NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Rick Gamboa, LB, University of Colorado

• Name: Rick Gamboa 
• Height: 6’0
• Weight: 235
• Position: Linebacker 
• College: University of Colorado
• Twitter: Slickxrik32 

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

• Hometown is Sylmar, CA and what I love most about it is that I have a lot of family in the area, everything that you need is real close to each other and that’s where I grew up my entire life 

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

• 1. Film study, 2. Strength and conditioning 3. Practice 
Film study allows you to understand what a team is trying to do and gives you a feel of what your going to see in practice
Strength and conditioning gets your prepared for practice and game days and puts you in the right shape to be successful 
Practice allows you to put together the film study and strength and conditioning in order to get prepared for games 

What do you worry about, and why?

• My family is the only thing I worry about especially my two little brothers just because I am so far away from them and I don’t get to make sure they are doing the right things everyday 

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

• Losing my high school championship my junior year and after the game, I felt like I let all my teammates down and all I could watch that game on repeat. I overcame this by working hard offseason in order for that to not happen again and we ended up beating that same team my senior year for the championship

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• Teammates say my best quality is that I’m the smartest guy on the field and that I know what everybody on the defense is supposed to do and I know the play the offense is going to run against us

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

• Best player I played in college was Washington’s running back Myles gaskin. He was a very patient runner but he was a lot more physical and stronger then his size shows. He was to break long runs and his patience’s running the ball helped him find holes to explode through in the defense 

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

• If I wasn’t playing football I would probably be coaching football because I love watching football and being around football 

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

• I would clean my room first because that’s where I would spend most of my time and I like to have a clean area when I wake up and go asleep 

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

• I would save one family member because of that close relationship I have with them and how much they mean to me 

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

• I would want to be Bruce Wayne he has all the money in the world to do whatever he wants and at the same time he’s Batman and gets to protect his city 

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

• Biggest adversity in life has been being Mexican American in the United States. It’s something I live with every day and something I am proud of especially when it comes to football because there are not many Mexican people who play football at a high level

What is your most embarrassing moment?

• Most embarrassing moment was when I went to six flags for my middle school grad night and I was screaming out of my mind on the rides and had my eyes closed because I have a fear of ride roller coasters 

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• The most memorable play was forcing a fumble against Utah in 2016 which helped our linebacker get a scoop and score for the game-winning touchdown to help us win the Pac 12 South

What song best describes your work ethic?

• Goosebumps by Travis Scott 

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

• My most important trait is my football IQ 

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

• Sean Taylor was one of my favorite players growing up and would just want to be able to get to know him and talk football with him 

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

• Truth

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

• Deion Jones linebacker for the Falcons

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• I would rather be respected because I am able to decisions based off what I want to do and people can respect that instead of making decisions in order to please other people

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

• Josh Gordon because he is a great football player but he had a lot of pressure on him to perform and i feel people would rather see him perform then get better off the field 

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• I hate losing doesn’t matter what it is I hate losing and I’ll keep going back and back again until I finally win

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

• My dad has been the biggest influence on me in life because he was my coach growing up and taught me what I know about football and at the same time I saw my dad work a million different jobs just to support my family and provided everything my family has ever needed