Five minutes with ... Andrew Radakovich

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by Joe Scalzo - "A blog about YSU Penguin athletics, not the insides of penguins."   | 155 entries

 
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Due to the unfortunate early retirement of offensive lineman Zach Larson -- YSU's version of Charles Barkley -- the title of "Best Interview at YSU" has been passed to senior tackle Andrew Radakovich (above).

"I'll take that," Radakovich said.

Radakovich, who is heading into his fourth year as a starter after transferring from Penn State, isn't afraid to make fun of himself or his teammates, and doesn't feel he has to say "We're just trying to get better every day" after every question.

(Note: Football coaches, especially, LOVE to say that. It's up there with "We're just going to take it one game at a time" and "It's not about what the other team does, it's about what we do" atop the list of quotes that will most likely make you fall asleep at the breakfast table and drown in your Frosted Flakes. If you see me use one of them, it's probably a sign that the interview went very poorly.)

Here's some highlights from a recent Radakovich interview:

Q. Funniest guy on the team?

A. Oh God, that's hard. If you're asking me as far as intentionally being funny, I'd probably say [redshirt freshman running back] Demond Hymes. He comes up with the most random jokes ever. If you want to get into a battle where you're talking about each other, he's not someone you want to go against. He's hilarious. If you're saying accidentally being funny without meaning to, I'd say [junior guard] Chris Elkins. He's a giant child but we all love him.

Q. Best athlete on the team?

A. Bam [LB Dubem Nwadiogbu] is a really good athlete. He's probably one of the most explosive guys. [CB] Deionte Williams is really athletic. [LB] Travis Williams is pretty athletic. [TE] Will Shaw ... I'm going to have to give it to him. He's fast, quick, athletic and he's really strong. I'm going to have to give the edge to Will on that.

Q. Worst athlete on the team?

A. Besides myself, I'm going to have to go ahead and give it to [senior OT D.J.] Main. Our two tackles. I'm just going to go ahead and call us the worst athletes on the team.

Q. Best/worst hair?

A. Best hair, I'm going to go with [CB] Donald D'Alesio. Worst, I'm going to go with [OL] Fred Herdman (below). He just looks terrible at all times during the day.

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Q. Finish this sentence. This year will be a disappointment if ...

A. We don't win the conference and make the playoffs. I don't want to settle with just making the playoffs. I want to do something we haven't done before, which is win the conference outright. Plus, I'd be beating my brother and his college football career. [Note: His older brother, Brian, played from 2001-05. YSU shared the conference title that season but missed the playoffs.] I need to beat him. I can't let him upstage me.

Q. Has he trimmed down since college?

A. He lost all his weight. Well, he lost all his muscle. He 6-7, 230 but it's just all fat.


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