NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Blake Cashman, LB, University of Minnesota

• Name: Blake Cashman

• Height: 6’1”

• Weight: 235

• Position: LB

• College: Minnesota

• Twitter: @blockayyy

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

•  I grew up in Eden Prairie, MN. Eden Prairie is a great community, the people and families are all very supportive of each other, and there since it’s a pretty big suburb, there is plenty to do. What I love most about Eden Prairie are all the youth activity programs. Growing up and having access to so many different camps and clinics made my childhood very fun.

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

•  1st- Practice because practice makes perfect. You can’t get better unless you work your craft and work through game plans. 2nd- Film because a smarter player is a better player. Film can help put you in better positions to make plays. 3rd- Strength and Conditioning because although it is important to be fit to play the game, it doesn’t matter if you’re the strongest or fastest player on the field. You can still be a baller.

What do you worry about, and why?

•  From a football stand point and wanting to make a career out of it is my health because you can’t play this game and make a living from it unless your healthy. 

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

•  This past season at Minnesota, we were playing Illinois and I played one of my worst games. I failed to execute my job and position. Our defense played horrible and I felt like a lot of the responsibility fell on me. After the game I didn’t say much besides telling our defense that we all needed to play better and it starts with me. The following week, I spent every free minute I had preparing for our opponent. That next game, the defense and I came out and played lights out.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

•  Genuine

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

•  Jabrill Peppers

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

•  Medical Sales

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

•  Room

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

•  One family member because family always comes first. 

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

•  Will Smith because I admire how well rounded of a person he is and he can do it all. Comedy, action, drama, etc.

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

•  Battling through 3 shoulder surgeries in an 11-month time span. I had never experienced injuries like that and the process of recovery was a big mental challenge for me. I had a lot of doubt in myself that I wouldn’t recover well, but I dealt with it by taking it day by day, week by week to get better and would focus on the short term goals.  

What is your most embarrassing moment?

•  Senior year of high school, my basketball team lost in the closing seconds of the section final game. As the sole team captain I accepted our 2nd place trophy with poor sportsmanship, and as the leader of my team I shouldn’t have let the circumstance dictate my behavior like that.  

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

•  I would say the most memorable play of my career was my true freshman year when we were playing #2 ranked TCU for our 1st game of the year and home opener. I was running down on kick off and made a good tackle inside the 20 yard line. It’s the most memorable to me because it was the fist play I made as a Gopher and college football player.

What song best describes your work ethic?

•  Go Off by Lil Uzi Vert, Quavo & Travis Scott

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

•  Health. Football is a violent game. The players who stay healthy survive.

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

•  Abraham Lincoln because he brought remarkable change to America during really bad times so I’d like to gain some perspective of what that stress and adversity was like to deal with it.

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

•  Go Geechie because one of my teammates and brother for life nickname was Geech and he loves to dance and sing.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

•  Respected because as someone who has and wants to continue be in a leadership position, people aren’t always going to like you, but that’s okay because in order to be a good leader you have to be respected. 

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

•  Josh Gordon because he was such a talented player, but struggles with alcohol and drug abuse. I believe some of it is him making poor decisions, but I also understand that to a certain extent that substance abuse is a mental illness and that’s tough no matter what.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

•  Hate to lose because I think winning is an expectation. When you prepare and work hard for something, then fail, that feeling sucks. 

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

• I would have to say my parents have. They both had different ways of raising me and teaching me things which helped mold me into the person I am today. I’m blessed to have parents that our extremely supportive and caring.