Colorado University Athletics

Brown, McKnight Selected Saturday In NFL Draft

Brown, McKnight Selected Saturday In NFL Draft

BOULDER GÇô University of Colorado cornerback Jalil Brown and wide receiver Scotty McKnight were selected on the final day of the 2011 National Football League Draft Saturday.  

 

Brown was selected with the 21st pick of the fourth round, the No. 117 overall pick, by the Kansas City Chiefs, while McKnight was the 24th pick of the seventh round, the No. 227 overall pick, by the New York Jets.

 

Somewhat mirroring the first round for the Buffaloes, Brown was CU's third player drafted, first Saturday, exactly 100 picks after OT Nate Solder went (No. 17 overall to New England) and McKnight was the fourth CU player taken, second on Saturday, exactly 200 picks behind CB Jimmy Smith (No. 27 overall to Jacksonville).  This is the most players CU has had drafted since 2006 when four players also went. 

 

With Smith and Brown, this is the fifth time CU has had two cornerbacks drafted in a single draft and itGÇÖs the fourth time that the two regular starters from the previous season were drafted, the first since 2000 when Ben Kelly and Damen Wheeler were both drafted.

 

University of Colorado Cornerback Duos Drafted (1980, GÇÖ93 and 2000 were the starting duo the season before at CU):

 

*  1977 GÇô Mike Spivey, Chicago (2nd round, No. 43) & Horace Perkins, Miami (8th round, No. 207)

*  1980 GÇô Mark Haynes, N.Y. Giants (1st round, No. 8) & Jesse Johnson, N.Y. Jets (4th round, No. 95)

*  1993 GÇô Deon Figures, Pittsburgh (1st round, No. 23) & Ronnie Bradford, Miami (4th round, No. 105)

*  2000 GÇô Ben Kelly, Miami (3rd round, No. 84) & Damen Wheeler, San Diego (6th round, No. 203)

 

Brown finished his CU career with 167 tackles, six interceptions and 24 pass break-ups. He made his name at Colorado on special teams, compiling 65 points in his career, sixth most in CU history. He played in 39 career games and started the final 22 at cornerback for the Buffaloes. He had five tackles for a loss, 19 third down stops, three quarterback hurries and four fumble recoveries.

 

McKnight left CU as its all-time leading receiver, catching 215 passes in his career, and is No. 3 all-time in receiving yardage with 2,521 yards, just 27 behind CU's all-time leader Michael Westbrook.  He also caught 22 touchdown passes, most in CU history.  He caught a pass in all 48 of his career games, just the 10th player in NCAA history to accmoplish that feat, and he is the first CU player to lead the Buffs in receiving four different seasons. 

 

Brown is the 10th CU player drafted by the Chiefs but first in nearly two decades since C Jay Leeuwenberg went there in the 1992 draft. He is the second-highest drafted player by both round and overall selection by the Chiefs behind RB Tony Reed, who was the No. 37 overall pick in the second round in 1977.

 

CU and the Chiefs history are more intertwined than that, however. CUGÇÖs new head coach Jon Embree coached tight ends for the Chiefs for four seasons from 2005-08. There have been two Buffs who have played for the Chiefs in the past decade, as well, as OLB Fred Jones was on the roster in 2003-04 and OG Edwin Harrison in 2008.

 

McKnight is the sixth player drafted in CU history by the Jets, the first wide receiver, and he will be the first player to play for the Jets since Donald Strickland in 2009.  He also joins his best friend since childhood, QB Mark Sanchez, with the Jets.  He is the first wide receiver drafted since Jeremy Bloom in 2006 to Philadelphia.  

 

Brown is the 260th CU player drafted into the NFL, McKnight the 261st.

 

Question & Answer With Jalil Brown By KCChiefs.com

 

Q: How are you doing Jalil?

 

BROWN: GÇ£Pretty good, how are you doing?GÇ¥

 

Q: Great, first off congratulations.

 

BROWN: GÇ£Thanks a lot, I appreciate it, IGÇÖm very excited right now.GÇ¥

 

Q: Tell us a little bit about what you were asked to do at Colorado, it seems that you kind of played multiple positions there, obviously you were a big contributor on special teams as well.

 

BROWN: GÇ£I started off on special teams going in as a freshman. I was actually special teamGÇÖs Player of the Year my freshman year. From that point on I moved on to kind of a nickel role, a little bit of safety and then I evolved into my role of playing cornerback the last few years of my career at Colorado.GÇ¥

 

Q: It seems that youGÇÖre a pretty physical guy, special teamGÇÖs gunner obviously, playing safety, do you take that approach when you play cornerback as well?

 

BROWN: GÇ£Yes, it will definitely help a lot, I feel like with special teams, thatGÇÖs just a position where it is kind of about who has the most tenacity and the most GÇÿgo get it,GÇÖ and thatGÇÖs something that I have. I think that attitude helps me when it comes to playing cornerback too, being physical and playing the way I do.GÇ¥

 

Q: Tell me a little bit about this Iron Buffalo Award you won for the DBs last season?

 

BROWN: GÇ£ThatGÇÖs actually an award given to different positions on the team, a few on defense and a few on offense. ItGÇÖs kind of the guy who puts the most dedication and hard work inside of the weight room, and working hard on and off the field you know, developing as a player, and I was the player on defense who was selected to have that award given.GÇ¥

 

Q: And your background as a high schooler, you were home-schooled, is that correct?

 

BROWN: GÇ£Yes, it is correct, I was homeschooled by my parents early on in middle school and part of high school, kind of helped me a lot and prepared me a lot to make the transition to college and learning and motivated me to push myself to get better.GÇ¥

 

Q: So while you were home schooled how did you play high school football? Did you get to play at a local high school?

 

BROWN: GÇ£itGÇÖs actually kind of a big thing GÇô homeschooling GÇô around the world today and youGÇÖre actually allowed to play sports at a high school in your district and I was able to go play football at the local high school which was South Mountain High School.GÇ¥

 

Q: Was it difficult not going to school with a lot of those teammates and then showing up to play football or did you fit right in with the team?

 

BROWN: GÇ£Not at all. I actually fit right in because I actually played multiple sports growing up, I ran track and played basketball as well so I kind of knew a lot of the kids in the area and then going to the school, a lot of the faces I saw, I knew them and also, I feel like IGÇÖm easy to talk to and IGÇÖm very talkative when it comes to people. IGÇÖm easy to get to know.

 

Q: Was it a surprise today when the Chiefs drafted you? How many conversations did you have with them leading up to the draft?

 

BROWN GÇ£I didnGÇÖt have too many. I kind of was surprised but IGÇÖm definitely excited to play for Coach (Todd) Haley and the Hunt Family.GÇ¥

 

Q: What did they tell you when they congratulated you on the phone?

 

BROWN: GÇ£they just told me that theyGÇÖre excited to have me come there, I told them I was excited to come there and IGÇÖm excited to play in Arrowhead Stadium. I know they have a ton of great fans and this is terrific for me.GÇ¥

 

Scotty McKnight Conference Call With Jets Beat Media

Is this a dream come true?

"Are you kidding me.  Teaming up with a great organization and a great team.  Then being teamed up with my childhood buddy who I grew up with - we've never played on the same team together - we've always just trained together, it's a dream come true, I'm looking forward to making the most of the opportunity."

 

Have you talked to Mark (Sanchez) yet?

"Yeah, he's at my house, his whole family is over here.  Our two families are celebrating together.  It's such a cool experience, something that deep down I was hoping it would happen, but knowing how the draft works, trying not to get my hopes up."

 

How much did he pump you up to the Jets' staff?

"You know with the lockout, he couldn't have any communication with any of them.  I think he was trying to.  He came and threw for me at my pro day and that was a good showing for both of us, hopefully they got word from that we work well together and that had some affect on it."

 

Will you be carrying bags, rookie hazing?
"I know I'll get it bad, he'll take advantage of that.  I'm going to go in and work hard, I don't have issues doing that for anybody, I know it's part of the deal."

 

What's your favorite story on Mark?

"Appropriate for the media?  I'm going to think about it and get back to you guys.  I have a lot of stories I'll hold on to in case he wants to do a little too much hazing.  I have some ammo to work with."

 

What was it like seeing the Jets coming up on the draft board?

"We were talking about it, we were talking to a couple of other teams.  But it was hard not to think about how it would be great to go to the Jets.  Honestly I feel so grateful just to be drafted.  Deep down I was hoping I was going to the Jets. Everything with the Jets is so appealing to me and my family.  I love what they're about, competing and winning games, tough, hard-nosed football, both on special teams and as an offensive player.  I'm so excited about the opportunity and how it played out."

 

Who have you had contacted within the Jets?

"During the process, I just talked to their scout that came to the pro day.  After the draft pick was made, I talked to everybody.  I had talked with them and met them before just from being Mark's friend.  It was a great experience to talk to those guys.  They said the same thing, they said to be ready to work when you get here, play special teams and hopefully get on the field on offense.  I'm like that, anything to help that team win, I'll do whatever it takes."

 

Are you going to Jets West next week now?
"I was going no matter what.  This means I'll be able to sit in if they watch film and learn the playbook.  I'm going to be there, I've been training all year. We've been working out recently.  Mark, myself and Patrick Turner, we've been working out the last couple months.  Some other guys will be out.  I've meet some of them while in New York on some breaks from school.  It will be good."

 

On the importance of being signed because of the lockout?

"Going into my senior year even, obviously i was hoping to get drafted, but I knew I could work hard, get into camp and make a team.  With the lockout in effect, you really want to be drafted, because you can't have any contact with any team.  I'm really fortunate how it worked out, I'm ready to get to New York and get rolling."