Hunter Long – May 14, 2021
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Friday, May 14, 2021
TE Hunter Long
(I guess you won’t know this for sure until you are practicing with NFL veterans, but how NFL-ready do you feel? How prepared do you think you are for professional football that you got from Boston College coaches? Obviously you’re very intelligent. Do you feel NFL-ready?) – “BC helped me progress a lot and helped me to get to where I’m at now, but I’m just here ready to work and improve and do my best to get better.”
(I want to delve into how many offenses you learned at Boston College and how that helped you prepare for what you’re facing now.) – “The first offense I was in was a super run-heavy offense where we ran the ball 70 times a game, and then this past year obviously was a much more pro-style and we threw the ball 70-plus times a game. I honestly like to say I got the best of both worlds at BC and got to learn from both systems and help my game in both aspects of the position.”
(Couple of questions for you. First, I wanted to ask did you get rid of all the hoodies out of your closet and then second, kind of on that same theme there, talking about learning the playbook and stuff, you’ve been in the classroom setting here for a couple of days now and watching film I’m sure and all that stuff – how different is that from what the expectation was in terms of the classroom time in college to the NFL?) – “To answer your first question, I did not learn honestly. (laughter) Traveling down here it was like 45 degrees when I left Boston and I didn’t learn. I started sweating instantly. And then to answer your second question, I’m just trying to put in as much time as I can into the playbook and take in as much information as I can and kind of catch up to the older guys as best as possible. So just as much time as possible I can put into the playbook, I’m going to do.”
(Sorry to tell you we consider this in South Florida a cool day.) – “I know, that’s what they were saying. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit – there’s been some attention given to your prowess with a Rubik’s cube and we know how you build computers and all, but I’m wondering if any of that translates to what you’re trying to do now. Does it help you in terms of learning concepts of a playbook and as you’re learning concepts in this playbook are you the type of guy who has to know the “why” of every single thing so that you put it all together in your head and you want to know what all the other guys on the team are doing on a given play?) – “I don’t know if it carries over much, but maybe it does. I don’t know the answer to that, but in terms of – yeah, of course. To play your best, you’ve got to be able to know kind of the big picture of the offense and each play and kind of what the guys around you are doing. So yeah, I’m going to try to learn as much information as possible for the plays, so I can go out and obviously perform as best as possible.”
(Head Coach Brian Flores talks about winning the practice, doing the best that you can that day. What was the best thing that you did today to win the practice?) – “Just tried to go out and give my best effort. It’s what I’m going to give this program and hopefully show that every day. I just want to improve at something every day and that’s going to be my goal coming in here. I have a lot to learn and a lot to do on the field and a lot of work to put in and I’m just ready to get started. Today was a cool first step.”
(And what was the most impressive thing you saw from anyone else?) – “I’m not going to answer that. Honestly, the coolest thing for me was just putting on the helmet for the first time. I have so much work to do and I know that, and that’s what I’m going to do leading up to the season; but it was a cool small first step of my NFL career today, putting on the uniform and helmet for the first time, even though it was just a practice.”
(I wanted to ask about two guys that just early first interactions – what’s it like meeting and interacting with Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey? He’s got a lot of familiarity with tight ends and obviously that’s your specific position, if you could answer that for me.) – “Meeting all the coaches has been phenomenal. Obviously they know so much and I’m just trying to be a sponge, so to say, and just take in as much information as possible from all of them. They all have great tidbits to help my game and that’s obviously what I’m here to do – get better as much as possible. They’ve all been fantastic.”
(And obviously a lot of us have looked up your film ever since the draft, but where would you say your blocking is at? It seems like you’re a pretty willing blocker. How do you self-assess that portion of your game?) – “I’m here to improve all parts of my game and honestly, I’m going to do whatever they ask me to do. I don’t know if I can answer that directly, but I’m willing to do whatever they ask me to do; and whatever they want me to work on, I’ll continue to work on.”
(Do you plan to study tape of 2020 Dolphins games to see how they use tight ends, how Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends George Godsey did last year? And have you been in touch at all with TE Mike Gesicki, TE Durham Smythe or TE Adam Shaheen?) – “Yeah, I’m definitely going to watch a little tape and see what – obviously I’ve seen the Dolphins a little bit, being up in Patriot country – but yeah, obviously I’ll go back and take in as much film as possible. Then I haven’t yet, but I’m excited to meet the guys in the room and just do whatever I can to help.”
(The theory in the NFL is that tight end is one of those positions to take a while to learn for young players because they have to learn so many different facets of the game – pass protection, the run blocking, the running of the routes. Why do you think that transition in the NFL is different than college?) – “At the end of the day, it’s just more to take in and it’s a lot of information at one time; but I’m just going to take it day-by-day and one install and one play at a time. Like I said earlier, I’m just going to try to take in as much information as possible to catch up as fast as I can.”
(So there are a lot of guys in the tight end room in Miami world; and so the one thing I wanted to ask is have you had a chance to talk to some of your new tight end teammates, kind of got an idea of any insight that they can offer on what’s expected of the tight ends this year?) – “I haven’t yet, but I’ve obviously talked to the coaches a bunch. I’m excited to join the room, I’m excited to get to know everybody and honestly just excited to do whatever they ask me to do and fill in wherever they need me. I’m definitely excited to meet everybody and get to know everybody and just do what I can to help the tight end room here.”
