Welcome to my world: Defensive tackle Cory Bennett
Published: November 18, 2006
Oklahoma sophomore Cory Bennett is open about discussing his sources of motivation. Early in the season, he said he clipped stories from newspapers that criticized the Sooners' defensive tackles and hung them in his locker.
Advertisement
And he often enlarges photos of the blockers he'll be facing on Saturday, getting a good look at them before he sees them in real life.
It's a motivational technique that goes back to his days at Roosevelt High School in San Antonio.
My high school coach started it. We had a rivalry game, and they had one guy who was supposed to be the best on their team. He had my same number and everything. He would bump off at the mouth to the media about me. To get me motivated, my coach would put that guy's picture on the scout team guy's helmet. One day, I went to class and I seen inside my book there was a picture of him. Then I got to my locker and there was a picture of him. That was my junior year, and I've been doing it ever since.
Whenever there's somebody I really want to get at, I put their picture in my locker or have it somewhere on me, a notebook or something like that. It's something I've been doing for a while. I really didn't tell anybody about that until this year.
It's not an every-week thing. Sometimes there's guys that I remember playing against last year and I look forward to seeing them again. It's just a mental picture to get me going during the week.
Other motivation is just to go out there and play my best for people back home. Everything it took to get here, that's motivation.
By Scott Wright
Fourth of July Page
Share your July 4th photos with NewsOK and view other stories and videos.
More Info
Oklahoma defensive tackle Cory Bennett signs his autograph for 12-year-old Braxton Stoneking during an event sponsored by the Heupel Foundation, which distributed food to families at the Switzer Center in Norman. BY PAUL HELLSTERN, The Oklahoman
Related to this story
Articles
Getting OU into BCS takes some calculating Oklahoma... 11/18/2006 WACO, Texas ? All week, you've pondered the burning question: Will Joey Halzle play? You didn't? Me, neither. And we're not alone. It's sure been hard to...
Prev
