Dean Pees opening statement:
"Great day today. I had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with this guy [C.J. Mosley]. I had a chance to meet with him twice, once down in Alabama [when] I went to his pro day, but then I also had an opportunity to sit with him and talk football that same afternoon, kind of one-on-one. I had another meeting with him when he came up here to visit, and he met with [head] coach [John] Harbaugh and [general manager/executive vice president] Ozzie [Newsome] and [linebackers coach Don] 'Wink' [Martindale] and myself. Obviously, those meetings went well since he's sitting here today. We've not only got a great football player here, we've got a great guy. We have a Ravens-type player, a guy who will fit into our room, fit in, obviously, to the football plans, but the other part of it is that we're always looking for what coach Harbaugh and Ozzie and [owner] Steve [Bisciotti] and everybody wants, [which] is they want Ravens. They want guys that, on and off the field, are going to represent us well and are going to play the game like we want it to be played. And we want to get back to the top on defense, and we think this is the guy right here that can lead us in that direction."
Don Martindale opening statement:
"What a great process of seeing how this all worked out through the draft room and how Ozzie and [assistant general manager] Eric [DeCosta] and 'Harbs' [Harbaugh] and [director of college scouting] Joe [Hortiz] and how the board is built and everything else. I knew that we had a chance, so the whole Martindale family was in silent prayer all day yesterday hoping that it worked out and fell the way that it did. (laughter) And we all slept really well last night. Dean has already hit on it: [Mosley] is smart, tough, instinctive, fluid, smooth. I put in my report how he uses his hands in getting off blocks better than anybody I've seen in the 10 years that I've been in this league. I can't tell you enough, and I know it's already been said last night and again today, about the person that he is, the leader that he is. And then, of course, I know for all the fans, the player that he is, and that he's going to be. In earlier conversations, we talked about the growth and where he's going to go from here, and we're really excited to have C.J. in our room – in the linebacker room. I talked to Ray [Lewis] last night for about 10 minutes; he couldn't say enough great things about him. He met with [Mosley] down in Alabama when he came to speak to the team. It's just an exciting time for us."
C.J. Mosley opening statement:
"I'm just happy to be here. It's been a blessing and a long ride since January and our last bowl game. I can finally say that it is over, and I'm ready to be a Raven, ready to get on the football field and prove to the fans, prove to the coaches, that I'm ready to play and help this team win."
**Obviously, you're a very self-motivated young man; you want to be great. How much does it help that you came from a winning environment in college to a team that has done a lot of winning? *(Joe Platania) *
*(MOSLEY) *"I think the transition from Alabama coming to the Baltimore Ravens is going to be great – from a defensive standpoint, from a team standpoint, from a winning standpoint, even off the field. Coach [Nick] Saban, he wants you doing the right thing off the field just as much as he wants you to do the right thing on the field. From that standpoint for me, it's pretty much jumping onto the next step. Everything is on me. I have all the moral support I need, from Ozzie, from the coaches, even from some of the former players I've played with that are here now. So, it's all on me."
**We've heard so much about your character. What or who has molded you into the man you are on and off the field? *(Morgan Adsit) *
*(MOSLEY) *"First of all, God, because he has blessed me with all my talents and all my ways. And my parents, Tracey Mosley and Clinton Mosley. This is my mother right here, Tracey Mosley. Right there is Clint, Sr. – that is what C.J. stands for, if you didn't know – Clint, Jr. So, pretty much the quiet side and the laid-back side – that's all mom. And on the field, wild and crazy, making plays – that's my dad."
When you were in the green room and teams were making their selections, how much were you hoping for the Ravens to choose you? Obviously you wanted to be drafted as high as possible, but was this the one place you felt would be the best fit? (Jeff Zrebiec)
(MOSLEY) *"First of all, when I walked in I was just happy to be there. The room wasn't even green, so I was a little upset at that. (laughter) *I told Ozzie and I told some of the players after I visited here [that] I loved it here. I loved the atmosphere, I loved the players, the organization, everything. It was just like Alabama. The defense is the same way; just the verbiage is different. In the back of my head, I was going to come here. God works in mysterious ways. I'm here now."
**Dean, you re-signed Daryl Smith this offseason, and Arthur Brown was a pick in the second round last year. How do you see C.J. fitting into this group, and do you see an immediate impact from him this year? *(Jamison Hensley) *
*(PEES) *"Yes, I think it will be great competition, and the other part of it is the fact that this guy can play a couple of different spots. He can play 'MIKE' linebacker for us, he can play 'WILL' linebacker for us. That's one of the good things about when you have more than one guy at those positions, then you've got competition, and you're going to end up putting the two best guys on the field. We play a lot of 'Raven' defense, base defense, we play a lot of sub defense, and our sub linebackers fit into a lot of different spots. So, there are a lot of opportunities for this guy. Obviously, we're very happy to have Daryl back, too. We don't want in any shape or form [to say we're not]. I want to make that very, very clear. But, this guy will find his way onto the field, and it will be competition. Nothing is going to be handed to him; he knows that. Obviously, we think he can get on the field or you wouldn't draft him in the first round."
**Will C.J.'s experience in a complicated defense at Alabama help him make the transition to the Ravens and allow him to play quicker here? *(Ryan Mink) *
(PEES) *"I think there are a couple of things: When he and I met down in Alabama on that pro day, and we got into a room and started talking about football, I threw a couple of terms at him, and he kind of smiled and laughed at them because they were the exact same terms that they used at Alabama. Having been with coach [Nick] Saban for four years myself, I knew a lot of the terminology. It's changed – it's not necessarily the same terms here, but it translated into this is what it means to you, and he was able to [understand]. Everything was a good fit. That's a very multiple, multiple defense that Alabama plays, and we're a very multiple defense here. Sometimes, it's not a great fit for people to come here if they've played the same one-front, one-coverage all the time. That's not going to happen. And this guy hasn't. And he's had to control the front and make those calls and make those checks up front, and that's one of the things I really, really liked about [C.J. was] the system that he came from."* **
C.J., the terminology and the scheme you may be familiar with, but the game itself at the professional level – what do you anticipate you'll have to adapt to, and what's the learning going to be like? (Mark Viviano)
*(MOSLEY) *"Basically what you just said – the learning process. I don't have school anymore. I'm not going to be busy after practice or before practice. I'm going to be all about football. So, [I'll] just be getting in the playbook, getting in the film room and pretty much learn my opponents, and while I'm here, learn against the offense I'm going to be facing for this summer. And it's coming up."
C.J., when you hear coach Pees talking about wanting the defense to get back on top and that you are a big part of that, how does that make you feel? (Garrett Downing)
*(MOSLEY) *"I had a few questions like that last night, and my thing was I know what kind of environment I'm coming into. They missed the playoffs. They've got some guys that are a little bit upset with that. The community is upset with that. At Alabama, we expect to win the championship every single year, so when we don't, it's like we're starting the process over. Just like coach Saban would always say, 'We're starting the process over.' The atmosphere that I'm coming into, I'm used to that every day at Alabama, so I know guys are going to be fired up and ready to be great, and I'm just trying to be that next player to come in and help this team win and help the defense be great."
C.J., so many people have talked about your leadership qualities. Is that a product of the position you play, or is that something that has always come natural to you? (Luke Jones)
*(MOSLEY) *"Being an inside linebacker, you have to be the leader, because you're running the defense, you're running the show. You can't have a D-lineman being a leader because, he's going to get tired. You can't have a [defensive back] being a leader, because he's in the backfield and nobody can see him. But as far as me being a natural leader, I'm more of a leader by example. My senior year, I kind of trained myself to be more of a vocal leader, because at some point you're going to have to step up and talk, or you're going to have to say something to somebody, or you're going to have to make sure somebody is doing the right thing to help the team win."
Dean, could you talk about C.J. having the potential to be a guy who can stay on the field against the run and the pass?* (Clifton Brown)*
(PEES) "I don't think we would draft a guy that we didn't think could be on the field for three downs. And I think all of our linebackers can be on the field for three downs. That's what I think is going to be great about the situation that he is coming into. I think the competition is going to be good enough that we're going to have two good linebackers on the field at every point in time. Yes, this guy is a three-down linebacker – there is no question about it. This is not just a run-stopping guy. I've read a couple things where everybody says, 'He's really good against the run – better against the run than the pass.' They didn't watch the same film I watched. This guy is pretty good against the pass, as far as I'm concerned. This guy, I wouldn't take him off the field against any passing team, that's for sure. So yes, I think he's a three-down linebacker."
C.J., you do seem so chill. How do you flip that switch when you get on the field to play football? (Ryan Mink)
*(MOSLEY) *"Off the field, it's just who I am. I'm a laid-back guy, just kind of stick to myself sometimes. But on the field, I'm doing what I love, so all the passion and all the energy that I have – it goes onto the football field."
C.J., you're competing in the AFC North against some of the players you played against in college, including Johnny Manziel. What are your thoughts on competing against him again? (Aaron Wilson)
*(MOSLEY) *"I hope I get another sack on him. It's going to be fun. He was a great player, a great person, so I wish him much success in the NFL with his team."
C.J., you talked about how much you idolized Ray Lewis – obviously a boisterous guy, talks a lot, celebrates after tackles. You do none of that. How do you explain how your style is so much different than a couple of guys like Brian Urlacher and Ray Lewis that you grew up idolizing? (Jeff Zrebiec)
(MOSLEY) "Well, I kind of showed a little bit of that this year, in my senior year. There was a little more celebrating and a little more hyping plays up after making a play. Everybody plays differently. Like I said, [Brian] Urlacher and Ray Lewis are my favorite linebackers and they're totally different-type players. The one thing they have in common [is] they're both leaders. They're well-respected, and they're great linebackers, they're great players. I don't have to go in and try to be just like Ray Lewis. Nobody is ever going to be Ray Lewis. Everybody plays their own way, so I'm just going to try to do what I have to do to make plays and help this team win."
C.J., sitting in the room last night, did you have a top one, two and three, hoping those teams would call you? (Bill West)
(MOSLEY) "Going into it, since I really didn't know where I was going to end up, I was just waiting for that phone call. Once I realized the opportunity [to get picked by Baltimore] was pretty decent, I was just waiting for that little red light to blink. That's pretty much it."
