2014 NFL Draft: Eric Ebron talks about being picked by Lions

Below is a recap of what tight end Eric Ebron had to say about being picked in the first round by the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

On if he thought this was how his draft night would play out: "I'm not sure if I thought that this would happen, but I had a pretty good idea of which teams had interest in me. I knew that the Lions were one of them that had very high interest."

On what the Lions told him to make him think he could land in Detroit: "Just the fact that how much love and support they showed for me and my game and the things that I'm able to do to help them out, that was pretty much it. Just a great connection I had with Coach (Ron) Prince and the things that he was telling me. I just relied on him."

On how he expects to be used in the offense: "The same way Jimmy Graham was when he (Joe Lombardi) was coaching Jimmy Graham."

On his similarities to Saints TE Jimmy Graham: "I don't have any similarities to Jimmy Graham. I mean, he's a different type of tight end than I am. (He is) a very possessive tight end. He's a great tight end, but I don't really think I have any similarities to Jimmy Graham."

On who he compares himself to in the NFL: "Now that I'm in the NFL, I don't try to imitate anybody. I try to be my own person."

On if he is more excited about being drafted or getting engaged today: "Both. They're both incredible. I'm going to go with getting engaged because that's my personal life, but with the Lions, it's right there. It's right there."

On how long he has known his fiancée: "Her name is Brittany Rountree and I've known her for three years, ever since I entered college. (We have) been going together for two."

On how he proposed: "I went to the top of the Empire State Building, got down on one knee and proposed."

On how long he had the proposal planned: "I've been thinking about it for the past month, but I've known I was going to do it confidently for the past week or two."

On what he knows about Detroit as a city and if he knows any players on the team: "Of course. I know Matthew Stafford's a very nice quarterback. I know we have the best receiver in the game. I know we just got another great receiver. I know Brandon Pettigrew's the starting tight end. I know we have a very decent offensive line, a very, very decent offensive line. I feel like we're going to have a very, very good team this year."

On what his specialty is on the football field: "I'm different. I bring a different style of play, and I demand a little bit of attention when I'm on the field. That's what I do best. I just play with heart, passion and everything that I can do to help my team. That's something that no one can take away from me."

On the matchup problem he presents with the addition of Lions WR Calvin Johnson: "It'll give other teams hell, I hope - Enough hell so that we win the game."

On how much of an impact he expects to make in his first season: "That's something that I really can't speak upon right now. I've got to get in there, I've got to go grind, I've got to go work hard and earn the respect of these veterans. Then, my impact will come along from there."

On how he has improved on his dropped balls: "It's a work in progress. Not everybody catches every pass. Jerry Rice never caught every pass, but it's just something that you've got to work on consistently. I progressed. I went from having a lot of drops my sophomore year to very, very, little drops my junior year. It's just a continuous work in progress."

On if he expects to have big games in the NFL similar to his performance against Miami (Fla.) last season at North Carolina: "It can happen. It could definitely happen."

On his motivation growing up: "The way I grew up, man. The rough childhood I had."