[img_r]http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/includes/news_items/44/1614/hawk3.jpg[/img_r]This week, linebacker A.J. Hawk talks about his Dave Matthews obsession, what its like to bunk with wild-and-crazy Brady Poppinga and much, much more.
I am very boring. I really dont have any pre-game superstitions or traditions. When I was young, I always thought about having some superstition, but then I didnt want to be stuck to one thing. I didnt want to get on the field and go, Oh, I forgot to tie my left shoe first, and then be all thrown off. So I never got into anything.
Im not really into hard-core rock. People always think that when they see me, with the long hair. They think Im into the crazy, death-metal thing. But Im not into that at all. Im a big Dave Matthews fan. Hes all over my iPod. I listen to a lot of Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley. Ive been to like 35 Dave Matthews shows. I started going to his concerts when I was in sixth grade. And Ive been going anytime I can ever since. I met him without me being a celebrity or anything. Me, my brother and my dad went to a show when I was a freshman in high school in North Carolina, and his bus happened to be parked at our hotel, and I sat out there all day and waited for him to walk out. I got a picture with him and everything. It was cool.
My all-time favorite movie is Top Gun, for sure. That was Tom Cruises prime, I think. Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, all those guys. It was great. If you dont like Top Gun, youre not an American.
I drive a Chevy Tahoe, thanks to Bergstrom. If you go to games, youve probably seen the commercial me and B.J. Raji did together, the one where were holding up car. I know, I know. But its better than me just talking with a green screen behind me.
My favorite TV show is The Office. Do you watch it? If you dont watch it, you dont understand, I guess. Its just the perfect combination of great writing and a full cast of actors that together are all unbelievable. You dont have to work in an office to find it funny. But if you dont, it makes you want to work in an office, even though the whole show is about how bad it sucks to work in an office. Everybody watches it. My whole family loves it.
Ive been lucky with jobs. The first real job I had other than working football camps, which I grew up doing, was I was a gardener-type guy, at a place called Gourmet Gardens. It was right next to our high school, so I could just walk there after football. I would do whatever they needed mow the grass, plant flowers, water, everything. I dont do too much of that right now. I still work in the yard, but I dont know anything. I wish I still remembered all the stuff with the flowers. Id have saved a little bit of money instead of having people come in and do it.
Growing up, my favorite team was the Bengals. I grew up about 45 minutes away from Cincinnati, so I used to go to Bengals games. I told Kevin Greene the other day that I used to watch him come into Riverfront Stadium and kill the Bengals. They were bad when I was a kid, too. They were good when I was too young to remember, when Cris Collinsworth first got there. But they had some studs. Boomer Esiason and Ickey Woods Boomers still my favorite player. I loved him. I dont do the Ickey Shuffle though. I watched it though.
My workout routine, its almost like a misconception. I dont spend hours and hours and hours on end in the weight room. I hate that. I get in there, and I get my work done. I like to be in there everyday, but for bursts. I cant just hang out all day in there. I have some buddies who do that, and it drives me crazy.
Fans dont know how much I like Green Bay. People dont believe me when I say it. I was hoping Id get drafted here, and its worked out for me. Obviously its a unique organization without an owner and having the best of the best here, but then the other side of it, too: Its a nice place to live, its easy to get around, people are so nice. When I have friends and family come in, they cant believe how genuinely nice everybody is and how they want to help you out.
I dont do MySpace, Facebook or Twitter. I let Nick (Barnett) take care of that for me.
We have three dogs. Two big ones. A German Shepherd, and a Belgian Malinois youve probably never heard of it. We got her when she was 2. We adopted her. Our oldest dog is a tiny little three-pound Chihuahua, Todd. Hes pretty famous.
My favorite moment as a Packer was the fourth quarter of that Seattle playoff game two years ago, in the snow and everything. That was a special moment, I think for everybody.
We definitely have a nice house, but I havent really bought anything crazy. But my wife just bought me a car for back in Ohio a 96 White Bronco. Like the one O.J. was cruising around in. Id wanted one forever. The guy kept it nice. Theres no rust or anything. No, I didnt get it from Al Cowlings. That would have been too much. But I would have loved that.
Away from football, Im into a little bit of everything. Im a big reader. I read a ton. Do you know what Kindle is? Kindle is the greatest thing ever. I found out about it after I saw Daryn Colledge always reading his. I love it. It all depends on my mood. I read a lot of books about Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan military books, Navy Seal books. And then Im always reading about different nutritional stuff. Im reading The China Study right now. Tony Gonzalez has his own nutrition book now, but this is the book that kind of got him into it. Im reading that right now.
I still have the hyperbaric chamber its in our basement. I dont sleep in it at night, but I spend a decent amount of time in it. Ill read in there, or just watch TV in there, take a nap when I have time. If Im not doing something with Laura, were down there watching TV. Everyone has that place in the house where they watch TV. Thats our place. You cant really tell. The room is just set up for it. That was a splurge, I guess.
If I were NFL commissioner for a day, I would let us hit the quarterbacks more.
I loved A-Rods answer to that one question about how my best can also be my worst quality. It was so fake. Thats like going into a job interview and saying, I work too hard. Thats not even a real answer.
I saw Aaron said, I wish I was better at relationships. Thats understandable. I wish I was better at playing the guitar. I try. It doesnt come naturally to me. Im not giving up though. Im trying. Ive been trying for a long time, though. I dont think Ill be starting a band with him. I dont think he could keep up.
My favorite NFL city to visit is Seattle. It was sweet. We stayed at this Marriott right on the water, and it was awesome. The hotel was sweet, we had a flat-screen TV, Brady Poppinga and I were loving it. We just hung out, watched football went out on the balcony. We loved it.
Bradys my road roommate my roommate everywhere, really. Its awesome. I told Matt Klein, if for some reason something happens to Brady and hes not on the team, dont put me with a roommate, because no one can compare to Brady. Were on the same page with everything.
My wife Laura is the only person I could ever be with forever. Shes the perfect balance for me. Shes supportive, yet shes real. Shes funny, goofy, weird perfect for me. Im not like most normal guys, I guess. I guess it helps that she has a sports-oriented family. But shes so damn competitive with everything, so when we play one-on-one basketball, we kill each other. And yes, we do race to the car. I mean, we have. Its not a normal, everyday occurrence. But if she wants to get in that mode, I dont back down. Were not two big meatheads racing each other to the car all the time, but its happened.
The most important thing my parents taught me was to say please and thank-you. When I was a young kid, I was so shy. I couldnt even speak to adults I couldnt do that until I was basically in college. When parents would give us rides and stuff, I was too scared to even say thank-you. Now, I realize how to treat people. I dont know what flipped the switch. Ive learned to not worry as much. I was just such a shy kid.
Compared to when I was a rookie, Im much more open to everything on the field and off. I do things now that I never thought Id do. Like the NFL Play 60 thing. I do things I didnt have any interest in before. I was all-football all-the-time. Im more balanced now. When I came out of college, I wasnt. Balance is the key to everything. My football approach will never change. But off the field, Ive got more balance in everything I do.
My favorite place to eat right now is Kavarna, the vegetarian place in downtown Green Bay. Its awesome. Im all about the black bean burger. Its great. Im telling you. Or the southwestern wrap its the black bean burger with vegetables, all cut up. Id eat it every day if I could. (Strength and conditioning coach) Mark Lovat goes there a lot. He lives right by there, so he turned me onto it. Its cool. Every once in awhile theyll have a little dude playing the guitar there, too. Green Bays cool in that way. In Ohio, in Columbus, we didnt have these little eclectic places that you wouldnt expect here. And the people are awesome.
My closest friend on the team is Brady Poppinga, or Aaron Rodgers. Brady, Ive been roommates with him since Day 1, when I got here. Im with Brady all the time on defense. But off the field, not in the locker room, I spend most of my time with Aaron.
When my career is over, I hope to have multiple Super Bowl rings. Thats all that matters.