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Explain the difference between winning a National Championship in college and a MLL Championship.
It's eerily similar because in college you spend every single day together and then you go practice, you play these games, you have one goal in mind: winning the National Championship. With the Bayhawks, you have one goal in mind: winning the MLL Championship. Unlike other teams in Major League Lacrosse, we spend a lot of time together.
Tell me about your first lacrosse practice and the stick you showed up with.
We lived in Prince George's County and when we moved to Anne Arundel County, everyone was playing this game lacrosse that I had no idea about. My dad had no idea about it. So we go to the store and my dad picks up all the equipment. He bought a girls stick and I see it. I said, “Yeah, I guess this is right.” My first team I played for was Severna Park, so I went to the tryout and I had the stick. Most kids had been playing since they were five, six years old. The coach comes to me and says “Hey buddy, what stick is that?” I had no idea it was a girls stick. It was definitely a funny story and I blame it all on my dad (laughing).
What makes a good lacrosse defenseman?
Now more than ever there are different types of defenseman that have different roles on teams. Traditionally in my role, you have to be more physical, almost like a uiser. If you have quick feet and some strength, it's a great attribute to have. The objective is to stay in front of your guy and make sure he doesn't get the ball to the cage. It's important to force him out, knock him out, or check him hard enough to the point where he can't hold his stick anymore.
What's the outlook for the Bayhawks this season and how hard is it to repeat as MLL Champions?
Our goal as a team every year is to compete for a MLL Championship. Any time you have a group of guys that we have with almost every single person returning, you'd expect to be in that position again. It's a great thing for the league that each team is so talented and so gifted that it's not exactly that easy. Hopefully with the hard work we put in, the results will come out.
Your father has said you're physically the toughest guy he's ever known in his life. You even played 15 snaps as a football halfback with a oken leg at South River. How do you fight through the pain of a serious injury?
In that instance I got hit pretty good. It was in the fourth quarter so I wanted to keep playing. They gave me the ball after that a couple times, too. When I was turning around the corners, my leg wasn't feeling right. It got to the point where I couldn't walk, so then I got carted off the fi eld and they told me I fractured my tibia. Something else takes over and you feel like you can just block out the pain and keep playing. Eventually it gets to the point where you can't walk and you just have to stop.
How prevalent are concussions in lacrosse and how has concussion awareness played a role in Major League Lacrosse over the past couple years?
The MLL definitely went up a notch with concussion awareness. We've all done these baseline tests now, where we go to a controlled environment (a medical clinic). We do an hour and a half test in case we do get something that they think is a concussion. I've had a couple of them since high school. It's nothing too crazy. I don't like to think too much about it. It's definitely something that they're trying to be more proactive about. The training staff and our doctors are doing a great job. The league's emphasizing (awareness) more because you see a lot of media attention with the NFL and the other leagues like hockey.
