Tyler Starr dreams of being a star. Thanks to the Falcons and HBO’s sports documentary “Hard Knocks,” that dream may become a reality.
Starr, 23, was the seventh-round and final draft pick for the Falcons in May. But the linebacker from South Dakota says he doesn’t feel as if he has any more to prove than the next rookie.
“I think every rookie has to go out here and prove themselves, whether you’re a first-rounder or seventh round,” Starr said. “I’m just out here to make the best of this opportunity. I want to have a future in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons so I’m going to do everything I can to make that possible.”
Starr redshirted his first year at South Dakota and didn’t play as a sophomore because of academic issues. But when he finally hit the field in 2011, he led the Missouri Valley Football Conference in sacks with 14. By his senior year he had tied USD’s career sack record (27).
With his sights long set on an NFL career, Starr was eager to please when “Hard Knocks” came knocking with a featured role. His fiancé and 3-year-old son Hunter did not initially share that enthusiasm.
“I think my son was a little afraid of the cameras at first but he kind of warmed up to it,” Starr said. “My fiancé was a little worried about it too but I just told them to act like it was a normal day and it went pretty well.”
“Hard Knocks” cameras followed Starr for an entire day around Vermillion, S.D., where USD’s main campus is located and less than 100 miles away from where Starr was born in Little Rock, Iowa.
Starr said an HBO crew shot footage of him training and conditioning on July 17. HBO also interviewed some of his USD coaches too, with a goal letting the world see who Starr is.
Viewers will get more than a glimpse of who Starr is on the show that began airing Tuesday at 10 p.m. “Hard Knocks” is known for following rookies through the ups and downs of preseason camps and Starr has been tapped as one of this season’s main characters.
The cameras have followed him from the Great Plains to Flowery Branch, where Starr has been paying his dues and trying to learn his role within the Falcons’ framework. There won’t be much rookie hazing for HBO to document this year, according to Starr.
“There’s not really hazing going on in this organization and anything that is, is just done out of respect,” Starr said.
The most the rookie has been asked to do is carry helmets and come up with an individual act for the annual rookie talent show. He said he’s struggled most with the latter.
“I don’t really have any real talents to go up on stage and show,” Starr said. “So I’m just probably going to pull something out of the hat.”
On the field, Starr had been working on pass rushing.
“There’s so many different steps in pass rush, from your get-off to hands in the contact zone to your finish, your rush angle,” Starr said. “So there are just things that, in order for us to make plays and get sacks, we have to be perfect so when an offensive lineman does make a mistake, we can take advantage of it.”
Outside linebackers coach Mark Collins said the rookie is athletic, has shown good range in space and has generally progressed well in camp, but he believes Starr has most room for improvement in rushing the passer.
“I think he is a little bit behind right now from a pass-rush standpoint because as you know, it’s a hell of a transition from college into the pros,” Collins said. “He’s got a good spirit. He busts his (butt) every day. I would be surprised if he didn’t continue to improve over the next four or five weeks.”
Starr, like all rookies, is in the crucial period where he must make a successful transition to a professional level of play and do so quickly.
“The main thing is the speed of the game always increases and the technicality of it gets a lot more zeroed in,” Starr said. “You’ve got to be dialed in with your footwork to your technique with your hands. You’ve to try to pretty much have a perfect rep in order to really make a lot of plays out here. So that’s something I’m trying to strive for.”
