UConn won the NCAA tourney in April and Denver won the NBA Finals in June but there is still 1 more basketball champion to be crowned this summer. The Basketball Tournament (aka the TBT) kicks off on July 19th with 8 regions of 8 teams playing in Dayton/Louisville/Lubbock/Syracuse/West Virginia/Wichita 1/Wichita 2/Xavier. Each region will send 1 team to the quarterfinals, with the championship game taking place during the 1st week of August, and the winning team walking away with $1 million in prize money. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the weeks ahead interviewing as many TBT participants as possible. We commence our coverage with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who will be playing for Team DRC after playing in a pair of Super Bowls.
You went to college at Tennessee State where you were named 1st-team All-OVC in football for 3 straight years: what made you choose the Tigers? I did not have a lot of scholarship offers and my uncle was a coach there. I told him that I would take advantage of the opportunity…and I did.
After drawing relatively little draft interest due to the lack of great competition you ran a 4.29 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine (which remains 1 of the fastest times in NFL history): how did those 4.29 seconds change your life (if at all)? It actually started at the Senior Bowl. The biggest knock on me had been the lack of competition I played against but I was locking everybody down during Senior Bowl practice and I was named defensive MVP of the game. I knew that the combine would be my playground because I was a track guy so I knew that I had a chance to make it.
In the 2008 NFL Draft you were selected 16th overall by Arizona: did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NFL, or other? It was a lifelong dream of hard work. I went to 4-5 high schools and then a small college so to put that work in and see everything unfold the way it did was unreal.
In Super Bowl XLIII you had 5 tackles/2 passes defended in a 4-PT loss to Pittsburgh: where does Santonio Holmes’ 6-yard game-winning TD catch with 35 seconds left rank among the most devastating plays of your career? I thought that we had the game in the bag. I could not be mad at Santonio because it was an amazing catch/throw…but it still hurts when they replay it on the NFL Network.
A lot of great players never make it to a single Super Bowl but you made it back there 5 years later as a player for Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII: most people watch it every year on TV but what is the experience like to actually be there on the biggest stage in sports? It is electrifying! There is a playoff atmosphere and the crowd is into it and everyone is watching. Everything you do is magnified on the big big big stage.
You made a pair of Pro Bowls and were named 2nd-team All-Pro in 2016: what is the key to being a great cornerback? Consistency. You cannot fall off, even after having a season of 10 picks. I could run down the ball while it was in the air because I knew myself.
You intercepted some of the greatest QBs in NFL history including Drew Brees/Aaron Rodgers/Matthew Stafford: is there any particular interception that ranks #1 on your list? Aaron Rodgers is the kind of guy that throws his guy open: the ball is already in the air when the receiver makes a cut so he is a hard guy to pick off. My favorite interception was against the Giants. I had a cast on my hand but I still picked off Eli Manning and it changed the game.
Your cousins Antonio Cromartie/Marcus Cromartie both played in the NFL and your cousin Isaiah Rodgers still plays for the Colts: who is the best athlete in the family? It ain’t even close! We are so competitive: I raced Isaiah the other day and he finally beat me after a LONG time. In my prime I was faster than all of them…AND played better basketball.
The TBT team you sponsor (Team DRC) is coached by your father Stanley: what makes him such a good coach? He is a Hall of Fame coach down in Florida and could shoot the lights out of the ball when he was a player. He knows his X’s and O’s and truly loves the game, which is what he instilled in me. Some guys just play because they are athletic but I wanted to go out there and have fun.
Your team also has several notable players including Michael Forrest (who made the Final 4 last spring with FAU), Ronald Moore (who led D-1 in AST at Siena in 2010), and Billy Preston (who was a McDonald’s All-American in 2017): how is the team looking so far, and how do your football skills transfer to the basketball court? We are looking pretty solid. I saw a few of the guys in a tourney down here in Tampa: they are jelling well. I am a defensive guru and understand the game. I play hard and hustle just like Dennis Rodman.