By Vaughn McClureFormer Notre Dame and Buffalo Grove star Tom Zbikowski has started the last two games for the Baltimore Ravens in place of injured free safety Ed Reed. If Reed remains sidelined with a hip injury, Zbikowski -- who had an interception in each of the last two games -- would start against his hometown Bears on Sunday.
We bounced a few topics off Zbikowski during a phone interview today:
On ex-Irish teammate Ryan Grant's 62-yard TD run Sunday:
"Tears up the Bears again, man, with a long run! You know what I love? I love seeing good dudes succeed. That guy spent two or three years on the practice squad and made it the hard way. He's proving everyone wrong."
Photo: Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski breaks up a pass intended for the Lions' Calvin Johnson. (Nick Wass/AP)
On Notre Dame's hiring of Brian Kelly:
"We'll see. It's a tough job to have. You're going to be expected to win and win often and early. He's done a good job at other places, but Notre Dame is another beast. I don't know much about the guy, never met him, but hopefully this is the guy."
On Charlie Weis:
"He'll be coaching somewhere. He's too good of a coach not to be in the NFL or somewhere in college. I think he'll be in the NFL as an offensive coordinator pretty soon."
On close friend and Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija:
"Hopefully, I'm going to see him starting pretty soon, or having a bigger role. I know he's looking forward to it. He's been working his tail off to be that type of pitcher for the Cubs. He'll be there eventually. People have to understand that pretty much all through college, he was playing baseball strictly off of talent. The minor details of pitching, there's nothing but him getting better from here on out."
On playing alongside Ray Lewis:
"If you want to make it to the NFL, that's the person you model yourself after. He's a guy that loves the game and studies the game like a madman. He does everything as hard as you possibly can. The biggest thing is how much he's overcome in his career, and he's still going strong."
"We'll see. It's a tough job to have. You're going to be expected to win and win often and early. He's done a good job at other places, but Notre Dame is another beast. I don't know much about the guy, never met him, but hopefully this is the guy."
On Charlie Weis:
"He'll be coaching somewhere. He's too good of a coach not to be in the NFL or somewhere in college. I think he'll be in the NFL as an offensive coordinator pretty soon."
On close friend and Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija:
"Hopefully, I'm going to see him starting pretty soon, or having a bigger role. I know he's looking forward to it. He's been working his tail off to be that type of pitcher for the Cubs. He'll be there eventually. People have to understand that pretty much all through college, he was playing baseball strictly off of talent. The minor details of pitching, there's nothing but him getting better from here on out."
On playing alongside Ray Lewis:
"If you want to make it to the NFL, that's the person you model yourself after. He's a guy that loves the game and studies the game like a madman. He does everything as hard as you possibly can. The biggest thing is how much he's overcome in his career, and he's still going strong."
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