Safety Nat Berhe
April 27,2016
Q: I’m sure a lot of guys are excited to be back out there, but I’m sure for you that is ten-fold.
A: Yeah, I mean you can say that. I have had a year off and it was probably one of the longest years of my life.
Q: Why do you say that? What made it the longest year of your life?
A: I’m a competitor, man. I have been a competitor since I’ve started organized sports and to not play really does test you as a human being.
Q: How are you feeling now? Are there any lingering issues?
A: I feel good. I have felt good earlier this year, really good. I got out here yesterday and ran around and I felt good. It felt good to finally see that I was on the list of being full go and I was like, ‘man, that is exciting for me because it has been so long.’
Q: Yesterday you found that out?
A: Yeah.
Q: When were you cleared to do everything?
A: I would say when I got here we sat down and talked and I felt good and ran around here with Aaron Wellman and he has done a great job, he has always done a great job and I feel great.
Q: Did you come in this month or were you talking about earlier this year?
A: The beginning of this month I came back and we did some running and some agilities and stuff like that, and I felt good. It was some of the stuff that I had already been doing so it wasn’t anything new.
Q: Nat, because of your setbacks, do you have to have the mindset of one step at a time, let me just make the team and take it from there, or do you right now say to yourself, “I am going to win that starting job.”
A: I don’t put any limitations on myself --- never have, never will. I am who I am, I am a football player and I play the game like it is everything to me and I play to win.
Q: Is it hard for you to believe that you are going into your third season?
A: Yeah, I mean it feels like we just got here and I was talking to you guys about the weather and you blink and this is year three, man, so I just take it all in stride.
Q: Does that just hammer home the idea of just how fleeting this can be?
A: Absolutely. It is all fleeting --- I mean you are watching practice and you see (Ben) Edwards go down and practice continues, so it is a thing that you just have to thank the man above that you can be able to come back and play this game.
Q: How much were you able to take from last year that will help you, despite everything?
A: Last year I just tried to stay consistent in the meeting rooms and kind of figure out what the guys were doing. I think coming back, I am just going to do what I have to do to get on to the field.
