Wednesday. It’s that day right in the middle of the week. A lot of people don’t like it, can’t relate. This Wednesday was pretty cool as members of the East West Shrine Bowl gave back in a big way. Patients from the Shriners Children’s Hospital were in attendance, and the players did such an amazing job of showing love and appreciation to these kids. For clips from the event, check any of the three Twitter accounts I upload content to lol. And before the event began, I was fortunate enough to speak with Fresno State WR Jalen Cropper. I’ve shared some of my favorite bits of this interview with y’all and hope you enjoy it!

Jalen Cropper WR – Fresno State

Liam: “If you had to describe your game in one word… what is it?”

Jalen: “One word? Definitely would be SPEED! I play the game with a lot of speed. I feel like there’s always a disadvantage for the other opponent because I always feel like I’m faster than them. And I feel like being able to go out there and showcase my speed, that’s definitely something where you click on the tape and that’s the first thing that jumps out to you.”

Liam: “Give me three strengths and one weakness you’re trying to work on.”

Jalen: “Obviously speed. My run after catch is definitely something that separates me. And then you know my route-running. I’ve been able to spice up my route-running, how I run routes and I’ve been able to add a little bit of flavor to it. Weakness? Uhhh… Man, I wouldn’t even say I have one. I go out there and I just perform as much as I can. At the end of the day all I do is just go out there and perform. You wanna win at the end of the day.”

Liam: “Also one of my strengths for you: finding soft spots in coverage.”

Jalen: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. Obviously being able to understand defenses and certain zones, where their weak spots are. I think that’s definitely something that helped me out.”

Liam: “How are you going to give back to the community and help out those in need?”

Jalen: “Being able to help kids. Whether it’s them going back to school and being able to offer supplies like backpacks and stuff like that. In the offseason, being able to allow kids to come out and learn from the best that are doing it. I think that being able to help with camps for kids, just being able to have kids involved, just fun activities, activities that can bring a lot of knowledge to their brain and help them in the future.”

Liam: “One thing people don’t know about Jalen Cropper?”

Jalen: “It would probably be that I’m half-Mexican. Nobody knows that ‘til they see my mom or my grandma.”