Chad Greenway gives advice to Draft hopefuls

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway took a few minutes and sat down with vikings.com for a chat to catch up on what's going with his offseason, plans for next season and advice for NFL draft hopefuls. I love Greenway since he is a lovable local Midwestern boy. I thought I would post some of the Q&A’s on my blog:

Where have you spent most of the offseason?
I've been here, in Eden Prairie, at the house and working out. I've been in the facility daily, working out four days a week. I'm just trying to get the knee stronger. My wife, Jenny, and I spent two weeks in Hawaii for our Honeymoon, so that was a great time. It was nice to get away for a little bit. But this is where I know I need to be right now, getting ready for next season. Then maybe next offseason we can take a longer break.

You got married two months after being drafted. Describe that period of your life.
It was exciting. We were actually apart for most of that time because I was up here at minicamps and she was down in Iowa City working. So it was hard at first, but we were just excited to have an opportunity here to be drafted and being close to both families. Her family is from Chicago and I'm from South Dakota, so we're right in the middle. Plus, we're part of a great community up here. It was exciting and now we're expecting our first child in August, so the excitement keeps going and going.

As a player on injured reserve, what was your football routine last year?
During the season, obviously Sunday is a game day. But I would rehab four days a week. Monday would be a rehab day for me and then Tuesday would be a day off. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would all be the same - I would come in and lift, rehab, get stronger and keep going all the way through.

What were some other activities you could do last season that were afforded to you because of the injury?
I did the radio show with PA and Dubay on KFAN, which was great because that's what I eventually want to do once I am finished with a long career. That was great experience for me to do that weekly. Other than that, I tried to stay involved with what's going on at the facility, with defensive play-calling and defensive schemes. I tried to learn how NFL defenses operate week-to-week and how they adjust.

Are you anxious for minicamp and the offseason program to begin?
I'm very excited. I've never looked forward to football as much in my life as I have these past six months. The minicamps are going to be a great experience for me because we are going to be putting some different defenses in. Some of it will be the same but there will also be some differences. It will be a great chance to go out there and learn and a great chance to go out there and learn that my knee is strong and stable. I'm just so excited to play football. It's been a long six months for me, a hard six months. I know I'll be ready.

As the draft approaches, what's going through the mind of a typical NFL prospect right now?
It's a very nerve-racking experience. You may have done well at the Combine, you may have done well at your pro day, so these guys are nervous. There are expectations of where they might be drafted, they've heard that they could be a third-round pick, or whatever, but they don't really know what to expect. They might have another pro day coming up, so the thinking is to keep the foot on the gas pedal and keep working hard because they still have more opportunities to improve in the next couple weeks to increase their draft status. Then it goes into the interview process, which means you just want to put your best step forward. You want to look nice and present yourself well and show the team what you have to offer them as far as work ethic and things that they can't control. They want to know that you won't get in trouble and that you'll maintain a clean slate.

What would be a piece of advice to one of them?
My advice would be to stay out of trouble, first and foremost, because that's the thing that is going to kill you. Stay out of the bars, stay away from situations that are going to get you in trouble. Just keep working hard and stay in shape because you're going to have pro days but then you'll get a month or so off before minicamps. So you really need to work on your shape and condition so you can enter minicamps in a position to compete and earn a spot.

Drafted Vikings players will receive this hat when they are drafted in 2007. Fans can buy the hat as well for around $25. Personally, Vikings Vixen, likes the hat. The Norseman logo is on the front, Reebok symbol on the side and NFL Equipment Tag on the back. It is a micro mesh hat similar to the one that sold out so quickly last year so you better buy them fast or get ready to bid on ebay for them!