< PreviousNEW C OMER Q&A: BRANDON C OUNCIL 61 Q: What is your favorite aspect of football? A: Getting to meet new people and building a brotherhood outside of your own family. Football allows you to make connections in life that you’ll keep with you forever. Q: What is a fun fact about yourself that the Auburn Family may not know? A: I was like 185-200 pounds my whole career up until my junior year of high school when I put on 100 pounds in a year.” Q: What is your career plan once you graduate from Auburn? A: My final plan is to get my MBA so that I can be an athletic director for either a college or a high school. It depends on how much stress I want to go through at the time. I want to use my experience and my education to show them what needs to be done to make sure they are on the right path. Q: Who is an NFL player that you ad- mire? A: Probably Will Hernandez, who plays offensive line for the New York Giants. Mainly because he was drafted from a smaller school and he’s gritty and plays hard and knocks people around. I try to model my game after him. Q: What is your favorite memory so far with your team- mates at Auburn? A: We obviously haven’t been able to do as many team activities this year, but the Black Lives Matter march to Toomer’s Corner this summer was really great. It was a great memory of everyone just coming together as one and unifying for the cause. It was memorable for sure. Q: If you could ask your dog, Ash, any three questions what would they be? A: Why do you eat all your food without taking a breath? Why do you hold your face all the way in the water bowl when you’re drinking water? What makes you do the things you do? Sometimes she’ll just run around or chase her tail for no reason. Q: If you had one million dollars to donate to any char- ity or cause of your choice, where would you want that money to go to? A: I would want to help build up communities. It wasn’t really developed where I grew up. You would have to drive nearly 20 minutes to the closest gas station and 30 minutes to the closest high school. I want to donate to communities like that to help develop them and bring more people into those towns and more revenue in for those residents. Q: If we made a movie about your life, what would it be titled and who would you want to star as you? A: I would choose Adam Sandler. I like playing jokes and he could add some good comedy to the movie. It would be called “The Transition” because I went from being really good at baseball to playing football as a tight end and then linebacker and receiver to playing offensive line. I started at a school that no one had heard of and now am starting at a school in the top football conference. The movie would about me being able to go from small to big and still being able to stay who I am. Q: What is one word you’d use to describe yourself on the field and one word you’d use to describe yourself off the field? A: On the field, I would use the word intense. I don’t take plays off and I’m always trying to go hard. Off the field, I’m very nonchalant. I take my time doing everything. Q: What makes Auburn football special? A: Everybody is one and we all talk to each other. It’s just a big family. I know Auburn always talks about the Au- burn Family, but it’s true. No one has made me feel like an outsider. I feel like I am part of the family and like I’ve been going here for four years already. Q: If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island, what three items would you bring with you? A: A big bag of beef jerky -- I love beef jerky. Maybe also a machete and a fire-starter or flint. Q: What is your favorite holiday and why? A: My favorite holiday would be Christmas, but not because of the gifts. I like giving back to people. I grew up taken care of, so I really like to help those who don’t have the opportu- nities I had. NEWCOMER Q&A BY TUCKER CLEVERDON A UBURNTI G ERS.C O M BRANDON COUNCIL NEW C OMER Q&A: T ANK BIGSB Y 63 Q: What made you want to come to Auburn? A: It felt like home. The players and the coaches that are here made it feel like home. Q: What is your go-to television show to binge? A: I really don’t watch television, but if I had to choose, I would be watching football all day on Saturday. Q: How would you describe your hometown to people who are not from there? A: My hometown is actually Atlanta, but I moved to LaGrange when I was in middle school. I would explain it as very nice, calm and enjoyable. Q: If you had to be stuck on an island with three of your teammates, who would you want to be stuck with and why? A: Smoke Monday, Kobe Hudson and Worm [Shaun Shivers]. Those guys are the guys that I really talk to a lot and know on the team. Q: What’s your favorite aspect of your position? A: Scoring touchdowns. Q: What is the story behind the nickname, ‘Tank’? A: I actually got Tank when I was playing rec football. My mom gave it to me because I used to run kids over and stuff like that, so she just started calling me Tank. Q: If you had to compare yourself to someone on the coaching staff, who would it be and why? A: Cadillac Williams. He recruited me. We had a lot of conver- sations. Our personal lives are pretty similar. Q: Who is your favorite NFL team and why? A: The Atlanta Falcons because that’s my hometown. Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? A: To run fast. Q: What is your favorite home-cooked meal? A: My favorite is whatever my mom cooks. I love her cooking. She just really knows how to cook. Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions? A: I have to pray. Q: Who is your biggest role model and why? A: My mom. I just watched her become a really strong woman as I grew up. Q: If you could sit down and have dinner with any former Auburn player, who would it be and why? A: Bo Jackson. Just because of who he is as a person, and because he played at running back too. Q: What’s your biggest goal academically while being a student-athlete at Auburn? A: I want to make Dean’s List four or five times. Q: What’s your biggest goal athletically while being a stu- dent-athlete at Auburn? A: I want to win a championship. Q: What is your favorite thing about playing football? A: My favorite thing about playing football is just getting to do it. Being in the presence of football just makes me happy. NEWCOMER Q&A BY AMANDA RONAN A UBURNTI G ERS.C O M TANK BIGSBY POS T SEASON TROPHY W INNERS 65 n Zeke Smith 1958 Outland Trophy n Tracy Rocker 1988 Outland Trophy & Lombardi Award n Carlos Rogers 2004 Jim Thorpe Award n Nick Fairley 2010 Lombardi Award n Reese Dismukes 2014 Rimington Trophy n Derrick Brown 2019 Lott IMPACT Trophy POST SEASON TROPHY WINNERS A UBURNTI G ERS.C O M66 TIGERS IN THE NFL TIGERS IN THE NFL A UBURNTI G ERS.C OM PEYTON BARBER KERRYON JOHNSON DEE FORD JOSH BYNES DARIUS SLAYTON DERRICK BROWN BRADEN SMITHTIGERS IN THE NFL 67 TIGERS IN THE NFL A UBURNTI G ERS.C O M CAM NEWTON DANIEL CARLSONCARLTON DAVIS Auburn in the NFL (as of September 28, 2020) Montravius Adams DT Green Bay Packers Peyton Barber RB Washington Football Team Angelo Blackson DL Arizona Cardinals Derrick Brown DL Carolina Panthers Josh Bynes LB Cincinnati Bengals Daniel Carlson PK Las Vegas Raiders Shon Coleman OL San Francisco 49ers Chandler Cox FB Miami Dolphins Marlon Davidson DL Atlanta Falcons Carlton Davis DB Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jamel Dean DB Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jack Driscoll OT Philadelphia Eagles Dee Ford DE San Francisco 49ers Rudy Ford DB Philadelphia Eagles Josh Harris LS Atlanta Falcons Noah Igbinoghene DB Miami Dolphins Kerryon Johnson RB Detroit Lions Jonathan Jones DB New England Patriots Brandon King DB New England Patriots Carl Lawson DE Cincinnati Bengals Cam Newton QB New England Patriots Cody Parkey K Cleveland Browns Dontavius Russell DL Jacksonville Jaguars Chad Slade OL New York Giants Darius Slayton WR New York Giants Braden Smith OL Indianapolis Colts Jarrett Stidham QB New England Patriots Daniel Thomas DB Jacksonville Jaguars Neiko Thorpe DB Seattle Seahawks C.J. Uzomah TE Cincinnati Bengals ALSO AU LETTERMEN: Byron Cowart DL New England Patriots John Franklin III DB Tampa Bay Buccaneers PRACTICE SQUADS: Arryn Siposs (Detroit), Duke Williams (Buffalo), Mike Horton (Carolina), Prince Tega Wanogho (Philadelphia), Javaris Davis (Miami), Nick Coe (Miami), Derrick Moncrief (LA Rams), Daren Bates (Tennessee) Next >