Post columnist Steve Serby catches up with Giants receiver Kenny Golladay for some Q&A.
Q: If you could pick the brain of any receiver in NFL history, who would it be?
A: I’ve worked out with Randy Moss, picked his brain a little bit. I’ve talked to Calvin Johnson, picked his brain a little bit.
Q: What advice did Moss give you?
A: (Smile) I’m gonna keep that between me [and him]. … I want to say I worked out with Moss going into my second or third year, I don’t remember. Just trying to teach me how to be a pro … check your body, even money-wise. I really probably did like a week with him. He did every workout with me. It was pretty cool, just him to go out there really doing the exact same workout he put me through. Just little stuff like that.
Q: So maybe down the road when you’re on TV like him, people will be saying, “He got Golladayed!”
A: (Laugh) You know what? I hope that is something down the road people are saying, that’d be a great achievement. I remember growing up, and people around my age, we used to say, and people still nowadays say, “You got Mossed!” If people would say, “You got Golladayed,” that would be pretty crazy.
Q: You were called “Babytron” in Detroit?
A: (Laugh) Some fans called me that. I never went by that though.
Q: You didn’t like it?
A: I’m my own man, and that’s Megatron’s [Johnson’s] thing. I want to leave my own mark some way, it’s not like I was trying to fill his shoes. Those are big shoes to fill, and I have my own.
Q: Describe your on-field mentality.
A: Just killer instinct … physical … every ball that’s in the air, I need it to be mine, I want it to be mine. … Aggressive … I just want to go out there and play as physical as I can, not doing more than I’m asked to, and just playing my game.
Q: Describe the tattoo on your back.
A: It’s actually like the skyline of Chicago, and then a lion with a crown with my initials in the middle.
Kenny GolladayCorey SipkinQ: What’s the significance of the lion?
A: You always hear about Chicago is so rough and all that. I look at it like any city is, but at the end of the day, Chicago can swallow you up and you can get lost with the wrong crowd or whatever. It’s like a jungle, and I feel like I’m the king of that jungle, me just coming from Chicago.
Q: You have a “CHOSEN ONE” tattoo on your right arm.
A: It kind of speaks for itself. That last name on my back, that’s really who I do it for. God kind of gave me the keys to the car pretty much, do that for my family, and I had to follow through with it.
Q: You’re into visualization?
A: Before the games all week, I’ll just visualize myself going out there making a play, so I’m not even surprised when it happened. All week and the night before the game, I’m literally visualizing making big plays. If people are not doing that, they should start. I’ve been doing it since college. It don’t take much, you can just look out the window and kind of just imagine yourself just making a diving catch it for instance like a one-handed catch, so when it happens, you don’t even think like, “Dang, I visualized that.” It’s not even that, it’s more so just like, “I’ve seen myself make this play. I’m not surprised at myself, it might come as a surprise to you but not me.”
Q: Describe Daniel Jones.
A: He just has a very competitive edge. He wants to be the best.
Q: Eli Manning had Plaxico Burress. Can you do for him what Plaxico did for Eli?
A: I’m not even gonna say I could do for him what Plaxico did for Eli. More so is I want it to be a KG and DJ thing. I want us to make our own thing around here. That was those guys’ thing, and I want it to be me and DJ thing.
Q: What kind of ball does he throw compared to Matthew Stafford?
A: Two different players, two different arms. … At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what type of ball it is. If it’s accurate, if it’s in the right place at the right time, and both of ’em got that.
Q: From your Instagram: “Success hit differently when nobody believed in you.”
A: Me coming out of high school, I had no offers, really. … When I finally got my recognition, I made sure that I never forgot where I came from … and I feel like that’s just battling through adversity.
Q: Does that still motivate you?
A: For sure. For sure. Even though I signed a contract here, I always gotta kind of go back to that never get complacent. That’s something I’m huge on, I just want to always keep getting better.
Q: “Before the fame, I’ve been the truth.”
A: (Laugh) I’m very confident, so … but before I even made it to the league, I always worked hard, I always was a baller, so it’s really nothing new to me. I always caught the ball very well, made plays for any teams I was on. That actually came from a song “Before the Fame.” I’ve been The Truth, I’ve been that guy.
Kenny Golladay makes a catch against the Falcons.APQ: “I play the hand I was dealt like it’s the hand I wanted.”
A: That can be anything pretty much. Me being in high school, didn’t get the offers. I never walked around with my head down. Always looked at it like this happened for a reason. When I was in Detroit, just battling through a couple of injuries, always tried to work hard, and just tried to continue to get better on and off the field.
Q: Describe Joe Judge.
A: Joe’s great, for sure. Has welcomed me here. I love the competitive edge that he has. Even as the coach, he’s very competitive. He’s gonna always shoot you straight, and that’s what I like mostly, you know, don’t blow smoke up my ass. If I need to tighten up on something, I for sure want you to be the one to tell me that, and not just let it go under the radar. And that’s what type of person Judge is, he’s gonna always tell you if you’re doing good, and he’s gonna tell you when you’re not doing so good, and I feel like that’s the type of coach you gotta have.
Q: You talked with Saquon Barkley before you signed.
A: Saquon pretty much just shot me straight, too. As far as just like the structure of everything. I’ve been a part of that Patriot-type structure of the schedule and everything, so I wasn’t too worried about that, and I never shy away from hard work. But Saquon, he told me that it is gonna be hard work, but at the same time, he’s his own man, he’s not trying to be like anyone else but himself and that’s very noticeable. And Saquon said, “You’re gonna have a lot of fun here, the mindset here is good, and you’ll help us do big things if you’d come here.”
Q: Saquon in New Orleans.
A: When he caught a “Go” ball, running all over the place, making people miss, that’s gonna help other people. Me and him were even talking on the sideline that game just saying like, it’s gonna go to either one of us, we’re gonna make the play. “I got you,” that’s all I could say to him, and that’s all he said is like, “I got you, let’s do it.” In between series, just me and him both trying to motivate each other.
Q: Kadarius Toney.
A: The kid, when he gets the ball in his hand, can do great things. He’s starting to get it more, starting to have a lot of fun with it. And I told him, even myself, rookie year’s the hardest. You’re kind of like a deer in the headlights, especially because you’re gonna hit a wall, the season’s gonna go longer than a college season. And then on top of that, it’s not like you have academics to worry about, like this is your job, this is what you have to do every single day, day in and day out. I think he’s starting to get the hang of it, starting to find his rhythm, and getting into his own little routine. He could do huge things for us.
Q: The criticism about you that you think has been the most unfair.
A: To be honest, I’m my biggest critic, so I don’t really listen to all the criticism. Everyone has their own opinion, I go out there and just play my game.
Q: What drives you?
A: Family, of course. Me going out there each and every Sunday … of course my main thing’s going out here and doing whatever it takes for this team. But at the end of the day, when you’re going out there making plays, your name’s on TV and you got your little cousins, even like my mom and dad, my aunties and uncles, that puts a smile on their face, so that makes me happy knowing that their son, brother, nephew is doing big things for the family.
Kenny GolladayGetty ImagesQ: What was it like watching the Bears with your grandfather?
A: It was great. When we went to the Super Bowl that year, Devin Hester’s rookie year, just going crazy, that defense that year was ridiculous, then you got Devin Hester on special teams. Couldn’t wait for Sunday to come.
Q: You and your grandfather were close.
A: He just played a huge role in my life. My father is in my life still to this day, me and my father have a great relationship. Him and my mother’s not together, but at the same time they have a great relationship as well. My grandfather for sure played a huge, huge role in my life.
Q:.Three dinner guests?
A: Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Barack Obama.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: I like soul food — yams, mac and cheese, dressing, greens, ham and turkey.
Q: What do you hope Giants fans say about Kenny Golladay?
A: Go out there and put everything on the line each Sunday … playmaker. 19, he’s a baller, he’s a playmaker.
