Michigan State University Athletics
Q&A: Amp Campbell
9/6/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 6, 1999
Question: You have really become a motivating force for this team -- is that something you have tried to do?
Answer: I'm trying to do whatever I can to help this team win. If it's picking up a fumble or knocking down a pass, I'm going to do anything I can. If guys on this team need someone to step up and lead them, I'm going to do that to get them to play hard. I think I did that a little bit on Thursday. I went in at halftime and kept saying, "It's not over." We wanted to work together and just stay positive. Nobody gave up, nobody quit.
Q: You seem in person to be a quiet guy, but you take a pretty vocal role on the team, don't you?
A: My demeanor on the field is to try to motivate everyone and keep a smile on people's faces in the huddle. I try to keep everybody up. When we were down in the third quarter I was trying to keep everybody in the game, maybe crack a joke here or there.
Q: Did you take note of the reaction from the fans Thursday night to your comeback?
A: It impressed me. It was so great to walk out with Aric (Morris) and Gari (Scott) as captains and look up at the fans and hear them scream. I was waiting on that for a year -- I really didn't know if I'd get the opportunity to hear that again. That touched me the most. If anything, not just winning the game for myself or the team, but winning the game for the fans was important. They screamed and hollered and really gave me and the rest of the team a lift during the whole game.
Q: When you were coming out of the tunnel they had a camera on you and were showing it up on the DiamondVision. Did you hear all the fans at that point and what was your reaction?
A: I heard the crowd, and it touched me. That motivated me, and as I was walking out there for the coin toss, the thing that hit me was how much I wanted to be on defense first. Things worked out, and we got the chance to be on defense. That was the biggest thing was to get out there, stop them on the first drive and get the jitters out.
Q: What has the reaction been like on campus since Thursday night?
A: I've been getting stopped by a lot of people and getting congratulated -- not necessarily for scoring the touchdown, but more for just coming back and playing again. Everybody seems glad to see me back out there, and I've been getting a lot of compliments. It's been terrific. I'm just glad I got the opportunity to come out and play Thursday.
Q: Did it take until Thursday for you to realize that you had made it all the way back after all that you have gone through?
A: It really did take until then, when I was able to walk out on the field and see all those fans. When I saw those guys lined up across the field, that was great. I couldn't ask for anything more. Just being a part of this football team is the best thing.
Q: You have been on a 5-0 team and an 0-2 team. How important was it to win that first game?
A: It was very important. To get that first victory means a lot. A lot of teams, if you lose the first game, you don't have the confidence going into the second game. This Eastern Michigan game is going to be a tough game because they play three, four and five wide receivers and they spread you out. Getting that first game under our belt and winning it will give us a big boost and give a lot of guys confidence. That was a big win for us because looking at our schedule now, if we take one game at a time, we can have a good season. We are talking in the locker room about doing that this year and proving a lot of people wrong.
