Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 4/30/17- Derek Rivers Speaks To Media Minutes After Being Selected

Episode Date: April 30, 2017

Chris Simoneau, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, provides the live audio from the Derek Rivers conference call on Friday night, minutes after the Youngstown State star was selected with the 83rd pick. #patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Hi, guys. I am Derek Rivers on the line. In about five minutes after this call, I will have Antonio Garcia on the line. But if you're ready, go ahead for your question to Derek Rivers. Hey, Derek. How's it going? What's going on? How you doing?

Congratulations. Just the first question, what was your immediate reaction when the Patriots selected you? Man, I was shaking, man. I mean, it was an overwhelming feeling to God be the glory.

Man, it's all because of him. So that's all for me. It was a blessing. Stark, it seemed like you had a lot of pre-draft contact with the Patriots. Did you have any idea they were going to take you? No, sir. Not at all. I had a visit with them., met with Coach Belichick

and everybody on the staff. And, I mean, other than that, I had no idea. Derek, what was that meeting like with Coach Belichick? It was awesome, man. I mean, we talked ball. I love Coach Belichick. I love everything that he is and what he stands for and how he coaches, his demeanor.

I mean, he's an awesome dude, man. I learned a lot from him. Derek, how would you describe yourself as a player? I mean, I'm a hard worker. You get work ethic out of me, and I do whatever the coaches want me to do. And that's the type of guy I am. Derek, how much did Coach Bellini help you develop this past year, and how important was he in this whole process?

Bo was awesome, man. He was like another father to me as far as when he came to Youngstown. He took our team to another level. The little things that he focused on as far as accountability, doing all the little things right, those are the things that Bo focused on as far as accountability, doing all the little things right. I mean, those are the things that Bo emphasized and those are the things that he instilled in me. And he's an awesome coach. I mean, he's a great dude, great guy. I can call him throughout this process, man.

He was always there for me, my teammate Avery Moss, and all the other guys at Youngstown that were going through this process as well. Derek, how did you end up at Youngstown in the first place? Was it a situation where you didn't have a lot of FBS schools recruiting you out of high school and Youngstown was one of the few? No, so out of high school, I was a non-qualifier, so I didn't get my CTEs. And then I was just a late bloomer.

So I wasn't very heavily recruited. So I went to Fort Gilead Prep School, and then Youngstown came, and they offered me, and I was ready to play ball. Why did you decide to stay there all four years? I would imagine that some guys who play that would want to go to the bigger schools, transfer just to kind of showcase themselves for the NFL. I mean because I love Youngstown. I loved every coach that I had come through there. I loved the city and I knew it really didn't matter what school

you went to. It just mattered what you did on the field. Derek, during the pre-draft process, what did you feel like you had to do to let coaches know that your skill set would translate to the increase in competition level you're going to see here? Just play football. Don't go out there and try to do too much. Just play football. Just do you. Don't go out there and try to do too much. Just play football, honestly, man. Just going out there and playing your game

and just playing as hard as you possibly can and doing all you can and then leaving the rest to me. And the Lord says, you go out there and pledge with the Lord. It's different. You let him handle the rest. How important do you think the senior bowl was to you? I mean, for an SDS guy, it's very important because everybody questions level of competition. But, I mean, it was an awesome experience for me.

I loved it. We only get to play guys from the FBS level once a year. So I got to practice with some of those guys and actually play with some of those guys that I see on TV or ESPN playing. I mean, it was pretty cool, man. I loved it. Could you sense at that time that you were maybe catching the eye of more NFL teams than maybe during the season?

Honestly, so much stuff goes on during that week that honestly all you do is think about practice. And you just think about trying to get better, learning from the coaches, and just playing your best for those three or four days. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Yes, sir. I definitely did.

What are your thoughts on joining the team that won that game? It's awesome. It's awesome. And I'm super excited. It's just so much that I can learn from those guys that were there. The type of, as far as like just the commitment that them guys have, the type of culture that's in that locker room, I'm just ready to learn from those guys and get better with those guys.

Derek, for those who don't know you, what type of player are the Patriots getting? Like I say, I'm a work ethic. My work ethic is what got me here. And then besides that, he gave me my work ethic. I'm a work ethic. I do more than what's asked of me. And that's the type of player they get. A guy that does more than what's asked of me. And that's the type of player they get, a guy that does more than what's asked of him,

and he does everything that the coaches want him to do. I listen to whatever my coaches need me to do. I'll do it. I'll do it 100%. Derek, you mentioned being a non-qualifier and having to go to the prep school route before Youngstown State. How important was that in your work ethic and your attitude toward football? Oh man, it's huge.

That's one thing that Coach Bo really told. That was the first thing Coach Bo said in his first meeting with us when he got to Youngstown. He was like, what you do off the field is going to reflect on how you play on the field. Rather than not qualify in high school at Youngstown, I'm probably going to graduate with a 3.0. And it just, I mean, and it makes sense. If you're lazy off the field, you're going to be lazy on the field.

If you miss assignments in class, you may mess around and miss assignments on the field. They both, they translate. I mean, They both correlate. Derek, I know you mostly play defensive end at Youngstown, but did any team show interest in you as an off-the-line linebacker, given your size and athleticism? Yes, sir. There were a couple of teams that showed more interest at linebacker than defensive air. Do you have any experience as a linebacker?

I mean, in high school I played linebacker a lot. My junior year I played a little bit of linebacker. And then, I mean, we stood up a lot, a good bit this year. I mean, we peed on a couple backs every now and again, but for the most part, not too much. Like I said the past four years, I had my hand in the dirt. That's about it. Derek, you're a little bit lighter than some of the defensive ends that the Patriots have on the roster right now. I was wondering, do you feel like

you might need to put on a little bit of weight for the next level, or are you comfortable where you're at? I think you're around 250 at the combine. Like I said, I'll do whatever the coaches need me to do. If they need me to put on weight, I'll put on weight. If they like me where I'm at, I'll play where I'm at. We coach whatever the coaches want me to do. How about the jersey number 11? That's sort of a different number, right?

Yes, sir. Tell us about that and how you ended up with that. I have a cousin that plays basketball overseas. It's like my brother. He wears number 11, so that's kind of how I got the jersey number 11. I just kept it through high school and then on the other side. Derek, speaking of basketball, did you run into Brandon Ingram in all your travels? Yeah, basketball. I'm saying, have you ever run into Brandon Ingram?

I don't know how big a place Kinston is. Yes, sir. He was a freshman when I was a senior, so we were on the same team. And how'd you do against him? How'd I... You say what? How'd you fare against him? How did I like him? How'd you do against him?

How did you do? How'd you do when you played against him? Oh, how did I do when I played against him? Yeah. I mean, at the time, he was probably about 6'4", 6'5". The kid grew like three inches at that time. He was shorter than me at the beginning of the season,

by the end of the season, he was taller than me, but at that time, if I could take him down on the post now, it would be a totally different story. I mean, Brandon was always good. He was always a good player. Thank you. Our last question, Derek, not too many players drafted as high as you from your school at Youngstown.

What are your thoughts on that, being one of the highest drafted players from the school? Like I said, it got me the glorious, the blessing. It was a huge blessing. I'm going to cherish this moment. Like I said, it's all for him. He gets all the glory and all the honor. That's what that means. It's all for him.

Congratulations, Derek. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Derek. Thank you. All right. Congratulations, Derek. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Derek. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Whatcha doing? Ran out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff.

Bye, singing dog. Bye, goal. I pronounce you... Bye, wedding ceremony. Stop. At MetroPCS, you get two free phones with twice as much memory. Really? Don't say bye to your memories.

Switch to MetroPCS and get two free LG K20 Plus phones with 32 gigs when you switch two lines. MetroPCS. Wireless. Figured out. Coverage not available in some areas. Sales tax not included in phone price. Excludes numbers on the T-Mobile network. See store for details and terms and conditions.