SAN ANTONIO — A few days ago, I helped Texas Tech win the Holiday Bowl and announced it was my final college game.

Before I start preparing for the NFL draft, I'm the newest unpaid sports intern at the San Antonio Express-News.

I feel like you have to look at every side of the ball to really appreciate sports, and there's an entirely different viewpoint from the press box. I respect the work media members do and want to see how they judge athletes from their standpoint.

I'm 21 years old, but I also have to start thinking about my future after my playing career is over. Whenever I'm done playing football, I'm not going to sit on a boat fishing every day. It's inspiring to see players make the transition into media after they're done playing.

One of my favorite players growing up was Troy Aikman. I was always a huge fan of his play, but what really made me more intrigued is his career as a broadcaster. Hearing him break down the game after watching him play for so many years is something I would love to do in my career.

I have always felt that players who become analysts have so much more credibility when it comes to being able to tell the public exactly what is going on during each play.

When I got to college, I didn't think the press would be such a big part of a player's career. I thought it was a deal where you got a few quotes and took the rest of the day off.

This season, facing the media really helped me grow up. With social media, anything you say and do is out there, and there are always people listening. It really has changed my communication skills. Part of being a football player now is to know how to talk on the run, think quickly and answer questions with careful thought and detailed response.

You've spent three hours giving your all on the field, and you only have a few minutes to cool down before facing the press. So you take a couple of deep breaths, seize the moment and really prepare yourself for what you're going to say.

It was a lot easier this season when we were 7-0 and everyone was asking us about how great we were, and then we were in a losing streak. One question I remember was being asked what our offense could do to resemble Baylor's. It was a hard question to answer because you don't want to be rude and arrogant, but you want to defend your team.

For the next few weeks, I'll be on the other side of the interviews. It will be different, and a lot of fun seeing what athletes have to say. I'll be at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and these players are going to mumble and stumble a bit like I did.

I'm about to have a big change when I go from Lubbock to the NFL. I'll be one of 50 players on a team, and everything I do is scrutinized. I want to see how the press has changed in the social media age. I think people are quicker to jump to conclusions based on what they see online, and they can get the wrong image of you. When you see Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, they're such public figures now, and everybody has a different opinion of them.

The media have helped me grow up a lot in the past few years. For the next few weeks, I've become a media member.

sports@express-news.net