North Carolina State University Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Jerod Fernandez
11/21/2017 8:28:00 AM | Football
RALEIGH, N.C. - Succeeding in any aspect of life typically requires a degree of balance, and a football locker room is no different. If things are too serious all the time, the locker room can become an overly stressful environment. If things are too jovial, it can be easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal of winning games. Redshirt-senior linebacker Jerod Fernandez has built a reputation not only on the field as a hard-hitting safety, but also as an invaluable locker-room presence.
"I try to be a positive presence, I try to keep things balanced," he explained. "I like to joke around when it's time to joke, but also be serious when it's time for that and be ready to work. It just kind of happens, I like to have fun and make people laugh. I like to laugh. You can't be serious all the time, sometimes you've got to enjoy life and express yourself."
Bradley Chubb speaks fondly of what the Samford, Florida, native brings to the locker room.
"When it's time to work he's ready to work, but he's just a really funny guy," he said. "He's great for our morale."
For as much as he's known for his love of making others laugh, it is a different story the minute he steps over the white line. It clear to anyone who has seen him playing that Fernandez has a major chip on his shoulder, which has been one of the keys to his success throughout his career.
"I've always been that way," he articulated. "I know a lot of people have been counted out, but I've been counted out a lot. I was told I'd never make it to a big division one college, been told I won't make it to the NFL. I like negativity sometimes because it puts fuel in my tank and makes me want to work harder to throw in their faces that I can do whatever I put my mind to."
On top of his natural talent, the extra fuel in Fernandez has paid off in a major way. In 2016 he was the second-leading tackler on the Wolfpack squad, and has produced numerous big plays during his career.
"I have a lot of memories" he explained. "My redshirt-freshman year getting two picks against Florida State has probably been my favorite memory, considering I grew up a big Florida State fan. It was real nice and special to do that."
While Fernandez' 2016 form has carried over into the 2017 season, there have been some bumps in the road he has to deal with early in the season. Given that his family was impacted by the hurricane in Florida, he had to overcome the stress and worry of wondering if everything was going to be okay.
"The power was out and they lost water for a week or so," he said. "They got both back and everything is okay now. I got maybe two hours sleep the night the hurricane hit and even though it dropped to category two or three, it's still a hurricane and is still powerful. I've been in a hurricane before so I know what it's like. My mom called saying my sister woke up crying because she heard trees snapping and the wind outside. It's pretty scary because you don't know what's going to happen."
Fernandez is close with his family, who are as passionate about football and sports in general as he is.
Fernandez' mother Kenya works for an eye surgeon in Central Florida and his father John works in corrections. His younger sister Reese is nine.. "My sister is very active," he explained.. "She plays volleyball and softball so my parents will split up and sometimes one will go to hers and one will come to mine, or sometimes both go to mine then turn around and go to watch her. They're really into sports just like we are."
First playing football for the Samford Seminoles, Fernandez took some time to warm to the game. After trying basketball and baseball, he realized that he really missed the physicality and that football was the game for him.
Growing up in Sanford, Fernandez was around many great athletes and being in such an environment pushed him to get better.
"Living in the town I grew up in, a lot of people play football and a lot of good athletes came out of there," he articulated. "Sometimes people don't make it, but I wanted to be different and make it to a big school so I just put my head down and worked for it. I got to high school and played a lot, made it to varsity as a freshman. After freshman season was over with, from there I put my head down and kept working.
" We had a lot of guys go to D1 schools: Â Dyron Dye who went to Miami, Taylor Richards who went to Purdue, Brandon Marshall, Christian Jones, and now hopefully me who will move onto next to the next level."
While there are several players on the Wolfpack roster from Florida such as Shawn Boone, Stephen Louis, C.J. Riley and Riley Nicholson, Fernandez only first met them when he came to NC State. However, that is not to say he didn't have another connection to a name that might be familiar to NC State fans
"The only guy I knew before I came was Matt Dayes because his name was so big in Florida" he said. "His high school team (Weston Cypress Bay) ended up in playing in the State Championship in Florida against Apopka High School my senior year. I just worked really hard for the chance to play against Matt then the chance to come here and play with him."
Evidently Fernandez' hard work paid off and he accomplished that goal, and there is an opportunity he and Dayes will meet again in the future, whether it be as opponents or teammates once again.
Football has been Fernandez life, but that is not to say he has not thought seriously about his life away from football.
"I'm a communications major, I like talking and interacting with people," he said. "Young, old it doesn't matter. I like helping people grow. I like sales, I kind of want to go into that whether its insurance or real estate or pharmaceutical sales, I've been looking into areas like that."
Whatever endeavor Fernandez applies himself to, trust that he will do it with a smile on his face.
"I'm just a funny guy, I like to joke around and am always down for a good time."
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"I try to be a positive presence, I try to keep things balanced," he explained. "I like to joke around when it's time to joke, but also be serious when it's time for that and be ready to work. It just kind of happens, I like to have fun and make people laugh. I like to laugh. You can't be serious all the time, sometimes you've got to enjoy life and express yourself."
Bradley Chubb speaks fondly of what the Samford, Florida, native brings to the locker room.
"When it's time to work he's ready to work, but he's just a really funny guy," he said. "He's great for our morale."
For as much as he's known for his love of making others laugh, it is a different story the minute he steps over the white line. It clear to anyone who has seen him playing that Fernandez has a major chip on his shoulder, which has been one of the keys to his success throughout his career.
"I've always been that way," he articulated. "I know a lot of people have been counted out, but I've been counted out a lot. I was told I'd never make it to a big division one college, been told I won't make it to the NFL. I like negativity sometimes because it puts fuel in my tank and makes me want to work harder to throw in their faces that I can do whatever I put my mind to."
On top of his natural talent, the extra fuel in Fernandez has paid off in a major way. In 2016 he was the second-leading tackler on the Wolfpack squad, and has produced numerous big plays during his career.
"I have a lot of memories" he explained. "My redshirt-freshman year getting two picks against Florida State has probably been my favorite memory, considering I grew up a big Florida State fan. It was real nice and special to do that."
While Fernandez' 2016 form has carried over into the 2017 season, there have been some bumps in the road he has to deal with early in the season. Given that his family was impacted by the hurricane in Florida, he had to overcome the stress and worry of wondering if everything was going to be okay.
"The power was out and they lost water for a week or so," he said. "They got both back and everything is okay now. I got maybe two hours sleep the night the hurricane hit and even though it dropped to category two or three, it's still a hurricane and is still powerful. I've been in a hurricane before so I know what it's like. My mom called saying my sister woke up crying because she heard trees snapping and the wind outside. It's pretty scary because you don't know what's going to happen."
Fernandez is close with his family, who are as passionate about football and sports in general as he is.
Fernandez' mother Kenya works for an eye surgeon in Central Florida and his father John works in corrections. His younger sister Reese is nine.. "My sister is very active," he explained.. "She plays volleyball and softball so my parents will split up and sometimes one will go to hers and one will come to mine, or sometimes both go to mine then turn around and go to watch her. They're really into sports just like we are."
First playing football for the Samford Seminoles, Fernandez took some time to warm to the game. After trying basketball and baseball, he realized that he really missed the physicality and that football was the game for him.
Growing up in Sanford, Fernandez was around many great athletes and being in such an environment pushed him to get better.
"Living in the town I grew up in, a lot of people play football and a lot of good athletes came out of there," he articulated. "Sometimes people don't make it, but I wanted to be different and make it to a big school so I just put my head down and worked for it. I got to high school and played a lot, made it to varsity as a freshman. After freshman season was over with, from there I put my head down and kept working.
" We had a lot of guys go to D1 schools: Â Dyron Dye who went to Miami, Taylor Richards who went to Purdue, Brandon Marshall, Christian Jones, and now hopefully me who will move onto next to the next level."
While there are several players on the Wolfpack roster from Florida such as Shawn Boone, Stephen Louis, C.J. Riley and Riley Nicholson, Fernandez only first met them when he came to NC State. However, that is not to say he didn't have another connection to a name that might be familiar to NC State fans
"The only guy I knew before I came was Matt Dayes because his name was so big in Florida" he said. "His high school team (Weston Cypress Bay) ended up in playing in the State Championship in Florida against Apopka High School my senior year. I just worked really hard for the chance to play against Matt then the chance to come here and play with him."
Evidently Fernandez' hard work paid off and he accomplished that goal, and there is an opportunity he and Dayes will meet again in the future, whether it be as opponents or teammates once again.
Football has been Fernandez life, but that is not to say he has not thought seriously about his life away from football.
"I'm a communications major, I like talking and interacting with people," he said. "Young, old it doesn't matter. I like helping people grow. I like sales, I kind of want to go into that whether its insurance or real estate or pharmaceutical sales, I've been looking into areas like that."
Whatever endeavor Fernandez applies himself to, trust that he will do it with a smile on his face.
"I'm just a funny guy, I like to joke around and am always down for a good time."
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Players Mentioned
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