Chris Samuels

REDSKINS TACKLE

The five-time Pro Bowler, and erstwhile Vick apologist, prepares for camp

On staying fit as a 6'5" 310-pounder
I've added mixed martial arts training for an hour a day. The cardio's crazy—punching the heavy bag alone wears you out. I lost 14 pounds in three weeks! I wouldn't go in the ring with one of those fighters though. I'm not crazy.

On new coach Jim Zorn
We think he's a player's coach. Some coaches come in and it's all about them—my way or the highway. Players won't play their best for them. But I talked to Coach Zorn before the Pro Bowl, and I'm excited; he's young and smart.

On fishing as a kid in Mobile
I'm the youngest of four brothers and my father, James, would take us into Mobile Bay. I was four the first time that I got a tug. I yelled, "Dad, I got a fish, I got a fish!" When I saw it, I was like, "Dad, I got a snake, I got a snake!" It was an eel, two feet long. My dad grabbed it with a rag, and later he cooked it and ate it. My dad will eat anything.

On his bright yellow 1978 Cadillac Eldorado
I bought it in 2001, my second NFL season. In Alabama everyone has big rims on an old box Chevy or Impala or Caddy.

On backlash after he and teammate Clinton Portis defended Michael Vick in an interview last year
After they stopped filming, I said to Clinton, "This is going to be a mess." I come from a place where you might see that [dogfighting] stuff. But it's wrong. If people saw the whole interview, they would've seen we were kidding. We got death threats. And we apologized. We shouldn't have joked about it.

On the November shooting death of teammate Sean Taylor
It devastated all of us. Sean was probably our best player and one of the hardest workers. He was quiet but when you talked to him he was encouraging. In the Pro Bowl we [Redskins] all wore his number. I was just happy I could play for Sean one last time.