2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Ernest Dye Jr., OL, Southern Illinois University

• • Name: Ernest Dye Jr.
• • Height: 6’2
• • Weight: 310
• • Position: LT, LG
• • College: Southern Illinois University
• • Twitter: edyejr72

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

•  Greenwood, South Carolina. I love and miss the country aspect of it.

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

•  Practice, Film study, and Strength and conditioning.

What do you worry about, and why?

•  Trying to be the best person I can be each day.

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

•  Something that I failed at was during my redshirt freshman year I thought I was going to be a starter at Left Guard. I didn’t get the job early on in the season. Got injured halfway through the season, and started towards the end of the season.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

•  Best quality is that I just go out and play football. No gimmicks, nothing extra, just solid football.

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

•  Greg Menard. DE. North Dakota State University 

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

•  If I couldn’t have played football, I probably would have played basketball or be an A and R for a music executive.

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

•  Room always.

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

•  I’d save my younger brother, because he reminds me a lot of myself.

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

•  Martin Lawrence because his list of movies, stand-ups, and tv shows are classics.

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

•  Just dealing with a couple of injuries while playing football, and learning how to come out stronger from that injury every time.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

•  Throwing up on a girl in math class in 6th grade.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

•  Not a play, but a game. 2017 season. Played Illinois State at home for homecoming and won

What song best describes your work ethic?

•  Playboi Carti – Top ft Pi’erre Bourne 

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

•  Consistent Work Ethic. 

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

•  My grandmother to tell her that I love her and get a chance to see her before she passed.

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

•  Weekend at Ernie’s  

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

•  Laremy Tunsil

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

•  Respected because respect isn’t as fickle as being liked. Liked one day and hated the next.

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

•  Odell Beckham Jr. A few off the field distractions have shaded the way he plays the game. He’s a top 3 receivers in the NFL.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

•  Hate to lose.

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

• My father Ernest Dye Sr. because he has taught me everything in life from kick stepping to taxes. He’s been in my corner whether I’m right or wrong.