Question: You're in the NFL now, the latest step in a lifelong dream. But when did it begin? When did you first start playing football?
Answer: "I was about eight or nine, with the Kenmore Cardinals, youth football team."
Q: What do you remember about your first team?
A: "We had a winning record. We won the championship every year. I played running back, it was my first year playing running back and I remember breaking a long run and tripping over my own feet."
Q: To get to this level, it has to be about more than money, or fame – the things a lot of people associate with the NFL. What do you love about the game that has kept you playing?
A: "I think it's just been in me so long. It's something that you grow up with. It's a passion that you grow up with so to continue to play after college and high school, it's more of a passion. That's all I can say."
Q: What was your best sport growing up? It wasn't football for all NFL players . . .
A: "I was equally good at football, basketball and track. I did all three in high school."
Q: When did you move to your position? Were you always a running back?
A: "I was always a running back."
Q: What's your best football memory?
A: "Getting drafted."
Q: When did you first think this was real? When did you first think, 'I have a chance to play in the NFL?'
A: "I always thought that if I wanted it bad enough and worked hard enough I would be able to do it. I would say right when I was nine I would watch highlights of running backs, Barry Sanders, Sweetness (Walter Payton), with my grandfather. I felt like I am going to sacrifice a lot, but I am going to do it one day."
Q: Do you have a pre-game ritual?
A: "No, I don't."
Q: What about after football? Do you have any post-career plans?
A: "I just want to stay in shape, so either get in the fitness realm and counseling. I like working out and dealing with kids, so that's something I would be interested in."
Q: Who's the person most responsible for you being in the NFL?
A: "It was pretty much my whole family. Started with my grandfather and my mother and my grandmother and my uncle, and they just supported me so much that it was what I wanted to do."
Q: Do you have a particular high school coach or teacher who means a great deal to you? If so, why?
A: "Yeah, my two high school coaches, Coach Dan Boredman and Coach Mike Kuthan. They just were very inspiration in me excelling in high school and trying to take my talents to the next level."
Q: Did you have a favorite player growing up?
A: "Yeah I had a few. Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, Earl Campbell. I mean all the running backs."
Q: Favorite team?
A: "I loved the Broncos when Terrell Davis was there."
Q: What was your first car?
A: "A 1999 Dodge Stratus, in college."
Q: What was your first job?
A: "I worked at Rite-Aid. It was in high school, like fourteen or fifteen."
Q: What was your toughest job?
A: "The job I have now."
Q: Do you have a favorite quote that has inspired you in football or life? If so, what is it and why does it mean something to you?
A: " 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' That's my scripture I always stick to that."
