NFL Combine news: Dominick Sanders
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Georgia safety Dominick Sanders won’t be competing in many of the drills here at the NFL Combine. Still, he has been in a number of meetings with NFL teams and took the time to meet with the media.
Here are five of his more interesting answers from his press conference. You can watch the entire interview above.
Who are the leaders that you left behind?
Sanders: “Terry Godwin. D’Andre Swift. Jake Fromm. J.R. Reed, who is actually the strong safety…. They stepped up this previous year. Jake Fromm is that one special freshman you rarely get. Going into the national championship game and not getting that victory, walking off that field you could see it in Jake Fromm’s eyes. He knew then, ‘We’ll be back here.’ Same thing with Terry Godwin. That’s the one thing thy told me before I left: ‘We’ll be back and this time we will get that victory.’”
You started as a true freshman. What advice did you give Georgia’s true freshmen?
Sanders: “Swift was like a little brother to me. And I always talked to Jake Fromm before every game. My main message to Jake Fromm is, ‘Pay your ball. Don’t worry about what anybody else is telling you… Play your game.’ I told him that every halftime. …. What I like about Swift is he is a hard worker and very quiet. Humble. He puts in the time when the time is not there. The time that everyone is at the facility going over film? When they all leave, he is still there.
How would you describe the final play of the Championship Game?
Sanders: “That final play hurt. It was tough. I couldn’t get no sleep for about a week. But I had to put that in the past because I had to get my mind on something bigger, which was this Combine. When I go back and look back at it, whew, I wish I could do it all over again. I wish I could get that last play.”
You mentioned Alabama quarterback looked you off?
Sanders: “He kind of looked me off, I kind of opened up towards the middle to try to honor the post that was coming backside. I also had a 9 route on my side to the Z receiver. By the time I looked back, the receiver was five yards ahead of me and it was pretty much over with. …. It was a mistake on my end. Everyone makes mistakes. … It is just something I have to live with.”
You started over 50 games. Which was your favorite?
Sanders: “I am going to go with the national championship game. Even though we didn’t get that victory, I am going with that game because is the biggest stage you can get, next to the Super Bowl. As a college player, dreaming of the national championship game is what you do. … The players I had around me, the other leaders on the team, we all had the mindset that we had to go into this year as the dominant team. Not just in the SEC but all over the country. We proved that up to the national championship.”