Tank Carder 2012 NFL Draft Diary

Tank Carder 2012 NFL Draft Diary: East-West Shrine Game

By Tank Carder, as told to Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell

WalterFootball.com is proud to introduce our 2012 NFL Draft Diary with TCU linebacker Tank Carder. Throughout the draft process, Tank will be sharing his experience with the readers of WalterFootball.com. Tank will hit on the East-West Shrine Game experience, team interviews, the NFL Scouting Combine, his pro day, pre-draft visits, and of course, his draft day experience.

Carder was the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of they Year the past two seasons. He also was the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP in TCU's win over Wisconsin at the end of the 2010 season.

Carder totaled 228 tackles with 25 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, 19 passes broken up and four interceptions with three returned for touchdowns in his collegiate career. Carder is a hard-nosed football player who should have an interesting draft experience in 2012. WalterFootball.com would like to thank Tank Carder for his participation. We would also like to thank Tank's agent, Kelli Masters of KMM Sports, for helping to facilitate Tank's draft diary. Carder and Masters are readers of this Web site, so it was a natural fit to approach them about having Tank's draft diary here. We are thrilled to have Tank share his journey with all of you. Now, let's let Tank take over.

Preparing for the East-West Shrine was different than the norm. Whenever you are in the season and when you are getting ready for a game, you have guys that you've been playing with you for two, three, or maybe even four years. You're used to the way they play. With something like this, you have to get used to your new teammates and how they play. You'll see, as the week goes on you'll have a better idea of where your teammates are going to be at, and where they are supposed to be. Learning this playbook and getting to know your teammates quickly just takes a little time. Everybody is used to their own team and old teammates, so that makes it harder to prepare, but at the end of the day, it is all just football.

Prior to coming here, I was training out in San Diego with Todd Durkin. They have you work on all the little muscles that help the big muscles to get stronger. I can't even explain the way he trains. Todd does an incredible job. He is an awesome guy. The staff there...they work you until you're broke, and they know how to regenerate you so you can work the next day. It is awesome out there. It is definitely different than TCU, but TCU does a great job as well. Right now, I'm with Todd and he's killing it.

The scheme here is definitely different. The coaches kind of sit back and see what we are going to do after leading us for a little bit. The coaches are giving us the tools and fundamentals to be able to be successful, and you have to use them on the field and be able to execute with the right technique. It's fun to be back out here hitting. I was happy to finish the season strong and help our team get a win in our bowl game. That was big, but that was quite a few weeks ago and that was college. The guys here are a lot bigger, a lot faster and a lot stronger. College was a great experience and TCU was the best. That was a page in my book that I can keep and reflect on the accomplishments that were made, but now it's time for the next chapter. It is a different game. It is football, but the speed is different at first. But, it is slowing down.

Tank Carder - listed in Round 3 of our 2012 NFL Mock Draft.

Thus far, I've really been impressed with my roommate, Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin. He is a great guy. I'm rooming with him and I know him a little bit better than my other teammates. Jerry's fun to be around and he's been playing well. Thus far all the guys have been great. We're all out here working hard and trying to get better. It's a lot of fun.

The competition here is faster, but it's all just football. You get out here and start running around and it all starts slowing down. It's football at the end of the day, and, hey, who are we kidding it's fun! I love football! I have a passion for it, and the only way to be good at it is if you love it. I absolutely love this game and whatever I can do to get better I will. Whatever mistakes I make I'm going to work to correct them. There are a lot of things I want to correct and get better at, but I'm willing to do it at all costs. Football is my passion. It has been a lot of fun; we'll go make corrections and come back to get better the next day.