Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter talks about being the No. 1 overall pick, when he found out he’d be the top pick and whether or not he felt any pressure associated with it (run time is 5:58; transcript below the jump).
[podcast]http://www.lostlettermen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Ki-Jana-_1.mp3[/podcast]…..
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Lost Lettermen: This is Jose Bosch from LostLettermen.com and I’m being joined by Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter, the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. Mr. Carter thank you very much for joining us.
In the NFL draft you have about 170-180 players drafted but only one player gets to be the No. 1 overall pick. When you finished your last season in college, when do you first get the sense or first get the inclination that you were going to be the No. 1 overall in that year’s draft?
Ki-Jana Carter: It was kind of still up in the air. A lot of buzz was generated throughout my last year at Penn State. And then probably half way through the season a lot of scouts and stuff were coming to our games. And then probably toward the end you started hearing … of course the media was not as big then. But you still hear the buzz on TV that certain teams are looking at certain prospects.
I heard it and I was kind of flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe it. And then I really focused on football, but getting toward the end, like right at the end of the season and going to all the award banquets and award dinners and things like that. The buzz started going that if these players go out; they have a chance at going high.
Even that being said, you still don’t know because even though there’s a Mel Kiper or Todd McShay or whoever it is saying that this person is going to go high, they’re not making the draft pick. So it’s still up to the team. Even then dealing with that I still had to be kind of skeptical and do some due diligence.
Then after my bowl game coach Paterno came up to me and was like, “From what all the people are saying, you’re going to be a top five pick.” And with that knowledge that really changed my life. I figured even if I go top five, you’re somewhat slotted to make extra money, you would think.
Now did I think I was going to be the No. 1 pick? It’s really hard to say because it was still up in the air. Remember back then the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars were expansion teams and the whole debate was were they going to draft a running back, were they going to trade the pick, were they going to draft Tony Boselli – who was the top lineman – or were they going to draft Kerry Collins. Steve McNair was in there so there was like four or five people that could’ve went anywhere in those first five picks, so I really didn’t know until the day before the draft.
LL: You mentioned before that you had the idea that you were probably going to be a top five pick. When you hear that and you realize that’s going to be a very real possibility, regardless of whether or not you know what pick you’re going to be, how does that change the way you look at life? How does that change the way you approach your football career at that point?
KC: Well football I still approached it the same way. I still loved the game and I still loved playing it and I wanted to be the best I could. It changed my perspective some because you always hear the stories of people coming out of the woodwork. That happened somewhat but I had a good support base to divert that.
But now I was able, had the ability to do things for my mom and my little brother that I wasn’t able to do before. Pay to buy her a house, buy her a car. Get my mom and my brother some nice things that I wasn’t able to do – I’m able to do that without even thinking about it. So that’s basically really the thing that changed.
Of course you always saw there’s more money, there’s more problems and there’s always other things that are involved. But regarding football there’s going to be some pressure, but for me I would go play the game that I love and now the only thing I have to worry about now is doing that and I can take care of my family while I do it.
LL: So the moment that you were drafted No. 1, did you feel any pressure at all, especially with an organization like the Bengals that were looking to get back to where they were in the 80s?
KC: Of course the media is going to be on you and they’re going to have a spotlight on you, but regarding pressure wise, I try to take everything in context. There was a lot of pressure on me at Penn State and of course you can’t say that Penn State and the NFL is similar, but on the same note being at a high caliber program like Penn State, there’s a lot expected of you.
I guess there might be a little sense (of pressure) because me being a home state (player), me being from Ohio and being from Columbus as somebody coming back there. But ever since my first interview I always said I can’t do it by myself.
With a running back, no matter how good you are, you’re only as good as the five-ten other guys on offense blocking for you. So not to take anything away from the team, but with me I had the misfortune of injuries.
But I didn’t really feel that much added pressure on me because I was always plying the game to my ability. I always put more pressure on myself than anybody else would be able to.
