Siran Neal – March 14, 2024
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Thursday, March 14, 2024
CB Siran Neal
(How would you describe your approach to special teams?) – “I’m very passionate about it. And me, logistically, a lot of guys on special teams don’t really get praise for what they do. One thing I know is special teams is really huge when it comes to the NFL games. Special teams play can either win a game or lose a game. That’s one thing I know about it. And that’s on every phase. Like pinning the ball where it needs to be for the offense or defense to get set up to be successful.”
(What do you know about Special Teams Coach Danny Crossman?) – “Danny is my boy. I had Danny my rookie year when I came in with Buffalo. Danny is really a passionate coach too as well. He really loves the game. He really loves being that coach and really loves his players. That’s one thing that me and Danny over the years, we kept in contact and kept a close relationship through this whole process. Every time we played him, like I told him yesterday, I always wanted to make him smile and see what he’s going to say at the end of the game. That’s one thing that I took under my sleeve. I knew every time I played him, he was going to give me his best and I was going to give him my best.”
(You’re from Alabama. What was life growing up in Alabama and when did you realize you wanted to play in the NFL?) – “Most people don’t see it, but I went to high school in Alabama but I’m mostly from Fort Gaines, Georgia, so I really have to claim both sides because half of my life I was in Georgia through seventh grade and the other half I was in Alabama. It’s pretty much the same because it’s right across the water, right across the bridge. Growing up in Alabama, it’s really country. But it’s tough. It’s tough love. One thing people don’t know about the country is it’s really a lot of competition. It’s tough growing up in the country. It taught me about life and it taught me how to attack life and not let life attack me. It made me who I am today.”
(As far as the experience, what went into your decision to sign with the Dolphins?) – “The decision to sign with the Dolphins – basically with the NFL, it can be a little tricky. It’s all built off relationships. Coming from Buffalo, I love Buffalo, shoutout to Buffalo for everything they gave me throughout the past six years. It furthered our relationship. Just getting the opportunity to come down and talk to Danny (Crossman) about everything, he was more excited to have me than I’ve ever seen before. When I came through the door, his face lit up. That’s one thing he did as soon as I walked into the door. I just knew he saw me that he was happy to see me. He did everything in his will power to have me. That’s one thing I loved about it. Once I saw that, I knew if he would go to war for me, when it’s time for the kickoff or it is time for the season to start or even during OTAs when we have to report back, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to fight for him.”
(Wanted to get your thoughts on going from the team that’s dominated the AFC East for the past several seasons to the team that’s trying to end that run.) – “I’m very excited. I’ve definitely been on the other side for the past six years, and winning that title up there. On the other side now, it’s time to work to try to get that division down in South Florida. And that’s one thing that I’m up for. I’m up for the challenge. With Buffalo, they’re a really good team. They have a really good staff, great players, great coaching. When that time comes in the season, I’m pretty sure me and the guys will be prepared. It’ll be a tough game and all, but it will be a really good game and I’m looking forward to it.”
(Your thoughts on being reunited with S Jordan Poyer?) – “My dog ‘Po.’ ‘Po dog!’ Man, I’m really excited. He’s fired up too. He called me probably like three minutes before I had to get on the Zoom call and I couldn’t pick it up. But we’ve been on the phone the last two, three days or whatever with the whole thing. When it happened, when we got released, we both texted each other, checked on each other. That’s my brother, man. We’ve been really close since I got there in Buffalo and he took me under his wing as a rookie. I came in and didn’t really know much of the game. But Poyer, I remember he pulled me to the side in the room – I got a little frustrated two to three weeks in, in OTAs when I first was a rookie – and he was like, ‘Dude, calm down man. Look around, you’re one of the most athletic guys on this team. Things that I can’t do, you can. You’re big, you’re fast, you’re strong, you’re coachable. Just take it and start loving the game. Just love it for the moment and watch what happens. You just don’t know how long you’re going to be in the league.’ And that moment there, look at me now. Seven years later, we’re still on the same team from Buffalo to here. One thing about me and ‘Po,’ and I’m not even going to make this about me, I’m going to say this about ‘Po’ man, he’s really competitive. He’s competitive as hell. He’s just like me. He hates to lose. I hate to lose. We work for everything we got. Nothing comes easy. Staying in Buffalo, you have to have really tough skin. People hated to play in Buffalo. We loved to play in Buffalo. It was cold, and that was one thing we endured. Every time we stepped on that field, we stepped out there to win. That’s one thing that we’re going to bring to South Beach. Every time we step on that field, no matter the conditions – I’m pretty sure the conditions are going to be pretty good, nice weather – we’re going to step out there to win. We’re going to be out there together throughout this whole process, from OTAs to the time we kick off, we’re going to be behind each other and hopefully we get the guys behind us to keep this ball going. They have a great program down there. And adding me and Poyer is going to make it pretty good, pretty interesting.”
(Have you been in touch with CB Tre’Davious White at all? How’s he doing? The Dolphins need a cornerback too.) – “Tre, right now during this whole process – I think he didn’t go about (free agency) like me and ‘Po. Tre has been doing a lot of rehab lately with his Achilles tear. Tre got thick skin. When he comes back wherever he goes, I’m telling you watch out. Tre is really – you guys know, you guys have playing us for years man. Tre’s really a dawg too. That’s one thing that we all got. We’re dawgs. Throughout this whole process, I haven’t contacted him yet. He’s still dealing with the Achilles and training and all that. I’m sure every day he is waking up, he’s attacking his training. I haven’t talked to him yet but I’m pretty sure he’s excited to get going to wherever he’s going to be.”
(With regard to physicality, it seemed to me Buffalo is a very physical team. It seemed like that physicality was always a factor against the Dolphins. How much of a factor was physicality in Buffalo’s game? And how do you apply physicality toward a victory in the NFL?) – “I would say the physicality went a long way. It was all about punching somebody in the mouth before they punch us in the mouth. And if they did punch us in the mouth first, it was about how we got up and attacked it. That’s one thing that me and Poyer instilled into ourselves. No matter the situation, it’s going to be a long game. From the beginning to the end, you have to continue to attack it. Being physical is one thing that I bring to the game. I don’t mind the physicality. I just know on my side, I had a lot of guys on the other teams and even for Danny (Crossman), I had a lot of double teams. I had a lot of guys attacking me. I had a lot of guys walling me off. I never knew what I was going to get, but I just knew as long as I kept my ability to keep my speed and be physical throughout the whole process that we were going to come out successful. Sometimes when people get hit in the mouth, they don’t know how to get up. They get confused. But one thing about us up in Buffalo is there was no confusion. It was ok, cool, you want to fight? We’re going to give you a fight. From finish to the end, that’s one thing that we put upon people. We’re going to see how you act when we punch you in your mouth. Once we did that, a lot of guys and a lot of teams backed off after a while. That’s one thing that South Florida has now with me and Poyer. We’re really physical. When the time comes, we’re really going to show it. We’re excited just to be here.”
(You’re going to learn in about seven or eight months that weather is a big thing for the media and for the Dolphins fans. So you’re from the south, how long did it take you to get used to the weather up in Buffalo? And once again, how is weather going to factor in an NFL game?) – “Weather is a huge factor. Getting adjusted to Buffalo, it took a little second. But you have to have love for the game and not care about the weather conditions. Understand that there are going to be conditions and weather wherever you go – there are going to be ups and downs. But it’s all about your mindset and how you battled to get through those times like that. Just going from Buffalo to South Florida, yesterday when I was down there to sign, it was warm. I had a hoodie on when I came down there. (laughter) People were like, take that hoodie off, you’re in South Florida now. Welcome to South Florida. But the thing is for me, I’m from Georgia. Sometimes even when it’s a little warm outside, I have a hoodie on. I love hoodies. But the weather conditions, it’s not a factor to me. It’s a non-factor. I don’t really care what the weather is like. I just understand throughout the game that it’s going to be ups and downs. If the weather plays a factor, you have to get through it. With me, I’m a gunner. I’m on kickoff. The wind and the weather is always affecting me. Always. Where’s the ball going to go? How far is the ball going to go? How short will it fall? I was always alert when it comes to weather. I was always alert of the weather before I got to the game. I was always aware of all that. With all that being said, I was prepared for it. Being in South Florida, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be hot, which is cool with me. It can’t be worse than Buffalo, because Buffalo was really, really cold. The wind was a factor. You’d have 20 mile per hour winds sometimes and just knowing the whole situation before you approach the game will help you out big time.”
(You mentioned the mentality that you guys took in Buffalo about playing in the cold. In Miami, it’s mostly nice weather like you said, but also early in the season it’s really hot. Like brutally hot. Can you bring that same mentality to that atmosphere early in the year and what do you remember about playing the Dolphins in really hot and humid weather coming from up north?) – “I remember two years ago when we played them down there, it was really, really hot the whole time. I feel like it was certain situations in that game where we lost. I feel like, yeah, it was hot, but we battled through pretty well. But we also battled through a lot of injuries that game too as well, if you guys can remember. Honestly, it’s really a non-factor to be honest. I’m going to be down there from April through the whole time. But the thing is, I stay in Georgia. It gets really hot here too. It doesn’t get as hot as there but it gets really hot. The thing is staying hydrated, staying up on your electrolytes and staying up on things that you need to eat throughout the whole week and approaching the game to stay on top of the effects of the sun. It’s really not going to be a factor. The approach to it is like, it’s the sun. Just enjoy the weather. It could be a lot worse. You could be in Buffalo where it’s cold and stuff. (laughter) I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy playing in the sun.”
(I read that you have a 40.5-inch vertical. What’s it like up there?) – “It’s enjoyable. (laughter) It’s very enjoyable. That’s one thing that I have done over the years is being very explosive. Explosive off the ball, explosive when I’m coming off the ball like at gunner, explosive when I’m on kickoffs. That’s one thing that I bring to the game is you will see and you guys can see very soon that I’m very explosive. With that being said, on special teams, that’s really, really affective. You can get a really good jump on guys being like that and that’s one thing I use, my explosiveness, to attack other people. I feel like if you can take one or two steps and you pass guys, you’ve won the battle already.”
(You are coming to a team that’s looking to break a playoff win drought. I’m curious what your experience in Buffalo in the postseason has taught you about what it takes to succeed in the playoffs?) – “Being in Buffalo, the thing is like you can’t wait until it gets here. You can’t wait until it gets here. The time is now. It starts now. It starts in the offseason. It starts when the team gets back in OTAs. It starts with the competitive nature throughout the OTAs. It starts where the team’s bonding. It starts there. It starts right there. I feel like with me and ‘Po’ (Jordan Poyer) joining the crowd, they already had a really good team. You got Tyreek Hill, you got (Jaylen) Waddle, you got Tua (Tagovailoa). We had Xavien Howard but he’s gone now. You got Jalen Ramsey. You got a lot of guys down there that are going to help win. Just adding me and ‘Po,’ adding me on the special teams side and adding ‘Po’ on the defensive side is really going to bring a tremendous spark to the team. One thing that me and ‘Po’ know how to do is we know how to bring it to somebody. One thing about us is we’re going to do it early. We’re going to do it really early. We’re not going to wait until the preseason. We’re not going to wait until the season kicks off. The time is now and the time is to go in with the team and get close with the team, team bond, get the guys on the same page. It’s definitely a team process throughout this whole thing to get this thing started. Now being in South Florida, we have the team to do that. We just know that, like I talked to the head coach (Mike McDaniel) yesterday, the coolest man on the planet. One of the coolest. Man, he’s so funny. He’s a great dude and to have a great dude in the head office can go a long way. It’s just like the spark and having fun throughout the whole process before you get there. And once you approach to the game and once you get to the game, you know that you can come out successful because it’s what you prepared for. Once you prepare for a lot of things and you work at a lot of things, a lot of things come to life. That’s one thing about me. I don’t want nothing given to me. I don’t want anything given to me. I like to take it. I just know it’s going to be a huge challenge to go from up there to down there. They’re a really good team. It’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a good game when it comes. But it starts now. It starts now. It’s time to work. It’s time to go to work. I’m excited to go to work. I’m excited for the opportunity. I thank the Dolphins and Fins nation for welcoming me in. The time is now. Once it starts off and when it kicks off in a couple weeks, from that to the time the season ends, we’re going to really work for it. No matter the ups and downs, there’s always going to be ups and downs, we’re going to pick up each other. We’re going to pick up all our brothers. Nobody is better than nobody and we understand that we’re all in this thing together. Once we do all that and we team bond and we come together, I’m pretty sure we’re going to get a lot done.”
