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EXCLUSIVE: Dallas Cowboys’ DeMarcus Lawrence on effects of NFL drafts, player he’d trust with training son, more
In an exclusive interview with star player DeMarcus Lawrence of the Dallas Cowboys in Japan, the American footballer revealed his advice to young players in the team.
DeMarcus Lawrence is a formidable name in the NFL world. Playing at the defensive end position in his team, he’s a tough opponent to have on the Dallas Cowboys side. He is also an anime fan at heart and I got first-hand experience of his fanboying nature at this year’s 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards held in Tokyo, Japan which sought him as one of the esteemed presenters.
Just a day short of his awaited appearance on the orange carpet, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with the star American footballer in a quiet corner of a busy press room where he came in looking well-rested and ready to get deep into chatting about his favorite characters. Well, that’s exactly what we did as he delved deep into the plans for another one of the Cowboys’ off-seasons.
DeMarcus Lawrence Interview
On anime affinity
Talking about his excitement about being a part of the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2024, DeMarcus Lawrence spoke about it being a nod to his childhood where he was also involving his family on a Japanese adventure. Opening up on his anime favorites, Lawrence listed Dragon Ball Z, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, Hell’s Paradise, and (Mushoku Tensei) Jobless Reincarnation. At the same time, he spoke about not having any preferred animators but instead enjoying the creations of many.
DeMarcus Lawrence on getting back into work mode
Following a foot injury, the star entered a phase that would prove to be a test in his career and simultaneously mark an important moment. Opening up on the challenge, he said, “I feel like it was just destiny. You know, I planned my whole life to play football. And when those scenarios happened in my life, it kind of just made me realize that I'm actually not good enough and I need to work harder.
So, you know, with those injuries and me working harder actually made me to who I am today.”
Revealing his ways to get back up, the footballer said, “With my mindset, I feel that you can't have the good days without the hard days. And the hard days are shaping your life for the good days. So, I tell anybody that's, you know, going through hard days is embrace them.
Embrace the hard days because the hard days is going to help shape you into the person that you need to be.”
DeMarcus Lawrence on joining the Cowboys
DeMarcus spoke about earning the ‘franchise tag’ in 2018 and signing a contract in 2019 as well as how it impacted his performance on the field. "Yes, it impacted me a lot. Especially, being in a family with four kids and the franchise tag means like you're there for one year. So, the team has the rights to you for one year.
Then you can go anywhere else after that. And seeing that tag meant like I'm actually one foot in and I'm one foot out. So the team has me this year, but next year I could potentially be gone.
And it's actually scary to have a family and have to wonder if I'm going to have to get up and leave or whatever the case is. But it actually showed me how I was living my life. So with my family, with my football career, just life in general, I was one foot in, one foot out.
And when I realized that I started to change my ways and be a better man. And the franchise tag did that for me.”
Calling himself a ‘kid at heart’, DeMarcus further dished about giving back to his community, sharing, “I feel like kids become products of their environment. So, whatever environment that they're in or situation, they start to pick up on those cues and adapt them into their lives. So I want every kid to have a beautiful life and also have that type of man in their corner that they can look up to and say ‘he did it right. I want to follow in his footsteps.’”
What do you think makes the Cowboys’ locker room unique or vibrant? And what is your personal thing to go to when you go back to the locker room?
He said, “I think what makes it so vibrant has to be the players. All the different personalities in one locker room and elite warriors at their positions. But their personalities and being able to have a group of guys with different personalities in one place. It could be interesting.”
Finishing off strong after a tough round with the Green Bay Packers, the team wishes to stay strong off-season and return with a comfortable but determined mindset next year. At the same time, dealing with multiple trades including the addition of Trey Lance, Mazi Smith, and Luke Schoonmaker as well as the departure of Ezekiel Elliott, the 31-year-old has gotten himself accustomed to the draft. “Every year, we have an NFL draft. So you're going to have those new guys coming in. And to actually have some decent rookies come in that can play at the level that they're playing at right now is amazing. I'm thankful for the Cowboys and our draft team to make sure we get those type of players in. But I also feel that when you come into the NFL, like, yes, in your mindset, you expect to be the best.
But it usually takes, like, two to three years to actually grasp the concept of it, the speed of the game, and also the fundamentals and the communication that comes along with it.
Talking about departures, he spoke about the ‘cycle of snap’. “The first thing you have to do is get the play. The second thing you have to do is communicate. The third thing you have to do is get down, get set, and be ready, you know, for them to hike the ball.
And then after that, the play starts and it's over. Then you go through the cycle again. That's the same thing with the football world.
It's like every year we go through a cycle of players. And players that's on that third year of their contract, they potentially going to probably go to a new team. That cycle is going to happen every year. I'm going to probably leave out the doors one day, you know, and so on. So I feel like you just get used to it. You hang on the brotherhood that you created over time. And, yeah, you support those guys wherever they go.”
DeMarcus Lawrence on going through changes in team following NFL drafts
On the other hand, young bloods like DeMarvion Overshown and Viliami Fehoko bring a ‘swagger’ according to the senior member. Here’s what his advice to them would be, “I try to tell all the young guys, find somebody that's similar to your game style because you're going to need somebody to help you navigate through these waters.” He further added that the part was played by Tyrone Crawford in his own life.
Being in a club with the second-most Super Bowl wins, DeMarcus Lawrence said, “For us as humans to withstand the pressure of this world, we have to train and put the pressure on ourselves at times. So when it does come, it really doesn't affect us. So I feel like over time and through my training and actually being drafted by the Cowboys, I was put in pressurized situations from the beginning. So I actually learned how to adapt to it and actually move on.”
On days when it gets too much, he turns to breathing exercises and focuses on the task at hand, to be able to ignore the outside noise. Closing off with a shoutout to Von Miller as the player he’d go to for training his own son, we parted ways with words of gratitude and promise to fawn over our favorite anime stars the following day.
ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: DeMarcus Lawrence Reveals What Dallas Cowboys Need in Order to Win Super Bowl 2025
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