With all the talent in the world and a paved road of gold directly in front of him, Oregon running back C.J Verdell is as modest and unassuming as they come.
Verdell lives for football.
He loves the game and plays it, not for the glory and riches, but for his teammates, coaches, and others who love the game as much as he does.
Winning is Verdell’s glory.
And, make no mistake, he always plays to win!
Evidence of that was his phenomenal performance last Saturday in Columbus when he torched the Buckeyes for three touchdowns while rushing for 161 yards.
Verdell went into Ohio Stadium to not just steal a win, but to also steal the souls of every player on the field, and every Buckeye fan in the stadium.
That’s his fuel, and he certainly succeeded!
With performances like last Saturday though, comes more and more national recognition, interview requests, and NFL draft speculation.
That’s simply part of the game when players, like Verdell, often travel under the radar early in their career, but begin to flourish on the national stage as a talented veteran.
That’s also the other part of the game that Verdell admittedly shy’s away from.
“To be honest, it’s not something I really like to look into or like feed into” explained Verdell on Tuesday.
“It’s nice and all, but I understand the bigger goals that we have here. To be honest, all I want to do every week is come out there, practice hard every week and be the best I can for the team on Saturdays.”
Yes, that’s the culture Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal has instilled into his players, but for Verdell it runs much deeper than that.
“I think it’s been something that was instilled in me since I was a little kid” said Verdell.
“My dad, he’s always kinda driven that mindset into me,…of you know, don’t worry to much about the praise or the outside noise. The same people that can pat you on the back for doing good can talk bad about you, so either way I really don’t look into it good or bad. I just try to play hard regardless.”
C.J VERDELL TALKS OHIO STATE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO STONEY BROOK