As the Redskins head into their bye week, we caught up with the locker room leader to talk about everything from dealing with his share of adversity last season to the town where everyone knows his name.

You are originally from Auburn, Alabama. What's it like there and what was your childhood like?
My childhood? Hmmm ... there's not really a whole bunch going on in Auburn. Most days just consisted of playing with your friends, running through the woods and playing all different types of games - football, basketball - a little bit of everything. But, not a lot. Growing up loving Auburn football, loving college football.

How early did you start playing football and how many other positions did you play when you were younger? What was your favorite NFL team growing up?
I started playing in the yard when I was younger. I started organized football when I got to the seventh grade, and I started off playing strong safety, fullback, tight end, wide receiver and cornerback in high school. Receiver and corner were my best positions back then.

My favorite NFL team growing up? Probably the Buffalo Bills. I just liked them because they won a lot, they had some really good linebackers and I liked Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and all those guys.

Are you naturally athletic, or did you have to work harder to get to the highest level of competition? What other sports, if any, are you good at?
I'm pretty athletic, but I'm probably more tough than anything. Out-toughing people, that's probably the biggest thing in football.

I played a little basketball. I had to work more at basketball - it didn't come as natural. I used to really like soccer too. In high school I played forward and center in basketball, now I'm probably more of a banger - more of a Ben Wallace-type player. But I could play a little bit in high school.

You attended Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama, which is also where Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Demarcus Ware and New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora went to high school. How is that much talent coming out of one high school?
I don't know. Guys just really enjoy playing football down there in Auburn. It's such a football-oriented town, you just kind of fall in love with it and you've got the university pretty much in your backyard, so you can watch certain players and get an understanding of how I need to play, day in and day out, to get to the next level.

Me and Osi actually took a couple classes together in high school and Demarcus, I played ball with him and his cousins. Yeah, we all know each other.

After high school, you played college ball for Auburn University. What was your overall college experience like and what did you get out of your time there?
It was cool. I played for my best friend's dad, who was my position coach growing up. I got converted to linebacker and that was my first introduction to the linebacker position. It didn't come naturally at first, but by my junior year I started coming into my own and got better. I was a slow developer - developed kind of late and was kind of small coming out of high school.

Photo by Brian Murphy

How big time is the football program there?
It's pretty big time - especially the football program. That's SEC football and people live, eat and breathe SEC football down there. We don't have any pro teams, so either you're Alabama or you're Auburn. It's not like a lot of other states where it's divided up and people love a professional baseball team or professional basketball team. We don't have any of that. You're pretty much either Auburn or Alabama.

You were drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the 28th pick in the second round (59th overall) of the 2000 NFL Draft. Talk to us about what it felt like to get drafted to play in the NFL. Were you happy to be drafted or were you disappointed you weren't picked higher?
You know, I was just happy to be drafted. I figured if I could just get there I could do the rest. Just getting there, especially being drafted on the first day was a pretty big deal. I didn't have any parties or anything, but just getting drafted was a big honor.

How much of a transition is it to go from the college game to the pros? And, what was like playing for a team that was clearly one of the best in the NFL on offense but wasn't nearly as prolific on defense?
For me it was a pretty big transition because I was a defensive end my last year in college and had to become a stand-up linebacker. So a lot of times early on the play would be going one way and I'd be going the other way because I wasn't used to it. It came and I got better, but I'm still learning - even if I've come a long ways.

It was an adjustment, but I learned a lot by going up against a really good offense day in and day out. You learn how to compete against guys that are pretty good at what they do. I think I really benefited by going against those guys day in and day out in practice.

Because of Peyton Manning's contract situation you were made you a free agent in March of 2004 and the Washington Redskins quickly made you an offer. Were you disappointed that the Colts let you go or happy to head to Washington?
I wasn't really disappointed because you have to understand the business side of it. In a perfect world I'm sure they would have kept me. Bill Polian actually wrote me a letter just kind of saying that he hated to let me go and things like that, but I didn't have any hard feelings about it. There were some great guys over there, but I fell in love with D.C. We built this team based on our defense, so everything kind of worked out for me in the end. There's a lot of tradition here, we've got a hard-nosed type of squad and the fans here are great and really love football. It reminds me of Auburn a little bit - we even have our big rivalry with Dallas and that whole Cowboys and Indians type of thing. I fell in love with the Redskins and with D.C.

A lot of people who are critical of the Redskins say they continue to overpay for free agent busts instead of focusing on the draft. Well, you were a free agent, and since Mr. Washington came to Washington, you've made the Pro Bowl in 2004 and anchored a top-ranked defense that carried the entire team to the playoffs in 2005. So not all of the Redskins free agents are busts, right?
It worked pretty well for me. You know, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Some teams like to do it from the draft. Some teams like to go out and get high-quality guys and we've been lucky to bring in some really good guys in here and we've been able to gel really fast. We've been pretty successful as a defense since I got here and I think we'll continue to get better as a defense and as a team.

Photo by Brian Murphy

We think you've been spoiled a little bit - playing for Hall of Fame coach Job Gibbs and for future Hall of Famer Tony Dungy. Some players are only in the league long enough to play for a guy like Steve Spurrier, so how blessed are you to play for two of the best coaches of our generation?
I'm really fortunate because, the thing about great coaches is you learn a lot about football, but you learn a lot about life as well. You know, how to approach everyday life. Coach Dungy is a big Christian guy who has had to fight through some tough adversity and been pretty successful. You just kind of watch a guy like that and try to imitate him and you know you'll be a pretty good man. And Coach Gibbs is the same way - he's a Christian guy who very seldom curses, loves his family and is pretty much successful at everything he touches. Just being around people like that, I think it rubs off on you. Most times, when you hang around great people, they rub off on you.