we would go up there and soak up the experience.”

* On sitting in the crowd -- WR: “It was cool seeing all those fans going crazy, seeing some of the guys I saw at the combine. It was kind of cool.”

*On if the Giants fans or Jets are louder -- WR: “I would say the Jets fans at least at Radio City. They were going pretty crazy but they outnumbered the Giants fans.”

* On if he is relatively comfortable playing at 310 pounds -- WR: “I feel very comfortable. That is the weight I have been playing at the last couple of years. I feel good at it.”

* On if he bench presses 440 pounds -- WR: “I did. I bench about 460 or 475 now.”

* On if a lot of pro scouts came to his games during the season -- WR: “We pretty much had a scout at almost every practice during the season and during camp.”

* On if he was flattering that the scouts were focused only on him at the practices and games -- WR: “It’s kind of cool. It motivated me during practice.”

* On the feeling of being drafted after a team trades up to select you -- WR: “It’s pretty flattering. It felt pretty good. I can’t wait to go down there and work.”


http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/