Te'o-Nesheim explains "ceiling" comment
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Te'o-Nesheim explains "ceiling" comment
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Daniel Te'o-Nesheim's introduction to Philadelphia was a peculiar one.
Selected in the third round of April's draft, the new Eagles defensive end had a roomful of reporters bent over in laughter when he told them during a conference call what he was doing when he got the congratulatory call from the Birds.
"I was just lying down and looking at the ceiling," Te'o-Nesheim said then.
Soft-spoken and shy, Te'o-Nesheim (pronounced tuh-OH NESS-ime) didn't realize what kind of reaction his comment would generate from the Philadelphia media.
"Hugh Douglas said, 'What were you smoking? Weed?'" Te'o-Nesheim said Thursday after a workout in training camp-like heat. (And, no, he said he wasn't smoking weed.)
Actually, the Washington product had a pretty good explanation for turning off the draft and spacing out. Te'o-Nesheim's aunt was driving him bonkers.
"My aunt came over for the draft and couldn't stop talking about it," he said. "She just blew the whole draft out of proportion. Oh my God. She kept going, 'This is the one. This is the one.' So I just went upstairs. I turned on the TV and nothing else was on so I just laid down."
And then the Eagles called. Many draft prognosticators didn't have the 6-foot-3, 263-pound going much earlier than the fifth round.
"Some people were like, 'Oh, he didn't think he was going to get drafted at all. So he wasn't even watching,'" Te'o-Nesheim said. "I was like, 'Wow, the stuff people come up with.'"
Like top pick Brandon Graham, Te'o-Nesheim has a had a solid rookie camp thus far (at least as much as one can gauge from watching players practice in shorts). He's a hustler and isn't afraid to mix it up, although he's on the smaller end of the scale (like Graham).
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A two-minute drill toward the end of Thursday's practice provided a few noteworthy plays. Quarterback Kevin Kolb ran the first unit but was stopped short when one his passes was tipped by cornerback Dimitri Patterson and intercepted by cornerback Geoffrey Pope.
Backup quarterback Michael Vick heaved a nice 40ish-yard TD pass to wide receiver Dobson Collins against the second team. And a Mike Kakfa pass to rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper in the back of the end zone was swatted away at the last second by rookie cornerback Trevard Lindley, thus ending the drive.
Linebacker Moise Fokou was back at practice the last few days after sitting out the first two workouts this week. Fokou is penciled in as the starter at strong-side linebacker, but played a few snaps in the middle.
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The Eagles signed safety Ryan Hamilton, a product of Council Rock North, who was recently waived by the Saints. Cornerback Josh Morris, an undrafted rookie out of Weber State, was released after Thursday's practice. They also formerly announced the addition of Daniel Jeremiah to their college scouting staff. Jeremiah will scout the west coast.
76er I am worried about that fact - undersized E's playing against Dallas big tackles - I don't see how that will work. psv - I would not be surprised to see Vick take over at some point this season— Tom Man- Tech: I laughed right out loud. Thanks!— mccloudmj
- Trent Cole was a fifth round pick. If the Eagles had selected him in the third round would they have picked him too high? Would the pick have been wasted? How about Brent Celek? Should someone have picked him in round three? How about trading Te'o-Nesheim straight up for a former first rounder like Jemarcus Russell? Would that be good value? My point is - let's evaluate this draft in four or five years. No one knows what picks made sense and what picks were wasted.— Lockyer
Comment removed.- Kolb can't even make it through a practice without throwing a pick...his time here has reached it's end. First we have Low Throw McBlow, then Sick Vick, now High Lob Kolb. I say dump this guy or trade him for a man with experience under his belt like Jason Campbell or Derek Anderson. Hell, even a stud like Jamarcus Russell would thrive on a disciplined team like the Birds. Get this guy out of town, then we can talk about a contender— bombast07
- As a Falcons life long fan and Vick follower, Philly possibly has the best back up QB in the league. You all should feel very comfortable with your QB situation going into the season this year. Good luck.— I-am-a-realist
- I hate when 268 pounds for a D end is called small. There isnt many 290- 300 pound D ends anymore if they are that big they play Dtackle. College ends are almost all 270 or below. its the way things are now.— Dparente
- Watch the new TO on you tube. He looks to be a dominating player!!!— jdld610
- We better get used to hearing about Kolb interceptions.— Kornholio Kolb
- agrodave i felt the same way when the drafted Michael Haddix in the 1st round.
- GoCong part 2!
- I agree with MMono, what the heck can anyone say about a third round pick in terms of the future? The "experts" can't get it right when they have the 1st pick in the draft but some guy from south philly has scouted all of college football.HA. All we do know is that Teo had more career sacks(most in his schools history) than our 1st rd defensive end and he also clocked a faster 40 yd dash than Graham on his pro day at Washington(4.67) and had one less rep at 225 lbs. He played in a top conference so the competition was legit. So from that, what allows you to say he was a reach in the third round? bc you read it somewhere? If anything he seems like a solid third round pick and we will all see from here.— UncleStosh
- Anybody who think Vick should be the #1 QB obviously never watched the guy under-perform for years in Atlanta.— fmMD
- Comment removed.
- I've seen Brandon Graham play against top competition at a major school in an elite conference. Brandon Graham is going to be a star. There is no question Brandon Graham's going to Start. A half decent linebacker would love playing behind this kid. He was a stand out in the Big 10 and compares to Shu, and McCoy with the same ability to change the out come of a game. There's no Eagle D linemen on the team that's better than Brandon Graham. He's an instinctive football player with a seek and destroy— Dexter
