Logan Payne
WR, Minnesota
Numbers: 6'2, 204 pounds
2006 Stats: 54-804 receiving with 9 TDs, 11-70 rushing.
Career Stats: 97-1344 receiving with 11 TDs, 12-81 rushing, 14-49 punt
returns
Ed Thompson: Well let's talk about your first Pro Day because I know you opened
some eyes with a 39-inch vertical leap...
LP: I was very
prepared. I have been working out at Velocity Sports. Bill has done a
tremendous job to get me ready. I have done better before on a couple of things,
but I excelled
and did my best on a couple of
areas as well. I finished at the top of receivers in a couple
of events, which opened some eyes.
Overall, I showed that I have some athletic ability and I got some really
good feedback from scouts -- and I was
really excited about that.
ET: What were some of the things they
said they liked about you?
LP: They just didn't know how athletic I was. I don't think they thought I
would do as well as I did in these drills. So they
were kind of excited, saying "wow, you really impressed us today," and
comments along those lines.
ET:
Why do you think they didn't have those expectations of you?
LP: I don't know, one of the things might have been that I played for the Golden
Gophers. Our trend over the last
10 years is that we like running the ball, so a receiver at the
University of Minnesota isn't going
to get a lot of exposure. I'm not going to have the tremendous stats
receivers in other offenses would since I take on a lot more of a blocking role. Usually the guys that have the great stats
are the 4.3 speed-type guys and guys
that have tremendous athletic ability. I think it was
just a combination of coming on late
in my career and maybe not getting as much exposure, which was fine with me
in the system we ran. We had Laurence Maroneys, we had the Marion Barbers, we had tremendous offensive
linemen all four years I was here. So that was our identity and I was happy
to fall into the role that they
needed me to do.
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ET: Logan, outside of that great work ethic, what other strengths do you
offer an NFL club?
LP: My biggest asset I think is I am very unselfish as far as what teams
ask me to do. For instance, I came
to the University of Minnesota and when you come in, you want to be a
stud, you want to catch passes, you
want to score touchdowns. But that wasn't my role in our offense. A lot of
guys would get discouraged by
that. I saw it as a chance to excel in other areas like blocking. It made
me have crisp routes because I
didn't get that many opportunities, so every time I did, I had to make
plays. I think that is one of my
biggest assets is being a team player and doing whatever it is that my team
needs me to do. As far as the
receiver standpoint, ever since I was a little kid my dad stressed that if
it touches your hand, you have to
catch it. So that is the way I approach being a receiver. Having that mentality, I think
I have tremendous hands. I can
only remember two or three drops in my career where the drops were my
fault. So I would say my ability to catch
the ball would be another great strength of mine as a receiver.
ET: Do you have a favorite route?
LP: I like going deep. I feel like even even if I
haven't beaten the cornerback, I
still have an advantage just because of my leaping ability. And that's what I
excelled at the University of
Minnesota.
ET: Did you gain much experience on special teams?
LP: I did. I did not redshirt, my freshman year I came in and
played on all special teams. I did punt returns, I did punt block, punt
coverage, kickoff returns, hands
team, I did everything. They needed
me to come in and play right away and help and I was glad
to do that. I enjoy flying around out there on special teams.
ET: Did you
miss any time during your collegiate career due to injury?
LP: No, that's another big thing I take pride in. I take care of my body
very well. I didn't miss any
games. I never pulled a muscle. I have never broken a bone. I have been
very blessed in that respect as far as
injuries. I had some nicks but I have never missed a game because of it. I
had a rolled ankle once or twice.
Little nicks and bruises. But nothing that ever kept me out of the
game.
ET: Logan, I saw that you are a Housing Studies major. Can you
explain that a little bit?
LP: I'm a Housing Studies major with a concentration in Finance and
Management within the housing
field. My father is an architect and he owns his own company. He builds
custom homes for a living. He
owns his own construction company down in Florida. So that's kind of how I
got into the whole housing field.
What I am kind of looking to do is a little of what my dad does, a
little bit on the construction side,
but more of the commercial plus residential development.
ET: What's the most important thing
for fans and NFL teams to know about
you as a person?
LP: I value the personal relationships that I build. They
are very important to me. Over my
last four years at the University of Minnesota, the one thing that I value
and that I would never forget, are
the personal relationships that I built with my teammates and my coaches. I
am going to miss all of these
guys. Even with my high school friends from Florida back in high school, I
never let go of those guys. I
always keep in touch with them and I like to build relationships that are
going to last a lifetime. I take
pride in that.
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| A member of the Professional Football Writers of America, Ed Thompson's NFL and college football player interviews and features have been published across the Scout.com network and syndicated through FoxSports.com's NFL team pages. |
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