Football was not Gareon Conley’s first love. The Raiders’ first-round draft pick didn’t even play the sport his freshman year at Massillon Washington High School in Ohio, preferring the basketball court over the gridiron.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t like it,” Conley said Friday. “I was kind of forced to play it, so I didn’t want to do it just because I was forced. I wanted to do something I wanted to do. But I learned to love it.”
As if to show the prudence of that decision, as Conley spoke he was flanked by Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie and head coach Jack Del Rio, who hours before had made the 21-year-old Ohio State cornerback the 24th overall selection in this year’s draft.