QUICK FACTS

Name: Brandon Outlaw Born: Sept. 27, 1989, in Huntsville, Alabama Parents: G.B. and Kandy Outlaw Sibling: sister, Kourtney (18) Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia High School: Grady Major at NCCU: Business with a concentration in Marketing Favorite Food: Oxtail, collard greens, candied yams and corn bread from a soul food restaurant near his house in Georgia Favorite Music Artist: Lil Wayne (they share the same birthday) Favorite Movie: “Taken” Favorite Book: “Twelve Pillars” Favorite Athlete: Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker

Question: What do you like most about being an NCCU Eagle?
Brandon Outlaw: “The family vibe. As soon as I met Luis George (former NCCU football student-athlete now living in Georgia) he took me under his wing and treated me like family. He has introduced me to a lot of alumni and they always welcome me with open arms.”

Q: What is your major and what do you want to do after you graduate from NCCU?
BO: “My major is business with a concentration in marketing. I want to work for myself doing personal training. I’ll probably collaborate with some people I know back home and eventually start my own business.”

Q: What has been your most memorable moment at NCCU?
BO: “Since this is my first year getting constant playing time, it would have to be playing against Rutgers. I’ve known about the game since my freshman year. Against a bigger I-A school, that’s a chance to showcase your talents. I was super hype for that game. I think I ended up with 14 tackles. I’ll remember that game for the rest of my life.”

Q: What is your favorite part of game day at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium?
BO: “Walking out as a captain with my fellow captains for the coin toss. It shows leadership. It kinda feels like everything is on my shoulders, that the team feeds off of me, and, most importantly, that it’s time to go to war and perform. All of the laughing and joking is put aside. You’ve got your game face on and you’re ready to go.”

Q: Do you have any pregame rituals?
BO: “I watch different videos of Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens linebacker) to get hyped up, I take a shower to loosen up, and I say a quote that I say each morning – ‘In order to achieve you must believe and trust that you are one of the chosen few.’ I got that from my dad.”

Q: Tell me something interesting about yourself that others may not know.
BO: “I buy tennis shoes and don’t wear them. Folks say, ‘Why do you always buy Jordans and then never wear them?’ And I say, ‘One day they are going to stop selling these shoes and they will be a hot commodity. So what I paid for them I am going to sell for double my money.’ One of my goals in life is to be financially comfortable. Also, my current jersey number (#11) was the first jersey number I wore when I started playing sports. I was five years old and playing baseball.”

Q: Why football?
BO: “I guess I like the contact. My dad was a big basketball player, but all my friends played football. We always played football in the neighborhood. I tried to take after my dad and play basketball, but I just liked football better.”

Q: If you could invite any living person to W.G. Pearson cafeteria for ‘Chicken Day,’ who would it be and why?
BO: “My ‘brother,’ Calvin Russell. We call him Trey. Aside from my dad, this is one guy I’ve always looked up to since I was a little one, when I first started talking. Our parents went to high school together. I talk to him before just about every game.”

Q: How would you like to be remembered from your days on the NCCU gridiron?
BO: “As a hard worker, a student of the game and a leader.”

Q: You have an interesting middle name - Wesley Dobbs. Is there some history to that name?
BO: “My great grandfather on my mother’s side was John Wesley Dobbs (a civil rights and political leader in Atlanta). He has a street named in his honor in downtown Atlanta.” (Coincidentally, the street was named in Dobbs’ honor in 1994 by Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, who attended NCCU Law School.)

Q: What three words best describe you?
BO: “Leader. Confident. Focused.”