Oct. 18, 2007
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Vanderbilt football senior defensive end Curtis Gatewood responds to your “Ask a ‘Dore” questions submitted online earlier this week.
How tough is it to rebound from a last-second loss like last week against Georgia? I’m not going to lie. It’s pretty tough, but I think the thing that helped us out the most is that the coaches stayed positive. I think we all feed off of our coaches’ leadership. The coaches’ ability to stay positive helped us turn our negative feelings into positive feelings. I think that was a key factor in it. I think we have a lot of veterans on this team, and we know how to bounce back from losses.
What was the hardest part about transitioning from linebacker to defensive end? I think the toughest part was getting over the psychological aspect of it: offensive linemen being 340 pounds and me being, at the time, 225 lbs.
You’re a fast defensive end, but how do you deal with offensive linemen that outweigh you by a good margin? Once I found the formula to overcome size by using my speed and going hard every play, it’s something I continue to do. I go hard and play fast and use my speed to my advantage. It helps keep offensive tackles off balance.
How much of the game is mental, especially battling in the trenches? Football is a tough and dirty sport. I have the attitude that I’m willing to go all out on every play. I think having that attitude helps me go harder because I’m not afraid to get hurt or make a mistake. That, along with playing fast, helps me to play relentless every play. You have to be relentless. You can’t think about getting hurt or beat.
Gabe Hall and Greg Billinger each have interceptions this season. When can we expect your first pick? I just let the game come to me, but my thought process is more like `what’s my celebration going to be once I get into the end zone’? Theo (Horrock’s) said if he ever gets into the end zone, he’s going to do a rock band type celebration. We’re just kidding around though. I think Coach Johnson would ring our necks if we did that.
How good was the scout team defense your freshman year when you and Jonathan Goff were linebackers? I’m going to try and be modest: we were pretty good. I think Goff and I use to go so hard that Coach Caldwell would tell us to calm down the intensity level about 50%. Goff and I prided ourselves in going hard and blowing up the older guys. They couldn’t stand it. I think we had a pretty good scout team defense our freshman season.
I am in the third grade and love the Commodores. What can I do now to one day be a college football player like yourself? The one piece of advice I would give is to play multiple sports. You don’t want to be one dimensional. Play baseball, basketball, and everything you can because each sport helps another sport. If football is your primary sport, don’t let it be your only sport. Become an athlete. Once you get to the high school level, you can choose which one you want to play if you decide to only play one sport.
Do you have any superstitions or pre-game rituals? I love to go into my `zone-man’ mode. That’s where I visualize the entire game about an hour and a half before the game. I need complete silence. I sit down and go through each quarter mentally. If I get beat, then I visualize myself getting back up and going hard again. I visualize myself making sacks, plays, overcoming adversity, and finishing games.
What music do you listen to when you’re getting ready for a game? I listen to hip-hop. I try to get edited versions of songs because I’m not a big fan of cursing. The beat gets me hyped.
You and some of the other defensive guys really seem to get ‘hyped’ during the pre-game music on the field. I think it’s our personalities. We have to be high intensity and energy players to play the game. One of the other defensive lineman said he fed off of our energy. I feel like it’s one of my duties to be energized because I know some teammates feed off of it.
What is your favorite type of music away from football? I love jazz. Smooth jazz is one of my favorite genres of music. I listen to it all the time when I’m hanging out. I get inspired by the possibilities of my future. Everyone needs to find themselves in jazz. I think everyone would benefit from it because everyone has their own unique self in jazz.
Is the 2002 White Station basketball team the greatest high school squad of all-time? Hands down! That’s all I have to say. I think we were No. 9 in the nation and should have been higher. We lost 2 games. Those were wakeup losses because we let our guard down. I don’t think we could’ve been beat if we were playing to the best of our ability. I still text message and Facebook some of those guys. It was a great feeling to be on top. That’s something that I want to do here at Vanderbilt. I want to go to a bowl game and feel that wonderful experience again.
What’s the best place to eat barbeque in Memphis? The best place to eat barbeque is The Rendezvous. There are no better ribs and barbeque joints than The Rendezvous in downtown Memphis, Tenn.
What will you miss the most about playing for Vanderbilt when it’s all said and done? I will miss the sense of family. This is a close-knit team that I have seen go through so many stages. When I first got here, it didn’t feel like a team. Goff and I said one time in the locker room our freshman season that when we leave here (Vanderbilt), we’re going to win a bowl game and this team is going to feel like a big family. I’ve seen the sense of family develop over time.
If you don’t play football after graduation, what are your plans after you finish at Vanderbilt? I have some options. I do want to open up a business, preferably a jazz café or jazz club in Nashville. I think Nashville is a great place to do that because of diversity in music selection. I was also thinking about joining a ministry. I also make hip-hop and R&B tracks, so becoming a music producer would be awesome. I have a few options I’m going to explore if I don’t play football after college. Even if I do play football, opening a jazz café or club is something I want to pursue.