Speaking of classics and being different: You showed up to training camp in July dressed like Nicolas Cage in Con-Air. Is that, in your opinion, the greatest action movie of all time?
That’s a good question. It’s hard to say. I’ve done odes to two of my all-time favorite action movie stars in the last year: Nic Cage and Keanu Reeves. Big fan of John Wick and other Keanu movies—obviously Point Break is another all-time classic. I’m a fan of most things Nic Cage, even his latest movie [The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent] which is ridiculous—him playing him.
I had the idea when somebody said to me—as a compliment, actually—that I looked like Nic Cage with my hair. I said, “Okay, I need to do something with this. Maybe it’s a Halloween costume.” And then it all kind of came together the night before training camp opened.
The interest in [my] training camp [fits] has become a big thing now. I wore these ridiculous glasses and an Office shirt last year, and I thought I needed to up my game a little bit [this year].
Have you ever had any run-ins with either Nic Cage or Keanu?
No. It’s a damn shame. I think Keanu and I would be good friends. Nic, maybe—we’ll see. I’m a big fan of both of them and would love to meet them anytime.
Do you think guys around the league could stand to take their pregame outfits a little less seriously? It feels like you have a good sense of humor about the whole thing.
I do! I’ve had some iconic looks. When we were in Winnipeg a few years ago, I broke out the Canadian Tuxedo. I think there is a lot of comedy in the road trip outfits, however I don’t think that the guys wearing the outfits often believe it’s comedy.
We went to London, and our safety Adrian Amos dressed up like a banana: he had a bright yellow tracksuit, and underneath it, he had what looked like a wetsuit top on. We razzed the hell out of him. He’s big into fashion and has his own suit company, and the big joke is that nobody’s gotten their suit—he’s eight or nine weeks behind on coming through with the orders.
Fashion is a really big thing with the guys. There’s been a loosening of the dress code, which I think is great. When I first got into the league it was a lot of suits—that was the requirement [for the Packers], everybody had to wear a suit. But [former Green Bay coach] Mike [McCarthy] eased up, and [current coach] Matt [LaFleur] has really eased up. Now, the rule is basically “don’t look like a complete idiot” and “don’t wear any open toe shoes.” Other than that, just about anything goes.
I think it’s fun to see the different [looks]—some of the big guys who just wear stuff they’re not going to sweat all the way through, and some of the flashy guys who really try to bring it each week. I like the guys who try to make it look like they’re not wearing a fanny pack by throwing it over their shoulder. There’s a lot of razzing going on—if you wear a bad outfit to the plane, you’re going to hear about it for the first 10 minutes of the flight, for sure.
