September 14, 2000
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I got my nickname, "The American Hero" from a WWF character. This guy Kurt Angle won Olympic medals in wrestling then went to the WWF and called himself "The American Hero". So I figure that'd be a good nickname. And then (senior tailback) Petros Papadakis heard that and put the emphasis on it. Then the whole offense started calling me that. So that's what we go with. We have nicknames for just about everybody. There's "SuperZeke"-that's one Coach Young gave Zeke Moreno. Petros we call "P-Daddy." I call (senior fullback) Brennan Ochs "Moose" because he reminds me of Daryl Johnston of the Cowboys. Everyone has a little nickname we use just to keep practice fun. It makes time go faster. Going out there and beating each other constantly gets old. We try to laugh and joke around while still taking care of responsibilities.
This weekend I plan on watching a couple games, but this weekend is my girlfriend's baby shower, so I'll be there and get to see all the gifts the little baby is going to get. But I'll watch a couple games. My cousin from out of town is here as well so I'm going to spend some time with him. But the big thing this weekend is the baby shower. I'm looking forward to it.
California has really been good to me. I've been out her four years now. I get recognized out on the town sometimes. In Long Beach I go the grocery store and someone will say "I saw you play on Saturday." After the Colorado game I went to McDonalds and some fans saw me and ran out with their books and tickets asking me to sign them. It feels good to get the recognition, though sometimes it can be a hassle. I don't mind the majority of the time, though. You'd have to catch me on a bad day for me not to sign something or not to stop and talk.
I felt like I gave Colorado one of their touchdowns because they called a personal foul on me. I didn't think it was a personal foul, but they threw the flag anyway and it got them close to the end zone. I knew I had to come out in the second half and really get it back for us. In the second half I came out there with a different attitude--more of an angry type of attitude. I got to the quarterback and got to the running back. We started really playing as a team instead of hollering at each other. It was really good to get in on some sacks. I kidded around with (senior defensive tackle) Ennis Davis that when he jumped over and piled on the quarterback with me, that he took half my sack away. But I don't mind. I think that the defensive line really set the tone early. It kind of freed us linebackers up to blitz.
We didn't want to lose our home opener. The defense was really focused on that at the end. On the offensive side, the line did great. I think we shocked Colorado a bit how fast we got down the field at the end. It was nice to get one for the home crowd, but even better to get one for ourselves. As David Newbury lined up the field goal I was thinking "Please David, don't miss!" I didn't want to look at it. I just turned to the crowd and watched them. When the crowd reacted, I did too and ran down the sideline with my helmet. It felt good to quiet the Colorado crowd since they were booing us earlier.
This was the most exciting game I've been in. Both teams played well. I give it up to Marcus Houston-he's a fine back.
But it was our time to shine.
