Drafted Before The Party

The relief -- and the selection -- came before many people even showed up.
Tom Zbikowski was planning on having about 150 people at his house at some point Sunday to celebrate his being drafted into the NFL. But the announcement came sooner than expected, as Zbikowski went in the third round to the Baltimore Ravens with the 87th pick.
We caught with Zbikowski a couple hours later after he hung up with the Ravens.

Irish Insights: It was maybe a little bit earlier than you thought. Take me through your emotions today now that it's done and all that.
Tom Zbikowski: "Yeah, definitely I was up at 6:30, 7, excited that this was going to be the day. Hopefully it would happen sooner than later. We were kind of sitting around, had like four TV's on and everyone's watching ESPN or the NFL Network in different rooms doing their own thing. They called my house and my dad yells my name and I knew as soon at it happened and everyone in the house knew. I picked up the phone and my mom and my sister were jumping up-and-down non-stop and starting to cry and everything."

II: When your dad yells your name, are you watching the TV so you know who it is?
TZ: "Nah, not really. I knew who was coming up pretty soon and any time he yells my name like that I know A) I'm in trouble or B) it's something important I gotta get there. So I definitely knew something was coming up pretty soon."

II: When you see it's Baltimore, is that a good fit for you? Is it a place you wanted to go?
TZ: "I think it is. The way they play defense and everything and definitely with Under Armour being out there, too, you're in-and-out of that city a couple times this year. It's a nice city and they have great football fans and we were in that stadium when we played Navy, too, so it's a great stadium to play in."

II: Did you immediately think about that when you heard it was in Baltimore?
TZ: "Uh, a little bit. You're thinking about guys like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, that you're going to be able to play with these guys."

II: What did Baltimore tell you? Did they give you an idea of what your role might be or what they envision for you early on?
TZ: "Obviously being on special teams, trying to contribute, and then work my way up in the secondary."

II: Having Ed Reed in front of you, is that one of the best case scenarios for you?
TZ: "Yeah, definitely. Having that guy in front of you, watching him play and get history back on what he's seeing, trying to learn as much as possible from him."

II: When you're going through all this, is it more relief that it's finally over or are you just stoked right now?
TZ: "It is more relief, just knowing where you're going to play is the biggest thing. Knowing the coaching staff and where you're going to be living and now all my boys are trying to go and find Baltimore Ravens jerseys."

II: They aren't going to wait for them to make one with your name on it?
TZ: "Nah, man. Everyone's trying to get black and purple as fast as possible."

II: Is Baltimore a place you thought you might end up?
TZ: "Not really. I talked to them a couple times but when you go through the process you're not sure where you're going to end up. I knew they needed some safety help and some special teams guys."

II: So were you like 'OK, that could be a fit?'
TZ: "Now, looking back on it, that's where they were looking but going through the draft every team that comes up you hope that's the team but now that it's Baltimore you know what type of defense they play and that they need help at safety."

II: What was Saturday like for you?
TZ: "It was good to see Trevor and John go and I'm happy for them but as a competitor you want to be drafted as high as possible but third round isn't too bad for a safety."
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette