2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Jason Ferris, LB, Montana Western

• Name: Jason Ferris
• Height: 6’2”
• Weight: 220
• Position: LB
• College: Montana Western
• Twitter: @jason3ferris

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

• Dillon, Montana is a smaller town in the southwest corner of the state. I love the close community where you know almost everyone and that a lot of my family lives here and how much support I get from everyone in the community. I also love being somewhere with so much open space and being able to be so close to the mountains.

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

• Practice, Film Study, Strength and Conditioning. You can be the strongest, fastest guy on the field but if you don’t understand schemes and don’t know your assignment it becomes useless. Along with that you need to be able to understand what teams are running; routes, blocking schemes, personnel. 

What do you worry about, and why?

• I worry about doing things right, I was raised to do things right the first time so everything that I do I try to get it done as good as I can. I would say that it mostly applies to my school work and my excavation job but also it applies to football.

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

• After high school I did not get the opportunity to play in the Montana-North Dakota All-Star game. It really made me realize that I needed to step up as I was heading into college so I just started putting in the work that was needed to earn a spot at as a college football player. It was something that made me better because it showed that I still had a long way to go and put a fire under me. 

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• I would probably say leadership or work ethic, I’m a big lead by example kind of guy so I’m always trying to put forth max effort so that my team will see it and match it. Also early in my college career I was put into a leadership role and since then I feel more and more confident about saying things to the team and they respect what I have to say.

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

• Zach Bartlow, Eastern Oregon

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

• When football is over for me I would like to pursue a career in either financial advising or operations management. 

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

• Car. I like having a nice clean looking vehicle.

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

• I would have to say one family member because I’m very close to my family and they are everything to me.

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

• Either Ironman or Batman, they have a lot of cool stuff at their disposal and their probably the most realistic superheros. 

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

• My freshman year my cousin, my best friend and and another one of my best friends/teammate passed away within an eight month time span. I kept close to my family and friends that were affected and we were all able to get through it together and became closer through it all. 

What is your most embarrassing moment?

• In high school I had to give a speech and thought I could remember what I was going to say so I didn’t write anything down. When I got up to talk my mind went blank and I talked for less than 30 seconds and only said like one thing that I was planning to say. 

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• After my cousin passed away, the first game after it had happened I got my first interception on the first play of the game. 

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

• Work Ethic 

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

• My Grandma, I was very little when she passed so I never really got to meet her. 

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

• The Dawghouse

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

• Eli Manning, he is a two time Super Bowl Champion and he gets zero respect.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• Respected, you have to earn someones respect it is not just something given out because you are nice or funny.

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

• I would say Ryan Leaf because he is a Montana guy and we all like to see guys from our state succeed in the pros.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• It is very close but I think I hate losing more.

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

• My parents, the have always given me life lessons and have taught me how to be a good person. They were the ones that molded me into who I am now.