1. What were your favorite foods growing up?
Since I'm from Atlanta a lot of my favorite foods were the southern delicacies: dishes like macaroni and cheese, peach cobbler and fried pork chops. For some reason I also liked a lot of stuff that kids normally don't like, such as liver and onions.

2. Where and when did your love for food begin?
My love for food began in college when a good friend introduced me to sushi. At this time sushi wasn't as popular as it is now, so I was definitely stepping outside the box. From that point on my love for food took off, and I just kept trying different dishes and types of cuisine.

3. If you didn't become a professional football player, what would you be?
If I didn't play football I think I might have tried to get into the medical field because my mother is a nurse, and I love helping people, especially children.

4. Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
My mother and grandmother are both good cooks so I learned a lot from them and remember how to make some of their dishes. I've also learned a lot from traveling and meeting different people who enjoy different types of food. That broadened my scope, and at this point I'll try to make just about anything I think I can pull off.

5. Tell me about your cook book collection?
At this point it's not that extensive just because you can find just about anything by looking online. I do buy a lot of cooking magazines, such as Food & Wine, Gourmet and Savuer. When I have time, I try some of the recipes in those.

6. When you find a good recipe, do you ever alter them yourself?
I do alter the recipes pretty often—one reason is that I'm cooking for myself a lot of times, so I don't want to be cooking amounts that are written for families. Sometimes it's also hard to find certain ingredients, so I might have to do some research online to see what might be similar to a certain ingredient and replace some things.

7. What influences your cooking style?
I try to start with things that I like, such as grilling, spicy food, Asian and Indian food. When I'm cooking I try to find recipes that incorporate one of those aspects and from there I might add little things here and there.

8. What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
It would be really hard to cook without my onion chopper and my garlic crusher because chopping onions by hand kills my eyes, and there is no comparison between fresh and bottled garlic.

9. What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Right now I'm really into smoked paprika because I love bold flavors, and adding it to a dish can really make that dish pop. I also want to get into truffles and be able to cook great dishes with them, too.

10. Tell me about your blog
From time to time I write on yardbarker.com and talk about some recent places that I've eaten and ask people there opinion on places to eat. It's unique because Yardbarker is a sports blog that athletes interact on with fans, so I have fun chatting with people and kind of changing the topics up from time to time.

11. I understand that you are usually able to identify the herbs and spices in your food. What are some of your favorites?
Other than smoked paprika I really like smoked sea salt, coriander, and basil, but I can identify most things.

12. What was your worst cooking disaster?
My worst disaster happened recently when I tried to make a tamarind beef recipe that I found in a magazine. I've had the dish a couple of times at a restaurant in Atlanta and it was great, but my version was totally different from what I had. I think that the tamarind concentrate wasn't the same quality that the restaurant uses and for whatever reason it came out bitter so I had to trash it.

13. What is your least favorite food?
Italian for food type, and I hate okra and coconut.

14. What is your beverage of choice?
Anything with scotch in it.

15. What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
I think it depends on the type of restaurant, but the lesser cuts of meat—such as pork belly—have really been catching my eye a lot. Restaurants are doing a great job of taking parts that were considered less appealing but very flavorful and putting them with different ingredients and making them really stand out.

15. What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
It's hard for me to pinpoint one, but recently I had an outstanding meal at a restaurant called Knife and Fork in New York City, and Holman and Finch in Atlanta is one of my favorites.

16. What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
I'd say just start with a type of food that they enjoy and build from there. I feel like you cant be wrong because a person is cooking for their own taste. There is some trial and error involved but once you find what you do well, go with it.

17. What do you eat when you are home?
To be honest I cook a lot of healthy food for myself, mainly because I've found that I practice or play games better when I have light dishes that don't include heavy cream sauces or things like potatoes. On off days, I'll make whatever and treat myself.