Central Michigan TE Tyler Conklin ready to go

Reese's Senior Bowl: What was your reaction when you found out you were being invited to the Reese's Senior Bowl?
Tyler Conklin: I was ecstatic. That was one of my big personal goals for the season. I really wanted to get invited to this game. After going through the injury at the beginning of the season, I didn't know if it was gonna hurt my chances or whatnot. So, after I got that invite, when Coach Bono let me know, I was ecstatic about it. 

RSB: Tell us about the injury. There was a lot of speculation that you'd be out for the whole year. What was your reaction to the injury?
Conklin: I was devastated. It was the first 1-on-1 of fall camp. The first 45 minutes of the first practice, just helmets. I ran an in-route and I felt a little pop and my foot started swelling up in my cleat. I knew it was bad. After going in and getting it looked at, they ended up telling me that it was a Jones' fracture. After finding that out, I was crushed because we had probably five other kids on my team have the same exact injury within the last 10 month span and they all missed significant time. A lot of them missed 5, 6 months. So, when I first heard the news I kind of figured that I was probably gonna be missing my whole senior year. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get a 6th year at the time because of my transferring and everything. I don't know, a lot of things were just up in the air. I ended up going and getting a good surgeon to do it and he did a great job and I rehabbed hard and I ended up getting back in 8-and-a-half weeks. That was huge. It was kind of a big risk at the time. I was doing a lot of research on it and a lot of people that had it - like Julio, Edelman - I found people who had the same injury and a lot of people tended to re-break it so coming back was kind of scary for me at first just thinking if I re-break it and play in a game, then I can't redshirt. I ended up being able to play in one game and if it felt good I could keep playing and if not, I could still redshirt because it was before the second half of the season. And I ended up coming back and playing that sixth game of the year against Ohio and it felt good and that's that. 

RSB: Let's talk about that Ohio game. You upset the Bobcats 26-24. 10 catches, 136 yards - a career-high in both - in your first game back. How'd that feel?
Conklin: It was great. To come back after an injury like that and not even sure if I was gonna be able to play my senior year. To come back and have career-highs and just have my team rally behind me the way they rallied behind me. They were just all so excited for me to come back and play in that game with them. It was great, just to come back and play with the seniors I didn't know if i was gonna be able to go out with and just play with the team I work so hard with. It was just a great feeling. 

RSB: You mentioned how hard your rehab was. Can you walk us through your rehab schedule?
Conklin: So I graduated in December so I only had nine credits this fall semester - two online classes so I had a lot of extra free time which ended up working out perfect. Going into the season I was thinking I’m gonna have a ton of time to watch film and make sure I'm touching up on all my crafts and staying in the weight room, that's what i was thinking at first with the easier schedule. And then after getting hurt, a lot of time was just devoted to rehab. Every morning I'd be in rehab every morning during meetings and I tried my best to get to rehab and to meetings but for that first couple weeks, I was really just in rehab all day doing stuff with our trainers and doing other personal stuff at home trying to get all the stuff, not just the foot back, but all the stuff that may have caused the injury and why. So I was really just working on my whole lower body just to make sure that it didn’t' happen again because I knew I was coming back so fast. I enjoy working so I just had to set my goals, find a new thing to work for and make it happen. 

RSB: You're used to cold weather, but that Idaho Potato Bowl you finished your career in, it's snowing and you're coming off this injury. Was there ever hesitation about playing in that game?
Conklin: No. After I already missed my first five games of the year. When I first figured out I was coming back, I wanted to figure out how many games I wanted to make sure I got. Knowing I'm gonna have a bowl game to go to and put an extra game on film and go out there and play with all my best friends one more time, it was never really a question. It was a little chilly down there. I wanted to always play in a snow game, that was my first game I played in that it snowed actually. That was neat. But there was no hesitation in ever wanting to sit out that game.

RSB: What about being there and seeing Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, who will be here at the Reese's Senior Bowl and is a projected top-5 pick, what was it was like to go against that type of caliber player?
Conklin: Oh, he was a great player. When we first found out we had them, they had a great defense so we were excited about that. They had a good safety I was excited to match up with. I know there was speculation that he wasn't gonna play in the game because of his shoulder injury so that was something I was really curious to see because I wanted to play against him and I know he would attract quite a crowd. When I found out he was playing I was excited about it and he had a great game, he threw the ball well. He was a good athlete and has an extremely strong arm. I was impressed watching him. I thought he was a good quarterback and I'm excited for him too.

RSB: Where are you spending your time pre-draft training and what are you working on?
Conklin: I'm training at the EXOS in Pensacola, Florida. I got down here on the 28th a little early just trying to get settled in. Me being away from school and home and being on my own, I wanted to get here and be settled in before training started. I'm working on everything. Going into the Senior Bowl, I want to make sure I'm touched up on my route running and blocking so I've really been getting after it with the O-Line coach down here and tight ends coach. After that, I'm gonna really set my sights on trying to become as athletic as I can and get ready for that Combine and run as fast as possible. So that's how I have it broken down and I’m excited for both opportunities.

RSB: You’ve looked athletic on some SportsCenter Top 10 plays. What happens when you end up SportsCenter Top 10?
Conklin: It was cool. Growing up, I remember waiting for the bus stop every morning watching SportsCenter. The bus would always come around play number 3 and I'm always trying to sit and watch and wait for the number 1 and number 2 plays almost missing the bus for it. So to grow up and be a walk-on and be a nobody at some point to being a number 1 play on SportsCenter, it was a cool feeling. It's awesome to have all my teammates and my best friends from home and everybody kind of be excited for me. It was a cool feeling. 

RSB: Some acrobatic catches and one-handed catches have been made. You're a sticky-handed guy.
Conklin: I feel like I've always been a pretty natural pass catcher. Growing up I feel like I've always just loved catching the football. I know everybody likes to hear about the whole basketball player transition and how that helps. I definitely think it helps a little bit to go up there and have the concentration to be up in the air and go get the ball. I think that definitely translates from basketball a little bit - getting rebounds and catching alley-oops and stuff like that. I feel like it' something I’ve always kind of naturally been a good pass catcher and playing basketball probably helped a little bit too.

RSB: Do you have any basketball left in you?
Conklin: Yeah I have a little bit. I'm a lot heavier than I was playing basketball. I'm probably about 50-60 pounds heavier than I was. But, jumpers probably a little bit distant but I can still hit the rack and handle the ball a little bit still.

RSB: You played basketball at Northwood and made the transition to Central Michigan. Why did you give up on basketball and go to football?
Conklin: In high school, we were a pretty good basketball team and a pretty bad football team. We were 0-27 going into my senior year. I signed early in early signing period my senior year to go play basketball. that’s kind of all I did my whole life, just basketball basketball basketball. I was a gym rat. The transition for college probably was a little difficult for me. Just being away from home for the first time. Northwood was a smaller school, it was Division II but it was still a smaller school population-wise. I feel like I undershot myself signing early and I know I could've played in a higher level in basketball. So after being there for a semester and playing my first 8 games, talking about it with my parents, I just wanted to chase my dream of always wanting to be a Division I athlete. At first I was gonna try to go somewhere and play basketball. I was at home watching football one day and I was watching people make catches and I was like, I know I can do that. So I ended up talking to my parents and I got ahold of Central Michigan's staff. They recruited me a little bit out of high school. They said I could walk-on for the spring semester but it wouldn't be guaranteed that I would be there for the fall because of the 105-man roster rule. So, I walked on in the spring and left my full-ride scholarship at Northwood which my grandparents were kind of not too happy about at first. I walked on and I started at wideout and they ended up bring me back for camp and I moved to tight end. The rest is history. 

RSB: Did you ever have any dreams of playing in the NBA?
Conklin: Yeah, growing up I always told my parents I was going to be the first Division I athlete in our family and I was gonna play professionally and it was always basketball. That's just my first love, basketball. Though I played football growing up, I started playing football when I was in third grade, so I was playing both sports early and I just loved basketball at the time. At the time, my goal was to go play Division I basketball and go play in the NBA. I got to college and I was like I'll go overseas. I mean, the NBA is a difficult league to get into. After looking at football and knowing what I could do on the football field and my body type, I thought it'd be a good opportunity for me to switch over and chase my dreams of playing professionally just in the NFL instead of the NBA. 

RSB: You mentioned your grandparents earlier. Were they big influences in your life? Who are some of the biggest influences in your life?
Conklin: The biggest influences would probably be my mom, my dad, my brother. They just always supported me no matter what. My parents never really forced me to play sports growing up. My dad was never there making me work out or do stuff, they just always supported me through everything. They brought me to the gym, brought me to practices, they were always at my games. They just supported me through everything. My little brother, he plays at Central Michigan now, he's playing wideout. There was always that in-home competition always driven me forward pushing me to be better. You don't want your little brother to beat you in anything. Those are all huge people in my life. I'd say those are the three biggest influences. My grandparents are big. I was the first kid in my family to have a full ride scholarship so I kind of had free school which was big. That's why I signed early to be able to have free school and get an education and not have any student debt was big. But they supported me in the transition, they were just kind of thinking "oh you're gonna have student debt now." I just took a bet on myself and everybody supported me through it and it ended up working out. 

RSB: You mentioned your brother being a wide receiver on the team. You played a good bit of wide receiver too.
Conklin: I love route-running. I love catching the ball. I know a lot of teams probably question my blocking, I love blocking too. I split out a little bit my junior year in certain packages and stuff. I also got to play in the pro-style my junior year, I think that was big learning how to play in a pro-style offense. I can block power, I can go and run routes out of in-line but I can also split out and play in the slot and out wide as the X-receiver. Kind of getting me a new OC and my senior year going all spread, no-huddle teached me to learn two offenses in two years and now becoming a receiver for most of the time. I enjoy both of them. I think they're both gonna help me in the process. I love running routes, I love matching up against DBs and showing that I can do that so I’m excited about it. It's definitely something I'm excited to showcase. 

RSB: Last thing, when you get here to the Reese's Senior Bowl, it's going to be the first chance for a lot of teams to get to know you off-the-field. Off-the-field and off the basketball court, who is Tyler Conklin?
Conklin: That's a good question. I feel like I'm just a laid back hard-working person. I hang out with my friends and family. I love listening to music. I like the outdoors. I was big into hunting and fishing growing up, that's something my dad, he's from a small town, that's something I’ve always done growing up, hunting and fishing, being in the outdoors. I enjoy being on the water, that's something I kind of got from my mom. I really enjoy listening to music. I'm excited to go through the interview process and help these teams get to know me.