Jason Taylor on the Cover of Capitol File

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October 9, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Defensive end Jason Taylor has been recovering from emergency surgery on his left calf and is counting down the days until he can get back on the field with the Washington Redskins. In fact, there were a couple times last Sunday that he was asked to get "off" of the field because he was crossing from the sidelines trying to talk to his teammates.

It's not a comfortable situation -- it's like going to a new school, being one of the smartest kids and then having to wait to be able to actually help them take the tests. He's watching from afar and isn't enjoying it.

I had a chance to interview Jason for Capitol File Magazine recently and it was a cool opportunity because the line of questioning was focused on lifestyle and "off the field" topics.

I met with him at Redskins Park before the team flew to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. We did the interview in one of the offices, and it was interesting for me to be on the other side and see how different it feels and what response you get when there's no camera in a subject's face.

Jason was cool and opened up about stuff like homeschooling (he did that while growing up in Pennsylvania) and about some of what he does to bond with his teammates. I remember that from Miami (before I came to D.C., I was a sports anchor/reporter at the NBC station in Miami) part of my job was to host FINS TV, which was a show about the Dolphins off the field. That's when I first met Jason.

For a little insight into my job, you can measure the "status" of a player based on if they have specific "days" that they talk. For example, here, Clinton Portis talks on Wednesdays only. So does Jason Campbell. There are others on both sides of the ball that you can consider stars as well, but they are just cool with doing interviews mostly whenever you ask and that is much appreciated.

Jason’s a funny guy in person -- he has a good sense of humor. In fact, I remember covering a Halloween function put on by the Dolphins in Miami. Jason came dressed as Ricky Williams -- the star Dolphins running back who had just been released because of his drug involvement. The costume was creative, to say the least.

Anyway, I learned a lot of cool tidbits about Jason while doing this recent interview for the magazine and hopefully he can get back out on the field soon so that Skins fans can really reap the benefits of his acquisition.

The edition of Capitol File magazine hits newsstands Oct. 14 and features Jason Taylor on the cover.

Read excerpts from the interview below:

Lindsay Czarniak: Following the Skins' Arizona Cardinals win in September, you had emergency surgery on your calf. It takes time to heal, but how much torture were you going through not being able to play?

Jason Taylor: It hurts not to play. The [133-game playing] streak is something I was proud of. Longevity in this league is hard to come by sometimes, but the biggest thing is not being able to help the team. That's the part that hurts the most.

LC: What's the biggest difference being here versus being in Miami, as far as football and the team dynamic are concerned?

JT: Right now, the mind-set of this team is a lot different; the expectations. In Miami, everyone says they want to win, but I think there were so many things stacked against us that we didn't always have a chance to go out there and be competitive on the weekends. We were stuck in a rut of losing. Here, even though we play in the toughest division with the Cowboys and the Giants and the Eagles, you still expect to play well and compete in this division. It's easier said than done, but nobody has that [pessimistic] attitude here.

LC: What have you found most surprising here, in making the transition to Washington?

JT: How passionate people are about their team. In Miami, we had great fans, but it's crazy here. People are standing outside the facility on the day you leave for a game. We came home from the Giants game at 4:30 in the morning after we lost, and there were tons of people standing out here to greet us coming back into the facility. The fanfare -- you go to the stadium and there are 92,000 fans and they don't have trouble selling games out. Football means a lot in this area.

LC: What's your idea of a perfect way to spend a day here --maybe checking out some things you haven't seen?

JT: I want to sit on Lincoln's lap. I want to tour the Capitol, like the back-door tour. I want to visit the Pentagon and the FBI, because I always wanted to be an FBI or CIA agent. That always intrigued me.

LC: You talked about your Hollywood aspirations. What would be your perfect role?

JT: The perfect role would be a movie like Oceans 13, where you have a big ensemble cast with a George Clooney and a Brad Pitt and a Matt Damon; where they can carry the movie and I would get a small juicy role -- well not too small, but a nice role where I didn't have to be "the" guy.

Check out Capitol File's Web site here.