Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic
Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas fields some Q&A from Post columnist Steve Serby ahead of Sunday’s AFC title game against the Chiefs:
Q: What was it like meeting Damar Hamlin for the first time after what he went through [cardiac arrest scare on Jan. 2, 2023]?
A: I watched it before I got here, I didn’t really know him. Like, he kinda changed your perspective on the game. One thing I like about D Ham, he ain’t for the, “Oh because of that situation, that’s why he’s playing” — nah, he worked for it. He’s telling ’em, “If I don’t deserve it, don’t give it to me, I want to earn all my stripes.” And that’s something that you can never take away from him. And he comes every day with that chip on his shoulder like, “Yeah, I’m not supposed to be here but I am here, so now that I’m here, you’re gonna have to see about me.”
Q: Where were you when the incident happened with him?
A: I was getting some crab cakes from a store in Green Bay, and I remember looking at the TV, and, like, usually I don’t speak negative words. But I remember seeing it, and I’m like: “Did he just die?” That was the first thing that came to my head. So I remember grabbing the crab cakes and going back home and turning the TV on, and I’m looking online and stuff. As a kid, I remember everybody say, like, how I’d die for this sport. To actually see it being close to happening, it’s like, “Nah, I’d never do that.” I got a kid, bro, so I’m thinking about how my mom and stuff would react to seeing me going through that or me watching my son. I think that shifted football in general, like, sports in general.
Q: What was it like seeing him back on the field?
A: Great seeing him back on the field. Last year when I got here, he was just walking around and getting himself ready to get cleared, and then this year, just seeing him just go after it, just have fun and fly around with, like, no worries. I always tell him, “I know you probably don’t like talking about it, but that’s your story, bro, that’s your testimony to life, bro.”
Q: Did it affect you in your first game back on the field?
A: I wasn’t all the way in the game, you know what I mean?
Q: The feeling of winning Super Bowl LII with the Eagles?
A: All the hard work that me and the guys put in just paid off. You dream about winning the Super Bowl, that’s like the goal for everybody, so when you actually accomplish that, it’s just like, “Man,” now you kinda take that deep breath and just relax.
Q: What would getting to the Super Bowl mean to Buffalo and the Bills Mafia and western New York?
A: That would mean everything to them. I think that’s what the city needs and wants. And it means just as much to us.
Q: What is the mindset of your team?
A: Just to go in there and to be us and do what we do.
Q: How painful was losing last year to the Chiefs in the divisional round?
A: I don’t really remember that, to be honest with you.
Q: You put it out of your mind already?
A: Yeah … (laugh). I’m not really thinking about it too much.
Q: Going back to Arrowhead Stadium?
A: It’s gonna be a great atmosphere. And we know Bills Mafia, they’re gonna travel, so it should be electrifying.
Q: Playing against Patrick Mahomes?
A: It’s just good competition, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league, so it’s always good when you play against the best.
Q: His connection with Travis Kelce?
A: I mean, they’re boys. They’re like best friends on the field. Maybe they practice or maybe they don’t but it just seems like in certain situations finding him, it just feels comfortable.
Q: Do you think there is more pressure on the Chiefs chasing a three-peat?
A: I don’t know if they’re chasing a three-peat as much as them just chasing another ring.
Q: What is it about Josh Allen that makes you feel good about your chances?
A: We just have one of the best quarterbacks in the league who can get the job done, you want to give him the ball as much as you can.
Q: Some of your other defensive teammates: Von Miller?
A: He’s a Hall of Famer.
Q: Terrel Bernard?
A: TB’s playing at a crazy level. He ain’t one of the bigger [line]backers, 250 pounds, but he can do everything. You can put him in man coverage, he’s sideline-to-sideline, he’s downhill, physical. He really studies football. He knows the game. He’s a good leader, that’s why he’s got the “C” on his chest.
Q: Gregory Rousseau?
A: He’s a 6-9 cheat code.
Q: 6-9?
A: He’s like 6-9 when you look at him. He’s like 6-6, 6-7 … all of that 6-6 and up, they all look the same to me.
Q: Ed Oliver?
A: He’s like a DB that plays D-line. You wouldn’t expect him to be that fast when he’s that big, but he is.
Q: Your reaction when you were traded in 2023 at midseason to the Bills?
A: I was kinda a little upset, I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda a little sad, ’cause I felt like what I was doing in Green Bay was worth me staying around just for a little longer.
Q: Why do you think you have not found a permanent home?
A: Things happen, and you just gotta keep going. You getting traded, it’s not like you’re getting cut and you’re going somewhere else, you’re just getting traded so it’s like people still see value in you, you know?
Q: What are you most proud of about your career?
A: That I’m still going. I could have gave up. Things weren’t going my way, I ain’t quit, I ain’t look for excuse, exit route, I just stayed down and just kept working. I’m still here.
Q: Your on-field mentality?
A: Do whatever it takes to win.
Q: What drives you?
A: I just want to go out there and do my job on the field and have that trust of my teammates that they know that I’ll do my job to the best of my ability, I think that’s what drives me … not want to let them down.
Q: How would you describe your physical tools?
A: It’s not really nothing I can’t do. I can play the game.
Q: Your NFL debut with the Eagles in 2017 came against the Chiefs.
A: I remember lining up against Tyreek Hill and Kelce, and I think Alex Smith was the quarterback. At the time Patrick Mahomes wasn’t starting at this point. We lost to ’em, but after that game I was just saying, “We got the team to do some great things.”
Q: Your first interception?
A: It was against the Giants, Eli Manning [Sept. 24, 2017]. I was 1-on-1 with Brandon Marshall down the sideline, and he threw a fade ball to him, and I kinda just jumped up and got it.
Q: Do you still have the ball?
A: I think it’s somewhere in my closet. I got a few of ’em, so it’s somewhere there.
Q: Is Eli Manning a first-ballot Hall of Famer?
A: Should be. He got two of ’em [Super Bowls], right? And beat the GOAT [Tom Brady].
Q: Your favorite pick-six?
A: The Matthew Stafford one was cool. But I like the Justin Fields one as well. I just remember how loud the stadium was going when I got it. But even the one last year I got [against Bailey Zappe], the stadium [Highmark Stadium] went crazy, I think that was one of the loudest moments I’ve ever heard [the] Bills stadium since I’ve been here.
Q: The last couple of years in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers?
A: Aaron was a great teammate, a great person, you know? I loved him when I got there. That was one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes.
Q: What made him a great teammate?
A: He was a leader, and he knew the game inside and out. If it was a quarterback or like a football manual book he would know front to back, the whole book. He always gave everybody confidence to go out there and play at an elite level.
Q: Did you ever intercept him in practice?
A: Yeah I did. I got him a few times.
Q: Do you think he has more football left in him?
A: Yeah. I think he has more left in him if he wanted to play.
Q: The time in your life at Nassau Community College when you struggled to eat?
A: Funds weren’t there. Me trying to work at McDonald’s just to get some food. It’s one of those times that you gotta go through just to get where you’re at now.
Q: How much did you make?
A: I don’t know, I think it was minimum [wage]. I only worked an hour a day, it was never long.
Q: What was the best part and worst part of going to Nassau CC?
A: The best part was probably the people I met. I met some amazing friends who I still talk to to this day, who kinda just helped me reinvent my faith because I was at a low time. So just being there with people who know the Word, and talk about God and just believing in Christ. I needed that at that point, ’cause I felt like sometimes I was shifting away. I would say the worst time was the food situation and living situation, that was kinda bad.
Q: Tell me about the living situation.
A: It was just like 15 of us in a crib. We all were from different places, Florida, a lot of places. We were all just trying to live, make the rent cheaper.
Q: This was not an athletic dorm?
A: We didn’t have no athletic dorms, you didn’t have scholarships, we didn’t have anything at Nassau. Yeah, it was bad.
Q: Was that your biggest adversity?
A: Yeah, that and just being on four or five different teams in a span of maybe like a month or two.
Q: What was that like?
A: I was carrying a bag and a book bag everywhere, and just trying to make something happen. Not knowing where you’re gonna end up in certain situations.
Q: Your cornerbacks coach at West Virginia [Blue Adams] had an expression: “Don’t fear the skunk.”
A: Blue was crazy, man. Blue had a lotta expressions, man … he used to tell us, “Give me everything you’ve got on this football field,” and he’s like, “Pass out if you want, you could die on this football field.” He used to say something like, “If you pass out, don’t worry about it, we got trainers here, they’ll come and pick you back up, and once you get back up, just start running again until you pass out again.” He just always wanted us to work as hard as we could.
Q: Talk about the influence of a man named Mike Davis.
A: My mentor, is kinda like a Pops to me. He kinda got me started with baseball when I was like 6, 7 years old … and kept me out of trouble, there was a lot of trouble in my neighborhood, he kinda kept me from being around things like that and seeing that.
Q: What were some of the things you saw?
A: Just gangs, drugs, stuff like that, violence.
Q: You were a shortstop in the East Orange Little League?
A: I was one of the best shortstops. Ever.
Q: Did you consider a baseball career?
A: I wanted to. I don’t think that public school would have got me to where I wanted to be, though.
Q: Tell me about your grandmother who raised you.
A: She was just a loving lady, like everybody loved her. One of the best people I’ve ever met. She kinda just guided me and was like my mom.
Q: How old is your son [Jeremiah]?
A: He just turned 6.
Q: What’s it like having a 6-year-old son?
A: The best feeling ever. Even when I’m having a bad day, the minute I talk to him, I forget everything in my day, and just focus on him.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: My grandmother; my mentor Mike; my brother Marquis that died.
Q: What happened to him?
A: He had a heart attack.
Q: How old was he?
A: He was like 30.
Q: How long ago?
A: Five years ago.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “The Shack” or “Law Abiding Citizen.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Gerard Butler.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Jamie Foxx.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Soul food or Caribbean food.
Q: What message would you have to the Bills Mafia and Bills fans everywhere who are desperate to get back to the Super Bowl?
A: I just know we’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna give everything we got, and whatever happens, happens.
Q: Are you aware that it’s been a long time since the Bills have been in the Super Bowl?
A: I think since 1994 or [1995] or something like that? I just turned around for the banner.
Q: You cheated.
A: Yeah, I definitely cheated, I ain’t gonna lie to you.
Q: Around town, what kind of encouragement do you get from people?
A: They just tell us to just do it. Like we got a chance, we’re there, just do it. That’s really all they could say.
