First off, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since you stopped playing football?
I work in the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s office – I’m a Lieutenant and work on the emergency response team in the training division. I have a wife and two kids – a 10-year old and a daughter at the University of Pittsburgh. That’s the summation of my life – family and work!
What made you decide to pursue law enforcement?
I was actually at Virginia Tech on campus during the shooting. I was in the middle of a class at Squires Hall right across from where the shooting occurred. I saw the students running out and law enforcement running in. It was a pivotal moment for me. I think about it often – I’m not sure I ever digested that day – it was surreal.
How have you managed to deal with that day?
I saw a lot of people deal with it in their own way. Some cried, some tried to use humor. It was the full spectrum of emotion. But I remained neutral emotionally – even to this day. But it has made me appreciate life more and realize that anything can happen at any moment. You never know what people are going through or are capable of. It’s a tough way to live but in the world we live in now, you’re never really safe.
Are you able to find any balance – rather than living too much on edge like that?
I trained for these things and it made me look at the world differently at first, early in my career. It was hard to keep that balance in life. But my wife would tell me – I didn’t have to dress and carry myself like a cop. I never understood what she meant at first but I get it now. I’m now finding that balance – to be alert and aware and still relax and have fun.
Looking at your football career – I know you played defense in college -how were you able to make that transition to fullback at the NFL level?
I played tailback in high school and was really good. I played linebacker too. But running back was always the position I was most natural at. At Virginia Tech I actually approached the coaches when I was a Sophomore and asked to switch to running back, but they wanted me on defense.
At my pro day after my bench press Tomlin actually approached me. He told me that if I ran anything under a 4.8 40 he’d take me. I ran a sub 4.7 and he was true to his word – he picked me up as a free agent. It felt natural as a fullback but it was still a huge learning curve. I hadn’t studied offensive concepts since high school.
Did any of the players help you out most as you made that transition in Pittsburgh?
The position felt natural though, but at that level, I won’t lie. It was a big learning curve. The running backs room was very competitive – the vets gave a little advice but it was hard to learn on my own.
The vets outside of the running backs room did help. Troy Polamalu approached me my second day there and introduced himself to me. Hines Ward at practice taught me the finer points of route-running. So some did help me – but not really the guys in the running backs room.
What helped you to make the transition?
I always felt natural as a running back – I had good footwork and decent hands. I was the biggest fullback in the league at the time, I’m sure. I was 293 pounds but mobile. I blew the fitness test out of the water day one.
I had peaks and valleys with the playbook though. Some days it was like German to me. Still to this day, I feel like if I was given an opportunity to show what I could so I could have been a dominant fullback in the NFL.
What happened – why did they release you?
I was told by my agent and Coach Kirby – the running backs coach – that there were a lot of injuries in the running backs room as camp progressed. It became a numbers game. They didn’t want two rookies to carry through camp – they had me and Dwyer at the time. They brought in a veteran fullback from Philadelphia.
Fullbacks – they are hardly use it now. It’s not what it used to be. Sometimes they can use a tight end or a bigger back there now. True fullbacks have a hard time now making a roster.
Any fun memories stand out most to you of your time there?
A sort of funny moment I remember was when all of the rookies went in to do cardio after practice. Rookies had to do that for 30 minutes after practice. Well, every team has a guy that is the one that informs players when they are waived or cut. We all dreaded seeing him no matter what the occasion. Well, one day we were all working on our cardio when that guy pokes his head in the room, looking around for someone. We all just stopped and stared as he looked at us. Thankfully the guy he was looking for wasn’t in the room. You could just see everyone’s hearts just drop when he looked in. When he left we all laughed, but it was nerve-wracking as hell.
One other that stands out was on my first day of camp. I made a mistake in practice and the running backs coach and I were in the film room watching film. He told me that I needed to understand this play – that it was designed to block Ray Lewis. That’s when it hit home. “Oh crap, Ray Lewis is in this division!” I was so focused on just making the team, I didn’t think about who else was in our division or who I’d face.
As a fullback, what advice would you give to guys now trying to make it as a fullback?
You have to be versatile – you can’t be one-dimensional. Fullbacks are replaceable – by a tight end or larger running back. You have to be versatile and be able to contribute on special teams. And of course you have to be able to catch passes out of the backfield and block. And run with power – you may get one or two chances to run the ball each week and you want to be able to capitalize on those opportunities if you want to get more of them.
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