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Jay Ratliff: The old Marion Barber will be back
By Dallas Morning NewsMay 10, 2010
On being a seventh-round draft pick in 2005 and being inspired by Miami Dolphins’ and former Cowboys’ nose tackle, Jason Ferguson, also a late-round pick of the N.Y. Jets: ”We talked a lot; we still talk a lot. That’s like a big brother to me. I got the ultimate respect for him. . . When he went down (with an injury), he just constantly helped me. There was no jealousy, no nothing. To this day, it’s like we’re still best friends. I mean, you don’t see that very often. He’s just a real, straight-up individual. . . (On replacing Ferguson, at start of Ratliff’s third season) The funny thing is, I always believed in myself. But, then ‘Fer’, he knew who I was. So, he knew what was behind him, and I wasn’t going to let him down, let my teammates down. That was the only guy I felt like really, really in my corner. I got the ultimate respect for him, like I said."
On being an “undersized” (6-4, 303) nose tackle: “That’s the name of the game (‘doing what you gotta do’). One of my old teammates in Auburn . . . that’s what he told me before I even got here. He was like, ‘Man, let me tell you about the league – produce, or go home.’ So, that still plays in my head, all the time."
On his Web site (jayrat.com) give-away promotions: “Basically, like, if you go on there, and you purchase merchandise, you get a chance to, we’ll put your name in this – just pretty much like we’re raffling off tickets or whatever. And, you get to go to an away game and a home game. The away game is versus the Giants, and the home game is versus the Titans. . . You’re not going to have me say that on the air (that he guarantees Cowboys’ wins in those games). . . That whole thing, it really started as, I wanted a way to kind of give back. I have two foundations on there, as well – Essilor Vision (Foundation), that’s for people to donate glasses, and they make glasses for kids who are underprivileged and can’t afford it; and, then, the Semper Fi (Fund), that’s for wounded soldiers and soldiers who lost their lives in the war. It’s a way to give back to them. If it wasn’t for the opportunity to go to college and everything, I mean, I was going to the military. I was prepared to do that. That was something I always wanted to do . . . That’s what it’s all about for me. My brother’s in the military; both my grandfathers were there. I mean, I just wanted to follow in those footsteps. Those are the guys I really respected in my life.”
On parallels between football war: “Every game is a battle, and the whole season is a war. . . Like in war, they always say you always have a battle plan, but after the first bullet flies, that thing goes out the window; the same thing for the game. Yeah, after that first play, that first hit, that thing goes out the window.”
On some of the questioning of Cowboys’ number 1 draft pick Dez Bryant by NFL teams prior to the draft: “Yeah, I do (think some of the questions were out of line). I don’t know what’s what; I wasn’t there. But, if it happened that way, then that was way out of line. . . (whether Bryant was grilled harder than if he were a Jay Ratliff in the draft). Well, yeah, he’s a top draft pick, and I’m pretty sure teams what to know more about him if they’re about to invest in him.”
On his draft process and experiences: “Mine wasn’t that bad. Nobody wanted me. 224 (his draft pick number). I never look back at it (the 2005 draft). I think everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to happen. . . I heard a lot of stuff; I didn’t believe any of it. I was just like we’ll just see what happens, like I always say. I heard anywhere between three to five (rounds of the draft where he’d be taken); that’s what I heard. But, then, I was looking at – every year in college I played a different position. I came in a tight end, and then the first time I ever played defense was in college. I was playing defensive end. And, then, I got a year under my belt there, and I played one more year, a solid year, and then I moved to defensive tackle; and that was a whole other world down there.”
On being known as a soft-spoken person: “You know, reserved, kinda keep to myself a little bit. I mostly hang out with d-linemen. I get along with everybody, but I just hang with the guys I work with. . . (regarding his impersonation of Cowboys’ guard, Leonard Davis) Man, Leonard’s my boy, man. We give him a hard time all the time. (laughter) It’s like, he’s a great athlete. I mean, he’ll destroy you . . . You know you got hell on your hands that game. He has this, like, uh, I can’t really say he has a pleasant-looking face on. (laughter). (whether he ever goes full-out in practice against Davis) Oh, yeah! He’ll walk right up to me; he’s like, ‘Jay, we gotta get it today.’ I’m like (shhh. . .); alright, babe, put extra tape on my ankles and my wrists; we have to go get it. . . Going against him, and Andre (Cowboys’ center, Andre Gurode), I mean, that’s the greatest preparation you can have. I always say those are two of the guys who help make me.”
On the running back depth situation on the Cowboys: “I believe the old Marion (Barber) will be right back. . . I believe that, too (needing three good running backs on an NFL roster). I think, they’re going to utilize all of them. We got a powerful offensive line, and our running game is strong. I definitely like to see all three of them in there. . . One thing about these guys, none of them are selfish. Nobody seems to complain about carries or anything. You watch them around the locker room, and I sit back and just kinda watch everybody; they are really, really tight.”
On the influence of the Super Bowl being at Cowboys Stadium next year: “We are thinking about winning one game at a time, exactly. You start looking at a Super Bowl, you lose a few games, and the next thing you know you’re hoping somebody else loses so you can try and get in the playoffs. We don’t want that to happen. . . We all dream about it, but we know what we need to do to get there. I want to tell you. You can’t ignore it. I mean, you can’t forget about it. Every single day you’re reminded of it. I mean, if you’re at home, you’re reminded of it. Somebody calls you on the phone, (in falsetto voice) ‘Oh, man, you know, the Super Bowl’s in Dallas. Man, you gotta get it this year.’ (impact of Super Bowl talk in training camp in prior seasons but failing to make it) That’s called ‘learning from your mistakes.’ That shows the maturity of our team. We know where it went wrong; we know what happened wrong, and this year, we know we did well and want to try and build on that, and just really minimize all our mistakes.”
On clashes with offensive linemen during NFL games: “(N.Y. Giants guard Chris) Snee’s not going to say a word. He doesn’t talk at all. (Do others trash-talk?) Oh, yeah. You’ll have guys say everything to you, stuff I can’t repeat. I don’t really talk much, and I think it’s best if you don’t say anything to me, because that can definitely motivate me; I’ll get going. I would say one of the guys who, I’d say the toughest center in the league, right now, I would definitely say (Tennessee Titans’ center Kevin) Mawae. I mean, he is one of the most, craftiest guys I’ve ever seen. He knows how to handle every situation. So, you better bring your ‘A-game” against him. Actually, the funny thing is, that was the first center I ever played against in a game. . . (on dirty play by offensive linemen) C’mon, you’re in the trenches; there’s always some dirty play. You’ll have, of course, the diving at the knees, the punch to the face. But, they’ll call it if you do it. That (going for the eyes or the ears) happens sometimes when you get punched in the face, that happens a lot of the times when you get punched in the face. But, the thing is, there’s so much going on around you, you can’t afford to close your eyes because then you might get hurt for real. So, it can be pretty tough and annoying at times. That (spitting) never happened to me. I hope that doesn’t happen. Right now, they’re (hands and fingers) good. But, during the season I couldn’t make a fist. It was really bad. My hands were all swelled up. I don’t know one d-lineman with perfect fingers. I mean, a handshake will bring you down to your knees. It hurts.”
On being an “undersized” (6-4, 303) nose tackle: “That’s the name of the game (‘doing what you gotta do’). One of my old teammates in Auburn . . . that’s what he told me before I even got here. He was like, ‘Man, let me tell you about the league – produce, or go home.’ So, that still plays in my head, all the time."
On his Web site (jayrat.com) give-away promotions: “Basically, like, if you go on there, and you purchase merchandise, you get a chance to, we’ll put your name in this – just pretty much like we’re raffling off tickets or whatever. And, you get to go to an away game and a home game. The away game is versus the Giants, and the home game is versus the Titans. . . You’re not going to have me say that on the air (that he guarantees Cowboys’ wins in those games). . . That whole thing, it really started as, I wanted a way to kind of give back. I have two foundations on there, as well – Essilor Vision (Foundation), that’s for people to donate glasses, and they make glasses for kids who are underprivileged and can’t afford it; and, then, the Semper Fi (Fund), that’s for wounded soldiers and soldiers who lost their lives in the war. It’s a way to give back to them. If it wasn’t for the opportunity to go to college and everything, I mean, I was going to the military. I was prepared to do that. That was something I always wanted to do . . . That’s what it’s all about for me. My brother’s in the military; both my grandfathers were there. I mean, I just wanted to follow in those footsteps. Those are the guys I really respected in my life.”
On parallels between football war: “Every game is a battle, and the whole season is a war. . . Like in war, they always say you always have a battle plan, but after the first bullet flies, that thing goes out the window; the same thing for the game. Yeah, after that first play, that first hit, that thing goes out the window.”
On some of the questioning of Cowboys’ number 1 draft pick Dez Bryant by NFL teams prior to the draft: “Yeah, I do (think some of the questions were out of line). I don’t know what’s what; I wasn’t there. But, if it happened that way, then that was way out of line. . . (whether Bryant was grilled harder than if he were a Jay Ratliff in the draft). Well, yeah, he’s a top draft pick, and I’m pretty sure teams what to know more about him if they’re about to invest in him.”
On his draft process and experiences: “Mine wasn’t that bad. Nobody wanted me. 224 (his draft pick number). I never look back at it (the 2005 draft). I think everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to happen. . . I heard a lot of stuff; I didn’t believe any of it. I was just like we’ll just see what happens, like I always say. I heard anywhere between three to five (rounds of the draft where he’d be taken); that’s what I heard. But, then, I was looking at – every year in college I played a different position. I came in a tight end, and then the first time I ever played defense was in college. I was playing defensive end. And, then, I got a year under my belt there, and I played one more year, a solid year, and then I moved to defensive tackle; and that was a whole other world down there.”
On being known as a soft-spoken person: “You know, reserved, kinda keep to myself a little bit. I mostly hang out with d-linemen. I get along with everybody, but I just hang with the guys I work with. . . (regarding his impersonation of Cowboys’ guard, Leonard Davis) Man, Leonard’s my boy, man. We give him a hard time all the time. (laughter) It’s like, he’s a great athlete. I mean, he’ll destroy you . . . You know you got hell on your hands that game. He has this, like, uh, I can’t really say he has a pleasant-looking face on. (laughter). (whether he ever goes full-out in practice against Davis) Oh, yeah! He’ll walk right up to me; he’s like, ‘Jay, we gotta get it today.’ I’m like (shhh. . .); alright, babe, put extra tape on my ankles and my wrists; we have to go get it. . . Going against him, and Andre (Cowboys’ center, Andre Gurode), I mean, that’s the greatest preparation you can have. I always say those are two of the guys who help make me.”
On the running back depth situation on the Cowboys: “I believe the old Marion (Barber) will be right back. . . I believe that, too (needing three good running backs on an NFL roster). I think, they’re going to utilize all of them. We got a powerful offensive line, and our running game is strong. I definitely like to see all three of them in there. . . One thing about these guys, none of them are selfish. Nobody seems to complain about carries or anything. You watch them around the locker room, and I sit back and just kinda watch everybody; they are really, really tight.”
On the influence of the Super Bowl being at Cowboys Stadium next year: “We are thinking about winning one game at a time, exactly. You start looking at a Super Bowl, you lose a few games, and the next thing you know you’re hoping somebody else loses so you can try and get in the playoffs. We don’t want that to happen. . . We all dream about it, but we know what we need to do to get there. I want to tell you. You can’t ignore it. I mean, you can’t forget about it. Every single day you’re reminded of it. I mean, if you’re at home, you’re reminded of it. Somebody calls you on the phone, (in falsetto voice) ‘Oh, man, you know, the Super Bowl’s in Dallas. Man, you gotta get it this year.’ (impact of Super Bowl talk in training camp in prior seasons but failing to make it) That’s called ‘learning from your mistakes.’ That shows the maturity of our team. We know where it went wrong; we know what happened wrong, and this year, we know we did well and want to try and build on that, and just really minimize all our mistakes.”
On clashes with offensive linemen during NFL games: “(N.Y. Giants guard Chris) Snee’s not going to say a word. He doesn’t talk at all. (Do others trash-talk?) Oh, yeah. You’ll have guys say everything to you, stuff I can’t repeat. I don’t really talk much, and I think it’s best if you don’t say anything to me, because that can definitely motivate me; I’ll get going. I would say one of the guys who, I’d say the toughest center in the league, right now, I would definitely say (Tennessee Titans’ center Kevin) Mawae. I mean, he is one of the most, craftiest guys I’ve ever seen. He knows how to handle every situation. So, you better bring your ‘A-game” against him. Actually, the funny thing is, that was the first center I ever played against in a game. . . (on dirty play by offensive linemen) C’mon, you’re in the trenches; there’s always some dirty play. You’ll have, of course, the diving at the knees, the punch to the face. But, they’ll call it if you do it. That (going for the eyes or the ears) happens sometimes when you get punched in the face, that happens a lot of the times when you get punched in the face. But, the thing is, there’s so much going on around you, you can’t afford to close your eyes because then you might get hurt for real. So, it can be pretty tough and annoying at times. That (spitting) never happened to me. I hope that doesn’t happen. Right now, they’re (hands and fingers) good. But, during the season I couldn’t make a fist. It was really bad. My hands were all swelled up. I don’t know one d-lineman with perfect fingers. I mean, a handshake will bring you down to your knees. It hurts.”