NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Akil Blount, LB, Florida A&M University
NFL Draft Diamonds and our staff have been bringing our readers Prospect Interviews over the past 2 years and this year we mixed up the questions and added some fun questions for our readers. We have tons of NFL staff that read our interviews, and we actually received several of the questions from NFL scouts we speak too. This gives them a little bit more information regarding your character. We hope to bring you more than 300 interviews of NFL Draft Prospects this season. You will be able to track them all on the front page of our website in the banner.
What is your name?
Akil Blount
What is your Height/Weight?
Height 6’3 Weight 243
What is your position?
Linebacker
Where do you play college football?
Florida A&M University
Football is about giving back, what is the coolest thing you have done off the field?
NFL Play 60 Event with the MEAC conference, organized a team clothes drive for the homeless shelter and a back to school drive collecting pens, pencils, notebooks etc for local elementary schools. I believed athletes are blessed to be in a special position to have influence and ability to affect the community.
What was the hardest college class you ever had to take?
Intermediate Accounting
Where are you from?
Pittsburgh, PA
Who is your role model, and why?
My father, first because he is a God fearing, Christian man, and has accomplished everything in life that I want to accomplish, play football at the highest level and build a charity for young males to better themselves.
Did you play any other sports growing up?
Golf, Basketball, Track
Did you play any other positions in football?
In high school, TE, WR, DE, Punt Return
At your position, what separates you from others?
Athleticism, Speed, coverage skills, playing in space, getting my hands on the ball.
When you are breaking down film, what do you look for?
Formations, Personnel, Down and Distance, Envision myself making plays as they run their offense and I watch it on film.
Who was the toughest player you ever faced?
Both my brothers, one is 6’6 shooting guard at Cleveland state, other 300lb DT in high school. They have been on the weights lately so they try and team up on me. Toughest football player, Greg Mcghee QB Howard University, he game resembles young Michael Vick with the ability to run and has a cannon for an arm.
If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be and why?
Ray Lewis because of passion and influence and Bobby Wagner because of his ability to play sideline to sideline.
What was the biggest obstacle in your life you had to overcome, and how did you overcome it?
Death of my grandparents. My grandmother was 103 so it felt like she was going to live forever but I got through it by trusting God knowing they were in a better place.
Do you have any pre-game rituals?
Prayer and get a good warm up with my training mask to strengthen my lunges. Before we come out as a team I just like to walk on the field and envision plays I see myself making.
As a small school football player what obstacles do you feel you have to overcome?
Being Underrated and some of the smaller university don’t have the same resources that bigger universities have but I’ve embraced the challenge of not having the convenience other players have. For instance having to go buy my own ice and take ice baths in my apartment.
What is your biggest strength?
Character, Football IQ, Athletic Ability.
What is your biggest weakness?
Need to consistently be more physical in the box
If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say?
I am a passionate football player who loves the game, works hard, has pride in doing the right thing, and positively affects teammates, most importantly a play maker.
Who was your favorite player and/or NFL team growing up?
Dad playing for the Steelers definitely the Home Team was the favorite team.
If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would you choose?
Jesus, Grandma passed away at 103, Martin Luther King Jr.
With your first NFL paycheck what would you buy?
Honestly I wouldn’t buy anything. I would pay my tithes and save it. God willing, If received numerous I promised myself I would give money to my church that I grew up in as they raise money to renovate the church.
Rapid Answers:
- Spongebob or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
- Backstreet Boys or One Direction? Neither
- Lifetime Channel or HGTV?
- Waffles or Pancakes?
- Snakes or Spiders? Only from a Distance….
- Madden or Mario?
NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com