2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Nasir Player, DL, East Tennessee State University

• Name: Nasir Player
• Height: 6’5
• Weight: 265
• Position: DE/Edge
• College: East Tennessee State University
• Twitter: @yungnas45

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

•  Columbia, South Carolina. It’s a big city but also small, very tight-knit and everybody knows everybody. It’s like a big family.

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

•  1. Strength and Conditioning: your body has to be in shape to endure the season

   2. Film: film is what tells you what to practice.

   3. Practice: now you’re getting ready to play 

What do you worry about, and why?

•  My daughter. She was born 3 months premature and she’s been in in the NICU for 2 months but she’s been making great progress and she should be coming home soon.

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

•  When I was in high school all of my friends were getting called up to play varsity, but I was always left on JV. I played JV until my senior year but I kept working and had a standout senior season. The only way to overcome failure is to keep trying.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

•  I’m going to go all out no matter what.

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

•  Trey Smith (Tennessee) and Aaron Stinnie (James Madison)

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

•  I would be working to become a head coach or athletic director

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

•  Room: it relieves me of stress

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

•  If I could only 1 or the other, I would save my family member because that’s the person I care about and love.

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

•  I would be myself. I feel like I belong on tv anyway and If there was a camera on me at all times there would be enough content to make a very entertaining show.

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

•  I can’t even choose one instance. I’ve dealt with so much adversity but I know that everything happens for a reason and I welcome adverse situations with open arms and begin to resolve them.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

•  My junior year of high school, I was running down to cover a punt and got juked by Tabari Hines and ended up hurting my knee which caused me to miss the rest of the season.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

•  We played at Furman my RS sophomore year and they ran a toss the very 1st play of the second half. I ran down the line and hit the running back so hard the whole Furman crowd was like “OOOHHH” Also when I scored my first touchdown.

What song best describes your work ethic?

•  “Not To Be Trusted” – Hoodrich Pablo. I listen to that song every time I work out just to hear him say “I ain’t going back broke, Nah!”

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

•  I pick up things very quickly and take in information like a sponge. Competition only makes me better so I feel like I have yet to reach my full potential.

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

•  My Aunt Rosalie. I didn’t talk to her before she died and I wish I would have.

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

•  The Palm Tree and Flamingo Joint

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

•  Cam Newton: he doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but the entire Panthers season is contingent on how well he plays.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

•  Respected. Likes get you nowhere, but respect can take you anywhere

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

•  Johnny Manziel because watching the things he did in college was crazy and I believed he could have done those same things in the NFL if not for the other stuff.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

•  I love to win. Losses are lessons in my opinion, and there’s always a reason why you lost. You have to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. Winning too much can ruin a team because everyone gets too comfortable. Losing is pivotal. A loss will keep you on your toes and can help you regain focus.

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

* My dad. Though we were at odds a lot growing up, he taught me a lot of lessons about life that I still remember and apply to this day.