PATRIOTS 2024 SIXTH ROUND DRAFT PICK MARCELLAS DIAL

PRESS CONFERENCE

APRIL 27, 2024

Q: Tell me your reaction.

MD: Not a stress for me, it was just a dream come true. Something I've been waiting for my whole life, so for it to actually happen. My visit there, I had a great time. I was able to make a good first impression. So, for this to be the team I go to, it's just a dream come true. It's unbelievable, like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Q: You mentioned the visit. What do you remember about the visit?

MD: I remember the coaches, they were all pretty cool. I was able to be myself for most of it. I was able to be myself around them. Like I said, again, my first impression was so good. I was able to be myself again whenever I was talking to them. Getting in the playbook with them, I was able to impress with my knowledge of football and everything, and as a person as well. So, like I said, it was a great visit. One of my best ones out of the teams. I think this was one of my best ones.

Q: Can you tell us and the fan base a little bit about your game?

MD: I'm a sticky corner in coverage. I'm able to run, compete and play with any receiver, any body type. I'm very good at attacking whenever the ball is in the air. I can make plays on the ball. I know there's bits and parts to my game to get better at, but that's where I'm going to come in, work and get better.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey to South Carolina? I know you started off at Georgia Military College. What was that journey like for you?

MD: So, coming out of high school, I wasn't having any recruits, so let's take the JUCO [junior college] route. Whenever that happened, I got out of high school and went to Georgia Military for like a year and a half. I was able to go there and handle my business on and off the field, so I was able to be honored and leave. Going to South Carolina in January of 2021 – prior to going to GMC, whenever I first got to GMC, I kind of spoke me going to South Carolina into existence. I told everybody, all my teammates, I was coming over here. I told them, 'See? South Carolina offered me. I'm committing.' I told my coaches like, 'That's the only school I want to go to. I want to go back and play for my hometown,' and they made it happen. Coincidentally, South Carolina was my first offer. We all had the same reason why. It's all God's plan, you know?

Q: I see the clouds above you. Tell me, where are you and who are you with today? Who's celebrating this day?

MD: So, I'm back in Woodruff (S.C.), my hometown. I'm with my family, some of my close family, all my siblings; there's six of us. All my siblings, my mom, my grandparents from my dad's side. My dad passed away on July 6th, 2021, so he's not here with us physically, but he's here in spirit. But again, a couple of my teammates, and that's really it. A couple of my friends, that's really it.

Q: I saw you won the Overcoming Adversity Award at South Carolina. What did that mean to you, and when it was presented to you, how did they tell you? Why did they pick you, you know? What did they tell you, why you were the choice?

MD: Yeah, it just, that's just my life, how it's been. I've been an underdog all my life. I've been having to fight this uphill battle all my life. So, me overcoming adversity, that's something I've been doing my whole life. So, it's nothing new, you know? Then, I think they presented it to me because of my journey getting there. My journey throughout my three years there, I was in the rotation and everything. I never once was thinking about getting in the portal, never once complaining or anything. I just kept my head down, kept working, didn't rebel against the coaches or anything, so I just overcame a lot of adversity like I have my whole life, you know?

Q: You just mentioned about speaking South Carolina into existence, and you also said that New England was one of your best visits. Is it fair to say you spoke this into existence too, during the pre-draft process or anything like that?

MD: Man, I ain't going to cap, it was kind of my agent, too. He kind of spoke it into existence, too, because one of his players, Stephon Gilmore, was his client as well. So, he kind of spoke into existence, too, but like I said, it was one of my best visits. So, I was thinking – I didn't know. It caught me by surprise when they told me I was their first defensive player. That's an honor to be their first defensive player off the board. So, I mean, I kind of was thinking, but I didn't want to speak on it too soon. It's something I really felt deep in my heart that I made happen just by my first impression I sent them.

Q: Just to follow up, you just mentioned Stephon Gilmore. What's the connection with that, in addition to the agent? Have you talked to him or anything like that about the Patriots?

MD: Oh, no sir, we haven't connected yet. I'm sure we will in the future because I'm going to the team he got drafted to, so I'm sure we will in the future. But, I kind of got with my agent a little bit late. I had an agent before him, and I had to fire him. Me and my new agent, which is Stephon Gilmore's agent, we locked in kind of late in my process, so we haven't gotten there fully yet.

Q: I was just kind of curious, you mentioned Stephon Gilmore. Are there any other Patriots players, whether it be the others who were just drafted, or people who are on the roster that you have any connection with? If not, was there anyone you met when you made that first impression, any players in the building that you met at that time?

MD: I don't have any connections on the team, but let me see. I know there's one receiver that we had met in a Hibachi restaurant. I forget his name…Kendrick?

Q: Kendrick Bourne?

MD: Bourne, yeah! We had met in a Hibachi restaurant, and we had just kicked it off right off the bat. It was kind of weird because I didn't know him, he didn't know me, but we just kind of connected to each other and started talking about everything. He was telling me his journey and everything, telling me I was on the right track and everything, and it's just so crazy that I'm here now. It's so crazy that I ended up here; it's so crazy. It's crazy that he's my teammate now.

Q: I've got to ask about the Hibachi restaurant. Where was it, and when did you meet Kendrick?

MD: It was right – I forget the name, hold on. It was right beside the stadium. It was called Saga or something. It was right outside the hotel with a view of the stadium and everything. It was a nice spot and everything, and I actually met him after I got done eating. I was walking out, and he was sitting at the bar by himself. We just kind of locked eyes and went from there. We just locked eyes and literally started talking to each other. I didn't even know that he was on the team. I didn't know he was on the team, like I said. He told me his journey and everything, and then it just went up from there. Then, I saw him the next day because that was the day before my visit. I saw him the next day in the building; he had dapped me up like twice. He saw me twice to three times, and he dapped me up again. He was a cool guy, he was good, he was good energy.