Steel City lessons: Korte reflects on NFL rookie camp experience
[caption id="attachment_495" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Tom Korte at Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp last weekend. Photo courtesy of Mike Fabus / Pittsburgh Steelers."]
On Friday Tom Korte intercepted a Charlie Batch pass, without even realizing it at first — and at 8 a.m. Monday he was taking the first of several final exams at Hillsdale College.
Such is the life of the former Charger linebacker who is fresh off his first three-day minicamp as an NFL player.
Signed by the Steelers to a two-year rookie contract as an undrafted free agent, Korte said minicamp was an incredible experience, crammed full of foreign terms, a heavy new playbook, and familiarizing himself with teammates and coaches.
He also said it was a whirlwind that was impossible to appreciate because so many thing were happening all at once.
"It was pretty incredible, it was intimidating and new and exciting. It was kind of hard to appreciate it all because things were going so fast and I had to learn the playbook and keep in mind not to act like I was some fan, I'm a player," he said. "I didn't get the full experience and I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I'm going to be with these guys for a while and these guys will be my teammates this summer."
Full experience or not, he already knows what it's like to intercept an NFL veteran, albeit at a practice facility without fans filling the stands.
On Friday, his very first day at camp, he picked off the former Lions' starter and Steelers' backup QB Batch, although at the time he had no clue who was taking snaps under center and he still isn't completely sure how the ball ended up in his hands.
"I think a lot of it was luck...and I didn't even know it was Charlie Batch until later when I was talking to some of the guys. One of the quarterbacks who I kind of became good friends with was like, 'Hey, good pick' and I was like, 'Thanks, who was that I picked off?'. And he told me it was Charlie Batch and I was like 'No way!'" Korte said. "It was the third defense, so basically the rookies in there, and I didn't really have time to see who the quarterback was. I was too worried about making the call and making all the adjustments on the field. It was pretty fun."
Aside from that noteworthy play, Korte said he feels he did good job of avoiding "boneheaded" moments, while trying to process the 3-4 defensive scheme after four years of the 4-3 as a Charger,
"Adapting to the playbook was a challenge, it's very intense, and it's very involved and it will take a while to learn," he said. "I think it was kind of hard for me going there and having some of the other linebackers know (the playbook) like the back of their hand and I didn't know anything. The veterans definitely had an upper hand on me, and that was kind of an unfamiliar feeling."
