SUNDAY Q&A With...Lavar Arrington
Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:23 am
April 30, 2006 -- The Post's Steve Serby chatted on Friday with the pass-rushing outside linebacker the Giants signed as a free agent from the rival Redskins:
http://www.nypost.com/sports/giants/63097.htm
Q: Would you pay to watch LaVar Arrington play football?
A: I'd get season tickets.
Q: Why?
A: I'm exciting to watch, lot of energy. I'm gonna dive to make a play. Not gonna worry about getting hurt 'cause I don't want to lose my contract. You're seeing all-out, straight aggression. The same aggression people would love to take out during the week at their job that they can't really do.
Q: Favorite hit?
A: Aaron Stecker in Tampa. Hit him so hard his helmet came off. I looked at his helmet to make sure his head wasn't still in it. I'm a trash talker. So I talked so bad to him after that hit. Let him know that if he ran back through there, that maybe his head might still be in there the next time. This game is about intimidation, man.
Q: Who are your favorite players to trash talk?
A: It was Duce Staley when he was in Philadelphia.
Q: Define swagger.
A: It's an attitude.
Q: What gives you that attitude on the field?
A: I think I'm gonna whup everybody's butt. You keep knocking me down, I'm gonna get up. You can't convince me that at some point I'm not gonna win against you.
Q: Do you play in a rage?
A: I play with a huge chip on my shoulder. I create hate for that opponent during the week. I create an internal hate for that team.
Q: You cry sometimes before games?
A: I get emotional, man. I put a towel over my head and think about my childhood, about everybody who influenced me. Both my grandmothers can hardly walk. Both my grandfathers, they're not in the greatest health. So they sit home and watch me.
My father is a disabled vet. Didn't have the opportunity to play sports. My mother busted her tail all those years for her kids to have the things she didn't have. I'll be under my towel ... nobody knows I'm tearing up. When I hear that coach say, "It's time to go!" I am ... ready ... to go.
Q: Your father was wounded in Vietnam?
A: He lost a foot and half a leg, and that man still goes on rooftops and cleans gutters. Still mows his own lawn. I wear Arrington on my back every Sunday. That's his name, he gave me that. I might be knocked out, but I'm still in the game, I'm ballin', 'cause my dad has to push through life. It's Gameday for him every day. When he gets up and puts his legs on, it's Gameday 'cause he has to have his focus right just to get around.
Q: Favorite motivational saying?
A: "Walk your talk."
Q: Advice from legendary Giants and 'Skins linebacker Sam Huff?
A: I gotta be meaner. Go figure. Sam thinks I'm too nice. He said if I was mean like him, I'd be the best linebacker to ever play in the NFL. This game isn't really built for bad boys anymore, man. They want the offense to score a whole bunch of points. I'd imagine at some point they're gonna put a different color jersey on quarterbacks, like in practice, and say, "You can't touch 'em."
Q: Like pink?
A: Yeah, why not? That'd be a great color. I challenge all the quarterbacks to say, "Look, y'all need to take some of these rules away and let us play ball."
Q: Comparisons to LT?
A: I might not be LT, but I know the mentality is the same on that football field.
Q: Jeremy Shockey?
A: Shockey's always gotten the best of me. He's probably the best tight end in the league.
Q: Tiki Barber?
A: I call Tiki "Cinderella Man." Over the last couple of years, I don't know what he's done to change how he runs that rock, but whatever it is, I hope he keeps doing it because I'm trying to win the Super Bowl.
Q: Reggie Bush?
A: Vince Young was the best college player in America. If LenDale White stays focused, he'll be a better NFL running back than Reggie Bush, because you need big, strong guys who can run between tackles and have decent speed.
Q: Five minutes early for meetings?
A: It had to be 10 minutes at Penn State, so I'm OK.
Q: You have six dogs in one house?
A: I got 48 acres (in Annapolis). Made a garage into a kennel.
Q: When you were a schoolboy running back, to whom were you similar?
A: Eric Dickerson.
Q: How did you propose to your wife, Trishia?
A: I was playing PlayStation and I asked my buddies, "You think I should ask her to marry me now?" and they said yeah. "So you guys want to see it?" They said yeah. She came downstairs to tell us it was time to eat and I got on my knees and proposed.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus. Bob Marley. Tupac.
Q: Best piece of advice from your parents?
A: Always believe in God and yourself.
Q: If I were president, I would ...?
A: Bring all the troops back.
Q: If I were NFL commissioner, I would ...?
A: Legalize freedom of expression.
Q: Favorite childhood memory?
A: Meeting Greg Lloyd at a restaurant.
Q: Favorite athlete outside football?
A: LeBron James. Vince Carter. Lisa Barber.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: "Five People You Meet in Heaven."
Q: Favorite singer?
A: All the Marleys.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Curried goat.
http://www.nypost.com/sports/giants/63097.htm
