GREEN BAY – As a South Carolina native, Brandon Cisse wanted to play in college for his home-state school.
That didn’t happen coming out of Lakewood High School, but after two years across the border at North Carolina State, he got a chance to transfer back to South Carolina, and he happily took it.
Lo and behold, Packers national scout Mike Owen happens to live just 35 minutes from the South Carolina campus. On a practice visit last September, Cisse made a strong first impression, as he simply talked a lot about football.
Fast forward seven months and the Packers drafted Cisse, a cornerback, in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday night with the No. 52 overall pick.
Owen describes the 5-11¾, 189-pound prospect as a “smart, tough, physical corner” who’s “wired right.” Part of that wiring is how he kept fighting for what he wanted in college.
“You can feel that chip on his shoulder when you talk to him, about getting overlooked by South Carolina, coming full circle and then really helping his team and helping that defense elevate to a different level,” Owen said. “You could still see he’s got that chip on his shoulder. He still holds it today. I hope he carries it on as he’s in the NFL.”
That chip isn’t a source of bitterness or resentment, though, but pure motivation, and Cisse is grateful everything worked out the way it did.
“I was kind of under the radar,” he said of his original recruitment. “But it all happened for the better and ended up back at South Carolina with a great coaching staff to help develop me. I can’t thank those guys enough.”
