04-26-25 Broncos 7th Round Pick Caleb Lohner

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Caleb Loner tied in from Utah now a Denver Bronco. Caleb, congratulations,
Thank you so much for joining us. What was that
phone call like a few minutes ago when the Broncos
called and UH drafted you? Man?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
That phone call was awesome. You know, I was so exciting.
It's something you dream about, right seeing your name on
a on a draft, and so I couldn't be more
excited to get things going with Broncos. Country Man. I'm
hyped up and I'm ready to go.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Caleb, you obviously had the back basketball background and you
were still playing with basketball right up until March. How
was the were you doing any prep for for football?
Were you doing any any draft prep or any of
that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, you know, I tried to do as much as
I could while playing. It was it was interesting balancing both,
you know. But you know, my focus has been entirely
on football from there out and something that I wanted
to pursue and follow my passion for. And so I'm
excited to just continue to develop and work on all
these skills and you know, develop my knowledge of the game.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
What was your journey like from the hardwood to the gridiron.
That's a pretty big transition going from you know, power
forward for three four years in school to becoming an
NFL tight end, you know, four receptions to your name.
What has that transition been like? What made you want
to follow that path?

Speaker 2 (01:23):
I think just the University of Utah and the recruitment
that they had when it came to I want to
help me be a tight end and reach the highest level.
You know. I think everything that I know now came
from them, and their message to me was just, hey,
we believe you can be a high level tight end,
and so I got to give the credit to them
and then just you know, everybody else that's helped me
throughout this journey of learning the game, and I'm super

(01:46):
excited to be where I am I am.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
Now Prior to that recruiting effort. How much tight end
or football had you played? When was the last time
you were playing football?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, last time I had played in seventh grade. I
played youth football growing up up in Texas, and then
from there on I just chose ball. So last year
it was actually my I guess last June was kind
of the first time I'd put on a football helmet.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
In a minute, so kel Laura joining us here the
Broad Coast selection here in the seventh round. So I
see here that you played in all twelve games. You
caught four passes for four touchdowns, as we were talking
about right before you came on, including one against our
Colorado Buffaloes. So first of all, are you the most

(02:29):
efficient athlete in the history of football? Is my first question?
Because four catches for four touchdowns seems pretty good.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
There.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
I don't know what the stat is, but I'm sure
that numbers up there somewhere. But man, was it was
such an honor to play for a program like the
University of Utah. And I'm all the great coaches and
teammates that I had over there, you know, people that
I remember the rest of my life. So I got
to give a lot of credit to the University of Utah.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
You know, the last I had, the last basketball player
that Sean Payton went out got turned into a tight end.
His name was Jimmy Graham. That's some pretty big shoes
to follow in. But gotta gives you a roadmap. How
confident are you and your ability to jump into that
transition to the NFL?

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Man, Yeah, you know, I'm excited, and I've just been
telling people I'm gonna take things day by day and
my goal is just to be a little better each day.
You know, I think this development will take time, but
at the same time, I'm here for it. You know,
I chose to play football for a reason, and I'm
excited just to bring everything I can to I'm the
Denver Broncos and give him my all.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
On that Utah youth's team, you were with another great
tight end and Brent Keithy, who's you know, also hoping
to get drafted here, I'm curious learning under a tight
end like that who had so much experience in Utah
playing their six years. What did you learn about playing
the position from them?

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I learned a ton. Brent, you know, became one of
the mentors for me when I understanding the scheme, how
the offense went, and you know, jumping into a huddle
offense after not playing football for a long time is
a little different. And so to have a great tight
end room, great tight end coach, great offensive staff definitely
helped me in everything. You know, I wouldn't be where

(04:09):
I am today without them.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Well, Caleb, congratulations, man, We are very excited for you
a cool opportunity here with the Denver Broncos. Look forward
to meeting you when you come out here.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Thank you man, I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Thank you guys appreciate it. Killed loner