CHARLOTTE – Thanks to "Hard Knocks," us football fans know all about the rookie talent shows that take place across the NFL when training camps begin.
Thanks to the first episode of "Camp Confidential," we know how it went for first-round pick Brian Burns.
Burns got in front of the team and unleashed a masterful recreation of Denzel Washington's famous scene (it's been said it won him the Oscar) from the 2001 thriller, "Training Day." Burns received a roaring ovation when it was all said and done.
I just had to find out how Burns pulled that off.
"I always loved the movie and I always liked that scene. But I never took the time to really perfect it," Burns explained. "I used to say the lines and play around every now and then, but I never took the time."
Once he arrived at training camp, Burns knew he was going to be one of the first up to entertain the veterans. He latched onto the "Training Day" idea, but first had to make sure singing wasn't a requirement.
"After the conditioning test, I asked Cam. I was like, 'Do I have to sing?' And he was like, 'You can do whatever, just own it.' I was like, 'Alright, bet.' So before dinner I got to my room, pulled up that YouTube clip and watched it like 50 times," Burns said with a laugh.
When Newton got things started at the team meeting, Burns was ready. In fact, he volunteered to go first.
"Not nervous at all. I was confident with it," he said. "If I was singing I would have probably been a little nervous, but I'm honestly a performer."
At first, the audience didn't seem to know what was happening. But Burns gradually had them in the palm of his hand.
"There were certain lines in the script where I started personalizing it and talking to certain people in the crowd. One time I pointed at Cam when I said something really aggressive and they all started to laugh," Burns said.
"Then once I pulled out that little fake cigarette I had, it was over. It was over."
Bravo, rookie. Bravo.
