Cincy Jungle Interview With Bengals Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick: NFL Role Models And His Special Teams Role

We were privileged to be joined this week by Bengals rookie cornerback, Dre Kirkpatrick. The 2012 first round pick has been seeing the field lately and contributing on both special teams and defense. He's also working with Pepsi MAX and their promotions with both the Rookie of the Week and Rookie of the Year awards.

At the middle point of the interview, I asked Dre who he's currently using as role models on the Bengals team, be it position coaches or teammates.

DK: "Pretty much I can learn something from everybody in the defensive room. But, for the DBs, I'm always talking to Leon (Hall), I'm always talking to Pacman (Adam Jones), I'm always talking to Jason (Allen). I'm always talking to all of them because I know that they've all been in different situations and have had to overcome adversity--I can learn something from each one of them, really. So, I don't just lean on one guy, I can go to all of them and they welcome me with open arms."

After that, I noted that he had been getting more on-field time in recent weeks--particularly on special teams. I asked Dre about his thoughts on that role and if was something that he had to do in college.

DK: "You know, I played special teams all the way through college. I was the gunner on special teams, as well as the 'holdup' guy on punt returns. So, I was always pretty much involved in special teams. I've got a passion for just beating my opponent, so it drives me anyway--it doesn't matter if I'm on punt returns or at corner. Either way, I'm always competitive at the end of the day."

A big thanks to our producer Jason Blanton for his work and to Mr. Kirkpatrick for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with me for you all here at CJ. Have a listen to the entire interview here.