![]() Everything they did, they did it with such intensity and detail. On his Albanian roots and learning work ethic from his parents: I benefited from going “bigger, faster, stronger.”” ![]() “You either lean towards getting bigger, faster, stronger or injury prevention. I was skinny coming out of high school and a lot of I-AA schools wouldn’t offer me. “College strength and conditioning to me the next level. Combination of this training with my high school training was intense.” I have to thank mother nature and my parents. How did Kristjan become such an amazing athlete: Watch the full interview on YouTube and check below for more links and highlights from our chat this week: I was fortunate to get to talk to Kristjan Sokoli for over an hour on Friday and we went over his experiences of working with Pete Carroll and Tom Cable, what prevented him from becoming a center with the Seahawks, how he set modern records for big man athleticism, and why it’s important to have an open dialogue with loved ones about how much money you have. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for football.” “Talking football like this, it reminds me of how much I love the game. ![]() But as a versatile player with an unparalleled work ethic who loves football even more than finance, Sokoli hasn’t given up his dream of getting back into the NFL. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for football.”Īfter stints in the spring league and the German Football League, Sokoli has recently starting training as a left tackle with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL, a team that opens its season on April 17th against the Michigan Panthers on NBC. Sokoli has literally played in all three phases of the game to keep his career aspirations alive, and not even a torn ACL with the Giants or a two-year career at Merrill Lynch has stopped him from reaching for his next NFL opportunity. I’ve had good luck in my career, that was one of the bad dealings.” Then the GM got fired and I got cut in June. I was activated to the roster as a defensive end for the last two games of the season. “That’s a decision we made, we went to the Colts, and it didn’t look like we made a bad decision. “My agent said at the time, ‘NFL careers are fragile, you have a small window of opportunity where people know you and will give you a shot, let’s try to get you a shot at defensive line,’” said Sokoli on today’s episode of the Seaside Joe podcast. Sokoli put forth his best effort to become Seattle’s “center of the future” but when the opportunity came up to continue his career with the Colts-but as a defensive end-that’s when the carousel between the two sides of the ball and a bad luck streak prevented him from consistently hanging onto a 53-man roster spot with a team. Thankfully, Seattle was getting a player who would have been willing to get the coffee if what the Seahawks needed was somebody to go get coffee. Watt… and that may have also been part of the problem.īecoming an NFL player has a lot to do with work ethic, strength, athleticism, size, and IQ, but you must also leave ample room for the factor of “luck.” Sokoli had never played offensive line before when the Seahawks drafted him in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft and not only did Pete Carroll tell him that they wanted to move him to offense, they wanted Kristjan to learn the most difficult position on the line. Watt, and Tristan Wirfs had a longer broad jump only 20 players have had a faster short shuttle only 12 had a faster three-cone and only 17 were faster in the 40-yard dash than Sokoli’s 4.86.Īs an athlete he’s part Steve Hutchinson, part J.J. Among those weighing at least 290, only Mario Williams jumped higher only Williams, J.J. One year after Mack was drafted by the Raiders, former teammate Kristjan Sokoli posted better numbers at his 2015 pro day than we’ve ever seen by a player of his size in NFL Scouting Combine history. But what may have shocked scouts more than finding a future All-Pro at Buffalo was realizing that he might not have even been the best athlete on the Bisons defense. And when Mack went to the 2014 combine, he solidified himself as a top-five pick by having better measurables that most humans in football history. He is all of those things and then some.īack in 2013, NFL scouts were suddenly flocking to the University of Buffalo to get a closer look at a potential diamond-out-of-nowhere by the name of Khalil Mack. Whether you need a center, a nose tackle, a defensive end, a left tackle, a workout buddy, or a financial advisor, trust me you should talk to Kristjan Sokoli.
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