New Giants linebacker Jon Beason tackled some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Does the nickname “Beast” fit you?
A: It does. It fits me, one, because of my last name (laugh). I think I embraced the nickname as a kid. I would cry after losses when I was a kid and pout. But I played like that. When I kinda got to the point where I was tearing up, bad things were gonna happen to some kids (chuckle). You just played harder, you wanted it more.
Q: Does that still happen on the NFL level?
A: You realize that you can’t win ’em all. You try to win ’em all, you get frustrated, but you gotta have a short fuse either way. Success in the NFL is just as deadly as allowing yourself to kinda wallow in sorrow. It works both ways. My high school coach used to always say? “Success is like poison: It’s only deadly if you swallow it.”
Q: So Beast fits you because …
A: Beast fits me because I really try to go out and be a terror out there. I want people to see that it matters. People say, “Well if you’re an animal, what kind of animal would you be?” I always say Beast. Well what’s a Beast? It’s an animal mentality, but it’s not any particular animal. … It’s a different breed of creature.
Q: So describe your on-field mentality.
A: I want people to perceive me as a guy who wants it. That I play the game with passion and desire. That I’m athletic, that I’m fast and I’m relentless. But the reason why I’m suited to be a Mike is ’cause I really want up make ’em all. I really want to affect every play. I really want to do everything I can to try to win a game, or win on a play. You get fiery, you get chippy out there, but a lot of respect, I never have anybody like talk trash in my career in the league, or I don’t talk trash. I think guys respect the fact that I’m coming.
Q: Why didn’t you want to be drafted by Bill Belichick?
A: My outside perception was that when a [player] got old, he got rid of ya.
Q: So you asked for a water break during the pre-draft workout.
A: He basically just gets you out there and tries to break you. It was myself and Brandon Meriweather, who they ended up drafting, the pick right before me. So we go out there, and he’s working us out, working us out, working us out. I’m doing well, Brandon’s doing well, killing the drills, and I say to Coach Belichick, “Can I get some water?” I think if you watched the workout, you would say, “OK, well, you can’t go wrong with either one of these guys, what’s gonna be the difference? Oh well, maybe Brandon’s a little tougher than Beason.” Maybe he thought that based on me going to get water, and Brandon not getting water.
Q: Describe John Fox.
A: NFL, college football, preparation’s insane. They’re here early, before us, after us, and the pressure of winning is big-time. The Foxy I knew, he’d be there at 12, 1 in the morning, preparing with his staff. He obviously drafted me [with Carolina’s first-round pick, 25th overall, in 2007], so I’ll be forever grateful for him thinking enough to say, “Hey, we want to bring you in.”
Q: You texted him recently.
A: “Hey man, I hope everything comes back negative, just before we knew it was a heart valve problem. I’m pulling for you, I’m praying for you, and I hope everything’s OK.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the Richie Incognito mess?
A: First off, the biggest mistake that everyone’s doing, especially publicly is, it’s all speculation. Until Jon Martin speaks out, who’s to say anything? And the one thing I know about situations like this is, it’s a huge distraction, for the organization, for the NFL, and those guys are trying to get ready to play Tampa Bay on Monday night. I feel for those guys, ’cause I know it’s a tough situation.
Q: Why was Jerry Rice your guy growing up?
A: I remember watching a game, and they were saying he was the best to ever play his position. And then they talked about his work ethic, how he would run five miles up a hill, how he would catch bricks in the offseason, and I really think that I embraced that.
Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?
A: Muhammad Ali. … His quotes about when you win, it’s behind the scenes when no one’s looking, [that] is huge to me, because that’s how I try to train in the offseason or you try to prepare, ’cause you’re paranoid that the competition could be doing more to get an edge on you.
Q: That’s one of Coach Tom Coughlin’s favorite quotes. What’s the favorite one you’ve heard from him?
A: He told a story about, it might have been Texas, I think. So these guys come down and they’re buying up all this land in Texas ’cause they’re drilling for oil. So they’re drilling, drilling, drilling, and finally, he went broke. And at that time, he could have stayed where he was at, but he just said, “You know what? I’m done with it. I’ve been fighting really hard trying to get to that point,” and he quit. And some guy comes along and went three more feet in the hole he was already digging, and struck oil. … You go 0-6, or 2-6 where we’re at now, that’s what we gotta do, just keep going, keep fighting, don’t stop.
Q: Anybody else besides Ali?
A: I’m a huge, huge underdog fan. I loved the “Rudy” story, or just guys who kinda defy the odds … not necessarily a smaller guy, but just a guy who wants it more, like the “Rocky” characters. And you get in the ring, kinda like an Arturo Gatti-Mickey Ward fight, the guy’s just gonna fight to the last.
Q: Any superstitions?
A: None. My mom used to always tell me it’s not by luck, it’s by skill.
Q: How tough was that period rehabbing your Achilles tendon?
A: I get hurt Week 1 [of 2011], Week 2 I’m sitting on the couch, my leg up, just had surgery, my mom’s there, and I turn the game on, and we’re getting ready to play the Packers. The stadium’s sold out, fans are cheering, here comes my team running out of the huddle, and I broke down. I want to be out there so bad, but you realize that we’re all just borrowing time. If you can’t be in the moment, if you don’t appreciate it while you’re in it, then why do it? Stepping back, it’s a newfound appreciation. … It really makes you value when you have it back.
Q: You’re recovered from the microfracture?
A: It started feeling good during the bye week.
Q: Do you feel like you’re back to the young Jon Beason?
A: Right. And I feel like the best is yet to come.
Q: If you were NFL Commissioner, you would …
A: With fines, I think there would be a set number. I don’t think I would govern people individually. The first thing I would do, I would publicly make a national statement that we’re taking cut blocks out of the game. [I am] really good friends with Brian Cushing. It’s one thing when someone rolls you up, you fall the wrong way, you pop an Achilles, or whatever. It just happens. But a direct, deliberate attempt to go at someone’s knee, and then he happens to get hurt. Well your intent was to hit me in my knee. And he’s very fortunate, because he got hurt and they extended him afterwards. He comes back and gets another direct hit to the knee … It could be over for him. … It burns me up. It’s cowardly, and I think it’s something [the NFL] can take out of the game on the defensive side and say, “Hey we’re trying to protect you, too.” What about us? If they can’t block us standing up, get somebody that can.
Q: Have you had concussions?
A: No. I haven’t had any. What I always say is that being somewhat modern-day gladiators, we sign up for it. The team’s gonna take care of you if something happens to you. I saw my boy Kevin Everett laying there with a broken neck. It’s sad, man. But if Kevin was sitting here, I would like to think that he would say, ” You know what? I knew it was a possibility.”
Q: Do you worry about long-term effects in 20 years?
A: I do and I don’t. I don’t because I know that it’ll affect how I play now. I do because the way I play now, I look for contact instead of avoiding it.
Q: Sum up your childhood in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami.
A: Sheltered. My mom, and my mom’s parents — we lived in my grandparents’ house — I think they did a great job of really holding on to us tight, my brother and I, and tried to keep us away from as much of the craziness around the neighborhood as possible. They did a really good job of giving us something else to think about outside of the Jar.
Q: The Jar?
A: That’s what I call the inner city. You’ll have that example of what the American Dream is. You’re gonna be an entertainer, or an athlete, or they see the fast money and the drug dealers. So that’s what they see on a day-to-day basis as success. And the problem is, they’re all short-lived. And the probability of the first two, entertainer or an athlete happening, is slim and none. But, you just want to send successful people off into the world who want to go to school, get a degree, you make 40, your wife makes 40, you get a white house, picket fence, a dog named Toby, a couple of kids, and that’s what you should be pushing for, that’s success. So having a mom, who kinda thought out of the box, put us in a different school (Broward County) right away, drove way outside the city to get us there, and really made the sacrifices to allow us to see something different.
Q: Describe your father.
A: My dad was always around, just not as close as he needed to be. It’s something I regret, I wish he was around. But nevertheless, my mom was Superwoman, and I had great grandparents.
Q: Do you have a relationship with your dad now?
A: We don’t now … but it’s something that I’m seriously considering to kinda reconnect. Not for him, but more so for me, because I think it’s the right thing to do.
Q: Where does he live?
A: He’s still in Miami.
Q: When was the last time you spoke to him?
A: It’s been quite a while. People fall out for various reasons, and sometimes it’s just the straw that broke the camel’s back. And then you grow up, you get mature, and you realize that if it’s something you get past, you should.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Jesus, Harriet Tubman, John F. Kennedy.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: “The Count of Monte Christo,” “Men of Honor,” “Lion King,” “Life,” “Ali.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Will Smith.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Brian McKnight, Tupac, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Surf and turf.
Q: Favorite surf and turf restaurant?
A: Delfrisco’s.
Q: What drives you?
A: As soon as someone says I can’t do something, like, “Thank you, I want to shake your hand. You added fuel to the fire.”
Q: What have you learned about the New York Giants?
A: The first thing is, I know that it’s all or nothing. Meaning we’re expected to win every year. It’s run to win. … They try their best to give you the best.
Q: Is this a playoff team?
A: No doubt. How sweet it’ll be if we can start 0-6 and make the playoffs? I’m not gonna say “I told you so,” but we definitely can do it.