Five Questions with Duke QB Anthony Boone
By Jason McIntyre
Anthony Boone, Duke’s record-setting QB, is participating in the NFL Combine this weekend in Indianapolis. He took a few moments to speak with The Big Lead Friday night.
Q: What have your meetings in Indianapolis been like so far with NFL teams?
Boone: I’ve spoken or at least shaken hands with someone from just about every team. You feel kind of like a shrimp walking into a pool of piranhas, with everyone grabbing you and asking you questions and picking your brain, and learning things in medical exams you didn’t even know about your body. So far, whether it’s a QB coach or an offensive coordinator, they’ll usually ask you about yourself, high school, college, life, and then they want to find out if you understand how to play QB, the ins and outs of football, that sort of thing.
Q: How granular have the questions been? Are coaches asking you to draw up in-depth plays, or is it mostly surface-level stuff?
A: I’ve done a lot of game-planning, and I was prepared for anything I got here, so when coaches asked me to draw up a play, I’ll ask the situation. Is it 3rd and long? What’s the set? I’ve gone into my favorite 5-6-7 man protections, and some in-depth situational calls. [Duke] Coach [David] Cutcliffe is one of the best coaches in the country and really helped prepare me for all of this. Part of the preparation was going back over some of my games and watching a lot of tape to be ready to talk with the coaches.
Q: You went to Duke, so surely you dominated the Wonderlic test, right?
A: I took it this morning, but I don’t have my score yet. I’ve taken lots of practice tests, but the one thing you really had to watch was to make sure to read every word of every question because of the way the test tries to confuse and trick you at times. I didn’t finish the whole test, but not many guys do. I think I got to about 32 or 33 questions.
Q: Another Duke QB, Thad Lewis, is in the NFL, and he started a few games with the Bills in 2013. What’s your relationship like with him, and has he given you any advice for the Combine?
A: He hasn’t bothered me in a week or so, but we definitely talk a lot. He’s had some good success in the league, and he doesn’t get a lot of recognition, but he’s working extremely hard. I could be in the boat he’s in for the rest of my football life, and yes, we speak frequently and he’s always giving me advice not just about football, but life in general.
Q: What’s your fallback plan if this NFL thing doesn’t work out? In the event you don’t get drafted or signed as an undrafted free agent?
A: I went to Duke not to play football, but to develop a plan beyond football. Football is a huge passion of mine, and I’d love to play for a franchise for 15 years. But it’s a tough industry to get into. Very competitive. My major was Psychology, and sports psychology is my dream after football, whenever that is.