T GOSDER CHERILUS AND LB JORDON DIZON INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS

LIONS PRESIDENT & CEO MATT MILLENIntroduction of T Gosder Cherilus: "It's a big day for us. We've got some guys in here that are going to help this football

LIONS PRESIDENT & CEO MATT MILLEN
Introduction of T Gosder Cherilus: "It's a big day for us. We've got some guys in here that are going to help this football team and we're excited about. I would like to introduce to you our first round pick. Out of Boston College - the smile he's going to have on his face is not an indicator of the kind of mean streak that he plays with, which is what we loved about the kid. He's going to be a guy that sits on that right side for us for a long time. He plays with great passion; plays with great intensity; has all of the physical skills and that's all you can tell him because he's taking this all in right now. This is an outstanding pick for the Detroit Lions, our No. 1 pick for 2008, Gosder Cherilus."

LIONS T GOSDER CHERILUS
On what his feelings are about being drafted by Detroit now that it has sunken in: "Great. I'm happy to be here. I came here for a visit and talked to Coach (Mike) Barry - he's a great guy; he really helped me out with some stuff. Then I went home and I knew and hoped there was a chance that I might end here with the Detroit Lions. When (Matt) Millen made the phone call, I was excited."

On what he has done since being drafted: "I stayed home. We had a lot of family members coming by and saying hello. After that, I went and found myself a nice suit. The suit wasn't the problem, it was the shoes. I (had trouble) finding a size 15 brown (dress) shoe. It wasn't easy to find."

On his initial thoughts about possibly starting at right tackle: "I'm excited. It's a great opportunity to play with a team that played well last year I think and could have been in the playoffs. They'll give me a chance to play in the NFL so it's my job to come here and do my part and know my role and help out wherever they need me to help out. At right - that's what we're talking about for now. I'm planning on coming in here on Thursday and doing whatever I have to do to know the offense as soon as possible and try and get my butt on the field and help out."

On what he knows about Lions' third-round selection, RB Kevin Smith: "I don't know much about him but I plan on knowing more about him."

On the tussle he had with Lions' third-round selection, DE Cliff Avril, at the Senior Bowl: "It was just football. (It was at the) Senior Bowl, everybody's watching."

On Avril claiming he was being held: "Ah… they always complain. He's a defensive guy, of course he's going to say that. The Senior Bowl, everybody's there watching; we went at it one-on-one; I thought I had him, but hey, he asked for another one. I had a good punch on him, saw him going down. My goal is to make sure he doesn't come back and rally and get to my quarterback. So while he was down, I went hard at him, but I wasn't trying to hurt the kid, I was just playing football. If you have a chance to really get somebody down to a point where he won't have a chance to comeback and annoy you or get back after your quarterback, you have to go there and get him. That's what we're here for."

On whether it was a practice: "Yeah, it was practice, but I still got after him the same way. One-on-one pass rush (drills) is not fair for offensive linemen. There's no quarterback or anything behind him so you have a guy, who knows he's going to rush the quarterback. So when you go out there in one-on-one pass rush, you block the guy one-on-one when he doesn't have to think about run or anything else - draw (play). So he just lines up and tries to run past you. I love (Cliff) though, he's a great kid."

On whether the incident will pop into his mind the first time they face off in mini-camp: "Oh, no. He's a great kid; I had a chance to talk to him in the locker room. It was nothing personal. He knows and I know it was just us playing football."

On whether he was holding him Avril in the drill: "No, I wasn't holding. If I don't get a flag, it's not holding (laughter)."

On what he likes about the Lions' coaching staff: "I came here and I talked to them - before I even came here, a great friend of mine who used to be in the league, Coach (Jim) Sweeney, he called me and said, 'Hey, you'll fit right in with the Detroit Lions. Do you know who Matt Millen is?' I said no. He said, 'He was the nastiest linebacker in the league.' So I'll fit right in. I came in and we talked and we had great conversation. It was first class all around; the program, the way they do things here. I had a good feeling that they needed a tackle and I was hoping that I was the one and they made the phone call. I'm excited."

On when playing NFL football became a dream for him: "About my junior year of high school. When you play football in Massachusetts, a lot of people will come to you and tell you you're good but not good enough because the level of competition is not like Miami (Fla.) and Texas or California. For a while, I was like, 'Yeah, I'm doing good; maybe I'm just good enough for Northeastern or UMass. Then one day I had a great conversation with a great man, my high school football coach, Coach Goff. 'I said, I don't know about all these other schools, you know?' Coach talked to me and said, 'You know what, let's go.' So we planned a little trip around the Midwest; visited Michigan State, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Notre Dame and at the end we went to Miami. At the end of it, I felt real good. I'm like, 'Wow, maybe I belong up there with all of those guys.' When I went to Miami, after I left there, I left with a scholarship offer and I thought, 'Wow, maybe I'm good enough to play at the next level.' I went to college; had great guys around me like Jeremy Trueblood and guys who just helped me out a lot. Then I played football, they needed a guy to step up right away as a true freshmen to backup the right tackle and then Coach O'Brien called me and said, 'Hey, you're going to be the guy for me.' From there, that was it. The sky was the limit.

On whether helped blocking for QB Matt Ryan as a senior: "Yes, it helped out a lot. The fact that my head coach for four years, who really taught me everything, pretty much, about being a man, football and a lot of things. For my last year, we had Coach (Jeff) Jagodzinski, who was a lot different than Coach O'Brien. He's a coach that used to coach in the pros; the offense he brought in, he kind of introduced to us. It wasn't easy at first, but, just us being at BC, we're the smart guys. So we took it in and it worked."

On how much football he was able to watch while growing up in Haiti: "There was no football at all. It was all soccer and basketball. None.

On when he started playing football: "It was just one day. In high school, I was a little late for class. I was running and the guidance counselor said, 'Hey, no running in the hallway.' I was like, am I in trouble. He said, 'I want to talk to you.' He called me in and said, after school I want to see you by the football weight room. When I came by, they wanted me to play football. I said, 'I don't know, you've got to talk to my father. Because my father wanted me to come in and work, save my money and go to school and they came over the house to talk to my father. He said, 'no, you're here to go to school and save for work; save your money and go somewhere good. I played anyways, behind my father's back. It's not always good to be a bad kid, but sometimes it's good to go either way."

On whether his father is aware that being a first round pick will prove to be worth good money: "We didn't get that deep into the conversation but we will. I went and then fell in love with it. I was very athletic. I played soccer and by the first half I would get red-carded because I was so aggressive. In basketball, I would foul-out. But the moment that they introduced me to football, it felt like it was the sport for me. So I went right in and really took it all in and… here I am."

On if he played tight end or any other positions in high school: "Yes, that was my first love. I was playing tight end for a little bit; then they came in and I played defensive end and d-tackle. Then they moved me to offensive tackle. I did real well at all of them."

LIONS CEO & PRESIDENT MATT MILLEN
Introduction of LB Jordon Dizon: "With our second pick in the 2008 draft we were able to chose a linebacker, who as I said before, he is the picture for instinct. This guy is non-stop, one of my favorite guys in this year's draft and I felt we were fortunate to get him right there. Jordon Dizon plays the game with the same amount of energy as Gosder and (has) great instinct. Introducing, Jordon Dizon, Colorado."

LIONS LB JORDON DIZON
On where he got his suit: "I didn't. This is actually my roommate's suit (laughter). I only wore a suite twice in my life: once to the All-American deal and once to my trip, so I never really owned a suit. Growing up in Hawaii there's no need to wear a suit. It's a borrowed suit. Borrowed everything: shirt, I didn't have a tie, so, yeah."

On whether he's met Lions C Dominic Raiola: "I met him. The funny thing is, he's got a Hawaii tattoo and a Nebraska tattoo and I have a Hawaii tattoo and the next thing I have to get is a CU tattoo, because you know they're big rivalries. So, we have a bunch in common, but yet we have a big rivalry between us. I met him for 10 minutes when I came here for my visit, he's a great guy, I heard he was a heck of guy and he knows how to play football, so hopefully I can be as great as him one day."

On his roommate lending him his suit: "Yeah, last night at 10 o'clock he ironed it for me too. Yeah, D.J. Dykes, safety for us."

On when he has to return the suit: "Hopefully never (laughter)."

On what he liked about Detroit: "Oh, man. You know, they are a no-nonsense organization. As Gosder said, they are first class. They won't B.S. you and they won't beat around the bush. They'll tell you like it is. A lot of guys go, 'well, you're good enough, blah, blah, blah,' these guys will go, 'hey, this is what you need to do and that's what I like about it. That's how my college coach was, he told me, either I sucked in this game or I played good and that's what I needed. There's no reason to be going, well you can do this a little better, but you're pretty good. I just like how he came to me and was like, 'hey, you're a little small but we like you and you can make plays.' They didn't beat around the bush or try to entice me in any different kind of way and I liked that about this organization."

On the most unusual question he got in the interview process: "It was standard. Very standard, it wasn't that bad at all. I met with Matt (Millen), talked to him for 20 minutes and we got into both our families. They are very personal people. You love them - their personalities, everything about this organization you love. I took a couple of other visits and by far this is my favorite place that I've been to. It was awesome to come here. I was excited; I'm grateful and I'm blessed to have this opportunity to be here with the Lions."

On whether he knows anything about DE Ikaika Alama-Francis: "I know about him and that he was chosen in the second-round and that he's a Hawaii dude, but that's about it. I don't think I've ever met him before and I can't wait to meet him."

On growing up around water: "I grew up and did everything on the water. I grew up right across the beach in my childhood and did everything: fish, dived, surfed, boogie boarded - you name it, I did everything. In Colorado all I had was a reservoir right down the road, but I made that work and I loved the water and I'm glad there's a lot of lakes around here. I saw a bunch of them flying in. So, whatever it is with water, I love it."

On where his love for football came from: "The biggest thing for me and the thing that I love about football is it's competitive. There's nothing in your life, job or whatnot, where you can compete against someone - maybe in the stock market - but, in football you compete with the guy across the line of scrimmage. There's nothing in this world that you can find like that and for me, that's the kind of passion I love. I love competition. I love trying to beat someone and I love everything that football brings out in a person: competitiveness, aggression, and all that stuff that I love about it."

On who's the toughest running back he's gone up against: "It's tough - good backs are great linemen. I've faced a lot of great linemen, a lot of average backs, but the toughest thing for me is when I see a good back I look at their linemen, you know, how good is their linemen? I face great linemen, but as far as backs, maybe Adrian Peterson. I played him my freshman year and he's a great running back. But, looking back, I look at great linemen and not great running backs."

On whether he followed Adrian Peterson's rookie season in the NFL: "Oh yeah, you have to, he made the headlines every Sunday."

On whether he's looking forward to going against Peterson: "Oh yeah, definitely a rematch. They kicked our butts in the Big 12 Championship my freshman year and he ran all over us and I probably can't let that happen again."