Jets defensive end John Franklin-Myers tackles some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: From your social media: “I used to live in a horror movie, now my house gotta theater in it.”
A: My favorite rapper is Mr. Don Trip, he put that in one of his songs.
Q: I thought it might have referred to you growing up in a foster home.
A: That’s part of my story, growing up in foster care, my grandpa moved me and my sister [Alexis Myers-Vega] out of California to Texas. My grandpa ended up passing away, moved in with my aunt and my grandma … just kind of my story, it just reflected the horror movie-type of vibe, and then got a chance to be where I’m at now and buy a house with a movie room in it.
Q: How old were you in foster care?
A: I was 6 or 7. My mom passed while I was in foster care, so my grandpa went through the process to adopt us. I think I was there for maybe six months or a year or something.
Q: Do you remember anything about it?
A: Not too much. I know while I was in foster care, I probably gained 50 pounds. They were just trying to keep us happy in foster care, so we were eating tamales and all types of juices and candies and donuts and whatnot. And then I got to Texas, my grandpa seen how big me and my sister were — we didn’t have a chip, a piece of candy, fried food, not a soda, nothing. And my grandpa was like, “Not until you guys know what it’s like to not have that stuff, and I’m gonna teach you guys, you guys are way overweight.” We were bowling balls at 6 years old. That’s why I respect my grandpa.
Q: Describe your grandpa, Billy Ray-Myers.
A: Probably the hardest-working, most kind person I ever met. He did everything for my family. Super strict. It’s either right or wrong, and there’s consequences for your actions.
Q: Another one from you: “I don’t sleep til they stop sleeping on me.”
A: My second favorite rapper, his name is Starlito, he has a song named “Insomnia Addict,” that was one of his lyrics. I think that being underrated at this point in my life, and just getting opportunity to play and just the work that I put in and the grind, I think I work harder than anybody I play against, and that’s in the season, that’s on the field, that’s off the field in everything in life. Once they stop sleeping on me, then I can sleep.
Q: Another one: “You see anger in my eyes, I got money on my mind.”
A: (Laugh) Shoot, that’s self-explanatory. When I’m on the football field, I feel like I’m focused and I got that look in my eye that it might be the time to get paid.
Q: And last one: “I used to be broke as a joke then I got offended ’cause y’all was laughing too much.”
A: I got offended people were laughing at me ’cause I couldn’t afford X, Y and Z. … I got to the point where now guess who has the last laugh?
Q: What drives you?
A: Opportunity doesn’t come to everybody, it doesn’t come often, and every time you get an opportunity, you gotta make the most of it. That’s what drives me is the opportunity that I have and the opportunity that God has presented to me and my family to be able to provide for them and play football at a high level and to leave a legacy for me and my kids and my family.
Q: What do you want that legacy to be?
A: A guy who showed up to work each and every day, a guy who put his all into it, did the extra work, and was a great father to my kids, however many I have at that point in time. A guy who left it all out on the field, left no regret, and was a great father and be what he had to be.
Q: You played at Stephen F. Austin. How do you feel about being overlooked for so long in your football career?
A: They can keep overlooking me and I’ll keep doing what I do and putting great stuff on film, and at one point they’ll stop overlooking me (laugh).
Q: Are you motivated to prove people wrong or prove yourself right?
A: I have nothing to prove. I’m at war with myself at the end of the day.
Q: What do you mean by that?
A: Everything revolves around me and the way I attack each and every day, so it’s all mental for me. I can go out there and I can be dominating every play or I can feel sorry for myself and take the play off. I’m not competing with anybody to get better, I’m not competing with anybody to take anybody’s spot and become the best to ever do it. That’s all internal.
Q: What is so electric about a Robert Saleh meeting?
A: He does a good job of getting everybody’s attention. He’s a leader … he tells super-funny stories. And the energy he brings and the swagger that he has to go out there and let us know regardless of what we have going on, the injuries, what people are saying about us, it doesn’t matter, it’s about us. He says that, and we believe that at the same time. … The energy and the confidence that Coach Saleh has with playing with a young team and being OK with putting guys out there who have no experience and whatnot. That’s what makes us play for him, because he has that confidence, he gives it to us and it just makes you play harder.
Q: If you could sack any quarterback in NFL history, who would you want to sack?
A: Tom Brady was probably the one that I wanted to sack more than anybody else, and I did that [in Super Bowl LIII while with the Rams].
Q: Will you play until you’re 44 years old?
A: I don’t know about that. Maybe 34.
Q: If you could pick the brain of any defensive lineman in NFL history, whose would it be?
A: Either Michael Bennett or Justin Tuck.
Q: You wanted Tuck’s facemask?
A: I tried to get his facemask, I was criticized on Twitter because it was banned from the NFL and I didn’t know it. … I wanted that since I was a kid.
Q: What was it about the way Tuck played that you liked?
A: Relentless player, a guy who could rush the passer … didn’t blink an eye when it was time to set the edge and stop the run. And just a guy who played all over the place and always played with emotion and passion. Shoot, I think he embodies the defensive line position and anybody who plays D-line to reference him in terms of a guy who they would want to play like.
Q: Describe your on-field mentality.
A: I’m out there to win every play. I will line up and hit somebody and be violent, be nasty every single play. When it’s time to rush the passer, that’s my time to shine.
Q: Do you play angry?
A: Oh no, an angry mind is a narrow mind, and I’ve seen that in a movie called “Never Back Down [2]”, and from then I just used that in my game. Anytime somebody will make me mad, I use that as motivation and just kind of laugh about it, and that’s how I get through it. Angry mind is a narrow mind, so I’m never angry when I’m playing football. When I do anything in life I’m never angry.
Q: How do guys try to get you angry on the field?
A: They’ll try to push me after the play, they’ll try to talk s–t or something, but I just laugh at that stuff. That pushing after the play stuff, it is what it is, that’s part of football.
Q: Describe Quinnen Williams.
A: There was no fallback from when he was playing at a high level last year to him missing all that time and coming back, and he’s still putting great things on tape and helping other guys get in good positions. So as a player you can’t really say anything bad about him and he’s a better person than he is a player.
Q: Style-wise, does he remind you in any way of Aaron Donald?
A: Not exactly, just because he’s more of a power rusher, AD is a little bit of finesse rusher, but I think the way they attack practice each and every day will probably be what most reminds me of Aaron Donald, because they both attack each and every day and each and every play at a high level and treat everything like a game.
Q: Sheldon Rankins?
A: He’s locked in, a guy who communicates at a high level. … He’s probably honestly the first guy I’ve ever played with who puts his teammates either at the same level or ahead of him in terms of putting them in position to make plays.
Q: Foley Fatukasi?
A: He’s a man amongst boys (chuckle). Turn on his tape, it speaks for itself. He’s a high-level communicator and I can play freely because I know he’ll clean it up or he’ll make me right … a guy who is unselfish and he just works well with everybody whether he plays with you one down or every down.
Q: Shaq Lawson?
A: Funny guy. Great effort in the run game, he sets violent edges, he penetrates. In pass rush, he’s sneaky athletic.
Q: Former NFL linebacker Bryan Cox has become your mentor.
A: He calls me every other week, he watches my film and gives me pointers and gives me things that I. need to get better and things that I need to exploit on my opponent. A great guy to have in my corner.
Q: You were 0-40 in high school or 0-30, which one was it?
A: My school was 0-40, but I was 0-30.
Q: Why didn’t you let that affect you?
A: I was playing for something bigger than myself, and then again, I started football and my grandpa told me that if you start something you finish. I played basketball, ran track and I ran the 4-by-100 relay in track and the open 100-meter dash, and my grandpa wouldn’t let me quit (laugh). … There was no way I was quitting something I was good at.
Q: Didn’t the losing affect you emotionally at all?
A: Oh no way. You get an opportunity like that, and opportunity to change a program and turn it around, I think it’s a challenge and we all like challenges being an athlete.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: My grandma, my grandpa, my mom.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Holes.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Tracy Morgan.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Kevin Hart.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: French fries. Best in the world.
Q: Your son Kyler will be 2 in December?
A: He’s funny. All he knows is ball. We find ourselves all the time just sitting there, we’ll play catch with him. He always has a ball in his hand. If he doesn’t have a ball in his hand, he’s always eating. He’ll get in a four-point stance, I don’t know where he learned that from. But he’ll get in a football stance and then get off the ball and just start spreading around the room. And then line back up and get in a football stance and do the same thing over and over. He’s a funny kid.
Q: Has fatherhood changed you in any way?
A: I think it definitely made me hungrier and just definitely gave me even more of a reason to go out here and do what I have to do and put great stuff on tape and be the best that I can be on the field.
Q: Sarcoma awareness is one of your causes.
A: My grandpa passed of sarcoma. … [I’m] just bringing awareness to it and giving people the chance and hopefully the more people take notice to it and just donate and help the research maybe find a cure or help people live longer from it would also be a great thing.
Q: How old was your grandpa when he passed away?
A: 72 maybe.
Q: When did he pass?
A: It was my freshman year of high school.
Q: How devastating was that for you?
A: I can’t explain. He took us out of the position we were in. … You talk about a man who just cares about everybody. He took me and my sister out of foster care, he bought a house for my aunt and my grandma and all of my aunt’s kids. They all lived there. He brought ’em out to Texas so they were able to come out here and live with us and we were able to have people out here to live with. That’s somebody who I want to be like and I strive to be like when I get older.
Q: You’re also involved in helping convicted felons get jobs driving trucks.
A: Right now we’re in the process of creating something to where we’re able to kind of give convicted felons a second chance, in a world where they don’t really have a second chance and they end up going back to jail because they don’t have an opportunity. What we’re trying to do is get these convicted felons their CDL license and get them a job at trucking companies to be able to put the money on the table and feed their families in a world where they don’t really have an opportunity to do anything, which leads them going back to jail or making bad decisions because they don’t have an opportunity to get a real job.
Q: That sounds like something your grandpa would do.
A: Without a doubt. Everything I do is to make him proud. I want to be exactly like he was.