Angry Pope
All Raider
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2006
- Messages
- 8,458
- Reaction score
- 546
Shotwell Wants More Out of Life
July 9, 2007
By Ravi Savitala
Football is a game of X’s and O’s. Playbooks are complicated treatises filled with page after page of diagrams of X’s and O’s. A normal person would look at an NFL playbook and be thoroughly confused. NFL players look at the same playbook and see opportunity. Rookie LB Kyle Shotwell. knows where his opportunity lies in the Raiders defensive playbook.
“People try and complicate the game of football. I think people don’t understand how many X’s and O’s go into the game of football. But at the end of the day, as a defender, it’s about finding the guy with the football and then getting that football out,” emphasized Shotwell.
The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product enters Training Camp as a rookie undrafted free agent. With more than eight linebackers on the roster – the Raiders brought in four new linebackers this off-season alone – he has an uphill battle ahead of him. But that didn’t affect his desire to be a Raider. Shotwell wanted to stay close to his hometown of Goleta, Calif. The chance to make the Raiders was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Since graduating from Cal Poly in March, he’s been focused on football. He is very happy with his progression from the first Mini-Camp in May until now. “[I’m very pleased] with how much better I understand the playbook. I am able to fly around, get my hands on some balls. Not necessarily thinking so much, just reacting,” Shotwell said.
His tenacity and ability to find the football earned Shotwell the Buck Buchanan award as the top defensive player in Div. I-AA for the 2006 season and the Pat Tillman award for character and work ethic at the East-West Shrine Game in January of this year.
Life is just as complicated for an NFL player as it is for a normal person. Some players are known only for what they’ve done on the field. But Shotwell has goals in life that transcend the game of football. He doesn’t want to be defined by the game. “The higher up you get to play football, the more opportunities there are to do good. I don’t ever want to be one of those guys who is considered just a football player. I want to be considered a good man first,” he stated. “I enjoy giving back to the community and those around me anytime I can. I’ve had so many people help me to get to the position I’m in now. I just want to be able to help out wherever I can.”
Kyle Shotwell. is motivated to make The Oakland Raiders 2007 team. He’s training hard before Training Camp, getting ready to hit the field mentally and physically prepared. He’s keeping his eyes open looking for the ball. But football isn’t the only thing on his mind. He’s also looking for the next opportunity to help someone.
July 9, 2007
By Ravi Savitala
Football is a game of X’s and O’s. Playbooks are complicated treatises filled with page after page of diagrams of X’s and O’s. A normal person would look at an NFL playbook and be thoroughly confused. NFL players look at the same playbook and see opportunity. Rookie LB Kyle Shotwell. knows where his opportunity lies in the Raiders defensive playbook.
“People try and complicate the game of football. I think people don’t understand how many X’s and O’s go into the game of football. But at the end of the day, as a defender, it’s about finding the guy with the football and then getting that football out,” emphasized Shotwell.
The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product enters Training Camp as a rookie undrafted free agent. With more than eight linebackers on the roster – the Raiders brought in four new linebackers this off-season alone – he has an uphill battle ahead of him. But that didn’t affect his desire to be a Raider. Shotwell wanted to stay close to his hometown of Goleta, Calif. The chance to make the Raiders was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Since graduating from Cal Poly in March, he’s been focused on football. He is very happy with his progression from the first Mini-Camp in May until now. “[I’m very pleased] with how much better I understand the playbook. I am able to fly around, get my hands on some balls. Not necessarily thinking so much, just reacting,” Shotwell said.
His tenacity and ability to find the football earned Shotwell the Buck Buchanan award as the top defensive player in Div. I-AA for the 2006 season and the Pat Tillman award for character and work ethic at the East-West Shrine Game in January of this year.
Life is just as complicated for an NFL player as it is for a normal person. Some players are known only for what they’ve done on the field. But Shotwell has goals in life that transcend the game of football. He doesn’t want to be defined by the game. “The higher up you get to play football, the more opportunities there are to do good. I don’t ever want to be one of those guys who is considered just a football player. I want to be considered a good man first,” he stated. “I enjoy giving back to the community and those around me anytime I can. I’ve had so many people help me to get to the position I’m in now. I just want to be able to help out wherever I can.”
Kyle Shotwell. is motivated to make The Oakland Raiders 2007 team. He’s training hard before Training Camp, getting ready to hit the field mentally and physically prepared. He’s keeping his eyes open looking for the ball. But football isn’t the only thing on his mind. He’s also looking for the next opportunity to help someone.
