Limas Sweed Combine Interview

Limas Sweed Combine Interview

Limas Sweed from Texas may be one of the better receivers in what many experts feel is a less than impressive draft class at the position this year. He spoke with the media at the Combine recently

"right under 6-4, they kind of bent my knees and pushed me down a little bit. They pushed me lower than I’m usually used to. I was right about 216."


How is your wrist? (he missed the last seven games of Texas’ season)

The wrist is 100 percent healed. I’ve been going through a lot of MRIs, x-rays and it’s 100 percent healed. The range of motion, out of 100 percent is I’d say about 65 percent– more than halfway, which is good. I talked to a lot of people in there and they said considering the amount of time that’s a pretty speed recover. So I’m happy and I’m on my way back to being 100 percent.


Will you run here?

Without a doubt (I’m running here). That’s one of the biggest questions is just how fast I am. So I plan on showing them how fast I am. I’m not going to say I won’t catch. I’m leaving everything open right now and I’m just going to go with what my agent (Ben Dogra and Tom Condon) says because he’s been through it plenty of times. I’ve never been through it, so I’ll just take his advice and trust him.


Will you not catch here because of the wrist?

Nah, it’s more his (my agent’s) decision. I couldn’t say I’m catching balls. I’ve been catching balls from Matt Ryan, we’ve been working out down at API, down there running routes and catching balls.


Do you regret going to the Senior Bowl?

Nah, I’d go back there and compete again. A lot of people thought that I re-injured my wrist. The only thing that happened was at that time I only had 10 percent range of motion out of 100 percent. And the doctor advised me not to go ... ‘It may hurt your draft status or whatever.’ At that time, I didn’t really care. I hadn’t played football in over five or six months (actually about 3 ½ months), so I was
eager to get out there and play.

I was doing well and it was one-on-ones, and a guy came and grabbed my hand and bent
it down to about 70 percent when it wasn’t ready to, so you can imagine the pain … that
was Day 1. So I came back for Day 2 and I was thinking it won’t happen again. And the
same guy did it again. And that was when I decided it was time to shut it down. It wasn’t a re-injury, it was just a breaking up of the scar tissue, which actually helped me recover quicker – so I want to really thank the guy.

I wanted to show: A) that I could get open, and B) that I could run by guys; but also that I am a tough guy willing to compete – because I felt like coaches at the University of Texas, they knew that every day I come out there and compete. But the NFL coaches, they never had a chance to meet me, so I wanted to come in and leave an impression on them that I’m here and I’m going to compete.


Who was the player?

Chevis Jackson from LSU, actually I did thank him. I told (LSU wideout) Early Doucet– a good friend of mine – to tell him thank you for helping my speedy recover.


Would you like going to Tennessee to play with Vince Young?

It would be a great thing to be reunited with Vince. I’m just happy right now to be in a position to be drafted by anybody. Wherever I go, I’ll be happy.


Do you think you would have gone higher because the wrist injury hurt your draft status?

Not really. Things happen and that’s life, you know? I would say it’s a minor setback for a major comeback.


Will you talk about what (running back) Jamaal Charles was able to do after you got hurt?

I can remember clearly against Nebraska, in the second half he stepped up and he rushed
for more than 220 yards, which is amazing. That’s the thing about the University of Texas … when one guy goes down, the next man steps up.


How would you describe Charles?

As a teammate or personality?

A personality

A big question mark, with an exclamation point behind it.


Did you have a battle with (Oklahoma wide receiver) Malcolm Kelly, aren’t you both from east Texas?

Me and Malcolm Kelly are really good friends. I can remember when he came into the University of Texas (on a recruiting trip) to play wide receiver, actually the same position as me. From then on, we stayed in touch. Before the OU game, he’d call and talk a little trash.
I’d call and talk a little trash. I think we ended up breaking even he won two and
I won two, so nobody really has bragging rights.


How much is your size the key to your effectiveness?

I think it’s a key thing. Any time a guy can be a bigger receiver, he can definitely be a threat in the red zone, and use his body to block out the defender. Some of the smaller guys obviously have a harder time dealing with that.


Considering the success of bigger receivers, is this a good time for you to go into the NFL?

Without a doubt, I look at guys like Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Roy Williams – even
Calvin Johnson. Seeing those guys have success makes me excited because some of those
guys I’ve looked up to growing up and now it’s my time. It’s my time to show the
NFL and the world what I can do.


You mentioned Randy Moss, can you imagine yourself playing opposite him in that offense?

That would definitely be something cool to play on the opposite side of somebody that you
obviously watched growing up and looked up to.


What about catching balls from Tom Brady?

Now that would be cool. That would be the coolest thing ever to catch balls from Tom Brady.
I’ve talked to them (the Patriots), and had a few interviews with them. It went well and think I left a great impression with them.


What was your childhood like athletically?

It was kind of interesting growing up. My dad was a preacher, so he never was really into
the whole sports thing. But my mom a big sports fan and usually women don’t really know
too much about football. She knew about basketball, so she was pushing basketball. From
the time I was born, basically, until the seventh grade I thought I was going to be a
basketball player. Then I played my first football game and caught my first pass, my
eyes were so big and I was so nervous … but I can remember catching that pass and
having that feeling. And from then on it was just football, football, football.


Did you pattern yourself after Roy Williams?

What I did was I looked up to Roy, so I studied film on him. At the time, obviously he was considered the best (college) receiver in the country. Anybody who has ever seen Roy
play knows he does a lot of freakish things, so I watched and learned from him. That’s what I do … I watch all the great receivers in the NFL. The Marvin Harrisons, the Chad Johnsons, the Reggie Waynes – I just watch them and try to take a little bit of their game and mix it in with mine


The way (Williams) would run his routes and the way he releases, I would take some of
those moves and try to emulate them. Each man is his own man, so I didn’t take everything. But I did take parts of it.


What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

My greatest strength is I can go get the ball, whether it’s the deep ball or it’s across the middle I can go get it. I’m not afraid to take a hit. My weakness is working on everything overall as a receiver. Receivers can always work on their game to get better; because once you think you’ve mastered something, that’s when another part starts lacking.


How would you rate your ability to read defenses?

Good enough to read them and effective enough to get open when I need to.


Does the Texas offense make it a big jump to the NFL as far as complexity?

Actually, the Texas offense is an NFL system. I don’t know where that misunderstanding
came from. When Vince (Young) was there, it was definitely complex. It took me awhile to actually get it. It took me 2-3 years to finally understand it