CATCHING UP WITH THE BEARD

Transcription

1 CATCHING UP WITH THE BEARD GABE KNAPTON TALKS WITH POKES RADIO July 14, 2016 Cheyenne, Wyoming By PDR ('DINO') True grit, baby.

2 He'll forever be one of my favorite Cowboys, and I'll bet I speak for many of you as well with that thought. Gabe Knapton is exactly the kind of football player that Craig Bohl and his staff are looking for these days. Bohl often talks about 'The Wyoming Profile', and if there was ever a player who wore the brown and gold who epitomized that kind of attitude it's Knapton. One of the best D lineman to ever play for the Pokes when his playing days were done in Laramie Knapton ranked 5th in school history in tackles and 6th overall in the Mountain West Conference. Knapton was twice named to the all MWC squad once earning honorable mention. Knapton was the kind of lineman who was extremely versatile, he could play the run well and get after the quarterback when called upon. Now playing professionally in the CFL and doing very well, I got the opportunity to speak with Gabe over the telephone from Montreal where his Alouettes are currently 1 1 on the season as of this writing. I spoke with Gabe about his feelings on playing CFL football, his feelings on his Wyoming Cowboys experience, former coach Dave Christensen, current coach Craig Bohl, and why Gabe feels it's possible for Wyoming football to eventually become a major player in the MWC. Pokes Radio: How are you feeling and what are your prospects for this season with the Alouettes? Gabe Knapton: "I'm feeling good, we're right at the beginning of the season here we had two regular season games so far. My body feels well, my mind is good, as a team, I feel we've got all the pieces we need to be a good football team this year, we just need to put it all together and make it happen. We have all the tools, it's a long season and a grind in the CFL, so a lot of it is how you start and how consistent you can be throughout the season and just make it through the season and win the big games that you have to. We have the tools to be a Grey Cup team we just need to put it all together."

3 Pokes Radio: If you could describe the level of talent in the CFL how would you best put it? Gabe Knapton: "You know, there are so many great players here in the CFL I think when you look at the CFL in comparison to the NFL I think the difference is that with the NFL it's just loaded with all top tier athletes. In the CFL there are definitely players that could start and play in the NFL, but there's just not as many of them as in the NFL. The competition up here is a huge step up from college football. It's a much quicker game it's professional football. There are guys in this league where this is all they do and it's how they support their family. There are a lot of hungry guys up here and then when you understand that there are so many guys here who are trying to get to the NFL it makes them even more dangerous to play against". Gabe Knapton, Montreal Alouettes Pokes Radio: Describe the acclimation process you needed to make when you headed north of the border to play CFL style football when you had never played it previously. Gabe Knapton: "I've always been the type of guy that once that ball is hiked then football is just football and you've got to find the ball and make a tackle. The downs don't really catch me off guard really it took a little while to get used to 2 and outs. I remember the first season I was up here and I'd be talking to guys in the huddle and I'd say; come on, all we need is a 3 and out, and they'd be no it's

4 just a 2 and out! I mean there's some crazy stuff that happens. I think it was the first game this year and we were playing Winnipeg and they threw a pass to a wide receiver who caught it, and then he hauled off and punted the ball! I stopped completely and said; what the hell do I do now? So there is still stuff in the CFL I'm learning. I had never seen something like that before so there's little rules that sometimes throw me off but once the game gets underway you fall into the flow of it and it's football". Pokes Radio: Certainly every player wants to eventually get an opportunity to play the game at the highest level and there have been many situations where guys graduate from the CFL and then go on to get a shot to play in the NFL. In some quotes I've read from you previously I've been impressed with your ability to stay focused and to live in the moment. You don't seem to be looking too far ahead and instead, you seem to be concentrating solely on what you need to get done in Montreal. You seem to have taken to the city of Montreal and you seem to like it up there. Gabe Knapton: I'm a big believer in staying positive and wherever I'm at I'm going to be as positive as possible. Now don't get me wrong, Montreal is a huge leap from what I'm used to and from what I do in the off season. When I'm home in the off season I'm hunting and fishing, I'm an outdoors guy and that's one of the big reasons I chose to go to the Univeristy of Wyoming because it offered all of that. But now I'm up here and I just need to tell myself to be positive because I'm not a big city guy and I don't really like the big cities but I'm very blessed to be able to play football and have that as my job. I've embraced the city of Montreal and I enjoy what I do. I've got a family now and they move up here with me during the season and it's a huge change for everybody. The fans have been great and the organization has been very supportive". Pokes Radio: You mentioned your family, can you tell us a little bit about them? Gabe and Tina Knapton

5 Gabe Knapton: "My wife and I (Tina) have a very recent addition to our family, she's only a month old, and her name is Lilly Lynn Knapton". Pokes Radio: How often do you stay in touch with the Pokes family? Gabe Knapton: "I follow the Pokes pretty often. My parents still live in Laramie and although I live in Colorado I do get up to Laramie quite a bit during the year. I love Laramie and I just love the whole Wyoming feeling. I've worked out at the athletics facility, I've met the new strength and conditioning coach (Russell Dennison). I try to get some Wyoming gear to represent Wyoming up here in Montreal I'm pretty involved and every time I get home if I'm on a bye week I try and get to a game. I've been to about 5 6 games since I stopped playing at Wyoming, so I like to be around there because I really enjoy the whole atmosphere". Pokes Radio: Have you spoken with Brett Smith any time lately? Gabe Knapton: "I spoke with Brett after he was released by Saskatchewan and I told him not to worry because somebody is gonna get a hold of you quick because you're a good player, and I was right Ottawa jumped right on him". Gabe Knapton, cherishing The Bronze Boot Pokes Radio: From a team standpoint your years at Wyoming were kind of up and down. The Christensen years were inconsistent the one thing that has eluded Wyoming for years now has been in the way of sustaining success. The Pokes have not achieved back to back winning seasons going on 16 years now. When you speak on the Christensen regime, what was it, if anything, that prevented the Cowboys from achieving consistent success on the football field?

6 Dave Christensen Gabe Knapton: "I don't really know. I think there are a lot of things that come into play. It's hard to say why they haven't been able to sustain success, but I can tell you why there have been years of success when we had them. I think it's when I played, a group of guys that were overlooked played in Laramie, a lot of guys out of Colorado where I was recruited from we also had some tough Wyoming kids for a few years. Recruiting in Colorado is a huge goldmine for Wyoming. A lot of the kids that I played with during some winning years were from Colorado, we were all a close group that cared for one another. A lot of it is buying into what's happening. I personally was a huge fan of Joe Glenn and for him to leave was tough for me and it was tough for a bunch of other guys I played with. But it's really a tough thing to explain why there has not been more success on the field through the years". Pokes Radio: I always thought that Joe Glenn should have gotten at least one more year, so I was as disappointed as you were when he left. Then when you throw in the fact that when Christensen came in it was a radical departure in scheme as well as in philosophy from what Joe Glenn had installed when he was in Laramie. Gabe Knapton: "It was a huge shift. Christensen was a great coach, but like I said, I was recruited by Joe Glenn. Joe was a great aspect for that football team and even for the whole Wyoming community because he fit in so well. I'm on the same page as you because I think if Joe had remained he would have turned it back around and we would have found success again under his watch. But when the coaching change was made, as a player, you can't let it affect your career, so the only choice you have if you want to do well is to buy back in". Pokes Radio: When they brought Bohl in I thought it was a real coup because of his pedigree and because I felt that Bohl was kind of cut from that same Joe Glenn cloth. What I like about Bohl is his reluctance to shortcut the rebuild he's overseeing. He wants to stack one good recruiting class on top of the other and build the program organically for the sustained success we've been talking about. Bohl talks about a 'Wyoming profile' and I feel he fits that profile exactly himself. He's recruiting a much different athlete than the ones Christensen was bringing in and I feel that although this is a rebuild that will obviously take some time, in the end, I see this as a very good situation when all is said and done.

7 Gabe Knapton: "I agree with you totally. He's pullin kids out of states like Colorado and Wyoming, kids out of Kansas and Nebraska, the Dakota's, Montana, the states around Wyoming. Those kinds of kids were his main focus when he was in North Dakota. I think he fits in really well with Wyoming and I'll also agree with you that he is cut from the same kind of cloth that Joe Glenn is. I think Craig Bohl will be a great coach at Wyoming but he needs time to see the plan through. What he was left with when he took over was a completely different kind of player than what he's been recruiting since he took over. Once he gets the kinds of guys he needs to fit his program there gonna do just fine and it's gonna be a good football team. I'm taking nothing away from the guys that I played with and the guys that Christensen brought in because they were great athletes. But when Coach Bohl gets the kinds of guys that fit his scheme they're gonna be just fine and it's gonna be a good football team and something pretty to watch I'm really looking forward to seeing this when it happens". Pokes Radio: As you think about the University of Wyoming football program and now have some time and distance away for a few years now, is it fools gold for anyone to believe that some coach, be it Craig Bohl, or someone after him some day, that Wyoming can become a winning program over a number of years. A team that regularly and consistently competes for conference championships in the Mountain West. Is this realistic thinking, or are there limitations to what someone should be able to expect from Wyoming football? Gabe Knapton: "It's more than possible to win at Wyoming for a number of years. What it's going to take is creating a culture of winning, an expectation of winning. You start to win a few games, you get used to winning, then you have a winning season, then it begins to snowball and the mood and the atmosphere changes in the other direction. It's got to be a process. They just need to get over that hump and when they do just keep rolling. I believe that it is possible for Wyoming and I don't believe they are handicapped in any way to run the Mountain West. It's very possible, it's just going to take some time and I believe it's going to happen. I think Bohl has it going in the right direction he just needs the time to establish it".

8 Pokes Radio: Your name continues to be talked about by fans around here and on message boards, we all follow your progress and take note of your accomplishments since you left Laramie. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you to say something to the Wyoming faithful who still care about you and were appreciative of everything you brought to the program during your playing days. Gabe Knapton: "I'll say one thing and this is an older one going back to the days of Joe Glenn Powder River Let Er' Buck, and Go Pokes!"