Q: What have you been up to since we last saw you at the end of the regular season?
“Just training a lot. I’m doing a lot of performance training back home, a bunch of kids in high school in different sports, just trying to make a lot of the players better athletes.”
Q: How about your own training? Do you prefer to relax for a while and let your body rest, or are you still working out a lot?
“The type of training I’m doing personally for myself is different, but since I’m involved in training other people it’s hard not to continue. You’re helping other people get better and you want to get better. Rest is important, but there’s different ways to rest, different activities to do, like yoga, Pilates, and other types of stretching. There’s always something you can be working on, I don’t think you should ever just stop because you’ll lose that edge. That’s just personally for me, but every person is individually different. I just like being engulfed in it. I think without the training I get kind of bored anyways. It’s too big a part of my life, and it’s second hand, it’s not like I’m forcing myself to do it.”
Q: Even with all the training, it must have been nice to get back home for the holidays?
“Absolutely, but to be honest when I got back home, I arrived at about 2 p.m. and I think by 6 p.m. I was already at the gym. The holidays are all about friends and family, but training is a big part of my life and I love it. It’s great to see my friends and family but they’re used to me coming in and then leaving for the gym or going to run.”
Q: What’s something you get to do during your months off that you just don’t have time for during the season?
“A big part of it is going out and enjoying time with friends. During the season I don’t go out very often, but in the off-season I get to go to restaurants and stuff like that, during the season I’m pretty picky about what I eat and how I eat, so I guess that part is a little different. I go out maybe once a week or something, it’s still not what people might expect. Also I get to drive my cars around, I’m home and I can move, I didn’t buy a car up here, so it was nice to go to downtown Chicago and see the city again, because I really enjoy that.
Q: Have you had a chance to watch any bowl games? You have a favourite that you’ve seen this year?
“I’ve been watching all of them. They’re all kind of half-hearted though because Notre Dame isn’t in them. None of the games really stood out in my mind this year. There were a lot of good games but nothing spectacular.”
Q: Anything you miss about the college game now that you’re a pro?
“Just the craziness of it. The one thing about college was that it was just pandemonium all the time. You’re always around it, from your teachers, to students, to alums, to the fans. In professional football, you’re visible and people know who you are, but it’s not like being on campus, the camaraderie of the school. The band too, that kind of stuff you miss.”
Q: There’s also some continuity that comes with a four-year program in college. There have been a few changes this year with the Ticats as far as coaching staff, do you think about that at all in the off-season, or is that something you wait and approach at training camp?
“I think number one, most important for any athlete is to take care of themselves. Outside things should not affect you, at the time when the coaches come in and they want to change things and they want to do something new, that’s what being an athlete and becoming better is going to help you adapt to. In terms of the coaches right now, they’re training in the same way we are, they’re doing things to get better for the season. Then you bring it all together and that’s how you give yourself the best chance to win a Grey Cup.
Q: Last year as a rookie you headed into the season new to the CFL game, you probably weren’t sure what to expect, how will it be different headed into your sophomore year? Any worries about a sophomore jinx?
“No. It’s the same thing. There’s no such thing as a jinx, there’s no such thing as luck, there’s no such thing as stress. If you prepare hard, and you work hard, then you don’t have to worry about anything, at that point, in my mind whatever is going to happen is out of your hands. As long as I’m prepared and work hard, all that other stuff is nonsense.”
