Each week during the season, we’re going through the Eagles’ media guide to find an interesting nugget.
This week, I chatted with rookie corner, nickel and safety Avonte Maddox about what he’s surprisingly good at.
Here’s how that conversation went:
Me: It says you’re surprisingly good at playing the piano. Is that true?
Maddox: Yeah.
Me: So have you been playing for a long time?
AM: I mean, when I was younger. I mean, I’m not, like, highly talented. Like, oh, put me in a theatre right now. But I can play. If I go home, my auntie got a piano at home. So whenever I go home, I just play around.
NFL
Me: Did you take lessons when you were younger?
AM: Yeah, I did when I was younger. I took them for a few years.
Me: When’s the last time you played?
AM: It’s been a while. Since I was in school. I could probably say my sophomore year in college, even though … at a theatre class. Other than that, it’s been since I go home. I play when I’m at home. But I don’t really go home as much.
Me: Where’s home again?
AM: In Detroit, Michigan.
Me: OK, so if you went to Detroit right now and sat in front of a piano, what would come out?
AM: (laughing) I don’t know. That’s a good question. I’d probably play the Mission Impossible theme. I don’t know. Things that I know. I gotta get back used to it. It’s kind of like getting a feel for it so when you get back out there, you get the feel of it. So if I get home, I’ll probably get the feel of it.
Me: It’s a cool talent to have, being able to play an instrument.
AM: Yeah, it definitely is. It’s very challenging, but once you get it, it gets easier.
Me: Do you have long fingers?
AM: (holding his hands up) Nah, that’s the thing. I’m at a little disadvantage, so I gotta move around a lot. Stretching and stuff. When I’m doing it, my fingers be hurting.
Me: I gotcha. Anyone else in the building you ever talk to about music or playing an instrument?
AM: Nah. Other than the *Freestyle Friday. That’s the only music around here.
Me: See, what if you bring a keyboard on Friday …
AM: (laughing) Nah… They like their beats off the …
Me: (laughing) I think you could slow it down …
AM: Slow it down so they can get it?
Me: Exactly. Thanks, man.
AM: All right, man.
*On Fridays, members of the team sometimes play instrumental music on the stereo system and freestyle rap in a cipher.
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