Throughout spring football practice, ODUSports.com will do a Q&A with a member of the ODU Football team. Today's Q&A is with senior cornerback, Aquante Thornton.
Q: When did you get your start in football?
A: I didn’t start playing organized football until middle school in the eighth grade. I would have played in the seventh grade but during the summer I did something to my collarbone.
Q: Who influenced you to play the sport?
A: Everybody. I always played backyard football but I was like, no I don’t feel like playing regular football. I was scared. I was a small type of guy, people would say you are going to get hurt and I didn’t want to play. In my eighth grade year I did get hurt, I pulled my growth plate in my leg muscles. I actually pulled my growth plate apart and I missed the last game of my eighth grade year. After that I just always played.
Q: Why did you choose Old Dominion?
A: The area was a big part of my decision. I grew up around here. I would have gone to Florida just for academics and would have tried to walk on there, but we made a trip to Ferrum during the visiting process and my mother really couldn’t handle the drive, and I figured if I’m up the street she can always come visit me. She works down the street; I’ve got grandparents down the street, family around the corner. I don’t want to say that I would be home sick, but I know they would miss me, so it is good to be close by in case of family emergencies so I can get back quickly to be with family.
Q: Does anyone else in your family play sports?
A: Not professional. I believe the only person that I may know that played professionally with any relation to me is Percy Harvin, and Darius Garcia (ODU offensive lineman) is related to Percy Harvin too. So that might be the only person and that is just a possible relation. My parents always played growing up so I think it is just genetic but nobody else played.
Q: What sports did your parents play and did they play in college?
A: My mom played basketball and then went into the military. My dad played football and joined the military and that is where they met.
Q: What is it about the coaches and team that make Old Dominion such a welcoming and inviting atmosphere?
A: There is always the chance to have fun. This is just like my senior year of high school; it is my last year playing so I am going to have fun regardless. Then I have Martez Simpson and TJ Ricks as roommates and we have a lot of inside jokes and there are just countless memories to make. I think I am just going to try and take advantage of that. Then you have Coach Buggs, he is a great coach who came to us from UConn and there is also Sam Perryman who just came in and I sit down and talk with him a lot in my free time. He is a cool coach, younger type of coach so he is on the same plane as us. It is always easy to communicate, there is not a bunch of yelling and unnecessary back-and-forth, it is just you know you did wrong, fix it. That is always easier than having a coach who is yelling and then tries to sit down and talk to you.
Q: How has the transition been moving from wide receiver to corner?
A: I was a corner first. It was nothing new to me. I did the corner thing my first year. I moved to receiver due to injuries in spring ball of my first year. Had fun over there with Coach Burden, he was the same type of guy as Perryman, so it was easy to relate. Then when I went back it was just waiting, I already knew the calls, it was just getting used to playing defense again.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
A: I would go somewhere with a lot of space. So I would say Iceland, they’ve got a lot of space. It is like somewhere I want my kids to be able to run around. I know my kids are going to be in trouble because they are going to be my kids, but somewhere they can grow up and have fun. Norfolk has a lot of space but there is a lot of influence in Norfolk and I’m not too worried but there is always the chance that they could make that one wrong decision.
Q: What is your favorite food to eat?
A: I don’t have a favorite. I just eat. My favorite chef is a different story. My favorite chef is my aunt Waltrice Green, whatever she makes I’ll eat it. My roommates mom, Miss Beverly, TJ’s mom, she makes food but it doesn’t put me to sleep. Aunt Trice, whatever she makes I have to take a nap immediately after, I don’t understand it but she is just a great chef.
Q: Who is you favorite super hero and why?
A: Oh easy, Batman. He is a normal guy with a lot of money. They say money can’t do stuff but he is trying to be a positive influence but he can’t do it in his identity as Bruce Wayne. So he makes an alter ego, which is understandable, every super hero has an alter ego, but it is like his is a little different. His father died at a young age, my father died when I was 15, kind of relatable. And I just like the way he goes about his business. He is flashy as Bruce Wayne but then he is low key as Batman and I like that.
Q: Who are your favorite NFL, NBA and MLB teams?
A: The Atlanta Falcons. NBA Chicago Bulls, MLB the Saint Louis Cardinals because I played for the team when I was little since then I’ve always followed them. The Chicago Bulls always talked about Michael Jordan when I was growing up and I had a lot of Jordan’s as a kid so I kind of followed him. Then when D. Rose came to Chicago I started to get back into basketball and I am kind of a big D. Rose fan. I also like their colors black and red.
Q: Did you play any other sport than football?
A: Baseball was my first organized sport. Then I played basketball and after that football. When I got to high school, one of my teachers was the soccer coach and he said I should play soccer and I said I would but I never got the chance because I ran indoor and outdoor track.
Q: With all the other sports that you’ve played, how is that you ended up loving football over all the others?
A: Well with track, I didn’t like to run, but I was a state champion in the 4X2 in track and field. Football was more natural to me. Basketball, that is my mothers’ sport, she loves basketball. She will still try to play me in a one-on-one to this day. But eighth grade I didn’t get to play basketball because I broke my growth plate in football and that is when I kind of started focusing more on football.
Q: If you could give young Aquante any words of advice, what would you say to yourself?
A: Listen to your mom. She might argue, she might fuss at you, she might yell or get annoying but she has your back regardless, so listen to your mom. She does a lot for me. When my father died I was the only male left in the family and I have a lot of baby cousins who look up to me. My mom has put me through school. She’ll get on my case about schoolwork, about filling out scholarships trying to get pocket money and getting a job. Then there is my step mom, the mother of my sister Mikayla, she is on my case 24/7 too, but she is more relaxed. She is not like you need to this or that, but she will sit me down and talk to me, telling me ‘you can do this and you can do that’ or ‘this can go this way and this can go that way’ type of situation. My mom is ‘you need to do this, you need to do that’. She keeps trying to push me towards the Air Force after college too, which I understand, but you know it is just me being stubborn.