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Mack Hollins – September 8, 2021 Download PDF version

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

WR Mack Hollins

(What does it mean to you to be a team captain?) – “It’s a huge honor, especially to get voted on by your teammates, to be held in that regard. It’s awesome and it’s something I don’t take for granted. Does it add a little bit of a load? Yeah, but it’s something that I’ll gladly accept because I think it gives me the ability to hold guys to a higher standard. As you all know, I am a bit of a loudmouth on the field, so now I have a little backing behind what I say. (laughter)”

(What do you think you showed to earn that?) – “I think it’s just that I’m always there every day trying to keep guys positive, trying to keep guys going, trying to work at a high level and I’m fortunate enough that my teammates recognize that and thought that was worthy enough to be voted a captain. But it doesn’t stop. The bar gets raised a little bit higher. Now every fault that I make, not only the team will be on me but you all will be on me. As a captain, you can’t do this, this and this. I know that and I understand that. I think it’s good because it raises my bar. It makes me practice harder, work harder.”

(Were you a captain before and was this a surprise?) – “Not in the NFL. In college I was a captain all four years but not in the NFL. It kind of, I don’t want to compare it to making the 53 but I never thought, ‘hey, I’m for sure going to be a captain.’ Obviously I put my name in the hat and you hope and you pray that you are going to be a captain; but to hear your name, ‘hey, this is our captain,’ and I hear Mack Hollins, that was definitely not expected. I was really fortunate that I did so I was extremely excited.”

(You put your name in a hat? What is the process for that?) – “Yeah, so everybody gets the chance to go up there and, ‘hey, I want to be a captain.’ Some guys give a speech, some guys just say I want to put my name in the hat. It varies on how you get up there. So I went up there and said, ‘hey, I want to put my name in the hat as a captain,’ and then the team votes.”

(What was your platform?) – “I ran on the democratic party (laughter). No, I went up there and my platform was I want to win games and I want to keep you guys at a high standard and I want you guys to do the same for me. It would be a pleasure and honor to lead you all and have my patch on my jersey or something – whatever they put. But I also said everybody is a leader on this team. It doesn’t matter if it’s me. It’s whoever is out there. It’s really hard to lead. If I’m not out there for a play, it’s really hard to lead. You’ll ask a coach, ‘Hey, why is this guy not doing that?’ Well, I’m not out there. But if a coach isn’t out there or you’re not a player that’s out there – guys that get hurt, you see they can’t lead as well because they’re not on the field. We’re all selfish when we’re tired or hurt. When you’re out on the field and you’re like, ‘Oh, you ain’t out there. You don’t know what it’s like.’ ‘Get your depth on this, make this tackle.’ ‘You’re not out there, bro.’ So it’s hard. That’s why I told the guys that everyone is a leader. If you’re on the field, you’re a leader. If you’re at practice doing something, you’re a leader. It’s bigger than just me.”

(What’s the leadership you’ve seen from QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “It’s great, especially from last year to this year. I know the questions are probably going to come like why isn’t he a captain? Just because you’re a quarterback or just because you’re this doesn’t mean you have to be the captain or you have to be this. Tua is an excellent leader, an exceptional leader. The transformation he’s made from last year to this year is incredible. I think you all have seen that in how calm he feels in the pocket now versus last year. If you put a clip side-by-side, the changes he’s made are really night and day. That goes to leadership. It’s not like his arm magically got 10-times better. It goes to his confidence, his ability to lead and feel comfortable in the huddle.”

(In terms of changes made, night and day, is it how vocal QB Tua Tagovailoa is? How much he says to teammates?) – “I think it’s how he says it. You come in as a rookie and a lot of times you think more than you know or you’re a little hesitant to say things because when you’re a rookie, you’re what, 21 or 22 years old? And you are talking to somebody who is 36, 35? It’s intimidating. Guys were in middle school when you were born. (laughter) I think he’s understanding how to have those conversations, get the point across without seeming timid or disrespectful and that’s a fine line in this league and he’s done an excellent job with it.”

(As a captain, for the coin toss do you go heads or tails?) – “I switch it up. I’m currently undefeated. I don’t want to jinx it but (knocks on wood). We’ll see. (laughter)”

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