New Orleans Saints OL Will Clapp

Conference Call With New Orleans Media

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Well is this a dream come true?

"Yeah, the whole day, every time the Saints were on the board, I was really hoping they'd pick me. It finally happened and it was worth the wait."

Did you think it was a possibility? Did you have some contact with them?

"Yeah, I've been talking to the Saints throughout the entire process. I am super pumped. My whole family is freaking out right now. I have my family over and it's unbelievable."

You have your family over in Baton Rouge?

"No, in New Orleans. I'm from Metairie."

Is your whole family at your place or are you at your parents' place?

"I'm at my parents' place."

Did you grow up going to Saints games?

"I did. My dad's company had a suite for the Saints games. So when we were growing up, my little brothers would go, probably one or two a year. When we were older we would start going with like me and my girlfriend's family because they have season tickets. And I would try to make two or three games a year."

Did they talk to you about playing guard and center?

"Yeah, I think their expectation is for me to come in and try to learn as much as I can from either of those great interior guys that they have, like Max Unger and try to soak up as much knowledge and try to play those interior positions as well as I can."

Which one do you prefer?

"It really doesn't matter. I mean I played all three in college. All those really feel comfortable with me."

How does it feel to be the first LSU player to be taken by the Saints since 2010? That's kind of been the storyline around here for the past couple of years.

"I'm pretty pumped that it's me that broke the streak. And growing up as a Saints fan, I think it makes it even more special."

Is your phone blowing up right now?

"Yeah, I think I've received about 200 text messages in the last 10 minutes."

Going to high school not too far from this facility, had you ever dreamed of playing for the Saints?

"Obviously, that was always the dream. Even when I came out this year, I always thought the Saints could be a good fit. When you grow up as a little kid, you run around, when I was—I might have been like in seventh grade or sixth grade when Drew Brees signed and we were all running around outside pretending to be Drew Brees."

Did you wear Saints jerseys then when you were younger? And what numbers did you wear?

"So there was like one Christmas my mom bought me a Drew Brees jersey, another little brother got a Jeremy Shockey, we got a Colston and a Reggie Bush."

So nobody got you like a Carl Nicks jersey?

"No, I don't think they really sold those in Academy back in the day."

Did you ever think that you'd be going into training camp or any offseason activities with Drew Brees all things considered?

"No, not really. Like I said, I think when they signed him it was—I was pretty young still. Like I said I have a Drew Brees jersey growing up and going into high school I still had them. I'd be lucky enough to walk into a locker room for training camp and he'd be there."

Did you feel like you had a chance to go significantly earlier like maybe in the fourth round and maybe you're a little disappointed when you didn't go fourth or fifth?

"Honestly, I wasn't worried about any of that. I figured whatever happens, happens. I was in the best situation and I knew from the get go, from a month ago that the Saints were a very good situation for me. They were in the back of my mind the whole time while I was watching the picks roll by. When they called me, I didn't care about anything besides being picked up by the Saints."

Were there any other teams that you felt this confident in maybe getting a call from like you did with the Saints?

"There were a few but the Saints throughout the whole day, since the morning had shown the most interest and had given me the most calls."

What was the contact that you had with the Saints throughout the whole time? What coaches did you talk to and things like that?

"I went to the local (pro) day probably like three weeks ago and spent time with the offensive staff. (I) Met with coach (Dan Roushar) and his assistant (Brendan Nugent), (and) had a great time. (It) Really showed how much they liked me and how much I really liked them. I think that was like the main thing that really showed up when we built that relationship.

Was there a moment in a Saints game that you went to as a kid or in high school that really sticks out? A playoff game? What's your best memory?

"Honestly, the best memory I have at a Saints game is I remember as a kid we would go to a Saints game, I was probably in the eighth grade or in high school and Jahri Evans was on the field and kind of gave that (signal) and threw his helmet downwards and said that was the moment for everyone to start chanting "Who Dat". And I kind of thought to myself man that'd be pretty cool to do that one day. Watching Jahri Evans as a kid, I even appreciated how good he was."