April 17, 2004
Amanda Burke, an all-conference and all-region midfielder on the nationally-ranked Texas A&M soccer team, will spend some time visiting this spring with fellow student-athletes in a regular feature here on AggieAthletics.com. Amanda sat down this week with Jaxson Appel, a defensive back from Friendswood who just completed his sophomore season.
When the team gets divided into the maroon and white teams, do you guys talk trash or play pranks on each other?
"Oh yeah. You've got to talk to your other buddies. It's fun because you can go out there and talk to each other and not have to worry about the consequences because it's all in fun and games. So it's a lot of fun. It's competition because you know you want to win and you want to play well, but it's up against your buddies and your team and there's nothing really on the line, so you just go out and have fun."
What does your team have that the other team doesn't?
"We've got everything-the maroon team. The maroon team is going to dominate the white team. I think we have more receivers, depth of receivers. We have more DB's, and overall, I just think we drafted better."
How do the teams get divided up?
"The team elects a leadership council, and then Coach Fran divides the leadership council up into the maroon and the white team. Then we go and sit in the draft room (one of the meeting rooms) and everybody's name is up on the board and then we just go back and forth and pick."
Tell me more about the leadership council.
"It's just a team vote. The team votes on the leadership council. You go by position to divide it up a little bit, and they voted for me. We meet with Coach Fran, and if anyone has a problem with something, they come talk to us about it and we go talk to Coach Fran. For example, last year everyone wanted to warm up in the weight room like we did when Coach Slocum was here. We hadn't been doing that so they came and talked to us, and we went and presented it to Coach Fran, and he said 'Okay before the Texas game y'all can warm up in the weight room because all the recruits are in there and people are watching.'"
What makes the maroon and white game so important?
"It's a break up of the monotony of the offseason. You get to go out and get to play football again, get out of the weight room, and it's really a good time for the young guys to really show what they can do because they've been redshirted all year so they haven't really been able to do anything. So it's good time for them to get some reps, start learning things, and show what they can do."
Do you think playing in front of fans again is an important part of the spring season?
"Oh, yes. Definitely. It's definitely more exciting. There's an energy level. You want to perform when people are watching. It just gets really boring out there at practice with nobody out there. It's more fun when people come out there and watch."
This fall, you played through some really painful and serious injuries. Tell me what that took to do?
"Yeah, I had some serious injuries, but that's just part of the game--it's a contact game. A lot of guys play hurt all year, and I was to the point where there's a difference between being hurt and injured. You can play hurt, but if you're injured then you can't play. I was just dealing with some physical pain, and that's just part of the game. I would expect my teammates to play through stuff if they weren't feeling their best, so I do that for them."
In high school, you played both offense and defense whereas now you are solely on defense. Is that something you miss since you've been here?
"I do a little bit. I miss returning kickoffs and playing running back, but I'm best suited to play safety, so it's not like everyday I go out and say 'I wish I was playing running back.' There are times I think it would be fun to try again."
Are there many college or professional players who do play both sides of the ball?
"Some people do. We don't really have anybody on our team that does. But for example, Charles Woodson did. He won the Heisman trophy at Michigan. Chris Gamble did it last year at Ohio State. There's not many who do it...It's more the skilled guys that are fast-the DB's and wide receivers. You don't see an offensive lineman playing linebacker or something like that."
What do you want to do after you graduate?
"I have no idea. I have a lot more time left here, and if the professional football is a way to go when that time comes then I'll pursue that and if not, then I'll go get a job doing something else. I'm not sure what I want to do."
Before games you have a superstition of drawing a superman "S" on your hand. How and when did that come about?
"When I was in about 7th or 8th grade, I was flipping through a Sports Illustrated and I saw this college guy wearing a superman shirt under his jersey, and I thought it looked cool so I started doing it. And then at my high school, it kind of turned into a team thing. We all wore superman shirts under our jerseys. Now big, heavy cloth shirts aren't as comfortable, and I don't know if they'd let me wear it under my jersey and pads, so I just draw it on my wrist."
Outside of football, what do you enjoy doing?
"I'm not involved in much because football takes up so much of my time. But I enjoy playing with my dog, playing the guitar and just hanging with my buddies and just not really doing football stuff."
If you could change anything about the game of football, what would you change?
"Call offensive pass interference more-make that more of a big deal because it happens way more than it should and it never gets called. That would have the most impact on me."