Oakland Raiders first-round pick Clelin Ferrell is considered by most a rookie, but that is not a word that he is very fond of. Ferrell thinks that rookie has a bad connotation of someone who is just sitting the back watching, and that is not something he is doing.
“They ain't bring us in here to be no rookies,” Ferrell said recently via ESPN. “Rookies can kind of get a connotation of sitting in the back, wait your turn, you don't got to step out in front and show that you really want to play.”
Ferrell said he is coming out each day to earn everything in the league and he thinks that means he should be called a first-year player.
“I consider myself just a first-year player. … I just want to come out and compete and earn everything that we got. To do that in this defense you got to communicate, you got to be physical, you got to be a guy that wants to set the tone, set the standard and just be able to be held accountable and do your job. That's really just all it is.”
Whatever you want to consider Ferrell the Raiders are counting on him to have a big year this year. The Raiders coaching staff has been impressed with what they have seen with Ferrell so far during and expect him to be an every-down defensive end for the team this upcoming season. Maybe Ferrell will be okay with the term rookie if he does enough to earn the defensive rookie of the year.
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