After sliding into the second round, Washington standout Denzel Boston found a notable source of motivation that has helped fuel a dominant training camp performance.
Professional athletes tend to find some unique methods of motivation to play with a chip on their shoulder. Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston didn't have to look too far to find his.
The No. 39 overall pick has been the star of Browns offseason workouts, dating back to the spring, when he seemingly caught everything thrown his way. That has continued at training camp, where Boston has been featured in plenty of highlight-reel plays.
During the pre-draft process, the Washington product had been mentioned as a first-round worthy talent by some, but ultimately slipped into the second round where the Browns took him.
Boston is grateful for the opportunity to show what he can do in Cleveland, but he's using his slide into the second round as a major source of motivation.
"That will forever be on my shoulder and the rest of my life," Boston said ahead of Day 5 of training camp. "That's going to forever be a driving factor of the reason I do what I do. It's just one of those things that you don't forget and it's always just going to be there."
Boston may have felt snubbed, but the Browns are certainly grateful he slipped to them in the second round, especially after using one of their two first-round picks on a different receiver in KC Concepcion.
Together, the duo of rookie receivers has transformed the team's WR room entirely, and Boston, in particular, has emerged as arguably the biggest star of camp for his ability to catch quite literally everything thrown in his general vicinity.
The 22-year-old isn't surprised by how quickly he's picked things up at the next level.
"I didn't have any doubts just because I come into everything I do very confident," he said. "There's definitely been highs and lows. Some practices are better than others. Some days you make highlight plays, some days you make the routine plays. And when you make a lot of highlight plays, those routine plays feel like that's just normal."
Boston has made the non-routine look normal, as well. And his performance has many people dreaming big when it comes to what his rookie campaign will look like for the Browns.
He's not trying to get too far ahead, though.
"I'm not going to put any expectations or external pressures on myself," he ssaid. "I think the biggest thing is going out there, doing my job, being able to play free, and just make the most of the opportunities that I get."
That won't stop others from hyping him up, though, and it's more than warranted.
