Amobi Okoye had a team-high two sacks at Carolina in Week 2.
Each week throughout the 2007 season, we will conduct interviews with players and stream them live on Texans TV. This week, we feature rookie defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, who is coming off his best performance as a pro in the win at Carolina in Week 2.
The best part about this series of live interviews is that fans can submit their own questions for the player by clicking **here**. Please include your name and where you're from.
Today's interview already occurred. Below is a transcript of the interview.
1) Doug Lacy (Clear Lake, TX): What did your defensive coaches say to you after you got your first sack against the Panthers?
Amobi Okoye: When I went on the sidelines, Jethro (Franklin, defensive line coach) was pretty happy about it. He had a comment that it was like watching his son take his first steps. There was a bunch of stuff he said on the sidelines. Overall, they were just happy for me.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): I know they were really excited for you in the locker room. What did coach Kubiak say to you then?
Amobi Okoye: After the game, he was like, "So you got two of those things, huh?" It's the beginning, so hopefully there's plenty more to come.
2) Joe Barrett: Would you say that speed, strength or technique is the biggest difference between elite college offensive linemen and NFL offensive linemen?
Amobi Okoye: I would probably have to say a combination of all three, but the most important would probably be technique. A lot of the NFL players are technique-sound. That's one thing you want to have as an NFL player. That would probably be the one thing you have to have the most out of all three things he asked.
3) Joe Barrett: Do you prefer playing with finesse or power?
Amobi Okoye: It depends. It depends on who I'm going against. You've got to break down your opponent and see what kind of guy he is. If he's a finesse guy, you don't want to go finesse because you want to go power. You kind of want to go the opposite of whatever the player is.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): What are you thinking against the Colts?
Amobi Okoye: I can't let that out yet.
4) Daryl Micham (Jal, NM): Congratulations on the great game. How does it feel to be facing a truly meaningful game against the reining Super Bowl Champs?
Amobi Okoye: Well, first of all, all of the games are meaningful. Playing the Super Bowl Champs, the reigning champs, obviously the stakes increase a whole lot more. Then, they are in our division. So this means a whole lot to me and everybody on this team. You can come to practice and you can tell from the way we carry ourselves and our attitude, we're taking this game like it's the first game of the season and we don't have two wins to back us up.
5) Daryl Micham (Jal, NM): How have you been dealing with all the recent media attention you've been getting?
Amobi Okoye: It comes with it, so you've just got to deal with it. I really don't find a way to do it. I just do it. I guess, just do it.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Things are really different around here since you guys are 2-0. Can you sense that?
Amobi Okoye: Oh, yeah. I don't know what it was like before, but I can already sense what a difference it is from last year. Hopefully, we can just keep this thing rolling and keep on this attitude and differentness.
6) Mike Mosey (Houston, TX): What's your greatest moment playing football in college or the pro's?
Amobi Okoye: Right now, professionally, it's that first sack. I was just thinking about it actually in our meetings, thinking about the whole play and how everything just happened. Going back to college, frankly, I don't know. I think everything, everything about college. I just miss college a lot.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Did that sack bring back college memories?
Amobi Okoye: Oh, yeah. It brought a whole lot of college memories back, because it was similar to things I did in college.
7) Claire Shaw (Houston, TX): I know you are the youngest player in the league. What's that like and what's the best advice you've gotten from player?
Amobi Okoye: It has its ups and downs. There's times you feel like all these other guys are older than me. If something's not going the right way, you have a tendency to think it has something to do with age. But for me, what I try to do is not think that way. When I start thinking that way, that's when things don't roll the way I want them to roll. So I try to take the same approach I did in college and see it as, this is what I'm supposed to do and this is where I'm supposed to be.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Who has given you the best advice on the team so far?
Amobi Okoye: Man, it's come from everybody. N.D. Kalu to Mario (Williams), DeMeco (Ryans), Dunta Robinson, Kris Brown – just about everybody. They always want to lend a helping hand.
Texans Live archive
- Mario Williams (Sept. 13, 2007)
- Jacoby Jones (Sept. 6, 2007)
