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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > December > 10 > Entry
Doss happy to land in his home state
‘HONOR’ AND ‘PRIVILEGE’
TO BE SIGNED BY BENGALS
===Mike Doss suffered a major left knee injury when he tore his ACL in 2006 with the Indianapolis Colts. He claims he’s healthy and ready to go.===
Q: Welcome to the ‘Nati:
A: I just feel blessed. It’s a great opportunity to play in Ohio for one of the Ohio teams, being born and raised in Ohio I just feel really honored and privileged to join the Cincinnati organization.
Q: Did you always know you’d be back?
A: I trained everyday and kept my faith and realized being in Columbus, Ohio, working out every day and helping out with the Buckeyes and continue to push and, with the help of my agent, hit every team every week and just figuring out what opportunities are coming up, and a couple workouts and try to land somewhere, and finally got an opportunity here in Cincinnati.
Q: What do you think your future is here?
A: It’s just my first day. It’s really hard to say. I’m just going to take this in stride, try to work hard and contribute. Once I get on the field, I want to be able to showcase my talent.
Q: Was this a case where you needed to get fully healthy?
A: Honestly, I don’t know. Just going through the whole process. this NFL is a business and a lot of decisions are made financially, healthy wise and different things like that. But for me to come in here and have an opportunity to work out for this organization, show that I’m healthy, go to the doctors, go through all the examinations and be able to get signed (Tuesday) afternoon was just an honor and a blessing.
Q: How many teams did you work out for?
A: A handful. I worked out for a lot of teams, hammered the phones all season long just waiting for the right situation. To wait this long, it’s definitely a humbling experience, being a starter over there in Indianapolis for four years and going to Minnesota. But actually getting an opportunity to play in my home state, that was truly the blessing I was praying for. To play in my home state and to get picked up by Cincinnati is definitely an honor.
Q: Talk about your style as a player:
A: I’m just going to bring an aggressive style of play, some leadership. I’ll help these guys out and do as much as I can these last few weeks. Just try to be a role model and lead by example, not speak too much, just do my part and go out and play hard. Once you showcase your play on the field, you earn the respect of your teammates and the coaches. I’m going to go out there every Sunday and put in 110 percent.
Q: You’ve experienced a lot of success. what do you say to these young players who might be ready to pack it in?
A: It’s definitely a tough situation. It’s a hard season. But that’s the NFL. You go out there and compete every Sunday. You have 17 weeks to actually put your resume out there. And every guy knows that if they want to continue to play in this league, you have to perform. I feel I have three weeks left to actually put my resume out here and actually try to get another opportunity here in the future here with this organization. I’m going to play hard here the last three weeks and for the young guys, you have to play hard. It’s the end of the season, you want to finish strong and give yourself some momentum going into the offseason.
Q: Did you sign a 2-year deal, this year & next?
A: Yes. I’m signed throughout the season and hopefully, for the future, I’m here with the organization.
Q: Do you consider this a 3-week audition?
A: I consider it just a great opportunity. God blessed me with another chance in the NFL and, as I said, being out of football from last year to all of this year until the last couple weeks of December, you learn a lot about yourself going through the process and you realize if you keep your faith and say strong and continue to work hard, good things are come through. And of course is a great head coach. We’ve got a great organization down here and I’m in Ohio and I just feel great to be part of it.
Q: What have they told you what they expect from you?
A: Most importantly, stay healthy. Whatever opportunities I do get, just go ahead and go out there and play hard and just try to be a leader on the field and realize there’s only a few weeks left but you’re playing for an opportunity here and it’s blessing, like I said before, just to be in the state of Ohio and have another chance.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Bengals
Comments
By Derrick
December 10, 2008 7:33 PM | Link to this
I hope Doss can help the Bengals. They need a lot of it. What the ** are the YouTube inserts about? Are they supposed to be entertaining, informative, or just someone’s attempt at being clever?By sam
December 11, 2008 6:54 AM | Link to this
Don’t get your hopes up fans!By mgootee
December 11, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
GLAD U HAVE A JOB.. SORRY U R GOING TO PLAY FOR MIKE BROWN.. MIKE MAKES MONEY HE DOESN,T SPEND MONEY ON GOOD PLAYERS AND IF HE DOES YOUR GONE IN A YEAR OR 2 ..HE WILL ONLY KEEP A HAND FULL OF TOP PLAYER NOT ENOUGH TO WIN.. SO ABOUT YOUR LUCK.. MIKE BROWN PLEASE SALE THE TEAM.. GET OUT….By buckeyealum
December 11, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
God Bless Michael Doss.