The blindside protector for the Kansas City Chiefs, Eric Fisher, joined Chiefs Wire to talk about football, barbecue and his 1970 Chevelle.
Kansas City Chiefs LT Eric Fisher joined Chiefs Wire managing editor Charles Goldman in collaboration with Kingsford Charcoal. Fisher spoke on a number of different topics including Patrick Mahomes’ contract extension, Super Bowl LIV, barbecuing using Kingsford’s Hardwood Pellets and much, much more.
Q: Let’s start with the topic du jour, Patrick Mahomes — the half-billion-dollar man. How excited were you to see your quarterback rewarded for all of the success he’s seen on and off the field these past two seasons?
Fisher: “He deserves every bit of it. It’s been really fun being able to be on his blindside and take care of him. To be a guy that has the character that he does — first off, his character trumps his athletic ability because he’s an awesome guy. But to see a guy that has the combination of the character and athleticism — It’s kind of hard to put into words. I was excited to see him make his home in Kansas City for a long time.”
Q: Are the stakes a little bit higher now, knowing you’ll be protecting the only player in sports history to receive such an investment?
Fisher: “Yeah, I’m not going to change my mentality at all. What’s nice about Pat (Mahomes) is, he’s still the same guy. He’s still the same quarterback — the same person on and off the field. And we all work to improve each and every day. Coach Reid holds us to a high standard to do stuff like that — stay the course. Obviously, it’s a different year and there’s a lot going on. I’m a big, ‘Control what you can control’ kind of guy. I’m just doing everything I can do — Pat’s doing everything he can do — to have success in whatever situations we’re put in.”
Q: Speaking of Andy Reid — you’re one of the few players on the team who has been around since Reid arrived in Kansas City back in 2013. How special was it for you to see him finally win his first Super Bowl title?
Fisher: “You know, it’s been something that has been in the making for quite some time. I know Coach Reid is beyond dedicated to his craft and one of the best to ever do it. To see him hoist that trophy in February, I mean that was a special experience after being with him for the last seven years. To have the ups and downs that he’s had over the years — coming so close — being able to finally get that thing after all the years in Philly and then in Kansas City — it was special. I might have been happier to see him win it than I was for myself.”
Q: I mean, you had to be a little bit happy for yourself, because you had a tough season too. You start off the season with the big win on the road, then practice the following week — the injury happens and you try to push through it but only make it a few snaps into Week 2 against the Raiders. Then you kind of take a back seat there with the injury. Can you take us back through the injury, the recovery process and eventually getting back to action in Week 11?
Fisher: “It was very trying for myself. I’ve never really had a midseason surgery before. I remember it was really hot in the Jacksonville game, recovery is a big part of it afterward. Then during Friday’s practice, something wasn’t feeling right and I tried to battle through that. Then I think I sealed the deal there against Oakland. Going back to — control what you can control. Obviously, that situation was out of my control.
“I took it upon myself to make sure I had a good attitude in the recovery process. I tried to come back for the Green Bay game and had a setback there. Again, control what you can control. I came back for the Mexico game, where we won out the season. As a player and a person anytime you deal with an injury it’s a challenging situation. I did my best to handle it and I ended up getting a ring on my finger.“
Q: Let’s give you a little credit here. The Chiefs were 11-0 when you started in 2019 including the postseason. I think you were credited for one sack during the season. What possessed you to come back and have such a good performance down the stretch there?
Fisher: “Those are some pretty cool stats, but I’m not a stat guy. I’m a guy who likes working hard and doing my job to the best of my ability. The one thing I’ll promise myself is, that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that each and every season I’m improving. I really take that to heart. Injury or no injury — it was my determination to go out there and to do my job for the team, for Pat (Mahomes), and for coach (Andy Reid). I think having that attitude brought that success on. It isn’t over yet. We’ve got a lot of work to do and big things on the horizon. It’s definitely something I try to look back on as a reminder — the pictures, the trophy, the ring, of course. I still haven’t seen the ring, but I am looking forward to it.“
Q: I know I saw a couple of your teammates posting on social media that they had been sized for their rings. Do you have any idea when you’ll be getting yours?
Fisher: “I haven’t heard a thing. I did do the sizing thing. They had to send me a special one because I have quite messed up fingers, so I had to go with my middle finger which is the straightest one. I think I was a 16.5 (ring size) so it’s going to be a big old sucker. I’m looking forward to seeing it, I haven’t seen it. It’s been interesting, I don’t know what it’s like to celebrate a Super Bowl — but I know what it’s like to celebrate a Super Bowl during a global pandemic.”
Q: What have been the biggest challenges for you with everything taking place this offseason in a virtual setting?
Fisher: “Virtual meetings were obviously unique. I think our coaches set us up for success and we kind of went through meetings like we normally would in the meeting room. It’s pretty amazing what you can do with technology these days and we made the most of it. We had our meeting four days a week and got to the new stuff and went over old stuff. Obviously, Coach Reid is not a complacent guy and he’s setting us up for the future.”
Q: I know you haven’t had an opportunity to work on the field with any of the new guys yet, but going off the virtual meetings, what have your impressions been from Mike Remmers, Lucas Niang, Yasir Durant, Darryl Williams, and Jovahn Fair thus far?
Fisher: “Yeah, we’ve got a great room set up. I’m excited to meet all these guys. It’s kind of funny — kind of different to meeting virtually because you can’t shake anybody’s hands. But we’ve got a good reason for that. Brett Veach has set us up for success and has made sure that we have depth where we need depth and I think we’ve got a great O-Line group. We had one of our best years as an overall unit last year. So we’re just looking to improve for the future.”
Q: You’ve played next to a lot of different left guards since joining the Chiefs — last season alone you had Andrew Wylie and Stefen Wisniewski. Do you have any indication yet of who you might be playing next to in 2020?
Fisher: “To say ‘a lot of’ is starting to become an understatement. I don’t know I think I’m in the double digits now — playing next to different guards. I’m not sure which one of the guys I’ll play next to. I think that’s kind of what training camp is for — to sort out and see what the best options are. But whoever it is, we’ll get on the same page and keep rolling. I enjoyed being next to (Stefen) Wisniewski. He’s a great guy, obviously, veteran guy who has won a few Super Bowls. I wish him the best, but whoever I’ll be playing with next will be great.”
Q: Alright let’s get into the BBQ, I know you’re a big fan of smoking and I see that you’ve been using Kingsford’s Hardwood pellets. Can you tell me a bit about that product? What you like about it and so on?
Fisher: “For sure. Backtrack to last week — the 4th of July in Michigan is quite a special holiday and we had the whole family up here at the lake and we had quite a good time. We did some smoking and barbecuing on the grill and stuff like that. We did some ribs and some pork butt. Kingsford has come out with their pellet brand which is absolutely awesome. It was really amazing opening the bag of Kingsford pellets. It’s just a whole different smell, like you just cut up a batch of wood. It’s 100% hardwood, there are no additives. They come in multiple different flavors, they have Maple, Cherrywood, Hickory, Signature and Classic. It was really cool having the family around and prepping all the ribs and all the meat and putting it on the grill. We had quite the barbecue. Obviously, being in Kansas City, you have a whole different appreciation for barbecue. I’m no expert at barbecue, but just like with football, I want to get better at everything that I do. And it continues to be a great summer to hone my skills on the barbecue and train while I’m here.”
Q: What I want to know is when can I get some of those dry rub ribs that you posted on Twitter? What dry rub do you use, do you make your own?
Fisher: “I’m an experimental guy [with my dry rub]. I kind of open up the cabinet and see what’s in there and kind of throw some stuff together. [The ribs] came out great. Like I said we had about 20 people and did about six racks of ribs. We did the 3-2-1 method. Obviously, Mitch Schwartz, I talk to him often about Barbecue. He’s ‘Mitch in the Kitch’ and I’m trying to be ‘Fish in the Kitch.’ It doesn’t rhyme as well, but I bounce ideas off of him and he helps me and keeps me going. It’s nice to have him to guide me through the grilling world.”
Q: I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask, what is your go-to barbecue joint in Kansas City?
Fisher: “That is tough. There’s so much good Barbecue, but if I had to go to one for the rest of my life, I’d be going to Jack Stack Barbecue. Jack’s actually a buddy of mine now and I’ve known him for a few years. They’ve got some good Barbecue over there.”
Q: I know you’re a big car guy. You have a name for that ‘68 Chevelle you put back together?
Fisher: “Yeah, it’s actually a ‘70. It was probably a four-year project, I think from about 2014-2018. It’s funny that you bring up the name, because I actually do have a name for it. It’s called, ‘Natural Disaster.'”
Q: Natural Disaster?
“Yeah. So I think back in 2015, Detroit flooded, and the shop that I had it in completely flooded and the car was underwater. So I had to deal with rust and all sorts of water damage. Then we had an incident where we actually burned the car to the ground. A little welding misfire — that was unfortunate. So we’ve had a fire and water incident and we’re hoping it stops there.
“Yeah, so just like cars have to have great fuel, you’ve got to put great fuel in your pellet smoker. It’s been a fun summer barbecuing, working on the cars and training but I’m excited to get back to it.“
