Jack Chat: Brian Riley and Drew Zamora

Former NAU football tight-end Brian Riley and kicker Drew Zamora sat down with The Lumberjack to talk about their experience in the Casino Del Sol All-Star game, which highlights potential NFL prospects and brings together coaches and players from various universities.  Here’s what they had to say.

LJ: First, a little background, how long have you been interested in sports?

BR: My whole entire life, since I was like six.

DZ: I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing sports. It goes way back.

LJ: How long have you been playing football?

BR: I started freshman football in high school.

DZ: I started kicking and punting my sophomore year in high school.

LJ: What was your initial reaction when you were invited to play in the Casino Del Sol game.

BR: I was so happy. I really wanted to play in this game. I found out about it a couple months ago and I was just really happy that I had a couple coaches recommend me for the game. When the guy sent me an email telling me that he wanted to talk to me about the game, I made sure to call him back immediately. I mean, to play in my hometown again was a really fun experience.

DZ: Excitement for sure, to be in the game, and then when I got down there, it turned really quick. The atmosphere and being around different guys and coaches changed to, I would say, a more professional atmosphere. So I took a mental approach that this is essentially a week-long interview with the NFL.

LJ: How intense was preparation for this game?

BR: The practices leading up to the game were super intense. They were pretty much live and there were like 70 scouts surrounding the whole entire practice field, so they were watching your every move. They were super intense because that’s where the scouts were to watch you in person.

DZ: From a kicking standpoint, it’s all the same. I’ve been training and working hard. Nothing changed preparation wise for me from NAU to the (all-star) game.

LJ: Did you have a different mindset heading into the game?

BR: It was definitely a lot different. We were given a playbook Tuesday night and we were expected to know it Wednesday. It wasn’t like playing for NAU. For this game, I was kind of worried I wouldn’t know the plays, but at the same time I knew everyone else was on the same level. Going into this game, it was different. Especially because when you’re playing for a team like NAU, you want to play for your teammates and your coaches and your school, but when you’re playing in an all-star game, it’s a little bit more for yourself. In the end it’s the interview for the NFL.

DZ: I didn’t take it as my last college game or another college game, it was more of like it was my first professional game or the first game of my professional career. That’s kind of how it felt when I was on the field and with all the different cameras and around all these athletes.

LJ: If you could choose one, what was your best highlight of the game?

BR: Just getting to go out there again and play a little more football. Especially being down in Tucson, back down in front of my hometown crowd. The whole experience was a lot of fun and playing in front of the scouts was super fun. To have an opportunity for them to look at you and evaluate you, but also along with making friends and getting to play again from different teams.

DZ: My first punt of the game. We were backed up in our own end zone and I punted it about 51 or 52 yards. It calmed my nerves and set my own tempo for the rest of the game and got me more excited for the next kick.

LJ: And how about the coaches? Anything you can take away from them?

BR: The best advice I got in the whole process was keep your nose down. Keep your nose in your playbook and make sure you’re caught up in everything. There’s really no room for error or correction, stay ahead of the game.

DZ: They’re from the South, so they were very enthusiastic when it came to the game and all aspects of preparation for the game. It was nice to be around different viewpoints and different coaches, and that played to my strengths.

LJ:   Can you share any secrets of the NFL scouting process?

BR: Make sure you’re doing everything that you can in order to prepare. In college you can develop.  At the NFL level, they already expect you to know a lot of stuff. They don’t want to tell you twice. There’s no time for correcting mistakes or messing up, you have to know what you’re doing and you have to execute to your best abilities, otherwise you’re not going to make it.

DZ: Pretty intense. They basically start off by taking your measurements, kind of like a cattle call type of setting. All your measurements are yelled out to the scouts and they had it set up [before] and [after] practices in our locker rooms, which were non-stop interviews. Scouts were just coming in and out while you were changing, while you were getting ready, just catching you for interviews, asking you to fill out paperwork. Their questions were kind of more directed toward personal questions. They want to know about your personal attitude. All week long, they’re looking at if you’re showing up on time, how you’re practicing, how you’re interacting with other coaches and players. They’re really evaluating all the other aspects of you as a person.

LJ: You guys kept a blog during your experience. Let’s talk about the Kids’ Clinic and having them there.

BR: Some of the kids, they knew I was from Tucson and stuff like that. It was cool just hanging out. We basically just ran some competitive drills. You could tell that they were really excited to hang out with us.

DZ: We basically ran some competitive drills with them. Then, on game day, we got to sign a lot of autographs, that was great too, to be on the sidelines and to go over and just sign a lot of autographs for the kids.

LJ: Also in this blog, food was mentioned. If you could have taken one dish with you, for the rest of your life, what would it have been?

BR: I loved the all you can eat sushi. That was pretty awesome. Tons of sushi out there.

DZ: My weakness, I think every day, were . . . they’re like cream cheese blintzes with strawberries and whipped cream on top. I would definitely love to have those back here in Tempe right now.

LJ: Yum! So with graduation and this experience now behind you, what else have you been up to?

BR: Just kind of helping my brother out with things he has going on, and he’s been helping me out. Not really looking for a job quite yet, but I’m doing things here and there, making sure I’ve got a packed day.

DZ: I moved down to Tempe. I went home back to Colorado Springs for four or five days for Christmas, but really I’ve just been here and I’m training full time. I’m basically just prepping for pro development camps.

LJ: And what’s up next?

BR: Right now, I’m just basically working out and training all day. I’ve been filling out a lot of information online for scouts and things like that. I’ve been trying to figure out which agent I want and I think I finally got that down this past week.

DZ: The NFL Regional Combine. I have next weekend in Los Angeles, and the NAU Pro Day in March. I’m just kind of training and preparing for that and it’s just a waiting game for the draft in April.

LJ: All right, thank you so much. Best of luck to you both and hope to be hearing good things in the near future.