We first talked with Philadelphia Eagles Left Guard, Evan Mathis during his bye week earlier this season and learned that he is not just about playing football. The Alabama native owns a training facility in Arizona (ZoneAP.com) and has an extremely entertaining twitter page (@EvanMathis69) to just name some of his many outside of football accomplishments. His team has struggled but Mathis has enjoyed the best year of his career. A feat he attributes to his coaching staff, the players around him, and his conditioning.

Mathis joined the Eagles in early stages of training camp and won the competition for a starting spot on the squad. He was vital in establishing Lesean McCoy as the top running back in NFC in 2011 and has quietly impressed analysts around the country with his play. With his work ethic and drive, he has taken his career from steady back-up on losing teams to premiere status at his position.

Evan was nice enough, to once again, answer a few of my questions.

Mike Kaye: Looking a back on this season, what was the most positive thing you can take out of your performance?

Evan Mathis: I definitely had the best year of my career.  The techniques and methods that Howard Mudd taught me have made the game so much easier to play.  I look at this as a starting point and will build on it from here.  I’ve always worked to improve each day and will continue to do that going forward.

MK: You are the Left Guard for the top rusher in the NFC. While Lesean McCoy has unquestionable talent, what do you think you and your fellow lineman have done to put Shady in a position to use those skills to best of this ability?

EM: As an offensive line, we have played really well as one unit and not five individuals. We work well together to keep the defenders away from Shady. Working together requires commitment during the work week on the practice field and in the meeting rooms.  Everybody in the offensive line room bought in to what we were trying to accomplish and I love the way we all came together.

MK: The season has ended in disappointment, but what do you take from the success the team has had towards the end of the season? How can you build on that?

EM: It would great to parlay the energy, effort, intensity, and great play that’s going on now into next season.  We’ve all learned a lot from 2011 and will turn those lessons into a great 2012.

MK: The Eagles’ offensive line has been almost criminally underrated this season, why do you think that is?

EM: When you don’t have a winning record there’s not much reason to give anybody praise.  I know we far exceeded what most people expected out of us.  Now take how well you think we played and expect more out of us because we only plan on improving.

“When it comes to making the Pro Bowl as an offensive lineman it usually takes generating more than one year of buzz to get in.  Very few people pay attention to the OL during a game. They just vote for the names they’ve heard or whoever signed a big contract recently.  I’ll get in eventually, I’m too relentless not to.” – Mathis (69)

MK: In many Philly fans and reporters minds you were snubbed from the Pro Bowl this season. Do you think that has more to do with name recognition or the just the team’s season?

EM: Maybe a combination of both.  When it comes to making the Pro Bowl as an offensive lineman it usually takes generating more than one year of buzz to get in.  Very few people pay attention to the OL during a game. They just vote for the names they’ve heard or whoever signed a big contract recently.  I’ll get in eventually, I’m too relentless not to.

MK: What game sticks out to you most this season?

EM: The 49ers game.  We had a decent lead at halftime against a very solid team but came out and played a terrible 2nd half.  Had we finished that game the way we were supposed to, we would have not only had a W against a great team, but been in much better position to get in to the playoffs.

MK: As an Alabama alum, why do you think the program has been able to sustain such consistent success over the last decade?

EM: Alabama is a very tradition-rich school where the players learn to play with grit and pride.  The toughness that Nick Saban instills in the team is what keeps the team’s success consistent.  I didn’t have the opportunity to play for Coach Saban but I truly admire the work he has done for the Crimson Tide.

MK: As a free agent (yet again) how are you preparing for the off-season?

EM: I have a gym in Scottsdale, Arizona called Zone Athletic Performance (www.zoneap.com).  I’m very obsessive about my training and only take a week off each year.  I used the lockout this past year as a chance to get in the best shape of my life.  I think it helped me tremendously during the season. I’ll take a week off and visit a lot of family in Alabama and then I’m right back to training at Zone.  It’s important to me to be the fastest and strongest lineman in the league.

MK: Your twitter account continues to gain steam; do you attribute that to your ability on the field or your word-of-mouth legend on Eagles blogs?

EM: The massive following of the Philadelphia Eagles has definitely helped me gain a lot of steam on Twitter.  I love interacting with friends and fans on there.  I’m usually just joking around or messing with people, I like to have fun with it. I’ve said before that the only thing I take seriously is football.  Just follow me because I’m awesome (sarcasm).

MK: With the league’s quarterbacks putting up massive yardage and a lack of 1,500 yard runners, is the league becoming even more of a passing league or are defenses become easier to read?

EM: That’s a tough question and I haven’t really given it much thought.  Let’s see if it’s still the case in 2012 and we can start analyzing whether it truly is a trend.

Want more Evan? Check out Mike’s first conversation with the Eagles LG Here

Photo: Getty

MIKE KAYE

JS: You are a pretty accessible pro athlete who has gone out his way to answer fan emails and tweets. Most celebrities or athletes tend to be less welcoming. Why do you think it’s important for athletes to really acknowledge fan support first-hand (or in your case online)?

EM: I know what it’s like to be a fan.  I grew up watching football, baseball and basketball.  All the guys out there were larger than life to me: they were my heroes.  I aspired to be just like them and along the way I learned that all athletes are merely fans playing the sport. So when I’m reaching out to the fans it’s just them interacting with another fan.  I truly appreciate the support and I know that everybody else appreciates being acknowledged for being a loyal supporter.

JS: How has Howard Mudd’s scheme benefited your game? I know he chooses to attack defensive lineman before they can get to you. How does that change your mindset as an offense lineman in comparison to other schemes?

EM: Howard’s scheme is absolutely perfect for me.  It calls for aggression and athleticism, the two traits I would choose every time to describe as the strengths of my game.  Other schemes have the OL often going backwards and allowing the defender to make the first move or first contact.  They work but I don’t think they are as effective as the OL attacking the DL.  There are multiple schools of thought in this league, but I love this one.

JS: Most guys grow up wanting the ball in their hands and to be “playmakers.” Other than your big frame and aggressive style of play, what made you choose the offensive line?

EM: Well I would say my big frame and aggressive style of play but you won’t let me.  As a big guy, I was always extremely athletic. Knowing that I was always the most athletic at my position gave me confidence that I could play OL for a long time.

“All the guys out there were larger than life to me: they were my heroes.  I aspired to be just like them and along the way I learned that all athletes are merely fans playing the sport.”
- Evan Mathis

JS: The NFL Lockout was featured as a struggle between players and owners, but I I know you worked on a documentary about the events during the lockout. What exactly were you able to film when you were unable to talk to coaches and owners? Can you talk about the process  behind the making of that documentary?

EM: I thought that documenting the NFL’s first lockout would be a fun and informative process.  It was awesome in the beginning, tracking everything that was happening, gathering interviews, and filming along the way. Then it got really annoying.  The media was flooded with lockout stories and everybody was getting sick of it.  I scrapped the project and I’m glad I did because even answering a question about (the documentary) reminds me of how annoying the whole lockout mess was.

JS: You weren’t able to complete the documentary, but do you ever plan on finishing it? Is a film career as a producer or director possibly in your future? Eagles owner, Jeff Lurie recently won an Oscar for a documentary he produced and was a producer prior to being an owner. Any possibility of collaboration down the road?

EM: I could see myself dabbling in the film industry in the future.  I’m not going to finish the lockout project, for the reasons I stated above.  Maybe one day I can team up with Jeff Lurie on a project but not until after I retire.  When I commit to something I go all in.  I wouldn’t want to spread myself thin since I’m completely all in with football right now.

JS: Adding to your list of current endeavors, you founded Zone Athletic Performance (ZoneAP.com) last year. What made you decide you wanted to open up a training facility? How has owning the facility improved your performance?

EM: Off-season training has always been very important to me.  I usually only take a week off after the season before I am training 6 days a week.  The wealth of knowledge and guidance that the staff at Zone provides me is very beneficial to my career.  Having someone who knows everything about fitness and nutrition take you through a program custom tailored to your strengths and weaknesses is an amazing thing.  I’ve been the strongest player on the team everywhere I’ve been. It’s because I don’t let up in the off-season.

Missed part 1?  Read it here

MIKE KAYE

Starting left guard for the Philadelphia Eagles is his occupation, but Evan Mathis is more than just a football player. The Alabama native has dabbled in filmmaking, owns a training facility in Arizona (ZoneAP.com) and has an extremely entertaining twitter page (@EvanMathis69). And those are just some of his many outside of football endeavors. The self-proclaimed “sit-down comedian” has made a very a strong impression with Eagles fans through his aforementioned social media prowess and is one of very few athletes that openly interacts with his fans.

Mathis was a standout offensive lineman at the University of Alabama, where he played both guard and tackle. He was voted to the All-SEC first team in 2004. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft where he spent three years, before moving on to a stint with the Miami Dolphins. Evan joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008 and played there through the 2010 season, before joining the ‘Dream Team’ Eagles.

Since the early stages of training camp, Mathis has become a reliable force on Philly’s offensive line. He seems to have found a home in the City of Brotherly Love with a coaching staff that has embraced his skills and so far this year he has started every game at left guard with no signs of slowing down. After a rocky 2-4 start the Eagles go into their bye week with renewed optimism after breaking a four game losing streak.  This week Evan was nice enough to take some time out of his busy schedule, to answer a few of my questions. It’s another Juiced Sports exclusive.

Juiced Sports: After a sluggish start to the season, how important is it that you guys headed into the bye with a win?

Evan Mathis: 2-4 is far from great but it’s much better than 1-5, especially with the current standings in our division.  Our team is overflowing with heart and talent and none of us expected to be anything near 2-4 at this point in the season.  Sitting at 1-4 we didn’t hang our heads, we recognized that we had the right men for the job on the team and the coaching staff.  Each week we’ve made some silly mistakes and ended up giving a few games away.  Everybody put the work in to correct those problem areas and we worked on improving daily.  We got the win against the Redskins and head into the bye week knowing that we are far from where we need to be but willing to grind it out to get there.

JS: You’re new to the NFC East but after intense match-ups against the Giants and Redskins and the Cowboys coming up after the bye, what is your opinion of the rivalries so far? How do they compare to a Alabama vs. Auburn or Alabama vs. Florida?

EM: The rivalries of the NFC East do compare to those I experienced in college.  The most important factors in a rivalry’s prominence are history and the passion of the fans.  The Alabama/Auburn rivalry dates back to the 1890s and Eagles/Giants to the 1930s. That’s plenty of time for animosity to build. There’s more than just the win on the line, it’s the division, it’s revenge, it’s blood. The only place I’ve seen fans as passionate as Eagles fans was in Alabama.  The Crimson Tide faithful are truly a force to be reckoned with. That kind of backing is fuel the the fire in a rivalry.

JS: With a quarterback like Mike Vick, who has premier running ability, what do you have to do differently to protect him as oppose to a Mike Kafka or Carson Palmer?

EM: The most prominent change is keeping a close watch on the defender’s eyes after stopping him at the line.  When he starts looking anywhere other than right behind me, I know it’s pretty much time to go.  By go I mean continuing to block and running with the defender as Mike scrambles for yardage. Just as it adds that extra element to the fans watching it, we experience the same thing actually being a part of it.

“It’s obvious that we do have a whole lot of talent.  It’s even more obvious after 6 games that having that much talent guarantees you nothing but a bulls-eye.  We don’t call ourselves the Dream Team. The Dream Team was the 1992 US Men’s Olympic basketball team”- Evan Mathis

JS: From an offensive lineman’s prospective, which defense is harder to protect the quarterback, 3-4 or 4-3?

EM: As different as they are schematically, protecting the QB is the same difficulty against either one.  It really depends on the game-plan the defense brings into the game combined with their talent level.

JS: Last year, LeSean McCoy rushed for a thousand yards and had 77 catches; this year he’s on pace to have 1,500 yards rushing. Obviously he is now a premier back in this league, but what has the offensive line done to maximize his talent?

EM: We know that if we do our job, Shady is going to make things happen.  It’s crucial to finish blocks at every position with a back like him because if he sees a breakdown in his original aiming point or running lane, he can quickly make something happen somewhere else.

JS: Being on a new team is tough: you’ve played for a few. Can you explain what it’s like to be the “new guy” in the locker room? Have you bonded with anyone in particular since you joined the team?

EM: Just like the first day of school or the first day on a new job, there’s a little bit of discomfort being in a new place.  Coming here a few days into camp, I just focused on getting it done on the field and letting my play speak for me.  There are many like-minded guys on the team, especially on the offensive line.  There’s nobody I don’t get along with and that says a lot about this team.

JS: How has the team dealt with the “Dream Team” moniker?

EM: We decided to lose 4 games just so people would stop using the term (laughs).  Not really, but it’s obvious that we do have a whole lot of talent.  It’s even more obvious after 6 games that having that much talent guarantees you nothing but a bulls-eye.  We don’t call ourselves the Dream Team. The Dream Team was the 1992 US Men’s Olympic basketball team.

JS: You’ve said in other interviews that you came to the Eagles because Howie Roseman promised that the best offense linemen would start and that there would be an open competition. You’re obviously a confident guy, but with a Pro Bowl-caliber left guard like Todd Herremans and a first round pick like Danny Watkins at right guard, did you ever imagine that you’d be the starter on opening day? Were there other teams that promised open competition?

EM: The Eagles were the first call I received. When my agent, Drew Rosenhaus, called and told me about the offer I asked if he could have Howie Roseman call me.  I asked Howie if they would let me compete or if they viewed me as a backup.  He assured me the best five would play.  I weighed that and the fact that none of the linemen at that time had any history with Howard Mudd, whose scheme I supposedly would fit well according to my former OL coach in Cincinnati, Paul Alexander.  Those factors would pretty much have sold me anywhere at that point in my career but coming from an organization with as much culture and success as the Eagles, there was no way I was turning it down.

Click here to Read Part 2.