the announcement that Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel<\/a> would be taking a day off from the draft on Saturday to seek counseling, as the fallout continues from his relationship with Dianna Russini, Lomu gave the Patriots two things they desperately need.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn terms of the big picture, they need protection for quarterback Drake Maye on the offensive line. The Patriots believe Lomu can help them in this area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the short term, though, the Patriots needed to be able to put someone in front of the cameras who could inspire their fans to feel good about the upcoming season. And Lomu did exactly that \u2014 not just by the words he spoke but by the manner in which he carried himself when it was announced he was headed to New England.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lomu didn\u2019t attend the big Draft Night Spectacular in Pittsburgh, which means he wasn\u2019t guided out to the stage for the obligatory hug with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He instead attended a packed family-and-friends watch party in Arizona, where he grew up. His reaction to being drafted by the Patriots was not to jump around the room and high-five everybody. What he was, was emotional. This was a moment for long hugs and words that appeared to be whispered, not shouted.<\/p>\n
He is 21 years old, and this was the biggest moment of his life. And he treated it with solemnity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What a shocker: A \u00a0feel-good moment for Pats fans. Lomu gave them that. Lomu also presented himself as upbeat and forward-looking during his first news conference, an online affair. Coming in the aftermath of two awkward news conferences featuring Vrabel, who we hope can make things right with his family, Lomu\u2019s news conference was a friendly, casual icebreaker.<\/p>\n
Lomu\u2019s first words as the newest New England Patriot: \u201cI\u2019m doing great, I\u2019m feeling amazing now.\u201d He described being drafted as \u201c\u2026 such a surreal feeling, something I\u2019ve been waiting for my entire life. So when it actually happened, it was a moment I\u2019ll remember for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s precisely because this is something Lomu\u2019s been waiting for his entire life that the 21-year-old was spared any questions about the ongoing drama involving Vrabel. All this kid cares about, for now, is that he\u2019s heading to the NFL. Whether he\u2019d been drafted by the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks or the forever-trying-to-figure-things-out New York Jets, Lomu likely would have talked in glowing terms about his new team. But it\u2019s the Patriots who drafted him, and Lomu showed his appreciation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I got from them, the meeting with them (at the NFL Scouting Combine) \u2026 I got great feelings from them,\u201d Lomu said. \u201cThey\u2019re just a great organization. I think personally, I wanted them to always be in the mix; they\u2019re just such an amazing team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a place I always wanted to be, and a team I always wanted to play for.\u201d Lomu continued. \u201cMaybe it was just me, wanting them so super bad, once I got that call, it was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lomu did talk about Vrabel, but in that golly-gee, I-can\u2019t-believe-I\u2019m-interacting-with-a-real-live-NFL-head-coach kind of way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved him,\u201d Lomu said. \u201cI walked in there, and he was definitely playing his role. He was kind of just mean-mugging a little bit, and so I walked in there, and that made me a little intimidated, and he just started asking questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was getting on me a little bit, and it was awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd right after, it was all smiles. He came up to me and shook my hand, and said, \u2018Really good job.\u2019 \u2026 I loved it. He was a very serious guy. He\u2019s an amazing coach. I can\u2019t wait to be able to play for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Patriots already have Will Campbell (who sent Lomu a congratulatory text) at left tackle. Could Lomu play on the right side, as the eventual successor to the 35-year-old Morgan Moses, or perhaps at right guard? Lomu may only be 21, but he answered that question like a seasoned pro: \u201cI\u2019m so excited for the opportunity. I\u2019ll play wherever. I\u2019m coming in to play some football, the game I love. I\u2019m able to play any position, so wherever the team needs me, I\u2019m going to be able to play. I\u2019m just so excited to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be a while before it\u2019s business as usual at Gillette Stadium. And who knows, the day may come when Lomu wonders what he got himself into.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all later on. For one night, Caleb Lomu gave Football New England a chance to calm down for a moment, to chill, to breathe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 10:44 p.m. Thursday, fans of the New England Patriots were offered a respite from the tumult. That\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,320,208,12951],"class_list":{"0":"post-873935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-opinion","15":"tag-patriots","16":"tag-utah-utes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116462448368228105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}