DETROIT LIONS SELECT DE DA’SHAWN HAND WITH THEIR FOURTH-ROUND PICK (114TH OVERALL) OF THE 2018 NFL DRAFT
Lions DE Da’Shawn Hand was available to the media via conference call. The following excerpts are from his media session.
On being reunited with Lions Defensive Line Coach Bo Davis and DT A’Shawn Robinson: “It’s going to be a great thing. I’m just happy that I’m a part of the Detroit Lions and that I know somebody, actually. Bo Davis, me and him, we go way back. He helped develop me to the player that I am. I’m just excited to be reunited with those guys.”
On if he had a feeling he would end up in Detroit with those connections: “I didn’t have any idea. I’m just happy that I got selected to go to Detroit.”
On what he thinks has changed about him as a player since being the No. 1 high school recruit: “Well, I think with any player coming out of high school to now, you mature a lot. Your technique gets better and then your football IQ gets better. I’ve got a ‘win’ attitude, that’s what I plan on using when I come there.”
On if he has spoken with the Lions about how they might use him on the defensive line: “I spoke with them. To be honest, everybody’s just excited for me to join the program and I’m excited to join as well.”
On what it is about an Alabama defense that has prepared him for the NFL: “It just trains you to be a pro, you know. You’ve got to use your hands. You’ve got to know your assignment and when your name is called, when the play comes, you’ve got to make it.”
On what Lions C Frank Ragnow was like as a college opponent at Arkansas: “He’s a dog. He got selected first for a reason.”
On what makes Ragnow a good player: “It’s just self-explanatory. You put on the tape, you can see it.”
On what made him change majors in college: “It was just the best decision for me. In life, things just sometimes don’t go your way and you just make the best of them.”
On what he feels did not go his way: “Well, no, it was just the best solution for me. Just the best move for where I was in my life at the moment.”
On how old Lions DT A’Shawn Robinson really is: “Oh, man. A’Shawn might be 65. You never know. You never know. I just want to see if he like, actually like just stopped shaving his head. I wonder what type of hairstyle he’d have. I would love to see that.”
On where he is watching the draft today: “So, right now I went back to Virginia. That’s where I went to high school and I’m at my uncle’s house right now.”
On what it was like when he got the phone call from the Lions: “It’s like the best feeling in the world. You just work for so long to get to a goal. I mean, it was a childhood dream. And now it’s a dream come true. Now, I’m just ready to work hard and fulfill what I’ve got to do.”
On the teams that called him during the draft process: “Man, when I picked up the phone, man, I saw the Detroit number, man. You know, I picked up and it was just like a movie. Coach (Matt) Patricia, Mrs. (Martha) Ford is a wonderful lady as well. I just talked to everybody, man. Of course, I talked to Coach (Bo) Davis. I’m just excited to get up there.”
On his impressions of the Lions and the defense: “Man, you know, with Coach Bo (Davis) there, I know they’ve got a kind of similar scheme like Alabama did. It’s just a whole bunch of dogs, so I’m just ready to be a part of that unit.”
On what Bo Davis adds as the Lions defensive line coach: “He’s just a high intensity, high energy, and he’s going to get the best out of you.”