Volume 6, No. 12

Q&A: ROCKY BERNARD By Homer Jacobs

Editor’s Note: Senior defensive end Rocky Bernard sat down with 12th Man Magazine’s Homer Jacobs to discuss his recovery from a serious knee injury and the improvement of the Wrecking Crew defense.

Q: Do you think you’re becoming quicker and more dominant as each game comes along?

Bernard: I’m feeling more comfortable with each and every week that goes by. It’s mostly the confidence factor. Every week, I feel better and more and more back into the game of football.

Q: When did you start sensing you could perform at the level you were accustomed to playing in recent seasons?

Rocky Bernard lets out some emotion after a big play in the Notre Dame game.

Bernard: Really, it was the Oklahoma State game. There were a lot of things I wasn’t doing in the McNeese State game or the Wyoming game. Coach Slocum really challenged us to step up as a defense, and I felt like I had to just go out there and play as hard as I could.

It’s about recognizing stuff. I had been out for a year, and I had just been going up against our offense. When you start seeing other people’s offenses and people are trying to hurt you, it takes a while to get back into it. But I feel more comfortable now.

Q: How much did Coach Slocum’s spirited talk to the defense after the Wyoming game affect you and the defense?

Bernard: It really did (affect us). We talked about things we wanted to accomplish, but in the first two games we weren’t playing like we should and doing the things we know we can do on the field. When he really challenged us, he said, ‘Look at the guys in this room. There’s a lot of talent in here. Just go out there and play.’

That’s what was so crazy. He never had to get on the defense before the way that he did. He shocked me. I’ve been here five years, and I’ve never seen him like that before. That’s when I knew it really meant something to him, and he really wanted something to get done. I’ve never seen him coach like that before. When you get the head man talking about the tradition of the Wrecking Crew, we need to uphold that. You can’t just win with the name of the Wrecking Crew. You have to go out there and earn it. We started to pick things up in practice and pay attention to details.

Q: How good is this defense becoming, and can it hold up to some of the quality opponents coming up on the schedule?

Bernard: I think we can be really, really good. We’ve dominated the last few games. We’ve got some really good teams coming up, and if we can do well against teams like Kansas State and OU, it will really show the measure of our defense.

Q: It seems like you’re really having a good time playing this year. Is that because it’s been a long road for you to get back on the field after the injury?

Bernard: Coach (Buddy) Wyatt pulled me aside after practice and said, ‘Hey, it’s your senior year… don’t let it slip away. You guys can be really good. Don’t let it slip away and look back after the season and think, dang, we really could have been good.’ When I go out there, I’m looking to have fun with the fellas and just going out there and playing hard.

That’s one thing I realized last year is you just can’t take anything for granted because it can be taken away from you just like that.

Q: When you first hurt your knee, what was the first thought that came to your mind?

Bernard: My first reaction was I really didn’t know what happened. It was just a shock. I knew my knee didn’t feel right, and it hurt really bad. One of the players came over and said, ‘Oh, you’ll be alright. You’ll be back for Notre Dame.’ I already knew I wouldn’t be back for it. It was really disappointing because I was looking forward to a good season.

Q: What was the low point and high point of your rehabilitation?

Bernard: Probably the low point was when people who had the surgery told me that I would hit this point when it’s going to become more mental than physical. That was the hard part when I thought, ‘Man, I can’t do it.’ But then you can do it. Probably the high point was when I realized in my mind I could do these things and get over it.

In rehab, you’ll get comfortable doing one thing. Then there’s the next step, and you don’t know if you can do it. It was really hard taking the different steps. Like lifting weights on my knee, it hurts. You have to go through it, but it’s rough.

Q: What kept your spirits up during the rough times?

Bernard: It was a combination of everything. My teammates were always keeping me involved in the game. The trainers never really let me get a false sense of anything. When I was doing good, they told me I was doing well. When I wasn’t doing that well, they told me I needed to pick it up in my rehab. I remember Coach Hank told me that two guys at Florida State hurt their knees. One guy went off and got drafted, and one of them didn’t even get drafted because he didn’t rehab as hard as he could. I really wanted to come back and play for the Aggies again, so I worked hard.

Q: Was it difficult to come into your fifth year, with several of your friends like Ron Edwards and Michael Jameson graduating or heading off to the NFL?

Bernard: That was really tough. Those were the guys who were most of my friends. We came in together and talked about winning championships together. So when all of them left, I was like, ‘Who do I look to now?’ Mike Jameson called me the other night and asked me how it felt to be out there without (those guys). I said, ‘Yeah, it’s kind of weird. But you make new friendships.’ I still have fun with it, so that’s probably the most important thing.

Q: Several of the coaches and players have said this team has excellent chemistry. Has that it made easier to adjust without your upperclassmen buddies from 2000?

Bernard: Throwing people in a room and telling them to work together… if you really don’t know each other and are not really clicking with each other, you’re not going to get much work done. Once we jelled as a defense, the measure of our defense can be greatness.

Q: What will you remember most about your career at A&M?

Bernard: I’ve dealt with a lot of highs and lows in my career here. But in 1998 when we won the championship, that was a good memory. And the way the people around A&M have treated me… they’ve always looked out for me. And I’ll always remember that.

Q: How do you see the rest of the season unfolding with the meat of the schedule coming up?

Bernard: I think we have to beat the better teams. People realize that the way our schedule is, we have to play the good teams on the road this year. If we win those, we’ll get the recognition. It was the same thing in ’98 because people didn’t give us much of a chance. But we played Florida State, Nebraska, Kansas State and Ohio State, and finally people started to say, ‘OK, we’ll give you some credit.’

Right now, people are saying, ‘OK, you’ve played well recently, but we’ll wait and see until later on in the season.’ We have to go out and beat some teams to get the recognition we deserve.

Table of Contents