BeerleaderS: So, first of all, thank you that you take your time to do this with us. I’ve got a lot of questions for you, and the first one is: are you nervous before Austrian Bowl or Euro Bowl?
Clinton Graham: No!
BeerleaderS: Not at all?
Clinton Graham: No, I just try to get focused and if I prepare enough then I won’t be nervous, exited to play: I really don’t focus on Euro Bowl. I just like to think about Austrian Bowl, that’s the next game, like last game was Graz, so I just focused on Graz and so not really nervous, just try to prepare.
BeerleaderS: So, you just talked about Graz, we would like to know, what happened in Graz?
Clinton Graham : aaahm
BeerleaderS: because, for us it was really an exiting game, but …
Clinton Graham: Well Graz, ….. I don’t know. I just think mentally we weren’t prepared as we thought and now we know that we have to work, we have to work for a win, now we’ll be better prepared for every other game: We just, you know, maybe thought it was gonna come a little easier that it did. We won’t let that happen again.
BeerleaderS: It was a wake up call!
Clinton Graham: A wake up call, exactly !
BeerleaderS: Now, the end of the season is near, and we would like to know your plans for the off-season. What are you going to do back in America?
Clinton Graham: I’m going to visit my girlfriend, visit my family, haven’t seen them a long time, do that a couple of weeks and then go off to business ventures Try to see what opportunities are out there, some friends want to start,.. I actually want to start a business and see what happens, if we are successful, we can make it. Things like that, and that will determinate what happens next I guess.
BeerleaderS: Are you thinking about coming again next year?
Clinton Graham: Yeah, I do, I do!
BeerleaderS: You want to?
Clinton Graham: I want to.
BeerleaderS: That’s great, we want you to come back next year.
Clinton Graham: Thank you.
BeerleaderS: What are your goals for the future?
Clinton Graham: For the future? Near future or future future?
BeerleaderS: You can tell us both.
Clinton Graham: My goal right now is to win Austrian Bowl, obviously after that the next goal EB. Goal for the future I would say is to be very successful, wanna make a lot of money when I go back home. Not only for my self, my family, I’d like to help all the people that need help. Obviously when you watch news or anything like that you see all the bad things that happen around the world, all the people that are hungry and stuff. You know, if you ever think, ah, my shoulder hurts, my foot hurts, there’s always somebody in a worse situation, so, for me, I’ve seen enough, so I want to do, I need to do more to help others. I have to make sure things, my goals, as far as business and everything works out so that I can be in the position to help others.
BeerleaderS: You’re here the first year, so what do you think about Austria and Vienna?
Clinton Graham: Austria and Vienna?
BeerleaderS: I don’t know I’ve you’ve seen much of Austria?
Clinton Graham: Vienna is very beautiful, I did see sights, I saw Schönbrunn, I saw Prater, I go there a couple of times, Stephansplatz is nice. It’s very nice, I like to be here. Cause I’ve fun here. I’ve been to Graz, I’ve been to a couple of other places, where I don’t think I would have so much fun, because in the mountains and so. It has to be a night where everybody’s doing something, for me, to have fun. In Vienna something is always happening, like every day, you know, I could do just anything and there are other people there, so it’s definitely nice and relaxing.
BeerleaderS: What did you expect before you came here, and what do you think now?
Clinton Graham: What I expected? It’s a hard question. (thinking for a wile) I didn’t really expect a lot, as far as coming to Europe, because I didn’t know a lot about Europe. I just knew that I wanted to have a different perspective or point of view on the outlook of the world and things like that. When you’re in America, all the time you always see what America thinks about things. When I’m here I get to understand more and learn from another perspective, you know, like I get to see why some people don’t like Americans. Or even when I watch the news, example: if I watch CNN, it’s like, in America it’s CNN from America , so it’s more about things in America and little about things of the world. When I’m here in Europe it’s more of the world, seeing more of the points of the view of the world, what’s going on, rather than just America. It was hard to expect, I don’t really like to expect things I don’t know. When people ask me about a game, I don’t know the team, so I can’t expect anything from them. I expected a different point of view and a different way of life, I want to try it out, embrace it and check out a different culture.
BeerleaderS: Ok, and how does it feel being a Viking?
Clinton Graham: It feels great, I’m definitely happy that I made this choice. I do, I was really surprised, hmmm, I was very happy, it wasn’t a surprise, with turnouts and games. They really support us, then I see the BeerleaderS at Bologna with few other fans, a lot of fans actually was in Bologna, that was just great, I just didn’t expect that. I thinking I’m on the bus, ah, that’s such a long trip and then I see everybody at Bologna, it was wow, they’re serious, so definitely feels good, as far as that is concern, that’s great. That’s what I look for most important, that’s the support of the Vikings community and every thing else, every thing is …
BeerleaderS: You talked about your family, are you homesick?
Clinton Graham: Yeah, I’m a little homesick now. I definitely eat different food when I’m back home. You know, especially my mother, my parents are Jamaican so I’m used to other food, as you may imagine. I do eat a lot and sometimes when I wake up in the morning, sometimes I like to eat a lot, when I’m not really in training or something like that, and a breakfast would be with, you know, waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon and toast and everything and breakfast here is Semmel and Putenschinken and cheese and that was hard, just eating 4, 5 Semmel and cereal, but I mean, yeah, I definitely miss my family, my girlfriend, well…. I like to go somewhere else, I like to experience other place, I mean, I have a goal, this is the first step to my goal.
BeerleaderS: You talked about breakfast, that you miss it, are there other things you really miss over here?
Clinton Graham: Besides food?
BeerleaderS: Besides food, and besides your family, because we know that you miss them.
Clinton Graham: Besides food, well, … I do like to go bowling, I know I can bowl here, but ..
BeerleaderS: It’s not the same?
Clinton Graham: Yeah, it’s not the same plus I can go bowling at home, I just do that when I go there. I guess a big thing what I miss would be when I watch a movie, you know, I like to relax, I play football and training and I’m tired after and I like to relax, watch a movie or listen to music, and I have a lot of DVDs and I have a lot of songs so, when I want to listen to something, I think of a song, oh I want to listen that now, I just can go on my computer or on my CD player or check my CD’s to find that song and play it, here I cant do that and bring everything here. Same with DVD movies, I’m thinking oh they have funny joke, let me watch that movie and I can’t do that plus, my room, I have speakers very loud, something is loud, the base, feel the music, feel the movie and I can’t do that here so. I miss my family, food, and definitely watch DVD’s, listen to music and riding motorcycles, I do that sometimes.
BeerleaderS. You can do that here as well.
Clinton Graham: Not gonna do it during the season.
BeerleaderS: Ok, … you just told me that you like DVD’s and stuff, what else dare you doing in your leisure time?
Clinton Graham: oh, I don’t have a lot of leisure time. You mean here or at home?
BeerleaderS: I don’t know? Here?
Clinton Graham: Here, I like to go to the Prater sometimes, leisure time, I mean the day here, I wake up, got to the Mensa, eat, come here (Schmelz) and usually stay here till practise, because I don’t like to walk a lot (laughing) I like to save energy, I just don’t like to walk specially when it’s hot like this. I go back home and watch a movie, and that’s it, that’s leisure time. But at home it’s just train a lot, run, lift, and ride the motorcycle a few times, go bowling, it’s not a lot of stuff.
BeerleaderS: You told us that you were sight seeing a little bit, did you like it?
Clinton Graham: Yeah, it was nice.
BeerleaderS. Where do you live here in Vienna, are you on your own, or together with some others?
Clinton Graham: We all live in one building, in an apartment building. It’s not bad. It’s a little apartment, we all live in apartments by ourselves, but in the same building. It’s cool.
BeerleaderS: What was you most beautiful or awesome experience here in Vienna?
Clinton Graham: (thinking some time) When I came here snow wasn’t beautiful, rain wasn’t beautiful,
BeerleaderS: You don’t like the snow?
Clinton Graham: I do a little bit, but not every day for two weeks, that’s too much. Most beautiful moment, Graz I think, nothing really comes close to that right now, that I can think of, the most awesome moment was that game, the most beautiful moment was Bologna, because I didn’t expect so many fans there. I’ve never been a part of a game we won three seconds left, so it has to be Graz.
BeerleaderS: And would you tell us your most embarrassing experience during a football game?
Clinton Graham: Most embarrassing experience? Ever?
BeerleaderS: Ever
Clinton Graham: That’s tough, you should stop the camera.
BeerleaderS: Shall we stop it?
Clinton Graham: No, no, I mean you have to edit the long silence.
BeerleaderS: That doesn’t matter at all.
Clinton Graham: (long silence) I guess, I mean, I like to play, obviously I like to play football and I always like to be on the field, you know, I guess my most embarrassing would be maybe high school or college I didn’t get to play. Those game I didn’t get to play at all, and because I didn’t go to a game. I was playing Varsity and I didn’t go to JV, the Junior Varsity game and as punishment he, my coach, made me not play the Varsity game and I was just standing there, cold and upset, embarrassed I wasn’t playing I because I should have played but,… I don’t know, too embarrassing, I don’t …..
BeerleaderS: You don’t want to tell us?
Clinton Graham: No no no, I don’t ..
BeerleaderS: You don’t know?
Clinton Graham: It’s really hard to think about it, I’ve so many years to think about, I don’t know.
BeerleaderS: Let’s forget about it. So you already speak a little bit German?
Clinton Graham: ein bisschen (laughing)
BeerleaderS: ein bisschen, something else?
Clinton Graham: depends, when you start to speak, I try to speak back to you
BeerleaderS: Sollten wir jetzt deutsch reden?
Clinton Graham: I don’t know that much, I can say: Ich komme aus Boston, wie geht es Ihnen, wie geht es dir, ich verstehen ein bisschen deutsch, ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch, du bist verrückt, ich bin verrückt (laughing)
BeerleaderS: That’s quite well.
Clinton Graham: When people speak to me, I try to pick out what they are talking about and that’s cool. No I’m not good, but..
BeerleaderS: But I think it’s ok, you’re here for one season now.
Clinton Graham: I’ve been studying for two months. If I come back next year, which I loved to do, when I go home I’m gonna learn Deutsch anyway. I’m gonna go on the computer and take online classes.
BeerleaderS: I know we already talked about food, but we would like to know your favourite food in Austria?
Clinton Graham: Favourite food here in Austria, well, hamburger (laughing)
BeerleaderS: Burgerking
Clinton Graham: No, I think, it would have to say …
BeerleaderS: Wiener Schnitzel
Clinton Graham: close
BeerleaderS: Kaiserschmarrn
Clinton Graham: closer, it would have to be Kaisekrainer and Rips at Santa Cruze, they are very good
BeerleaderS: And what’s your favourite drink?
Clinton Graham: My favourite drink, what kind of drink we are talking about, I could tell you Leitungswasser,..
BeerleaderS: Alcoholic drink?
Clinton Graham: My favourite alcoholic drink, honestly, if they make it right, you know if clubs make it right it’s a Mai Tai. Once in Prag I had a Mai Tai and it tasted like Cappy Exotic Juice, but back home, here I haven’t had really a Mai Tai, but back home there’s a bowling alley, that makes some Mai Tai’s and after a couple .(laughing) . crazy bowling.
BeerleaderS: Now I want to speak a little bit about the fans, first it seems that you have special relationship to the fans, because you were the only player that came upstairs in Graz,..
Clinton Graham: Well, I mean, the fans have always been here, doing all the games and as I told you I’ve seen everybody in Bologna, I just think they are really special because, I just, you know, talking to players and stuff, I was really surprised, Shawn said wow, everybody is really out there and the cheer for us. You feel welcomed, because I’m a foreign player, I’ve never been here and everybody was very nice and just welcomed me and shows their interest and are happy that I’m playing, are happy, you know, we are doing well and I mean, I don’t know I love the fans, and the kids at the end of the game or who ever came up at the end of the game and asks to signs Autographs and things, usually I let the reporters wait because, you know I make them wait, cause they are here, they are supporting and it’s great. I appreciate, that’s what I mean, I really appreciate the support and in Graz, it was just such an emotional game, it was crazy. I don’t know if it was so emotional at the sidelines, but you know, you guys are out there, you guys are with us during that and I just want to say thank you to all of you.
BeerleaderS: Do you know that you are really a heart-throb over here?
Clinton Graham: oh, no (turning red) I’m surprised, oh, nice I guess, I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what the question is, I don’t what to say.
BeerleaderS: Do you know it or…
Clinton Graham: No I didn’t know, did you know?
BeerleaderS: Of course I knew, or else I couldn’t ask.
Clinton Graham: That’s cool, I’m a little shy sometimes and it was a surprising question. No I didn’t know, I just saw everybody as,….I don’t know what to say NEIN (laughing)
BeerleaderS: What do you think about us BeerleaderS?
Clinton Graham: BeerleaderS are the greatest. I, like I told, honestly I tell you what I told Luke during, before the warm ups for the Bologna game. I saw the BeerleaderS there, everybody there, I said: I just fell in love. That’s what I honestly said. It was just, I never had, you have fans cheering and everything but fans, this like being embraced, fans really showing you that they care, they are with you, that’s very touching to me. That’s what I told Luke. Wow, just blew me away. You guys are really….. great. I don’t know, you guys are better then words sometimes, I don’t know what to say. If I knew it in Deutsch I would say it in Deutsch. (laughing)
BeerleaderS: wow, and our last question is: Can you imagine to play in the BeerleaderS Flag Football team after your football career. (laughing)
Clinton Graham: (also laughing) how you want me to answer this question seriously, you’re laughing (still laughing)
Beerleader Angy: I’m the center.
Clinton Graham: well, after the career you said or.
BeerleaderS: Or you can come to one of our trainings now if you like, I don’t know, but we’re playing competitions as well so
Clinton Graham: Well as I said, during the season, I come and watch, but as far as playing, I don’t even play basketball, I mean I do play basketball at home for fun, but not during the season,..
BeerleaderS: But after your career you can play with us.
Clinton Graham: True, true, true, you mean after the season?
BeerleaderS: No, when you end football career
Clinton Graham: oh, end of career, oh, anything is possible, you never know (still laughing) what happens, I don’t even know what I’m doing this September.
BeerleaderS: We would like to welcome you as well after the season if you want to join us.
Clinton Graham: Thank you, thank you, when do you play?
BeerleaderS: Normally Thursday.
Clinton Graham: I see.
BeerleaderS: So thank you that you took your time to do this interview.
Clinton Graham: Welcome
BeerleaderS: I hope it was little bit fun for you as well. Is there something else you want to tell us?
Clinton Graham: Well, lets see, after the great support you guys have always showed I look forward to seeing you at the Austrian Bowl. I want to thank you again for all the support. I pretty much told a lot in my journal entry about you guys. I’m always like: I love being crazy during the games I love it when you guys are crazy too, verrückt, look forward to seeing you.