SB Nation Interviews NFL Rookies, Including Browns’ Brandon Weeden

Dan Rubenstein sat down with the John Mackey Award winner at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Hollywood to talk about adjusting to life in the NFL, the cold Indiana winters, and doing pilates to help keep the lower body limber.

Allen certainly has a lot on his plate, but he made it clear that he wants to make an impact any way he can, saying, “whatever role the give me, I’m going to embrace it and try to be the most consistent and reliable player that I can be for my team.”

Hill told Amy K. Nelson at the 2012 NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Hollywood that he would be using the slight as extra motivation in his rookie season.

“I’ve always played with a chip on my shoulder and now it’s like there are two chips on my shoulder,” said Hill.

The former Gamecock standout spoke to Amy K. Nelson at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, and he’s excited to play in Chicago.

“It’s a blessing from God to be drafted,” said Jeffery. “Just getting the call was very exiting, my family was very excited, and I’m just looking forward to being a Chicago Bear.”

“I was excited,” said Broyles. “Making it to the NFL, there’s nothing better than that. I’ve been working all my life just to be an athlete.”

When asked what he knew about Detroit, Broyles said, “I know Barry Sanders. Growing up, Barry Sanders was the man.”

In the below interview, Wilson talks about head coach Pete Carroll, the city of Seattle, the transition from college to the NFL, playing baseball and a whole lot more.

Wilson was selected by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, as the No. 75 overall pick.

At the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Hollywood, SB Nation’s Dan Rubenstein got a chance to sit down and talk with Wilson about his future with the New York Giants and what he hopes to bring to the table for the defending Super Bowl champs.

Wilson signed a four-year deal with the Giants, so he’ll have plenty of time to get used to the transition from Virginia to the Big Apple.

Martin hadn’t been to Tampa Bay by the time of the NFLPA Rookie Premiere (the closest he had come was Miami), but he’s looking forward to better weather than he “enjoyed” in Boise, when 20-degree days in winter were the norm.

And Martin also flashed his sense of humor in his interview with our Amy K. Nelson, explaining his “Muscle Hamster” nickname: “Basically, it means a person of small stature who is very well-built. I have linemen friends, and I’m smaller than them, so I guess they decided to give me the name Muscle Hamster. I have no idea where it came from.”

Pead still has some things to learn (pass protection at the NFL level, for one), but seems like he’s ready to step up for the Rams and help the team continue its turnaround from its late-2000s swoon.

For more on the Rams, head to Turf Show Times and SB Nation St. Louis.

For more on the Browns, head over to Dawgs By Nature and SB Nation Cleveland. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

“Right now I’m learning two positions, the slot receiver position and the attached tight end position, which is interesting because I didn’t do a lot of that in college. But it’s definitely fun and we have great coaches teaching me everything,” said Egnew about acclimating to Miami’s offense. Egnew’s college team, the Missouri Tigers, ran a spread offense, but with the Dolphins, he’ll be playing in a West Coast offense under head coach Joe Philbin and offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.

For more on the Dolphins, head over to The Phinsider and SB Nation Tampa Bay. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep up with this StoryStream.

Wright doesn’t think the transition’s going to be easy to the NFL, but says “If they need me to go out and catch a lot of passes, I can definitely do that.”

As for the saga that cost Bobby Petrino his job at Arkansas, Wright says “I was very hurt, myself, ‘cause it was someone I really looked up to and really trusted.” But despite it being “a bad situation all around,” Wright thinks “it was handled very well” by athletic director Jeff Long.

Tannehill’s excited about the chance to live in Miami — he’s heard about “a lot of great food” — but more excited about the chance to keep playing for Mike Sherman, his offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and the current offensive coordinator in Miami, and says “The West Coast offense suits me.”

He also gets an apology out of our boy Dan for a question about Tannehill’s shady past ... as a wide receiver. While Tannehill was a good wideout at Texas A&M before being switched over to signal-calling, “I wanted to be playing quarterback the entire time I was at receiver,” he explains.

“I attack the ball well,” Sanu says. “I love attacking defenses.”

Sanu also explains that he takes care of his hands and feet with occasional manicures and pedicures. Will there be a joint mani-pedi in his and Amy’s future? I hope so!

For more on Hillman and the Broncos, check out Mile High Report and SB Nation Denver. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

For more on Toon and the Saints, check out Canal Street Chronicles. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

Turbin said had no idea he would land in Seattle, considering he’d only talked to the Seahawks organization once -- a 15-minute conversation at the scouting combine. The frenetic Pete Carroll is his new boss, and Turbin is looking forward to playing for the former USC coach, but he’s still getting used to the NFL and the rigorous conditioning required at the professional level. Turbin said the first rookie minicamp was the most he had run in a practice before.

More from Turbin, including his ridiculously large arms, in the video below:

Foles says one of the bigger challenges playing for Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is moving from the no-huddle offense he ran at Arizona over the past two seasons back to the huddle, where’s he responsible for knowing a large playbook. Hear more from Foles on his interactions with Vick so far:

For more on Foles and the Eagles, check out Bleeding Green Nation and SB Nation Philly. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

For more on Wright and the Titans, check out Music City Miracles. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the Rookie Premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

Griffin sat down with SB Nation’s Dan Rubenstein at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in California to discuss his already impressive knowledge of the Redskins’ fan base (he already calls it D.C.!), his relationship with “Big Mike” Shanahan, and what he expects to give Redskins fans in his rookie season. All that and... socks!

For more on Griffin and the Redskins, check out Hogs Haven and SB Nation D.C. For other videos from SB Nation’s adventures at the rookie premiere, keep with this StoryStream.

“People tell me that I run angry,” Richardson says. “Yeah, I do run angry.” And, pressed by Nelson, Richardson confirms that he’s not about to start running chagrined or indifferent or something: “I’m not gonna change up nothin’. If I change up anything, that wouldn’t be me.”

Richardson also touches on the pressure of following LeBron James as a possible Cleveland superstar, what he’s going to fill his off-season with -- training hard, finding the best school for his daughters, and finding the best doctors to treat his mother’s cancer -- and the joys of taking a young woman in Alabama to prom.

The most interesting thing from the interview, however, came when Rubenstein asked him about his wing consumption. Graham said he has been introduced to the famous wings of Buffalo and he’s been eating quite a bit of them lately. I don’t know how you can consider yourself even a remotely accomplished wing-eater while eating exclusively medium, as Graham said, but I guess they do things differently in North Carolina. (Note: They likely do not. Graham has lots to learn about wing eating.)

For more on Graham and the Bills, be sure to check out Buffalo Rumblings. For more rookie videos from the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, visit SB Nation’s NFL YouTube page.

But Luck’s also had a chance to check out the Colts playbook, even though he says reports of his teammates being impressed with his knowledge of it are overstated: “I forced them to say that to the media,” he demurs. With only a few final projects left between him and an architecture degree, Luck is close to his first test as an NBA player: rebuilding the Indianapolis team that crumbled in 2011.

Oh, and he’s done with his neckbeard. Probably. “The ‘neard’ has probably died a cruel death,” Luck says. “It was a bad look; I don’t think I could pull it off again.”

Justin Blackmon is in the news, and around this time of year that’s typically not a good thing. Early on Sunday morning, Blackmon was arrested for “aggravated DUI,” blowing a .24 after being stopped for driving erratically. He was booked into jail in Oklahoma, then released later Sunday morning. It wasn’t a great start to his NFL career.

However, before the DUI and off-field trouble, Blackmon sat down with Amy K. Nelson at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles. There, he dished on his game, his future and his singing ability. Blackmon sang in a choir, and though he wouldn’t belt out a tune on the spot, it was an interesting tidbit.

San Francisco selected Jenkins at the end of Round 1 with the No. 30 pick, while James went one round later at pick No. 61. In Los Angeles at the Premiere, it was first rounder Jenkins who took control of the mic and served as a correspondent for SB Nation, interviewing his new teammate James.

While being interviewed by Jenkins, the former Oregon Ducks running back displayed instant brand awareness, citing Nike as the first reason why his experience playing at Oregon was great. While Robert Griffin III was quick to plug his adidas shoes, James is especially happy that Nike has taken over as the new supplier of NFL uniforms. He’s been well-trained.

Wilson and Randle haven’t perfected their rapport yet -- Wilson found out the hard way that you aren’t supposed to bring up Randle’s national championship game loss to Alabama -- but they laughed it off and recovered well enough to hawk their Twitter handles.

All things told, the Giants’ new offensive weapons seem to get along pretty well, even when one has a microphone. And they seem pretty excited about getting to wear the Giants helmet as well -- Randle won’t even take his off.

On a side note, isn’t Wilson kind of throwing the Hokies under the bus by being so awestruck by playing at LSU?