KU's Stuckey Drafted In Fourth Round By San Diego Chargers
April 24, 2010
Stuckey reacts to being drafted by the Chargers
Kansas football fans can follow the Jayhawks on the internet through KU’s official website, as well as get behind the scenes looks through the official Kansas football blog.
Kansas safety Darrell Stuckey became the first Jayhawk selected in the 2010 NFL Draft, when the San Diego Chargers selected him with the 12th pick in the fourth round Saturday morning.
Stuckey, a 6-1. 205-pounder from Kansas City, Kan. finished his four-year Kansas career in 2009. He started 42 of 45 games in his Jayhawk career and his 295 career tackles were the second most by a Jayhawk defensive back in school history. He also recorded eight interceptions.
As a senior he led the team with 93 tackles. Stuckey earned All-Big 12 First Team honors from the Associated Press and honorable mention by the league coaches. Nationally, he was named to the AFCA Good Works Team, was a Senior CLASS Award finalist, Thorpe Award semifinalist, Lott Award quarterfinalist, Bednarik Award watch list and Nagurski Award watch list selection.
After the season Stuckey participated in the East-West Shrine game, where he made a game-high tying seven tackles. He also participated in the NFL Combine.
The last time a Kansas player was drafted by San Diego was 1962 when both John Hadl and Bert Coan were selected by the then-American Football League franchise.
Former Jayhawk linebacker and Stuckey teammate James Holt played with the Chargers in 2009. He signed as an undrafted free agent in April of 2009.
For more Kansas draft information and NFL Combine player bios click here
Darrell Stuckey Quotes
On how it feels to be drafted:
“It feels good. It’s like going through a six month period of a job interview. It feels good to know that your name is on the list and you got the job.”
On whom he has talked to within the Chargers organization:
“I talked to a couple of people. I talked to the secondary coach and he said that if I go in and battle and bust my butt I can easily find a way onto the field. It’s one of those things where they have my best interest at heart and I have their best interest at heart. We’re both trying to move in the same direction. The first thing he asked me was, ‘Are you ready to be great?’ and I said. ‘Heck yeah, I’m ready to be great. I’m all for it.’ The next person I talked to after that was (former Kansas player and current Charger) James Holt. It was pretty good. I’m excited about it and I’m happy.”
On the biggest indication he had that the Chargers might draft him:
“The biggest indication was that they talked to me at the Combine. When I went in there with the Chargers, we talked football for about five or seven minutes and after that we just laughed about stories about James Holt. It literally was a fun time. At the same time it was kind of hard because I didn’t have any negative connotations going into any of the interviews, so it was hard to see who really liked you and who didn’t because any coach likes a guy who comes in and plays football and has nothing negative and he’s a positive person with great character. It was hard to really tell who was interested and who was not. Plus, over the past four days, I probably got 20 different calls from different teams confirming my draft day number. It was just good to know I was on people’s draft boards. I was happy when my name finally came off the board.”
