Drew Kaser on being drafted by the Chargers, punting situation at A&M

Key quotes from Drew Kaser interview

"Honestly, I was speechless (when I got the call). It was a nerve racking day, I was sitting around here and I had a little party back home in Ohio with all my family and friends. Through the fourth and fifth round my phone was quiet, it was a ghost town and I wasn't hearing anything. All of the sudden the sixth round came on and I got a phone call from a California number saying this is the San Diego Chargers GM Tom Telesco and I'd like to talk to you. I knew right then and there that was the real deal. He asked, 'How would you like to be a Charger?' and I just lost it. I was just so happy."

"The Chargers were the team I talked to most (before the draft). The special teams coordinator Coach Aukerman came out and worked me out. He came and watched me work out for a couple of days and I just got to know him and hang out with him and did a little work out for them. Throughout this entire process we have been, Coach Aukerman and I, have been texting back and forth. (Josh) Lambo i  already out there in San Diego and we share the same agent, so we have been having a lot of communication with the Chargers and everything going on so on and so forth. Getting closer to draft time, Coach Aukerman was calling me for just for 10 or 15 minutes to wish me the best of luck and giving his spiel about how he wishes I could be on the Chargers and how he really wants me there. We were texting back and forth and I was actually texting him right before the draft started asking if I needed to pay attention to the number three overall pick. I was going to text him and tell him they picked the wrong Ohio guy."

"Being in San Diego is a dream come true, it's a perfect set up. I still have to go out there and I still have to earn my job every single day and work hard at it because nothing is given. To be in a situation in San Diego in amazing weather, to be joining a former Aggie in Lambo and one of my best friends and just having  the power duo back together ... We've been in contact every day since the draft and we're so pumped to be out there and might be living together and training together for a little bit during the summer. We are just so ecstatic. I'm just so blessed to be in the situation I am with the Chargers organization. To be drafted even as a punter, I think it was just the perfect opportunity for me."

"Oh (Lambo) was huge (as a mentor at A&M). It's kind of funny, I was kind of a little bit of a mentor to him at first. Being a soccer guy he never played football and so I taught him the ropes of everything at A&M and took him through there. He was also a mentor to me and just was a really good friend of mine as we went through the years. We developed this relationship just with life lessons, stuff like that. It's kind of ironic, I was mentoring him at first and now he's mentoring me. It really is, I could not have asked for a better situation."

"Exactly, I talked to him [Bertolet] and we always thought the Rams were the best spot for him. When it came down to free agency or being drafted we thought the Rams were the perfect spot for him and that they gave him the best chance to win a job. He's going into camp with an experience starter Greg Zuerlein and I think that Taylor has a great chance to go in there and compete and work hard and hopefully come out with a starting job. It's kind of crazy, all three of us within 30 or 40 minutes of each other."

"It's been huge having [Jeff] Banks at A&M. From the time when I was first starting my freshman year playing, redshirting my sophomore year and then going into my junior year, I had a lot of doubts and a lot of uncertainties around me. So for him to come in there and take me under his wing and to really develop me into this amazing punter and person, he's really helped me develop into who I am today. Having a former punter as a college coach is a rare commodity, there might be a few, if any, in college football like that. It really set me up to be where I am today, to be how successful I am and to kind of be one step ahead of everyone in the pack going into the draft. Now that I got drafted, I can take what I learned from Coach Banks and go into the NFL and take it with me and develop even more and learn from everyone there."

"The Chargers are calling me today (about the upcoming schedule). When they called me on the phone on Sunday the GM jumped on the line  and Coach McCoy jumped on the line and they said they were going to call me on Monday and kind of update me on everything. I'm assuming I'm going up there a little later this week and get situated with everything going on with the program with the facilities and with the coaches and players. OTAs start up next Monday so if nothing this weekend then on Monday I'll for sure be in OTAs."

"I mean both guys (Braden Mann and Shane Tripucka) are just incredible guys on and off the field. Shane, the veteran, has been there for three years now and you can really see his progress that he's made throughout his time there. He's just a solid punter. He has the range if he chooses and he has the potential to be a great punter for A&M. Braden Mann, a freshman coming in, I was very very impressed with what he put together this entire spring and improving every single day. I've worked with both of them very closely and I really think A&M is going to be in good hands no matter who takes over. I honestly think there isn't a wrong choice with who could be punter."