MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Once the joy of Draft Day was behind him, Cowboys defensive tackle Quinton Bohanna went right to work.
"You enjoy it, you get drafted. You're at your high," the Memphis native described. "Then boom! You've got like two weeks, then you've got to go earn a job."
A sixth round pick by the Cowboys out of Kentucky, Bohanna battled for his place through the NFL Preseason.
This week, when the final 53-man roster was announced, there was no congratulatory phone call. Just a list of names; that included his.
"I'm not cocky, but I'm confident. So I had a good feeling I was going to make it," he said. "But still, I was like 'You made the 53. That's a hard thing to do.'"
Bohanna credits his hardworking mentality to his upbringing in North Memphis, and later at Cordova High School.
"It's just a type of dog you have in you when you're from the city of Memphis," Bohanna said, who now shares a field with fellow Memphians Tony Pollard and Cedric Wilson Jr. "They Memphis in and out. We've got the same mentality, that dog mentality. A team can't deny players like that with that mentality."
Having Pollard and Wilson around, has helped Bohanna feel comfortable in Dallas.
"Whenever I'm around the facilities, he always speaks to me and is checking on me," he said. "That's just somebody I feel more at home, coming into an unfamiliar spot."
Bohanna's attention now turns to his first regular season game against Tom Brady and the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Just looking at everything, soaking it in, but I got like ten minutes before I have to snap in," he said. "I'm going to enjoy it. It's going to be fun, it's something I've dreamed about my whole life, but I know what the main goal is on our first game and our first trip."