K Cade York (4.30.22)
On joining the Browns and kicking in tough conditions at FirstEnergy Stadium and in the AFC North:
“Definitely, yes, I have heard the stories about the wind and stuff like that, but is really you just have to be able to strike the ball well, learn about the wind and go in there and figure it out. I am excited to get down there and start getting to work.”
On the mental element to kicking and how his experience will help him with it in the NFL:
“When it really comes down to it, there is nothing different. You are kicking the same ball. You are kicking on the same uprights. You just have a skinnier field. There is added pressures of it being you are on contract and stuff like that, but when it comes down to it, you are really playing the same game so I do not think the mental side of it changes that much from college.”
On many evaluators considering him the best K in the 2022 NFL Draft and why he believes that is true:
“I believe that I am the best kicker in this draft because I have been able to make big kicks in big situations. I have been put out for a lot of long field goals in tough situations, and I still brought out good results in it. I think that is what makes me the best.”
On how he handles the pressure of kicking in tough circumstances or for a game-winning opportunity, including as a rookie in the NFL:
“The best thing I can compare it to is I started as a freshman at LSU. I came in, and that was the national championship year. Yeah, I had lows and there were learning curves for sure, and I am going to have some of those. I am going to have to grow and get better. I do not want to peak as a rookie. I want to peak 10 years down in my career. I think it is just living in the moment and knowing that you do what you can to succeed and then growing when you make a mistake – it is not the end of the world; It is just moving on and getting better.”
On if he has ever met former Browns K Phil Dawson:
“No, I have not met Phil Dawson.”
On when he decided to be a K and if it was when he was little:
“No, it was actually not [when I was little]. I grew up playing soccer for most of my life, actually, until I was about 17. When I was 17 or maybe about 16, it kind of flipped on me [to football], and I ended up getting ranked pretty high as a kicker. In a matter of a few months, I was committed to LSU.”
On playing in the ‘Fog Game’ at LSU and how often he was asked about it by NFL teams during the pre-draft evaluation process related to competing in adverse weather conditions:
“I would not even call that a weather problem. That is more of a visual problem. Yeah, I did get asked questions about that game, what I thought was the biggest situation I have been in and then I got asked about weather games, too. That one came up pretty often just as that probably was my most prolific kick in college. I was definitely asked about that multiple times.”
On Bengals K Evan McPherson kicking for Florida opposite of him in the ‘Fog Game’, joining McPherson in the AFC North and if he can have a similar impact as McPherson did with Cincinnati:
“I totally believe that in myself. I am just excited to get out there and start putting points on the board.”
On if he has heard from any Browns players who also played at LSU:
“I have not heard from any yet, but I have played with a few of them. I know I played with (S) Grant (Delpit) and (LB) Jacob Phillips. I know (CB) Greedy (Williams) was there the year before me. I am excited to get down there.”
On the strength of his mental game and how that has developed:
“It is definitely something – like I said – learning curves my freshman year at college. That is the biggest thing I changed in college my freshman year was improving that mental game. It is not necessarily trying to eliminate pressure because one of my favorite quotes is ‘Pressure is a privilege.’ It is just knowing that you are going to have times when you feel pressure, but it is making sure that your body can take over, you go back to muscle memory in those moments and your mind does not take over. It is just doing the best that you can in certain situations to have a certain thought process that allows your body to take over and you do not start having a bunch of negative thoughts.”
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