2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Maliek Golden, DB, Southwestern Assemblies of God

• Name: Maliek A.J. Golden
• Height: 6’1
• Weight: 208
• Position: CB/FS
• College: Southwestern Assemblies of God
• Twitter: maliekajgolden

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

• I’m Lancaster, TX originally but we moved to McKinney, TX for a better life and McKinney is cool but I can’t think of anything specific I love about besides the fact my family is there. My dad is a pastor so I love our church and the church family, and I love Adriatica, I train/work out there a lot.

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

• Strength and Conditioning, Film study, Practice. Watching film can prepare you for a game even if you can’t practice, but you can’t play or practice if you aren’t conditioned or don’t have the strength to do either.

What do you worry about, and why?

• I don’t worry, I trust God and whatever is for me will be mine.

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

•I’ve failed so many times but I know in life it’s common, and when you want to be great at something you have to be willing to fail because failure is growth. I remember I wanted to be able to do 100 push-ups straight in the 8th grade and I couldn’t, I broke it up into 4 sets until I could break it up into 2 sets and finally I was able to do 100 straight.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

•My energy. I’m very energetic and I have a feel for body language, I can tell when my guys are down including my coaches and I can tell when they’re feeling good, I just play on it however I feel they need in a positive way, of course, I just make sure not to let them see me sulking.

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

•The receivers at my school Jeremy Carr, Sammy Northey, Reggie Agyei, Will Boyd, Eric Berry, Brylen Williams and Clayton Stallones. I clamped all them up too but they always gave me their all, it was like playing against your family in the backyard.

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

• I would be auditioning for films and sitcoms while going to the studio at night to cut records. Entertainment is one of my other babies and I’m sure that’s what I would be doing if I wasn’t athletically gifted.

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

•Desk

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

•My family member, no brainer question but it would also depend on how old the family member is, who the family member is and how young the strangers are. If the family member is old and they’ve lived a good life and the strangers are young kids I would like to believe I would save the kids because kids are the future, hopefully I’m never put in this situation.

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

•Wolverine. He’s my favorite Marvel Character along with the Hulk but he has more control of his powers than the Hulk so I have to go with Wolverine, he’s immortal and fearless. 

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

•My biggest adversity in life had to be breaking my hand. I had to learn to re-use it and how it affected me mentally and spiritually made it one of my hardest tests.  I had to buckle down and do my treatment daily to get my hand strength back.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

•One of my most embarrassing moments is being in a film that came out in theaters with a messed up edge up. I remember leaving the trailer from getting my haircut and crying in my personal trainer to my mom about my cut ha! I was sick!

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

•We had a bowl game against Campbellsville and I had messed up on a drive and it cost us, their fans were heckling their butts afterward, and two drives later they tried to fake us with a flea-flicker pass… I picked it off with one hand and after I picked it off I looked directly at the fans who were running their mouths and gave them a little wave.

What song best describes your work ethic?

•To Whom It May Concern by Ace Hood

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

•IQ. I believe that knowing the game in different situations and coaches/player tendencies are very important, knowing body language and non-verbal cues that may give something away. Knowing that with also having physical abilities I know I can slow the game down and make it easier to make plays.

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

•Sean Taylor, and I would tell him what would happen if he chose the same lifestyle. I would try to save him.

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

•GOLDEN

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?

•Chris Harris Jr., he’s been consistent.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

•Respected because people can like you and not respect you. You like good players, you respect legendary players.

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

•Josh Gordon because he’s such a freak of nature and he made playing in the NFL look so easy. 

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

•I love to win, but when I lose it’s never just an L, I get to learn so it doesn’t happen again. 

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

•My experiences. There hasn’t been one person who has a staple in my life that I can give credit to, but my parents are definitely a big part of who I am, but the things I’ve seen and gone through is what has influenced me to be who I am. I see what I don’t like and I want to be a change, I see what I do like and I want to add more of it.