McDaniel says fractured wrist put him in no-win situation with NFL teams

$McDaniel says fractured wrist put him in no-win situation with NFL teams$

McDaniel finished his career tied for second in school history in interceptions with 15.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun May 01 16:04:49 GMT-04:00 2011

Former Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel DeAndre McDaniel
Wide Receiver
#2 6-1, 180
Tallahassee, FL
View Full Profile sat at his grandmother’s house Friday and Saturday and watched the 2011 NDL Draft, rejoicing as each one of his six of his teammates were picked up by NFL teams.

In the back of his mind, however, he was wondering. “When will it be my turn?”

The final round came and went Saturday evening, and his name was never called, but McDaniel told TigerNet Sunday afternoon that he wasn’t bitter – he knows the reason why he wasn’t picked – and the slight will make him work that much harder to prove teams wrong.

“It is because of the wrist being fractured,” McDaniel said. “I had heard from some of the teams that they were concerned that it was still fractured, and so I thought I might go later than what I first thought. But I didn’t really think about not getting picked at all. It was a bad feeling. But I will get over it.”

McDaniel finished his career tied for second in school history in interceptions with 15 and he led Clemson’s top 25 defense in tackles with 84 a year ago, leading to speculation that he could be anywhere from a second to fourth round pick in the draft.

However, he fractured the scaphoid bone in his right wrist at Auburn in week two, and played with a cast or heavy wrap the rest of the season.

Following the season, he says he elected to not have surgery in order to concentrate on his training for the draft, and he feels now like he was in a no-win situation.

“What I was telling teams is that I could play,” he said. “I told them I didn’t want to miss training camp by being in a cast. I was telling them that I would get it fixed in the off-season. I could have gotten it fixed before I trained, but I felt like they wanted to see me at my best, so I trained. I was in a sort of lose-lose situation.”

McDaniel said the wrist actually didn’t pose many problems, especially from a pain standpoint.

“It got better and I didn’t really notice it in the games,” he said. “The first week or two, we thought it was a sprain, and then they found out it was a fracture. The Clemson medical staff did all they were supposed to do. We talked about surgery, but I felt like I could play with it. I didn’t want to miss out on anything, because we were halfway through the season. I didn’t want to miss the Senior Bowl or anything like that.”

In normal circumstances, undrafted players are free to talk to and sign with interested NFL teams in the first few days following the draft.

For these undrafted free agents, like McDaniel, that can't happen at this time as the NFL is currently mired in a lockout situation, and the lockout was restored Friday night after the owners were handed a legal victory by a federal appeals court.

“They [teams] can't do anything until the lockout is over, so I just have to wait everything out,” McDaniel said. “I will wait for free agency to open up, and I will go with the team that is best for me and my family. I am going to compete, regardless. I know I am one of the best safeties out there, and I won't let myself down.”

And if that means playing with a chip on his shoulder, so be it.

“Honestly, at the end of the day, everything happens for a reason,” McDaniel said. “It makes me a little angry. I want to go out there and work harder than everybody else. I am going to out there feeling like I am the top safety out there. That is why I am going into free agency with a little bit of an edge. I feel like they were nervous about my wrist, so I am going out there to prove myself to them.”