| Q&A: Anthony DeGrate, Texas A&M Commerce | ||||
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What are your official height, weight and recent 40 time? 6’ 2”, 251 pounds...4.60. What do you consider to be your biggest strength? Although I am also blessed with physical strength and great speed for my size, my mental game is my biggest strength. It's great to be physically gifted, but those gifts would never be used properly if I wasn’t wired strong mentally. What part of your game have you worked on improving? I have been working on my entire game on a daily basis because if you aren't improving, you're getting worse. In getting ready for an NFL camp, I've been especially building my speed and explosion. Where have you been training? How often do you workout to stay in shape? I train at Zoom Sports in Frisco, Texas with John Kasa. I work out six days a week…twice a day during weekdays (once on Wednesday), and once on Saturday Who is the toughest opponent/teammate you have faced? How did you fare? The toughest opponent I played was myself. I was at Kilgore College and had a high ankle sprain and a deep thigh bruise (if you haven’t played on one, you should be thankful) and it was a playoff game against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in the snow. I had to get mentally tough and psych myself up to ignore the pain. No matter how much I wanted to stop, I thought about my team and great players who persevered through situations that could have stopped them. We ended up winning that game and going to the Championship. I had a sack, a blocked field goal, and nine tackles. Which coach has had the biggest impact on your playing career up to this point? My high school head coach, Mike Farda, and defensive coordinator Steven Hohenberger. Any players that you would compare yourself to or a favorite player growing up? Well, there are three players who I like and focus on their game, and compare myself to: 1) Deacon Jones, he is just a relentless assassin, emotional to the game, and brings the pain to whoever he hits, 2) Lawrence Taylor, he was the guy defensive coordinators had to really stay up late about and figure how to stop. The guy had every tool to use and dominate in a game, 3) DeMarcus Ware, he handles himself well on and off the field (great character and very humble). I think DeMarcus will be tops on the all-time sack list one day. What do you like to do with your free time? Do you have a hobby? I like to read influential books that teach valuable life lessons. The last book I read was He-Motions, by Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Potters House. What is something that people may not know about you? People wouldn’t think I read a lot of books! If you could invite any three guests for dinner, past or present, who would they be? President Barack Obama, Deacon Jones, and Shaquille O’Neal What are your future goals outside of playing in the NFL? I want to start up a program for young boys and girls to help out and teach them, and own my own business and start a chain of it. Why should an NFL team draft you? An NFL team should draft me because I will give 100% on the field and off the field. I will not only be productive, but also exhibit great character. I will represent my team and myself positively at all times. Teams will notice that I respect the NFL and the game of football, and most importantly its past and present players and coaches for being so successful today. I have learned that once you respect the game and learn its history, you will play it better and represent 100%. The money and fame is really not important in the end, but it is a plus, I suppose! You really have to have that passion and express it for the game, and just enjoy that you have this opportunity that most players don’t get. Just playing the game of football is a blessing to me and getting a chance to make a professional career out of it is a dream come true. Man, I love the game! * * * * * 
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