Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu was selected with the No. 11-overall pick by the Jets to firm up the O-line. The new addition blocked out some time for a Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Did you watch opening night last year when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon?
A: I didn’t watch it live, but I saw clips of it.
Q: What did you think when you watched it?
A: I was just like, “Dang.” … I feel like as a football player in general, working your tail off all offseason, OTAs and training camp, and to go out there like early in the game and for yourself to sustain an injury like that after working your tail off all summer, I mean, you just gotta feel for the guy.
Q: You haven’t spoke to him have you?
A: He actually did reach out to me [by text Thursday] night.
Q: What was his message?
A: Just super-excited to see me, and just can’t wait to get to work.
Q: What would you tell him about having his back?
A: I’d tell him not only myself, but this entire room, we know the player you are, we know how important it is to keep you up, and we’re gonna do everything in our power to make sure that we keep you up.
Q: What are your emotions after you allow a sack?
A: I’ve only allowed one sack in my college career (smile). At that time, it was also pretty chaotic, so I didn’t really have time to think about it, but watching film on it, it was definitely a lot of frustration and anger with myself that I couldn’t have done better that play. Any bad play I’ve ever had, I’ve taken it as nothing more than a learning experience and something to grow from.
Q: Who got the sack against you?
A: If I had to guess, they probably credited it to No. 44 [J.T. Tuimoloau] from Ohio State. There was a play where he was able to get to me and get to the quarterback.
Q: Give me an example of your competitiveness.
A: Against Michigan, we ran a play to my side where I was the strong side, and it was a counter play, it was a guard and tight end counter play, and I was at the point of attack, and I was by myself on a down-block with a player from Michigan [Mason Graham] who was their best player on defense. … Going into the game he was definitely their most disruptive player, most productive player. I was one-on-one with him, and kind of just felt like a mano-a-mano moment. So when the ball was snapped, I was able to get off the ball quicker than him, get under him, drive him out, and I was able to dump him on the ground and pancake him. If I see someone in front of me, my mentality is to just dominate them.
Q: What is that feeling like when you’re able to impose your will on another man?
A: It’s definitely like a rush of adrenaline. It’s the Joe Moore quote: “There’s no greater feeling than moving a man from Point A to Point B against his will.” That’s all what offensive line play is about, just like you said, imposing your will on another man against their will, so to get opportunities like that, that’s why I love the game of football.
Q: Why is Giants tackle Andrew Thomas such a big favorite of yours?
A: I love the way he plays. He’s very explosive, gets off the ball really quick. But most importantly, I think why I like watching his film so much just because his story as an offensive lineman and an incoming rookie is like very motivational. Andrew Thomas, one of the best tackles in the game right now, but coming into the league, he didn’t have the best rookie year, and he faced a lot of criticism from that, and I just find it really impressive how he was able to channel all that criticism in focusing on his game and developing. Now he’s learned from it, and now he’s one of the best players in the league. As an offensive lineman, it’s definitely motivational to see that.
Q: Might you reach out to him about to how handle the New York market?
A: It’d probably be a good resource to, so yeah, I could see myself doing that.
Q: Do you know who D’Brickashaw Ferguson is?
A: Yes sir.
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Q: How do you know who that is?
A: He’s in the Jets’ Ring of Honor (chuckle).
Q: You remind me of him a little bit.
A: I appreciate it. That’s definitely a compliment (laugh).
Q: Have you ever watched film of him?
A: Very, very little. Honestly, I’ve heard of him growing up, but then I was reminded of him during my top-30 visit, so after my top-30 visits, I was trying to find some clips of him, so I was able to watch a little bit of film.
Q: Who are some offensive tackles who remind you of you?
A: I would say definitely Tyron Smith. First off, just build-wise. Very long and lean, taller, long arms, and just the way he plays, the way he uses his hands in the passing game, and in the run game with his hand placement, I feel like it’s very similar to myself. In terms of just hand placement, also Rashawn Slater on the Chargers, I feel like we have a couple of the same techniques.
Q: What was Caleb Williams like in the huddle at Gonzaga College High in D.C.?
A: During our championship game in my junior year, it was already a crazy game, we were down 20-0 in the first quarter, then we came back. We got the lead in the last minute of the fourth quarter, and we thought we were gonna win. Then in the last 15 seconds, the other team returned a kickoff for a touchdown to take back the lead. We were all devastated, a couple of guys in the huddle were crying. I was just silent, I was like “Dang.” Like we’re gonna lose the game. Then Caleb came in, he’s like, “All right fellas, we got like 10 seconds left, let’s see what we can do.” He can make something of nothing. It was a regular kickoff, probably had the ball at the 25-yard line, he threw an out route to our running back to get us on the minus-40. Then in the last seconds of the game, he threw a Hail Mary and one of our receivers caught the ball as time expired, and we won the championship.
Q: What is the biggest adversity you had to overcome?
A: I’ve been fortunate enough to not have any like real significant injuries, so I’d say adversity-wise, during COVID my grandfather passed away. That was a really rough time just because obviously COVID and all that was happening then. He passed away from COVID, that was a really difficult time in my life. Then also my transition from high school to college, just because you’re transitioning from high school education and high school football to college education and college football. That was a very difficult time in my life just because just whole new world, and I had a lot of dark days, but I was able to overcome it just by doing what I was supposed to do. I confided in my circle, and eventually the days got better.
Q: What were your anxieties about?
A: I think the biggest thing for me is just managing my own expectations. I hold myself to a really high standard, and if I ever do something that isn’t up to that standard, I beat myself up a lot. I’m pretty hard about it, but I’ve gotten a lot better with that.
Q: Tell me about your grandfather.
A: He was a great man — super loving, caring, always made sure that we were good, always call me, see how I was doing, see how my sister is doing. He was just everything you look for in a grandfather. He was the best grandfather I could ask for.
Q: How devastating was that when you found out?
A: It was just really sad. At that point in his life, he was pretty sick for a couple of years already. For me to get that news, it was pretty devastating, but I just tried to be there for my mom, because she took it pretty hard, so I just wanted to be a good son to her at the time.
Q: How proud do you think he is of you right now?
A: Yeah, I’d like to think he is pretty proud, have a grandson who graduated from the School of Business at Penn State from a top supply chain program, and also just became an NFL player overnight. I’d like to think he’s pretty proud.
Q: What criticism has bothered you or you thought was unfair?
A: In all honesty, I don’t like to read articles about myself, good or bad, just because, for me, in football, I heavily value the opinions of the people I work with — coaches, staff and most importantly teammates. I don’t really know what the media has to say about me (chuckle).
Q: People were talking about your hand size.
A: It’s something I can’t really control, I think I just have smaller hands for an offensive lineman. Although people might criticize me for that, I don’t think that’s affected my play at all, just because the way I think about it, just because my hands are smaller doesn’t mean that my target is any smaller. If anything, it might be harder for D-linemen to try to swipe my hands. It’s never been a detriment in my game.
Q: How much do holding penalties tick you off?
A: (Smile) A lot. Thankfully I haven’t had too many. But the ones I’ve gotten I’ve felt that they were a little bit unfair, but it’s kind of just how the game is.
Q: What adjectives would you use to describe yourself off the field?
A: I would say introverted. When I need to talk I’ll talk, but I like to keep my mouth shut. Just chill out. Pretty relaxed. I don’t know you’d use a good listener as an adjective.
Q: What drives you now?
A: I’ve always felt like I was very self-motivated in the past, and I mean for now, what drives me (chuckle) without sounding too corny, I genuinely just love this game, I love football, I love everything about it, love preparing for games, like the entire weekly process of leading up to a game … love the physicality of it. I love. as an offensive lineman. how I’m in the trenches, and for me it’s given me a significant purpose in my life. There’s nothing I love more than playing football, and now it’s put me in a position where I can take care of my loved ones for the rest of their lives.
Q: Five U.S. former presidents were once offensive linemen. Why do you think that is?
A: Well, as an offensive lineman, I feel like there are a lot of characteristics that would be beneficial as a leader. No. 1, you have to be smart, you have to be very aware of everything in your surroundings and you have to be thoughtful and caring, and I feel like naturally as offensive linemen we have all of those qualities, so it really doesn’t surprise me that there have been five presidents in the past who have also been offensive linemen.
Q: If you could go back in NFL history to test your skills against any pass rusher, who would it be?
A: I’d keep it current right now, probably between Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons.
Q: What about Lawrence Taylor?
A: Yeah, I mean definitely Lawrence Taylor too. But I feel like — and obviously no disrespect to Lawrence Taylor — the game has evolved so much where like guys like Micah and Myles Garrett (chuckle), they’re just the product of the evolution of the game to have guys that big, be that fast and strong.
Q: How do you respond to trash talk?
A: In all honesty, I haven’t gotten trash talked to. If I did, I’d probably just walk away, laugh.
Q: What is your pregame routine?
A: It really wasn’t intentional until I caught myself doing it like three weeks in a row, but when I’m putting on my socks, shoes and my knee braces back in college, I always started on the left, I’d always go left first, then do right. Then like when I noticed it, I was like, “OK, I’m gonna just keep on doing it.”
Q: How proud of your Nigerian heritage are you?
A: Extremely proud. Words can’t describe, because I feel like our culture, and the way that I was brought up and the way my sister was brought up, really helped us be as successful as we are right now.
Q: Have you been to Nigeria?
A: No unfortunately not, but I will be going eventually.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: LeBron James … basketball idol growing up watching him dominate, win multiple rings, he’s always been the pinnacle of basketball for me, and growing up I played basketball; “The Rock” [Dwayne Johnson]and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I know that I’d be entertained having dinner with The Rock and Steve Austin (smile).
Q: Favorite movie?
A: I actually just got a new one, “Dune [Part] 2.”
Q: Favorite rapper?
A: Gunna.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Medium rare ribeye with roasted potatoes with garlic butter drizzled all over it all.
Q: Personal goals?
A: In all honesty, I’m not the most tangible person, so I think for me the biggest thing is that I just help this team win. And, I feel like, at the stage this team is in right now, it’s a very like win-now mentality, and I’m gonna do anything in my power to help this team win, help this team win games, help the team make the playoffs, win the division and all that, and I feel that once you achieve the team goals and team accolades, then eventually individual awards and accolades will fall after that.
Q: Career goals?
A: For me, I just want to win a Super Bowl (smile). I feel like for how much work you have to put in as a football player to finally reach the pinnacle and be named a Super Bowl champion, I mean it must be the best feeling in the world, so if I can help this team do that, that’ll definitely be a successful career for me.
