New Orleans Saints Linebacker Craig Robertson
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Thursday, September 24, 2020
You're the energy guy, always have been. Is that harder I guess to bring the energy when you have to draw it from yourself and there's no fans around?
"No, actually, that makes it fun. Just from our first game I had guys like, man, I needed that. So, it kind of gives me, because that's who I am anyway, when we have fans, obviously, guys can you know draw it from fans plus to me. I'm always saying something, I'm always talking. When guys make plays, the energy is a different sense on the sideline. Just not having all that going all at one time with fans and everything, you've just got to draw from somewhere. So, if I want to put it on my shoulders, I'll do it, I'm going to do it anyway."
Do you notice any similarities in Aaron Jones and Alvin Kamara's play? And also how do you prepare for a running back like Jones?
"Oh, man, he's special talent to be honest. I was just watching him on tape. He hits the hole hard and he runs hard. The similarities between him and AK, man like, they're smaller backs, right? Theoretically, but they run super hard. They trust their skillset, they trust their feet and when they see a hole they hit it and having a back like that, you've just got to bottle them up, stop his feet and just get in front of him and tackle."
Where does that part of your personality and providing the energy and being the hype guy come from? Was that something you added to your repertoire as your NFL career went on? Or this is what people would say about you on your high school and college teams too?
"Man, high school, college, little league. You are who you are, right? Guys, especially in the NFL, but college and high school, they can see a through fake energy. As long as you're the same guy every day then it's genuine. This has just been me. It's how I am throughout life. It's how I am with my kids. It's how I am with my wife. It's the same. So, I just, I just go through life and join every day."
So, when the pandemic hit and you realized there's going to be games without fans, were you like, this is it? I'm getting the call here?
"Actually, when the pandemic hit, that was the last thing I thought about to be honest. The pandemic hit, it was more so taking care of and spending time with my family, Because as an NFL player, we don't get a lot of time with our families like that, especially in the offseason. Our offseason are usually us in New Orleans, we're in the playoffs most times. So, we're getting done in January, hopefully February, and then we're back here in April for workouts. So, to spend that time with my family. That's more so when the pandemic, it was more like, making sure my family was okay and getting to spend more time with them. So, when that hit, that was like my main priority."
The special teams unit, particularly on the kick coverage side of it seems to really be clicking, is there a reason you guys were so sharp out of the gate even though you didn't really have the same kind of live reps and preparation?
"Yeah, preparation for us man, Coach (Darren) Rizzi, Coach Phil (Galiano), man, they do a great job of just preparing us, right? So, all through training camp, yeah, we might not have had a lot of reps, might not have had preseason, but we understood coverage lanes, we understood who's getting out first, right? So, we understood, just the small little details that we're focused on for the season. So, when it's time for us to play, we're not worried about details. We're just worried about doing our job.
With you announcing as a team that you're dedicating this season to uplifting black women and telling their stories and that the catalysts for that as Demario (Davis) and Terron (Armstead) said was Breonna Taylor, with the grand jury verdict coming out yesterday, how hard was that news to hear?
"I'll be honest, I've got to keep my thoughts to myself. But it was tough. There comes a point in time where maybe you want to hear something different, but when it comes out, it's just tough to hear, but at the same time. Yeah, I'm done with that one."
Sean (Payton) mentioned this morning that it has been so quiet in the stadiums, you can kind of hear individuals, certain individuals throughout the game. And with the plan to kind of let families in he even mentioned it reminds him of like youth games when you can hear someone's mom yelling the whole time. So, with the plan to let family in, do you think it's actually possible that some of you guys might hear a parent's voice during an NFL game? How strange would that be? And when would have been the last time any of you guys would have heard something like that?
"No, that's cool, right? So, little league, high school, that's the purest level of football. You're playing for your brothers, you're playing for your family in the stands. You can see your family in the stands at most high schools. And so just to be able to maybe hear your mom or your dad or brother, maybe kids for some of us, that's always going to be a special moment that you'll be able to have for the rest of your life. So, that'll be something cool. I have not heard my mom. My mom was a get 'em guy. Like anytime the other team was on offense, she was like 'get 'em!' Every play. I could always hear my mama. Really?
