NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Jordan Gowins, RB, Stony Brook University

• Name: Jordan Gowins
• Height: 6’0
• Weight: 240
• Position: RB
• College: Boston College/Stony Brook
• Twitter: @destined_23

Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?

• I’m from Bellport, New York. A troubled town some would say, but although I grew up seeing a lot of caution tape, hearing constant sirens, I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else. It’s made me appreciate life, made me want to go out and be something, to attain a better life for me and my family.

List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?

• Obviously, all three of these are major factors when wanting to be a well-rounded football player, but I was always taught that this game is 80% mental and 20% physical. The goal each and every day is to be one step better than your opponent before you even touch the field and make contact with them. So I’d have to put film study first. It’s difficult to rank one of the next two ahead of the other because they both play a similar role in your production on Gameday. But from experience, I’ve witnessed for myself how important practice really is. The best games I’ve had came after a week of damn good practice.

What do you worry about, and why?

• My mother is sick, deals with a lot of health issues, so my biggest worry is not being able to give her a better life and achieve my goal of having a CAREER in the NFL before the Man above says it’s her time to go.

Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure?

• I honestly don’t view failure as it’s definition reads, but instead as a lesson. I simply just pride myself on not making the same mistake twice.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• That I’m easy to talk to or vibe with. Always there with a helping hand or an open ear.

Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?

• Shaq Lawson (Clemson)

What would your career be if you couldn’t play football?

• I’d work to strengthen underprivileged communities being that I was raised in one.

Room, desk, and car – which do you clean first?

• Room. Starting my day off with a clean room always leads to a productive one.

If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?

• As much of a bind that it would be for me, I’m too much of a family oriented person to ever let a member slip if I had the power to save one.

If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?

• Dr.Dolittle, always wonder what animals would say if they could speak or if we could understand them.

Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?

• When I was 10 I was in a pool incident that at one point had me pronounced dead. I was in a coma within ICU for about a month. I had to learn how to walk, speak, and write all over again. I overcame the obstacle with the love of my family, immense faith and belief in God and hard work to meet it halfway. I have lived every aspect of my life that way since the incident.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

• Honestly can’t think of one, probably due to the fact that I’d laugh at myself and shake it off before ever feeling embarrassed.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• My first collegiate carry against Wake Forest.

What song best describes your work ethic?

• 2pac – Breathin’

What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level?

• A mental and physical work ethic. That’s what separates great from the good.

If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?

• Aaron Noak. A close friend that was taken too early, wanted him to be here to experience all that God had in store here for him and our friend group.

If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it?

• JG’s

Who is the most overrated player in the NFL?

• Any player who is in the NFL deserves to be there in my eyes.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• Everybody doesn’t have to like me, but there won’t be any choice but to respect me. And respect on the field is something that is earned, have no issue earning it.

What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?

• Maurice Clarett was exciting to watch. I followed him a lot as a young kid and the way in which his career spiraled out of control really showed me how important it is to take care of business off the field, because if not it leads to rocky paths that could potentially break you down mentally.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• I hate to lose. Everybody loves to win, but not everybody hates losing enough to keep winning.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

• My mother and father. I could never praise one and not the other. My mother has overcome a tremendous amount of health issues and always seems to not be phased by any of it. My father has overcome numerous obstacles in life, huge ones at that. Yet he’s still here as my biggest supporter and helped my mother raise my siblings and me into great people. They’ve never given up on me, so I could never give up on making their life better.