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LB Bryan Kehl Rookie Journal

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AUGUST 18, 2008

LB Bryan Kehl was signed by the Giants as a fourth round pick out of BYU. At 6'2, 242 lbs, Kehl provides Big Blue with a young, versatile linebacker with great speed and productivity at the college level. Kehl was a standout both on and off the field starting as a freshman before eventually become a four-year starter at BYU. Kehl, an Academic All-American, brings both mental and physical toughness to the Giants and is expected to be an important part of the 2008 New York Giants.

Giants Rookie Bryan Kehl started his second week of training camp

Kehl has agreed to document his first NFL season with an exclusive diary you'll find only at Giants.com!

Hey everyone and welcome to the fifth installment of my "Rookie Journal."

Training camp has come to a close and my first as a professional football player has come and gone. First off, it's been an experience to say the least. Surprisingly, it didn't seem too long to me. You hear stories about training camp all the time but it didn't seem that long. The first couple of days were long but after that it began to speed up. Understandably, previous camps have lasted longer, a week for that matter, but this being my first time here it hasn't been bad. In fact it's been fun. After the first few days I thought to myself, man, this is going to be a journey. Luckily it turned out to be a great experience. Now, I'm ready to move on and play some football.

As everybody knows tonight will be our first game of the season back at Giants Stadium in front of our home crowd. I'm really excited to be playing in front of such great fans and I can only imagine the kind of support we're going to get not only tonight but throughout the year. This evening our opponent is the Cleveland Browns which should be fun. However, the Browns went 10-6 last year and just missed the playoffs so we know how good they are. As a rookie it is really exciting to not only play in front of your home crowd but to play against a quality football team as well.

Now that camp has ended and the season is only a few weeks away it's a chance for all of us to step on the gas, work out the kinks and get going. Coming from BYU we we're taught that you should always be working and always continuing to improve. I personally always try to stay on top of things and when I came here with that mindset I quickly found out just how important it was. Whether it's practicing, working out, or studying the play book you must continue to do all those things on a consistent basis.

I don't know what the plan is for me tonight. I hope to see a lot of playing time but we'll see. Last week I think I played 20 snaps on defense but I'll take what I can get and definitely take advantage of the opportunity.

Looking back on my first few months as a pro with the season right around the corner I learned a lot of things in a short period of time. I learned how to continuing progressing as a 4-3 linebacker, adjusting to the game at a professional level, improving on little aspects of the game thanks to the help of the coaching staff, and seeing yourself progress and get better is a great feeling. There is nothing better than seeing yourself improve as a player. I love it.            

Well, I'm off to get ready for tonight's game. I've been waiting for this for a while and I hope everything works out. I'll see everybody later tonight and let's go Giants!

That's all for now everybody but I'll return next week for another installment of my "Rookie Journal."



AUGUST 10, 2008

Hey everyone and welcome to the fourth installment of my "Rookie Journal."

Well, game one is in the books and let me just say that it was an awesome experience to finally be playing in a live game.

We've been playing each against each other for a while now and to get to play different guys you don't see every day was fun. At the end of the day, this is a game I love and it's a game I've been playing since I was eight so it was a tremendous experience for me.

It was nice to hear compliments after the game about my first ever performance. On the very first play of the game I was able to make a tackle on special teams so I wasted no time getting a taste of real action. It was awesome to make your first play on the first opportunity you have. For the most part I went out there and just tried to stick to the basics and do what I've been doing my whole life. Throughout the day though I was getting more and more anxious and excited about taking the field. I've never been a nervous person so being nervous that day while I took the field for the first time wasn't even in my mind. For me the feeling I got when I stepped out on the field to warm up and then for regulation was awe-inspiring. I was blown away and it was unreal. For a moment I took a second to look around and soak everything in. I kept saying to myself, "Wow, I'm a New York Giant and this is the big time." To be honest words couldn't describe it.

Looking back on my performance I thought I did well but there are things I have to work on. For one, I want to work on being more physical. I'm a smaller, faster, more athletic type of linebacker and I have a tendency to try to go around blockers instead of going right after them. I need to be more physical.

Another thing that's talked about are what your goals are now that the games have begun. As a rookie you are always looking to improve while continuing to work hard. However, you always want to be the best that you can and you're always looking to put yourself in the best possible position you can. Any player in this league is always looking to become a starter. I'd say that is certainly one of my goals now that we have begun play. If you don't want to be a starter in this league then you're in the wrong profession. I'm going to continuing working as hard as possible to become a starter, and continuing working to become a Pro Bowler, and so on and so forth. I'm here to do anything I'm asked by my coaches and this organization. Whether it's starting, backing up, or playing special teams you can bet I'm going all out no matter what they ask of me and I plan on fulfilling all my duties with this organization.

Going back to the game, I thought we played well but not nearly as well as we should have. Even though it's the preseason you always want to win and I felt we let one get away the other day in Detroit. As a team I felt we lacked overall excitement and made too many errors which will cost you every single time. I know there is a vast difference between preseason games and regular season games as we could tell by the crowd and the overall enthusiasm in the stadium but we still have to work hard to improve for our next game against the Browns and I expect we will.

Alright, well that's all for now everybody but I'll return next week for another installment of my "Rookie Journal."



AUGUST 1, 2008

Hey everyone and welcome to the third installment of my "Rookie Journal."

Well, so far I survived the first week of training camp and it has been a great week. Things are going well right now and let me say, it is good to be a New York Giant.  It's been an interesting first week for me because as a rookie, things are going at such a fast rate sometimes you just have to take a step back and take a deep breath. Early on in camp I've been working with the second and third teams just trying to get my feet wet and become more accustomed to the defense. It has been a little bit different because in college I had many reps and practiced with the first unit. Now, the biggest difference is not knowing exactly what to do on any given play and on top of that getting critiqued because you messed up. I haven't had that in a while and it's something I have to get used to. Personally, it's a little frustrating to me because I'm used to doing things the right way. It's been an adjustment but it's good for me and it's humbling too.

Coach Sheridan has been very helpful in the early going because he is such a knowledgeable coach. It's funny because in the NFL all you hear about are the yellers, screamers, and cursers but Coach Sheridan isn't really like that. Don't get me wrong, every now and then he'll let you know when he's angry, but he's not that type of guy. He's great in telling us what to do and he wants us to be perfect.

As far as picking up the defense; for everything they have installed up to this point I feel that I can sit down and diagram any of it with what I'm supposed to do at weak side linebacker. If I had to put a percentage down I'd say I have 95% of the defense down. Naturally, there are a couple things that I would mess up because of the QB audibles and how fast everything is, so that is something that I have to work on these next few weeks up here.

One the toughest things I have had to adjust to is the speed of the game. I think that's the hardest thing for all rookies and even some veterans who aren't used to a new system. The other day it was my job to cover the tight end and /or plug the holes if they ran the ball. I was out there with the middle linebacker and I turned to see where he was positioned, when I turned back around the tight end was already on top of me blocking for the running play. Just like that he was on me and when he gets on top of you as such it's hard to recover from. Its little things like that that I have to get used to and get on the ball.

Another thing that has begun to change has been my ability to react instead of thinking on the field which is extremely important. Compared to my first practice in mini-camp to now is a big difference. I love our mentality here because our coaches stress to us every day to keep working and keep improving with every snap.

Lastly, I haven't had much rookie hazing to this point which is good. Knock on wood, but I don't know what's coming. I'm sure there is something waiting in the woods. Also, last week I was talking about moving into the dorms and how I have never really lived in one. Well, I've had better and I've had worse. But I've definitely had better. The beds aren't the best but how can I complain? I'm a New York Giant and have an opportunity of a lifetime to play for the World Champs. I would be in the wrong place to complain about the beds because there are a lot of people in this world who don't have a bed to sleep on. I'm just grateful to be here.

Alright, well that's all for now everybody but I'll return next week for another installment of my "Rookie Journal."

JULY 24, 2008

Hey everyone and welcome to the second installment of my "Rookie Journal."

Well, I am finally up at training camp and it's been an interesting experience already. When I moved all my stuff into my room I wasn't expecting a tropical storm but I'm excited nonetheless. Speaking of moving in, when I told my friends back home that I was heading to training camp and staying in the dorms a lot of them were getting on my case and joking about the fact that I have to go back to dorm living. Interestingly enough, what most people don't know is that I never stayed in a dorm room at BYU, not even as a freshman. Somehow I was able to bypass the "privilege" of dorm room living, so this will be my first time.

The dorms themselves are a little small and the beds aren't too big but I'm used to sleeping on smaller beds. I spent two years as a missionary so I'm used to it and I'm still just taking it all in.

Now, another trend going around is how many things people bring to camp. I've been hearing a lot about how some of these guys hook up their rooms with TVs, sound systems, etc. I am the complete opposite. I didn't bring much at all to camp; in fact, I brought some shorts, a few t-shirts, my computer, and a few books, but no television.

Being up at training camp early, I still have not been able to experience the "moving day" in which all the players come back with the media in attendance so I'm looking forward to that. I don't know what to expect so I'm interested and intrigued at the same time. I'm also interested to see what kind rookie hazing I'm going to be a part of. They get everyone so you know that's coming too.

As for practice itself; we kick off training camp on Friday and I can't wait. It just hit me two days ago that we have a game in two weeks and it is crazy. I'm excited and anxious at the same time because this is the game I love and I've been waiting for this experience my whole life and the time has finally come.
The next time I'll be writing we'll be a few days into camp and I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk to everyone about.

Well, that's all for now, but I'll be back again with another installment of my "Rookie Journal."

JUNE 25, 2008

Hey everyone and welcome to the first installment of my "Rookie Journal."

First off, I just wanted to say that I finally signed a contract with the Giants and this is really an awesome experience and a great moment. To officially be a part of an organization like the New York Football Giants is something that you dream about. I have dreamed about this day my whole life and to sit down and sign that piece of paper saying you're a professional football player in unbelievable. I started playing football at the age of eight so I can't even begin to express how cool this is. It's great to be a New York Giant.

Anyways, the first few months here have been great. I've been able to come here and be a part of this organization and make the transition to the pro level. It's really been an eye opener; there have been a lot of things I expected and a lot of things I didn't expect. The one thing I came away with after rookie camp was that I could compete on this level and was excited about the opportunities I will have here.

As most of you know we begin training camp in Albany in about a month and that's an experience I'm excited about. However, I'm going to enjoy the time I have until camp with my family. Being from Utah, my family and I are very tight-knit and like to spend time together. We are thinking about taking a vacation to Lake Powell in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is something I'm really looking forward to.

After that it's back to business. I take pride in the fact that I try to stay in the best possible shape at all times and I want to report to training camp in the best shape of my life. I'm going to really get at it in the gym several hours a day.

Speaking of camp I've heard plenty of things from, "It's the worst couple of weeks you'll ever experience," to "It's not that bad." Nevertheless as a rookie and a person who loves practice and the game of football I'm actually looking forward to it. It's interesting when you think about it because there are thousands of young men who would love to be in that situation so you just have to wake up every day with a smile on your face and do your thing.

Coming in as a rookie I know that it's tough to contribute right off the bat but that's my goal. I want to come in and play and do as good as I can while being ready at all times.

Well, that's all for now everyone but I'll be back again with another installment of my "Rookie Journal."