LIONS GM MARTIN MAYHEW
On drafting CB Amari Spievey: "We really liked this guy. He's physical; he's smart, tough. I think he fits our defense. It's hard nowadays to find corners who are really solid tacklers, who are really physical players and this guy plays the game that way. I think he'll fit into our defense very well. He'll come in, I think, from Day 1 and be a good player on special teams and compete for a chance to get a lot of playing time."
On whether it seemed like there was a run on CBs at the end of the first round: "You just kind of go by your board and we weren't necessarily locked into corners. We had a couple guys that we talked about at different positions; it just so happens this guy was a corner and he fits us, so we drafted him."
On whether Detroit considered maneuvering around today: "It's tough to maneuver (because) we didn't have much to maneuver with. We thought about it early, but we wanted to keep our fourth round pick, so we decided to sit tight."
MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL WITH LIONS CB AMARI SPIEVEY
On what his thoughts were when he heard that the Lions drafted him: "I was shocked. I haven't got a lot of communication with the Lions organization, so when they picked me I was very shocked, but also very happy and honored to be a Lion."
On how much he knows about the Lions organization: "Well, I grew up a running back, so I knew about Barry Sanders and I knew how great he was. That's basically all I knew about the Lions."
On whether he had an idea that the Lions were interested in him: "No."
On where he is right now: "Middletown, Connecticut."
On whether he's with family: "I'm with family for a little get together."
On what he feels his talents are: "I'm an athletic guy, I'm going to work hard. I'm a corner that makes tackles and works hard and do what you've got to help the team win."
On what the Lions told him when they called: "They told me congratulations and that they're thrilled to have me and the reason why they didn't communicate with me or anything is because they didn't want other teams to know that they were interested in me."
On whether he was worried or anxious at all: "I was anxious since Thursday, seeing a lot of corners go ahead of me; but I tried to stay patient, pray about it and let things go to see what happens."
On how much it excites him to know that this team needs cornerbacks: "It excites me a lot. It's an opportunity to start, but of course I'm going to come in and earn my spot, earn any job I can. I'm going to work hard and see what happens."
On what happened during his college career when he went to community college: "It was after my freshman year. I came in unprepared mentally. It was my first time being away from home and they switched me to defense and I didn't really want to play defense, I had played running back all my life and I had a staph infection, so I just started out on the wrong foot. Being dismissed really opened my eyes and let me appreciate my opportunities at Iowa, so I did what I had to do to get back and live my dream."
On whether he grew up going through that experience: "Yes, I grew up a lot. Norm Parker, he told me before I left, 'Men do what they have to do; boys do what they want to do.' I knew I had to grow up mentally to be able to do what I wanted to do."
On how much Kirk Ferentz helped him get ready to play at this level: "Since Day 1 he teaches you great time management, toughness, playing smart and to work hard. A hard working guy is going to beat out a guy who is very talented and not working hard. He always taught us that and to play as a team, play smart, play on the team and play tough."
On what he knows about the Detroit Lions or the city: "I know it's cold up there. I'm from Connecticut and played at Iowa, so I'm used to that. That's about it."
On how he ended up at Iowa: "The offensive coordinator at Iowa is from Connecticut and my school is actually his school's rival and I used to run all over them. I kind of caught his eye and they had been recruiting me since I was a freshman."
On what he knows about DT Ndamukong Suh and TB Jahvid Best: "I know the first big guy, he's a great guy. He's a tough d-lineman, a beast and the running back from Cal, I remember seeing him earlier in the year and he's very fast, very athletic and a gifted guy. I'm honored to be on the same team as them."
On whether he's ready to put up with the Michigan and Michigan State fans: "Yeah."
On some of the scouting magazines saying he lacks elite speed and whether they're correct: "I don't think so. I got beat one time in a Penn State game, but it was a coverage bust. It wasn't like he just blew by me. It wasn't him, it was me, I messed up; but I haven't been beat my whole career, so I'm not really worried about much. I think I'm going to get faster. I never ran track or anything and this offseason is the first time ever that I really trained for a 40 in my life and I got so much faster. I know I'm going to be faster, I'm not worried about my speed."
On what he improved his 40 from: "The first time I ran, I ran a 4.63. At the combine, unofficially, I ran a 4.47. I just learned stuff like: stay low, keeping your form and stuff like that, that I never learned. I picked it up this offseason and I got faster."
On playing with safety help at Iowa: "Sometimes, but this past season I was asked to play a lot of bump-and-run. We also played a lot of Cover 2. I had an option to play press or not, coaches knew I was their bump-and-run guy."
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