Behind the Facemask: A.J. Highsmith

June 13, 2011

CORAL GABLES, Fla.–There are moments and decisions in every person’s life that shape who they eventually become. Every path is different, but for these student-athletes, they have all eventually led to Coral Gables. Their stories in their words…

A.J. Highsmith | Defensive Back | Junior | Missouri City, Texas

I like being called A.J., Alonzo sounds weird to me, I’ve never been called that by anyone who knows me (laughs).

I play a lot of video games. Madden, NCAA, Call of Duty: Black Ops, NBA2K series, all the sports stuff. And anything you can play against someone else, we play all the time.

I listen to Lil Wayne, I’ve actually tried to start listening to country music. I like Blake Sheldon a lot. I like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, I don’t know why, but I like them.

I’m a homebody, I don’t like moving around much. I don’t like moving out of my house, I hate moving. On the weekends, if I can just have fun in my area, I’ll be just fine. I go out sometimes, but I like to be home.

I love being around family and friends all the time. I don’t need a whole lot to impress me. I’m not into flashy stuff; I just like to hang out with people I know and people that are close to me.

I’m not a fan of superstitions. I learned when I was in little league when I had good luck socks. It worked for the first five weeks, and then we got beat by 40 or 50 points one week, and that was the end of it. I’m not superstitious, but I do things that are comfortable for me.

I think now is the best time for me, with spring under my belt, I’m a lot more comfortable and I’m learning a lot more. I’ve been telling my dad I’m not the one that’s getting picked on, I have the edge over other people now. The things I knew from playing offense are starting to kick in now.

I thought hitting was going to be hard, but that wasn’t the hardest part for me switching from offense to defense. It’s more of an attitude.

Green Bay‘s my team by default because my dad works for them. I watch certain guys though. I like to see the Texans do well because they’re from the hometown, but I watch for certain guys more.

I loved the nutrition class I took last year. The way my professor taught it, the information that was there, I think everyone should take it because it teaches you how to live your life, how to eat, how to prepare yourself for now and later. Classes used to fly by cause I was so into it.

It means a lot to have the former Canes and current NFL guys around here all the time. It happens so much, that it’s become normal. They’re always there for us. They help out a lot more than people think; they don’t just seclude themselves from the group. They’ll tell you things about how they became successful and things they’ve done.

Most of them (former Canes) preach about the work ethic you have to have. You have to wanna compete, you have to know how to beat someone in front of you. You have to get the attitude where you think, “I’m going to beat you no matter what you do.”

I talk to Andre Johnson a lot, because he’s from Houston and he knows my dad and everything. I talk to Antrel Rolle also because he played corner and switched to safety like me. I like to talk to the DB’s cause they can offer the most advice for me right now.

Safety is the last line of defense. It’s a bad feeling, but you kind of look forward to it when it’s just you and him, you know you have to get him down or else it’ll be a touchdown. They won’t remember how he got there, how it happened, if he made 10 guys miss, they’ll only remember you. You have to be ready for it.

I love junk food. It’s bad, but if I can keep my mind right and skip it I’ll be just fine. Ice cream, french fries from McDonald’s. I don’t want to eat three Big Macs, just a little something. I don’t need a big candy bar, two Starburst and I’ll sit right back down.

I’m kind of getting away from Facebook, I’m on Twitter now a lot more. I think it’s even faster than Facebook to connect to everybody, so I’m on that.

I try to be one of the greatest people I can be, not just in football, but on and off the field. I try to reach out to other people and help out. A lot of times when I was younger they would say it was a bad thing because I was more worried about other people than I was about myself.

I think I played quarterback originally because I was such a team-oriented guy and wanted to help everyone else out. I like helping other people out and taking the time to reach out to other people to make sure they’re okay.

I admire my dad. I heard how he played football, but the way he carries himself and the way he lives life, the relationships he has with other people and the way other people respect him, I know he did something right to get there. I just try to listen to what he tells me and take his advice because he’s right where he needs to be.

I’m afraid of lizards. Once when I was walking to the bookstore in the U.C and there were two of them on the ground, instead of walking by I walked all the way around to avoid them. I don’t know what it is (laughs). (Editor’s note: There are a lot of lizards in South Florida)

Texas is the greatest place in the world.

I think I’m kind of funny. I like to imitate people (He went on to do a few impressions of his teammates and coaches).

Mike James is my roommate. He gives me headaches, because he’s the most indecisive person when it comes to decision-making (laughs).

Me, Mike, Lamar Miller, the three of us are always together. Everyone makes fun of us because of that, but we think we need our own reality television show for some of the stuff we do.

I have a new love for cooking. I can do chicken pretty well. The vegetables are easy, I just buy them frozen. Sometimes I cheat, I’ll buy the frozen pasta and throw it on the skillet and say that I made it. I learned how to cook watching my mom though.

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