[
THE SCOOP] lifestyles Be Speedy, #EatGreedy Ravens safety
Matt Elam still loves lacrosse
M
att Elam entered the NFL with unusual maturity. He negotiated his own rookie contract without an agent
and even trademarked a Twitter hashtag. Then he took a second job in his fi rst NFL offseason to begin planning for life after the NFL. Elam’s life before the NFL included lacrosse at W.T. Dwyer (Fla.) High as a ball-hawking midfi elder.
When were you introduced to
lacrosse?
I started playing lacrosse my sophomore year in high school. I had a teammate from football who talked me into doing it, Nick O’Leary, who actually plays tight end at Florida State right now. He was just telling me one day during football practice that I should come out and try it. My sophomore year, I began practicing and by 11th grade, I actually made the team as a short-stick midfi elder. I got better the more I practiced. I wasn’t really a scorer for my team, but I was running around intimidating people when they had the ball. They would get scared and pass it away when I came toward them. My senior year of high school, I really took it seriously and we won the state championship.
Elam says his lacrosse experience, including a Florida state title in 2009, helped hone his lateral movement.
18 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2014>>
Your proudest moment playing lacrosse? In the state semifi nals in high school, I scored my fi rst goal and went crazy. I started running around with my hands up like I scored a goal in soccer’s World Cup.
How did lacrosse help prepare you for football?
It helped me get in shape right before spring football. For my position, it’s a lot of lateral movement and a lot of running. The speed work helped me in the end.
Do you still follow lacrosse today? I actually went to the national championship here at M&T Bank Stadium. I saw Notre Dame play [Maryland] in the semifi nals. Seeing it being played in an NFL stadium was pretty exciting. I wish I could be out there.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
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