Mack Hollins – November 18, 2021
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Thursday, November 18, 2021
WR Mack Hollins
(Was there any thought – obviously I’m from Maryland and lacrosse is really big up there. Was there any thought that maybe you’d be a lacrosse player instead of a football player?) – “Honestly, if lacrosse was as big as football, I probably would have played lacrosse. It’s just more fun to me. You just have to be part of everything. You have to play defense, you have to play offense. I was a midfielder so I did a little bit of both. You’re running. You’ve got little elements of basketball. You’ve got elements of football in it with the physicality. It was a lot of fun. But I just felt after college, I knew I wanted to play sports professionally and the professional realm of lacrosse isn’t that big. I think it’s growing and I think it will be big. In 15 years, it will be one of the biggest I think. But I think I did all right.”
(Did you grow up in Montgomery County?) – “Yeah, Montgomery County. So lacrosse was like – if you didn’t play lacrosse, as you know, you were kind of the weirdo. It’s like down south, if you didn’t play football. That’s how it is in Maryland. You better play lacrosse.”
(How good were you?) – “I was pretty good. I played long-stick middie. We were a pretty good team. Almost made it to states. We were pretty good.”
(Is there anything in lacrosse that helped you in football any ways, that you could incorporate?) – “I’m a big fan of playing a lot of sports. I think it’s tough now because kids are funneled to playing this sport and just play it. Like play football and that’s all you do all year round. But there are so many elements of other sports that you could bring into your game. So lacrosse for example, the quickness of seeing things like who is open, who is not, me being able to recognize what defense a defense is in while they’re shifting, while I’m running around. It’s those types of things that you don’t really get from just playing football. I think lacrosse, yes. But every sport I’ve ever played helped me become the player I am today.”
(This is an important question so give it some thought. What does it take to be a gunner?) – “(laughter)”
(I only ask that question to people who are actually good gunners.) – “Well, I appreciate the compliment. Sometimes in the locker room, we’ll be comparing. It’s imagine going on the treadmill and turning it to the fastest speed and you’ve got to make it for five or six seconds. Then imagine two of your buddies trying to knock you off the treadmill the entire time and you’ve got to stay on there. Then once you get to the end, you have to stop somebody from running the opposite direction, who is at a standstill, who can make a cut any direction and still make the tackle. It’s rough but it’s the stuff I love. Gunner reps are probably my favorite rep of any play in the game of football because it’s a lot of action. There’s a lot of responsibility too but to be a good one, it takes a mindset.”
(There are people like me who actually watch it. That’s one of my favorite things to watch in football, as well. What’s your most embarrassing moment as a gunner?) – “(laughter) You all probably don’t know this because it was so bad I was off the screen. You all can go back – we’ve got Pro Bowl votes coming out so I probably shouldn’t even say this. (laughter) So last year we were playing the Jaguars. It was a plus-50 situation. I’m on the right side. We punt the ball. You can’t go out of bounds and touch the ball first. I get pushed out of bounds. I continue to get sent out of bounds until my back touches not the bench but the stadium wall. It was COVID so there were no fans, so I couldn’t dap anybody up. I got saved though. The ball checks up on the one and we down it on the one. But yeah, ever since then, I’ve switched some things around. That was definitely my most embarrassing gunner moment by far.”
(It seems like you maybe celebrate when you pin a ball at the 1-yard line more than you do a touchdown. Is it more enjoyable for you?) – “Yeah. I think touchdowns are great. Everybody loves a touchdown because it helps the team win. But I think special teams guys don’t get a chance to have fun and celebrate. That’s a big play to down the ball on the one. You don’t know any defensive player in the history of the game that’s upset about going out there and playing (against the) offense on the 1-yard line. There’s not too much the offense can do. I think special teams guys – if I could be the guy that gets other guys celebrating, I’ll do it because I think it’s a big play in the game and it changes the momentum of the game.”
(Who was the guy that ran you out?) – “I don’t even remember honestly. You all will find it. You might not see me in the screen but you will find it. I’m telling you.”
(What’s the flip side here? Best moment as a gunner.) – “There’s been like some forced fumbles. Like the one this year where I pushed a guy into the returner and Blake (Ferguson) recovered it. Anything that’s a turnover I think is great. I think punt return I have more fun in terms of like great plays. At gunner, my job is to stop him from returning. So every play that I stop them is great. But on punt return, going at it, being able to get like two blocks or something – knock a guy down and then the returner is going up the sideline and go get another block. That’s where you really have fun and have great moments, in my opinion. Gunners it’s like just do your job. You either have (expletive) moments or you have regular moments.”
(Somebody tweeted out, is DT Christian Wilkins on punt return?) – “Oh, yeah. We have some different packages where those guys will go in. We’ll get some big guys. (laughter)”
(Did you see the replay of… destroying a dude?) – “Yeah, that’s really why we do it. To line up, like there’s guys my size that have to line up on punt and I see Christian Wilkins across from me and your center was just struggling with him, you’re probably going to struggle with him. It’s a good package for us to change stuff up.”
(What does it take to convince young players to take special teams serious? Or do you think they get it?) – “Honestly, if they don’t get it, the best way to convince them is to tell them to bring their playbook upstairs. And from that moment on, they’ll realize how important special teams is. Like if you’re not the guy and you think somehow you can go undrafted or low draft pick and just not play special teams, more power to you. But I know from the years that I’ve played in this league and the other guys I’ve played with, special teams is a way that you can become the guy for sure – you can definitely become the guy – but you need to be in those special teams meetings and be a monster there before you can go.”
(I ask this question because I’ve battled with this question, like why don’t you play offense more? I’ve even asked the coaches. Is it because you play so many different roles on special teams? And they say no and they say you practice well. Why don’t you play offense more?) – “For me, it’s just whatever opportunities come my way. As you all see, I’m going to have high energy no matter what I’m doing, whether it’s offense or special teams. When I get my opportunities on offense, I take advantage of them, and I’ll continue to do that. But since I was a little kid, my dad would never let me be the guy that’s like, ‘hey, why am I not playing?’ We’re winning games now and that’s really – I’ll take zero snaps and a win 100 times out of 100 versus all of the snaps and a loss. That may sound weird or different than most, but the point of the game is to win. Everything is better when you’re winning. I’m sure everybody that came here is all cheery. Everybody is in a better mood. That’s how it works when you win. So if we can continue to win, the special teams reps, if it came down to it – if they said, ‘Mack, you’re not playing,’ and we’re winning? So be it.”
(I just tweeted something about your positive energy. I’m dead serious, just being around you, I feel better about things. I feel better about my life. I wanted to ask you a dead serious question. So if someone is having a hard day out there – someone who is watching this on YouTube or some kid in school that is getting bullied or some reporter who is having a hard time at home – what do you say to people in those situations?) – “I have a pretty straightforward look at life. People in the locker room will say, ‘You’re weird for thinking that.’ But soon enough I will be in a box covered in dirt. So if I live my life like ‘Oh, this (expletive) sucks,’ well then go in the dirt earlier. You might as well live your life and enjoy it to the most you can. Yeah you’re going to have (expletive) times. Everybody has (expletive) times. But there’s some that have (expletive) times and then those times end and then they have no times. So would you rather have no time or find a way to have a good time? I’d rather find a way to have a good time. That may sound so weird. Like why is your outlook on life that you could be dead? Because I have so much time left. Why not enjoy it? I don’t know when my moment is going to be. I’m going to have fun, I’m going to enjoy it, I’m going to try to have other people enjoy it. I don’t like seeing other people in bad moods. If I can change your mood for the better, so be it. Because the day is still going to go on. Why do it in a bad mood? I guess the saying is about duct tape. Can you fix it with duct tape, yes or no? If the answer is yes, fix it with duct tape. If the answer is no, then you can’t fix it and so be it. That’s life. If you can fix the problem, fix it. If you can’t, then stop worrying about it. That’s just kind of how I look at life.”
(Where does that come from? Duct tape?) – “(laughter) That’s just memes and stuff. But if you look at life, can you fix the problem, yes or no? Yes, I can fix the problem, ok go about it to fix it. Now the problem is done. If I can’t fix the problem, then why are you stressed about something you can’t fix? Now you don’t have to worry about it. Either way, I’m getting out of the problem.”
(Can you fix it with duct tape.) – “Can you fix it with duct tape? Yes, fix it with duct tape. No, then it can’t be fixed. Because if you can’t fix it with duct tape, then it can’t be fixed.”
