In a transparent move this offseason, the Cleveland Browns front office has been open in saying what kind of the player they want to draft: one who absolutely loves football.
"First and foremost, you want to find guys that love football," Pettine said earlier in March about building the team. "Sometimes that's hard to do. You are going to find guys that love what football does for them and they don't necessarily love the game. It's OK to be both – but there has to be that passion, that competitiveness, that type of pride. Because those are the guys you win with."
The Browns have taken this approach in free agency and are now applying it to the draft. Like every other team in the league, Cleveland will get to work out 30 prospects individually at its facility and will do it with diligence.
During the owners meetings, Pettine dug further on the types of questions he asks incoming NFL talent to pin down who loves football the most.
1) Who was your favorite team growing up?
2) As they are watching football, how do they talk about it?
3) Do they just know their job, or do they know the jobs of the guys around them?
"I think you can get a sense from that interaction," Pettine said. "If a guy doesn't give a lot of info, or really only knows what he was doing and really doesn't have great information (on teammates assignments)."
4) And then when you talk to them about how you prepare, when they watch film, what do they look for?
5) What are some examples of things they pull off an opponent's tape that they were able to use during the game?
"If you are passionate and you love it, you'll be a junkie," Pettine said. "You'll be into it. You'll have a lot of graduate level detail. Then there are some guys who are indifferent about it and won't have as much to offer."
Believe it or not, we are exactly one month away from the NFL Draft. ClevelandBrowns.com will have you covered for the festivities in Chicago and all of the April build-up.
