NFL

Serby’s Sunday Q & A with… Rueben Randle

Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle took a break from training camp to spend some Q&A time with Steve Serby.

What drives you?

A: I just want to be the best. I never want to get satisfied on just being mediocre. Every day I try to find something to get better at, so I can be a dominant player in this league.

Q: What is your on-field mentality?

A: I have to say confident, almost a little bit cocky. You got to carry yourself that way to let people know that you’re here to play. You got to understand what you’re on the field to do, so you go out there and play fast, and make plays.

Q: How would you compare your style with Hakeem Nicks’?

A: We’re both big guys, but can also stretch the field and go up and make plays. He has slightly bigger hands than me, but we have pretty exceptional hands to be receivers. We like to use our bodies the same way — post people up. … If we don’t get that certain separation on a route, we like to use our body to attack the ball, use our hands to catch the ball.

Q: Describe Victor Cruz.

A: One of those quick, shifty, very explosive out of his cuts receiver. It’s hard to stay with him. Great hands as well. Definitely be a mismatch to anybody in the slot that’s trying to cover him. I don’t think anybody really can stick with him. I haven’t seen anybody really stick with him unless they’re holding him or something like that.

Q: What did you think of Eli Manning’s rapping [in a commercial]?

A: (Smile) I would never expect him to be rapping. … We always knew he was a goof, but rapping would never been a thing that I would see them do.

Q: So he should stick to his day job?

A: Yeah definitely should.

Q: What is Eli like in the huddle?

A: Ah, man, he’s a great leader. He keeps us calm. He points out everything. He gives us a heads-up to make our jobs a lot easier so we can go out there and play a lot faster.

Q: Which receivers do you like watching today?

A: I try to look at everybody. Calvin Johnson, the big-body receivers. … Andre Johnson over in Houston, where they attack the ball and use their size. When they don’t create enough separation, they still go up and make a play on the ball, so I try to enter it to my game.

Q: You don’t trash talk.

A: I just go out there and play.

Q: Even if a guy tried to provoke you?

A: Now if he’s starting with me, yeah — I just can’t let him just sit there and talk. I’ll do it by making a play first — I’ll let him talk, then when I make a play, then I’d go back to talking to him.

Q: What kind of an impact do you expect running back David Wilson to make this year?

A: Very big. He’s going to get a lot more opportunities than what he got last year, and I think he’s one of those players that if he does get a lot of opportunities, he’s going to make the best of those opportunities. He’s going to be a very explosive playmaker for our offense, so I’m looking forward to be out there with him.

Q: What was it like catching your first NFL touchdown pass?

A: Relief. It was kind of like, “OK, here we go.” It was one of those things you always dream about. It took a little longer than what you expected, but it was finally here so, after that I was able to breathe, and got that monkey off my back.

Q: Did you set any goals for yourself last year or this year?

A: I’m not really a big goal-setter. At the end of the day, I just want to win. I don’t need 10-15 catches a game, something like that. Just need the opportunity to make a play or two for my team and I’ll be fine.

Q: What was the draft day experience like sitting and waiting so long in the green room?

A: It was a little tough, but my parents were there being positive throughout the whole thing, so them there being able to keep me up and keep me going was I would say the best part about it.

Q: Do you have a chip on your shoulder for all of the teams that passed on you?

A: I did feel a certain type of way about it, but I just looked at it as a blessing to come to an organization like this. I can’t fault them for passing me, because it feels like this is where I’m destined to be, so I don’t pretty much look at it as a negative, I look at it as a positive.

Q: Your reaction when Cris Collinsworth questioned your maturity and work ethic.

A: It got under [my skin] a little bit. It just hit me out of nowhere. But at the end of the day, I just had to continue to work. I couldn’t really dwell on it too much. Just wanted to stay positive, I didn’t want it to bring me down at all. I just wanted to answer that question on the field.

Q: How would you compare Coach Tom Coughlin to your high school coach Brad Bradshaw?

A: Oh, it’s like night and day. A lot of people are afraid to approach Coach Brad, because he gives out the demeanor of a mean guy. But at the end of the day, he’s really a cool guy, that if you really talk to him, you can understand him, but he just tries to instill that fear in people. Coach Coughlin, he’s a guy you can go up and talk to. He makes it fun, but at the end of the day he lets you know whenever you’re slacking, you need to pick it up, so he’s always on you on that.

Q: What’s is your craziest recruiting story?

A: My senior year, every day someone was calling me out of class, soon as I get to class, it was someone down at the stadium waiting for me to come down. … I go back to when I first started to get recruited, when I didn’t even know much nothing about it, I saw Charlie Weis when he was [the coach] at Notre Dame, he came down, he was looking at us. I was only like a sophomore. I didn’t know what recruiting was. My head coach had to pull me to the side and went over there to introduce me to him. I always see him watching college football, you see Notre Dame on TV every Saturday, knowing he was one of the top coaches in college football watching us practice was pretty exciting.

Q: Describe Bastrop, La.

A: Small country town. Friday nights was a special night in Bastrop. Pretty much the whole city was there to watch [football games]. Also, whoever we were playing, fans came to watch also. The main thing is the memories that I really remember from those days.

Q: Around 13,000 residents?

A: Yeah somewhere in there, 13,000. It’s one of those towns that everybody knows one another, it may even be family.

Q: So what’s it like going from Bastrop to New York City?

A: A major difference. In Bastrop, it’d take you five minutes to get somewhere. Here, it’s going to take you probably 30 minutes to an hour to get somewhere. It’s a lot more people. Driving is a lot more crazier. The people are a lot less friendlier.

Q: You a –hole yelled a lot?.

A: (Laugh).

Q: So have you adapted yet?

A: I think I’ve adapted pretty well. I’m getting used to how things go around here. I think I made a pretty smooth transition from the country to the city,

Q: Are Giants fans like LSU fans?

A: Yes. Very high-spirited fans that care about their team. On game days they’re very loud. … They let you know how they feel about you also (smile), so it’s always good to be on their good side.

Q: Best and worst college moment.

A: The best would have to be my sophomore year when we were playing Alabama. After dropping a big play in the first half, I came back in the second half and had a 75-yard touchdown, and it got the team going and led us on to victory. My worst would have to be losing the national championship the way we did. It was like we weren’t even trying. It was a very difficult situation to swallow, but you just have to move on from it.

Q: Your dad coached you?

A: All the way up to junior high, he did.

Q: What kind of quarterback were you in high school?

A: I like to think I was an overall dual threat, I could run it and throw it. I was pretty decent at reading coverages also, and knowing where to go with the ball.

Q: You had a good arm?

A: Yeah. I could throw it pretty far.

Q: So if Coach Coughlin needed you to run a read option, you’d be able to do that?

A: Of course (smile).

Q: Who were the quarterbacks you liked?

A: I liked to watch Vince Young when he was at Texas. … Peyton [Manning] was dominating at that point in time. … Tom Brady … just the way they carried themselves and understood what they had to do and carried the huddle and the offense as a whole as their leader, so that’s what I tried to build into my senior year when I moved to quarterback.

Q: Who were the wide receivers you liked watching?

A: I was a big (Randy) Moss fan when he first got into the league in ’98. Also Cris Carter. That whole Viking team was pretty explosive. My dad was a Steelers fan, so he made me watch a little bit of the Lynn Swanns and the (John) Stallworths. … Keyshawn Johnson, I liked how he played.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Michael Jordan; Derek Jeter; Halle Berry.

Q: Why Jeter?

A: My dad’s a Yankees fan, so that made me a Yankees fan, and I played baseball all the way up to high school, and shortstop was the position I played.

Q: Describe your dad.

A: He’s like me. He’s kind of a low-[key] guy. Just a very mellow guy. People person. He cares about everybody. He’s always looking to help someone. I know a lot of guys from the area that I’m from, he always tried to help them get recruited or at least get into a situation where they can help them better their lives.

Q: Describe your mom.

A: She can talk. She loves the spotlight. I didn’t get that side from her so (smile). She’s a very high-spirited person.

Q: Hobbies?

A: I probably live one of the most boring lives outside of football. I don’t really do much. I just like to hang out with friends, just have a good time, laugh and joke, that’s all I really like to do.

Q: I don’t think you’re boring at all.

A: I wouldn’t say my life is as exciting compared to a lot of people in my shoes — like Victor Cruz, I’m pretty sure he leads a very exciting life. He gets to meet a lot of different people, actors and all that. … I haven’t met anybody yet, so my life is not on that level yet. But maybe one day I can get into those shoes, and maybe my life will get a little bit more exciting (smile).

Q: Well you met me. . .

A: Well yeah.

Q: It’s a start.

A: You got to start somewhere, right? (smile).

Q: Do you have a best friend on the team?

A: Oh man, we’re all close, especially the rookie class that came in last year. I spend a lot more time with David (Wilson) than most. But I have to say if anything’s going on, we’re all pretty much together enjoying each other’s company.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: Harlem Nights.

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Denzel Washington.

Q: Favorite entertainer?

A: Jamie Foxx.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, rice and gravy, yams and cornbread.

Q: What’s so great about being a New York Giant?

A: The way this organization cares about the players. They’re always looking to help us out, no matter if it’s on the field or off the field. They look to take care of our bodies so on Sundays we can go out and play, and off the field, they try to provide opportunities to go meet people, to help us after football, to have something to build on, to help us build another career outside of football.