Strong arm of the law

The time-management skills required to juggle law school and football are impressive. How did you manage everything?
Well, it was definitely a lot, but I just tried to get into a rhythm and establish a good schedule early in the semester. And then I tried to stick to it for the rest of the semester. [laughs] I just made sure all my priorities were straight, then I kind of fell into a groove. Once I got into a good rhythm, it wasn’t so bad.

Can you describe a typical day from last fall?
Well, I would wake up, have [football] meetings in the morning, then go to practice. We’d practice until 11, then I’d go straight to classes for most of the afternoon and try to get lunch somewhere in between. If I was really busy, I had to go back for position meetings. Then after that, I would do my homework for a few hours and probably watch an hour or so of film. By that time, it’d be about 11 o’clock. And I’d go to bed and do pretty much the same thing the next day.

You transferred to Richmond from the Air Force Academy. Do you think that military background helped with all this?
Absolutely. My father was a graduate of the Air Force Academy. He raised me on those principles, and so I’ve always tried to live my life in a disciplined manner.

When I was at the academy, I was balancing the military aspect with academics and football — that was great preparation for doing football and law school. I’m thankful for that experience because it prepared me well.

What areas of law are you interested in going into?
I worked with a firm last summer that just does employment and labor, and I really liked that field. Or immigration law, because I think it’s such a huge issue in our country today, and I’d like to help any way that I can.

Do you plan to do anything different this fall?
I think I had a pretty good rhythm going last year, so I don’t want to play with that too much. But, you know, sometimes if I need to take a Saturday night or a Sunday morning off, I’ll do that. Just to stay fresh.