2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Bryce Wilds, OL, Sam Houston State University

• Name: Bryce Wilds
• Height: 6’7
• Weight: 310
• Position: Offensive Tackle/Guard
• College: Southern Methodist University the Grad Transfer to Sam Houston State 
• Twitter: @BryceWilds 

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

• Growing up my father was in the military so we moved around a lot. I don’t have a specific hometown but I do have a great connection with the city of Dallas. I have built a lot of my strongest relationships in the 4 years I was there and I also met my wife and conceived our child there. 

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

• Strength and Conditioning, Film Study, then Practice. Everything in this game begins with our bodies and our performance directly correlates to the effort you have but into strength and conditioning. Depending on the time of the year, if we are preparing for a game or if I’m learning a new offense than the mental aspect of the game becomes extremely important and the faster I can think and break down what’s happening in front of me the faster I can play. Then finally we have practice, this is where I can actually work on my craft and implement the things that I saw on film. Practice is still extremely important and the intensity of how you practice is how you will play. 

What do you worry about, and why?

• I worry about financial freedom and the ability to provide for my family. I have tried to put myself in the best possible position as far as my education goes but I still worry about how I can provide for my family and give them everything they want/need. 

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

• 

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• I would say it’s my ability to relate to others and to make them feel comfortable around me, this came from moving around a lot as a child I was always having to make new friends and get people to like me. 

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

• Haason Reddick, he was playing DE for the Temple Owls and I faced him in my first start where he proceeded to give me a very hard time. Went on to get drafted 13^th overall by the Cardinals. 

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

• I would take my time to finish school and get my masters. Then I would find a job in data analytics and start my professional career. 

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

• I would choose to clean my room, I spend a lot of my time in there and a clutter room equals to a cluttered mind. 

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

• I assume that I am not given an opportunity to try and save all of them, so I would choose to save my family member as I have no personal ties to the strangers. I hate to have to answer like that but I naturally would save my family first and if possible I would try to save the others. 

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

• I would choose to be Jack Bauer, because he is an extremely focused man who doesn’t miss details and has nerves of steel. He is a complete badass and gets to save the day, it’s a no brainer for me. 

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

• When I was a child I had experienced some trauma, and developed a bad stutter. I moved a lot and was very shy so I had a really hard time with this. But through a lot of hard work and speech therapy I was able to grow out of it and no am completely stutter free. 

What is your most embarrassing moment?

• In 7^th grade I was a thrower on the track team and we were hosting a track meet, I had won the discus event and when they had us come up to stand on the podium to accept our medals I had miss-stepped going up and fell right on my face. Luckily I was able to hop up and laugh it off but it’s something that I’ve always thought of when I have to do anything in front of people. 

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• Playing in Cincinnati we went into overtime and to score our game winning field goal we had to convert a 4^th & 20. We converted and kicked the field goal, it was an amazing feeling to win a close game on the road against a huge crowd. 

What song best describes your work ethic?

• Hard Workin’ Man by Brooks & Dunn

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

• I think it would be the ability to compete, if you treat everything you do like it’s a competition and work every day like it’s your last then nobody can deny you. 

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

• I would bring my father’s mother back. I only got the opportunity to meet her a few time when I was very young and would love to talk to her and hear about her life and everything she has experienced. 

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

• Club Willow, that’s my daughter’s name and she has the best dance moves I’ve seen. 

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

• Terron Armstead 

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• I would like to be respected, at the end of the day you may not like me or what I’m about but you will respect me as a person. But I also believe that the people who are the most respected are also well liked and I strive to be liked by others.  

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

• I feel for Johnny Manziel, I think that him personally and his talent were terribly mismanaged in both college and the NFL. I understand that he made a lot of bad decisions and got a lot of second-chances. But I feel that if he wouldn’t have been allowed to act the way he did so early in his career and was instead punished more severely and given more positive influence he could have had a solid NFL, in my eyes he was one of the most polarizing college QB to watch. 

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• I hate to lose, it is great to win but the feeling of winning will come and go a lot quicker than the feeling of losing. 

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?• My mother. She has had a very hard life and been in a lot of situations that people don’t normally come back from, but she has overcome so much and continues to show me on a daily basis what hard work and dedication can do for me.