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No More Pep Talks: Diggs Ready To Let Actions Speak When UConn Meets Virginia
I had no idea about this kid's background, kudos to him for all of his perseverance! Tons of great quotes in the full article, I nearly pasted the entire thing here...
Vontae Diggs spent part of his childhood living out of a car in suburban Chicago and most of his childhood fighting on the streets where that Oldsmobile was parked.
"Football saved my life way back when," Diggs said this week. "It kept me out of trouble and got me going. So having it taken away for an extended period of time, it did something to my heart."
He pushed teammates and pushed their buttons. He studied film, tried to impart wisdom. He made a concerted effort to pay closer attention not just to what coaches were teaching, but why.
"I see a guy that has really matured and taken hold of the leadership role that he has," coach Randy Edsall said. "I see a guy that is a tremendous worker. Playing football and getting a degree is very important to him, and winning is very important to him. He's going to try to do everything he can to help his teammates and this program be successful. He's not afraid, in my opinion, to ruffle feathers. You need guys like that on your team."
"Coach put a lot on me to help the younger guys, because we have a lot of younger guys playing," said Diggs, 6 feet 2, 221 pounds. "I can actually see things the way he's seeing it. Seeing everything from the outside looking in, and now being on the inside looking out, it gave me a whole new perspective to the game. I think that's where I grew a lot, with the X's and O's."
Diggs was a rambunctious adolescent who gradually matured through his years at Downers Grove North High, and through three years at UConn, where he received an early wakeup call to college football during one of his first practices. On a kickoff, doing a job he thought would be easy, Diggs was laid out by Jalen Stevens.
"I came in rough around the edges, to say the least," Diggs said. "I'm a big fish in a little pond, back in high school. Getting here, I had that same mentality — I'm the man. [Stevens] ran right through the middle of me. That was my first experience to be like, 'I'm no longer the best player here.' To go from that to being who I am now — more humble, I know who I am, I know what I can do, let's use that to my advantage. I'm not as hot-headed. … I can control myself. When I'm angry I can kind of step away from the situation. When I'm too happy, I can calm down."
"He's not afraid to go up and help other guys become better at his position," Edsall said. "He's one of those guys that just wants the program to be successful. That's one of the things [that] was really impressive when he wasn't out there. He was coaching up other guys at his position so they can get better. … Those are the guys you root for. Those are the guys you want to see do well because of what they put into the program and their teammates."
I had no idea about this kid's background, kudos to him for all of his perseverance! Tons of great quotes in the full article, I nearly pasted the entire thing here...
Vontae Diggs spent part of his childhood living out of a car in suburban Chicago and most of his childhood fighting on the streets where that Oldsmobile was parked.
"Football saved my life way back when," Diggs said this week. "It kept me out of trouble and got me going. So having it taken away for an extended period of time, it did something to my heart."
He pushed teammates and pushed their buttons. He studied film, tried to impart wisdom. He made a concerted effort to pay closer attention not just to what coaches were teaching, but why.
"I see a guy that has really matured and taken hold of the leadership role that he has," coach Randy Edsall said. "I see a guy that is a tremendous worker. Playing football and getting a degree is very important to him, and winning is very important to him. He's going to try to do everything he can to help his teammates and this program be successful. He's not afraid, in my opinion, to ruffle feathers. You need guys like that on your team."
"Coach put a lot on me to help the younger guys, because we have a lot of younger guys playing," said Diggs, 6 feet 2, 221 pounds. "I can actually see things the way he's seeing it. Seeing everything from the outside looking in, and now being on the inside looking out, it gave me a whole new perspective to the game. I think that's where I grew a lot, with the X's and O's."
Diggs was a rambunctious adolescent who gradually matured through his years at Downers Grove North High, and through three years at UConn, where he received an early wakeup call to college football during one of his first practices. On a kickoff, doing a job he thought would be easy, Diggs was laid out by Jalen Stevens.
"I came in rough around the edges, to say the least," Diggs said. "I'm a big fish in a little pond, back in high school. Getting here, I had that same mentality — I'm the man. [Stevens] ran right through the middle of me. That was my first experience to be like, 'I'm no longer the best player here.' To go from that to being who I am now — more humble, I know who I am, I know what I can do, let's use that to my advantage. I'm not as hot-headed. … I can control myself. When I'm angry I can kind of step away from the situation. When I'm too happy, I can calm down."
"He's not afraid to go up and help other guys become better at his position," Edsall said. "He's one of those guys that just wants the program to be successful. That's one of the things [that] was really impressive when he wasn't out there. He was coaching up other guys at his position so they can get better. … Those are the guys you root for. Those are the guys you want to see do well because of what they put into the program and their teammates."