Ask An Athlete #6

     Chris Fitz comes to me with this question... "Players grow up a fan of a certain team, and I'm sure they all dream on draft day or after to be picked up by that team. Is there any disappointment by players if they go to a team they never liked or was a fan of, or in certain cases hated because of a rivalry? I am sure players are mostly just happy for the opportunity, just wondering if any lingering feelings from the past. Also, do you still root for the team you grew up watching even if you play for another team or for a rival?"

     Thanks for the question Chris!  I actually grew up a Dallas Cowboy's fan and also a University of Texas Longhorn's fan.  My mom graduated from UT and being the big state team the connection was strong.  I was a pretty big fan and always watched and rooted for them, especially since my uncle was a big fan of their rival Texas A&M.  When my college football offers started to roll in, I never got my hopes up too high and sure enough I never received an offer from UT which was a little disappointing.  It was more disappointing not because I wanted to go there or would if I got the chance, but because the bigger "power rated" schools in the state and nation did not feel I was good enough to give a scholarship.  I was excited and blessed to get an offer to Texas Tech and the combination of local location, football, academics, and opportunity to play made it the perfect place for me.  Looking back I believe I made the right choice and now I am a Red Raider for life.  As for UT I will never root for them again and will always be my in state rival lol.  Now as I have made the transition to the NFL, it ended up being a similar scenario.  I was in no way a die hard fan of the Cowboys, but always thought it would be cool to play in my home state and just an hour away from my hometown.  However, on draft day it was a little deja vu when the teams did not think I was good enough and none of the teams drafted me.  I was a little disappointed again, but everything happens for a reason and yet another great opportunity of football, coaches, location, and opportunity to play has landed me in St Louis.  I think this is the perfect place for me and I hope to make it as a Ram.  As for the Cowboys I won't be a fan at all unless I end up playing for them someday, as crazy as NFL careers go.  Overall in these team selection processes there is always a little disappointment if things don't go as planned, but I am just extremely blessed and excited for these opportunities that have come my way.  I just focus on what I can control, stay humble, work hard, and keep the faith in God's plan.  It has worked out for me so far and hopefully it will continue to.  Go Rams!

-Student of the Game

#AskAnAthlete

Ask An Athlete #5: From whom I model my game

     David West comes to me with this question, "I am hoping to be a NFL scout one day and I watched your film and I see a good future ahead of you.. In the NFL who do you mold your game around? Who do you look up to? I see good footwork and you play with great motor.. I love your size and you seems to have a nose for the ball! Best of luck in the NFL.. you have the tools to be a good starter in the league!"

     Thanks for the question David!  I get this question a lot and it is a favorite for the media to ask.  Honestly I don't mold my game around anyone.  I never have been a die hard fan of any player or tried to model my game off of anyone.  I always wanted to be my own player and have my own style.  This is also because I am not a football guru that keeps up with everything there is to know about players, history, stats, and personal information.  It just is not part of who I am, but that doesn't mean I don't love football and work very hard at it.  I don't model my game after anyone, but there are a few that I enjoy watching.  I have always been a fan of a players like Deion Sanders, Brian Dawkins, and Troy Polamalu.  Deion is just plain entertaining to watch although I would never be that flamboyant.  Brian and Troy I like because they are quiet men of faith, but once they hit the field they become a different animal and perform at a high level.  They are also humble and I respect that about them.  That is how I try and play.  My motto is "don't talk about it, be about it."  As I go through this process I will look up to the veteran safeties and coaches to learn as much as possible from them.  They will give me valuable knowledge and tips to give me the best chance to succeed in the NFL.  I will continue to be humble and concentrate on what I can control, and then have faith in God's plan to take care of the rest.

     If you would like to ask me a question or want to see a post about something specific, head on over to the Ask An Athlete page to submit your question. Thanks!

-Student of the Game

#AskAnAthlete

Ask An Athlete #4: Balancing School and Football

     The fourth segment of Ask An Athlete is finally here!  Laura Weiss, student at Texas Tech University, comes to me with this question... "how do you (and have) balance school and football? What are your secrets to be successful in both? My nephew is a freshman at a large university in the Big 12. I'd like to be able to give him some pointers on how to balance his academics, and involvement in the baseball team."  Great question Laura.

     Being a student-athlete is becoming more and more like a full time job in these days.  You get paid (through scholarship) and are expected to perform both on the field and in the class room.  You also have more responsibility and are held to higher expectations than regular students.  Regardless of sport, being a student-athlete is a year round commitment   Some people are surprised when I tell them that we have spring football and have to workout during the summer.  I guess some people actually think we just show up for football for two a days and are done at the end of the season.  We are always doing something... football season in the fall, into off-season and spring football, then into summer workouts, and the cycle continues.  We get Christmas break depending on the bowl game and May break when school is out, but other than that we are preparing for another season!  I'm sure other sports are the same way.  The reason I can balance my school and football is simply hard work and time management.  My parents were always strict on me about school and sports, so they taught me early on to manage my time and be great at both.  My mom was also a teacher at my high school, so I had no choice but to keep my grades high!  So I guess I have it ingrained into me a little bit.  But, I have taken that with me into college.  The main factor to success in the classroom is effort.  You have to discipline yourself to go to class, be active in discussions, meet the teacher, study, and work just as hard in the classroom as you do on the field.  This is sometimes hard with the time constraints we have and being physically and mentally tired from football.  This is why we have more support than most students.  Student-athletes have a lot of resources they can use such as advisors, tutors, and athlete academic centers.  So if I could give your nephew a few pointers, I would tell him to work hard and take control of his academics.  Don't expect the advisors of thousands of kids make the best decision for you.  I have heard and seen too many students say the advisor messed up and made them take a class they didn't need.  Well you should know what classes you need to graduate.  So research what you want to do, take control of your schedule/plan, and keep focused.  Then just keep up with your studies and don't let it fall behind.  Manage your time and please get your degree!

     In order to get an idea of the time constraints on a Student-Athlete I collected some data on my time spent during the New Mexico game week.  I kept track of all the time spent doing football, class, homework, leisure, and other activities each day out of the entire 24 hours.  "Mandatory Football" includes the NCAA regulated 20 hours of mandatory practice, meetings, and weight room workouts.  I kept track of the duration of these activities and recorded the data.  "Voluntary Football" is the time spent by myself doing extras like watching film, treatment, being in the locker-room (ping pong Lol), and eating at the dining hall.  Basically I started the timer when I parked at the football facility and stopped it when I left the dining hall (we eat right after practice) and then subtracted the mandatory time.  Our coaches and staff do a great job of keeping time within the NCAA regulations.  But as competitive players being from a Big 12 program and wanting to excel on the field, we know we need to put in extra time on our own in order to be great.  "Class" is time spent up at the school in class.  I am currently a grad school student with only 6 hours of classroom time and taking a 3 hour self study course.  Therefore my classroom time will probably be less than most student-athletes, but with more time spent doing homework.  "Homework" and "leisure" are self explanatory.  "Other" is anything like church, eating, chores, or traveling time.  Here are my findings...Enjoy:

Charts made with Microsoft Excel:

-Student of the Game

#TTUChainGang

Ask An Athlete #3

(Freshman Year)

     Anonymous puts me on the spot with this question, he asks "You've been through 4 different defensive coordinators in your time at Texas Tech (Ruffin, Willis, Glasgow, Kaufman). Rank the following for each DC: (1) Scheme easiest to learn (2) Scheme you liked playing in the most. Don't be a homer, either! : )"

     Well... I can see why you wanted to stay anonymous! Lol. Here is my opinion of my experience...again, MY OPINION = Not fact. I bet you could ask every player on the team and come up with something different every time.  It depends on how you like being coached and what style you do the best in.  I will be the first to tell you that I like a coach that puts confidence in their players and sets expectations for them.  I believe players will strive for those expectations harder than they would being forced through negative motivation. I will be ranking the schemes in order from 1st place being the best to 4th place being the worst relatively speaking for ease of learning the scheme and enjoyment of playing.

• Ruffin
•      Ease of Learning = 1st
•      Enjoyment Playing = 2nd 
• Willis
•      Ease of Learning = 4th
•      Enjoyment Playing = 3rd
• Glasgow
•      Ease of Learning =3rd
•      Enjoyment Playing = 4th
• Kaufman
•      Ease of Learning = 2nd
•      Enjoyment Playing = 1st

-Student of the Game

Ask An Athlete #2

Welcome to the second edition of "Ask An Athlete!" Myles Frakes a Sophomore football player from Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi, TX comes to me with this question...

Where was your hardest hit and on who?

My hardest hit...Hmmmmm. Well hopefully that is yet to come! I have had some hard hits my first three years, but have been slowed down by injuries.  Last year I hardly had any big hits and was very dissapointed with that fact.  This year I am looking to make big hits and put fear into the opponent.  As for my hardest hit so far, I would have to say it is a tie between two hits on Texas A&M.  (The above picture shows one of my runner up hits).  My red-shirt Freshman year I had a hit on Jamie McCoy #4 in Lubbock.  It was a huge collision but I put my head down too low, I'll never do that again!  I actually ended up hurting my back and fracturing a few vertebrae because I had my head down.  Lesson for all the young players out there!  My next hit was during my Sophomore year on Jeff Fuller #8 in College Station.  The ball was tipped up by the corner on the sideline and was still within reaching distance of Fuller, so I came in and made sure he was not going to catch it.  The referees made a bad call and said it was unsportsmanlike, but if you look at the film the ball still had a chance to be caught.  Check out the videos of these two hits below.  Anyway, I think those were two of my hardest hits when it comes to impact so far, but look for more to come this year!

Videos of both of these hits:

Videos from YouTube:
RS Freshman hit on Jamie McCoy #4

Sophomore hit on Jeff Fuller #8

Ask An Athlete #1

     The first installment of "Ask An Athlete" is here!  These posts will be solely based off of questions asked by you.  Head on over to Ask An Athlete to contact me with any questions you would like answered and they might be featured on my blog!

   Greg F. from Dallas, TX is a Texas Tech alumni and runs the sports website www.disported.com.  He comes to me with the following questions:

1. What's your favorite stadium to play in, besides the Jones?

My favorite away stadium to play in is the Dallas Cowboys stadium.  I have played there twice now and the sheer size and quality of the place is so over the top, it impresses you every time.  On the field, the stadium looks massive and you almost have to look straight up to see the screen.  The turf is kind of slippery, but the experience is something you can't match.  Running out of the tunnel the first time we played there it felt like we were in the NFL! The cameras were flashing and the sight is something I will never forget.

2. What's the loudest stadium you've ever played in?

The loudest stadium I have played in would have to be Nebraska.  That stadium and atmosphere was awesome.  The stadium seemed very close to you and went straight up.  Those first few drives, my ears were ringing because of how loud the crowd was!  They weren't loud for too long though.  That game was one of the overall best games I have been apart of.  Going into a hostile environment, having fun, and winning!  I say "hostile" but those fans were as nice as can be.  They were congratulating us as we were leaving the field...that was something I didn't expect.

3. What do you want to see/hear from the Texas Tech student section?

I would love to see the student section chanting and jumping around during songs.  I wish the 3rd quarter song would have worked out with something like "Jump Around" or a chant style song like "Kernkraft 400 (Sports Chant Stadium Remix)" where the students can interact.  The band plays the latter of the two, and it would be awesome if the whole crowd would chant along with it, and even jump with it! But overall, I just love for the crowd to get involved in the game and show their support.

4. How much does crowd noise and atmosphere actually affect the game play?

Crowd noise and atmosphere drastically effect adrenaline as a player.  And with adrenaline comes better play, effort, and excitement on the field!  The crowd really effects your mental state in this way and there is a major contrast from a packed house to an empty stadium.  If nobody is at raider walk and in the stadium, then you don't get the same sort of excitement and adrenaline level that gets you ready.  As a player, you can still be focused and ready to play...but the adrenaline fuel of the crowd cannot be duplicated.

-Student of the Game