What he said: Chase Winovich at NFL Combine

Former Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich will be performing in drills at the NFL Combine on Sunday, but on Saturday during his media availability Winovich touched on a variety of topics. And as always, Winovich delivered article-worthy quotes.

‘High Motor’ player?

“Teams ask me that question a little bit. It’s a dangerous game in a small way, because you don’t want to get pigeon-holed as a try-hard white guy. At the end of the day, I think there’s more to my game than that. There’s nothing wrong with that in a sense, as well. My whole goal is to get into an NFL organization, add more value and prove my worth every single day.”

Work ethic

- “The first thing that pops up on everybody’s list is just like how hard I work and my play style and never taking a play off. Coach brought up to me yesterday — I’m not going to specify what name — but he brought up to me, he said, ‘All these players we’re bringing in for the most part, I’ll ask them straight up, do you play hard every play?’ And then next play, he shows them where they’re not playing hard. He told me he couldn’t find one of those (with me), though he tried. I take that as a pretty big compliment. I pair that with some of the explosiveness and the other aspects, I think that’s going to be a solid prospect.”

Positional versatility

- “That’s the thing, in today’s football especially, being versatile is an extremely important aspect. For me, I fill that role. There’s only 53 people on the roster and 50, I believe actually get to dress, so being able to play multiple positions is a commodity in today’s football. For me, I’m most comfortable going into the NFL as a 4-3 defensive end, just because that’s what I’ve done most of, but to be honest, I’ve viewed playing standup is how I got my start. I was a standup edge rusher in coach Brown’s cheetah package, which is his marquee rush package. So I was standing up there. I like standing up in my time at Michigan. That maybe was what I liked even better.

Passion for football

- “I’m so passionate. Any time you show emotion it can be misconstrued as he’s not in control. I feel like there’s one thing to be like a James Bond cool. And there’s another to be warm and not hot where you’re uncontrolled and you don’t know what you’re doing. Most of what I do is pretty methodic. The stuff at Michigan State and coming out and saying, ‘Oh, Little Brother’ that was a direct response, preplanned. That was a coordinated thing. I’m emotional but I’m not temperamental. There’s a balance that you need to find. I’m very passionate about football. I want to be the best. I don’t want to lose to anybody who lines up against me. But I’m not going to jump off a bridge if it doesn’t happen. I’m going to get up, dust myself off and get back to it. You’ve got to be crazy enough to believe in yourself and double down when you know it seems unlikely, but you can’t be delusional.”

Why teams should draft him

- “I feel an NFL team should invest in me because they know what they’re going to get. They’re going to get somebody that A., has a track record of loving football and is durable and is going to give everything he has toward the program and is passionate. But they’re also going to get somebody who has high potential. I just switched to defensive end two some years ago. I’m a transcending player is the way I see myself. Any team that invests in me is going to get their money’s worth for sure.”

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