Minnesota Vikings’ Mike Singletary talks: Bob Sansevere listens

The eyes? Once I saw it myself, I could understand what everybody was talking about. There were guys I played against who said, "Mike, what are you taking that gets you really hyped up?" I said, "I don't take anything. I don't take drugs at all." Commentators said, "Are you trying to intimidate the other people?" No. All I was trying to do is be able to see everything. For me, if you are staring at one thing, you can't see everything. It was really trying to dilate my eyes and the wider I could get, the better it was going to be. And the longer I played, the wider my eyes got because I continued to work on my vision. And that's all I was trying to do: see from sideline to sideline.

I think my kids have seen the eyes. They know the look: "OK, Daddy is serious."

My goal is to be one of the greatest coaches of all time. Obviously, I have a lot of work to do.

Contrary to probably what a lot of people would think, I think I’m off to a great start. I learned a lot in my first stint as a head coach (with the San Francisco 49ers). I’m really excited to be here (as the Vikings’ linebackers coach) and get a chance to look at it from another angle. I had a chance to experience something (in San Francisco). It was kind of like the orange and the lemon. They have the same texture. From the outside looking in, you think it's wonderful. When you’re in it, it's another thing. You have to taste it and you’ll see the difference.

Leslie (Frazier) knows that I love him. We’ve been friends for a long time. I don't have many friends. Maybe three or four. He and I hit it off from the very beginning and have been friends ever since. If you were to cut us open at the core, you would find the same thing in there. You would find honesty. You would find love for fellow man. You would find convictions. There are certain things we can't do. Certain things we won't do. One thing Les and I always have been is consistent.

As a kid, I always dreamed of doing something to help lead the world to be a better place … being able to make a significant difference in the lives of people and quality of life. That was something as a kid I thought of often.

I was told if I ever ran for office I’d be dead very quickly because of the politics involved. There are a lot of things about our country that are corrupt. And I’m not someone who compromises. If something is a certain color, I’m going to tell you it's that color. If something is not good, I’m going to tell you it's not good. I’m not willing to compromise what I know to be true. For so long, our country has been running on lies. Truth is something that few people really want to hear or deal with. I would call it what it is. For us as a country, we deal with so many things on the surface and we’ll let the next guy fix it, but we’re not going to fix it because of what it would cost — maybe our lives. I saw good people really get hurt. They went into it thinking that, "If I can see the problem, I can fix it." There are just too many people that, the way it is, it works for them. And as long as it's working for them, you’re not going to screw it up.

If I had a time machine, I would like to go back to the 1940s and ’50s. The segregation part of it, the persecution (was an issue). But I would like to go back to the ’40s and ’50s because I believe America was at its greatest. I feel it was a time when America was really striving to take the next step in terms of being a great country, being a God-fearing country, being all that it has been created to be. After that, I think we’ve taken a turn. We haven't quite been able to get back on the right road. America really stood for something at that time. It stood for good. It stood for allegiance. It stood for honor. It stood for respect. It stood for work ethic. It stood for all of the great things that any great country would be associated with. Now when we talk about America, we talk about America in a very shallow sense. I’m not sure we understand where we are as a country right now, who we are.

There were a couple of cartoons I liked as a kid. "Mighty Mightor" was one. I liked "Ultraman." I liked "Popeye." He was a bad dude.

If I could have any superhero superpower, I’d want to be able to see the future. I’d use it in such a way to give people the opportunity to correct where they’re about to go.

In high school, besides football, I ran track. Basically, I threw the shot put.

Worst thing I ever did as a kid? One day, my mom and I were driving down the road. I was a pretty good shot with a slingshot. We stopped at a red light and there was a store that had a sign written in glass letters. I was shooting and I wanted to hit one of those letters. I hit it and cracked it. The guy came out of the store. My mom didn't know what was going on. She just thought, "Stop shooting that sling shot." The guy came out and said, "What kind of kid are you raising here? What's going on?" Made us pay for it. But he never fixed it. It stayed like that for a very long time. I probably was 8 or 9 years old. That was totally embarrassing.

I would get grumpy after a loss because I believe that you put too much time into the win. I really felt there was no one preparing like I was. It was a very selfish idea, and it took me a while to grow up and understand I wasn't the only guy playing. There were other perspectives. Mine was, "If everybody prepared like me, we wouldn't lose." I remember (former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator) Buddy Ryan saying, "Who do you think you are? Do you know these guys? You play with them, but do you know them? These guys want to win just like you do. But you don't know them. You’re too busy trying to be the greatest ever to play, but you don't even have time for your teammates. And you’re supposed to be a leader." He just hit me that day. I thought he was going to speak highly of me when I told him that (about preparation) because of how dedicated I was. It was just the opposite. I really began to take more notice of my teammates. It was pre-Super Bowl.

I am a nice guy. Maybe my facial expressions don't always show it, but I love life. I love to laugh. I love dancing, love singing. But for me, I kind of make that investment at home. If you talk to my wife or my kids, they’ll tell you, "Daddy is really funny. He loves to laugh. He loves joking. He loves dancing." That was one of my goals as a father — to make sure the people closest to me knew the best of me.

There are several funny movies that come to mind. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." The first time I saw that, I was in the aisle laughing. I remember an old Richard Pryor movie, "Which Way Is Up?" There was another movie with Steve Martin: "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." The first time I saw that, my wife and I were at the Pro Bowl and I was cracking up.

I can give you my top three favorite movies. Probably my No. 1 movie would be "Forrest Gump." Another movie I watch two or three times a year is "Jerry Maguire." I loved "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. "Scent of a Woman." I’m a big Al Pacino fan.

I really love Al Pacino. In "Scent of a Woman," he was at his best. I love Denzel Washington. He does an outstanding job. The best actor of all time, in my mind, is Jimmy Stewart.

Favorite actress? I like Katharine Hepburn. I think Meryl Streep is really good. Cicely Tyson, I think, was an outstanding actress.

I really appreciate honesty.

If I knew it was my last meal, it would have to be Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is, to me, the best. The stuffing. The turkey. The black-eyed peas. Macaroni and cheese. Candied yams. Collard greens. Something good to drink. Sweet potato pie. Pumpkin pie. Pecan pie. It just goes on and on. That's the best meal for me.

The Bible is my favorite book. "Point Man" is a very good book about what it means to be a man, what it means to lead your family, what it means to stand when you may be the only one. It was one of those books that made an impact.

My friends would say I’m real. They would say I’m serious. They would say I’m consistent. What you see is what you get. They would say I have strong convictions. I’m a very principled guy. I would die for something I believe in. I’ll stand for something I believe in.

I’m a huge fan of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett. And then from rhythm and blues, I like Barry White. Ray Charles. I love country western. Willie Nelson. Hank Williams Jr.

The best advice? My mother gave me a lot of advice. She said, "Son, when you look for the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, make sure you don't go for the gold. Make sure you don't look just at the surface. You want a woman that is able to be there when it really, really gets tough. You want a woman who's not afraid to work. You want a woman who's got some substance to her. When you leave for work you know, beyond a shadow of doubt, it's a woman you can trust. Don't get married unless you know you can't live without that person."

It would have been easier for me to deny who I am rather than say (wife) Kim was not the one. I saw her from a distance one day while walking. She was on the other side (of the street) at Baylor. I saw her and thought, "I like her. That could be my wife." And then not long after that, I heard a couple of guys talking about her. They talked about why they didn't want to take her on a date. It was because she didn't do anything. She was boring. So I even liked her more. Not long after that, I was in the library. I always had a table by myself in the corner. I was doing some calculus. She came up and she said, "You look like you know what you’re doing. I’m not the best at calculus. Do you think you can help me a bit?" I looked up and saw her, and I said, "I certainly can help you." Of course, I was flunking. We got into a conversation. We hit it off right away. She was like my best friend right away. We were on our first date. We had talked a few times on the phone and met at the library to study a couple times. I knew that I loved her. I’d been around a lot of girls, knew a lot of girls. But none like this. I stopped the car. This is our first date. I said, "You know what? I don't want to see you anymore. I don't want to be around you any more unless you tell me you’ll be my wife." She looked at me and said, "OK." She's an amazing woman.

What do I want my epitaph to say? I would like to be able to say what Jesus said, "It is finished." The job that he came here to do in 33 years, he did that job. He ran that race and he won. For me, when it's all said and done, I’d like for people to know that this race I’m running, I’m going to run it well, run it hard, run it right.

Bob Sansevere can be reached at [email protected].

Sign up for Newsletters and Alerts