North Carolina State University Athletics
Q&A with NC State's Manny Lawson
7/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 16, 2004
From Annabelle Vaughan: "One of my very first encounters with Emmanuel "Manny" Lawson was after he had only been practicing with the team for a couple of days as a freshman. It was the first day of full-squad practice and the varsity was doing their running tests while the freshmen looked on. One tall, lanky player beat almost all of the other veterans down the field almost every time. I was surprised to learn that it was Manny. He says now that he couldn't stand sitting on the sideline doing nothing, while everyone else was running.
"I should have known then that Manny was pretty unique. But I didn't know the half of it. A well-spoken, very intelligent young man, you can be in the middle of what you THINK is a serious conversation before you realize that he is completely yanking your chain!
"Only a transcript of an actual conversation can show you that the player who has certainly shown that he stands out on the football field, stands out off it as well."
Q: You're kind of a strange guy ... not your average run-of-the-mill person. Maybe unique would be a better word?
A: "Yes, I like that better."
Q: Describe your personality.
A: "I think there are three mes around. The serious me, then there is the crazy me, who I don't even want to see. And then the me, me. The laid-back me. That's the real me. Just laid back, cool, relaxed."
Q: Where were you born?
A: "Omaha, Nebraska. My father is in the Air Force. I was born there and lived there for two years and then moved to Goldsboro, North Carolina."
Q: Do you remember Nebraska?
A: "Not so much. I remember lots of little lizards and wheat fields. Not corn fields. And windmills."
Q: Lizards? In Nebraska?
A: "Yes - the green geckos, the ones that blink their eyes. You have to watch the Discovery Channel. I remember seeing them and remember my Mom running into my room with a lizard behind her."
Q: So your earliest memory is of your mom being chased by a lizard?
A: "Yes. Animals these days are crazy. We can't let animals get the upper hand in this world. Have you seen that commercial where the two squirrels cause the wreck? They really do that. Yes, they do."
Q: Have you seen it happen?
A: "Not to me, because I would hit a squirrel."
Q: Is Goldsboro home?
A: "Yes."
Q: What was your childhood like?
A: "I am a country boy. Where I stayed, there was nobody near me. Next to my house, there was a field, then my neighbor, then a cornfield, then my other neighbor. I lived amongst the animals. I didn't have many friends then, so the animals were my friends."
Q: What kind of animals?
A: "I had a deer, a rabbit, Mr. Owl and a little turtle. We played freeze-tag and hide-and-go-seek."
Q: I hear that deer are really good at freeze tag.
A: "Yes, they ARE really good a freeze tag. You're not catching them. A deer hopped over my fence and I stopped playing with him."
Q: Let's be serious now. Did you really live in the country when you were young?
A: "Yes"
Q: Did you really have an owl as a pet?
A: "No, because he was very annoying. I would be sleeping and I would hear, "who. who" and you don't want to hear that."
Q: So what did you do for fun? Did you play little league sports?
A: "My first time ever playing a sport was in sixth grade. I played quarterback in middle school. We played lots of chase and lots of racing games. There were actually a lot of little kids around my age and right before the bus would come, we would have little track meets. Here, to the bus stop and back. We rode bikes a lot."
Q: Everybody talks about how fast you are. Did you hone those skills at your mailbox meets?
A: "Nope. I have a story about that. Dogs. Since I was very little, I have been chased by dogs."
Q: Were you afraid of dogs?
A: "I don't care for dogs. I had one growing up, but if it's up to my knees, I'm very cautious. I'll walk around it quick, fast and in a hurry. I will not hesitate. Me and the dog have to have a little bonding time. We sit at the table, eat, talk about women and stuff like that and then we're cool. But other than that, I'm not messing with a dog. They never caught me. I used to walk just to be walking, so I set myself up. I would hear this "WOOF, WOOF, WOOF" and a big dog would jump over the fence. My nature was to run, and jump up on the nearest tree or car."
Q: It sounds like Cujo. Have you ever seen that movie?
A: "Yes, I have! That movie haunts me to this day! That's how I got good at the hurdles, I would jump over fences to get away from dogs."
Q: You're pulling my leg right now.
A: "No, I'm serious. Dead serious."
Q: Why did you decide on football? Just looking at you, I would say you were a basketball player.
A: "I always got that a lot. I still get it. People also say I look like Julius Hodge. People always thought I should play basketball. I played basketball in middle school, but football was the first one I wanted to play. We didn't pass, we ran and I ran the bootleg because I was small."
Q: Did you ever think about playing basketball here?
A: "The way these guys play, I'm not even on their level. They're really talented."
Q: You were small?
A: "Yes, I was small ... and short."
Q: Were you tough?
A: "Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes."
Q: So when did you pass everybody?
A: "My sixth grade summer, I grew six inches."
Q: What was your Mama feeding you?
A: "The secret is ... sleep and eat. That's all I did. I ate any and everything. Lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a cup of milk and some Lay's potato chips - with ripples. My mom took me to the doctor because she didn't think it was normal. But the doctor X-rayed my ankles and told my mom that I was fine. My mom used to say that just because I was taller than her, that didn't mean she wouldn't punish me if I acted up."
Q: How did you get to defense?
A: "My method is, wherever you want me on the field, I'll play."
Q: Do you love it?
A: "Yes I do. I love it for myself and to see other people that really want to win. That motivates me even more. I like the whole atmosphere around it."
Q: What are your interests?
A: "A lot of things. I want to be a chef. I love solid, good, home-cooking. I watch the food channel all the time."
Q: What is your perfect meal?
A: "Peanut butter and jelly, doritos and orange soda."
Q: You don't have to be a chef to fix that.
A: "No, but that's the perfect meal."
Q: You're very strange. You certainly aren't ashamed to be who you are.
A: "No. If you see me on campus, I walk alone. But I love my teammates and I act myself around anybody and everybody."
Q: What are you going to do with your civil engineering degree?
A: "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I want to come back and be an architect. There is a great architectural school here. I took some classes in high school and have wanted to be an architect ever since.
Q: What do you like about architecture?
A: "It's a way to let my creativity and craziness go in the form of houses and buildings.
Q: What kind of architecture do you like?
A: "I don't like plain. I want to do residential architecture."
Q: Describe the dream house you would design for yourself.
A: "I would create something that nobody else has created. Something original. I want the outside to be upside down and everything on the inside right side up."
Q: How would you get in if the door were at the top?
A: "You would come in through the window. The chimney would be in the ground. I need to patent this idea. I have many ideas. How about one with a hole right through the house, so you could see right through it?"
