You come from a pretty athletic family yourself. Have you ever tried to get your brothers into MMA?
I talked to my older brother, Arthur, and we always say if he doesn't go into the NFL draft, that he would be an animal fighting at the heavyweight division. In my eyes, Arthur is such an athlete. He was always better than me at wrestling -- me being a one-time state champ, him being a three-time finalist and a two-time state champ. I think if he would have went on to Division I wrestling instead of football, that he would have been a (multiple)-time Division I national champ.
He was always the one to throw people in wrestling matches; I had never got the cool throws. I think he'd do a phenomenal job. I don't think it would take him very long to get to the UFC at all. He's really a beast in lots of different ways. I honestly think he could train for a few months and be ready to fight guys like Brock (Lesnar) and Cain (Velasquez). He's really a top-level athlete and a phenomenal wrestler.
I roll around with him now. Every once in awhile we slap box each other and kind of tussle, and he gives me a hell of a time. He actually kicks my butt and he really doesn't even know what he's doing. He's just a natural athlete, and I think with the right coaches and the right camp, Arthur could be an animal.
As well as (my younger brother) Taylor. Taylor is 260 pounds now and he's 6-feet-6. He's really fast and agile. He has a full scholarship to Syracuse also; this coming season he'll be starting at defensive end, number 99.
They're both just so athletic, it surprises me how I ended up falling into such a great position, because I was always the runt of the family, in a way.
Both of my brothers were always the captains of the team, starting in 10th grade. I was never a captain of any team, and they were always the starter, they were always No. 1 player. And I was always the guy who had to work really hard to be a good wrestler. I had to work really hard to start on the football team; I didn't start until my senior season.
Both of my brothers -- always starters, always athletes, always champions. And I think if they carried that same ability and attitude to mixed martial arts, I could really see them catching up to me, if not pass me as soon as they started in MMA. (chuckles) They're just amazing guys.
How do you convince them to do it?
Well, they definitely have their dreams set on making big money in the NFL some day. I guess the only way I could ever even seriously have them consider mixed martial arts is if they didn't make it in the NFL draft.
