Copeland discusses NFL signing

In between a final exam and a final paper, I sat down with former Penn defensive end Brandon Copeland, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens at the end of this weekend's NFL Draft. We talked about his signing, the long road ahead, his new position as a middle linebacker and much more.

All three Penn football players who had NFL hopes will go to rookie mini camps Thursday through Sunday. In addition to Copeland, OL Joe Bonadies was invited to the Minnesota Vikings camp and punter Scott Lopano was invited to kick at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers camp. Originally a Southlake, Tex., native, Lopano's family moved to Tampa a year and a half ago.

Below are some highlights from my conversation with Copeland:

Has it all set in yet?

Not yet.

When do you think it will?

Hopefully never … I don’t really want it to sink in, I’m not trying to get comfortable at all because one, coming from the Ivy League, you’re always going to be fighting. You’re always going to be expected to do everything perfect, you don’t really have a margin for error. And two, no contract is guaranteed in the NFL except for the first few rounds and things like that. So hopefully I’ll never be comfortable with it and knowing myself, obviously tomorrow I’ll be different than I am today, but knowing myself I’ll never be comfortable with it. I’ll continue to have a chip on my shoulder. Sometimes it hits me, like right now I’m technically an NFL player, but I have not proven or done anything to actually earn that title yet.

When did you hear from the Ravens that they wanted to sign you?

During the last round they were calling and they said, 'As soon as this thing finishes up we want to try to get on the phone with your agent and work out a deal.' So obviously I’m happy.

Did you hear from any other teams?

Yeah, I heard from a couple other teams and mainly the Packers, but this I guess for me is the dream.

Because then you kind of had a choice.

Yeah, you basically decide … Obviously the advantage of being drafted is a better signing bonus or a few more thousand dollars more, but you still could be cut. When we go to minicamp this weekend, everyone’s on the same playing field. Obviously the first rounders can feel a little bit more secure, a little more comfortable coming in, probably more relaxed. But after that it’s kind of, we’re all just fighting to make the team. We’re all going to be the same people, some people have a few more dollars I guess.

Do you know the receiver from Towson who was also signed by the Ravens?

He went to my rival high school, Gerrard Sheppard. He went to UConn then he transferred to Towson. Me and him played basketball, we grew up together. Our families are real close, so that’s real cool. We saw each other at the local pro day, we haven’t gotten a chance to talk yet, but we’ll see each other this weekend. But like I said, he’s a family friend, we’ve been friends since we were little. We used to play rec league basketball together at Owings Mills since probably 8 or 9, and me and him used to always battle against each other.

So the Ravens want you to play middle linebacker?

Yeah, inside linebacker. After that workout I did with Coach Monachino [linebackers coach], he said that he likes me at that fit.

Have you been focusing on that more the last few weeks?

Throughout the last couple weeks, everything I’ve been doing up until this point is to become more athletic, just be ready for everything. So I haven’t really focused on specifically middle linebacker, I’ve also focused on coming off the edge and things like that, but I’ve just done a lot of things- drops, backpedals, all that type of stuff that can be transferred to any of the positions.

After minicamp, you'll come back to Penn to graduate, then move home. Will you work out at the Baltimore facility?

Yes, I believe so. Offseason workouts. I’m not 100% sure of it yet but the way I believe it’s set up, I’ll come back, get a week off — not off, but away from there — and then go back there, be there all summer working out and hopefully getting better.

As you try to make the 53-man roster or practice squad, what will be your biggest focus for improvement?

We’ll see this weekend. I’m not really sure. It’s going to be the exciting thing but also the "stressful" thing. I’m excited about it but that’s a position I’ve never played before. A position I’ve always wanted to play- I think I might have played two snaps at it in high school.
I don’t really know what I need to work on, but the good thing right now is I’m working on it all. So I’m outside with some of our wide receivers — Ryan Mitchell this morning — and just acting like I’m a middle linebacker and he’s running routes, so I’m trying to work on making sure that I see the quarterback, see his routes, see what the line is doing, and just trying to focus on a bunch of new things. Like I said it’ll be interesting. I’m going to have a very, very steep learning curve, and I’m going to have to pick up everything pretty fast, but this is what I’ve worked months, years, my entire life for. So I definitely won’t be outworked.

Finally, what can you say about going back to Baltimore to a team you've always loved?

People were asking about the Ravens and Baltimore and stuff like that, and after Saturday I’m not a fan anymore of any team. Going to the Ravens obviously that’s a blessing, a great opportunity. But still at the end of the day I don’t feel like a fan of the Ravens anymore.
It’s funny because you hit that complete 360 in terms of I can picture myself looking at the TV a few months ago and watching the game and just being pumped when they won. And now it’s more so, ‘How can I help?’ and, ‘How can I show these guys that … I belong [and] just get the respect from them?’ The same respect that I have from the entire Ivy League, I want the same respect from the entire NFL. So until I get that, there is no fan or not too much excitement in me. Once in awhile I get that, ‘Wow, I’m actually an NFL player right now,’ but then it snaps right back to, ‘You’re nothing.’ And you need to start scratching and clawing your way to the top.

And if you take fandom out of it, you’ll still be at home with your family.

Yeah, and that’s one good thing. The transition is a lot easier. … there is no transition. That also helps me, that takes away a lot of the training curve for me. I know where everything is.
I don’t have too many new variables besides what my new job is, and I know my trainers are right there, I know where to go to get whatever I need. I have my family, I have that backbone. I know the places to go and to not go. I don’t have to worry about going to the wrong places and getting in trouble or anything like that, which [for] a lot of rookies, that’s probably something they should be worried about.

I’m happy but obviously I know that Thursday’s coming fast. I’m excited, I’m very excited. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not excited for this opportunity and not excited for this journey. But I realize that this is just a step in my ultimate goals. My granddad’s pumped. My whole family was up here [for the draft], they were all excited. Mom’s happy her baby’s coming home. It’s a "fairytale ending," but it’s not the end at all. It’s just the beginning.