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NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Ed Groth, K, Central Connecticut State University

Ed Groth can do it all, He can punt and Kick.

NFL Draft Diamonds website has been providing our readers Prospect Interviews over the past 3 years and this year we mixed things up a bit. Our questions are designed to give our readers a little more insight on the draft eligible player. We hope to bring you more than 350 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 to the right.  Now let’s meet our next prospect!!!!

What is your name?

Ed Groth

What is your Height/Weight?

5″10′, 195lbs

What is your position?

Place-Kicker/Punter

Where do you play college football?

Central Connecticut State University

Football is about giving back, what is the coolest thing you have done off the field?

Coolest thing I have ever done off the field was attend Smalley Academy Elementary school and visit young students, the smiles our team was able to put on their faces when we visited them was priceless

What was the hardest college class you ever had to take?

Chemistry for sure

Where are you from?

I’m from Shelton, CT

Who is your role model, and why?

My parents are my role models, they taught me with anything in life, it must be done with hard work and nothing is ever handed out, you have to earn it

Did you play any other sports growing up?

My parents kept me very active at a young age, besides football, sports I played were soccer, swimming, wrestling, baseball, and basketball

Did you play any other positions in football?

I played quarterback in high school

At your position, what separates you from others?

What separates me from others is my work ethic, I always compete and I know at my position spots are limited, so I make sure I take full advantage of my opportunities and I am always prepared as I can be at my position

When you are breaking down film, what do you look for?

When watching film, field goals I just make sure I am doing the same thing over and over again to be consistent with my plant foot, arm placement, etc. Kick offs I try to study alignment of the return team, maybe if I see something, I can mention a surprise onside kick that wouldn’t be expected. For punts, I study the return man and his tendencies, I make sure I kick away from the returners strengths, and I tend to pin the ball to the sideline to limit returns

Who was the toughest player you ever faced?

Toughest player is always myself, I am very critical on myself and I am always competing against myself, besides your snapper and holder(which are very important), you are by yourself in the whole process of kicking, have to block out the mental game and just kick

If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be and why?

I would compare my play to Chris Boswell of the Steelers, we pride ourselves on accuracy and the way he kicks is how I pride my kicking, always money from 49 and in, and he is clutch, he has a perfect field goal % in the playoffs, that’s what I know I can be

What was the biggest obstacle in your life you had to overcome, and how did you overcome it?

Biggest obstacle in my life was my junior year of high school, my grandmother passed away during my baseball season, nothing was going well in school and sports, but I was able to overcome by support of my teammates on the team and my brother who was a senior at the time when I was a junior, and we made sure we played out the rest of the season for her and our future athletic career for her

Do you have any pre-game rituals?

Pre game rituals I had no matter what, is I always tied my left clear first before my right cleat, and I always had a poker chip in my left sock, always all in

What is your biggest strength?

Biggest strength would be I am reliable, anytime a kick needs to be made, there shouldn’t be any doubt in the head coaches mind to put me out there, I’m always ready

What is your biggest weakness?

Biggest weakness, would have to be that I may be too anxious at times, but I have really began to control that and slow everything down

If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say?

My last selling point to a GM would be do you want someone who is going to make you a 100$ or someone that’s going to make you 1 million dollars, because when my name is called, when the game is on the line, that kick is going thru the uprights, also I would represent your organization in the best manner possible being smart both on and off the field. There will be no issues from me what so ever.

Who was your favorite player and/or NFL team growing up?

Even though I kick, my favorite player has to be Troy Polamalu, he played with energy and was team player. My favorite team is obviously the Pittsburgh Steelers, Steel City baby!

If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would you choose?

Three people I would like have dinner with would be Derek Jeter, My Papa, and my grandmother

What will be the first big item you buy once you are in the NFL?

Definitely buying my parents a new house, for what they have done for me all my life, they have earned it 100%, my biggest supporters

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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