2014 NFL Draft: Caraun Reid talks about being picked by Lions

Below is a recap of what defensive tackle Caraun Reid had to say about being picked in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions on Saturday. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

On how he was named: "It's definitely different. It came from my doctor. He did a pretty good job delivering me and what not - I was a pretty big baby and my mom's not a big woman. They named me ‘Caraun' after him. His last name was Carauno, so they just chopped off the ‘o.'

On how big he was as a baby: "I was around 11 pounds, but my mom was like 130 (pounds). I made it tough for a little bit."

On him being well-rounded off the field: "I always like to be busy. I don't like having free time or things like that. I always like to be doing something productive with my life. Now that I have an opportunity to focus on football 100-percent and it's my job... I'm just really excited just to get in and compete and work. Granted, I won't be singing or doing all that stuff, but my versatility just even expands off the field and just being able to always be active. I have a really great attention span, so where others might fade away, I'm always alert and ready to go."

On how his parents felt about him getting involved in football: "They were just excited that I was getting out of the house and doing something. They really liked the fact that my grades stayed up - that was like the biggest thing for them. They love the fact that I was staying active and keeping my mind active."

On how he ended up at Princeton playing football: "I had good grades before I started playing. I didn't start playing until high school. One of those caveats was that I had to keep my grades up and I kept competing in the classroom, kept competing on the football field and Princeton liked me and I was able to get in, which was I would say the harder of the two. It was just a blessing."

On whether he had scholarship offers anywhere else other than Princeton: "Yeah, I had a couple to 1-AA schools, but most notable I would say probably Marshall, Army and Navy - they all three offered me."

On what he got on the SATs and ACTs: "I got an 1880, I want to say."

On what the backup plan was if football didn't work: "I don't know. I actually took a semester off of school last spring just to do football this fall. So, this is like my only option. I took time off of school and moved my graduation back for a year pretty much just so I could play football and try to play in the NFL. So, I didn't really have a Plan B."

On whether he went to Princeton planning to play in the NFL: "I was just trying to play at the time. The pre-med route was just something you put down because it sounds nice and no one bothers you. I didn't know what was going to happen with football. I just wanted to play on the field and luckily my talent began to develop. I'm just blessed to be in this position today."

On his ability to block kicks: "Just being strong, fast and quick. A lot of them were just because I saw the guy in front of him and I didn't think he was tough, so I would just bull him over and block the kick. It wasn't much finesse; it was heart and intensity."

On whether he had any interaction with the Lions before the Draft: "I had an interview with them at the combine, but after that I had not spoken to them since. It's definitely one of the most pleasant surprises I've ever had - probably the most. But I didn't know who was going to pick me up."

On what his hardest class was and how rigorous Princeton is: "Oh man, it's one of those things that you're glad to be done with. My hardest class was probably chemistry, which was like the introduction chemistry course, which is pretty much easy for most people, but it was one of the most difficult things I've ever taken in my life. In high school I had done chemistry and everything I had learned in chemistry was covered in the first week of class. So, while everyone was doing like review and all of that stuff, I was learning everything for the first time and trying to think critically on Princeton's terms, and that's like a whole other level. You think you know something, but then Princeton flips it over, turns it around, throws it somewhere, brings it back and then asks you, ‘What is it?' I just don't know. I found my niche in sociology. I didn't mess around with the sciences anymore after that."

On his Senior Bowl experience: "The Senior Bowl was amazing. That was fun. I love competing and especially being able to be in a place where you're competing against people who might doubt your abilities. That drove me far more than I've been doing in my life. People who doubt who I was because of me coming from a small school, me coming from Princeton, and not being able to play against ‘high-level' competition. That was a lot of fun. It gave me a lot of freedom just to be able to do pretty much anything and everything in my power just to win every single battle that I came up against. It was a great experience not only to compete, but just to meet great guys who I have made some good friendships with over the process. Just great people overall."

On if his parents pushed him to be versatile in life: "We don't have much dull time, much free time in my house. Every time, you're doing something. So, growing up, before we played sports, we were going to school, hanging out at church with my father, or going to like a conservatory of music. Then, when we played football, it sort of put sports into that mix. So, we were always keeping our minds active, and that's one of the things about my parents. I have two older brothers and all of us have always been multi-dimensional in terms of being involved in many things and not just cut into one piece."

On where his brothers went to school: "One actually is getting his PhD at the University of Michigan. He's on his last two years, so he was very excited about today. The other one is getting his second master's in The Bronx. He goes to a school called Bank Street. It's something about education, I don't know the full name of it. The second master's is in childhood education. CaVar is at Michigan and Caryl is in The Bronx."

On if he has visited his brother at Michigan before: "I have been to Ann Arbor probably twice, I want to say. Besides that, I don't really venture out past the Northeast that often."

On what he knows about the Lions defensive line: "Oh man, they're great. I actually watched some of them, their film this offseason, just watching them go to work. I know Ndamukong (Suh) is always great and is just a great physical player. I've always admired his play, as well as Nick's (Fairley). So yeah, it's an unbelievable opportunity to be able to play with them and learn from them and be a part of that unit."

On what he took away from watching film of the Lions defensive line: "Part of it is just watching them as players just to sort of see where I can elevate my play. I knew I was going to be looked at as an interior lineman in a 4-3 defense. The defense that I played in college was a 3-4, so just being able to educate myself by watching great players play, that's one of the things I aim to do. So yeah, I was able to watch some film during this past offseason."

On if he will try to find a singing group in Detroit: "No, just football. I don't care about anything else right now. That's the last thing on my mind."

On what this experience has been like for him: "Unbelievable. When the phone rang and I looked at the phone, I just froze. I couldn't believe it. It was one of those feelings, I mean, I was waiting for a while and watching the TV and waiting. But when that moment happened, I felt like I was picked first in the Draft. I don't know. It's amazing. I'm excited to go to work. That's amazing."

On if he expected to be drafted: "Yeah, I did. It was just a matter of where. I knew it was going to happen, just based upon the interest that I was getting and talking with my agent. I knew that it was going to happen, just didn't know when or where."