[Football Preview 2004] Q & A with WR Craig Bragg

Don’t blink, or you may miss him. His blinding speed
leaves cornerbacks in his tire tracks. Last season, Craig Bragg
quietly amassed one of the greatest seasons for a wide receiver in
Bruin history. Asked to shoulder a lot of the offensive production,
Bragg responded by accumulating 1,065 yards and grabbing five
touchdowns. This season, Bragg has a chance to become the most
prolific wide receiver UCLA has ever seen. He recently sat down
with the Daily Bruin to answer some of our pressing
questions.

Daily Bruin: Despite your stellar career thus
far, you have received relatively little attention from pro scouts
and outside media. Why do you think that is?

Craig Bragg: I don’t know why that is. I
think it’s just winning. I think the teams that are doing a
lot of winning get a lot more of the attention. I think
that’s all it is, really. I believe in my abilities. I
believe that I’m one of the best players out there. But we
gotta win as a team for everybody to get accomplishments. I think
I’m not the only person who’s not getting regarded for
his abilities out here on the field.

DB: Do you regret not going to a team that
could be winning more?

CB: No, I don’t hold that as a regret
because I feel like we should be winning here. I mean, why would I
want to go somewhere else because they were winning? Why would I
want to jump on a bandwagon somewhere else? I feel like if
you’re a good enough player you should be able to improve the
school you’re at.

DB: A lot of players have pregame rituals or
good luck charms. What sorts of things do you do?

CB: I don’t really have a pregame ritual.
But every Thursday I try to unwind and not think about the game. I
get so wrapped up in it that sometimes I need to break away or go
to a movie or something like that.

DB: So there are no good luck charms that you
wear? What does Craig Bragg wear under his uniform?

CB: Just the Under Armour stuff they give
me.

DB: You seem to be a fairly soft-spoken,
introspective kind of guy, but I hear you talk a lot of trash on
the field. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to
an opponent?

CB: (Smiling) Ah, the worst thing I’ve
ever said to an opponent? Man, that can’t go in the
newspaper.

DB: Try me.

CB: Well, I usually talk about somebody’s
mom. Or I say that they hit like a ““ you know what ““
but I can’t say that in this newspaper. I’d say most of
the trash I talk wouldn’t really derail another player. I
just talk myself up.

DB: Are there any opposing cornerbacks or
safeties that you don’t want to see lining up against
you?

CB: No, I would say that I’d like to
match up against anybody. I feel that I can get open or do what I
need to do against anyone. I feel confident in whomever I go
against ““ it can be one guy or two guys. As long as
it’s one guy, that’s better for me. If it’s two
guys, that makes it a little more difficult.

DB: By the end of your career you’ll
probably own all of the receiving records at UCLA. What is your
proudest accomplishment as a football player?

CB: My proudest accomplishment as a football
player is probably making it here to go to UCLA. You know, in high
school I wasn’t highly recruited. Just being able to make it
here, come into camps, and open some eyes, and be recruited, that
has probably been my proudest accomplishment as a football
player.

DB: Your younger brother just enrolled in Notre
Dame as a quarterback. Since that school is USC’s other big
rival, what kinds of things have you told him to indoctrinate him
into the rivalry?

CB: He already doesn’t like them. Growing
up just cheering for me and seeing how they’ve been able to
beat us for the last few years ““ he’s grown up with a
natural hatred (toward) them, so I really don’t have to say
much. I’m sure at Notre Dame they’re gonna instill that
hatred in him.

DB: Is there any sibling rivalry or trash talk
between the two of you about whose team will beat ‘SC
first?

CB: No, there isn’t any intrafamily trash
talk. Right now he’s just getting in there and trying to make
his mark and be able to get in there and be able to play right
now.

DB: Prediction time. What’s the UCLA-USC
score this year?

CB: 35-15, us.

DB: What’s the first play of the season
that Tom Cable is going to call?

CB: Something to me, hopefully. (Laughing)

DB: Fair enough. And what’s going to be
the result of that play?

CB: A touchdown.

DB: Naturally.

Interview by Ian Ostroff, Bruin sports contributor.