April 24, 2010

Colt McCoy draws inspiration from Joe Montana

It didn't go down exactly the way Colt McCoy thought it would. In fact, he joked that when he saw Mack Brown on television to make the 85th pick of the draft - in the third round - "If he wouldn't have called my name, I was about to give up. I was about to call it a day."

1. But as of now, McCoy is the future quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, where he will compete with Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace in the short term.

"I know they have a veteran quarterback, a guy that's been around for a long time in Jake Delhomme," McCoy said Friday night. "I got to spend some quality time with him while I was in Cleveland.

"I think he's going to be a great guy to play under, to learn from, and to really learn the offense, learn the system, and I feel like I'm going to be a Cleveland Brown for a long time."

2. There is no time to waste. Browns' offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is FedExing a playbook to McCoy in time for next Thursday's rookie camp.

"The last thing coach Daboll told me was when I come into camp on Thursday he expects me to know what I'm doing," McCoy said. "He's overnighting me some of the playbook and we're going to Skype every day and talk ball and he expects me to come in there and be the leader and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

"When I was up there we went over the playbook and they taught me a little bit about it and then gave me a quiz over it and I was the first person to make a 100 on it, so I feel like I'm ready."

3. McCoy said he understands why he fell into the third round.

"It's tough, it's tough, but I said it before, you can't come in here with expectations because I've talked to so many teams who had me as their quarterback on their list," McCoy said.

"If I was there, they were going to take me, but they need different things on each team. They've got to have a defensive player, they've got to fill some holes in different places.

"So that's why Jimmy [Clausen] and I dropped off so far, but at the same time, both of us can say we definitely ended up in the right place and where we wanted to be and I'm really excited."

"I mean it's tough. This whole process is crazy like I said. I know they needed to fill holes and lots of guys in the secondary, but that's just going to make us a better team. All the guys that came in and got picked in this draft are quality picks and I can't wait to meet those guys."

4. McCoy said he will use his draft experience as motivation.

"I think I'll put that all in a bag somewhere, store it and definitely use it as motivation," McCoy said. "You have to, for me, coming from where I grew up and coming here, nothing was ever given to me.

"I had to earn everything that I've ever had and it's set up to be the exact same way going into the NFL. I'm very confident in my abilities and confident in what I do and like I said, I'm a learner and I'm a hard worker and I'm going to go up there and do a great job."

5. McCoy said he had lots of conversations with the Cleveland Browns and feels like it's a good fit for him - from the West Coast passing offense, which features are lot of underneath routes - to the football craziness of the city.

"It's important to find yourself in a situation that you can play for a long time and for a team that has lots of goals and their attitude is all about winning, and that's what Cleveland is," McCoy said.

"That's what I took away from my visit up there and all the contact that I've had with them over the past week or so since I left has been really positive and I just think I'm the perfect fit."

6. Even though Cleveland passed on him three times before finally selecting him in the third round, McCoy said it's all about winning now.

(The Browns selected Florida CB Joe Haden in the first round; and Oregon FS T.J. Ward and Tennessee RB Montario Hardesty in the second round; before selecting McCoy in the third.)

"I've heard a lot of good things about the city and just to be a part of an organization that's all about winning," McCoy said. "You walk around their facility and every wall that you see, every meeting room, it's all about winning and we need to win fast, and that's how I was raised.

"That's how I grew up. I don't like to lose. I'm the worst loser in the world. Coach Holmgren told me to bring that same attitude up there.

"And the last thing he told me was, 'Hey, I know you waited a long time, but Joe Montana was a third-round pick and he's in the Hall of Fame, so don't think anything about what's happened. You come in here and do your job, and you're going to play here and play for me for a long time.'"

7. Of all the things he'll remember about Friday, hearing Holmgren talk about drafting Joe Montana was the thing he'll hang onto the most.

"There's not very much more encouragement then hearing him say, 'Hey, I drafted Joe Montana in the third round and he's a Hall of Famer,' and that's huge motivation for me," McCoy said.

"That proves to me that I know that he wanted me. I know that I was the guy that he would love to coach and Coach Holmgren is just the overseer.

"He knows what he's doing and he's got a lot of guys in place to lead a successful organization and I love coach Mangini, I love the staff, coach [Carl] Smith is the quarterback coach, coach Daboll is the offensive coordinator and I think they have what I takes to win and I'm fired up there to go down there and get started."

8. McCoy said it was nuts that he went one pick after his childhood friend and college roommate - Jordan Shipley, who went with the 84th pick (in the third round) to the Cincinnati Bengals.

"That's crazy," McCoy said. "I'm so excited for Jordan, he's a playmaker, he's a game changer and he's going to be a nice fit for Cincinnati and he'll have a great quarterback in Carson Palmer to get him the ball and to have Quan there with him, that's pretty cool.

"Those guys, man it's a lot of fun playing with those two, to have Quan and Jordan out there and now that they're going to be in the same division two hours away from me, that's pretty crazy."

9. McCoy said he was happy for Earl Thomas going in the first round (14th overall to the Seattle Seahawks) and for Sergio Kindle going in the second round to the Baltimore Ravens, followed one pick later by Lamarr Houston to the Oakland Raiders.

McCoy will be in the same division as Kindle and Shipley (AFC North).

"Now we're living in the same state (with Shipley)," McCoy said. "That's crazy. I'm so excited for Sergio, for Jordan, for Earl [Thomas] going in the first round, for Lamarr [Houston] and all the guys that are coming here later, that's pretty special.

"All of us are making this transition together and going to our respective teams, but ultimately, when you get to where you're going, it doesn't matter who you're lining up against.

"If I'm lining up against Shipley, I'm going to win, that's how it is, or at least try to win. It's a lot of fun and I was so blessed to have my family there with me, my grandparents, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, my brothers, my parents, having them all there was special and made it a little bit easier.

"Those days are tough when you're wanting to hear your name called, but in the end, I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

10. Colt said it was special to have Mack Brown call his name from the stage in New York City, while Colt was anxiously waiting for the news back in Austin.

"Coach Brown, I told him (on the NFL Network) that if he would have walked across there and not called my name, it would have been bad news," McCoy said.

"It set up perfectly, to have him walk across the stage and call my name, that was awesome and just to have him say a lot of positive things up there about me and about our relationship and about all the wins that we've shared here together, that was special."
