Raiders DT Tonka Hemingway's Award, Strategy, and Summer Training
Raiders DT Tonka Hemingway's Award, Strategy, and Summer Training
Video Transcript
There's a, there's a rumor that you, uh, you won an award for your work in the, in the, uh, waiver.
Um, is that true?
And I guess what did that mean to you to get that, uh, yes sir, that meant a lot, you know, just all your hard work , you know, we don't really do it for the, uh, accolades and everything, but it just, it just means a lot to know that all your hard work.
That showed up.
We've seen you tip a couple passes at the line, um, more than maybe some other guys.
Can you talk about the art of like when you don't get to the quarterback when you're rushing to get your hands up there and when you know that?
Yeah, that, uh, that's just so I learned when I was younger.
It just they say if you can't get to the quarterback, put your hands up, you know, sometimes you get put in bad positions, so.
You just want to be able to affect the game however you can.
You just, uh, took the ball up, get it to go up, catch a pick, and uh, change the whole game.
Your biggest fan was Robbie Leonard even last year, and you heard he got promoted to DC.
How exciting was that like Christmas for Tonka?
Yeah, you know, Robbie, he's a great coach.
You know, he understands the players.
You know, it just meant a lot, you know, because you know he gonna put the players in the right positions to succeed.
Are, are you seeing, are you feeling the work you did on the weight room this summer translating on the field to make you feel stronger?
Uh, yeah, I, I think, I think it is a lot, you know, uh, college, you know, I had a little ups and downs in college.
I wasn't able to like probably to make it through like a whole offseason and everything here and there, uh, but.
This year made through the whole offseason, I feel, feel real better.
What's the biggest shift in your mentality, would you say going from your rookie year trying to adjust the now to where you can perform this way?
Uh, first, uh, I'm not a rookie no more, so I just changed the whole mentality.
Now you can't go out there and really look like a rookie.
