Jeff Gladney Clips Thursday, April 23, 2020
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JEFF GLADNEY CLIPS THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 HEADLINES LA Times TCU's Jeff Gladney hopes to bring some prime-time swagger to the NFL By Ben Bolch https://www.wyomingnews.com/tcus-jeff-gladney-hopes-to-bring-some-prime-time-swagger-to-the- nfl/article_ae5ce4cb-a86d-5d1c-a47d-1aff16f8d62e.html NFL.com 2020 NFL Draft: Jeff Gladney's optimistic approach to the grind By Brooke Cersosimo http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001107194/article/2020-nfl-draft-jeff-gladneys-optimistic-approach-to-the- grind Houston Chronicle TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney has shutdown mentality By Aaron Wilson https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/texans/article/TCU-cornerback-Jeff-Gladney-has-shutdown- mentality-15215648.php PUBLICATION: LA Times DATE: 4/21/20 TCU's Jeff Gladney hopes to bring some prime-time swagger to the NFL By Ben Bolch Jeff Gladney’s father used to call him “Little Prime,” a playful twist on the nickname “Prime Time” that has long been held by famed cornerback Deion Sanders. It fits for someone who possesses Hall of Fame-level swagger on the eve of his ascent from Texas Christian to the NFL. Consider Gladney’s mentality when he was asked at the NFL combine about being in press coverage: “You’ve just got to line up across a dude, the dude across from you, just know you’re going to beat him every play.” Or his thoughts on why he’s the top cornerback in the NFL draft: “I’m too competitive. I don’t want nobody to beat me. I feel like I’m the best at everything.” Or his ability to cover tall receivers despite standing only 5 feet 10 and 191 po-unds: “I play bigger than my size. Most receivers don’t know that. They think they’re going to come out there and bully me, but that doesn’t go down.” Gladney won most battles during his time with the Horned Frogs, the fifth-year senior totaling 146 tackles, five interceptions and 43 passes defended while starting 42 of 52 games after a redshirt season. His final college season was his best, Gladney becoming a first-team All-Big 12 Conference selection while leading the conference with 14 pass breakups. According to Pro Football Focus, he forced more incompletions on third-down plays (19) than any other cornerback in the 2020 draft class. But his 6-3 wingspan and 37½-inch vertical leap may not be able be able to compensate for the small stature that stands as the biggest reason he’s widely projected to be selected in the second or third round. True to his self-assured ways, Gladney said whoever takes him will be getting a steal. “I feel like I’m the big-gest sleeper,” Gladney said. “They talk about my size a lot, but everyone knows I’m a speed demon and physical.” Playing in a TCU defense that Gladney said was more complex than most of its counterparts at the college level has also made him a cerebral prospect. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t intentionally have memory lapses to sharpen his focus on the next play. “I call it amnesia,” Gladney said. “You’ve (got) to forget that play before you, so even if it was a good play, you’ve got to forget it.” Gladney’s bragging isn’t confined to speaking with reporters; when he lines up across from a receiver known to chatter, he’ll make his own noise. “If he’s a talker, I’ll talk a little bit, try to get into his head,” Gladney said. “If not, I’ll just stick to myself, just play.” Gladney said he likes to maximize a receiver’s weakness, getting aggressive with those who hate contact and laying off others who don’t mind a fight at the line of scrimmage. It’s all part of being a cornerback who likes to be in the middle of every play and every conversation. “I don’t play like most corners,” Gladney said. “I like to stick my nose in everything.” PUBLICATION: NFL.com DATE: 4/22/20 2020 NFL Draft: Jeff Gladney's optimistic approach to the grind By Brooke Cersosimo NFL.com's "Why I Play" series provides a thoughtful peek into the minds of the next generation of NFL players to better understand what drives them to make it in the league. Other prospects included in this series: TCU DT Ross Blacklock, Auburn DT Derrick Brown, LSU CB Kristian Fulton, Florida edge Jonathan Greenard, USC OT Austin Jackson, Utah CB Jaylon Johnson, Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor, Michigan LB Josh Uche and Minnesota S Antoine Winfield Jr. This edition's featured prospect is ... Jeff Gladney, cornerback, TCU 2020 NFL Draft standing: Gladney sits at No. 46 on NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah's ranking of the top 50 prospects. Prospect bio (from NFL.com draft profile): TCU head coach Gary Patterson is known for producing tough-minded defenders like Gladney. The all-district pick from New Boston, Texas, showed real promise as a redshirt freshman in 2016, starting eight of 12 games played (46 tackles, six pass breakups). Gladney was an honorable mention All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore, posting 28 stops, two interceptions (one returned for a score), and five pass breakups. League coaches moved him up to second-team status in 2018 as he tied for the team lead with 13 pass breakups in addition to intercepting two passes and recording 41 tackles (four for loss) in 13 starts. Gladney took the final step as a senior, grabbing first-team all-conference notice after posting 31 tackles, 1.5 for loss, an interception, and a conference-high 14 pass breakups in 12 starts. This interview, conducted on March 11 at NFL Network in Culver City, California, was condensed and edited for clarity. How I started I started playing football around second grade. I played all sports growing up, but I liked hitting people. I couldn't do that in basketball or track, so I kinda made football my focus. I figured out that football was going to be my thing around sixth or seventh grade, but I still played a lot of sports. I have a sports family on both my mom's and dad's side. Everyone is a sports fanatic and football is one of the favorites. I have three older brothers who all used to play football. I remember watching my brother who's closest to me in age take a punt return back when he was in high school, and I remember thinking, "Yeah, I'm gonna do that." Who inspires me My family. They've given me the world and I feel like it's my time to return it. My mom and dad and uncle and aunt haven't missed one game in college. Not one. No matter where the game is at, they've always been there. They will still be at every game going forward. I want to get my family out of the [area where they live]. They don't want to leave but I want them to leave. I'm trying to get my mama that house on the hill, so whatever I gotta do to get her out of there, that's what I'm gonna do. My drive has always been predicated on my family, just returning the favor. Not really even a favor. Just returning the support and all they've done for me. My mentor My uncle, Wayne Jefferson. He was my coach in everything growing up for a lot of AAU sports -- football, basketball, a little bit of track. He just taught me the game in every phase and in every sport and still does to this day. Even in college, when I went to the locker room, he'd be texting me from the stands, like "you could probably do this or that better." No matter what it is, he's texting me giving me information. It's constructive criticism most of the time. I know he's going to tell me what I need to hear. Other people are straight up with me, too, but he's the one who I really take what he says to heart because we've been rockin' for too long. My greatest challenge I tore my ACL and LCL in the first round of the playoffs my senior year in high school, and TCU held my scholarship, so that helped a lot. But redshirting my first year at TCU, not playing and being out of football kind of pushed my confidence down a little bit. I had to come back from that and grow. The recovery was a long process and I wasn't full-go until the spring of my freshman year. It felt great to be back and to show everybody that I had it in me the whole time. When I first got to TCU and was initially coming back from my injury, some people questioned why I was on scholarship. But when I took my brace off that next spring, I felt like myself again and it felt good to express myself on the field the way I wanted to. Everything happens for a reason and the grind will always pay off. So coming out of this surgery on my meniscus [which Gladney underwent on March 12), I'll be ready to go rehab and get back to 100 percent. That feeling that you get when you wake up on game day. Those butterflies. I live for that.