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Uchenna Nwosu: "We Have All Of The Pieces To Put It Together" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What you know about Mike McDonald's what it's like you
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: pot about his defensive velocity and the way he approaches.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: That side of the bolt.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: You know, it's still you know, early on, so I'm
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: still learning more about his defensive of philosophy. But I
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: don't know just just the amount of you know, complexity.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: I guess in a way, but in a good way.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: You know, different ways to get after people. I guess
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: it's just mindset going forward. What he wants done, you know,
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: is very clear, and I like that.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: How does it put your skill set?
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: If it's my skill set, because you know, it's something
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: that i've it's kind of similar not to not to
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: last year's scheme, but in terms of like, you know.
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: Where I'll you know, what I'll do, what I'll line.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm an athlete, you know, I pretty much
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: can do anything, and so no matter what system it is, honestly,
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: I can feel like I can do well in it.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: So his system is just gonna elevate me to another
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: level and I just can't wait to see it.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Can you tell us about your rehab, what it's been like,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: how it's going.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been a good process, been reh having down
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: in LA with John Meyer.
• 1:02
  Speaker 4: He's also the medical guy for the for the Los.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Angeles Clippers, so he's getting me right and I just
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: can't wait to get back on the field. I'll probably say,
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: you know, got a little couple of you know, a
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: few weeks and I feel like I'll be ready to
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: get back to the ball.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: You expect to training camp.
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, How hard was that?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I guess it's obvious, but how hard was it? Kind
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: of missing you know, the last love game of the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: season last year.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it wasn't good.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: I've never been injured in my career, never missed really
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: any time at all. I probably missed three games in
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: six years, you know, before last year, So you know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: it was tough, and not getting to play it sucked,
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: but you know, it made me sit back and just
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: realize how thankful I am, you know, to become this
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: far without having you know, any serious injuries other than that.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: So just being able to give my body a rest,
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: I guess mentally, you know, take some time away from
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: the game and really appreciate it more.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: It's been great, Julian, with.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Different coaching changes you learned it seems you liked it
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: like it's a good thing almost, albeit when you don't
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: have too much change, right, some consistency is good. But
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: in terms of getting to experience Mike McDonald and all
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: defensive guys he hired, what are you already noticing that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you like that you're.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Able to absorb.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: H I would just say, just like it just being
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: like a breath of like fresh air, you know. You
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: know the last two years are kind of frustrated, Well
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: not the last two years, but maybe last year was
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: kind of frustrating, you know, And sometimes when you get changed,
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: you know, it can bring out the best in everybody.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: You know, there's I see a lot more smiles on
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: people's faces. You know, people are I can you know,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: they're they're more happy, they're more energetic.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: I feel like, and I don't know if that's just
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: because it's.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: The new year, new season, but or it could be
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: you know, coaching changes and new opportunity, you know, but
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: everybody is kind of coming along together, and you know,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: everybody's talking more, everybody's hanging out more, and.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: I feel like it's bringing the locker room closer.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: You never got to play with letter last year, but
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: you guys playing together on the line. How do you
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: feel like that. What was that, Leonard Williams Univer that
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: kind of happened out for you?
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: I mean I played with him in college, I.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Spent last year. He didn't get it.
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, what do.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: You think, you guys kind of being back together being able.
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: To do that with the Seahawks, it would be great.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: You know, Leo just brings so much versatility and just
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: so much you know, beef to the front line, to
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: the front to the front line. So and I feel
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: like him his game my game, be able to compliment
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: each other, you know, because we're both aggressive players. You know,
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: we'd like to get after it, you know. So I
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: just feel like you have all these dogs up front.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: You know, it just makes makes it for a better,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: more competitive environment.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: And you know, I can't wait to compete with him.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: How excited were you to see him resigning the state here?
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: I was so excited because he's just just what we need.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: You guys saw the production he had immediately coming into
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: last season, you know, so why would you want to
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: let that walk.
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: Out the door?
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: So, you know, shout out to John and you know,
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Mad for getting that done. And you know, Leo wanted
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: to come back because I'm sure, he had all these
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: offers in the open market, So you know, that just
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: shows how committed he is to the Seahawks and how
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: much he wants to be here, And it just makes
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: my job a lot easier knowing he wants to be here.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Did you guys overlap at USC for one year?
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: Yes, I was a freshman. He left as a junior.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: What do you remember about him at USC?
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: He was just a dog man. He was ragged all
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: the people. Man, he was a beast out there. Just
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: now Leo. He was always been like that guy. You know,
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: you can always tell he was that guy from when
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: he was at SC. Just like you know, everybody loves him,
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: like off the court, like he's just such a positive spirit,
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: you know, he's always saying hi to you, always being happy.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: He always got smile on his face.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: And like on the field, he's like a total animal,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: you know, And and he's so competitive and happy and
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: he just makes the fun game fun to be around
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: and can't wait to compete with him.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: What are you expecting to get that of this season
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: as a team.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: As a team, I expect a good playoff run. We
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: were been close to the last two years. I feel
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: like it's time to really get over that hump. We've
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: got all the players. I feel like we got the
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: right coaches now. You know, these coaches see him committed.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: They're really putting in the time and efforts so far,
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: and that's what you want to see from a staff.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: But a definitely a deep playoff run this year. Like
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: I said, we got all the pieces, so it's just
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: trying to put together. Back to McDonald, just what's been
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: your impression of him here and from him for the
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: first time, I feel like you're starting to loosen up
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: a little bit now, you know, it's the first day.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Was like, you know, I don't know what's going on.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: You know, he was kind of like I don't know
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: if he was nervous or if he was just like
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: that's just how he is. But I feel like he's
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: loosening up a little more, and like you know, when
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: you get around a new team, your first time head coach,
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: I'm sure there's some nervousness that goes with it, but
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: he's handling it pretty well. And I can't wait to,
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: you know, get to learn about him more, not even
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: about football, but more off the field. As I talked
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: to him more so you know, he look seems like
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: an exciting coach to play for, and I can't wait to.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: You know, go on this journey with him.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Try to kind of coaching change lead to like more
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: of an edge meet from players in the locker room,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: knowing that there's a different staff to have to play
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: for and prove yourself towards. Absolutely, absolutely, because you know,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: a lot of guys.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: Don't know what to expect.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: You know, they don't know how these coaches feel about them,
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: and like vice versus, the coaches don't know how we
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: feel about them. So you know, guys want to come
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: in and make their mark, you know, put their best
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: foot forward, make an impression, and you know that it
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: just raises the level of competition, which.
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: Is good for both sides, you know.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: And so you know a lot of guys are putting
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: in more effort to try to impress these coaches and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: ultimately that will pay off to our success in the end.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: So just that this is kind of your off the field.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: So if you did that way, you really donated down
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: at the high school. Yeah yeah, yeah, did you get
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: back there? Yeah it's time or not were out there
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: and see the weight room.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: So I haven't got back there to see it. Yeah,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I'm sure it's a long process. You know, I'd probably
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: be done before you know, football season, So maybe during.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: After OTAs I'll go down there.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: In June, I'm supposed to actually go back and speak
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: at my high school graduation, so I'm excited for that.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: So maybe by then, I think that's when they will
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: announced it, cut the ribbon and all that stuff to
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: the new gym that they're building in there. So I'm
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: excited for that important.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: Is that giving bad for you? I know it seems
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: like you did something stuck with USC as well.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Actually just to give back.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: It means a lot, you know because when I was
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: growing in high school, like we had like a lot
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: of players go off, you know, but none actually like
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: came back, and like, you know, we're impacting I guess
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: the team in a way. So anyway I could do that,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: you know, I feel like it's my duty to you know,
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: try to get back to the place that gave to me,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: you know, so anyway I can help, you know, I'm.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: There for and what way to start then.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Where I grew up, which was the football, the education,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: the sports, you know, so having supplying them with a
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: full time, medical staff and a new gym or not
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: a new gym, but a new like training room to
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: where they can you know, get taped before games or
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: like get a massage or like you know, little things
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: like that that I didn't have, you know, to make
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: them better players and better athletes.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: Is rewarding get back to Africa, any plans to do
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: that because something.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: Africa, Yes, oh done stuff in there, especially with my
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: dad's village.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: You know, there was a.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: Huge erosion that kind of like destroyed the whole road.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: So there was a main road to get from like
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: the city to the village, and so I'm working on
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: rebuilding that right now. I was able to help fund
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: the uh the government out there in the village because
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: it was a problem with the electricity. There was no
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: electricity for like months, and you know, the people couldn't
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: afford to turn on the electricity.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: So I helped fund that. So now they have electricity
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: in the village.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: And they're very grateful, you know, just being there, you
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: see how they you know struggle.
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: You know, I had to live. It's not the best conditions,
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: So anything.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Do you do for them is very They're very grateful
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: for it, and it just makes you appreciate life that
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: you have here in the US and how fortunate we
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: are to grow up in this type of environment.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: The NFL is doing a lot more in Africa.
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: You know you went from that trip and is that
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: for the players now you don't keep for them but
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: for yourself.
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: Just to help for us.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: I think it's great with the NFL is doing with
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: with Africa because there's a lot of talent in Africa.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: As you can see in the draft, there's all these
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: names that you guys can never pronounce, right, Like are
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: all these guys coming from.
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: They're all in Nigeria, They're all in Ghana, they're all
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: in you know, South Africa.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: So and I feel like there's this a lot of
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: talent out there that you know, the NFL's really shout
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: out to OCUM and Europe for you know, starting all this.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: He's really tapping into the talent in Nigeria and Africa
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: so to get more exposure, and he's doing the right thing.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: The village you mentioned is that in Nigeria.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's called Mumuaha Abi at State. It's my dad's
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: village where he grew up, his compound, still have family
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: and back there. Uncles, cousins and all that stuff still there.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: So yeah, so going strong.
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: Did he moved to the States? Oh, I want to
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: say my dad moved and like.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: Ninety two, ninety three, nineteen ninety three, something like that. Yeah,
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: his older sisters had moved here first and they were
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: all able to bring him here, and then my mom
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: moved out here a couple of years later and then
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: started life.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Thank you, anything else? When you're playing football, what's your
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: primary motivation?
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: My primary motivation? I'm just trying to be the best
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: player I can. You know.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: I feel like I played long enough to where, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: I'm able to financially support the people I care about,
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: So it's just this. I know that part of my
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: chapter is, you know, been taken care of.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: So now it's just trying to be the best player
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I can and stay as healthy as possible, you know,
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: because I see a lot of guys go out and
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: you know it's not on their terms, you know, So
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: I want to be able to go out on my
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: terms and just be the best player I can.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Thank you.