|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ROSE BOWL GAME: OREGON v FLORIDA STATEDecember 29, 2014Rashad GreenePASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Do you approach this game any differently? RASHAD GREENE: Most definitely, I wish he was out there. Being that he is a senior and have to go through something like that, you know, I know it's not the most‑‑ something that a senior would want to go through at a time like this. I definitely wish he was out there, being able to compete against him was something that I was looking forward to. But my approach to this game is no differently. Q. The secondary‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Yeah, I think they will be pretty strong. Q. Attention on the national level, does it bother you? RASHAD GREENE: No, it doesn't bother me at all. At the end of the day, the people who they give the attention to are the people that they want to give it to, and I know myself, I'm proud of myself, my teammates are proud of me, my family is proud of me and I play football to play football, not for the attention. Q. Why do you think you don't get more attention? RASHAD GREENE: Because I love the game, I don't love the attention. Q. What's made you so successful here for four years? RASHAD GREENE: My work ethic, my mental aspect of everything and my ability to stay consistent through four years of practicing, most importantly, and the games. Q. Where is that consistency level‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: It's definitely not something that comes overnight, you know, you have to create that habit at a young age and that's what I was able to do from my parents upbringing me to create a good work ethic and not one to let any of your teammates down. I knew what I had to do and I knew I had to be consistent and get better every day. Q. How did they instill that in you? RASHAD GREENE: Just the way they raised me and the things they taught me about life and being disciplined. You know, if you want something out of life, you have to work for it and that's what they instilled in my and my brothers, so that's what we always did. If we wanted something, we knew we had to work for it and this is something I want, so I know I was going to have to put a lot of work into it. Q. Your freshman year, your coming out‑‑ what do you remember about that? RASHAD GREENE: I remember it was a great game. It was very competitive and I remember making a lot of plays and just having the opportunity to make plays and I was able to capitalize off it and we had a great win and I remember a lot of my fellow teammates that started with me in that game as a freshman, so it was almost eight of us that was starting that game as a true freshman and we was able to work together and pull it off. Q. Did you think after that point, the team would be here? ‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: I did, because I knew everyone's mind was on the same thing. I knew everyone's work ethic was all incumbant. So I knew we was a team that would be very special and do great things. Q. Do you think you would have a chance to become FSU's all a time‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: That was something I was unaware of, even returning here to FSU for my senior year I was unaware of any of those records until they started happening. Q. What is it about this team that allows it to‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: The resilience and the love and trust we have in each other that's most important because we don't believe in each other. A lot of those games we don't make a comeback, so that definitely is one of the most greatest things about us is our character and loving and trusting each other. It's never a sense that we are out of the game. It's more of a sense that we are still going to win the game more than being out of it, so that was always our attitude when we got behind that we still going to win this game, we just have to fight and claw and just come together and do what we need to do. Q. RASHAD GREENE: Most definitely. We don't want to get behind with anyone, so we know we have to come out very strong and I think the ACC Championship is a game that offensively, we were definitely clicking from beginning to end. So I feel like we're definitely peaking offensively and getting a better start and we're practicing a whole lot better. So I think that we'll start a lot better. Q. You're peaking at the right time? RASHAD GREENE: We're peaking at the right time. Q. What have you been doing outside of football this week? RASHAD GREENE: Just enjoying my teammates. Spending more time with each other because the life expectancy of this team is definitely coming to an end. We only have a few more weeks together. So I'm just embracing that opportunity to be able to spend with them out here in California and just enjoying each other. Q. A lot of people would like to see you all lose‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: That's not my job to worry about what people think at the end of the day my worries are just this team, this coaching staff and this organization and what with he can do to win this game. Q. First time you stepped out on to the field, what was that reek? RASHAD GREENE: It was great. It was definitely something that I will remember for the rest of my life, something that I can share with my son. It was a moment that we lived up to. Q. How much of that comes from‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: I think it's some part of it. But I feel like it comes more from Coach Fisher's willingness to instill that in us, that ability to not give up on each other, to love each other and just realize what it takes to win, which is a bunch of guys that love and trust in each other. That's what we built over the years. Q. To be an underdog‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: There's no feeling at all. At the end of the day, I don't see any of the four teams that's in the playoffs ranked one, two, three or four because if any of us lose, that's the season. So regardless of whether we are underdogs or not, we still have to go out there and play a football game. Q. The cool uniforms‑‑ people say they want to go there because of that‑‑ what's your take on that? RASHAD GREENE: This day and age, I definitely agree with the fact that recruits do look into things like that, uniforms and what you look like playing and stuff like that, so I can agree with them somewhat. But that's just the generation it is out here today, more about looks than actually playing sometimes. Q. Is that how you feel about the team? RASHAD GREENE: I'm pretty sure they have a lot of recruits because of the uniforms and things like that, but they have a lot of great players. Q. Inaudible. RASHAD GREENE: I won't know until I play them. Ask me that question after the game. Q. Do you feel like the team takes it's use from Jameis and the way he handles his business? RASHAD GREENE: I think we all carry ourselves the same way, not identically but the same manner, and I think that comes from Coach Fisher instilling that in us, the way to carry ourselves and the way to handle our business, and what it takes to win. It's a combination of just everybody coming together. Q. What was your I am prescription of‑‑ handling himself in the Heisman Trophy? RASHAD GREENE: I didn't even watch it. I didn't watch it. Q. That Jameis wasn't‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Not at all because I know what's more important to him and that's to win a National Championship. That's to be a part of this team, and be successful with his teammates. So I wasn't disappointed at all because I know it's where his mind is. Q. How would you compare Jameis and Marcus when you look at their games and the way they are across the board? RASHAD GREENE: I can say that they are similar a lot, besides the physical part, Jameis is a lot bigger than him, but they both throw the ball well, they can extend the plays with their leg. Mariota is faster than Jameis but they both can make big plays as a quarterback. Q. As good as you guys are, do you think the rest of the country realizes you guys have won 29 in a row and you could win two championships in a row? Have you heard a lot of talk like that? RASHAD GREENE: I don't think so. I feel like people just basically look at it from the games we played and how they have been close but not realizing‑‑ it's very tough to repeat yourself. It's very tough to not get everyone's AGame, because who wouldn't want to end our streak. So you have to expect everyone's AGame every Saturday regardless of whether the team is not very good. They are going to play good against Florida State. Q. If you guys are 5‑7 last year, coming back and winning all these games, coming from behind, would this season be perceived different? Last year you set a scoring record and beat everybody. RASHAD GREENE: Yeah, probably would, and that just basically how the outside looks in on everything. But just like I said, not realizing‑‑ it's very hard to win 29 games in a row. Q. You haven't been in the Rose Bowl stadium, have you? RASHAD GREENE: Not yet. Q. Retrace your steps‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Not yet. Q. How many times did you watch it? RASHAD GREENE: I watch it a lot. Actually the pass in our locker plays highlights so I see it almost every day. Q. What are your impressions‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: He's a great player, being that he has not played as much as the other guys, so it's not a whole bunch of film to just really watch and really study him like I did with the starter. But those are a good group of guys and I don't expect anything less than them playing their best, so that's how I prepare. Q. Inaudible? RASHAD GREENE: Not at all. At the end of the day, I was once in his shoes and I was a freshman and I'm pretty sure people, their eyes probably lit up when they were guarding me and when the play started, it was a different result. I would never underestimate anyone and out of respect I would give him my best game. Q. When you came to camp‑‑ what do you remember about‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Just how he was so much alike me, our demeanor, our attitude, our personality is just so much alike, just that calm, cool and collected and not a guy that screams a lot or yells or anything like that. We just have so much in common and we click right away, from me going into camp as a junior, he definitely told me he would come and get me and that meant a lot to me being that I had already been places and taught the different cultures. He was the first one that said that to me. It was very special and it is definitely going to be tough leaving a guy like Dawson. Q. How big a reason is he that you came here? RASHAD GREENE: He was majority of the reason why I came here. Q. How did your relationship with him change over the years? RASHAD GREENE: Every day, I can talk to him about anything, I can come to him about anything, we just can't relate to each other and it's like‑‑ he's like a second father to me. I'm blessed. Q. RASHAD GREENE: He's better with just managing, being more of a leader and having to work with guys that is not on the same level as we were last year, so this is a year to really test his leadership, his game. I think, you know, for his statistic, you can't really judge it by that. At the end of the day, he's been winning games. He's been leaders to younger guys because we don't have a Kevin Benjamin any more, we don't have a Kenny Shaw anymore. We only have me and O'Leary oh who are returning starters, so you have to work with freshmen. So it's very hard for him and I both to get those guys playing at a high level at a young age. I think you judge it by that, how successful he has been with the group of guys like he's had. I feel like he's done a tremendous job. Q. Can you talk about being a fan of college football‑‑ winner goes to the championship and you want to play the game‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: College football is the best thing honestly. It's very exciting. You get to see young kids just go out there and play their hearts out and there's just nothing like it. There's no comparison. Even with the NFL, I feel like college football is more fun and more exciting because kids actually go out there and play because they love the game and they are trying to get somewhere with it regardless of the NFL where some guys play for a check and lose their love for the game. But it's going to be very exciting seeing two special guys like Jameis and Marriott toe playing against each other and the winner goes to the championship. I'm grateful to be a part of it and I'm blessed just to see two guys like that play on the same field. Q. You guys have been the favorite in every game. What's it like finally being‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: In our mind we was always the Hunter. We never considered ourselves the champs because that was a totally different team. We were trying to hunt another one and we were in a position where we can get that, and we know that that's what we want. So we continue to hunt. So by them putting us in that category, that's a smile on us but at the end of the day we know we have to go out there and play a football game and they do, as well. Picking us as the underdog is not going to win the game. Q. Is this defense‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Nobody that I ever seen, it's definitely a different type of defense where they only may rush three and drop eight, so his game is going to take a lot of patience for us and just making the right reads, finding windows and zones. So it's different. Q. What's the definitely of respect like for a team like Oregon‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: For me it's respect with any team that I step on the field and play against. That would be disrespecting a team if I didn't play my best or we didn't give our best. That's not showing our opponent the proper respect that they deserve. So we respect any opponent and we definitely respect Oregon and the success they have had. They are a great team with a great group of guys. Q. What about Red Lightning, what's the team's relationship like with him? RASHAD GREENE: Red Lightning, he's a part of the family, as well. All of the guys that help us with the equipment and whatever we may need to help us on the field, you know, those guys are part of the family, as well and Red Lightning is just someone that everybody loves. Q. What's his personality like? RASHAD GREENE: He's a very cool guy. He's laid back. He's not really obnoxious or anything like that. He's just cool. He jokes around with all the players and stuff like that. He's a great person. Q. Do you feel like this team has taken on Jumbo Fisher's personality? RASHAD GREENE: Somewhat. I feel like we created our other personality. He instilled the right things that we needed to have to be successful and we took it and made it into our own form. Every team has a different personality just like last year's team had a different personality than this team. So I think it's our own personality but we have the right morals and base to be successful. Q. What do you think the perception of Florida State is right now nationally? RASHAD GREENE: Honestly, I don't really know, haven't really thought about it. I just know that those are my brothers. I love them. I love all the coaches. I love the university.  It's not really my job to try to figure out what everyone thinks about us. Q. Inaudible. RASHAD GREENE: I would never let anything like that get me angry because I knew what we deserve and I knew what we were capable of, and all I asked that we just get an opportunity, whether it was No.4, No. 3, No. 2, No.1, it didn't matter. That's an opportunity for us. Q. Do you still feel like this is a chance to prove the committee wrong with the rankings? RASHAD GREENE: It's not about proving anyone wrong. It's about us going out there and accomplishing the goals that we set out and just playing the best that we can play. Q. Have you noticed Jameis change, his personality at all, in the last year? RASHAD GREENE: Not at all. That guy, I wouldn't recommend that he change anything about his personality, because he's a great guy. He's a great brother to me. He's a great brother to all the players on the team. He has not changed his personality at all. He just continues to be strong‑minded and handling his business. Q. If he goes anywhere‑‑ people are taking pictures of him. How do his teammates help him with that? RASHAD GREENE: I mean, when we go out together, he kind of, you know, brush it off on me to kind of control it. So, you know‑‑ something like that. So we may take a couple pictures and he will tell me, you know, you tell them when they need to stop so no one takes it the wrong way, and I don't have a problem with that. I just tell them, that's enough, we're trying‑‑ that's fine, I'll definitely do the dirty work. Q. People that have the outside perception say that‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: They are absolutely wrong about him. Until you get to know that guy personally and just be around him like we are around him, your entire perception will change immediately. Q. Have you ever felt sorry for him? RASHAD GREENE: Never felt sorry for him because he never felt sorry for himself. Q. As a leader‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: That was very important just to let him know that he has a family in Tallahassee, a brother in me to be there for him whenever he needed while he's away from his parents which I know they wanted to be there for him. So I have no problem with taking that responsibility and being there for him and letting him know it's going to be all right. Everything going to work itself out, just being able to talk to him and laugh and joke and just be able to get his mind off of things that could be a distraction. Q. Inaudible. RASHAD GREENE: Just chilled and joked around and just relaxed. Nothing really crazy. Just spending time with each other. Q. When you talk about‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: He always been a guy that could separate the two. He never let any off‑field issues interfere with football and you have to respect that for him. I'm not sure if anyone in the country would be able to be in his position and be as successful as he has been. Q. Inaudible. RASHAD GREENE: This is a guy that's determined. It's like he know what at stake. Him and I both know what's at stake and it's like, I wouldn't say we change, but we continue to be consistent and just lead. We lead other guys so that they can come aboard. Q. Do you believe it's been a year since you caught the slant route in the Rose Bowl to propel that final drive? Do you believe it's been a year since then? RASHAD GREENE: I can't, it's gone by so fast and I can still remember that play second by second. So it's definitely came around very fast. Q. When you think about a year ago, so many lopsided victories and then this year is just complete opposite, you come‑from‑behind so many times, is that fun for a guy who played wide receiver? RASHAD GREENE: It's definitely different. We have won every game differently this year, and you know, it's exciting, but in the end of the day, we know we have to get better and there's certain things that we just wouldn't tolerate that we were doing in those games, and that's just not coming out strong enough with the right focus and I feel like we are over that hump. We have great practices since the ACC Championship game and I think we were peaking now where we need to be offensively. Q. RASHAD GREENE: Just his thinking process, just how to think and not get ahead of his self, and you've got to have some type of patience when it comes to being a part of a team like Florida State where you have a lot of guys that could do the same thing as you. You've got to learn how to take advantage of the opportunity when your players call, make the play. Just to get accustomed to the speed of the game and the physicality of it. He's a natural player and I see myself in him a lot. Q. Can he take over for you in the next three years? RASHAD GREENE: I truly believe he can be that guy that takes over as a leader and as the player. Q. He mentioned something about‑‑ I don't know if he got down but the ball wasn't coming to his side and he was being lackadaisical‑‑ did he have to learn‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: Exactly, every play, you have to run, full route every play because you don't know when the ball is going to come. The ball may come to me three times in a row and you think it will continue to come to me and it will come to you and you're not ready. Q. RASHAD GREENE: We take a lot of pride because at the end of the day, we know what Coach Fisher is trying to build here and what he has build here and so we want to continue that. We know it takes players to really instill the things that Coach Fisher wants this program to be into those players, so as older guys, we take pride in teaching them the right things where in the past, all the guys wouldn't teach the younger guys. They just leave them out there hanging and just make them learn it on their own. Now it's more about the program than the actual players, so we want to teach them as much as possible so they can be successful and continue to be successful just as we were. Q. Inaudible. RASHAD GREENE: It was great. It was a chance for us to continue to get to know each other a lot more, and just get our minds off of football sometimes because it can wear on you when you are constantly thinking about just football, football, football. It was just a chance for us to get away from all the stuff that was going on with football and outside of football and just be brothers. Q. How did you sort of cultivate‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: You know, one day, actually Bobby heart was my roommate at the time so we just invited him over and one day turn into weeks, and so it was‑‑ became an everyday thing where we just have conversations and laugh and joke and he just started sleeping over. Q. Do you feel like‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: I felt like it helped out a lot. I felt like it kept his mind off stuff. Things he was confused about he was able to talk to me and get my opinion. I think I really helped him with a lot of situations where he was really taking it wrong. Him and I both know those different situations. Just eating and watching TV because I don't play much video games and I don't think he does either, we was just chilling. Q. What's that like for him‑‑ RASHAD GREENE: I know as a college student, you want to be able to go out and have fun but I guess it comes with the life that he lives being a Heisman Trophy and having all this attention. It just comes with the territory. But we make it fun as possible for him and we come over to his house and we get together as a couple players and stuff and have our own fun. FastScripts by ASAP Sports ... FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|