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- Before his introductory press conference on Friday, new Detroit Lions draft pick Eric Ebron posed for pictures with Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders.
New Lions TE Eric Ebron with Hall of Fame TE Charlie Sanders. pic.twitter.com/0RjPKlpIwZ
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) May 9, 2014
- Ebron was quite excited to meet Barry Sanders, who announced the Lions' first-round pick at the draft.
Ebron was asked what it was like to be introduced by Barry Sanders. Says 'oooohhhhh.' Didn't want to stop hugging him. #Lions #DETpick
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) May 9, 2014
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Ebron said he's "very, very happy" to join the Lions, and he's planning to team up with Calvin Johnson to "give other teams hell."
- Ebron certainly isn't lacking confidence.
Asked what's the wow factor, Ebron says: "Me."
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 9, 2014Ebron: "I have a tendency of making things exciting. I hope I wow you."
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) May 9, 2014Ebron on what happens if he has a bad day on the field: "I tend not to have those or I wouldn’t be here right now."
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) May 9, 2014
- Ebron actually stopped playing football at one point early in his life.
Ebron says he got lost in life for a couple yrs after his grandfather passed. Quit football. Then his mother told him to get off the couch
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 9, 2014
- Good answer, Mr. Ebron.
(Ebron and his girlfriend got engaged on Thursday at the Empire State Building.)Ebron gives his engagement with girlfriend Brittany Rountree a slight nod over being drafted by the Lions in terms of excitement today.
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) May 9, 2014
- Ebron had a pretty low-key celebration in honor of his engagement and the draft.
Ebron said he went out to eat with his family to celebrate the draft and engagement. Not a party guy.
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) May 9, 2014
- It seems that Ebron has already gotten to know Lions tight ends coach Ron Prince quite well.
Ebron just mentioned how quickly he bonded with Lions TE coach Prince, said they immediately had father/son relationship off the bat
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) May 9, 2014
- Weeks before the 2014 NFL Draft, Ebron thought the Lions were going to pick him, and that feeling obviously turned out to be correct.
- Ebron actually played some defensive end at North Carolina (via reader harendaman365).
- Before getting to college, Ebron played a couple different positions.
Ebron played DT as a kid. "I was a beast." ... Was a WR in high school, went to UNC camp as WR, saw TE ability. #Lions #DETpick
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) May 9, 2014I asked Ebron what the UNC camp was like, where he got the scholarship offer with no HS experience. "No gloves. No swag."
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 9, 2014
- With the addition of Ebron and Golden Tate this offseason, Martin Mayhew is hoping that the Lions will finally stop coming up one play short.
- For more on Ebron, check out ESPN's Sport Science video on him. For more reading, check out the following links: Bob McGinn's write-up on this year's tight ends, RotoViz's look at Ebron's catch rate and Matt Bowen's "Tale of the Tape" feature on Ebron.
- Only one mock draft in our database correctly predicted the Ebron pick.
- For those wondering about where Joseph Fauria stands following the Ebron pick, here's what offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi had to say on Thursday:
Lombardi said Joseph Fauria is still going to have a strong role in red zone. Then says maybe 3 TEs. "Joe has impressed me," says Lombardi
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) May 9, 2014
- If the NFL takes the draft on the road, the city of Detroit would have interest in hosting it.
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Ndamukong Suh had a meeting with Magic Johnson on Thursday. In a tweet, Johnson said, "I’m looking forward to doing business with him in the future!"
- No Lions players are in this year's Madden cover vote. I guess they got tired of the Lions winning it each year.
- The Chicago Bears drafted Virginia Tech cornerback Kyle Fuller, who is Corey Fuller's brother, on Thursday. Corey seems excited about getting to see him twice a year.
Can't explain how happy I am for Kyle right now. He deserves it all. More importantly I'll see him twice a year!!
— Corey Fuller (@iCoreyFuller) May 9, 2014
- The Minnesota Vikings nearly pulled off a trade to move up and take Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel on Thursday night, but the Cleveland Browns got him instead. This means that Manziel's first career NFL game will be at Ford Field against the Lions (in Week 1 of the preseason).
- For the sake of the Browns, I hope this quarterback taken with the 22nd overall pick works out better than their past ones.
Browns took Brady Quinn 22nd overall, Brandon Weeden 22nd overall, and now can it be Johnny Football at 22nd overall? Cursed Browns. #FOAud
— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) May 9, 2014