Oct. 7, 2004
If you could open and run any kind of restaurant, what kind of food would you serve and where?
Mexican restaurant. I would open it in Miami, Florida. It would be a Mexican restaurant. I would have a mariachi band playing continuously, La Cucaracha. That has got to get annoying when mariachi bands get requested to play La Cucaracha. I probably wouldn’t be happy if I was them, but that’s all they would play.
If you were elected to be the President of the U.S. tomorrow, what would be your first act?
I would push for legislation to pay college athletes.
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
That I am not Spanish. Everyone assumes I am Spanish. Ask guys on the team. All their nicknames for me are Spaniard or essa or vato. They just assume, but I am not Spanish.
What would be your ultimate Sports Center highlight?
Throwing a touchdown pass to Travis Bell in the Georgia game to win the game. Fake field goal, touchdown pass.
If you could communicate with any type of animal, which would you pick?
Piranha. They are savage little creatures.
If you had to exchange wardrobes with someone on the team, whose clothes would you want?
George Cooper’s or P.J. Daniels’ or Nate Curry’s but not Kyle Belcher’s because his shorts are extraordinarily short.
Tell about one visible scar…
I honestly don’t have any. That’s a bad question for the kicker. I have been a specialist for life. I was really skinny. I was 145 to 150 pounds in high school. My team was small. We only had 28 to 30 guys, but I would have gotten hurt if I would have played something else. I have put on a bit of weight after I graduated. I always played soccer my whole life and that was pretty much all I played. I was the goalie. One time I got kicked in the face and it hurt really bad, but no scar.
If you could have season tickets for any team, sitting in any place in the stadium, which team would it be and where would you sit?
I would get upper deck, first row, west end zone, Orange Bowl. My dad used to have season tickets there for the Dolphins and he would tell me how great those seats were. He said you could see the whole field and you could see the holes opening up on the run. That’s where I would want them.
When your Tech days are over, how would you like to be remembered?
I would like to be remembered as a guy who played hard and gave all his effort even though he was always a walk-on.
Who has had the greatest influence on your athletic career?
My dad. He came to all my games when I was little. It’s tough for him to come now because he works on the weekends. He definitely supported me no matter what sport I played or what position I was.
If you could teach any subject/thing, what would it be?
I would teach either politics or public policy. I love that stuff. Very interesting. I am an EE [electrical engineer], but if I could go back I would be a public policy major.
When I was a youth growing up, I pretended to be like…
Dan Marino. Dan `the Man’ Marino. He defined south Florida sports. That was, of course, before Shaq got down there. He was awesome, the greatest quarterback that ever lived.
What is your best non-athletic talent?
Trivia. I am extraordinarily good at trivia. We go to Rocky Mountain. I won last week and we are going again this week. We are the perennial champs. Last week Travis Bell and I went and our team name was `True Piranhas 87 and 14.’ That was our team name.
What one thing makes you smile?
Seeing other people happy. Seeing other people laugh, not necessarily at my jokes or anything, but seeing other people laugh makes me happy.
What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from being a college athlete?
How incredibly lucky we are to be doing this to be entertaining people. To make people happy when they see us. I can’t sing and I’m never going to be an entertainer in my life, but right now I am I guess. You run out onto the field and that is one of the best parts of playing. Football is one of those sports that has so much appeal to fans, a lot of other sports don’t. That’s why I quit playing soccer in high school. High school soccer games, the only people there would be your parents. That’s cool, but when you go to a football game and there are thousands of people watching you…there’s nothing like that.
Do you have any pre-game rituals?
I like to stretch out and kick the ball a little bit. I don’t really have any.
What is the best thing about being a college athlete at Tech?
Knowing that you are going to a place with a combination of the best academics and athletics and you are going to walk out with a great degree. Also, taking part in great football games. I can’t get a degree like this anywhere else, at least not an engineering school and play at the same level of sports. That’s why I came here.
What won’t you miss about being a college athlete?
6 a.m. workouts.
What is your all-time favorite meal?
My mother’s macaroni and cheese. It is exquisite.
If you were a pro wrestler what would your name be?
Vato Loco. That’s what people call me now. My favorite wrestler was Scott Hall, Razor Ramón. My signature move would be taking a toothpick and flicking it in a guys face. That would be my signature move. That’s tight.
What was your favorite Halloween costume growing up?
I dressed up as Dracula when I was a little kid. I had the little fangs and blood coming off of the fangs.
If you could make one thing come true for a friend what would it be and for whom?
I would make sure that Travis Bell kicked the game winning field goal against Georgia.
What team would you add to the schedule?
I would put Florida State back on. There would be no better feeling than to crush Florida State. We were so close last year and I wish we played them this year. I would love to go to their stadium and beat them.
Name a professor that has had an impact on you here at Tech:
Dr. Ali Adibi. He is an EE professor. I had him for two classes, by far the best professor in the school. He has great since of humor. He used to joke with me about football. Not many of the EE professors follow football. I wish I had a class with him this year. I would have taken senior design with him if I could’ve, but he wasn’t teaching it. Good man, great professor. Knows his stuff, funny guy. That is a rare combination in EE.
