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ROGER MILLSIn his second season, Ryan Nece has raised his game to become a starter. Now, we raise his profile to give you his takes on dressing, the Lion King, being biracial, homeless people, roaches and the Seven Dwarfs.
RM: The word is out that you violate the dress code and that you're, to quote one of your teammates, "a little too Bugle Boyish."
RN: You know what, I remember being in L.A., where dressing and appearance was everything. Now, appearance is only going to go so far. I know there's a time and a place to dress nicely. It's a bad rap. I don't have any Bugle Boy in my closet. That's a lie. Again, some of the styles I bring from California, they just don't know. They get a little confused.
RM: Did you enjoy the movie the Lion King?
RN: Yeah, I did. You know, Jermaine Phillips is a big Disney guy and he's already on the list to get the DVD and I told him to get me on the list, too, because I want mine. I thought it was a good movie, a really good movie.
RM: In the real world, wouldn't Scar have prevailed?
RN: Not necessarily. In the real world bad guys don't always win. The good guys win sometimes, but the problem is no one ever knows when the good guys win. So we don't think the good guys ever win.
RM: You know why Simba didn't eat Timon and Pumba by the time he became an adult? Because he was soft.
RN: I don't think so. I think they developed a relationship. That's the real reason. Once he got past the natural desires he had as an animal, his love and friendship took over. That's true of most things. I don't know if Disney was that sophisticated in their planning, but that's how it is.
RM: As a biracial person filling out certain forms, what do you check: black, white or other?
RN: I usually mark both, black and white. I think the strangest thing is how people look at you and identify you. If I'm in a group of black men and hanging out, they are going to perceive me as being black. If I'm out with a group of white men, then they perceive me as being white. It's very interesting how that happens between the groups.
RM: But back in the day you had to chose either black or white.
RN: I have never marked one. It's my preference to mark both. I'm not one or the other. I think it's unfair for you to have to mark one. Look at society, there are a lot of people who aren't one or the other. It's a challenge because it comes back to trying to identify who you really are. You are mixed. You're not one or the other. You can get caught up in being one or the other.
RM: As a Californian, do you notice more black-white couples in the South?
RN: No, I wouldn't say I have noticed more. What I have noticed in Florida, more than in California, is the obvious mixes from the islands. You get mixes from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Caribbean. I've noticed those mixes. Not necessarily the black-white mix.
RM: From a legal standpoint, is there such a thing as a jury of your peers?
RN: No. The legal system won't allow you to have all your peers on the jury. It's never going to be real enough to have a jury of all your peers. I don't think they could ever get that. It's a myth from the judicial side of things.
RM: Do you give money to homeless people?
RN: I try to. I might give them some bottled water I have in the car, or whatever I have in the car, food-wise. I try to give them something.
RM: Do you believe some of them are scamming?
RN: Some may be scamming, but I think to myself, "If this is going to make someone happier, some kind of satisfaction, then let me do it."
RM: There's a fine line between compassion and gullibility.
RN: True. We do struggle with that. In your mind you wish they could go and find a job. But on the other side of your mind you think they may just have been on the other side of the stick. They might really need the handout and need someone to help them out. I remember there were times in my life when I needed a handout. So you have to trust your instincts.
RM: If the law is wrong, can acting against it be right?
RN: That's an interesting question. Laws are made to be broken. But we have to follow the laws of the land. . . . I would say I would do my best to follow the law of the land.
RM: We say that all men are created equal, but isn't that a myth?
RN: It's not true. We say all people are created equal, but in our nature we don't treat people that way.
RM: I argue that as a species we can't.
RN: I would say you're right. It's difficult going into human interaction without the presupposition that some people are here and others are here. And it's based on the way you're dressed, your skin color. I'm going to come into a mind-set, a category for you. That's where the inequality comes in.
RM: Why are there roaches in the world?
RN: I wish I had an answer. I can't stand roaches. They only come out at night or in the dark. And they come out in the most inopportune times. You might have guests over and you have never seen a roach in your house and then one crawls across the floor. And you're embarrassed as hell.
RM: That's God's warped sense of humor.
RN: They have some value. If you break it down, there's a lot of insects out there that have no value. Mosquitoes, flies. I don't know, some kind of reptiles enjoy those insects.
RM: Would you rather have a great reputation and no honor or great honor and no reputation?
RN: I would say great reputation. It's hard for a man to develop a great reputation. As for honor, honor is in the eye of the beholder. Your reputation is universal. It takes a man a whole life time to build a reputation and an instant to lose it.
RM: You are familiar with the Seven Dwarfs?
RN: Yes.
RM: Which one are you, and why?
RN: I'd say Doc, because he's the one, to me, that is the quiet leader. He goes to work and gets the job done. The other ones are restricted by the category of their names. They can't get out the box. Doc's got free rein.
RM: Okay, in the locker room, who's Happy?
RN: I'd say Justin Smith. I've never seen the man without a smile. Never.
RM: Grumpy?
RN: Chuck Darby. It's not like he's always miserable, but he has the aggressive, grumpiness to him. He's got that edge to him.
RM: Sneezy?
RN: Todd Yoder. Man, that guy is always in the training room all the time. He's always got a runny nose or something like that.
RM: I'm going to guess Sleepy is Tim Wansley.
RN: You hit that one right on the head.
RM: Bashful?
RN: It definitely isn't Simeon (Rice). I'm going with Dewayne White. He's very reserved, very quite. It could be because he's a rookie, but I look at his character and he's off on his own. He's going to hang back and wait and see what the action will be before jumping in there.
RM: Be careful here, who's Dopey?
RN: I'm going to have to say Chris Simms. The other day in the locker room we were making a joke about (Colts tight end) Dallas Clark and his name being Dallas. And someone said, "He must have gone to Texas." It wasn't even that funny of a joke, but the man just couldn't get it. He kept saying, "No, I went to Texas. He went to Iowa." We kept saying, "Chris, it was a joke." And he kept saying, "I went to Texas, he went to Iowa." He couldn't figure it out, right over his head.
RM: Dopey?
RN: Dopey!