Camp Report 7: Tight Ends

GREELEY, Colo. – With convocation on campus and the Northern Colorado football team committed to academics as well as athletics, the Bears practiced just once on Friday, donning the pads for a 1:00 pm practice. Afterwards, the team assisted with the kick off to the 2010-11 academic year and realized that in just 15 days they would be hosting their own season kickoff against Adams State at Nottingham Field.

After practice, senior tight end Sam Sewell answered a few questions about fall camp and what he thinks of the 2010 Northern Colorado football team.

Q: What did you work on the most during the off-season?

A: During the offseason I just worked on getting bigger and getting stronger since we’re running a more pro-style offense. We’re asked to do motion line blocking so I worked on changing my body so I’m able to do stuff like that.

Q: What do you feel is the strength of the tight ends as a group this year?

A: We’re not a one-faceted group. Me and Doug (Steele), both are great in the pass game and in the run game and that’s a hard thing to find, players who can do both and we have two of us who can do it.

Q: Since coming to Northern Colorado, what has been your favorite moment on the field?

A: I love singing with the band after the home wins. The most joy I’ve had is to work so hard during the game and then after that you’ve won and you and your teammates are happy. But then also, you go to the fans and you see how happy they are and you sing that fight song and that’s my favorite moment.

Q: Do you have any games circled on the 2010 schedule?

A: Right now it’s Adams State. Every week we circle the next game. Our goal is to go 1-0 each week so right now Adams State is circled.

Q: What are your goals for 2010, both personally and for the team?

A: For the team, like I said, it’s to go 1-0 each week. That’s how we’re going to look at it, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves and during the season we’re not going to look back at what we’ve done already, we’re just going to look at each week and go 1-0. Personally, just to help my team win the best way I can and to be a leader to the other teammates.

Q: What advice do you have for young kids who want to play football?

A: Work hard. No matter how good of an athlete you think you are, when it comes down to it the guys who are dedicated, that do the right things, who work hard are the guys that end up doing well.

Q: In this new offense, you seem to have an expanded role from the previous years. Has that been a hard transition for you?

A: Not a hard transition, it’s just when you’re asked to do more it’s a nice transition because you always like to be more involved. I wouldn’t call it a hard transition, I look at it more as a great opportunity for us to help out.

Q: What is your favorite part of the New Butler-Hancock Athletic Center?

A: The locker room. It’s a great locker room. We’ve seen some not great locker rooms, but the locker room has to be the highlight of the new building.