Travis Daniels

Travis Daniels Press Conference Transcript

(On how long it took to get from his home to the Dolphins Training Facility) – “A total of about seven minutes. I live right off Sheridan, so I am very close to home.”

(On if playing for the Dolphins is a dream come true) – “As a matter of fact it is a dream come true. I have always been a huge Dolphins fan. I remember ever since I was a little kid, my first little football uniform was a Miami Dolphin uniform. Every day after pre-school I used to go put the uniform on and go in the neighborhood and start playing football with some of my friends. I wore it so much that everyone started messing with me about it, but now they are seeing me being able to play for the Miami Dolphins for real, so it all paid off.”

(On who some of his favorite players are) – “Sam Madison, (Patrick) Surtain, (Junior) Seau. A lot of the Dolphins guys are my favorites.”

(On what number was on his jersey as a kid) – “It didn’t have a number. It was just a straight Dolphins jersey. We got it from Toys ‘R Us or something.”

(On what it will be like to play with players he admired and possibly replacing Patrick Surtain) – “It will be great to be out there to play with guys like Sam Madison and Jason Taylor. As far as the Patrick Surtain thing goes, I am just happy to be able to come over here and play in front of my hometown.

(On if he thought he might end up with the Dolphins after Nick Saban was hired) – “When Coach Saban got the job here everybody around LSU figured at least one of the guys would get drafted by Coach Saban. I never knew which one of us it would be, but being that he has such a great knowledge about what we are all about and being able to work with us for so many years, it will be a lot easier to pick one of us as opposed to someone else.”

(On if has visited with Nick Saban since he became the Dolphins head coach) – “No, because right now I still in school at Louisiana State University. I just came down here for the draft, so I haven’t been in town much.”

(On if he will finish his coursework at LSU) – “Yes, I am going to finish school. I have 15 hours left. I am taking 12 of those 15 now and then in the summertime I will finish up my last three hours and graduate. That was one of the things I really wanted to do, be one of the first ones from my family to graduate from college and try to pursue a professional football career. I am just trying to live out that dream”

(On his mother’s excitement this morning) – “She was very excited. She is like the No. 1 Dolphin fan out of my whole family. When they called my name on the TV screen, I was in my room and she came in the room and [said], ‘are you playing for the Dolphins?’”

(On if he was watching) – “Yes, I was watching in my room. She was in her room. She is very happy. The phone has been blowing up ever since I got called.”

(On if Corey Webster has called him) – “Yeah, Corey called me. As a matter of fact, Corey called me last night. I spoke to him last night, him and Marcus Spears. They were just telling me, keep your head up, you’ll get picked up on the next day, don’t worry about it. I was just congratulating them on all the success that they had as college athletes and wishing the best in their career.”

(On Nick Saban saying last night that he was interested in Corey Webster) – “Corey is a tremendous athlete. If I was a coach, I would want him on my team as well. Things didn’t work out that way, so we just have to roll on with what we got now.”

(On his mother’s name) – “Spring Grant.”

(On if last night was difficult for him to sleep) – “Not really because I felt like I did everything in my power to get drafted as high as I could get drafted. Maybe if I would have not have done so good at our last pro day I would have had some uncertainties about my ability, then I would have been concerned. But, I felt like I gave it all I got. Now, it was all up to whatever team felt like they wanted to give me a shot.”

(On if he has any brothers and sisters) – “I have an older brother on dad’s side, but from my mom I am an only child.”

(On her happiness about his being home) – “When I was in high school she wanted me to stay close to home to go to college, but I felt like I needed to get away and experience some things on my own. Now, I am able to come back here and spend a lot more time with her than I could while I was at LSU.”

(On if the Dolphins called him before they picked him) – “Yes. Coach Saban called me. He was just telling me that there was a real good chance that they were going to pick me if I was still around today. I was just sitting by the phone patiently waiting as I was doing all day yesterday.”

(On when that conversation took place) – “This morning.”

(On what happened on the last play of the Capital One Bowl game) – “I was covering, (Ed) Hinkle, No. 11, wide receiver for Iowa. He was just taking off on a straight up fly and I see him looking up for the ball, so when I start looking for it, I am looking at the ball like, I don’t think the ball is coming to him. The next thing I know, I think he was No. 86, just streaking down the field by himself. That is just how it happened, just like that.”

(On if Nick Saban blamed him for that) – “No, he didn’t blame me for it. If he did, he never told me about it. We were in a man coverage and one of the guys didn’t get the call, thought we were playing a zone so he kind of dropped him at about twenty yards when he should have kept running with him. That is what left them with one more man than we had.”

(On how difficult it was to get noticed playing alongside Corey Webster) – “It really it isn’t all that tough because whenever you got a guy such as Corey Webster on the other side of you taking so much of the spotlight, hogging up so much attention, you really never have any pressure on you because everybody is watching him wanting to make sure he is doing everything that he needs to do. As the year goes on and the season keeps progressing, you start making more plays, and then you have people noticing you. It was a lot of fun being able to play with a guy like that.”

(On if he thinks he had more balls thrown his way because he played with Webster) – “Yeah, I felt like I got more balls thrown at me, especially our junior season. Whenever you got a guy like Deion Sanders on one side and then you got this other cornerback, who is probably just as good, but you don’t know about him yet, it only makes sense to go after the person that you don’t know as opposed to the Deion Sanders of the defense.”

(On comparing his junior and senior seasons) – “I think I did a lot better my junior season just because of the fact that a lot of teams were testing me and really tying to go after me. Our senior season, there was a lot of games where we didn’t have but maybe two balls thrown at us the whole game and that went on for maybe four games straight. The junior season would be a more productive year, being more active, going against quarterbacks like Eli Manning, throwing the ball at you like eight times a game. The senior season wasn’t like that.”

(On continuing to play for Nick Saban) – “I am loving it. It’s great being able to develop a relationship on the level that me and him have on and off the field. It’s great to be able to come to your hometown and play for your head coach from college.”

(On what he learned from Nick Saban) – “There are so many things. I would have to say the No. 1 thing is to have great character. Whenever you step up in a business venture or whenever you step outside of football, know that you are representing your family, the university, now the Miami Dolphins, and your teammates and everybody around you. Always keep a positive attitude about everything and never give up. That was always one of the biggest things. I think he helped turned all of us from young boys to men.”

(On if he is open to moving to safety) – “I am open to it. As you know, in the 2003 season, I started off playing safety. I am pretty familiar with all the positions on the field. I think I could play all the positions as the position is titled. I am not a cornerback that would go to safety and play safety like a corner. I am going to play like the position is titled. Whatever position the defense needs help with, if they need me to step in there, I’ll go out there and make plays.”

(On what it was like to try to tackle Ronnie Brown) – “Ronnie is a load, he is a real load. He is one of the best running backs we faced. He is the best running back we faced all season and since I have been in college. He just brings so much to the table. He’s a threat all around the board. He can run out of the backfield and catch deep balls on you. He can run up the middle, run over you, shake you, run past you, so a guy like that is hard to account for. It’s great to have him on my team now.”