"I was nine years old": Tyler Booker reveals how his NFL dream germinated before joining Nick Saban's squad

Offensive lineman Tyler Booker was one of the Alabama Crimson Tide players invited to this year's NFL Scouting Combine. He joined the program in 2022 when Nick Saban was the coach. After three seasons, Booker declared for the upcoming draft after foregoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.

The fourth day of the Combine in Indianapolis was dedicated to the workouts of offensive linemen. 'NFLGameday' posted a video on social media of Tyler Booker being interviewed at Lucas Oil Stadium after his Combine performance.

During the interview, Tyler Booker said that it was always his dream to participate in the Combine. He was then asked about the age at which he decided to follow his passion of becoming a professional football player.

"I feel great. It's really a blessing to be here. I've been dreaming about coming to the Combine since I knew what the Combine was. So, living out my childhood dream. It's really be great," Booker said.

"Do you remember how old you were when you realized this is absolutely my dream, I want to be a professional football player?" NFL Network's Kimmy Chex questioned.

"I was nine years old," Booker replied. "I was nine-years-old. So I was playing for the New Haven Steelers. We played the Hartford Hurricanes, and I just completely dominated. And I was like, I want to chase this feeling for the rest of my life. Glad to say I'm still doing that."

Last season, the Crimson Tide replaced the retired Nick Saban with Kalen DeBoer as their new head coach.

However, despite the hype, DeBoer could only muster a 9-4 campaign while failing to compete both in the SEC title game and the 12-team playoffs. Tyler Booker played in all 13 games and was honored as a First-Team All-SEC.

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Tyler Booker expresses desire to reunite with former teammate Will Anderson

Will Anderson played for the Crimson Tide for three seasons. The Houston Texas drafted him with the third overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Anderson provided a lot of guidance to Tyler Booker during his stint in Tuscaloosa.

During the media availability at the Scouting Combine on Wednesday, Tyler Booker said that he would love to reunite with Will Anderson once again, hinting at his desire to join the Texans.

"It would mean a lot to be on a team with Will Anderson," Booker said. "I've learned a lot of my leadership skills from Will. Being around a guy like that who loves the game of football, that's something hard to pass up on. In the game of football, not everybody loves it."

The Alabama OL didn't have the best Combine performance of his group. Nevertheless, several NFL draft experts project him to be a mid-first-round pick in April

The Houston Texans have the 25th overall pick in this year's draft. It will be interesting to see if they decide to pick up Booker if he's still available on the board by then.