DeShone Kizer wasn't selected right away, but he'd like to become the starting quarterback of the Browns right away.
Kizer and his family attended the NFL draft on Thursday in Philadelphia, where the Notre Dame product waited to be picked but left disappointed because his name hadn't been called.
On Friday night, when Kizer was back in his hometown of Toledo, the Browns drafted him in the second round (No. 52 overall) with the hope he can become their quarterback of the future.
Coach Hue Jackson said Kizer will receive a chance to compete for the starting job with Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler and Kevin Hogan. Kizer doesn't want to hold a clipboard as a rookie.
"The best way to go out and contribute is to be playing yourself, so I am going to be doing whatever I can to learn as fast as I can and as quickly as I can to play," Kizer said Saturday during an introductory news conference. "That is the reason you play football is to play and not to sit around and watch from the sidelines."
Kizer said Jackson has already made it clear how much work the incoming rookie needs to do the next couple of months, and diving into a thick playbook will be imperative.
"As soon as (the Browns) made that call, the first thing you think of is having that jersey on, that orange helmet and being able to compete and becoming an asset as quickly as I possibly can to this team," Kizer said. "At the same time, there is a lot of work, so those thoughts of having that orange helmet quickly turn over to how fast can I get into that playbook and learn as much as I possibly can."
Jackson said he's excited Kizer wants to compete.
"We're not going to stop him from wanting to do that. But there's a lot of work to do, and I think he'll find that out as we go," Jackson said. "And if he can handle that, great. We're not going to say, 'No, you can't play,' if he's ready to play. But at the same time, he has to understand and I don't think I've had enough time with him that way to be able to say exactly what this is that he needs to make sure he's on top of."
Kizer, 21, doesn't lack confidence. He hasn't backtracked from comments he made to USA Today before the draft in which he claimed to possess the intellect and preparation of Tom Brady, the body of Cam Newton and the ability to be the greatest quarterback to ever play.
"That's the reason that we all do what we do is to be the best we can possibly be," Kizer said. "At the same time, I have quickly acknowledged how much work is going to go into that."
Kizer acknowledged he needs to fix the footwork and mechanics that led to his accuracy problems at Notre Dame. He said Jackson and Browns quarterbacks coach David Lee "have the answer," so he's excited "to work with them and make those proper adjustments."
Despite Kizer's lack of consistency this past season, when Notre Dame finished 4-8 a year after he helped the Fighting Irish go 8-3, he has prototypical size and arm strength. Put another way, Kizer, 6-foot-4\ and 233 pounds, is built to play in the hard-nosed AFC North.
"This is a division and an area in the country where you have to be tough, you have to be big, you have to have big hands and you have to be able to play in different weather conditions," he said. "That is something that I have been doing my whole life. Football, to me, is meant to be played in the cold. It is meant to be played in the mud.
"If you go back to the pee-wee days, the best practices are the ones that are super muddy and you are sliding around. That is what I have always known football to be, so I look forward to taking the toughness and grit that I was able to create through experiences in middle school, high school and at the college level and apply them to playing here in Cleveland."
Kizer also believes the big stage Notre Dame provides has prepared to play in front of fans who have run out of patience after watching 26 quarterbacks start for the Browns since 1999. His experience in the spotlight has also helped him shake off pre-draft perceptions about him being immature.
"At Notre Dame, there is a target on your back at all times, so there is perceptions coming from everywhere," he said. "When you go to a school where 50 percent of the world hates you and 50 percent of the world loves you, you learn to see right through it."
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly didn't help Kizer's image when he appeared on Sirius XM Radio in early April and said the prospect should have stayed in school for another season because "he needs more football, he needs more time to grow in so many areas, not just on the field, but off the field." Kelly received criticism for his comments and later praised Kizer, explaining he supports him even though he's not a finished product.
"My motto has always been win from within, so rather than (focusing on) pre-draft speculation of me, I'm always going to motivate myself," Kelly said. "I'm my biggest critic and the standard that I set for myself will always be higher than any standard anyone else sets."
Kelly went to the draft with Kizer and his family and texted his former pupil Friday to congratulate him for being picked by the Browns. Kelly was tough on Kizer, but he said no one coached him harder than his father, Derek, when he was growing up.
"I have been able to take hard coaching, and I have been able to figure out what pushes me to be the best player I can become, and that is hard coaching," Kizer said. "When I knew I had the opportunity to play for a guy like Coach Jackson, it is definitely going to be a situation in which he is going to push me to those same standards my dad holds me to and I hold to myself."
Speaking of standards, Kizer acknowledged the Browns aren't counting on him to be an instant all-star, but he's still determined to make an immediate difference.
"The history here at the quarterback position is one that's been recognized from quite a few people, and I'm just looking to do whatever I can to become a help to that," Kizer said. "I don't know whether that means competing with the guy next to me and pushing him or playing myself, but I'm going to do whatever I can do to contribute to this team as much as I can."
