Q&A: Former Bruin fullback Cory Harkey discusses spirit in the NFL

A fullback who left UCLA in 2012, Cory Harkey has played his entire NFL career with the St. Louis Rams and is now an unrestricted free agent. Harkey, who’s amassed 27 catches for 215 yards in his four pro seasons, is used primarily as a run blocker and has won the Rams’ Carl Ekern Spirit of the Game Award each of the past two years.

DB: When you were here at UCLA, you got the (Jerry Long) “Heart” Award as a senior, and the last two years you got the Spirit of the Game award with the Rams. What do you bring to the team that has gotten you those types of awards, that makes people respect you in that way?

CH: The thing for me is I just play with a lot of energy. It’s so hard to be in this league for a long time, and what I’ve come to learn is how mental this game is, the approach that you have to take every day.

Really, it’s not easy. There’s days that you’re going to be tired, days where you’re not going to be feeling too well, but you’ve just got to be able to bring it everyday. Realistically, you have to be able to perform every day on the practice field, on the game field because someone is always watching you.

There’s always going to be a player that’s coming into the league at your position that is younger and fresher than you are, so you always have to be on top of your game.

DB: I read that you give pregame speeches. What’s the best speech you’ve ever given, if you could share any of those?

CH: (Laughing) That’s really hard, I honestly can’t even tell you.

I kind of go into a different mode when the game kind of starts. I don’t even know if I would even be able to remember a speech that I’ve given because honestly, everything that I say kind of just comes from whatever I’m feeling at that time or at that moment. It just comes straight from the heart, really.

When I talk, as long as it’s getting through to somebody, I’ve done my job.

FORMER BRUINS: Minnesota Vikings punter Jeff Locke discusses college finances and life in the NFL.

DB: What’s that feeling like when you know you make a good block and you know it’s a good block?

CH: Oh, it’s a great feeling! Even in college, blocking was something that I took very seriously, and it’s obviously something that’s paid huge dividends for me. So I take great, great respect for blockers, especially O-linemen because, you know, those guys don’t get a lot of credit.

When I’m able to go out there and make a really nice block or get a nice block, I get just as pumped about that as catching a pass or catching a touchdown pass.

Part of the thing that you’ve got to realize is that you’ve got to do whatever you need to do to help your team be successful. Whatever role that is, you have to be. That may be a blocker, that may be a pass catcher.

Honestly, there are areas of my game that I want to be able to improve, to be able to do more, but really the biggest thing coming to the league for a lot of players, is they have to know what their role is. That was big for me.

DB: When you come on the field, it’s more often than not a run play. If you were to improve, say, in pass protection, would the team be able to be more versatile in those situations or is that just the nature of having two backs in the backfield?

CH: At this point, I don’t know what the future holds. I would love to do a lot more end-line stuff or maybe go out for a couple more routes

But I just want to do whatever I can to make the team better. I don’t want to be a guy that’s just begging for more catches or begging for more playing time.

I’m just patient and when my name is called, when my number is called, I’m ready to go, and I do it to the best of my ability. If I’m able to do that, I’m able to look myself in the mirror at night and know that I did everything I can. That’s what helps me sleep at night.

DB: Do you think that’s part of why guys do respect you and you’ve gotten those types of awards, because they see that you’re not the guy who wants the ball as part of your role but you just want to win?

CH: Yeah, I definitely think that’s the reason. That’s really the only thing I care about, is my teammates and us as a whole being successful.

Football is the ultimate team sport, that’s what I’ve always been told. There’s 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense and every play, you guys all got to be in sync. So I definitely think that’s something that guys respect, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they’ve respected me.

FORMER BRUINS: Q&A with Vikings long snapper Kevin McDermott.

DB: If someone asked for advice with how to approach coming out of college or entering the league, what have you learned in your career?

CH: Really, it’s just having a mindset every day. It’s hard to come to work every day with a good attitude and just be ready to work.

As players, those are the only two things we can control – our attitude and effort. If you can bring those things to work every day – work hard and get up early even when you’re tired and go in the film room – those are the things that matter. Those are the things that you see some of the great players in the league do, that’s why they’re so successful.

Sometimes it’s tough to make that transition from college to the NFL. It’s a lot different, actually. … It’s tough for college kids to be able to balance school and football and all but in the NFL, (football) is your job, that’s your livelihood, that’s the money that you make that’s going to feed your kids and your family.

So when it’s time, you’ve got to be able to put all your effort, all your time into that.

DB: Is that tough for some guys, is it a bit of a shock to realize it is a full-time job?

CH: Yeah, I mean, it’s tough for some of these kids, they don’t really get it right away.

But a lot of times, it takes them a little bit, then they see some of these vets and they see how they work and the time that they put in, and that’s just kind of how the cycle works. You see some of these older guys that are grooming these younger players and these rookies into the vets that they became.

With good teams, the teams that are in the Super Bowl, the teams that made it to the playoffs, those are the teams that have a lot of veteran players that at one point were rookies, obviously. And if you asked 90 percent of them, they’ll tell you, ‘This vet told me how to do my job better in this league.’

Compiled by Matt Cummings, Bruin senior staff.