Fletcher Cox hasn't laid out any grand plans for how he will spend the money earned from the rookie contract which he agreed to on Monday afternoon. In fact, when asked during a conference call about what he will do for his family, he kept the focus on football.
"My biggest thing is just going in and playing," Cox said. "I'll do something really special for my mom and my siblings. Other than that, me playing football is the most important thing right now."
Cox acknowledged that there are not too many first-round picks who come out of his hometown of Yazoo City, Miss., a town with a population of a little more than 11,000. In fact, Cox said that not too many children even get the opportunity to go to college. The former Mississippi State star believes that "hard work and listening" got him to the NFL, but that's not his ultimate goal. With the contact done, Cox can report to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. on July 22 ready to compete for an integral role on this 2012 Philadelphia Eagles team.
"That's basically what football is all about, competing, and I'm always up for competition," Cox said.
"My mindset is going in and just doing what I'm coached to do, what (defensive line) coach (Jim) Washburn wants me to do, and that's play hard and be relentless."
Cox is already reaping the rewards of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was signed last year. With the rookie wage scale, Cox was able to have his contract hammered out 34 days prior to the start of camp. All nine of the Eagles draft picks have their deals completed. First-round picks have lost valuable time in past years at Training Camp because contracts weren't completed until after camp started.
"You don't want to miss a few days of training camp because if you miss three days, then you're three days behind and somebody else is ahead of you," Cox said. "With the new CBA, it makes a lot of stuff easy and helps us get this out the way. I know my agent did a great job of negotiating. I think he did a good job in getting it out of the way so I can play football."
Cox is back home in Mississippi and will train at Mississippi State prior to returning for Training Camp. Cox said at the end of the mini-camp last week that he was not concerned about his contract. Now, Cox can put all of his focus into showing why he was the No. 12 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
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