East Marion alum Johnathan Abram made history April 25, becoming the first Columbia native since Walter Payton to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
The Oakland Raiders made the former Mississippi State Bulldog the 27th overall selection, and he told Raiders.com correspondent Lincoln Kennedy Friday after being selected that he was ready to join a great coaching staff and front office, especially defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock.
“I knew those were some guys that were actually going to utilize me to my full potential,” he said. “I’m going to get the most out of it, and I’m going to be with some great guys like Lamarcus Joyner, another thumper, Karl Joseph, and a bunch of guys. You got Gareon Conley on the outside. I’m excited because I’m going to be a part of a great group already.”
Abram took the untraditional path to the NFL, suiting up for three different colleges over his four-year collegiate career. The hard-hitting safety signed with Georgia out of high school but wanted a change after his freshman season. He opted to return to Mississippi and play at Jones College for a year where he became the No. 1 junior college safety prospect in the country. He then signed with Mississippi State, where he starred for two seasons and became a highly-coveted NFL commodity.
Abram said that he is also looking forward to being a part of the proud tradition the Raiders established of having some of the best defensive backs the game has ever seen.
“There’s a lot of guys who played here who played the game the way it was meant to be played — fast, physical and aggressive. They played the ball, (created) a lot of turnovers, and they were a lot of guys who will go down as Hall of Famers,” he told Raiders.com. “There’s a lot of great DBs who have played here, so I have a lot of work to do.”
He also said that he’s ready to embrace the Raider Nation fan base.
“These are some of the hardest fans to play in front of if you’re the opponent but some of the best fans to play for if that’s your team. I look forward to it, especially being the type of guy I am with high energy. I feed off of that with fans going crazy. I look forward to all the love and even the down side,” he said. “If you don’t make plays, they’re harassing you, but I look forward to that. It just means they love this game, they love this team and they love this organization.”
Abram will join his new teammates on the field Friday when Oakland begins rookie minicamp. While he is an Oakland Raider now, that will only last for one season as the franchise is moving to Las Vegas in 2020.
His projected four-year salary based on his draft slot is $11.5 million with a $6.4 million signing bonus, based on a Forbes.com analysis. His actual contract has not been signed yet, which is typical for NFL rookies.
