Question of the Week is a weekly feature here in which we take a cross-section of opinions from Detroit Lions players and coaches (and sometimes opponents) about a singular topic. Most of the time, they have nothing to do with football. Have a suggestion for a question? Email: michael.rothstein@espn.com.
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- All across the country over the past few weeks, high school seniors have officially turned into college freshmen.
Many of us have been there before, including every person in the Detroit Lions' locker room. So we figured we’d offer some advice from those who have been there before.
This week’s Question of the Week: What advice, having gone through college, do you wish you would have gotten heading into your freshman year? These are the Lions’ answers.
Wide receiver TJ Jones: Pay more attention to time management your first year. My first year I was terrible with it. Absolutely awful. Focused more on just being in college, being a college kid, hanging out, enjoying the social life and not as much on academics as I should have. Definitely knowing how to manage your schoolwork and your social life.
Running back Theo Riddick: Just try to find someone that you can look up to in terms of senior leadership. You got to kind of look for elderly leadership. They know the ropes. They’ve been there before. Anything you can struggle with, they can be a mentor for you and guide you through.
Defensive end Larry Webster: Get your work done early because by the time the end comes around, you won’t be rushing to finish everything. They give you plenty of time to do it. They give you every assignment way in advance. I wouldn’t say it was an issue, but it would have made it a lot easier.
Defensive end George Johnson: Just basically being grounded. If you’re not grounded and you think this is going to last forever, you’re wrong. A lot of people think that when you stop playing football, football is over, but it’s really not. It goes on.
Reporter: What about in life?
Johnson: Same thing. If it doesn’t go your way the first time, know when the opportunity comes again, take full advantage of the opportunity because you never know what can happen.
Wide receiver Ryan Broyles: Going in, there’s a lot going on, you don’t really just stay in the moment. That’s anything in life, any situation. Just stay in the moment. When I was there, the schoolwork, tutors, everything going on and I hated it initially until I really let things slow down. Enjoy the moment, really.
Cornerback Nevin Lawson: Just listen to every advice from somebody that’s successful that already has been through what you’re about to go through. Really listen to the things that they said they wish they had done. That’s one of the main pieces of advice.
Punter Sam Martin: Enjoy it. Really embrace it. Sometimes you want to focus on the NFL or focus on playing so well that you miss the enjoyment of what you’re actually doing. It’s a lot different than what we do now, so enjoy it, embrace it and just acknowledge and step back every now and then and realize what you’re doing. Acknowledge it. In general, but also football, too. I used to be one of them, I can’t wait until college is over, study hall, classes. Now, I look back and it’s like college was awesome.
Tight end Joseph Fauria: Man, that’s really tough. What I would tell them? Enjoy it because it goes by fast and it’s the best time in your life. That’s the last time, the only and last time you get to be treated, right before you’re an adult and you’re responsible but you’re still old enough to do adult stuff. That middle ground and it’s a three-to-five year span you can do that where you’re old enough to do stuff as an adult but you don’t have the responsibility as an adult. So take advantage of it.