*COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN AND HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY – ON DRAFTING LB-FREDDIE KEIAHO *
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PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (General Comments) Saturday, April 29, 2006
"Our board for the first three rounds is empty. Freddie Keiaho is the last player left on our board when we selected him. The board was too accurate once again. We are happy to have him. He's a dynamic striker, a run and hit player, enthusiastic, aggressive and very much in the mold of the linebackers we have had here and have here. He's a lot like Mike Peterson when Mike first came in. He aggressive and had a noise for the football and can mix it up. He's a three down guy and will make a big contribution on special teams right off the bat because he's tough and aggressive. He is right in the mold of the kind of players that we feel we need here. From whole day prospective, we went in saying if we could get a running back and a linebacker, we'd feel good about the first day. We have and we do. "
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (General Comments) Saturday, April 29, 2006
"As Bill said, Freddie is very much like a lot of the guys we have had success with. He started his career as an offensive player, running back and was a special teams guy. I think he blocked four punts long before he really started playing a lot. He was a backup linebacker in 2004 and then became the starting middle linebacker for them and made a ton of tackles. He shows up in every tape. He's a high energy guy. He is going to fit right in to our group. He's a guy who can run and play hard. We'll see where we are going to line him up. Mike is the spot he had played and he is very well suited to play weak side or strong side. We just think he is a good football player. This is another guy who we think is going to add speed and toughness and as Bill (Polian) said, we are happy to get him.
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on his development) Saturday, April 29, 2006
"I think he's getting better. He played some at running back. He was a kick returner for them early on and a special teams guy. He settled in at linebacker. He's a very, very smart guy. He was in here a couple of weeks ago for a physical and we had the chance to visit with him about what they did on defense and he's very very bright. He'll be labeled as an over achiever. His linebacking ability is still developing and he's going to get better."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on pronouncing his last name) Saturday, April 29, 2006
"He told me to pronounce every vowel in his last name and you got it. Nothing is silent."
