NFL Draft Prospect Interview – Bryn Renner, QB North Carolina

Feb 22, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Bryn Renner on left talks with North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron during the 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

PS: Have you had much of a chance for outreach type stuff in your time in Chapel Hill?

BR: Yea, absolutely.  Duke and Carolina are known for hospital visits and having the top of the line hospitals.  We do that every Saturday before the games, earlier in the mornings, so I think that was huge for us, just to be able to impact the community.  All the guys go over there and support any way we can.  For me, over 5 years, I was able to build relationships with people that are going through some tough times, so whenever you think you’re having a bad day on the football field, you go over there and kind of lift the spirits of others who are really having a bad day, so I think it was a strong impact we had over there.

PS: What sense, if any, are you getting from NFL teams as far as how they view you?

BR: I think I’m an unknown guy.  I had a really good junior year and then a mediocre to terrible senior year and obviously the injury, so it’s kind of, who is this guy?  What kind of player is he and what kind of guy are we going to get on the field?  I think I’ll be a late round guy hopefully and if not, I’ll go the free agent route and battle my butt off.

People are overlooking me right now I think.  I had a great two years back to back; a great sophomore and junior year and then obviously senior year didn’t go as well, but I think I was getting a lot of buzz the summer going into my senior year because I played in a pro system and the spread and had two really good years, but I know the type of player that I am and can compete my butt off and do whatever it takes to make a team and make a roster and hopefully one day be a starter and win ball games.  I’ve done it at the high school and college level and hopefully I can carry that over to the pro game.

PS: Is there something you want to be able to do in life after football?  Pro Golfer?

BR: Golf would be nice.  That’s a dream goal, but I don’t think I’m ready to compete with the Ricky Fowler’s and Jordan Spieth’s and Tigers Woods’ at any level, so I’ll stick to recreation golf.  I really want to work with the athlete.  I want to be either be a coach or own my own facility because I did play baseball my freshman year at Carolina, so I have a baseball background, but I’d love to own my own facility and teach the game to other athletes and other quarterbacks and have a quarterback school.  It’s kind of the new fad now to be a quarterback coach, but I’d love to have my own facility and do baseball and basketball kinda just have my own gym.  An API or something like that where we train athletes.   That’s my ultimate goal when football is over.

PS: What position did you play in baseball?

BR: I played first base and designated hitter, you know, when I can.  It was tough balancing Spring football and baseball, so I think it was really tough for me, but I think the opportunity that I had was great.

PS: So basically, you’re a pretty good athlete and you get to baseball and they give the impression you have no athleticism whatsoever.

BR: Oh, absolutely, yea.  Exactly.  That’s definitely right.

PS: What do you think a team is going to get in Eric Ebron?

BR: I think Ebron is one of the most talented athletes that I’ve been around.  He can do it all.  He can put his hand in the dirty and block you.  He can go out and play receiver and look like Megatron.  And he’s gotten so much more mature off the field and I think that’s what takes him to the next level as far as a player and as far as an athlete and how he’s going to conduct himself.  He’s really transformed himself into an elite, elite player and I think whoever gets him is going to get a heckuva player.

PS: What about James Hurst?

BR: Oh, stud.  One of the smartest guys that I’ve been around as a player and handling calls, playing with him for three years.  He’s started 40+ games in a row since he stepped on campus and that was a huge impact.  He’s just a consistent guy who won’t let you down, won’t make mental mistakes.

PS: How about Russell Bodine?

BR: He’s an absolute animal.  That’s kind of a guy you don’t want to get in a bar fight with because that’s how he treats everything.  He’s just full throttle, nonstop and he’s just a tenacious player.  He’s gonna get after it.  He’s a guy who will be in the league for 10 to 15 years, easy.

PS: What is a team getting from Kareem Martin?

BR: He’s a beast.  What he did at the combine, his numbers that he put up, to be in the top defensive end class of that caliber.  He’s the same way.  You’re gonna get a guy who will show up every day and do the right things and just be an athletic freak.  He’s 6’7”, he runs like a receiver and he can just move.  He just makes plays and he’s intimidating because of his height and weight and his wingspan.  He’s a basketball player playing defensive end.  He’s tough to throw over as a quarterback.

PS: When Giovani Bernard declared, did you know immediately how much of an impact that was going to have?

BR: I knew the type of player, the type of player he was being his roommate for two years.  He really helped me and helped everybody just by his athleticism, but also his mental preparation.  He never really got too high, never really got too low, never got too down and I really don’t think we understood until he was gone how much of an impact he had on the game.  He had a lot more impact than we ever thought.  He’s doing it at the next level, so I think it was definitely tough and really didn’t realize it until he was gone.

PS: What is a team ultimately getting from Bryn Renner?

BR: I think you’re gonna get a guy who will compete his butt off every day.  You’re getting a consistent player that wants to accept any challenge that you’re willing to give him, but ultimately wants to win games.  If that means, I gotta sit on the bench for three years and you won’t have to hear a word about me on or off the field, conducting myself the wrong way or anything like that.  I’m gonna show up every day with a smile on my face, be ready to work and be the first one there and the last one to leave and I’m going to compete until you cut me.  I’m not going to give up and I’m not going to give in.

I want to be a starter in this league and I’m going to do whatever it takes, study as much film as I can and push the other guys, whether I’m watching film every day and trying to help the starter or whether I’m the starter.  It’s just trying to win games.  That is the ultimate goal of the quarterback.  No matter how you look, how you run, how you throw, as long as you win the game.  That’s all that really matters and I think that the best in the game understand that really well.  It’s not about you.  It’s about distributing the ball to the other ten guys you got out there with you and being the leader of the ship.  And I think that starts with the quarterback.

– Whatever my feelings on Bryn were before I spoke with him, I came away impressed for a few reasons.  He took on every question head on and could have been political or simply avoided them.  Not only that, he does bring a lot of energy and confidence while having a real good grasp of where he is as a player and a prospect.  He is the type of player, whom after speaking with him, he will at least make you want to go back and take a second look at the tape and make very sure you are happy with your evaluation of him, because he does have the personality and energy teams want in their locker room.  Good luck to Bryn as he tries to realize his dreams in the NFL, because if he can succeed on any level, he should an easy player to like.