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| | | | | | | |  Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Getting Crazy with ... Tennessee FB Lorenzo Neal
By Marc Connolly
MondayNightFootball.com
Every week throughout the 2000 NFL season, ABC Sports Online senior writer Marc Connolly interviews one player from that week's upcoming Monday Night Football game on a variety of topics. Connolly recently caught up with Tennessee fullback Lorenzo Neal.
Here's what transpired:
Connolly: Right off the bat, I have to tell you how your PR folks described you. They say you bring "a bruising attitude" to the Titans. Can you explain that?
|  | | Fullback Lorenzo Neal is best known as Eddie George's bodyguard on all those up-the-gut runs. |
Neal: It's me flying around. Some of the guys call me "Little mouse" because I like to fly around and hit people. I love to play the game physical. I'm either gonna put people on their behind or get put on mine. I just have one speed, and that's full speed.
Connolly: You once said you were the "doorman" for the Titans. What exactly does that mean?
Neal: It means I just like to do the grunt work. I don't the attention. I don't need the articles. I don't need the flash or the glitter. I'm just a doorman -- I'm just gonna go out there and do my job. If it means just being solid and taking care of what has to be taken care of, then that's my niche.
Connolly: You've done one hell of a job protecting Eddie George. What's your relationship like?
Neal: Eddie's a good guy. He's a unique individual. He takes so much pride in his game. We have a good relationship and he understands that when I'm out there it's to take care of him. I just tell him to get on my hip and don't bend, and we just go to work.
Connolly: He better suck up to you off the field for that.
Neal: Oh, believe me, he does.
Connolly: He owes you way too many dinners if you ask me.
Neal: Absolutely. Don't worry, I get over there a lot. He has a chef that cooks for him, so I'll be like, "Hey Eddie, it's time to eat." If the wife is out of town, I'll go over there and eat with him and just hang out.
Connolly: He's got a chef? Is that normal?
Neal: What doesn't he have?
Connolly: I bet not too many fullbacks have chefs.
Neal: No way. Not with my salary.
Connolly: What would happen if the coaches switched you two up for a game?
Neal: Oh man, I might get hurt because I don't know if Eddie could do what I do and I don't know if I could do what Eddie does. It takes a unique individual to run the ball 30-40 times a game and it takes a unique individual to run down and hit linebackers on a consistent basis. Eddie's taller than me, so I don't think he'd have the success against linebackers that I have. And he has better feet than me, so I don't think I could get as many yards rushing.
Connolly: Who are some fullbacks you admire?
Neal: I admire Sam Gash. He's a real physical type of guy. (Tom) Rathman was always a real good blocking guy and Moose Johnston was always digging for Emmitt (Smith) so he could have success. Howard Griffith is a good one, too.
Connolly: When you spend a day hitting guys as much as you do -- sometimes more than any one player on the field -- what are Monday mornings like for you?
Neal: I'm a little sore. Luckily, I get my wife to give me a little massage. Then I get another one later that day to try and loosen me up. I try to workout afterwards to get the blood flowing a little. My neck and shoulders are always sore, though. It means I did a good job though, so I enjoy it and I wouldn't trade anything for it. If I'm not sore, I know I didn't do my job.
Connolly: You were a great wrestler at Fresno State. One of the best in the nation. How has wrestling helped you on the gridiron?
Neal: It's helped leverage-wise. It helped me gain better control of my body. It made me tougher mentally too. You get an attitude that you won't be denied, which is what you need in a one-on-one battle.
Connolly: I lived with wrestlers in college so I know about the tricks to make weight. What did you use to do in order to drop weight quickly?
Neal: I really never had too much of a weight problem since I was a heavyweight for the most part. If I had to cut weight all the time, it wouldn't be worth it. But one year I was wrestling as a 170. I'd put the plastic bag on and get in the sauna or run. The night before I'd take Ex-Lax and starve myself until weigh-ins. It was tough, but it made you mentally tough and taught you discipline. That's what I admire about the sport.
Connolly: Could you pin every single guy on the Titans, if need be?
Neal: You know what, I'd be very disappointed if I couldn't. In fact, I'm about to work Eddie George right now. He's over here throwing things at me. He's the most immature guy in the league by far. (laughing)
Connolly: Any guys in the league you'd like to wrestle?
Neal: I wrestled DeMarco Farr in high school -- I pinned him -- but I'd also love to take on some of the big, tough guys of the NFL. Guys like Warren Sapp, or a guy like Mo Lewis, who is very athletic. Maybe with John Randle. I'd love to go one-on-one with those guys to show them what I got and to extend my web a little bit.
Connolly: Speaking of athletes, I have to ask you about Jevon. I know you are both first-teamers so you don't square off a lot, but have you ever gotten any good licks on him?
Neal: He doesn't really give you the time to get a good lick on him. He's so elusive and he's such a good athlete. I mean, the guy is just an amazing athlete, that's why he's "The Freak." You should see him in practice the way he turns a corner, his speed and how if someone tries to cut him he jumps right over you.
Connolly: Now, do you guys really call him "The Freak" like the rest of the world?
Neal: We call him "Freaks," we call him "Kearse," we call him all kinds of things.
Connolly: Playing the Jags this week, one must ask you what exactly is it about this rivalry that brings out the best in you guys. I mean, three wins in a row over that team last year just killed them.
Neal: I think they're a great team. But that was then and this is now. You live off your laurels from last year and you'll get beat. I saw them against Baltimore and I thought they dominated. At least defensively. You just can't have that many turnovers to win in the NFL. We match up good against them and they match up well against us. It'll be a dogfight and come down to who wants it the most on Monday Night Football.
Connolly: Speaking of last year, how many times have you seen the replay from the last play of the Super Bowl?
Neal: Oh man. God. A lot. It's just so sickening. Sometimes you don't want to watch it. You work so hard to get so far and then you come so close. It gives you the desire to get back to where you were and to never let it happen again. We should've ended things earlier and not put ourselves in that situation. It's frustrating.
Connolly: Lost in that play was Steve McNair's scramble. Was that as good of a play as you've seen him make?
Neal: Yeah, his ability to make people miss is unbelievable. He can stand in the pocket and take the hits, as well as turn into a running back and go up the middle. It was amazing to see two guys almost have him down, then he put his head down and ran like a running back. The average back would have been down on that play, though. He was able to still look downfield, throw a strike and give us a chance to win the game.
Connolly: Being a California boy, what's it like living in Nashville.
Neal: It's a little slow, but I'm from a little town where there are only three stoplights -- you can't get much slower than that. The main difference in the weather. Here it's more humid, while in California it's more of a dry heat and it doesn't get nearly as cold.
Connolly: Are you into country?
Neal: I was into it before, actually. But yeah, there's a lot more here then in California, so I guess I listen to it more.
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