Sorry guys, I'm not trying to offend anyone. I know lineman aren't dumb. They're nearly all smarter than Joe Theissman. I'm used to seeing guys like JC or Kevin Grady give good quote. just can't recall seeing it from a lineman before...
Barksdale quotes:
"The first day of practice," Barksdale said when asked when he thought about giving up football. "I came up for summer conditioning and for a while, I would fake injuries. I said I hurt my ankle or I felt dizzy. I started to make stuff up. It's fun when you play; practice is not fun."
"I was always in coach's ear, asking about different techniques he could teach me," Barksdale said. "I was finally motivated."
"I was real timid," he said. "I had to realize football is a violent game. Between my 10th and 11th grade, I realize it didn't hurt to hit someone else, but it did hurt to get hit."
On being one of the most coveted recruits in Michigan: "I learned my name is out there," he said. "The first time somebody puts me on my butt, it will be on the Internet and all 119 Division I schools will hear about it. Every week, every day, I can never give up. But I'm not letting this mess with my head.
"I want to stay humble and hungry."
"I like playing defense better," he said. "Offense is controlled aggression. Defense is unbridled and relentless aggression."
"I ran a lot of suicide sprints and different drills, and I can change direction quickly," he said. "I tried to finesse people. Coach told me all I had to do was hit the guy. He told me when the game is over, if the other guy isn't afraid of me, something's wrong."
"[Cass Tech] is a tough school," he said. "It's hard. It's like any school in that, if you apply yourself, you'll be OK. But I'm in one of the hardest curriculums here -- chemical engineering."
"All it takes is studying," he said. "I study a lot. I have a PlayStation 2, but I only play it on weekends. If I play it during the week, I might rush through my homework. That was my parents' rule last year, but I carried it over to this year."
"Coaches see my transcript and they say, 'Wow, there are some real classes here,' " Barksdale said.
