NFL DraftProspect Interviews

2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Abu Daramy-Swaray, DB, Colgate University

Colgate University defensive back Abu Daramy-Swaray is one of the best small schoolers in the country.
  • Name: Abu Daramy-Swaray 
  • Height: 5’ 10”
  • Weight: 185lbs
  • Position: DB(CB), Punt/Kick Returner, Hybrid
  • College: Colgate University 
  • Twitter: @AbuDaramySwaray 

Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?

  • I was born in Bo, Sierra Leone but my hometown currently is Columbus, Ohio. What I love most about Columbus is the fact that everything I need is within a 10 minutes drive. For example, my high school, workout facilities, the mall, Walmart, Best Buy, the movie theater, and most importantly my family.

List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?

  • 1. Strength and Conditioning: I believe strength and conditioning should come first because without knowing who your opponent is you should be training like it’s the last game of the season and you’re going against the best team in the country.
  • 2. Film Study: I believe film study should come next because before you hit the practice field you need to understand what your opponent is doing and how you can counter that on the practice field and translate it to the game.
  • 3. Practice: I believe practice comes last because once you’ve conditioned and gotten stronger and watched your opponents tendencies, then it’s time to hit the practice field and work on what you need to do to stop them.

What do you worry about, and why?

  • I worry about my mother because she’s the most important person in my life and seeing her get older and her body not work as well as it used to while working 40+ hours a week. One day I plan on letting her quit her job and allowing me to take care of her for the rest of her life and give her the life she used to have before my father passed away.

Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure?

  • Failure to me means not accomplishing a goal that my mother wanted me to. So to me my biggest failure would be not staying happy throughout my sophomore year of college. My mother told me how important happiness was, but somehow I got very sad and somewhat depressed. Over the next summer I worked on myself, took time to myself, and spent a lot of time with family. At this point, I found where my true happiness was again and I don’t down deep and found myself. I can now say I’m in a very good place and state of mind.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

  • they would say my best quality would be I leadership. I lead by example and push everyone around me to become better while pushing myself as hard as I can.

Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?

  • DeVonte Dedmon of William and Mary

What would your career be if you couldn’t play football?

  • I would love to coach at the high school level. Coaching is something I’ve always wanted to do but I choose high school because I feel like that’s the perfect age where kids aren’t too young to understand but aren’t too old to think they know it all. I believe you can have the most impact on a child’s life around that age and what I would like to do is influence kids to be the best person they can be outside of football, giving them a sense of hope when they’ve lost it all, and being the support system that they need while making them a great football player.

Room, desk, and car – which do you clean first?

  • I would clean my room first because I did those three things,  my room is where I would spend the most time in.

If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?

  • Family means everything to me so I would have to be one of my family members because at the end of the day I don’t know who those people are, I don’t know what their values consistent of, and I don’t know what their thoughts were of me, a black man in America. But I know no matter what, my family will always have my back.

If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?

  • I would be Coach Boone from Remember the Titans. I chose him because despite all of the odds, he brought together a football team that was supposed to fail and made them champions. He not only made them champs on the field, but also off the field where they succeeded in the classrooms and developed great relationships with each other that you would’ve thought could never happen.

Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?

  • I biggest adversity had to come my two new year of high school when my mom got in a car accident and had a pension nerve in her back. She was not able to work for many months and I had to get a job and take care of things on my own while going to school and being in season. I overcame it because I excepted my circumstances and I knew that she has been through way worse so I have to fight just as hard to get through that hard time because I knew she could.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

  • So far my most memorable collegiate play would have to be my 77 yard punt return touchdown against Lafayette. The reason why is because it was my first collegiate touchdown, the first power return touchdown in about 20 years, and the fact that it was such a team effort that we got all celebrate in the end-zone together.

What song best describes your work ethic?

  • R.O.O.T.S. by Flo Rida

What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level? 

  • My “never quit” persistent attitude. Mother always told me that if I wanted to do something I could set my mind to it and do it. When I want something bad, I will continuously work until I get it.

If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?

  • I would have to pick my father because I didn’t get a chance to see him because he passed away before I was born and because I would love my mom to get a chance to experience his presence again.

If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it? 

  • Club Honey Bando

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?

  • I believe Tavon Austin is one of the most underrated players in the NFL. With his quickness, speed, and explosion, it’s very difficult to stop someone like him

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

  • I would rather be respected. I don’t need everyone to like me but respect is something that will take you a long way.

What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?

  • I would have to say Shawn Oakman. I feel for him the most because he didn’t get a chance to start of his career and one false accusation took away many years that he could’ve been playing in the NFL and taking care of his family.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

  • I hate losing more than I like winning. Winning is a good feeling and I enjoy it but I would hate the feeling of knowing my opponent beat me.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

  • My mother is my biggest influence because she sacrificed everything in almost her life to help me get as far as I have. She constantly pushes me every day and I know if she can make it through a war with me and move myself to the United States and bring my brother along with us years later, then there’s nothing holding me back.

Damond Talbot

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

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