Lawrence Okoye – June 8, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, June 8, 2017
DT Lawrence Okoye
(How did you get introduced to football?) – “It was accessible over in England, because we have the SkySports coverage. Just watching the game, it seemed really appealing to me. It became something that I really wanted to do. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to come over and do it. It kind of was born out of watching the game and seeing amazing plays and saying, ‘I can do that too.’”
(Where do you think you are in your development as a football player as opposed to when you first started playing?) – “Obviously, it’s night and day. It has been a huge learning curve, and I think my skillset has improved drastically. It has been a shame I haven’t been able to display that yet in competitive games, but hopefully that will change.”
(Did you have a chance to go to Oxford law school?) – “Yes, I was accepted. My place was deferred until this year. Obviously, I’m playing football right now.”
(What’s the toughest thing about being at the top of your profession in an Olympic sport and then having to start over? Do you get down, do you get up?) – “I think it’s a process of humbling yourself and starting from the bottom, starting from scratch and having no name recognition, no clout and just building yourself up from the bottom.”
(Going back to the Oxford law thing for a second, you said it was deferred until this year?) –“Yes.”
(How does that work? Do you have to make a decision by the end of this year?) – “Yes, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to take it up obviously given that I’m playing a professional sport. Hopefully it’s something that I can come back to when I’m done playing.”
(Do you want to do something in the legal profession or do you want to use that as a jumping off point for something else after you’re done?) – “At this point in my life, you kind of discover yourself – kind of discover who you are as a person – in your 20’s. I’m still in that discovery process, still learning what I’m about as a person. I can’t give a definitive answer (about) what I’d like to do at some point in the future, because it’s so day to day right now.”
(You know the prestige of Oxford. How difficult of a decision was that for you or was it difficult at all?) – “I think playing sports every kid has a … Most kids have dreams of playing professional sports. Passing up that wasn’t really an option for me.”
(Being from England, what was your reaction to the recent terrorist attacks that happened in London?) – “It’s obviously heartbreaking. It’s a tough situation all over the world, all over the western world. But, I think we should use that as an opportunity to grow together as a country and learn some of the lessons of our past and hopefully be stronger going forward. It’s obviously terrible for the people that were killed and their families and obviously everyone is upset for them.”
(Has your fellow Englishman RB Jay Ajayi taken you under his wing a little bit or showed you around since you’ve been here?) – “Jay has been cool. He has been a good resource for me. I think I’ve been welcomed by everyone on the team. I feel very grateful for that connection.”
(What’s the hardest thing about football for you?) – “I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s a single thing that’s hard for me. It used to be very hard for me when I first started playing.”
(Why was it hard?) – “Because, learning anything from scratch … My first time ever playing was against Joe Staley in practice. That wasn’t easy. Now I’m very comfortable. I’m not saying I’m Bruce Smith, but I’m very happy with my skillset, and I’m improving every day. I feel very happy in my ability of going out there and dominating guys on the field.”
(Can you talk us through your Olympic experience, highlights and what you take from being a participant?” – “Any professional athlete goes into a competition to win, and I didn’t win. There were highlights and there were lowlights. I took away from that as a young 20 year old, how to be a more professional athlete in the mindset and how to perform at the highest level. That’s what I take away from that – being able to stay on your game at the highest level.”
(Opening ceremony a great thrill, the Olympic village?) – “I’m kind of all about the business side of it. I’m not really worried about that kind of stuff. I was there as an athlete to perform. I didn’t even go to the opening ceremony, because I was preparing for my competition. That’s not really a big deal to me if I’m honest.”
(Did you have the chance to go to the opening ceremony or was your competition an hour after the opening ceremony?) – “I was preparing in Portugal at the time before the games.”
(How do you feel about your chances of making the team?) – “That’s way above my paygrade. You can ask (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike Tannenbaum or (General Manager) Chris Grier, and hopefully they’ll give you a positive answer. I’m just playing football every day and enjoying myself.”
(Whose tougher, rugby players or American football players?) – “I think you’re trying to catch me right there. (laughter) Both games are tough. Obviously, football is extremely violent, but rugby is a violent game, too. They both are fun games.”
(Considering you’ve played both. Do you think football will change if the game was played without helmets?) – “You couldn’t play football without helmets, period.”
(What has been your experience here going against some of the guys that you’ve had to go up against?) – “I think I’ve been making plays. Obviously, we don’t have pads on yet, so there’s kind of a limit on how physical I can be. Hopefully when pads do come on, it will be even better. I think I’ve shown that I’ve got some quickness and some nice hand moves and some nice counter moves. We’ll keep that going as training camp comes forward.”
(Do you feel that this training camp coming up is when you’ll have your best chance to show everything that you’ve done to this point and what kind of football player you can be?) – “I think that I’m as good as I’ve been, obviously. I think everyone will see that. There’s no need to speculate. I think eyes will be opened.”
(Do you ever take the opportunity to test any of your teammates here on any of the skills you’ve had as a Olympic athlete, any of your discus skill to see if they can do what you used to do?) – “No.”
(Would you like to? Would you like to put them on the other side for a change learning something new?) – “Guys here are about playing football, and that’s all I’m about really. I don’t really think about the past if I’m honest with you. I haven’t really reflected on much. I’m very much focused on what I do on a day-to-day bases.”
(I think DT Ndamukong Suh was a shot-putter. Did that ever come up, I think he was really good at it.) – “Maybe. I’m not sure. He’s very likely to be good given who he is.”
