Brandon Lindsey attended Aliquippa High School and was a teammate of Darrelle Revis (Jets DB). He then went to play at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a teammate of Greg Romeus (Saints) and Jabaal Sheard (Browns). He played defensive end during his sophomore and junior seasons. When Pitt changed their defense, he switched to outside linebacker for his senior season. BL was second-team All-Big East during both his junior and senior year. He entered the 2012 NFL Draft. This interview was conducted before the 2012 NFL Draft.



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Brandon Lindsey : Hey, what’s up? This is Brandon Lindsey, former Pitt football player, coming to an NFL team near you, and you’re listening to www.prointerviews.org.

Announcement : My name is Max Strauss with www.prointerviews.org, www.facebook.com/ProInterviews and www.twitter.com/ProInterviews. I’d like to welcome you to the interview with Brandon Lindsey. Lindsey totaled 123 tackles, 22.5 sacks, and 34 tackles for loss during his career at Pitt. He was teammates with Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard during his junior season in which he was also a finalist for the Ted Hendricks DL of the Year Award. He is entering the 2012 NFL Draft after playing last season as an outside linebacker due their switch in defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Here is the interview with future NFL player, Brandon Lindsey.

Strauss : How do you connect with your fans?

Lindsey : I am really open to them. If somebody will tweet me or facebook message me, I always message them back. I just be respectful of the fans. I would want somebody to message me back and tweet me back if I tweeted them. I always try to tweet them back or message them back within a timely fashion.

Strauss : How did you start playing football though?

Lindsey : I started when I was six [years old]. It was something to do. I always went to the game and watched it, and it just looked fun, so I thought I’d start.

Strauss : What position did you start as?

Lindsey : I started as a tight end and defensive end.

Strauss : Your high school has produced a lot of NFL talent. What was your high school football like for you?

Lindsey : It gave me something to strive for to see all of the people that you grew up with, doing well for themselves. You was great to be a part of that, and it gave a push to go to a division one college and now onto the next level. That really came easy to me and all the people that came before me. I’ll never give up that sense of pride. I never want to let it down right now.

Strauss : Were you teammates of [New York Jets CB] Darrelle Revis in high school?

Lindsey : I was a freshman and he was a senior.

Strauss : Did Revis serve as a mentor to you when you were a freshman in high school or what was your relationship like?

Lindsey : I didn’t transfer there until the basketball season. We were always cool. We always talked–when I saw him in school. I had a couple of study hours with him, him and some of my other friends, and relatives. We always joked around and had a good time. He wasn’t like a big shot. He wasn’t a pre-madonna in high school or anything like that. He was always cool and laid back.

Strauss : What was your recruiting experience like?

Lindsey : It was hectic as coaches coming to school a lot of times getting you out of class. I didn’t mind that. Being in high school, who doesn’t like class, but just many coaches coming up to talk to you, and it was the same thing over and over. It gets repetitious and long after a while. It’s just like anybody who is highly recruited.

Strauss : How many schools did you have after you?

Lindsey : I think I had thirteen scholarships, going on twenty. I ended the process in December, so I could just concentrate on basketball and get it over with.

Strauss : Why’d you choose Pittsburgh?

Lindsey : I had a responsibility to go to Pitt. It was where my mom and dad wanted me to go. My mom graduated from Pitt, and they didn’t want to travel far to come see me play. It was the right decision for me.

Strauss : What was the transition like once you actually got to Pitt?

Lindsey : It wasn’t that bad just getting up at six o’clock in the morning was probably the hardest part. I was also sitting out my freshman year because of the redshirt, was another one of the hardest parts. But after that, the hardest part for me was switching from linebacker to defensive end and that wasn’t even hard either.

Strauss : You played special teams to start of your career. What was the best part about playing special teams?

Lindsey : It wasn’t really that bad. It wasn’t really that hard to play special teams. You just have to know your responsibility and get it done.

Strauss : What was the transition like to switch positions?

Lindsey : It wasn’t really that bad just bulking up a little bit. I know I had a lot of responsibility playing defensive end. It didn’t feel that so much faster because I knew what I was really going pretty quickly. That was a good transition for me.

Strauss : What was your junior season like for you?

Lindsey : It was crazy just going into the season as a backup, Greg Romeus going down with a hand injury in the first game. For me, being expected to fill his shoes. He made it a lot easier for me, telling me not to try to be like him, just use what I am good at, and use it to my advantage. Greg [Romeus] and Jabaal [Sheard] really took me on their wing as you could say and just made my job a lot easier. It made me play much better because I knew that they had faith in me and that I could get my job done.

Strauss : Do you have a favorite game from your junior year?

Lindsey : Oh yes. The Rutgers game was definitely my best game during my junior year.

Strauss : What happened to that game?

Lindsey : I had three sacks, a forced fumble, and it was enough to earn me the Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

Strauss : Why do you think you were so successful in that game?

Lindsey : Just using my get-off using what I am good at to my advantage. I knew that the tackle was pretty flawed with his hands. I just made sure I had to get off the ball, and do what I was supposed to do. Having Jabaal [Sheard] on the other side of me made it that much easier. They couldn’t double team me because they were double teaming him.

Strauss : What were your exceptions in the off-season between your junior and senior season and did you actually meet them?

Lindsey : My goals were first-team All American, Defensive Player of the Year for them, and All Big-East, and I didn’t achieved my goals, but I learned a lot from last year and I know that I need to become a better player in the future.

Strauss : What do you think the most important thing you learned was last season?

Lindsey : Just if things aren’t going my way that I can’t be keep downing myself. I can’t have an attitude, just keep quiet and keep doing what I’m supposed to do and eventually, things will go right for me.

Strauss : Do you have a favorite memory from your senior season?

Lindsey : I just think the season in general. Just being with the people I came here with, one last time, just enjoying one last year together and just enjoy our time together. Even though we didn’t finish the way we wanted to, we still accomplished a lot and had fun doing it together.

Strauss : Of all your sacks that you’ve had, you’ve had a fair amount of sacks during your time at Pitt, do you have a favorite sack that sticks out in your mind?

Lindsey : Probably during Senior Day. I’d chased down the quarterback and knocked the ball right from behind and then it went for a forced fumble, and a touchdown. It was the last sack of my career, and it’s probably the one that I remember the most.

Strauss : Do you have a favorite hit or tackle in your career?

Lindsey : I had a really nice hit. I de-cleated somebody on special teams during my redshirt freshman year. It was probably the biggest that I’ve had. He didn’t see me coming. I just completely knocked him off.

Strauss : You’ve been at Pitt for a while. You were a senior this past year, but if I went up to one of your teammates and asked him, “Who is Brandon Lindsey?” What would you expect him to say?

Lindsey : I think they would say that he is a great teammate, and he thinks of others before he thinks about himself. He comes in everyday, works hard, and tries to do everything right. He tries to be a good leader to the people under him, the people who were freshmen, sophomore, or anybody who came in after him. He wants to be great and does everything he can to strive to be great.

Strauss : You mentioned Jabaal Sheard, who was pretty highly selected last year [for the Browns]. What have you learned from a guy like Jabaal? How has he helped you grow as a defensive end and what’s the best piece of advice he gave you?

Lindsey : We came in together, so we know each other pretty well, but he is a great player. I took his get-off from him. He wasn’t a big guy but he is really fast. He gets off the ball great. He uses his hands really well. I try to use some of his moves in my game. He just told me to take everything I was good at and to take it to another level.

Strauss : A team calls you up and says, ‘Why should we draft you?’ What’s the best answer you have for them?

Lindsey : I am going to come in early, and stay late. I will do everything I can to learn the play book as quickly as possible. I am going to play special teams, help the team out any way I can, you’ll never hear about me in the media doing things I am not supposed to be doing. I’m a team player first. I don’t worry about stats, I worry about winning.

Strauss : What was your Combine experience like?

Lindsey : It was different. I wasn’t expecting the long hours like they were were. I expected the hospital to be long, but I didn’t expected the days to be as they were. It was a disappointing experience for me because I didn’t perform to the best of my ability, but I know I did better at Pro Day. It’s out of my hands now. We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks.

Strauss : What was your Pro Day like?

Lindsey : My Pro Day was definitely a lot better than the Combine. After the combine, I came in about ten pounds lighter, and just quicker on my feed and just quicker in all aspects and it showed. I was a lot more crisp in the drills, a lot faster in the drills, than I was at the combine so I take that as a good experience.

Strauss : If a scout asked you to choose someone to compare your game to right now in the NFL, who would you compare your game to?

Lindsey : I’ll say Dwight Freeney and Aldon Smith. Dwight Freeney because he gets off the ball, and he’s undersized but he’s still strong enough to get the job done and is quick enough to maneuver in different ways. I’ll say Aldon Smith because I’m long and I use my hands a little like he does, and he gets off the ball well.

Strauss : What do you think your best trait as a defensive end is?

Lindsey : Definitely my get-off, and also the way I use my hands.

Strauss : And why do you think that’s your best trait?

Lindsey : I just know that I have to use my speed and my hands to my advance. I’m not the typical defensive end. I’m not 6’5”, 280, any of that stuff. I am 6’2” and 255 on my best day . I know I have to be good at a couple of things in order for me to be successful and I know I am good at those.

Strauss : If a team drafts you that has a 3-4 and wants to stand you up. What would that be like for you?

Lindsey : I think it wouldn’t be a hard transition at all because I did that this year. I’ve got a lot of things that I can improve on, but I know that me playing that position this year will definitely give me a leg up.

Strauss : If you can describe yourself as any ice cream flavor, what would you be and why?

Lindsey : Cookies N’ Cream because they are kind of the hard outside because of the Oreo but you know, soft in the middle. People think that just because you’re a football player that you’ve got to be intense and have that kind of demeanor all the time, but outside the football I am laid back and that’s how I like it.

Strauss : For someone who wants to play football D1 like you, and eventually get a chance to play in the NFL, what’s the best advice you have for them?

Lindsey : If you’re going to play, just play one hundred percent. Do everything to the best of your ability and never give up. Do the work responsibly and don’t ever let anybody outwork you.

Strauss : Is there anything else you want to tell your fans that we haven’t really talked about?

Lindsey : I’m just following the game that I love. I’ll be excited for any team that gives me the call and whatever day they call me up. Whatever team I go to, they’ll get a player who loves to play, and going to give them the 110 percent that a team wants.

Strauss : Thanks so much of your time, Brandon. I really appreciate it.

Lindsey : No problem. Thanks for having me.