CFP SEMIFINAL AT THE ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE: ALABAMA VS NOTRE DAME

December 29, 2020

John Metchie

Alabama Crimson Tide

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by wide receiver John Metchie III.

Q. I wanted to ask you, you're like a world traveler, born in one country, came over to another. And you've been in a third country. What has that meant to you to be a world traveler and be part of the University of Alabama football team? And when did you hear that?

JOHN METCHIE III: It's been an honor. I think it's an honor to be part of the University of Alabama. And I think just all of my travels has just made me more cultured about to experience a lot more cultures, meet a lot of different people. That's what I think of it.

Q. Coach Sarkisian was in earlier chatting about how you came into the program behind a long list of great receivers. How important was it to learn from receivers like Jeudy and Ruggs? And secondly, how has your play this year just inspired Canadians who were interested in playing football?

JOHN METCHIE III: I think to answer the first part, I think it was a great opportunity for me last year being behind all those receivers. I think it was a good opportunity for me to learn and take advantage of it and really see how they did things then and just kind of sit back and learn from them, like who really wouldn't want that.

I think for the second part of the question, I'm not really sure how I inspire an individual person. I just really want them to be able to know that if they want to play football at the highest level, that it definitely is attainable.

Q. In the SEC Championship, you made a lot of social media buzz for that hit you had. Who taught you to tackle as a wide receiver?

JOHN METCHIE III: I guess just as a kid playing football, you play both ways. You play offense and defense, and at the end of the day, whatever happens out there, you just have to play football.

But I guess if I would give it to one person who taught me how to tackle, I'd say my brother. I'll give it to my brother, Royce. My brother, Royce, taught me how to tackle like that.

Q. Do you happen to know any players that are on the Notre Dame football team? And what have you seen from their secondary that gives you pause?

JOHN METCHIE III: No, I don't personally know anybody on the Notre Dame football team. And they have a really good secondary. Their DBs are really good. Their safety is good, and they have a solid defense overall as far as their linebacking corps and D linemen.

I think that's something we're excited and looking forward to do, something that we definitely have to prepare for.

Q. Did you ever play hockey? And if so, how was it? And why did you choose football?

JOHN METCHIE III: No, I've never played hockey. I don't think I've ever watched an actual hockey game except my little cousins, I think I watched one of his hockey games.

But no, I have no knowledge of hockey. But I played football because my brothers played it when I was little and I kind of just watched them play football. And it's the sport I fell in love with.

Q. Najee likes to call himself a member of the Ryde Outs, kind of jokingly. After the SEC Championship game do you think he deserves to be a member?

JOHN METCHIE III: Najee, he deserves to be a Ryde Out. It might be new publicly that he's a member of the Ryde Outs, but, yeah, Naj has definitely been a member of the Ryde Outs.

Q. There's a pretty decent chance DeVonta becomes the first Heisman winner at wide receiver in, like, 30 years. For those of us a little less technically versed in what makes a wide receiver great, can you explain what separates DeVonta from other people from a technical standpoint?

JOHN METCHIE III: I think what separates him the most from everybody is just his hard work and discipline. He's an extremely disciplined person and works extremely hard. And also consistency. Just shows up every day and brings his best every day. So I think that's definitely the characteristics that separate him.

Q. Earlier this week Nick Saban said you were the epitome of everything you look for in a receiver. First off, what does that mean to you? And second, to piggyback off of Chris' question, what have you learned from DeVonta that will allow you to kind of be the guy next year when he moves on?

JOHN METCHIE III: I guess that means a lot, especially coming from your head coach. That means a lot to you as a player. But also just learning from Smitty, I think, just playing with him, playing alongside him and seeing him every day, I think I'll be able to take just the focus, the focus of being able to focus on the task at hand and being able to be consistent and bring your best every day.