I sat down to transcribe Eric Berry’s media interview yesterday. Let me know what you think.
How’s it feel to be back?
“Amazing. It’s good to see everybody. Seeing all my coaches.. all my teammates… you know it’s wonderful to be back in the building…”
How tough was it to stay away (from camp)?
“It was tough man. Just because man… I love my teammates. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. There was a part of me during the… struggle and everything man, so it was definitely hard to not be here and just… let alone practice and just be around them on a daily basis. That was kind of tough for me. Especially the DBs.”
How did you spend August, what were you doing, where were you at?
“Mostly training… and just relaxing. Man, I was uh… I didn’t do too much I had a few speaking engagements but other than that I didn’t do too much.”
Was that time basically a continuation of your offseason workouts or did you mix things up there?
“… I kind of mixed things up, I tried to tailor things towards uh, the way practice is structured and the game is structured. I tried to mimic that, even the hours that I trained. I trained during practice hours. I just tried to do everything I could, on my end, to make sure when I came here it could be as much as possible and as alike.
How long do you feel like it will be until you’re in midseason form? Do you feel like you’ll be ready for San Diego?
“Should be. I’m confident in that. The only thing is… getting used to having bodies flying around NFL bodies you know you try to fill it in with high school players and other people… just around training but it’s different when you have 11 guys on the field and know what they’re doing and know where to be. Things tend to move a little faster. So, just getting that rust knocked off and just adjusting quickly.”
Did you see all of the preseason games?
“Yeah, I did. Of course, yeah.”
What did you think of the run defense?
“It’s early. One thing about our team is, we adjust very well. So… I mean, you saw that in the Bears game. The problems that we had early on, they get fixed. It’s just about making those adjustments and… minimizing the mistakes.”
Were you getting an itch to play, watching that?
“Definitely. Always, always, I don’t like sitting out too long… Ummm… like I said, I just love being around my teammates as well, so….”
When you got here, who greeted you first?
I always run into the quarterbacks for some reason when I’m out of the building and then I come back and Alex and those guys were the first people I saw when I came into the building… the equipment managers and stuff so it just kind of ran the gauntlet when I got here.”
Coach Reid said he had a “sit down” with you? How did that conversation go?
“It was good… man, it was all about football. Me and coach Reid, we have a different type of relationship I’m just outside of the lines as well and that’s something you look for in a coach and you know, we talked, we talked about a lot of different things out of football. And, just talking him and having a conversation, and being able to see him “face-to-face” that’s always good.”
Are you going to be able to put this aside?
“It’s already aside. You know, once I step foot in this building, and everybody in this building knows me, I’m about going to handle my business like a professional and aside of that I’m gonna give you everything I’ve got every snap so regardless of whatever happened in the offseason, that’s that’s the offseason, right now it’s time to get down to business… and play ball.
So that means, as a leader, as a football player, that you’re as invested as you’ve always been?
“Always. That’s in my DNA. I can’t change. Hehe.”
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There was more to the interview but you can certainly get the feel for the man and Eric Berry IS “The Man.” I was taken by his comment that he wouldn’t trade his teammates for anything in the world. A foreshadowing of what may be his non-departure? I sure hope so. This guy is an amazing presence and inspiration to listen to.
What do you think Chiefs fans? Are we getting the same reliable and amazing safety that he’s always been? I believe that is exactly the case. What do you think?
Here’s a look at #Chiefs safety Eric Berry at practice today. pic.twitter.com/KgpuGaYuQ6
— BJ Kissel (@ChiefsReporter) August 29, 2016