“I took the call from the Cleveland GM and he told
me they were going to select me with their next pick. At first I was like when
is that? Is that like a couple of minutes or next round? Just then I heard my
parents screaming from the other room as they announced my name,” said a
jubilant Speegle this afternoon prior to his taping for the Lobo Coaches
Show.
For the record I didn’t’ know Nick was going to be there, but when I
walked up Dom said, “I think that is Speegle’s truck right there.” I said,
“Nick’s going to be here?” And sure enough as we walked into the station there
was #89 with Cleveland Brown hat in hand and a million dollar smile.
Congratulations were obviously in order followed by millions of questions by
Dom, Scott, and myself.
The quickest and easiest thing that came to my mind was saying, “Nick you
are now an NFL player…”
It feels great. All my hard work has paid off and
I’m finally getting recognized and it is a great
feeling.
What was it like to get that phone call?
I was like shaking. You picture that phone call
since the end of the season and to have it actually happen it is unreal. I was
shaking… I heard them say I’m going to pick you with the next pick… It was
unbelievable
Nick you end up going to the Cleveland Browns in the 6th
round. The talk we heard leading up to the draft was that
Cleveland really like you a lot. Turns out that they really did like you. Was it
a surprise to you that they picked you?
Nick Speegle at NFL
Pro Day
It isn’t a surprise but I thought they were going
to wait it out till free agency. I knew they liked me the most of any other
team. I was thinking they thought that I would chose them come free agency. I
think that with my numbers at Pro Day more teams became interested in me and
that made Cleveland stepped up to the plate with a draft
pick.
As we spoke with Nick Speegle he thought he was going to slip through the
NFL draft and have to latch onto a team via the free agency route as he had
taken quite a few trips and even up to draft day teams were calling
him.
St. Louis, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and
Detroit. Green Bay came across towards the end. So the past 3 days all these
teams are calling me to make sure where I was for draft day and where I could be
reached.
Nick also said that all these linebacker coaches were calling him telling
him how much he would fit into their system and game plan so he really felt like
free agency was going to be his route to the League.
Their linebacker coaches would be calling me like trying
to recruit me. Green Bay and Dallas were really trying to get me into their
camps, but it is the team that drafts you is the team that really likes you and
that is Cleveland Browns.
Nick Speegle is not only known for his physical stature,
but he is a student of the game. Lobo Coach Rocky Long said today, “I’ve seen players brought in to talk to
a scout or coach and the coaches show a play to the player and ask him what the
play is called at their school, and what their responsibilities are, and how the
player should defend the play. Some players just mess it up, or don’t know
exactly what they are supposed to do. Nick Speegle doesn’t just tell you what
his assignment and responsibilities are, but he can draw up and tell you what
each of the 11 players need to do in each situation.” Lobo Linebacker Coach Lenny Rodriguez
added earlier this month that having Nick Speegle on the field was like having
“another assistant coach on the field.”
Speegle wasn’t the only player drafted from UNM today as
Claude Terrell aka “Big C” was drafted by the St. Louis Rams with
134th pick and as we were talking with Nick we were awaiting word on
one of his Nick’s former teammates and work out partners after the season was
over CB Brandon Payne.
#89 Nick Speegle with former teammate Fola Fashola
I’m real happy for Claude and I spoke with him
some today and I sure hope that Brandon gets drafted, as he and Fola (Fashola)
deserve it as well.
Which led me to ask Nick how it felt to be part of a new
tradition at UNM. A tradition in which young men from the 505 come to the
University of New Mexico, play… star… and than get drafted. Urlacher, Jarrod Baxter, Nick Speegle, 2006 DonTrell Moore, Hank Baskett, and Ryan Cook…
I think it is a tribute to Coach Long. When he
came here he really opened up the door up to New Mexico guys… He doesn’t hold
onto that thinking that we are only from New Mexico and there isn’t any
competition here so they can’t be good players. He took a chance on us and last
year was amazing to see all the players that were from New Mexico and were
starters. It is something that I will never forget, and I will never forget what
Coach Long and the Lobos have done for me. I’m a local boy and I want the Lobos
to succeed.
And for all those young guys working out in the weight
rooms, running, and preparing for the upcoming high school season that look up
to Nick Speegle:
I signed an autograph the other day for a guy that
is going to La Cueva this year and I was like this is amazing… I remember
looking up to guys when I was younger, and now I’m one of those guys. That is
why I want to make it to the Pro Bowl just so that other guys can see it and
know they can make it. I just want to do that much better for them, to see me on
Sundays. That is what I’m striving for… for my coaches at La Cueva to be able to
say that this guy is from La Cueva. He is from Albuquerque… I want to make that
dream come true.
The Cleveland Browns aren’t just a storied franchise but
they have a group in the end zone known as The Dawg Pound. A group we like to
pattern ourselves somewhat like in The Red Menace… We like to say that we are
distant cousins… It was hilarious as Dom said; “You know you can make friends
with those Dawg Pound guys right away.”
Speegle Does The Lobo Leap!
I’ll never forget you guys bro…
I’ve got
Red Menace racing through my blood man!
Speegle with his
loyal fans... The Red Menace!
The
Red Menace family will never forget you Nick, and all you have done for us! Good
luck and show the NFL what kind of football is played in the state of New Mexico
and what 505 Pride is all about.