Penn State\u2019s Zane Durant, of Lake Nona, awaits destination in NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI was just waiting on my time. I had confidence I was going to get picked so it was just a waiting game at that point,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity. At the end of the day, I wasn\u2019t promised anything and I couldn\u2019t control where I went.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have an opportunity to get picked meant a lot to me, so I will take it and run with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He got the phone call from Bills general manager Brandon Beane, as well as coaches, including new head coach Joe Brady.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was exciting, finally getting the call from the GM and the coaches,\u201d Durant said. \u201cThey talked to me about how much of a player I am and how much I can help them and what my future looks like being a Bill, so it was exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s happy to join such a storied franchise like the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, they\u2019re gonna get everything out of me,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a prestigious organization and they are always competing for a championship title, the Super Bowl, and that\u2019s the ultimate goal. That\u2019s what I came to do in the NFL, so I\u2019m just ready to give it my all and bring whatever I can bring to this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Durant got to celebrate his selection around friends and family at a spot in Kissimmee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt good having everybody I grew up with and the majority of the people that was there when I was coming up through Lake Nona and Plant City, all being there with me during that moment,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Durant will head back to State College, Pa., to pack up his apartment and make his way to Buffalo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s feels good. It\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d Durant said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to go. I\u2019m ready to play ball. I\u2019m a hard worker and it\u2019s showed up at every level I played at.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might not have all of the measurables and all that stuff, but one thing they can\u2019t deny is my work ethic and what I bring to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, four other Central Florida products have signed undrafted free-agent contracts:<\/p>\n
Anthony Dunn Jr., DE, Seminole, Toledo, Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
Matthew McDoom, CB, West Orange, Cincinnati, Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n
Bryan Thomas Jr., DT, Foundation Academy, South Carolina, Jacksonville Jaguars<\/p>\n
Rocco Underwood, LS, Lake Mary, Florida, Philadelphia Eagles<\/p>\n
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zane Durant said earlier this week that he was projected to be selected anywhere in between the third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1745,3745,139,141,140,76046,76642,110],"class_list":["post-247512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social-sports","tag-social-varsity-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}