Dear NFL GMs and Coaches:
I’m writing to express my interest in becoming your next dominant football player.
I’m not one to tout my own accomplishments. It’s not really in my nature. But I also understand that this is a time when I should be open about what I’ve done in the past and what I plan to do in the future.
When I’m selected in the upcoming draft, I’m pretty sure I know what the guys on TV are going to say: “This is the kid who broke Reggie White’s all-time sack record at Tennessee.”
That’s true. That’s something I did, and it’s something I’m very proud of.
But one thing I want to make clear is that breaking that record was never a goal of mine. It wasn’t what motivated me or what I had set out to accomplish before I enrolled at Tennessee. Instead, it was a by-product.
It was the by-product of countless hours spent studying offensive linemen. It was the by-product of coaches taking the time to help me develop my physical gifts. And it was the by-product of my teammates doing their job very well so that I could do mine.
Achieving that sack record definitely meant a lot to me, but I would have traded it away in a heartbeat to have won a championship while I was in college. So understand that even though I’ve achieved some noteworthy things and won some individual awards, they are not what drives me.
I want to lead a defense. I want to be an important part of a winning team.
I want to win a Super Bowl.
