Q&A With Jets’ George Fant: Mike White, Robert Saleh, Playoffs, Recovery From Knee Injury
Dan Kelly #DanKelly
New York’s offensive tackle George Fant opens up about his NFL career, his time with the Jets and what’s to come in this exclusive interview
One of the New York Jets starting offensive linemen has taken time out to talk with Jets Country while in preparation for the Detroit Lions this week.
Let’s get started…
We’re joined today by offensive tackle George Fant on behalf of education focused nonprofit Year Up which is a tuition-free job training program that helps young adults between the ages of 18-29 across the nation receive professional and career training.
Daniel Kelly: Please tell us about your relationship with Year Up and what it was like to represent the organization when the Jets took on the Vikings?
George Fant: I had an opportunity to partner with them for “My Cause, My Cleats,” which is a game every year when we get to partner with an organization to help shed light on an organization and talk about what they do. Year Up is a really cool organization that helps young adults help them get into different situations that would help their careers and help build their lives. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to partner with Year Up and I’m happy to see what they are doing in the community and wanted to do something cool and I like their logo as well.
What is their logo?
Fant: It’s like a cool yellow logo with a cool Year Up on the side. It looked good on the shoes for sure.
What was it like for you being back in the lineup after missing time with the knee injury?
Fant: It meant a lot to be back in the lineup. It was an injury that happened that was unexpected and wasn’t looking forward to missing that many weeks, but it happened. Had to go through the rehab process and get myself ready to play. Being back out there now means a lot, just wish we would have gotten those wins, but we’re ready to knock out these next four games.
How was it recovering from the knee injury?
Fant: I’ve been injured before and gone through the rehab process in my career so I kind of knew what to expect and knew what I had to do. I knew it was going to be a process, just did what I needed to do and to grind. I was happy to be around my family and a chance to be home and watch the kids through the process so that obviously helped out a lot. It’s a tough process and I’m just happy I got through it and now I’m back.
What’s it like playing with Mike White?
Fant: It’s just cool playing with Mike. I had an opportunity to play with Mike in college for a season. I’m happy and proud to see where he is now. I’m happy he got an opportunity to show who he is and he is playing at the highest level in this sport at the quarterback position. It’s cool to see him go out there at that level. It’s cool to see what he did last week when he took some tough hits, coming back and helping us keep fighting. We were in that game last week and we had an opportunity to win. It’s good to see Mike go out there and do that.
Do you have a funny or favorite Mike White story?
Fant: I would say back in the day when I was at Western Kentucky, I was a college basketball player. I played four years of college basketball and then I made the transition for my fifth year to play football. That was the same time Mike transferred in from South Florida. Around that time, I was still 240-260, somewhere around there, I was still able to move around the court. So, me and Mike had an opportunity to play two on two at our local gym. It was a close game, but I got beat, Mike beat me, that’s my story, I lost a game of two on two to Mike White.
What’s it like playing in the National Football League on the offensive line?
Fant: It’s one of those things, it’s different, it’s not a cool sexy position where I’m getting the ball and getting to run. It’s a grind, it’s the trenches, every play you’re hitting somebody and getting your hands on somebody. It’s a position where all five-six people have to be on the same page to make the play go, no matter what it is if it’s a run play or a pass play, I think that’s the neat part of playing on the offensive line.
Who’s the most difficult pass rusher you’ve ever faced and why?
Fant: Man, that’s tough. I would say Chandler Jones is probably the most difficult pass rusher I’ve had to play against in my career. He’s a long, lanky player, it’s hard to get your hands in him because he can get into you before you get into him. I saw a special one time, I think it was Von Miller’s pass rush camp. He actually works with his brother on some UFC stuff where he does some kind of pull push type deal and different things like that with his hands and that kind of made sense to me and it’s one of the reasons why he is who he is.
What’s your favorite NFL moment of your career?
Fant: I think it was my last year in Seattle and I was playing a big tight end role. Usually when I was in the game when it was a run play or pass blocking, but I did know that there was some routes that I had to know just in case. It was one of those situations where we needed to get the next play off and it was a pass play. I ran a route and Russell [Wilson] threw me the ball and I was open and caught the ball and I got like seven yards and I ended up falling, but it was kind of cool I got a chance to catch a pass in the NFL.
What’s it like playing for Robert Saleh?
Fant: It’s cool, man. Coach Saleh has been in a lot of different situations and he’s been in a lot of different organizations where he’s been around good coaches, so he kind of understands what we as players look for in a leader and I think he has those qualities. I think a lot of guys respect him around the league and there’s a reason why, and it’s cool to play for him.
You guys are sitting at 7-6 with a shot at the playoffs, what’s the feeling like in the locker room right now and does this team believe this team can make it to the playoffs?
Fant: The feeling right now, for us, for guys who have been in the league and played on different teams and played in the playoffs and December football, I think that’s kind of the cool part, we are playing for something in every game in December. It makes the game even better, it makes it cooler, every snap counts, every play means something. It kind of makes for the best football, playing teams who also are playing for a spot in the playoffs, it makes the game a lot better and makes it a lot cooler because we’re both playing for something and we’re both trying to get to the playoffs, so you get to see some cool football, you get to see some guys make some cool plays. It’s an opportunity to showcase who you really are. When the game is on the line and you need a play, December football, that’s the cool part about it.
What has your preparation been like this week for Detroit?
Fant: We’re playing a really good team and Detroit is rolling right now. They’ve been winning some games. They’re fighting for a spot to get in. For us, we know these next four games are important for us and we’re taking these games day by day, week by week. [Wednesday] is the most important day for us. We’ll go out there and get our install, get ready to see what we want to do to play against Detroit and what we are going to do to try to win the game. We’re excited to play them. We’re excited to be back home this week. Looking forward to having Jets’ fans in there going crazy. These four games, it’s our fourth quarter, let’s get it.
Will you be facing Lions’ standout rookie Aidan Hutchinson and what are your thoughts on him?
Fant: Yeah, I’ll be facing him. He moves around a lot. He’s a really good player. Looking forward to playing him. We’ve seen him on film a lot obviously playing other guys. He’s going to be a really good player in this league for a long time. We’re breaking down the film and seeing what we need to do.
You are going to be a free agent at the end of the season, what’s next for George Fant?
Fant: Honestly, the most important thing right now is playing these next four games at a high level and I’m trying to win these next four games. Everything else from there will take care of itself. I just want to play at a high level. I’m happy to be back to playing football in general. The rest of that stuff will take care of itself.
What would be your advice to a scout who is evaluating offensive tackles, what should they be looking for?
Fant: The finish. Being able to finish the plays, and being able to do it consistently. That’s the name of the game, not just being able to do it one or two times, but being able to do it 10 plus times a game. That would be my main thing.
Is there anything you want to say or a message you want to communicate to the fanbase?
Fant: I would just say go check out Year Up. It’s a really good program, the organization is really cool. Go check them out at yearup.org, I think the things they are doing in our community are cool. Definitely just go give them a check.
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