July 13, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- Carl Lawson says he wants to get into sports broadcasting one day.
Why not? He showed he fully understands that cat-and-mouse game at SEC Media Days this week.
''I'll have some insight on what it is to get players,'' Lawson says. ''I might be able to trick me into answering some of the questions y'all want me to answer.''
Lawson answered all the questions just fine in Hoover, coming up with one of the better sound bites of the day on is guidelines for social media.
''Don't say anything my mom would get mad at me for,'' he said.
He answered some questions more cautiously, including his personal goals for the season.
''I'm going to keep that myself. Maybe I'm superstitious,'' Lawson said.
And his potential NFL career?
''I just really want to focus on Auburn.''
Instead, he talked of Auburn playing well and a chance for him to put in a full season, something that really hasn't happened for the defensive end who, despite limited playing time, has garnered headlines for his success and potential.
He and teammate Rudy Ford are on the watch list for Bednarik Award, which recognizes college football's best defensive player; and he and teammate Montravius Adams are on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, another top defensive award.
Lawson played some as a freshman in 2013, missed all of 2014 with a knee injury and missed six games in 2015 with a bad hip. Perhaps that's one of the reasons he focused on his college career and dismissed talk of the NFL.
''I do need more experience in college football,'' he said. ''I haven't really played that many games... It's been unfortunate.''
Home? Away? 'I want to win them all,' says Auburn's Carl Lawson at SEC Media Days. Video: pic.twitter.com/r2nowhvAuC
-- Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) July 11, 2016
Lawson was asked, given the injuries, if he felt more like a third-year guy than a fourth-year guy.
''I feel more like a second-year guy.''
His reasoning was simple.
''Because I haven't played that much. But I am getting experience and I do feel like I'm becoming a better football player.
''In life you have adversity, and every time I've had adversity in my life I've come back stronger. I didn't like what happened, but I appreciated what happened because it made me a better player. It made me view things from a different perspective.
''Every experience, a bad experience or a good experience, is a learning experience. Last year I wasn't 100 percent probably, about 60 percent coming back from the hip injury. Coming off the Birmingham Bowl and having time to rest and going through this off season I feel like I'm faster and stronger.''
Lawson said last season was a ''humbling experience.''
''If you did bad at your job and you got cussed out by your supervisor, you'd be like, `I need to get better.' It's kind of the same situation for a football team.
''No matter what happens this season, we're going to be standing tall.''
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine