Interviews

Published on April 26th, 2020 | by Percy Crawford

0

St. Louis BattleHawks, Carlton Agudosi Remains Positive Despite Abrupt XFL Ending.

Carlton Agudosi knows opportunity will come knocking again and he will be ready!

The old adage is, when one door closes another one opens. Former St. Louis BattleHawks receiver, Carlton Agudosi hopes this old adage holds true in the very near future. His BlackHawks was in first place in the East Division of the XFL standings when the season and potentially the organization came to an abrupt end because of the Corona Virus pandemic. Optimistic for another chance, the 6’6 220-pound stalwart is continuing to prepare his mind and body for the next phone call. Not quite ready for a 9-5, Agudosi intends to be on the football field even if it means going to Canada, although, the New Jersey native knows he’s an NFL talent. Whatever it takes is the motto.

Check out Agudosi’s story and he is very candid in discussing the XFL’s season ending, his future options and much more!

How are you doing?

Carlton Agudosi: I’m doing good. I have this routine that I’m sticking to. This has been my life as a professional; working out, staying in and not doing anything. Not much has changed except that you can’t go to the gym and shit. You gotta get creative with your workouts, get a routine and stick to it.

Are you waking up at a certain time or as long as you’re putting in the work, you’re not being that strict? 

Carlton Agudosi: Yeah! I try not to sleep past 8 am and go to sleep no later than midnight, so I can at least get my 8-hours. And I want to be on a schedule because it’s easy to go to bed at 2 and wake up at 12 and then 2-weeks go by and you’re wondering why you looking how you looking. I just try to stay in shape, have a routine and stick to it. Do the same thing and try to be consistent with it.

You’re a receiver and stand 6’6 and weigh 220 pounds, so you don’t have as much wiggle room as some of these smaller guys.

Carlton Agudosi: Oh yeah definitely! With my body type, I can put on and takeoff weight pretty easy. I’m just focusing on eating healthier. I want to keep on playing at least another 5-7 years, so I’m just going to keep taking care of my body and doing all the little things. Nutrition is really important. It makes a big difference.

St. Louis BattleHawks were right in the thick of things, you start seeing games postponed or cancelled, did you ever think the season would be cancelled?

Carlton Agudosi: Honestly, I didn’t think it would get cancelled until the NBA got cancelled. And even then, the next day we were thinking, “Maybe they won’t cancel our season because 2-days had passed and there had been no news.” And we were still practicing. So, I didn’t think the season would be cancelled, but when the NBA got cancelled, I had my doubts that we would continue. It was unfortunate. We were on a run to make them playoffs. We were definitely going to do that and have a chance to go to that championship. I think it would have been this weekend in Houston. That shit would have been live as hell, man. It’s disappointing, but I guess everything happens for a reason, you know.

I think everyone who was in that league was determined, hungry and resilient. With that being said, I think 80% of that league will get another opportunity.

Carlton Agudosi: Yeah! The mental part of it is crazy. People think it’s easy because all you gotta do is workout every day. Nah, it’s not that simple. You have to tap into a different mindset and a different mode. If your mind is not locked in, no matter what you do, I promise it’s not going to be to the best of your ability. I see it for myself. I know by looking back and reflecting, I know them times where, I was working out, but mentally, was I locked in and able to do what I had to do? The answer is, no, but as you get older you learn. So, this is a setback here, but I’m going to have another opportunity. Canada is still there. And people are thinking about maybe buying the XFL. I feel like there are going to be opportunities there, man. So, if I were to give anyone advice that was in that league, I would say, keep going. Why not? You’re unemployed, you’re still going to get paid… I feel like you gotta keep going. That’s all I know.

It’s sad because the XFL got it right this time. They had some real football people in there and the league was going so smooth.

Carlton Agudosi: I’ll tell you this, dawg, that was the most fun I had playing football since I was in high school; high school/pop warner, bro. I’m talking about fun. The crowd be going fucking crazy, the game goes pretty fast and you’re out there with all your brothers. We all lived together and was going through the same thing. It was kind of like a junior college atmosphere. You’re with your boys every day, eating, sleeping and working out. And mind you, we didn’t have a CBA agreement. We were in meetings and stuff and there was nobody to tell them that we had to leave at this time like the NFL because we had a collective bargaining agreement there. So, we would be at that facility all motherfucking day. It was a lot of bonding, bro. It was so much fun playing with your brothers out there. The fact that it ended is heartbreaking, man.

Do you stay in touch with your teammates?

Carlton Agudosi: Yeah, we definitely stay in touch. We still talk in our group chats. We all on Instagram reaching out to each other. We’re all brothers. We bonded very quickly. We were in fucking Earth City, Missouri, bruh. There is nothing there. We’re in Missouri, nobody knows each other, they just threw us together… it’s crazy, man. We had to really come together as a team in a month and a half to two months. We really had to come together, but it all worked out.

Do you feel like you were just hitting your stride because sometimes when you haven’t played in a minute, it takes 4 or 5 games to hit that rhythm?

Carlton Agudosi: I was definitely getting my legs back under me. I was making impact plays every week. I was mainly on special teams a lot. I had blocked a kick. A week later I was, “Special Teams Player of the Week,” two weeks in a row. The last game we played; I blocked another kick. My role was expanding. It was definitely heartbreaking for me personally because I was ascending, getting better and making plays. It was a blow, man.

What keeps you motivated to keep going?

Carlton Agudosi: What keeps me motivated… that’s a good question. What keeps me motivated is just, me. Me wanting to keep going and believing in myself. I have a true-true belief in myself that I’m better than a lot of guys in the NFL. I have seen them, been against them, I’ve been against the best. I went against Pat Pete [Patrick Peterson’ every day for a year and a half because I was with the Arizona Cardinals. So, I’ve been against the best and I’ve seen the best. I seen Larry Fitz [Larry Fitzgerald], DeShaun Jackson; All-Pro and Hall of Fame players and I’m told that I’m on that level and I can get there. They see the talent, so there is no way I’m going to stop. Especially since opportunities are still being presented to us with Canada and things like that. The motivation is there for me internally and also being pursued to keep playing. When you have those two things, it’s pretty motivating to keep going. I’ve been doing this since I was like, 5. So, this is literally all I know. Training and executing and working for myself. So, to be in that real world, I’m not at that point where I want to do that yet, you know. Once you do that, there’s no coming back.

I love the Cervino Family. They are all great guys. How do you know them and in particular, Luke?

Carlton Agudosi: Luke, that’s my boy. When I first met, Luke… you know how Luke is. He talks different and his attitude was different. I was like, “I like this dude right here.” I haven’t really met too many white boys like, Luke. And he was a baller too. He was a hooper. And his dad [Bobby Cervino] used to give me hella advice. He would talk to my mom and give her advice because we didn’t have that much experience with recruiting and all the stuff that comes with it. His dad would help me out. I was getting recruited for football and basketball, so he would help me out with just little gems here and there. Luke my boy, man. We played in Dallas together in AAU, you know what I’m saying. I’m a bigger guy, he’s a shorter guy, but it didn’t matter, it was all about the heart. He got heart. He a good dude and his family is good people. They 100, bro. There are not too many real people, man.

All facts! I wanna see you back on that field, so keep working hard and I’m sure it’s going to happen for you. Give me some closing thoughts, my man.

Carlton Agudosi: I appreciate you, man. Real talk. This is like therapy for real, just talking. Good luck with everything. Thank you!

Follow Carlton on Instagram @youngduce19 and on Twitter @Hungry_Humble22



About the Author


Comments are closed.

Back to Top ↑