Seahawks’ Greg Scruggs on Super Bowl, Pete Carroll, Mentoring

Fred: This is Fred Richani of The Sports Courier. I have on today via Skype a very special guest. He is a Seattle Seahawk. He is a defensive stud. He is a Super Bowl champion. Greg Scruggs. Greg, how are you today?

Greg Scruggs: I’m good, man. What’s going on?

Fred: What’s going on? What’s this whole ride been like for you?

Greg Scruggs: It’s been crazy. You know, it’s been crazy to get there, to be in the moment, to be there. That was nuts. I mean, it really was. It was crazy. But then, you know, everything that came after it, you know, the parade that had over a million people, more people in the city, more people than what lived in the city itself. All the fanfare, the congrats, the pats on the backs, which is kind of frowned upon. In most sporting cases, they tell you to shy away from the pats on the backs, but we’ve won everything we could win this year. So, I think we take every pat on the back proudly. And you know just all everything else that follows it is really what’s been nuts, you know, been what’s really been crazy.

Fred: Is there a better publicist player than Richard Sherman?

Greg Scruggs: I don’t think so, man. You know, I’ll give him a run for his money after this year. Although I won’t start any I won’t start any epic rants or you know any controversial things but I mean for what he does he’s good at what he does you know and that’s playing football and that’s entertaining. He’s an entertainer you know let’s not forget here you all pay us to entertain you guys. So he’s giving everybody what they’re asking for and I would say that he’s probably the best at it. You know, he does it he does it without crossing any lines. The media makes him out to cross lines, but if you really dig deep and look into his words and listen to it, even this epic rant, he doesn’t cross any lines.

You know, he just kind of speaks with passion. He speaks with hunger, a chip on his shoulder, and in certain situations, and oftentimes more than the epic rants, he speaks joyfully, and he’s very jovial and very interactive with fans and a good representation of our team. So, you know, I if somebody told me that there was somebody better, I’ I’d have to ask them who.

Fred: And there’s not a lot of people better than coach Pete Carroll as well. Now, when he was at USC, he was used to coaching a lot of studs, you know, Matt Liner, Mark Sanchez, Reggie Bush. He gets to the Seattle Seahawks and you guys have an excellent team, but as Richard Sherman said in the media, it’s like a lot of you guys guys that maybe people overlooked, you mean that people considered underrated. And he was able to rally all you guys to get to the promised land.

Greg Scruggs: It’s a joy to play for Pete. Going into work every day is fun, you know. I mean, we enjoy being around it. Helps that we’re young, but we enjoy being around each other. Every meeting there’s music playing. Before practice, it before practice, he stands around and jacks balls at the basketball hoop to see if he can make them. And while that’s no gesture towards anybody specifically, it kind of sets the tone. It’s like, man, be free. You know what I mean? Just kind of have fun to practice. Enjoy yourselves. The music selection is often questionable on certain days, but it’s definitely fun to play for him. And I think all of us, we gravitate towards that because he lets us be ourselves.

And we all know for most of us that we’ve been overlooked and he gave us that chance. They saw something in us that a lot of people didn’t. And when you kind of have somebody like that, it makes you want to play that much harder as opposed to being the guy that everybody wanted and they take. And then you know, for them it’s kind of what you do is what they expect. But for us, Sherm, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Derek Coleman, do I need to go on? Jeremy Lane, who should have been a special teams pro bowler, Jr. Squeezy starting guard after making a transition from defensive line, seventh round pick. I mean, when you got when you have all these guys on your team and a bunch of us who feel like people didn’t give us a shot, you get somebody who gives you a shot, man, it really that really hits home and you really don’t want to disappoint.

And you want to prove to them that they’re right and prove to everybody else how they’re wrong. And he kind of makes it an environment to allow you to maximize your potential and to do just those things.

Fred: Now, you’re a guy that’s definitely throughout your football career, your young career has maximized your potential. Unfortunately, you were on the sidelines. You were hurt. Can you give us an update on your recovery?

Greg Scruggs: Recovery is going well. I actually have Oop, sorry about that. I actually have to I actually have to pull back a little bit, man, because I can’t I’m so scared of failing overall as a football player that I often sometimes overwork myself. So, I have to watch what I’m doing now. You know, that’s like early I was up at the facility for three hours today, you know, working out and running and trying to find something to do. So I have to catch myself, but I’m good. I am well. I am ready to go out there and compete for my job. And that’s the thing that burned me more than anything was that I didn’t opportunity to compete for my job.

And I’m looking forward to it. And I think the world when they watch will know who I am. I think u, the city more so than now will know who I am. And the National Football League will know who I am. So, if that’s any any kind of statement or kind of comments towards how my rehab’s going, I think that should say it all. That I’m fully confident that I’ll be ready to go.

Fred: And that sounded very good. And we’re conducting this interview via Skype. You’re a guy that knows a little bit about tech. You were on the Super Bowl sidelines wearing the Google Glass and you got you made some headlines for that. What was that like checking the Super Bowl out through the Google Glass? And do you think it’s the way of the future or need some tweaking?

Greg Scruggs: Well, let me plug them real quick. Here are my Google Glass. I keep them around. You know what I mean? But it’s great, man. It I love them. I do. I love them. It’s a great way for me to keep memories. I mean, it’s just like that, you know? It’s a great way for me to be able to keep memories. And I’ve been playing around with it a little bit. It is off season. My job is football 9 to5 August through February. So from February until April, I got nothing to do but to play around with gadgets. So I’ve been playing around with and finding some new things and I think it is the key to a future, you know.

I really do. I think technology is the key to our future, but I wouldn’t recommend using them while driving. I don’t think that’s necessarily the safest bet. But I think they’re great. They’re great at what they do. The UI or user interface is great on them. The functionality of them is superb as far as capturing pictures, taking videos, deleting videos, submitting them to your home base or database, whatever that may be. My cell phone and for me, my marketing team over here in Seattle. But I think it’s great at what it does and I would recommend them for anybody who can afford them. If you can’t afford them, just stick to like the old school handheld, you know what I mean?

Or the old school handheld, you know, the big one. That one right there, you know, that one right there. So, they’re great. They’re great, though. I’m glad I had them. I’m Thanks. Shout outs to the Google Glass team and everybody at Google who made that happen for me where I could keep that perspective of the Super Bowl from my eyes forever in my memories. Yeah.

Fred: You said you had some free time. I did a little bit of research on you and I understand that you played drums for your high school marching band prior to you even playing football. Is that true?

Greg Scruggs: That is very true. That is very true, man.

Fred: Are you still banging the drums today?

Greg Scruggs: I don’t, man. But I don’t want to get weird on you. I just so happen to be at my desk so you can see it like I in place of banging my drums. I just I bought this soundboard right here so I can make music from my house. You know what I mean? So I got like a 808 right here that makes beats. I got my piano keys. You know what I’m saying? All my presets are over here. Stuff like that. So that’s what I do. In place of banging drums. My next purchase, I bought a TV with my some of my Super Bowl money. So, I can’t exactly splurge on my, electronic drum set, but that’s coming next.

That’s for sure coming next.

Fred: That’s pretty dope. So, can we expect MC Greg?

Greg Scruggs: Oh, man. I don’t know. I thought about a name, man. You know, DJ Scruggy, DJ 98, you know, a really good one is DJ Such and Such cuz you don’t really know a name. It’s always just such and such. You know what I’m saying? So, I don’t know. You could I got turntables here, too. Those are out in the living room. So, but yeah, you could maybe, you know, I got nothing but free time. So, between golfing and playing with my MIDI board here. Yeah, I just might be the greatest golfing DJ in the world.

Fred: Well, we glad we got that on camera. We’ll definitely put that to the test. You also are involved with something called the Pro Football Camp, and it’s not just a camp where kids can go and learn football from people like you, but you guys apparently do a lot of things inside the community. Can you tell everybody about it, how it came about, and how some kids watching can get involved?

Greg Scruggs: Yeah, the Pro Football Camp. And I hope that there’s people watching who haven’t been who could go. It is held in Colorado Springs. We actually hold it at Colorado Springs University on their campus. We put it on for kids around that area. I mean, if it’s kids in Denver who want to come down and they can make it, great. We love that, man. But it’s just a camp where you come, you obviously learn football. We talk about life lessons. We talk about things that have made us and others successful. Thus far in our careers and our young lives and for some people old lives. We also put on an event called Praise with the Pros.

It is where we, you know, we sit down and depending on where you are religiously or spiritually. You can come and you can share your faith with us. We take great pride in that. I’ve been a speaker both years I’ve been going to the camp. I’ll also be a speaker this year, Lord willing, if I make it there. We also go out in the community, we speak to schools, we try to do different things. It’s growing. Our camp is growing. I think we grew by 100 members this year. So, it’s getting bigger. And as it gets bigger, we’ll find different avenues to travel and pursue to kind of re reach out more to the community.

You get involved. Go football profamp.com. You can sign up there. There is a registration fee. But if you are in such dire need that you need help, there’s money available. We don’t want anybody left behind. The worst thing obviously, as you know, and a lot of people know, the worst thing for a lot of people nowadays is financials. They can’t make it or they can’t do something because of the financial struggle or strain. So, if you can do it. Pro Football Camp, it is awesome. I’m there every year. You know I’m there. You hear me when they blow the fog horn. From the time they blow it to start, from the time they blow it to end, I’m running around like a mad man.

I’m doing tackling drills with kindergarteners. I mean, you know, everything in between. It’s a great time. I wish we could spread the word more. I wish we could have more outreach to more states and travel and run this camp everywhere, but the logistics, the financials, and everything else that would be a problem. But profootamp.com, you come check it out. Myself off the Super Bowl win Seattle Seahawks. Steve Johnson off the Super Bowl runner up. Denver Broncos. Charles Johnson of the Cleveland Browns. Now, I mean, we had a bunch of guys who come and work that. And it’s a really neat event and the kids all love it. I love them. They know it. Nobody’s left out.

Nobody’s left behind. Everybody gets the same amount of attention. So, profootamp.com, I encourage everybody if they can, if they’re watching to go check it out. It’s in the Colorado Springs area. So, if you’re in that area, please go look it up. And come join us this summer.

Fred: Greg Scruggs, a good dude on and off the field. Before I let you go, my man, where can fans find you online to keep up with everything you’re doing?

Greg Scruggs: Oh, yeah, absolutely, man. You can find me at gscrugs.com on Twitter or gscrugs.com. Actually, that’s my website. I forgot it. That thing’s up and running. Go to gscrubs.com. Check out more media. I got YouTube videos and Google Glass videos from the Super Bowl. You can go on Twitter. It’s g scrubs suggs. Come follow me on Twitter. I’m very interactive with my fans. I actually just gave out my Snapchat to all my fans. That was the worst idea in the world, but it’s been pretty cool. So, I’m pretty interactive on there. I don’t have a Facebook. I’m on Instagram as well. Come see my life through pictures. Gcrugs, no underscore. Come check it out. Gscrugs.com. You can find me.

My Twitter and my Instagram are both posted on there. I’m a neat dude. I write some blogs. Just share my thoughts. I’m not soliciting anybody. They don’t have to come to my website to buy stuff or things like that. If you come to check that out just to find out about me. And that’s all I want. I’m not asking for too much more. So, gscrugs.com, g_scrugs on Twitter, and G-scrugs no underscore on Instagram.