Going Deep: Steve Weatherford on beards, Twitter and the Dalai Lama

Not everything can be a serious, in-depth analysis of the comings and goings at New York Giants training camp. With that in mind, punter Steve Weatherford agreed on Wednesday to answer some off-beat questions.

Some of you may remember that Henry Hynoski did this during training camp last season.

I won't spoil any of the questions or answers until you get to read them. But, how many football players do you know who would drop the words, burly, girthy and transcendent into an interview, -- plus talk about the Dalai Lama? Our thanks to Weatherford for giving us a couple of minutes to do this.

Lot of guys out here rocking the beards. Who has the best one?

"I don’t have the genetic requirements for that. Living in Indiana for so long my beard grows in all white trash like."

"Zak DeOssie always comes through with a magnificent creation. If you see him at practice today he’s got the two-face. He’s got the really rough, rustic beard on this side and then it’s all cleanly manicured over here. Take pictures because it’ll be gone after practice today."

"It’s tough to say that it’s not [Tyler] Sash because that is a big burly beard, but he did cheat a little bit because he started his beard like a month before camp. Regardless, that’s a big, girthy, triumphant beard."

You are known as a workout warrior. Anyone trump you in the weight room?

"Not even close. But, Zak DeOssie is a guy that spends a lot of time in the weight room as well.

"One guy that's really approached me as far as nutrition, training and recovery routines which has surprised me because he's a guy that I look up to is [Justin] Tuck.

"He understands what I've been able to achieve bio-mechanically as far as getting myself into peak condition. What goes into getting to where I'm at as far as having a low body fat, still maintaining power and he's worked really, really hard this offseason.

"Not really just hard, but smart too. He's changed his diet, he's training more consistently and he's always been a hard worker but there's a difference between working hard and working smart. In his case I think he's been able to achieve both this offseason. He's looking really lean. I'm hoping that he stays healthy because he's hungry this year. He's sick of people saying does he still have it? That would bother me, too."

Are you ever going to get to throw a pass in a game around here?

"When we have Eli Manning, not a chance. We've got some stuff in the playbook but you look back at the history of Tom Coughlin he's not gonna go for it on fourth down with a surprise field goal when you have Eli Manning. When you're paying a guy that much money and you have that much confidence in him why put it in the hands of a punter?"

Zak DeOssie and Josh Brown? Something off the beaten track?

"Josh Brown was a seven-foot high jumper in college. Not a lot of people know that. He's a really, really good athlete."

On DeOssie: "Everybody knows about the legacy of him and his father being the only father-son Super Bowl champions, but I just think that's so cool. When you hear that last name it resonates with a lot of people, especially in this region."

Best Twitter follow among players?

"Antrel's good. He's a lot of fun. He doesn't take things too seriously and I think he gets it as far as the platform and the pedestal that he has to inspire people and entertain people.

"At the end of the day you can't put up motivational quotes every day. At some point people are like ‘I've had enough -- unfollow.' He's similar to me where he gives you a little bit of a peak into the locker room, give you some insider info without affecting the team's game plan and has a lot of fun entertaining people. It's more than just football with him, which is fun because at the very end of the day we're more than football players. We're fathers and husbands and uncles and brothers, so he gives you a little bit of a sneak peek into what his life is about as well."

Who would you like to have dinner with? Celebrity, athlete, politician, etc.

"I think the Dalai Lama would be cool. I know that's really way off the path, but he's a really interesting guy. That whole religion isn't really my thing, but his insight and his point of view on everything is transcendent of what we're about."