8/6/2002 - Football
Navy Football Press Conference Day 1, Practice 1
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Navy Wide Receiver Brandon Rampani
Q. How does it feel to be back out here?
A. It feels great, especially today, with the temperature. It's great to be back, definitely good.
Q. You were in the fleet last year?
A. Yes
Q. What did that entail?
A. I had to report to a ship that was based out of Pearl Harbor, I met it in Bahrain. So I was in Bahrain for about three months. We were out during Operation Enduring Freedom. We cruised back and I was in Hawaii for about three months when the ship was in dry dock and then I got accepted back into the Academy. I was a deck seaman, which entailed painting the ship every day. I was outside every day. It was a good experience. I am definitely going to take what I learned out there and put it to use when I'm an officer out in the fleet someday.
Q. Did you keep up with the team last year?
A. As much as I could. It was tough getting sports out there; we got a lot of CNN. I found out about the Army-Navy game and some of the other big games.
Q. What happened with you leaving the Academy, what was the timetable on it?
A. I left in December of 2000 and I reported back in December so I was gone for a good year. I am caught up now with the Class of 2003. I should have graduated in 2002, but that's just the way it is. It definitely made me a stronger person. I went from the high extreme of being at the Academy; it's so hard to get in here, to being in the fleet, being enlisted, to being accepted back. It had a lot of affect on who I was and how I was to other people. It was definitely a humbling experience and hopefully from that experience I will learn to be a better officer.
Q. Why did you have to leave the Academy?
A. It was mainly conduct troubles. I got into a couple of problems in the Hall; it is definitely something that I have learned from. I can show my classmates that this can happen, you can go out in the fleet if you screw up here at the Academy. Getting accepted back is a big honor too, because not many people have done it. This conduct thing is behind me and I am looking forward to graduating in 2003.
Q. In terms of playing football, this is a new start, guys are fresh, guys are excited
A. Definitely, there's a lot of new faces since I was last year and new faces our hopefully new hopes. With the last two years of our season, going 1-20, it's definitely good to come back and see happy faces and new faces. The new coaching staff has been a turnaround.
Navy Head Football Coach Paul Johnson
Q. How did it go today?
A. It went OK. First day back, enthusiasm was pretty good and I thought the retention for the most part was OK.
Q. I know we spoke a little bit about Rampani yesterday, but what kind of role do you see him playing this year?
A. It depends, I think Brandon certainly has the ability. I don't think he had the kind of spring he would have liked to have. Maybe he was a little bit rusty. I think he has some tools. Fall camp is going to be really important for him to see what kind of playing time he is going to get.
Q. You had indicated yesterday that he has to learn to block
A. Well, I think he is like a lot of guys in that he needs to learn to play every play. Were not going to take them off. To me blocking is as important as running routes, so it better be as important to him.
Q.Have you got the testing results back as far as who was the fastest, the strongest
A. We really didn't test for the times. I know who the strongest guys are in certain lifts; there are different guys for each lift. Cee Harris was the strongest in the bench and the squats. He can do a ton on the squats. We stopped him at 590 or something, but he can do a lot. We are getting ready for practice so we didn't want him to go crazy. He benches 435 or 440.
Q. Do you know what Shane Todd got
A. Shane tried to do too much and missed so he didn't get his lift, but I know in the summer he was well over 400 and repping it twice.
Q. Do you remember the fastest as far as the 40-yard dash?
A. We did the shuttle; we didn't run the 40. Shalimar Brazier had the fastest shuttle run. Andy Zetts had the most on the clean.
