Five things you might not know about Isaac Yiadom

The Broncos drafted Isaac Yiadom in the third round on Friday. The lanky cornerback played four seasons at Boston College, breaking up 22 passes and intercepting three.

Denver’s coaching staff expects him to compete with Brendan Langley and Tremaine Brock for the third cornerback spot, but if he doesn’t get the job, he’ll still be a major contributor on special teams. Yiadom can lay some serious wood for a 190-pound cornerback.

Here are five things you might not know about Isaac Yiadom:

HIS NAME IS PRONOUNCED YEAH-DOM (Like Adam with a Y)

Yiadom is the son of Ghanaian immigrants.

He lived with his mother as a child in a small town in Virginia, but when she died in 2010, Yiadom and his little brother, Paul, moved in with their father in Worcester, Massachusetts, when Isaac was a freshman in high school

“It was a big change,” Paul told the Worcester Sun. “Back in Virginia, we had open space and could kind of go where we wanted with our friends. Now, in a city like Worcester, getting places is tougher, and things are complicated.”

HE WAS A TWO-WAY STAR IN HIGH SCHOOL

Okay, so most NFL players contributed on both sides of the ball in high school, but Yiadom was special.

He played running back and receiver at Doherty Memorial High School and amassed 1,242 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns. He averaged over 10 yards per run and nearly 25 yards per catch.

In the 2013 Massachusetts Division 4 Championship, he scored a 64-yard touchdown and broke up a two-point conversion that would have tied the game with under a minute left.

Check out this catch:

 

HE SOLIDIFIED HIS STANDING WITH THE BRONCOS IN THE SENIOR BOWL GAME

During Yiadom’s introductory press conference at Dove Valley, Joe Woods told a story from the Senior Bowl.

“When we were down at the Senior Bowl, it got a little sideways,” Woods said. “The kid from LSU [D.J. Chark] was giving us fits. So we go to the sideline and say we gotta do something. We say, ‘Hey let’s put Isaac on him.’ So we flipped him over, he didn’t bat an eye, did a great job at the line of scrimmage, broke up a pass.

“Later on in the game, we had a couple guys get banged up at the safety position. And we’re over there talking to the group of guys saying, ‘Hey, we need someone to go back here and take some snaps at safety,’ and he was the first to say, ‘Coach I’ll do it.’ Put him out there, and he made a great tackle coming out of the post.”

HE’S A GOOD TEAMMATE

Yiadom is the only member of the Broncos’ 2018 draft class who wasn’t a team captain in college, but that doesn’t mean he’s a locker room cancer.

In fact, Yiadom won the Jay McGillis Memorial Scholarship for being the Boston College defensive back who best exemplifies the personal qualities of team dedication and leadership, competitive spirit and personal concern for teammates.

In 2015, former Eagle and current Bronco Justin Simmons won the award.

HE *WAS* A PATRIOTS FAN

In addition to being a star football player, Yiadom was also a daily tweeter back in the day, writing about everything from school to his favorite NFL team.

Check out this pair of tweets from a few years ago:

God is good

— Isaac Yiadom Jr (@isaacshowtime) July 31, 2015

Tom Brady is great

— Isaac Yiadom Jr (@isaacshowtime) July 31, 2015

You can’t blame Yiadom for being a Patriots fan, since he grew up in Massachusetts.

Or maybe you can. I’m not sure.