Lewis Cine gives hilarious answer on teammates joining NFC North rival

Lewis Cine has grown used to having Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt as teammates. The trio starred together this past season at Georgia, where they helped lead the Bulldogs to a national championship victory against Alabama.

Now, they’ll have to get accustomed to being rivals in the NFL.

Cine, Walker and Wyatt were three of five Georgia players taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, with all of them going to NFC North teams. But while Walker and Wyatt will stick together on the Green Bay Packers, Cine finds himself alone on the Minnesota Vikings. During his introductory press conference last week, the safety addressed the fact he’ll now have to face his former teammates at least twice per season.

“I’m real excited for them,” Cine said. “The fact that they’re first round picks and they’re gonna change their whole life and whole family’s life and play the game that they love. But the team they’re playing for, I don’t even want to talk about that. But I’m real excited for the guys.”

Georgia’s defense was unquestionably the best in college football this past season, finishing first in scoring defense (10.2 points allowed) and second in total defense (268.5 yards allowed). All five of the Bulldogs’ first round selections were defensive players, which set a new NFL Draft record. Additionally, the Packers became the first team in the Common Draft era to select two defensive players from the same school in the first round, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

The other two Bulldogs taken in the first round were defensive linemen Travon Walker (No. 1 overall) and Jordan Davis (No. 13). In total, Georgia had 15 players taken in the entire draft, so Lewis Cine will see plenty of his former teammates in the future.

Cine spent the past three seasons with the Bulldogs, accumulating 144 total tackles, 14 pass deflections and two interceptions. This past year was his best yet, as he finished with a career high 73 tackles, one interception and nine passes defended.

Although Minnesota failed to make the playoffs this past season, Cine will hope to help the team back in 2022. But in order to do that, he first has to get past Wyatt, Walker and the Packers, who are the reigning NFC North champs.