| Randolph Charlotin. 21st November, 2008 - 5:31 pm
 Below is the transcript of an interview between RealGM's Randolph Charlotin and former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski.
Charlotin: In the initial email I received from your assistant, you said you can dance better than Warren Sapp. Do you stand by that statement?
Romanowski: Absolutely I can dance better than Warren Sapp! He’s a defensive lineman. I’m a linebacker. I had to be able to cover running backs coming out of the backfield. You gotta have quick feet to be able to do that.
RC: Well Sapp is doing pretty good. He reached the semifinals.
BR: He’s doing real well. He’s a good dancer.
RC: But you’re going to be better than him.
BR: Absolutely.
RC: Beyond the difference between a linebacker and a down lineman, what else makes you so sure you can out-dance Sapp? Do you have any dancing experience before this?
BR: No, I like to dance. But I’m an extremely hard worker, and I’m a perfectionist. I’m very familiar with competition and I just feel like I could do very well on that show.
RC: I recall you being a very intense football player. Do you think this intensity will help you as you go through all the training, the classes, and exercises to get you prepared for the competition?
BR: Well my intensity was all around being the best. So that really would be about is that. And because of that intensity and because of my drive, I think I would do very well.
RC: How long have you been watching Dancing With the Stars?
BR: Since Jerry Rice was a contestant is when I started watching it.
RC: And you’ve been watching since?
BR: Yes.
RC: I assume you were impressed by Rice and Emmit Smith’s performance.
BR: They both did very well. I think Emmitt won it, didn’t he?
RC: Yes he did.
BR: Football players have a certain mentality and a certain work ethic. Otherwise it would be very hard to make it in football if you didn’t have that. And I think if you utilize that, that transfers into other things. That’s what I found. And you take that same mentality about trying to be the best and it transfers into other areas of life.
RC: Keep in mind that Rice and Smith were offensive skill players. Besides Sapp, Jason Taylor was on Dancing With the Stars and he didn’t get as far. So do you understand expectations would be lower for you?
BR: That is true, but defensive players, at least linebackers, we have to be able to react to whatever the offense gives us, so on some level, we have to be quicker on our feet because of that. Offensive guys know where they are going. Defensive guys have to be really quick at what is put in front of them and they got to be able to react to that. And I think I do a pretty good job at reacting.
RC: You do understand being who you are, viewers wouldn’t expect you to be into something like this. Do you have anything to say to those that doubt your interest in being on DWTS?
BR: You know what, I think if anybody that has a better understanding of who and what I’m about, I think they would say, ‘You know what, I think he would do very well in this.’ Just understanding my mentality, my emotions, my fears that I shared in my book, I shared my heart and soul. And I think when people get to know me, they’re like...I had a lot of people when Jerry Rice was on there, they said, ‘How come they didn’t pick you to be on there?’ I know a lot of people told me that. So now, maybe in time they’ll choose me.
RC: Have you tried contacting them before?
BR: We have tried to contact them, but I really don’t know who to contact and how that process works. It’s been a while, I do know that. So maybe you have a contact for me.
RC: I’m trying to build my contacts as we speak. So what do you do with yourself now that you’re retired?
BR: I launched a nutrition company and I’ve done some acting.
RC: Tell me about the nutrition company.
BR: It’s Nutrition 53. And a big part of my success in the NFL was about what I put in my body and what I ate, how I supplemented and it was a big edge for me. And I worked with the top doctors, scientists, and nutritionists in the world and I learned so much because I worked with them, but I researched myself and I challenged them who in turn not only got better themselves, but they helped me get better. So I decided to take that, the passion I have in nutrition and making people better, and being healthy around it. And that is what inspired me to start Nutrition 53.
RC: How has the business been going?
BR: It’s been going very, very well. Sometimes I pinch myself with how well it’s going because I literally get emails from people saying, ‘You changed my life. Thank you. Your Neuro One product is helping my energy, my focus, my memory. And I’m blown away by what you’re doing now.’ It’s the same thing with the lean product with helping people lose weight and our sleep product with helping people get a better night’s rest. So I’m in a position to really affect thousands and thousands of people and it moves me. Every day I wake up and I have a purpose. And that’s truly what I want my legacy to be, that I’m making people’s lives better.
RC: And how has the acting been going?
BR: I started with “The Longest Yard.” Adam Sandler gave me a call. After that I was in another movie by Adam Sandler called “Bench Warmers” that he wrote and produced. From there I was in “Shooting Gallery,” after that I played a gay cowbowy in “Wieners.” I did “Get Smart” with Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway and we have “Bedtime Story” coming out in December.
RC: Tell me a little more about “Bedtime Story.”
BR: It’s a movie about Adam Sandler and he reads stories to his kids at night, and the stories become real. They happen. And it just blows him away. It’s a really, really fun movie. I’m in a part of the movie where I play a biker. Adam is trying to ditch me in this movie and get away from me. It’s a really cool movie, it’s going to bring a lot of laughs and it has a really good message. It’s a Walt Disney movie so I’m really excited to be a part of that.
RC: Do you know when it comes out?
BR: Christmas Day.
RC: This Christmas?
BR: Yes.
RC: So we don’t even have to wait.
BR: No.
RC: Right in time for the Holidays. Nice, I like it. I am interested is seeing your role as a gay cowboy, though. That one would really be interesting.
BR: It’s a comedy, so take that into account. I had to stretch a little bit for sure. But it was a really fun movie working with Keenan Thompson from Saturday Night Live. It was a really good cast, good people, you know, and a lot of fun.
RC: That’s cool. Now do you still watch NFL games?
BR: I do.
RC: What do you think of the quality of play?
BR: I love good football. I think the quality of play is outstanding. I think the NFL has the greatest game on earth and to watch players go out week in and week out and put their bodies on the line the way they do, it’s remarkable. Every time I watch a game I have to think to myself, ‘Did I really do that for 16 years and 243 straight games never missing a game?’ I’m like, ‘How did I do that?’ And sometimes to this day I really don’t know how.
RC: I do recall you played with some very good teams, and on some of those teams you had some very good quarterbacks.
BR: That helps.
RC: Definitely. Considering what the New England Patriots have gone through, how impressed are you by their performance playing without Tom Brady?
BR: Well I think Matt Cassel has done a very good job. Are they the same team? No, but I’ll tell you what. Matt Cassel probably earned himself a starting job somewhere else in the league next year. Or, depending on how the rest of the season plays out, does New England take the young guy, dish off Brady for multiple draft picks, and really solidifies/secures the future of their organization and their game? You heard it from me first.
RC: Also on the Patriots, they have a rookie linebacker, Jerod Mayo. Last Thursday he had a 20-tackle performance. I don’t know how much you’ve seen of him, but I understand he was compared to a former teammate of yours, Al Wilson.
BR: Al was a great football player. When a linebacker gets 20 tackles, that means he’s on the field an awful lot. That’s a little scary for me. That might mean the defense is not playing that well. But 20 tackles is a lot of tackles. I think 24 tackles is the most I’ve had in a football NFL game. So great performance, but to do that as a rookie, I clearly did not do that as a rookie, so the future is very bright.
RC: I’m very optimistic about him. Do you keep up with Boston College?
BR: I just watch Boston College from time to time.
RC: They just beat Florida State on a Saturday night game.
BR: You gotta like that. A week before they beat Notre Dame.
RC: They killed Notre Dame. You must had got a lot of enjoyment out of that win.
BR: Absolutely. To see how well the school is doing and the team is doing, it’s amazing how much the school has changed since I was there. But to see Matt Ryan and the success he had at Boston College and how well he’s doing down in Atlanta. Hats off to him, I really proud of him, I think he’s doing an outstanding job. He’s pretty much turned that organization around. It’s amazing to see a rookie do that. |
