First, can you let readers know what you are ding with yourself since your time in Pittsburgh?

Well, I’m back at home helping my high school football team in East St. Louis. I’m coaching the defensive backs for them and helping to teach there.

Any coaches and lessons influence the way you coach them?

I tell them every day they are going to go through adversity There are times when they will be down and need to be picked up. There are ups and downs in games – several coaches at Illinois helped me in this. They gave me feedback like a father – guys like Ron Zook.

In PIttsburgh?

In Pittsburgh it was more up to the players. I wasn’t there enough to gain a bond with the coaches. Players stuck together and lifted each other up.

What players really helped you the most?

Ike Taylor helped a whole lot. He and Shamako Thomas – he and I came into the league together and stuck together a lot.

How did Ike help?

Ike put me through the ropes and showed me how things should be. What to expect…

You were drafted in the 5th round by Pittsburgh in 2013. Were you surprised, and how did you find out you were drafted?

I was surprised. I did visit Pittsburgh before the draft but I ever expected them to draft me. I was sitting with my family when they called me. Coach Lake called and asked if I was excited to be a part od the Steelers family.

Tell me about the visit – what did that entail?

It was fun – it was just me sitting down with the coaches and letting them know about my background. They let me know how it is in Pittsburgh. It was more like a meet and great just to get to know me personally.

It’s interesting that you came into the NFL as a defensive back as you were one of the highest rated wide receiver recruits in high school. How did that transition occur?

I was recruited as an athlete – I was happy to make the move. Coach Zook said that he thought I could play both way but it was faster than I expected. One of our All-American defensive backs hurt is ACL and MCL so he asked if I would play defenive back and help the defense. We were loaded at the time at wide receiver.

In Pittsburgh as a rookie, how much did humor affect you and the team?

They were all fun moments for me. Being around guys that love the game and share that same passion…. We all joked around. We played pool – and ping pong was the big thing. We challeneged each other a lot.

In the defensive backs room, Ike Taylor would always crack a joke when the meetings started to keep everyone happy.

So you’re there as a rookie but don’t make it past that rookie season. What happened?

I had an injury – messed up my knee. It happened in mini-camp – I came down on it wrong and it’s hurt ever since. In OTAs I had it scoped and cleaned out. But in camp it swelled up again really bad and that was pretty much it.

What did the coaches tell you?

They didn’t really approach me about the injury. When I re-tweaked it in camp they didn’t know what was up with it. The trainer – Norwig – told me it woudl be hard for me to play – it was so swollen. Due to the injury I couldn’t perform – I couldn’t practice enough. Coach Tomlin told me that I just missed too many practices and I was cut. I didn’t have anough opportunities to show what I had.

How are you handling that now?

Not very well. I’m struggling – it’s difficult to come back to reality. It’s hard for me to watch a game. To know what I could have done… I wasn’t able to showcase my talent or what I had in store. It’s hard to watch a game – to not be able to do something I have a passion for…

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