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.
The 3rd round had good talent available, instead the Birds select this guy. I hope he makes the team!- Pretty big reach but I guess you can pretend in your mind that we took Sapp in round 3 and this dude in round 5.— BIG_PHILLY
- Good to hear Trevard Lindley's making plays. They might actually need him this year, as opposed to Cooper and Kafka, who seem unlikely to get time barring a rash of injuries.— B in DC
- It's not fair to this guy without seeing him every play even a snap yet. Having said that, this guy is going to be a total dog.— Tech_Triumph
- Jeff really wanted to use "high motor" in this column. What stopped you?— dragoon6
- Tech_Triumph: Wow.
- over exposed, from what the micro wave. How do you or any of the know whether there was good talent available or not? It cracks me up the opinions that people come up with based on nothing but what they read other "experts" say. Over 4000 collegian football players are eligible for the draft each year, and even a real die hard fan knows anything about maybe 25 players. Everything anybody says about offensive linemen, most defensive players is strictly from 3rd hand information. go back and look at the "experts" picks from 3 years ago and they might as well have used an ouija board to make their picks. Remember when Mel Kiper told the colts gm he was incompetent for not picking heath shuler or trent dilfer in the draft, or how Ryan Leaf was a can't miss prospect? But you know there was good talent available in the third round!— mmonahan
- They've got a bunch of undersized guys and the Cowboys are big on both sides of the ball. I hope the Eagles switch to a 3-4 defense and play these guys out of postion like they did Chris Gocong.— 76er
- Most ridiculous draft choice in Philadelphia history.... kidding...I have no clue about any draft choices, but wanted to sound like a real fan— retzlaff
- Agreed "mmonohan", You HOPE to get starters with your first two picks if they are fairly high. You HOPE that the next two picks can fit into a rotation SOMEWHERE,and you HOPE that one or two of the rest of your draftees, free agents and modest trades can help out your special teams. It is ALL a crapshoot.— TBear
- This isn't the first time that Kolb has been intercepted in practice. Mental errors or a sign of things to come? I'm annoyed that Kolb didn't stick around in Philly but Vick did; Vick is the #2, and Kolb is the newly anointed #1. Shouldn't he be the one sticking around?— psv
- retzlaff -- that was outstanding! lol. Eagles fans are the most bipolar group on earth. That's why I love 'em— RocketC
- It was a most unusual pairing of the word ceiling and a draft pick. Usually a player has a high ceiling. He isn't staring at one.— Rick Wise Guy
Comment removed.- I think Te'o actually has very good upside and will be making plays for the birds this season.— NBAdraftRoom.com
