NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 1: Running back Rhamondre Stevenson #29 of the Oklahoma Sooners is hit by safety Gleson Sprewell #21 of the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Cougars 49-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 1: Running back Rhamondre Stevenson #29 of the Oklahoma Sooners is hit by safety Gleson Sprewell #21 of the Houston Cougars at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Cougars 49-31. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

2023 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Gleson Sprewell

Reading Time: 9 minutes

First Round Mock had the opportunity to speak with Tennessee State Safety, Gleson Sprewell during his preparations for the 2023 NFL Draft, and yes he is the nephew of former NBA superstar basketball player, Latrell Sprewell.

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 07 : Michael Jordan #23 of the Washington Wizards plays against Latrell Sprewell #8 of the New York Knicks at the MCI Center on December 7, 2002 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

Gleson Sprewell was born in the shadows of fame. He has also been coached by NFL legend running back Eddie George at Tennessee State. That was after he attended the University of Houston. After a lifetime of being around this kind of thing, now Sprewell is ready to make a name for himself in the National Football League.

First Round Mock: What was it like for you having Latrell in your family?

Sprewell: When I was a kid I experienced a lot of things. We did a lot, seen a lot of life at a young age and it definitely opened my eyes at a young age of the life I wanted to live when I got older. Just doing a lot of stuff, doing everything we want, and taking care of family. That’s definitely one of the things I want to do, create generational wealth for my family, my nephews and my nieces, I’m a big family guy, and that’s just one of the things I want to take care of.

First Round Mock: What has Latrell taught you about ball skills being a defensive back and the translation between him playing in the NBA and you playing at safety?

Sprewell: Playing DB is like being a defender in the NBA, you’ve got to work your hands and you have to move your feet. A lot of these good receivers, Devante Adams, Doug Baldwin, Stefon Diggs, they all have these same basketball moves, these crossovers and things like that. You have to be able to move your feet, open up your hips, it translates. As much as people don’t really see it outside the big picture, some people do see it, when you look at the big picture, basketball and football are related when it comes to the route running system, being a defender, a DB, you’re trying to lock somebody up.

Sprewell

First Round Mock: Favorite childhood memory with Latrell?

Sprewell: It was an All-Star game in New York, we went out there. I met Martin Lawrence in the elevator. It definitely was a crazy experience. I was young. I was super young.

First Round Mock: Who is Gleson Sprewell in your own words?

Sprewell: Gleson Sprewell is hard working, someone who is very family orientated, he’s really humble. He just really wants to do his best to help the world as much as he can. I feel like my purpose here from God is to help people and help others, with that being with football or I have my degree in psychology. I want to be able to help athletes or young people with mental health issues. Got to take care of the mental. That’s the biggest part of our body, and that’s what keeps us going each and every day.

First Round Mock: What is your why?

Sprewell: My why is my family, my mom, my sister, my brother, they do so much for me, even my dad, he’s not around me, but he’s still there spiritually for me. They keep me going. Even my nephews and nieces, I see them all the time going back to train with Coach Neal. It’s good seeing them. I want to be able to provide for them the things I couldn’t have at a young age, the experiences I didn’t get to do. My family is my why.

NFL

First Round Mock: Here’s your chance to talk to every NFL General Manager, why should a team draft you?

Sprewell: I can cover, I can tackle and I can stop the other team from scoring touchdowns. I can take the ball away.

First Round Mock: What have NFL Scouts been saying to you?

Sprewell: I haven’t talked with NFL Scouts yet. I’ve been focused on training and I was locked in on my pro day. One thing with Coach Neal is to block out the noise. Keep working, keep grinding, keep pushing, keep getting better every day. As long as I do my part, everything else will take care of itself.

Influence

First Round Mock: Do you have friends in the NFL that you currently speak with?

Sprewell: I have a bunch of buddies in the NFL right now, I’ve got Ed Oliver who’s in the NFL, Payton Turner, Logan Hall, Grant Stuard, Marquez Stevenson, there’s a lot of guys, Eladon Roberts, a lot of former UH, University of Houston guys that I talk to. When they have come back to Houston, I always tried to pick their brains as much as possible, get as much insight as possible about the NFL as I can because NFL stands for ‘Not For Long,’ got to get there and do what’s right so you can stay in there for awhile.

First Round Mock: What’s the best advice that the individuals you’ve named have given you?

Sprewell: Put your ego and your pride aside. It’s a business. College is a business too. A lot of people don’t realize that, but you’ve got to work. It’s all about working, because in the NFL it’s always getting better and it’s always changing. You’ve got to be getting better, you’ve got to be improving, because if you’re not improving, you’re getting worse.

LANDOVER, MD – OCTOBER 06: Eddie George #27 of the Tennessee Titans runs with the ball during a NFL football game against the Washington Redskins on October 6, 2002 at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

First Round Mock: What’s it been like for you playing for Tennessee State Head Coach, and former NFL superstar running back, Eddie George, and what have you learned from him?

Sprewell: That was a great opportunity and a great feeling just to be around an NFL guy like that, having somebody that’s been in the NFL believe in me, and trying to see the talent that I have. I’m definitely grateful and appreciative to Coach George reaching out to me and offering me a scholarship to play for him, but same thing, you’ve got to work. “Rain, sleet or snow, the mail must be delivered,” and that’s his favorite quote. It’s so true, no matter what with football, you’ve got to put in that work, and you’ve got to keep your mind right with God and everything will take care of itself.

First Round Mock: Do you think it helps you prepare for an NFL opportunity having someone like Coach George, who’s played in the NFL?

Sprewell: It’s definitely good to have Coach George in my corner, but not only just Coach George, but my Defensive Coordinator Brandon Fisher, who’s dad is Jeff Fisher, Coach Joe Bowden, he played in the NFL, Keith Burns, he was a Special Teams Coach in the NFL, my DB Coach Richard McNutt, he’s one of the reasons I got in contact with Coach Neal, so it all comes full 360, what a great opportunity to step out with on my faith and bet on myself and having those guys in my corner now is definitely going to help take me a long way in the trajectory of my career.

First Round Mock: Jackson State was coached by Deion Sanders, did you get a chance to meet Coach Sanders?

Sprewell: No, I didn’t get a chance to talk with him.

Questions teams want to know

First Round Mock: How coachable are you?

Sprewell: Very coachable. The largest room in the world is room for improvement. That’s one of the best quotes I’ve heard and it’s always stuck with me. There’s always room to improve. No matter how good you are at something, you can never be never be too great. You can always work on the little things and keep improving. That’s one thing I try to live by. The more you know, the bigger your dreams and aspirations can become reality.

First Round Mock: How important is football to you?

Sprewell: It’s very important. I’ve been playing since I was a young kid. Sports has been around my family for awhile. I actually took the football route because of my brother. Growing up, I watched my brother play football. Everybody wanted me to play basketball, but football was just more physical for me.

First Round Mock: What’s the biggest criticism you hear out there, and how would you like to respond to it?

Sprewell: The biggest criticism I might have is my probably my pad level is too high. One thing about me is I’m very able to take constructive criticism because that’s how are you going to get better. That’s one thing I had to learn. When people tell you things, it’s not always bad. You’ve got to take those things. God always gives a sign. When people tell me things it just gives me more motivation to keep working on my craft and things to get better at. That’s the only way I’m going to keep improving and reach my peak is to keep working at the things I know that I lack and with my weakness, and that’s going to help me get better as time goes on. I feel like I’m nowhere near my peak.

Tell us more

First Round Mock: Is there a defensive back in the NFL who you have looked up to and modeled your game after?

Sprewell: I try to play like Ed Reed. He’s a ballhawk. He’s a playmaker. I try to implement my game with a little bit of Sean Taylor in there as well. Another safety I like is Cam Chancellor, a real physical guy, he’s a bigger guy. Before all of that I used to play corner actually. My first favorite DB ever was Darrelle Revis. He was Revis Island, lockdown, and when I transitioned from corner to safety, I started watching a lot of Ed Reed and Sean Taylor. Those guys were playmakers. Get the ball for my quarterback and offensive coordinator, so they can go and score and put points on the board and we win the game.

First Round Mock: Tell me about a time when you had to overcome adversity in your life?

Sprewell: There have been a lot of times. I had to overcome adversity as a kid even playing football. I was never the biggest, I was never the fastest, or the strongest, always just had to work. As a kid seeing a other people getting opportunities knowing my opportunity was going to come. One of my things that my JUCO coaches told me, ‘It’s better to stay ready than have to get ready.’ Ever since he told me that, I have lived by that because you never know when your opportunity is going to come and you don’t ever want to fumble that chance because you never know when it’s going to come around again.

Looking ahead and looking behind

First Round Mock: The number one way a lot of players make an NFL roster is on special teams. What would an opportunity mean to you to play special teams in the NFL?

Sprewell: Man, that would be great! I would love to go down there on kickoff or being on kick return and block for somebody, or punt return, or go try to block a punt. I would love to play special teams. It’s one of the best things to do because all special teams is, is putting effort in, and if you love football, that’s easy because you just have to put in the effort and you’ll make plays.

First Round Mock: How have you envisioned that day, and what will that day be like for you when your phone rings, and it’s an NFL team, and they want to pick you?

Sprewell: I will just thank God so much. I’ll just be prepared for the moment because I put a lot of work in behind this. A lot of people don’t know this, but I almost quit football twice in my lifetime. That was going into freshman year in high school and going into freshman year in JUCO in college. I’m definitely glad I didn’t and am definitely glad I stuck with it and my mindset changed. I’m just going to be prepared and be happy because when that phone call comes, that’s just when the real work starts. It’s started, but that’s when it really starts.

First Round Mock: What kept you going those two times you almost quit, what made you decide to keep doing it?

Sprewell: I was praying about it, and God, it was just in my spirit, I kind of fell out of love for a little bit with the game, especially going into high school. It was just different for me, I just didn’t really understand. I understand you had to work, but I was naturally talented as a kid. So, when kids have to start lifting weights and do a bunch of workouts and stuff like that, that kind of threw me off a little bit, so I had to get adjusted.

Then going into my freshman year [in college], I had a lot of interest, but I never got the offers that I wanted. It wasn’t because I wasn’t good or didn’t have good grades or anything. I was definitely qualified, I just didn’t have the opportunity to get offered by anybody. It definitely sucked a little bit, but it built me for a future. Whatever might come or whatever happens, and I definitely feel like everything happens for a reason. I’m glad that stuff happened, because it showed I could just keep pushing and keep having a lot of faith with God and everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.

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