After the first practice of his NFL career, Ahmed Hassanein smiled and said, "I don’t want to leave the field."
"I love it: the coaching, my teammates, the competitiveness, it’s been great. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow," he said.
Saturday will bring practice No. 2 of rookie minicamp for the Lions. For Hassanein, the first Egyptian ever drafted into the NFL, No. 1 was a thrill from start to finish. It began with a moment he will remember forever. After telling Dan Campbell over the phone "I will die for you, Coach," the night the Lions drafted him, Hassanein met Campbell on the field Friday morning.
"Man, it kinda feels unreal. I’m going to keep my glove forever. I just walked up in practice and shook his hand, and I was like, 'Coach, it’s me!'" Hassanein said with a laugh. "It’s awesome, though. I’m just looking forward to learning with him off the field and on the field. He’s an amazing coach. I couldn’t ask for a better team to be at."
Hassanein expressed the same sentiment on draft night. He's only been playing football for a handful of years after growing up in Egypt and moving back to the States at the age of 16 -- having never heard of the NFL -- but his zeal for the game suits the culture the Lions have built under Campbell and Brad Holmes.
He taught himself how to play defensive end partly by watching videos of NFL stars on YouTube, then willed his way into a scholarship at Boise State and eventually to Detroit via the sixth round of the draft, on the strength of 22 sacks and 33 tackles for loss over the last two seasons. As Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew put it Friday, Hassanein is a "relentless human being."
"He plays the game the way we like to play. He plays it hard. He’s a second-effort rusher," said Agnew.
Meaning, he just doesn't stop. Knock him down, and he'll get back up. Block him again, and he'll come back for more. Hassanein still has a lot to polish as a pass-rusher, and Agnew acknowledged that there "will be some growing pains on this level."
But as "he gets taught more tools in his tool belt as far as using his hands better, learning when to rush with leverage, learning when you have the sweet spot and turn the corner, just learning some nuances of the game ... the kid's going to be a good player for us," said Agnew.
Asked why the Lions feel like such a good fit, Hassanein said, "Man, you're talking about grit. Persevering when the hard challenges come. And I’m that type of guy."
"I look for hardships," he said. "I want to get better at stuff, because I don’t want to take the easy way out. I don’t want nothing to be given to me. I want to earn everything. For how much is given, much is required, and God gave me so much, I’m going to do my best to just give back to my teammates.”
Hassanein flashed some of his relentless in Friday's practice, rushing with force off the edge -- albeit in no pads, against fellow rookies. Very little can be gleaned from such sessions other than alignments.
Asked afterward where his pass-rushing skills need work, Hassanein said, "I can always get better with my technique, my hands placement, my get-off, my game, my stunts, collaborating, my communication. ... watching the ball, watching pre-snap movements. Just everything at football."
"I want to play special teams, I want to do everything," he said. "Whatever my team needs of me, I will be there."
Hassanein, 22, called the gap between the end of last season and the draft "the longest four months of my life." It was all worth it when the Lions called his name, and then when he arrived in Allen Park. He said the amenities at the practice facility have been the best surprise of reaching the NFL: "The food, the nutrition, the snack bar."
“I’m just so grateful for everything. It’s awesome. It’s just like, you can grab a snack whenever you want, you can get nutrition whenever you want," he said. "It’s a dream, and it came true."
Hassanein's favorite snack?
"Oooh. There’s the lobster mac n’ cheese they have in there, and I’m like, 'Wow! This is awesome!'" he laughed. "They have hydration, and beetroot. Apple juice, orange juice, everything. I’m just so honored to be here. I’m just happy, and gonna give it all I’ve got."