Former UNC wide receiver Greg Little spoke with reporters for several minutes on Tuesday at Navy Field during Pro Day. More than 90 NFL scouts and coaches were on hand for the event.
Little was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA on Oct. 11 for violations of NCAA agent benefits, preferential treatment and ethical conduct rules.
Here’s a transcript of selected quotes from the draft hopeful in his return to a UNC field
On his belief in second chances
Yeah I do. But the second chance is not worth anything if you did not learn from the mistakes, it’s not worth giving the second chance.
On what he’s learned
I knew it was a defining moment in my life. It definitely shaped me and changed my morals and values and really got to soul searching about who I was. I know I’m going to make mistakes, I’m gonna drop balls, I’m gonna do things that aren’t right or wrong. And I did some things that were very wrong and very selfish, so to speak. I know I’ve got to move on from that and show everybody who I really am as a person.
On what it meant for the University to allow him to come back and compete on Pro Day
That just speaks volumes that the University knows who I am and know that I made a mistake. And they’ve got to see me grow through my career spent here. …I’ll still be a supporter of Carolina no matter what. No matter what. And they’ve done an unbelievable job supporting me. And I would still announce my name on Monday Night Football, ‘Greg Little, North Carolina’ always. That will never change.
On if he thinks in the back of his mind that mistakes may not matter to NFL teams, all that matters is how he can catch a ball or run a route
That’s going to affect the moods of guys in the locker room. And I think that’s what the NFL is most worried about—cancers on the team. Receivers come by a dime a dozen, let’s be truthful about it. Any receiver can run a route and catch a ball. But they want to gel the team, guys who are goin got bring others along. And that’s something I believe I’m going to do.
On the extra pounds he’s put on since leaving UNC
I think I did pretty well with it. It looks good.
On his emotions when reality set in that he would not play for UNC in 2010
I just cried my eyes out. I just can’t believe I’d allow myself to do those types of things — just to be that naïve and negligent of the rules.
On the negative response he received from Tar Heel fans
I never felt any turmoil from any community members or students or anything. It was always, ‘I hope everything works out, I hope you guys are able to play.’ I never felt any turmoil from anybody. And it was always a positive attitude and that’s what I was relay back to them. I would stay out until in Meet the Heels until the very last person was there and I think that’s some of the things they recognized and liked. And that’s going to be the case with me.
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