Brad Kaaya comments on being drafted by the Detroit Lions

Shortly after being selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Brad Kaaya met with the media. Here’s what he had to say.

On what the wait this weekend has been like for him: “You know, while I had different expectations going into this, my ultimate expectation was that I would ultimately get a shot to play in the National Football League. Just get an opportunity. For me, it didn’t matter which round that came in. Fortunately, the Lions saw something in me and are taking a chance with me. I’m not really promised anything right now. All I know that I will be promised is an opportunity to come in and put my head down and just go to work.”

On his relationship with Lions Tight Ends Coach Al Golden: “Yeah, I mean, Coach Golden was the whole reason that I ended up at Miami. He saw something in me years ago before I had a college scholarship. He actually was the first coach to offer me a scholarship before any teams in my hometown had a chance to. He just took a chance with me and, I mean, he’s the guy who I owe a lot of things to in terms of why I’m in the position that I’m in right now. I love that guy to death.”

On if he has talked to Golden throughout this process: “Yes, I have. I have. I saw him at the Combine. Talked to him after I declared and I talked to him recently. He just told me, you know, just don’t worry about things and know that you’ll get your opportunity to work at some point. He believes in me and just told me basically to not worry. Yeah, that was the biggest thing.”

On if he got the impression from his talks with Golden that Detroit was interested in him: “I mean, he’s a guy who I’ve gone to for advice before. I mean, he was a good resource for me at Miami, very good resource. I just figured he was talking just generally, nothing specific really. So I didn’t really get that gist. It was just, you know, friendly talk.”

On what went through his mind when he started seeing other quarterbacks drafted before him: “You know, that doesn’t really concern me. I figured that I’d hopefully get an opportunity eventually, whether it be in a later round or even free agency. So that doesn’t really concern me what the other quarterbacks do. I mean, for me it was just about finding the right fit and the right team for me and just finding a team that would give me an opportunity to come to work.”

On if teams had started reaching out to him about signing as a possible undrafted free agent before the Lions called: “Yeah, I mean, a couple teams did, but Detroit called soon after. I ended up getting a call from Michigan probably a few minutes after that.  Just very thankful. Just very thankful that Mr. Quinn called and Coach Caldwell called.”

On what other NFL teams he worked out for: “I worked out for about five teams. Most of the teams in the NFC South besides the Falcons. Worked out for the Bengals and then the Dolphins. I mean, got all kinds of different stuff but, you know, certain teams had different things that they wanted to work on with me and it was hard to kind of get a gauge for that.”

On if he visited the Lions: “No workout. Yeah, no workout or anything like that.”

On if he is familiar with Lions QB Matthew Stafford: “Yeah, I mean, for me I’d say it’s Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford and Tom Brady. I mean, Matt Stafford’s a guy who I’ve watched since he was in college. I’ve always been a big fan of him and he’s one of those guys, you know, when I was in high school I used to play with him on MADDEN. He was always one of my favorite guys to watch. Over these past two months I spent a lot of time watching film of Matt Stafford and just how he operates. Even when Coach (Mark) Richt came in, he showed me some of Matt’s film as well. Just how he moves in the pocket and how he’s able to operate. It’s going to be a pleasure to be in the same quarterback room as him and hopefully get to learn some things from his game that I can take to apply to my own and get to work with him.”

On how often he is asked about his mother’s role in the movie “Friday”: “I’ve been asked a couple times. It’s kind of died down since I ended up in college. For me it’s really just about football and I’ve never really seen her in that kind of light. She was more so my team-mom kind of growing up. She’s actually from right there in Michigan actually. She actually grew up in Milan and Detroit. I mean, most of my family on her side of the family is from the Michigan, Detroit and Milan area. So I never really saw her as that. She always had a blue-collar attitude and she kind of helped instill that in me in terms of on the football field. She was always just my team-mom, not really like a movie star to me.”

On if he has spent much time in Detroit: “Yes, I have. You name it. I used to spend Christmases there, been there in the summer. I used to go to the University of Michigan camp probably every year from sixth grade through my junior year of high school. I used to be there all the time, whether it was Milan or Belleville or Detroit. I spent a whole lot of time there just visiting family and just working out for UM (University of Michigan).

On if he has ever been to a Lions game: “No, I have not. I watched a ton of film on them, watched a ton of games on TV. Never made it to a game, hopefully I can now. Right now for me it’s just all about working and just taking it day by day and just putting in all the work.”

On how much of a fan he is of the movie “Friday”: “I’ve seen it a couple times. I’m not like the biggest fan. I don’t watch it all the time. I mean, I’ve seen it a couple times and it’s pretty interesting.”

On his mother being a vegan chef: “Yeah, she was managing a vegan shop here in Los Angeles.”

On if he is a vegan: “No, I’m not. I’m not vegan. Got to play football, man. Got to eat meat at some point, can’t be under 215 (pounds). Got to stay about 218 in that area.”

On if anyone has spoken to him about competing with Lions QB Jake Rudock for the backup quarterback position: “No, they have not. Pretty much the only thing that they’ve said, ‘Hey, you’re getting an opportunity to just come in and work and put your head down and grind.’ Nothing is promised right now. There’s nothing along those lines. For me it’s just about proving myself to the staff and just learning and getting better and learning about all the other things later on.”

On when he realized his mother was a famous actress: “I kind of knew when I was young like when I was a kid and people would ask her about it. For me, she basically just made a 15-minute cameo in a movie that happened to be a famous movie. But I mean, in Los Angeles there’s a lot of different people you see, so it wasn’t really a big deal until I pretty much left California for Florida.”

Next: Injured Tigers on road to recovery

*All quotes provided by the Detroit Lions.