Hundreds Attend Blue Wahoos NFL Draft Party for Damarious Randall
PENSACOLA, Fla. - It's a good thing Damarious Randall likes cheese. He's going to Wisconsin to join the Cheeseheads for the Green Bay Packers.
The storied National Football League team, which has played in the playoffs the past five years in a row and owns four Super Bowl championships, picked him No. 30 in the first round of Thursday's NFL draft.
"It has been a good day being a Cheesehead," said Randall, a former Arizona State University safety. "I eat a lot of cheese. I don't plan on ever leaving the green and gold."
Decked out in a new white sports shirt with a big G on the front for Green Bay, like Superman's S, and a new Packers hat, Randall was greeted by nearly 300 fans at the second-level Hancock Bank Club at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium on Friday night. His parents, Vic and Gwen, are both game day staffers for the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Few college players draft stock skyrocketed the way the 22-year-old Randall's did from a Day 3 pick to first rounder. He joins other NFL stars from Pensacola who were top picks, such as Emmitt Smith, Derrick Brooks and Trent Richardson.
The 5-foot-11, 198-pound Randall recorded the third fastest 40-yard dash (4.46 seconds) and third highest vertical leap (38 inches) at the NFL Combine and can play cornerback, safety or nickel in the secondary.
A Wisconsin area code popped up on his cell phone, while the Carolina Panthers were making the 25th pick. He never worked out for the Packers during the draft process.
"I'm just very, very excited at the moment," said Randall, who added 14 pounds after the ASU season. "I can't put it into words. I did a lot of hard work and it paid off."
He returned home when he suffered a shoulder injury at Butler (Kan.) Community College where he was playing baseball. But his father, Vic, gave him an ultimatum. After two weeks, he had to go back to college or join the military.
The next day, Randall went to Pensacola High to retrieve some video highlights to send to colleges and landed at Mesa Community College in Arizona. It led to a scholarship with the Sun Devils, where he racked up 177 tackles over the past two seasons, forced 10 takeaways and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.
Gwen said her youngest of eight boys, who first put on a football uniform at 3-years-old, was motivated to play in the NFL one day.
"He would tell me, 'I'm going to the pros,'" said Gwen, who slept two hours between Thursday's draft and the Blue Wahoos party for her son. "(Thursday) night he said, 'I told you so.' He really deserves it."
Randall said he's also "honored" to become part of Pensacola's group of four first round NFL draft choices.
"I'm honored to be named with those guys," he said. "I'm doing something I really love to do. This is my passion in life-playing football at the highest level."
The Blue Wahoos take on the Tennessee Smokies May 5th-9th. Come experience the first Thirsty Thursday of the year on May 7th! You can follow the team at BlueWahoos.com, facebook.com/PensacolaBlueWahoos and twitter.com/BlueWahoosBBall.