Campside Chat: Tyler Thigpen
By Phil Mackey
KFAN dot com

Tyler Thigpen doesn't receive much publicity. He's buried on the quarterback depth chart behind Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger. Thigpen also takes a back seat to five rookies and a guy who played college football at Michigan, baseball with the Yankees, and started a Thanksgiving Day NFL game with the Cowboys.

If you stuck around for four hours on day two of the NFL Draft, there's a good chance you still might have missed Tyler Thigpen's name. Thigpen won't 'wow' fans with any particular quarterback skill. He won't launch any 60 yard passes. He won't thread darts between four defenders. And he won't throw a ball into a garbage can from 40 yards (he tried a couple days ago, but was unsuccessful). Unless something crazy happens injury-wise, he isn't likely to step foot on an NFL field during the regular season.

But when it comes to being a genuinely nice guy, Thigpen takes a back seat to absolutely nobody. He's laid back, charismatic, and extremely tolerant if somebody mistakenly begins an interview by asking about the weather in a home state that isn't really his home state. Meet the 7th pick of the 7th round of the 2007 NFL Draft - QB Tyler Thigpen.

Phil Mackey: So what's the weather like here compared to Texas?

Tyler Thigpen: You mean South Carolina?

PMac: What did I say, Texas?

TT: [laughs] Yeah. Alex Reyes is from Texas. I'm from South Carolina.

PMac: I knew that.

TT: This heat up here, I mean you know… You got your hot up North and your hot down South, your cold up North and your cold down South. This is nothin' compared to the heat that is down South. But I mean, it's still hot. A lot of people ask me, "Is it hot up here". I'm like, "Yeah it's hot," but it's not as humid and everything like it is down South.

PMac: You're going up against possibly one of the better and deeper defenses in the NFL during practice. That can make things tough on a rookie. How do you feel you are progressing as a quarterback?

TT: Oh, I feel good. I mean you gotta come out each and every day and you've gotta get better. It's nice to be able to go against a defense like ours. It's good competition goin' against one of the best defenses, like you said. You know, it's a competition between all four of us. We're out here having a good time, all four of us. I enjoy bein' around those other three guys. Drew, Brooks, Tarvaris. They're a great group of guys.

PMac: So do you like training camp?

TT: I mean, it don't matter to me. I guess as a quarterback you don't do as much as the offensive line and all that. I mean, not many people like practicing, but it's not that bad, you know? Bein' a rookie, I'm ready to get out here. I guess a veteran probably don't like training camp, but I'm out here to learn as much as I can.

PMac: Who's your roommate?

TT: Henson. Drew Henson.

PMac: Did you know him very well before camp?

TT: We met during spring training, during OTAs, so we were able to hang out and talk then. It's nice having a quarterback in the room, you know, you can talk football with him. You got a question about a play, you can ask him. If he's got one, he can ask me.

PMac: So what happens after 6 or 7 p.m.? Do you guys go out on the town in Mankato? Do you guys go out to eat or anything?

TT: We got to get out last night. We just went over to Green Mill last night, the quarterback group, so we went over there and had dinner. But if we have mandatory dinner we usually stay here and eat dinner in the cafeteria, then we have meetings. Usually when you get out of meetings you're kinda tired. You study your plays a little more and you head to bed.

PMac: What do they serve in the cafeteria?

TT: Different things.

PMac: Like dorm food?

TT: Yeah, cafeteria food. Dorm food.

PMac: A flashback to freshman year?

TT: Yeah, it reminds me a lot of when I was a freshman [laughs].

PMac: What's the worst part about training camp? Besides being a rookie, obviously, and not necessarily knowing everything about the playbook.

TT: I guess that, just having to learn the plays. I think that's the biggest learning curve for me, the mental part. Just having to learn all the plays and know what each and every person is doing, as well as the offensive line, but not necessarily the receivers and running backs.

PMac: If it was a normal summer day, and you had no training camp, what would you be doing at 11:00 on a Wednesday? Watching Judge Judy or something?

TT: Nah, I'd probably be doin' somethin' outside. If I was down South maybe if I didn't have anything to do, maybe go out on the boat with some friends. Just hangin' out and relaxin'. I'm excited to be up here, I'm excited for this opportunity.

Email Phil @ PMac@kfan.com