How have you been spending your offseason?
I have been spending my offseason with my kids. Being able to take them to school, pick them up from school. Engage with them in their daily activities, homework and what not. The things that I don't really have the opportunity to do during the season. And then just resting. But I am a big-time family guy, so I spend a lot of time with my kids and my wife.
With your strong family values, what do you feel is the most important aspect of maintaining a strong family unit?
I think the most important aspect is relationship and communication. In being engaging when you are around one another. I literally tell my wife this all the time, that when I am spending time with my children, that I want them to know that they have my undivided attention. That I am completely engaged in whatever it is that we are doing because I feel that I will get the most out of them and they will get the most out of me.
So it is really the quality of time and not so much the quantity. I like to have both, but the quality is definitely the most important part when raising children. Being a part and involved in what they are doing.
As a young boy in the African-American community, who did you look up to as a mentor figure?
This is a bit of a cliché, but my father, quite honesty. My father has always been a great, impactful person in my life. He is not only my father, but he is my mentor.
He is the example that I have had my entire life on how to do things. How to be persistent and how to progress in life. As a pastor, he has always been a leader. A nurturer. A great husband. Just a great example. I have never, to this day, and I am 31 and counting, I have never heard him argue or raise his voice at my mother. I never heard her argue or raise her voice at my father. I think it would be safe to say that my other three siblings have literally never ever heard that. [That] is a feat in itself.
Just the example that they provided for us, it was real. And just the coaches that I developed relationships with. They help guide you and navigate you, so I would say some of the coaches that I have had that took the time out to get to know me and really understand who I am, and nurture the talent that I possess. It helped me to blossom and become a manifestation.
When did you become fan of golf, and as a player enjoy the game?
It really started late. I want to say my rookie year. I played golf prior to that, but it wasn't something I really got into. But I started taking it up more when I got into the NFL with a lot of down time.
It became one of those pastimes that I was able to network and spend a lot of times with guys, get to know them better, and even work on my own game. Then the kids came, and golf kind of subsided and got put on the shelf for a while. But I love playing.
I love being outdoors. It is one of those games that is very competitive and it is almost like an inner competition because you don't even have to compete with anyone else. You are competing against yourself. Like the last time you were out, or the last ball you just hit, or the last putt. Different things like that.
It is a challenging game. I don't care how good you are, you can always get better. It is a game that will frustrate you, but it will elevate you if you allow it to mentally.
When you do get back to playing more golf, if you wanted to improve your game, what do you think it takes, compared to football, to become say, a single-digit handicapper or a much better golfer?
Consistency. Just playing more. And that comes with everything. The more experience you have, the more time and commitment you can put into something, the better you are going to be.
It got to the point that I was never a great golfer. I was always in the low 90s [or] high 80s. It just getting out there and forcing yourself to have those bad rounds when you have them, because the good ones are going to come. Every day is not going to be great.
I love it because it develops you mentally. If you allow it to get to you, you will become mentally weak. You really can. It allows you to become mentally strong if you allow the frustration to kind of subside, and you can allow the mistake and take the failure, to not get frustrated.
That is what it does for me, that is why I enjoy it. I think that's what it takes to get better, just playing more and being positive because negative things are going to happen. It does not matter how great you are at something, you are never going to be great every single day. So you are going to have to be able to overcome and be able to show that resolve in anything and everything you are involved in.
In your opinion, how does golf, as a sport, make itself more accessible to African-Americans?
It really opens up a lot of networking opportunities. Creating relationships. Because there is a lot of non-African-Americans that play golf and it's not something that you have to be a tremendous athlete, not that they are not athletes, because they are.
Golfers are definitely athletic, but it's something that you have to spend time and nurture. It becomes accessible to African-Americans because anytime there is competition, every athlete loves competition.
This a game that has been put on for a long time and dominated by non-African-Americans and to see Tiger and the Vijay Singhs, different guys come on strong and be able to play at such high levels, it gives us a confidence that you know what, we can play this game too.
You were with the Green Bay Packers for seven years, a dynamic team and town. What are your greatest memories during your time with the Packers?
The fan base. The relationships. And just the people in general. They really embrace the guys within that organization and each other. It is a "this is all we have" mentality. We are not going to play tug-of-war with anyone. We are all going to embrace it, love it and nurture it. It is one of those things that runs through the entire city and the entire town.
You were fortunate to catch for Brett Favre in your career, did he ever coach you along, or were there any keys to being a good receiver for him?
Honestly, it was more of a standpoint initially, for me to make sure that I did what I needed to do so that he could develop trust in me. Because I knew I wasn't going to have a problem trusting him, but I know as a young guy coming in and him having to depend on me, that he was going to have to develop that trust.
That was one of the first things that I really worked on. After the first few preseason games, we started to get together one-on-one, watching film and I became kind of a student of what it was he was seeing on the field and how he would view things from his vantage point. And then I would convey how I would see things from my vantage point.
As a young player, it did a remarkable number on my career and just my mindset on how to mentally prepare for a game and an opponent. And the seriousness that is behind it. And even more than that, how much more of the game is mental than it is physical. We all know that it is a physical game, but to all be in sync with one another is so important because you kind of move as the guy next to you moves.
In dealing with all of the off-field issues with the Minnesota Vikings, what are you looking forward to when getting back on the field in 2015?
I am excited about what we have here. Within this locker room and within this organization. I think the culture is changing. I think with the previous issues, off-the-field issues, every team has them, but for whatever reason we have had more issues here in the past 10 years or so than other teams, but the culture is changing top to bottom.
Bringing in guys like myself. Guys with high character. Young guys like Teddy Bridgewater, Anthony Barr. Guys with high character both on and off the field. I think that weighs very, very, very heavily on the success of a team because off the field carries over to on the field.
And if you are having distractions off the field, you are going to be distracted on the field and I think that with the young guys that we have coming in and some of the leadership guys that we have here now from a veteran standpoint, the culture from an environment standpoint is enhancing and changing for the better.
In the current year of 2015, how do you think it is different today for young African-Americans growing up than 20 or 30 years ago?
It's much different. Just the opportunities. Even with what we see out in the forefront on television, in politics, the presidency in itself with Barack Obama, it allows African-American males to really have a goal and know that they can pursue it.
I have always been one to encourage young kids and young teenagers to pursue their goals no matter who tells you that you can't accomplish it. It's up to you to accomplish it or not. No one can say you can't do it.
The times of someone not allowing you to access things, they are not as frequent. There is a lot more that we are afforded to do. There is a lot more opportunity. All aspects of life, across the board, it's been very well integrated by African-Americans. They have paved the way to allow it to become even more accessible to pursue the dream that we have, and the aspirations that we have as young black men.
Tiger Woods is currently taking a break from tournament golf and honing his skills. When you go through struggling times in football, how do you get yourself back up to form?
Me personally, I know it starts with my moral beliefs. The foundation. And the foundation of Greg is my faith. My faith is strong and when I am not deviating from that, everything falls into place. It is literally faith, family and my career.
I refuse to rearrange it. If it happens accidentally or purposefully, you can tell when faith gets put to the back burner because everything else starts to feel a little joggled. You can't juggle things as fluidly. That's what it is for me. That is what keeps me grounded. And that is what keeps me in the posture of success and being able to accept the obstacles and the failures. But at the same time, to see the success, even in that.
As a high-performance athlete, what are your life keys to maintaining good health and strength?
For me it is all about self-motivation. Even when no one is watching, when no one cares, you have to care. You have to be willing to do your best, when your best is not even expected. You have to have an inner will to want to be successful daily. That's what makes the greats, great. That is what separates the good from the great.
Being true to yourself is really the key. Who are you and knowing who you are and not trying to become someone who you are not. Those who become true successes are those who really know who they are and pursue that and really everything they do, they don't deviate from who they are.
That can be hard to teach, for someone say, in their 20s. How would you help somebody to learn that?
Everyone has it. It's just everyone doesn't accept it. I really believe that we all were made with purpose. We all were made with a gift. And it's up to us to identify and accept who we are and the gifts that we have and what we bring to the table.
Because what I am good at, you may not be good at. But I have to accept the fact that I am not good at that. That is you, and what your gift is. I have to understand that I can't try to play every role. So as a youngster, and from a coaching standpoint, you give people what they need. Someone may need more nurturing, someone may need more pushing, or a lot more encouragement.
As a coach, or as a mentor, or as a boss, that is how you get the best out of your employees or athletes; is to be able to give them what they need. And what they need, they already possess. It's to bring that out.