ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — McTelvin Agim might have been a little nervous going into his draft interviews 11 months ago, but he was comforted knowing he would have honesty alongside.
Homeless for two separate spells in his youth while growing up, a hungry Agim got himself in trouble. And NFL teams interested in the Arkansas interior defensive lineman with a propensity for making plays in the opponents backfield wanted to know everything about it.
NFL teams don’t need a locker room full of Eagle Scouts. But talent with character problems can lead to more headaches than its worth.
“I was just very truthful,’’ said Agim, the Broncos’ rookie defensive lineman, about his pre-draft interview process in a sit-down discussion with 9News last week. “You definitely have questions about characteristic issues. Anytime you have to fill out a survey and it asks have you ever been incarcerated, you have to say ‘yes.' "
Shoplifting brought relief to a starving big kid from Texarkana. The death of his beloved grandmother sent Agim spiraling emotionally. While he was in eighth grade, he was caught stealing a car and wound up in jail.
The experience scared him straight. He got high grades in high school, played four years at the University of Arkansas, where he had 31 tackles for a loss and 14.5 sacks, and became a third-round draft pick of the Broncos.
Clearly, the Broncos were satisfied, even impressed, with Agim’s open approach to his difficult upbringing.
“You don’t want to go back and have somebody find out that you lied,’’ Agim said. “You want to be up front with them. That’s one thing I wanted to do was make sure everyone knew the situation when it happened, knew that it was a long time ago and it was behind me, and I was looking to move forward from it and showed that I’ve been, I feel like, an excellent figure in the community since then.
“I just wanted to make sure everybody knew when I got questions about it, which I knew were going to come because you have all these teams who are investing a lot of money in you and a lot of time and effort, especially if you’re going to be a draft pick, they want every little detail about it. How the night went, all the things leading up to it, so I was very open with them and whatever questions they had or any information I felt like they could use, I was willing to give it to them.”
Slotted into a $857,265 signing bonus plus his $610,000 rookie salary, working-man Agim could have had a special Christmas with his family. But because of COVID-19 restrictions, he couldn’t invite anyone, and he wound up having a wonderfully boring holiday watching TV. Just as well. It also gave him time to reflect on where he once was and how far he has come.
“Holidays mean to me time to be with the family,’’ Agim said. “And family was one of the biggest things growing up that was instilled in me, especially from my grandmother. When we had Christmas, it wasn’t anything extravagant. We didn’t get bikes. We didn’t get anything of that sorts. But we got things like socks or underwear or something like that. A shirt.
“But at the time, we didn’t know we were in a bad situation. It was just being appreciative of getting something. We didn’t need anything that was very expensive or extravagant. But for us to get things like socks or extra clothing or food, it was all appreciated. How I spent this past holidays, I just watched TV. It’s COVID season, so couldn’t have everyone here like I would have wanted to or have all of my family up here because it would have been too many people. It would have been a great time. It just would have been too many people.”
McTelvin Agim was named by his father, who was born in Nigeria.
“My middle name, Obinna, means ‘father’s heart’ so he had a big part in naming me,’’ Agim said.
His rookie year with the Broncos seemingly began with redshirt intentions, as he was inactive for six games. But season-ending injuries to starters Jurrell Casey and Mike Purcell and a COVID-19 bout experienced by Shelby Harris moved Agim into playing in nine games as a backup.
He’ll play his 10th game today in the Broncos’ season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders this afternoon (2:25 p.m. kickoff) at Empower Field at Mile High.
“I feel like I’ve put some good things on tape,’’ Agim said. “I can always improve. I’m upset about us not making the playoffs and having a losing record, not being above .500 or being at the mark we want to be at. And that’s first in the AFC West. That’s one of the first goals that we have.
“My main thing is helping us get to that point. I’m satisfied with the reps I did get. I feel like it helped me in my development for next year. So I was just happy with any reps I could get. We had a lot of guys, a lot of vets coming in and playing, so I know I’m going to have to wait for my time. And just be ready whenever my name was called.’’
He said he learned something from every single defensive line teammate from DeMarcus Walker to Dre’Mont Jones to Sylvester and DeShawn Williams to the injured Casey and Purcell.
“I don’t know how it is for other rookies, but I feel like our veterans were very open and very willing to help me,’’ Agim said.
He also benefitted from the coaching of Bill Kollar, who after 32 years of NFL experience, has a reputation for being tough on rookies.
“I ain’t ever had one like Bill before ever in my life,’’ Agim said with a laugh. “Yeah, he can be tough, but it’s a part of being in the business, and I think he’s just getting you ready for all the adversity you’re going to face. Especially when you’re a draft pick. That’s what I heard, especially if you’re a draft pick, he’s going to be hard on you because he wants to get every ounce of potential out of you that he can because he cares. He wants his guys to get paid, he wants his guys to play well. I think he’s tough on you your first year to make sure you’re molded to what he wants and your second year it’s second nature.”
Like all players, Agim will get his exit interview from his coaches Monday. There he will be told what he needs to work on during the offseason to get more playing time in year two.
“Making sure I’m more stout in the run, making sure that I make more plays in the pass whenever I get opportunities,’’ he said. “Like I said it’s a veteran-led D-line right now so whenever your name and number is called you have to be ready because this is a business and like you said it’s not a redshirt year, if you’re not ready they’re going to find somebody to replace you.”
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