Sun Sentinel
Alabi is a nice guy ... except when the rookie takes the field
Rookie tackle Anthony Alabi has taken anger management to another level.
The Dolphins' fifth-round pick out of Texas Christian is a 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman with a black belt in karate who has found himself warding off detractors who say he's too nice.
Alabi admits he once decorated his fiancee's dormitory room with flowers and enjoys watching The Wedding Show on TLC with her.
Alabi says don't confuse his sentimental side with his on-field personality.
"That's naturally my mentality, but if you want to survive in this violent business you have to learn to change," said Alabi, who allowed one sack his senior season. "From what I've heard, [retired 10-time Pro Bowl defensive end] Bruce Smith is one of the nicest people off the field. If they call me a nice guy off the field, thank you.
"But if someone is trying to get to my quarterback I'm going to grab them by the throat. Don't mistake niceness for weakness."
Offensive line coach Hudson Houck has been showing Alabi tapes of Cowboys Pro Bowl offensive lineman Larry Allen and Flozell Adams for tough-guy pointers.
Before his senior season, Eagles defensive end N.D. Kalu brought Alabi -- his first cousin -- to his gym in Houston to work on sort of a personality makeover.
"There was a knock on him that he was too nice, a Christian who was carrying that onto the field," said Kalu, who was also drafted in the fifth round albeit in 1997. "So I pounded it into him that it's OK to be mean on the field.
"You've got to be born with a mean streak, but I think he's got kind of a killer instinct on the field. And you'll never see him cursing or slapping his girl friend or getting a DUI. He knows what he has to do and that's to finish blocks."
Although coach Nick Saban drafted two emotionally charged players -- defensive end Matt Roth and linebacker Channing Crowder -- who had been involved in bar brawls, he doesn't believe that nastiness equates to pancake blocks.
"We don't use the term meanness," Saban said. "I think mental and physical toughness, and the willingness to give effort and being responsible to do your job are all intangible things that guys make decisions about whether they want to do it or not.
"Most really good football players that I've been around through the years have all made those kind of commitments."
Alabi was converted from a defensive end to offensive lineman during his redshirt freshman season at TCU, partly because of his size (37-inch reach) and athleticism.
"I told him many times for three hours day he's got to turn into somebody else," said TCU coach Gary Patterson. "The key for Anthony is to understand his job is to block people, to move people who are a little bit faster, a littler bigger and meaner, so he has to believe it's for his job and not for a scholarship.
"If he can flip the switch, I believe he has the skills to do it."
Alabi, who appears thinner than his listed weight, hopes to earn time at left tackle, which is up for grabs among Vernon Carey, Damion McIntosh and John St. Clair.
What he lacks in rage, Alabi makes up for in intelligence -- as his above-average Wonderlic score of 29 and pursuit of a master's degree attests.
Alabi hopes to become a Secret Service agent some day.
"That's who I am. I protect people and when it comes time to be aggressive, I'll be aggressive," Alabi said.
空手黒帯のこのラインマン、
随分スマートに見えますけど、
クーチェンバーグの67番をつけて
是非とも頑張ってほしい。
Alabi is a nice guy ... except when the rookie takes the field
Rookie tackle Anthony Alabi has taken anger management to another level.
The Dolphins' fifth-round pick out of Texas Christian is a 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman with a black belt in karate who has found himself warding off detractors who say he's too nice.
Alabi admits he once decorated his fiancee's dormitory room with flowers and enjoys watching The Wedding Show on TLC with her.
Alabi says don't confuse his sentimental side with his on-field personality.
"That's naturally my mentality, but if you want to survive in this violent business you have to learn to change," said Alabi, who allowed one sack his senior season. "From what I've heard, [retired 10-time Pro Bowl defensive end] Bruce Smith is one of the nicest people off the field. If they call me a nice guy off the field, thank you.
"But if someone is trying to get to my quarterback I'm going to grab them by the throat. Don't mistake niceness for weakness."
Offensive line coach Hudson Houck has been showing Alabi tapes of Cowboys Pro Bowl offensive lineman Larry Allen and Flozell Adams for tough-guy pointers.
Before his senior season, Eagles defensive end N.D. Kalu brought Alabi -- his first cousin -- to his gym in Houston to work on sort of a personality makeover.
"There was a knock on him that he was too nice, a Christian who was carrying that onto the field," said Kalu, who was also drafted in the fifth round albeit in 1997. "So I pounded it into him that it's OK to be mean on the field.
"You've got to be born with a mean streak, but I think he's got kind of a killer instinct on the field. And you'll never see him cursing or slapping his girl friend or getting a DUI. He knows what he has to do and that's to finish blocks."
Although coach Nick Saban drafted two emotionally charged players -- defensive end Matt Roth and linebacker Channing Crowder -- who had been involved in bar brawls, he doesn't believe that nastiness equates to pancake blocks.
"We don't use the term meanness," Saban said. "I think mental and physical toughness, and the willingness to give effort and being responsible to do your job are all intangible things that guys make decisions about whether they want to do it or not.
"Most really good football players that I've been around through the years have all made those kind of commitments."
Alabi was converted from a defensive end to offensive lineman during his redshirt freshman season at TCU, partly because of his size (37-inch reach) and athleticism.
"I told him many times for three hours day he's got to turn into somebody else," said TCU coach Gary Patterson. "The key for Anthony is to understand his job is to block people, to move people who are a little bit faster, a littler bigger and meaner, so he has to believe it's for his job and not for a scholarship.
"If he can flip the switch, I believe he has the skills to do it."
Alabi, who appears thinner than his listed weight, hopes to earn time at left tackle, which is up for grabs among Vernon Carey, Damion McIntosh and John St. Clair.
What he lacks in rage, Alabi makes up for in intelligence -- as his above-average Wonderlic score of 29 and pursuit of a master's degree attests.
Alabi hopes to become a Secret Service agent some day.
"That's who I am. I protect people and when it comes time to be aggressive, I'll be aggressive," Alabi said.
空手黒帯のこのラインマン、
随分スマートに見えますけど、
クーチェンバーグの67番をつけて
是非とも頑張ってほしい。
