A Jolly Guy
As you could probably tell, I had fun writing this morning’s piece on Nikita Whitlock for the Journal. Wake Forest Strikes Gold with Whitlock I chuckled my way all the way through it, especially over my two favorite quotes I’ve gotten this season.
The first came when I asked him about his options coming out of Wylie High School in Texas.
“The reason I came to Wake was because it was either Wake or Iraq, basically,’’ Whitlock said.
The second was in response to my observation that he seemed like a exceedingly happy person.
“I’m a jolly guy, I like to say,’’ he said. “I like to have fun, like to see a smile on people’s faces.’‘
So where, I wondered, did his good cheer come from? Were his parents happy people? I’ve never met either his father Raymond or mother Genny, but Raymond has dropped me a comment on this blog and it was great hearing from him.
“They’re both pretty grumpy,’’ Whitlock said grinning. “Maybe that’s just with me. Maybe they just don’t like me.
“My father’s a pretty happy guy, except when he’s talking to me.’‘
Don’t despair Raymond, it comes with the territory of parenthood. I imagine my two kids would say the same about me.
And he did have some nice things to say about you and Genny.
“I like to think if I am an overachiever, it’s because of my mother and father,’’ Whitlock said. “They both came from nothing. My father’s a blue-collar man who works, I don’t know, a hundred jobs it seems like. And my mom’s a single parent who owns her own business. They both do well and they both work hard.”
I have to say I was taken aback when coach Jim Grobe mentioned how surly Whitlock was when he showed up for his freshman season of 2009. I didn’t know him that first season, but it was hard to imagine the Nikita Whitlock I’ve since gotten to know pretty well ever being called surly.
Grobe explained that Whitlock had the burning need to prove himself, and show every NCAA bowl-subdivision team other than Wake what they missed by not giving him the time of day even after was named 5A Defensive Player of the Year in the state of Texas.
“When he came in he was really focused on proving he could do this,’’ Grobe said. “And it was a tough first year for him because it was tough academically and we were trying to play him at linebacker. And that’s a different world, trying to back off that line of scrimmage and trying to do that.
“I think he could do it, I think he could play right now as a linebacker, but I think he helps our team more where he’s playing.’‘
If Whitlock has a future in football past the next two falls at Wake, it would probably be at linebacker. The NFL isn’t known for 5-11, 250-pound defensive tackles. Whitlock said he always dreamed of playing linebacker, and actually got to do so a few times in goal-line situations at Wylie High. But first and foremost, he’s a team player.
“I came here as a linebacker, wanted to play linebacker and hoped to play linebacker,’’ Whitlock said. “And they threw me in at nose guard. What can you do?
“The only thing you can do is just buckle up and play.’’