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EVENTS
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Heading to Cincinnati
Former Missouri defensive end Justin Smith was the first defensive end taken in the 2001 NFL Draft. Smith was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the fourth overall pick. This is the 10th and final in a series of Draft Diaries from Smith. I'm back in Columbia, Mo., now after a pretty hectic, eventful weekend. This weekend was really a dream come true for me, but the dream is kind of over now and I have to get back to playing football again soon. I'd say it was the easily best weekend of my life. I got the call from Bengals coach defensive line coach Tim Krumrie at about 12:30 and I was just really excited. They called me right before the commissioner called my name at the podium to let me know that I was going to be their pick. It was a big weight lifted off my shoulders to hear my name called. I'm just glad it's done and now I can get back to football. Now I'm on a team, I have a little direction now. The media stuff at Madison Square Garden was just crazy. As soon as you got picked, you had to walk past everybody and they were all going crazy. It was a unique experience, but I'm glad that I finally know which team I'll be playing on. All the photo shoots and stuff that we did in New York really doesn't fit me -- all the glamour crap -- but it was a good experience. When I decided to declare for the draft, I would've been excited to know that I would go with the fourth pick, but I really can't say where I thought I would go. The process just kind of unwound to this and I became a top-five pick. If I had to guess, I would've thought I would be drafted somewhere in the top 15, but going at No. 4 is pretty good. It was also a huge honor to be the first defensive end taken in the draft. That was one of my goals when I decided to skip my senior year at Mizzou and enter the draft.
I didn't have much contact with the Bengals during the whole draft process. That caught me off guard when they picked me. They were at my workouts and I had met with coach Krumrie before. Teams really don't really tell the players too much, they just pick them. I had a now infamous wrestling match with coach Krumrie at my workout in Columbia. It was just really crazy. He could still play today. He's a tough, hard-nosed guy, and he's just a man's man -- that's what I like about him. I think having him as my coach will be a great fit for me personality-wise. We were doing hand slaps, football moves, everything. He's going to be a great teacher for me. I think he probably took me three straight times, so he's still a tough guy even though he's getting old. I left for Cincy at 9:55 this morning after spending the night in New York last night with my parents and girlfriend. I slept pretty good last night. I was pretty tired after all the excitement. I'd never been to Cincinnati before today so I didn't know what to expect. It's a great city. It's really clean, it's nice, it's hilly, a lot of trees. I'm happy that I went to kind of a smaller city. I was really happy when I saw the city. I think it's going to be a great place for me. Minicamp starts May 4, so I'll be back there soon to get started on my football career. I met everybody in the organization and saw the facilities and kind of looked for a place where I could potentially live. I just really got a feel for the place. It was surprising how nice the facilities are and how nice the city is. And all of the coaches are first-class people who really know what they are doing. They are really focused and it is going to be exciting learning from them. It's going to be a great experience for me playing for the Bengals. Paul Brown Stadium is unbelievable. I've never seen a stadium that nice. The Bengals need a couple of good players to make them a good team. They are just missing a few things to make them a good team, and I'm hoping to fill one of those spots. I saw the rest of their draft and I was very pleased with what they did. I think they helped themselves out in some areas and I think we are going to be good. Their scheme has a strong side and a weak side -- they call it the elephant front -- so I'll be playing basically the same position that I did in college. The more I think about it, the more pleased I am that I went there. I'm really looking forward to two weeks of good workouts back in Columbia to get ready for football. Then after that I'm excited about getting to Cincinnati. I welcome the pressure that will be placed upon me as a top-five pick. There should be some pressure on me, but I'm up for the challenge.
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