2007 DRAFT-DAY QUOTES --- * *
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ON WR-ANTHONY GONZALEZ
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PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (General Comments) April 28, 2007
"As you know we picked Anthony Gonzalez, a wide receiver from Ohio State. He's another in a long line of first-round picks from the Big Ten. I don't know if that is by design or simply by chance, but we are very happy to have him. We feel like he's a perfect replacement for Brandon Stokely. He's played in the slot. He's extremely intelligent as you saw. He's an academic All-American from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland with a great football tradition. He has a great football background. He comes from a great program at Ohio State. He's very similar to Brandon (Stokely) in terms of size, speed and hands. He runs very well after the catch at the collegiate level. All of the intangibles are perfect. He's thrilled to be here obviously as any receiver would with this group and we are very happy to have him. He's the guy that we had hoped would get to us and there he was."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (On if the team would have traded the first pick) April 28, 2007
"We had no offers that made sense at the point so we decided to go ahead and make the pick. We didn't get anything that made any sense at all in terms of being able to get the players that we had targeted."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (On if the first-round felt like being the longest in history) April 28, 2007
"Actually it didn't to us. From pick 20 on in we were engaged and from about 28th on we were sweating. Anthony was the last name on the board. We got and that's what counts."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (On if this being the best player available) April 28, 2007
"Absolutely. This was the best player available. We had one other player rated in the first-round but the need line crossed the player line right here and this was a guy right from the beginning of the process we said 'hey we can get Anthony Gonzalez, we've made ourselves a heck of a pick.' This is a universally well-thought of pick from the top of the organization on down; coaches, scouts. There's not a scout, not a coach or anybody in the administration that didn't feel that Anthony Gonzalez was the right choice for us."
