Mohamoud Diabate looking to 'control the controllables' in trying to make Browns roster
BEREA — Mohamoud Diabate remembers the first call he received from Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. Not that he remembered — or recognized — who Stefanski was at the time.
"Actually, after the draft concluded, I get a FaceTime call from a random number," Diabate said Thursday. "I don’t have the number saved, I answer it and the person starts giving me a spiel, like ‘This is why you should come to Cleveland.’ And I didn’t know the person’s face, so I was like, 'Excuse me, who are you?' And it was Stefanski."
At the time, Diabate, whose college career started at the University of Florida but ended at the University of Utah, had just watched seven rounds of the NFL Draft go by without his name being called. That fact wasn't a surprise to him after he had not been invited to the Combine in February.
That random — at least to Diabate — FaceTime call was the linebacker's entry point into the NFL.
"If you would’ve asked me April 28, are you going to be a Cleveland Brown, I would’ve thought no shot because I never communicated with them," Diabate said. "But they did a great job in vetting me. They did a great job of scouting me because when I came here they had all the information that I could even imagine. So that’s commitment to them."
Ask Diabate on Aug. 24 if he was going to be a Cleveland Brown, he might still have questions. Technically, yes, he already is a Cleveland Browns player by the very nature of being on their training camp roster.
However, like so many there, the question is whether or not Diabate is going to be a Cleveland Brown at 4:01 p.m. Tuesday, a minute after the deadline to get the roster to 53. Or, more importantly, will he be one at 1 p.m. Sept. 10, when the regular season begins against the Cincinnati Bengals?
Diabate doesn't know the answer to that question. He just knows he'll be on a plane with the rest of the Browns' traveling party on Friday afternoon when they head to Kansas City, Mo., for Saturday's preseason finale against the Chiefs.
"I try to think about what I can control, control the controllables, do what I can and let the people who make decisions make their decisions," Diabate said. "I don’t sit around worrying about something that I don’t have a decision in. So I’m focused on going out there on Saturday and having a great game and giving a good impression to the entire league."
There's no doubting Diabate is making a good impression on the Browns. He's been one of their top defensive performers in the preseason, capped by his showing in last Thursday's third exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Diabate had two game-altering plays in the first half against the Eagles. He tackled running back Kenneth Gainwell for safety on Philadelphia's second play from scrimmage.
With roughly 5:30 remaining in the second quarter, Diabate then stripped running back Trey Sermon, creating a fumble fellow rookie Cameron Mitchell recovered. That led to a Cade York field goal for an 8-3 Browns lead.
“I thought he was very active," Stefanski said. "He flies around the field, did a great job ball searching there, getting the ball out. He really plays with a ton of energy, and that’s kind of what I was talking about earlier with our guys. Just competing for 60 minutes."
Diabate finished the Eagles game with a game-high-tying seven total tackles, including a tackle for loss, and six solo stops on defense, as well as a special-teams tackles. Through three preseason games, he has 11 total tackles on defense and one more on special teams.
Is that enough to get him on the initial 53-man roster? Who knows.
"It feels good to let everybody else know what I already know for myself," Diabate said. "It feels good to be able to put that on tape as solid proof. You know what they say — men lie, women lie but the film doesn’t lie. So being able to put that on film, that was big, and I’m thankful to God to be able to make me be healthy and be able to do that."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Mohamoud Diabate to control the controllables' in quest to make Browns
