WRAL senior multiplatform producer Mark Bergin asked former Duke running back Mataeo Durant about how he's pursuing his NFL Dream after going undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft. Durant signed as an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers' rookie minicamp goes from May 13-15.
I'm just so excited, ready to get a band where, you know, there's something I want to do since I was a small child always talking about to my parents and all my peers. So, you know, with this being a reality now, it's just so exciting to see like how everything is coming to fruition throughout my career, hard working player who's always accountable for his actions, someone who's never gonna slide you with effort and someone that's always going to get after, you know, I feel like, you know, very, very dependable player as well, and you don't have to harp on everything I said one thing to be my love for the game and I'm I'm a perfectionist, so, like, anything I do, I want to be great at it. My parents are always driven me and my brothers, you know, once you attempt some go all out, be all in or else, you know, you might as well not do it because your heart is not always in it. So, you know, seeing the smile on my little brother's face when I was like, a young, a young boy going all these visits and stuff, saying how proud I met him, you know, and they're seeing all the, All the happiness on my parents faces knowing that, you know, I had the opportunity to go D1, you know, and play football and also get the education and education was the most important thing to them. Like, other than football, because they say, you know, use football to get your education, not use educational, play football. So, you know, I just in this process, I was just hoping to make my family proud, you know, every step of the way and you know, I've seen the joy on their faces and that makes me even happier, you know, that allows me to, you know, drive and achieve more. Uh, coach collective went viral at one time on Tiktok, I wasn't there, but somehow he came into the indoor on like, like our photo shoot day with a snake in his hand, he was just waving around. He went, he went viral like all over the internet twitter and like, and Tiktok and he was on like over time because it was like, man, like I can't believe he came in here with a snake, like just barely picked one up. But you know, because cut was cost is, um, a very sincere and great person and you know, without him, you know, giving me this opportunity to be here. You know, I wouldn't like, you know, be here. So I just want to thank him for everything he's done with me and help me advance my career and I only, you know, get better as a player. But as a man himself because you know, because cut hell that's accountable for our actions. And I feel like that's one thing that, you know, everyone should look for in a college coach, someone who's holding us accountable for your actions that have really high expectations of you just continue to work out like I've been doing, uh, I'm still on this, just so excited about, you know, the opportunity to plan NFL and also being able to graduate. That's, it's crazy to think about that, how I went through all of this school and four years later and Duke and I'm able to get a degree and go to the league. You know, that's like when people say the best of both worlds, that's definitely the best of both worlds.