DEMETRIUS KNIGHT JR.
LINEBACKER
What's your reaction to coming to Cincinnati?
"I'm ecstatic. I'm excited. Speechless to say the least. But if anything, ready to get to work."
What was your impression when meeting with Al Golden and Cincinnati over the course of the draft process?
"They're a team that's hungry. They're a team that has a glass-half-full (mentality) and wants to have that cup spill over the top. That's what they're doing with the draft class they're putting together. Upgrading a great defensive group of guys, add to a great defense they already have and the great team they already have. You see where they want to be, where they want to get back to and who they are. And that idea reigns supreme."
How would you describe your game?
"I would describe my game as nasty. I like to say that when I'm going out onto the field, I like to hunt. Because if I don't hunt, then my family doesn't eat. I become the hunter out there. I say goodbye to my family and put the helmet on. I switch to that mentality of OK, now I have to go hunt, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure we come back with a win, which is the entire Cincinnati family now, and make sure we all eat."
What was the key to you picking up the South Carolina defense as fast and as well as you did?
"The key was just being myself. I had already been at two different schools. Being able to quickly process things and different lingo which was pretty simply and easy because football is football. It doesn't change. It just has different names and different lingos that people use, so once you switch those around and pretty much reprogram your mind, it all comes back pretty quickly."
Al Golden talked about your experience as a quarterback earlier in your career. How do you think that helps you play a linebacker position and read from defense?
"I know when quarterbacks are coming to the line. I know what they're looking at when they come to the line. I know they're looking for safeties, if we're going to show our rotation or if we're going to try and hold it. I know what it can look like from man-to-man standpoint or coverage standpoint. Give quarterbacks a different look at snap and post-snap to give him different reads and falling right into our hands. So, giving him different looks as I come to the line. I'm looking at safety, communicating to our defense — just doing things to mess with their mind."
Why were you so open to making tat position switch when you did?
"Just because that's what you have to do in the game of football. That was not the easiest thing to do, but once you do the hard work and it pays off on a night like tonight, it's one of the greatest things that could happen."
How important was that year at Charlotte just from a confidence standpoint to get reps and get snaps?
"That was an extremely important part in my process and my development just because I never truly played and started at the linebacker position. But being able to do that at Charlotte and not worry about playing at a small school. Just knowing my mindset was wanting to get the reps. I wanted to get my feet wet as my coach said. Get in there, play the actual linebacker position, find my routine and continue to get better at it through the season. I did the same thing at South Carolina and continue to upgrade and go higher."
From your pre-draft contact with the Bengals, could you sense their interest?
"I could. I had a meeting with those guys the previous week here at our pro day. I had a feeling there was interest. I didn't hear too much after that but I knew when it comes to the draft, anything and everything is possible, especially after watching guys go left and right the first night. I told myself the first night that anything can happen, so just keeping my options open and glad we ended up in the position we are."
What went through your mind when you got the call?
"Just my story. Being a quarterback and immediately going to linebacker and having to transition my body, my mindset. Having my family here — my wife, my son and my daughter — and knowing why I do the things I do. It's why I exhaust my body, exhaust my mind and then reset, and still have to be a husband on the back end and do that to 100 percent of my ability. I give my all on the field and I give my all to my family when I get back home."
Are you home or are you at a draft party?
"We're in Columbia. We're at our facility in South Carolina."
Is it true you're distant relatives with Aretha Franklin?
"That is true, yes."
Can you share the backstory there?
"My great aunt married into the family, so we're kind of connected that way. Sadly, I didn't get any of the singing parts. My sister got that part but that's OK, I'll stick to sports."
Whose idea was the position change and when did that occur?
"It was my very first day I stepped on a college campus. Coach Collins took me to the linebackers meeting room right after the first team meeting and told me I was going to play linebacker. They had a need and thought I could do it. Of course at the time, it felt like rocket science. I never thought I'd be playing in the NFL as a linebacker. But here we are. It tells you what the Lord can do, keeping your faith and trust in God, and where he puts you is where he puts you."
A lot of players coming into the NFL are 21 or 22 at your position. You're 25 with a lot of different life experiences. How do you think that affects you coming into the NFL?
"I don't think it affects me too much. I believe it gives me an edge. I tell a lot of guys that's my edge because I have a wife. I know other young guys who have wives, as well. My family is my life. They allow me to do what I do. Being able to play in college as long as I did, I've seen a good bit of football, so I'm not a guy who teams will have to babysit, hold hands with. I'm a guy they can put in there on Day 1, Day 2, wherever they need me so I can provide for the team, get on that field and cause a lot of trouble."
One of the Bengals linebackers has requested a trade. Are you aware of the Germaine Pratt situation and what opportunity do you think is going to be waiting for you in Cincinnati?
"I was not aware of that. I was trying to stay out of the media as much as possible and let the Lord handle wherever He was going to place me. I believe there's an opportunity. There's always a mentality of next man up but also embrace the opportunity. If that's on special teams, if that's starting, if that's as a backup, if you have an opportunity to play, you have to be the best. So, I'm going to do that to the best of my ability. Whatever they tell me to do, I'm going to do it 100 percent."
What linebackers did you watch and pay attention to, especially as you were transitioning and switching positions?
"The guys I'd look at were Bobby Wagner, Fred Warner, just as he was starting his career. Guys like Mack Wilson, definitely a lot of college guys. Guys like Willie Gay, people like that. Trying to see how they played the game, how they played it fast, how they truly played the linebacker position with no fear. I wanted to adopt every bit of that because I wanted to jump in 100 percent with both feet. I wanted to learn it the right way from guys who were doing it right in college and were able to do it at the next level, and here we are."
