National Football League

Lions add S Miles Killebrew of Southern Utah in 4th round

Published Apr. 30, 2016 3:42 p.m. ET

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ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) Miles Killebrew was about to leave for his college graduation when his day suddenly became even more exciting.

Killebrew was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round Saturday, and the safety from Southern Utah was almost overflowing with enthusiasm when he spoke to reporters on a conference call moments later. By that time, he was in the car, on his way to graduate with a degree in engineering.

''I froze for a second, kind of like a deer in headlights when I saw the phone ringing,'' Killebrew said. ''I'm still kind of geeking out about it a little bit here in the car. ... I'm on cloud nine.''

Killebrew was taken with the 111th overall pick, and he was surprised to end up with the Lions after their coaches gave him a hard time at the Senior Bowl. It turned out they were just putting him through a bit of a test.

''They told me, `Oh no. We don't necessarily like you. We don't think we're going to take you,''' Killebrew said. ''I'm talking to the coach today and he said, `Oh, we just wanted to see how you would react to it.'''

The Lions spent the first two days of the draft adding linemen on both sides of the ball. They took offensive tackle Taylor Decker in the first round, defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson in the second and center Graham Glasgow in the third.

Killebrew was credited with a team-high 132 tackles (74 solo) last season. Listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Killebrew says he enjoys being a big hitter.

''I would much rather be the hammer than the nail,'' he said. ''In its purest sense, football is a collision sport, and as long as I'm doing it safely and legally, I enjoy it.''

Killebrew is the fourth player the Lions have drafted from a college in Utah in the last four years, joining Ziggy Ansah and Kyle Van Noy (Brigham Young) and Nevin Lawson (Utah State).

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Online:

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL

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