The Word with Corey McKeon
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY JOHN MABRY / Lincoln Journal Star
Known for his quick wit, NU linebacker Corey McKeon is one of the more entertaining Husker interviews.
McKeon, a junior from Naperville, Ill., has had his share of hurdles to overcome in 2006. One was a Sept. 15 fire that started in a front-porch grill at the duplex McKeon shares with teammates Sean Hill and Travis Gingery. The players were asleep when the fire started in the early morning hours and no one was injured, but the fire reportedly caused about $40,000 damage.
McKeon has been hobbling a bit because of an ankle injury he suffered in the Kansas State game Oct. 14. He had four tackles, including three unassisted stops, in the Huskers’ 41-29 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday.
McKeon spent a few minutes with the Journal Star’s John Mabry on Tuesday.
Are you guys able to put your finger on what happened Saturday?
“It was a lot of things. We just didn’t play collectively like we had been the last few weeks, and it just bit us in the butt. There was that hump we thought, as a team, we had matured and were able to get over, but this past weekend, we didn’t get over it, and we let the Cowboys run away with the game.”
Obviously, a win Saturday would erase any bad taste, I would think, from the loss last week. What’s it going to take to beat the Tigers?
“That’s a tough taste to get out of your mouth, a loss like that on the road to a team we’re better than. To beat the Tigers is going to take a lot. It’s going to take a lot of hard work this week. It’s going to take a lot of patience. I’m sure there’s going to be an elaborate, tough plan going in. As long we get it down and execute it, we should be able to beat them.”
How’s your ankle?
“It’s getting there. It’s still pretty bad, but it happens. People play injured.”
More important, how’s your golf game?
“Best in the country.”
What do you shoot?
“I started out playing very poorly at the beginning of the summer. As I went on, I got a lot better. It’s unbelievable from the beginning of the summer to the end of the summer how much my game improved. You go out and you golf with guys like Jay Moore, who are super golfers, and Zac Taylor, who is not a super golfer, and you start to see the guys you want to learn from. Zac may be this great leader on the football field, but on the golf course, he’s garbage.”
What’s the strength of your golf game?
“I’m money with the sand wedge.”
What’s the best advice you’ve gotten from a coach?
“I’d have to say the best advice I’ve ever gotten from a coach was from my dad because he was my football coach in high school (Naperville North). He told me, ‘No matter what happens, you could always win every sprint, you could always try your hardest, and you could always have confidence. Those are three things that don’t take any talent and don’t take anything else except hard work and determination. Those are three things that have always stuck with me.”
Who are your heroes?
“I’d have to say my sister and my parents. My sister is a strong person. She’s been through a lot. She lives on her own in L.A. She’s only 24, 25 years old. She lives in the heart of L.A., grinding it out (in media and promotions), working like 70 hours a week, making a life for herself.”
Do you have any tattoos?
“I have a ‘Q’ on the top of my back, in the middle of my back. I got it right out of high school when I was in Lincoln. My dad always said, ‘You can’t have a tattoo while you’re living in my house.’ The second I moved out, I went and got it.”
That was your nickname?
“‘Q’ is my nickname. Mc-Q-en. It helps people straighten out (the pronunciation of) my last name.”
What’s the best practical joke you’ve pulled on a teammate?
“Just a recent one, we played on Lance (Brandenburgh). When Lance first got his black shirt, he took a hanger and hung it up on his locker. He was so proud of it, and he earned it, he should be proud of it. But just to make fun of him, I went and switched mine (black shirt) with his and hung it up perfectly in his locker. He put it on and wore it to practice, deep into practice. Until somebody said something to him, he never realized what happened. I was wearing his, too, and he never realized that.”
What do you see yourself doing after football?
“I’d like to get into broadcasting. I’d like to be an analyst, something dealing with TV and sports in any form. I’d like to use my personality to the fullest.”
Are you back in your place?
“We’re back in this month. We just moved in. We had a little bit of a Halloween bash to kick it off. We’ve got some new floors, some new kitchen stuff. We’re back in and hopefully we can avoid the next (fire).”
Did you lose anything of much value?
“Not too much. Nothing big.”
What would be something that would be tough to lose?
“It’s funny because you go back to second grade when they ask you, ‘If you’re house was burning, what are the three things you would grab?’ and you would be like, ‘My cat. My pictures.’ And to be honest with you, the first thing I grabbed was my travel bag because I had to go to USC in the morning. And I grabbed my wallet and made sure I had all my information. I didn’t really think about anything else. I found my cat and got out of there.
“You don’t have time to think when you’re saving lives (said with a grin).”
Most Commented news