Ravens Rookie Shares Interesting Reason Behind Shocking Haircut

"I was in the shower and it took a long time to wash and detangle and the whole process," Buchanan said. "It's right after the season, I had the new year coming up, I knew I was going to go out to train for the [NFL Scouting] Combine, I was going to do the East-West [Shrine] game, I was going to do all these different things and I was like, I don't want to be spending 30 minutes a few times a week washing my hair. It was just too much"

The other reason he gave for cutting his hair was his desire to restart the growth process as his NFL career goes along and "kind of earn that back."

"I wanted to come in and earn it," Buchanan said. "It was a hard decision, it wasn't easy but at the same time, it does feel good to be able to not have all that hair."

Unlike Samson from the bible, Buchanan didn't lose any of his God-given athletic ability after his hair was cut. In fact, he tested off the charts at the Combine, posting the best marks in the vertical leap (40") and bench press (26), second-best broad jump (10'5") and ran the seventh-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.60) among all inside linebackers.

"I was excited for the Combine," Buchanan said. "We did mock combines at [University of California] Davis so I knew roughly what my numbers were going to be and I was excited to show that... I felt like it was a good opportunity to show what kind of athlete I am and I feel like I was able to do that."

As a rookie, Buchanan has an opportunity to both earn his stripes and begin growing back his mane as part of the competition for the starting weakside (WILL) linebacker spot next to three-time First Team All Pro selection Roquan Smith in the middle of the Ravens defense.

Even though the pads have yet to come on and third-year pro Trenton Simpson is the early favorite to regain his spot in the starting lineup, Buchanan has already begun turning heads in OTA and minicamp practices. However, becoming a starter isn't at the forefront of his mind.

"I'm just focused on the day-to-day," Buchanan said. "I just control what I can control. I try to show up every single day and do what I can do and whatever that leads to, that's really out of my hands."

Whether he emerges as a starter sooner rather than later, Buchanan wants to uphold the rich and storied tradition of strong off-ball linebacker play in Baltimore.

"When you have guys like that [come before], you have no choice but to step up your game and elevate how you play. I feel like that's only going to make me a better player," he said. "At the Ravens, it means something to be a linebacker."