Just got off a conference call with Jerraud Powers, who was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round of the NFL Draft today. Here's what he had to say.

Opening statement

"This day is a big day, obviously. It's a dream I've been chasing since I was 5 and it's just a blessing. I'm just excited. I'm excited about the future and what it holds. Just happy for it to be over with and me being on a team."

How did you get the news?

"It was the president for the Colts that called me like right before the pick was about to show up on TV. He told me that they were going to take me and just congratulating me and we laughed a lot about the whole process. And I was just excited. I started running down the hallway. It's exciting. I just couldn't believe it."

Did you have any idea the Colts would take you?

"I didn't know it was going to be the Colts. The Colts were one of the teams that were showing a lot of interesting, who were showing me that I can fit in their system and play in their defensive system. They showed a lot of interest, starting with the combine and going through it. So I sort of had a feeling, but this whole process, I didn't know who was going to draft me."

Does getting picked this early validate your decision to go pro?

"Yeah, it does. Because I think talking to the teams during this whole process and hearing what they thought about me and what they were grading me, I sort of knew that I could possibly end up as a late second or go third, but a lot of analysts and all the critics didn't see that. So throughout this whole process, I was just going along with what all the critics were saying, just, 'Yeah, yeah. That might happen.' But I had a feeling that this could happen and that I could get picked kind of high and I knew it was definitely going to be a shock to a lot of people."

How important was the combine and pro day in boosting your stock?

"It was important. You wanted to perform the best you could at the combine and pro day just because you are going against all the other guys. It's a big competition, basically, and you want to be the one who stands out. It's important, every bit of it, how you handle yourself during this whole process, so that's the way I looked at it. I looked at it like it was a business and I was on a job interview."

How do you think you fit with the Colts?

"I think I fit in well. They run a Cover 2 type scheme and they're trying to go back to playing a lot of man, and that's what they liked about me that I can play both. I have the toughness, they liked that I was physical as a corner. They liked that I can play zone or can line up and play man-on-man coverage."

Where did you watch the draft?

"I was at home in Decatur, but I didn't watch the draft at all, though. I would have probably been picking my brain cells out one-by-one after each pick. I think I could just let time go by and keep myself occupied and just wait for that phone call, because if I'm watching it pick-by-pick and my phone still doesn't ring, I know my name is not going to get called. I was just trying to keep myself busy and just wait for that phone call. And that's what happened."