Brett Hundley met the media after practice in San Bernardino this afternoon and offered his thought son number of issues on topics relating to matters both on and off the field. A big thanks to Edward Lewis from BruinSportsReport.com for putting up the video. Here are some of Brett's thoughts that stood out to me:
- Brett talks about learning how to slide and also knowing when to throw the ball away. This is an area where Brett went through some growing pains last year when he took a number of unnecessary risks putting himself at risk.
- He had some interesting comments on Asiantii, talking about his "cannon of an arm." He discusses his mentoring of Woulard the same way Kevin Prince mentored him when he was a freshman in Westwood. Hundley talks about how Asiantii will need to grow through maturity as a QB who will need to use more than his cannon of an arm, but he is confident that he will also turn into a "shining star." Fingers crossed, Brett.
- Brett had some interesting comments when he was asked about Johnny Manziel. Brett's has some poignant thoughts on how players ought to get something similar to a "stipend" (a word that was fed to him by one of the reporters there) to buy basic necessities as student athletes. He talks about how it is not about being able to buy "cars" or "houses" but having funds to do basic student stuff like "taking a girl out to eat," buy a burger when going out or buy new pairs of shoes or shirts.
- This is a topic that is a big deal to Hundley because he is the UCLA representative of the National College Players Association, which serves as the "only independent voice for college athletes across the nation." It was a Bruin alum - LB Ramogi Huma - who founded this organizations and the Bruins have been strongly represented in this group in recent years by guys like ATV and Jeff Locke. Looks like Hundley is now adding a whole another level of star power to this cause. And in some way this has amazing synergy given another Bruin legend - Ed O'Bannnon is the name plaintiff in what could be an history making case against the NCAA.
- Brett also said he "feels" for Manziel as a QB who is always on the spotlight. He says at the end of the Manziel is a kid who is trying to "live life" like any other "college kids." But at the same time Brett also mentioned how he or someone in his position has to be smart about making decisions not just on the field but off the field, while calibrating his position as the quarterback of a big college program. Per Brett at the end of the day his approach is to keep his "circle" small.
Fascinating interview. Make sure to watch the whole thing and not just depend on my summary. I would love to hear others thoughts on Brett's reflections.
GO BRUINS.