Ben Tate speaks

Hey everyone. My interview with Ben Tate, the former Auburn tailback, began according to plan today. We spent 15 minutes or so talkin' shop.

He refused to tell me which teams were working him out privately, which I found a little odd. So it goes. If secrecy yields him an extra $1 million, I support it fully.

I'm no hater ... except when I'm hating.

The full Q & A will run in tomorrow's editions of the Advertiser. Here now is a sneak peek for you HOTTIES.

Q: Have you noticed a change in how many people are around you or want to hang out with you now that you'll be an NFL guy?

A: ``Not really. I'm not someone who hangs out with a lot of people. It's just the same group I've had all my life. I'm not the kind of guy who gets to know everybody. I stick with the people I know."

Q: You obviously had a great Combine, running a 4.4 and showing plenty of strength. Were you surprised by how well that went?

A: ``I was hoping to run a little bit faster, actually. I've had better times. I told my agent that I planned to run again at Pro Day, but that didn't go over too well with him. He told me I didn't need to run it again, that the 4.4 was good enough. I'll just go with the numbers I have, I guess."

Q: You've been really hitting the social networks lately, offering autographs and exclusive interviews with fans. Where did that come from?

A: ``I had the idea for a while, but my marketing guy and I came up with the stuff we're doing. It's definitely something I want to keep doing -- especially at the next level. I want people to know about me if they care enough to look. I'm not going to be like (Chad) Ochocinco and tweeting every 30 minutes. He does a pretty good job, but that's not me. Do people really care that much?"

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.