|
I had the opportunity to interview Ravens Tight End Daniel Wilcox before the start of the 2008 season. Since Tailgate365 is only a few weeks old, I'm reposting for anyone who missed it.
TG365 - First things first-how is the toe and when will we see you on the field
again?
DW - Hello World. The toe is doing pretty good right now. Still trying to
make a come-back and full recovery… the surgery was pretty thorough…
TG365 - What have you been able to do to stay in shape for the season?
DW - My off season workouts have been pretty tough this year. Of course
rehab on the toe almost every single day since the surgery. Lifting
weights, upper and lower body, boxing, running on the beach, a lot of
lower body therapy, chiropractor twice a week, acupuncture, ball
drills, catching a lot of balls, pool workouts and running on a
treadmill that allows me to gauge my own body weight (Alter G).
TG365 - New offensive coordinator Cam Cameron brings a history of heavily
favoring tight ends but has recently said they are blockers first. With
all of the injuries on the line, what are you expecting of the role you
and Todd Heap will play in the offense this season?
DW - For me its really hard to tell since I haven’t touched the field with
these guys at all yet… Heap on the other hand has displayed tremendous
growth under Cams system. This may be his best year yet as a Baltimore
Raven. I’m always gonna be proud to say that I played beside one of
the best tight ends to ever play this game. Heap will be highly used
and greatly supported this year. Look for his best receiving and
blocking season ever this year…
TG365 - What are your thoughts on the quarterback battle?
DW - The quarterback battle here is amazing. You will be surprised who
wins it at the end. It’s really hard to tell, they all look great…
Boller has definitely improved a lot and is not trying to lose this
battle by any stretch… he wants this job again and you can see it in
his play.
Troy Smith is an absolutely amazing athlete and has turned his game up
tremendously to compete for this job. He’s like a shark that smells
blood, he’s starving and trying to eat. He wants to be nothing less
than number 1. Troy has truly displayed to me why he won the Heisman
Trophy…
Flacco does not show signs of being a rookie at all. He has so much poise
and pocket presence that its scary. His height is a huge advantage
over Boller and Smith and he’s shown signs already that his arm and quick
release can give him a chance.
TG365 - Appalachian State heads down to the Bayou to open the season against
LSU. Can your boys repeat what they did to Michigan last year?
DW - App State has proven to be for real. If you ask me they can do anything
they put their minds to. People look at football like it’s about what
team you play for or what school you go to. Football is like
everything else in life-if your gonna succeed in this world you have
to have confidence or “swagger”, that’s what we like to call it.
Football is about execution, effort, being relentless, tenacity and
more importantly “heart”. LSU will not lay down for App State-why
should they? But will App State lay down for LSU??? The answer to that
is Heck No. They are all men with talent and they put on their pads
and equipment the same exact way. The only difference is the amount
of scholarships, the town or city and the colors of their uni’s. App
State will be ready and it will be a Game… The Rock will play
ball
TG365 - You recently attended the NFL’s Broadcasting Boot Camp. Are we going to
see you in the booth one day?
DW - This was an absolutely amazing experience. I was among some of the best broadcasters in the
business learning everything from radio to television work. I had a
really good time. I don’t know what my future entails after football but
broadcasting seems like a lot of hard work… all I can say is Hard work
is in my nature.
TG365 - To summarize your current situation-you play in the NFL, you married a
former Ms. Belize and got married on the 50 yard line at M&T Bank
Stadium. Has it ever hit you that you are living every man’s dream?
DW - No it never hit me that I’m living every man’s dream. My wife is an
amazing woman and football is my gift. My life is truly a blessing. I
don’t take 1 day for granted. In life we can do whatever we choose, as
long as we are dedicated and motivated life will present itself with
doors. Lets just say I open the right ones. I thank God everyday
for waking up and for being able to breathe air. Dreams are meant to
come true so to the world–never stop dreaming and never stop
believing.
TG365 - I’ve heard that you are the locker room DJ. What’s on your IPod play list
these days?
DW - Lol… the music thing has always been with me… I love rap and R&B the
most. If I had to say, my favorite rappers from the South are:
T.I.
Lil Wayne
Young Jeezy
OutKast
Shawdy Low
Jay-Z
R&B
I’m feeling these artists big time right now:
Kemestry
Gaopole
Usher
Floetry
Tamia
Alicia Keys
TG365 - You have had a huge impact on the community. Tell me a little about
Empowerment M.I.N.D.S. and what events you have coming up.
DW - Empowerment M.I.N.D.S. has been a huge blessing in my life. Working with
kids has allowed me to grow in so many different ways. Seeing a smile on
their faces makes each day worth while. The Foundation in going to start
venturing off into new directions this year with my new life partner
Shauna Wilcox-Strickland. This year we want to start focusing more on
young women-teenage and middle school girls. We will venture off
into various things from book drives, A.I.D.S. Awareness, etc. We want to better our
youth and allow them to think outside the box. We want them to grow
spiritually and mentally. It’s about educating them and letting them
know that there is so much more of the world out there and that they don’t
just have to stay in Baltimore or any other city that they are from.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
