Cameron Wake – December 1, 2017
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Friday, December 1, 2017
DE Cameron Wake
(How often do you gauge mood around here and how is the mood around here in light of the five-game losing streak?) – “I don’t think I gauge much. I focus on, obviously, things that I can control. I can’t control anybody else’s mood, so hopefully everybody here, I have pretty good confidence that everybody here is professional and they come here and they focus on doing their job. If you’re focusing, again, on four games ago, then you’re not focusing on what’s important, which is the next game. I think we have a group of professionals here and I think the mood is good.”
(DT Ndamukong Suh said before that he’s a guy that cares about his legacy and how he’s seen long term. Is that something that matters to you, your legacy, in this game?) – “My legacy probably will matter to me when I’m done playing. I’ve always been a guy who, when you finish a task, you can look backwards; but until you finish, looking backwards is a waste of your energy to create the task that you should be looking backwards to marvel at. If you stop to count how well you’re doing, obviously you’re not continuing to accumulate whatever things you’re trying to accumulate. I’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
(We understand that you’re still going to play for years to come – the hope is obviously for you – but if your legacy is, ‘Great player but never on a great team,’ would that bother you?) – “I would hope that’s not the legacy. Nobody in here is a fortune teller, myself included. This year could be a great year. Next year could be a great year. This could be my best game ever, it could be my worst game ever. There’s no way to say it. I’ve always thought, if I was to say I have a million marbles in my hand and I throw them around this locker room and I say, ‘Hey guys, every marble you pick up in the next 30 seconds, you get $100.’ Will you stop and count are you going to pick up as many as you can until the five minutes is over? I don’t take note as I’m trying to accumulate. I’m trying to continue to be great. If I stop and pat myself on the back, then my greatness is obviously going to be waning. I’ll worry about that when the time comes, and right now I’ve still got some time, right?”
(I’ll ask it a different way, when DE Jason Taylor went into the Hall of Fame, he said his biggest regret was not getting to the Super Bowl. Would that be your greatest regret?) – “Again, I could go to the Super Bowl this year. I can go to the Super Bowl next year. I haven’t shot myself and bowed out. I still have a lot of fight left. I think this team has it, as well. Hall of Fame, legacy, what I’m going to be when I’m 50 and thinking about it, that’s the furthest thing from my mind. The Broncos are what I’m concerned about. When I’m an old man talking to my grandkids, I’ll talk about my legacy. Right now, that’s not my focus.”
(But you have to know the reality of the NFL, you’ll be 36 in January and all of that.) – “True. People were talking about the reality of the NFL when I was 32 in January, and here I am. I’m focusing on the Broncos.”
(I once asked DE Jason Taylor if he could ever, ever imagine himself in any other uniform and he said, ‘I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll never play for the Jets.’) – “(laughter) And he played for the Jets.”
(Can you ever envision yourself in any other uniform or no? I don’t want you to. I’m just wondering.) – “Do you know something I don’t know? (laughter) You let me know.”
(You’ve had a lot of opportunities to move on and you never have.) – “(laughter) This is an interesting interview. Another team has not crossed my mind for years. Legacy hasn’t. Again, I’m a laser-focused guy, I’ve got blinders on. That’s way out of left field. I couldn’t care less about that right now. I’m focusing on my next opponent.”
(Well this might be a question you might be able to answer, why each time do you keep coming back?) – “Broncos.”
(Because of the Broncos?) – “(laughter) No. I could tell you about the last time, because every time is a little different. The last time I came back was because, obviously, I’ve built a tremendous amount of comfort and history here, and this organization. I have belief in the players, belief in the coaching staff, the city, fans, all of the above. For me to go somewhere else would have to be a dramatically different opportunity, and I feel like the best opportunity is right here in Miami, so I signed back. That was a question from eight months ago.”
(Was the extension in March or April, whatever it was?) – “I don’t know.”
(You felt good enough about the direction of this franchise to…) – “To sign? Did I sign back here? I did, so I must have felt pretty good about it.”
(Well we didn’t get to talk to you at the time.) – “You’re a little late aren’t you?”
(Better late than never.) – “It’s December. We did this in what, March? We’re a few months late guys. I don’t know. I signed back when I signed back.”
(I have questions about the young defensive players on this team. Who has stood out to you and why? First and second year guys, from CB Cordrea Tankersley, CB Xavien Howard, DT Davon Godchaux, DE Charles Harris, DT Vincent Taylor…) – “You’re naming them all.”
(I don’t know if I missed anybody, LB Chase Allen?) – “It’s funny enough, you’ve probably hit all of them on the head, I think. Each one of those guys is probably … Actually, I think all of them have kind of gotten that, ‘Hey you, you’re up.’ You had the opportunity. Even up to this week, there’s probably guys that are going to get thrown in the fire and you’ve got to be ready. It’s literally sink or swim. Back when you were a kid, maybe some of you had uncles like hey, ‘Can you swim?’ Well, we’ll push you in the deep end and either you’re going to drown or you’re going to figure it out. I think these guys that you’ve mentioned, all of them literally, have gotten thrown in the fire, whether it be injuries, whether it be replacing … They literally got thrown in the fire and I think it’s a testament to the guys that if you weren’t ready, if you weren’t preparing as if this was going to be your opportunity, then when you did get thrown in, you would’ve drowned, I guess that’s the best way to say it. And those guys haven’t. They’ve played to a high level. They’ve played to the expectations and I think each game, they’re going to be able to get more and more opportunities and get better and better.”
(What, if anything, do you admire or respect about Broncos DE Von Miller?) – “I’m a little biased when it comes to defensive players, especially pass rushers, because I know what it takes to be good and to be great. He does a lot of things well. I’ve spent time with the guy so I know, off the field, he’s a character; but on the field, he’s a guy that you have to pay attention to and I’m pretty confident in our plan for this week. Hopefully he saves his good games for some other days, some other weeks.”
(One more thing. Patriots QB Tom Brady, you got a lot of hits on him last week – one sack. How do you feel after a game like that? Not personal performance, I know you didn’t win; but you hit him, you kind of did your job, only one sack. Did you play a good game? Do you like how you did? Do you look at it statistically even?) – “I don’t. When we lose, I always have a feeling that I didn’t do enough and we didn’t win that game. We did a lot of things that we should have done better.”
(You were on him, though.) – “Does that mean anything? It doesn’t mean anything to me.”
