Each week during the season, we interview a different Rams player to find out about their lives on the field as well as off of it. Team Reporter, Sarina Morales, asks the questions fans want to know, in a fun and conversational interview. This week, Olineman, Austin Corbett, spoke to Sarina about the proper way to pronounce Nevada, his experience with the team so far, and the surprise his dog left him.
1: Thankful
Sarina: What are you thankful for? Happy Thanksgiving!
Austin: I mean, definitely, my wife and my family. Without them, I just wouldn't be who I am, so very thankful for my wife. And it really starts with her and then trickles down to my parents, my brother and sister.
2: The past 30 days
Sarina: You've been here for a little over a month now. What has the emotional rollercoaster been like the past thirty something days?
Austin: Yeah definitely. The first couple of weeks were the craziest. Traveling, coming from the East Coast here, going back to the East Coast for the Atlanta game, staying in Atlanta, going to London, flying all the way back and then having the bye week. It was quite busy. I hadn't been on a regular schedule until that next week. And even then we were going to Pittsburgh. And so it's taken a while to figure out what a normal schedule is like, but we're here now and loving it.
3: Must pack item
Sarina: What was the one unconventional thing that when you got the call to come to the Rams, you were like, "I have to bring this random/odd item."
Austin: I think my suits. That was the go-to. Most teams travel with suits and so I was like, "Okay, this is going to come, for sure." Packed up my suits, got here… and we just use sweats.
Sarina: Pretty casual
Austin: That was nice. When I checked in the hotel though, I opened up my suit bag so I could hang them up and when I opened it, my dog had somehow dropped her ball in the bag and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this sucks!" This just makes me miss her and the five hours on the flight, I was like, "Oh this is sad. I miss my dog."
4: What's up dawg.
Sarina: What kind of dog?
Austin: She's a Goldendoodle. She'll be a year [old] on December 2nd.
Sarina: What's her name?
Austin: Maisey. She's adorable. She's a little fluff ball.
5: Teammates
Sarina: Who is the key teammate that you go to throughout all of this change?
Austin: I mean, [Andrew Whitworth has] just been phenomenal. You can't ask for a better guy and just be able to play next to him now. Just the knowledge that he has and just can't thank him enough. He's done a lot for me and it's been phenomenal.
Sarina: So you're going to his house for Thanksgiving?
Austin: Yep.
6: The Rams are…
Sarina: The Rams are, fill in the blank.
Austin: Oh geez. I'll think on it… (players are running and joking in front of Austin in the locker room) The Rams are currently interesting. (laughs)
Sarina: I guess from afar and coming in, you've just got thrown into this.
Austin: Yeah, exactly. I don't even know. It's hard to put that into just one word. It's been a whirlwind for me personally, but it's been fantastic and just loving it and loving all the people here, the coaches, all different staff and players. It's just been great.
Sarina: You have seamlessly integrated yourself…
Austin: Yeah, I mean, you don't have a choice but to. Like, in the middle of a season you can't just keep feeling things out. You've got to learn now and pick it up or else you're behind.
7: Misconception of football
Sarina: We've talked about this a lot, but the misconception of the job. Maybe as both being an O-lineman and just overall an NFL player.
Austin: I think there's definitely both sides of it… like the business side of it, when I got traded, a lot of friends reached out to me like, "Oh, so how long before you move out here?" They're texting me like a week later, "So when are you going to LA?" I'm like three hours after I got the phone call, I was gone. And they said, "No way. That's crazy." I'm like, "Yeah, I just packed up everything I possibly could." And, well, eventually move our house and sell our house and people just don't always understand that part of it. And offensive linemen, it doesn't matter what level you're at, it's a nasty job and we don't get any credit for anything. That's the way we want it and going to make sure the skinny guys get their dues because they love that stuff. So that's our job to make sure they get it.
8: Nevada or Nevada?
Sarina: Is it "Nev-AD-da" or "Nev-AH-da"
Austin: Nevada. (pronounces "Nev-AD-da") Clear cut, Nevada. Big, big game this week.
Sarina: Big game?
Austin: Big game. Battle for Fremont Cannon. The heaviest, most expensive rivalry trophy in the nation. 545 pound howitzer cannon. It's currently not a good color and so we're going to win it back and paint it blue, the way it's supposed to be. Yeah, the team down South. That's all you need to know.
Sarina: Why is it Nevada?
Austin: Because that's how English works. It's Nevada, not Nevada.
Sarina: I think East Coast people say Nevada. (Nev-AH-da)
Austin: It's because they're wrong. (laughs)
9: Thanksgiving must have
Sarina: What is the Thanksgiving must have?
Austin: My mom's stuffing. I don't know what exactly she does, but I'd never had stuffing like it and it's the best.
Sarina: She puts love in it.
Austin: She puts a lot of stuff in and I don't even know, but it's fantastic. Love it. Miss it. I need to somehow get that recipe from her to my wife so my wife can make it.
Sarina: Moms stuffing. Got to get the Tupperware sent over. Ship it.
Austin: Yeah, it's a lot closer to be shipped now, that's for sure.
10: Shopping
Sarina: Black Friday, yes or no?
Austin: Mm-mm. Negative. I'm not going shopping regardless. I hate shopping. That sucks when I get stuck with my wife and she knows it, but I'll do it for her.
Sarina: Why do you hate shopping?
Austin: I know what I want, so I walk in, I get it. I don't go there and then spend hours aimlessly walking around. I don't understand that at all.
Sarina: So have you never done… "I want the big TV on Black Friday,"?
Austin: First of all, when I was growing up, I didn't have a job, I didn't have any money to go buy anything in the first place. So, that might be where it stems from, but you can find deals nowadays whenever. It's not worth the people and the chaos that people do just to go get whatever is out and they just miss a lot about what the spirit of the holiday season is.
