Sunday, August 25, 2002
Five questions with Jared Lorenzen
By Ryan Ernst, rernst@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Highlands graduate and Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen won the Mr. Football award his senior year and led the Bluebirds to a state title. As a freshman at UK, he set six NCAA records en route to gaining 3,827 total yards.
He also has demanded attention for his unique size at the position — 6-feet-4 and flirting with 300 pounds for much of his college career.
After losing his starting job last year as a sophomore, Lorenzen won his spot back and looked impressive late in the season. Over the last five games, he averaged 376 yards passing.
This year, Lorenzen again looks more like a lineman as he battles his weight and increased expectations. Lorenzen recently took time to answer five questions from Enquirer reporter Ryan Ernst.
1. You wear No. 22. It's not a very common number for a quarterback. How did you end up with it?
You can thank Matt Mason from Highlands for that. My freshman year he was (No.) 22, and I thought it was interesting that someone could have that number and wear it as a quarterback. After he left, no one had the number, so I took it. Everyone asked me about it when I got (to Kentucky). People like to ask me if there's any special reason for it, but I just like it and think it's different.
2. People like to talk about your arm strength. Tell me about the farthest you've ever thrown a football.
Eighty-two yards was the farthest. It was probably about two years ago. I'm not going to lie, I had a great wind behind me. I just kind of threw it up and it kept going. But most of the time I'm just over 76 or somewhere around there.
3. I've heard people use a few different nicknames to describe you — J. Lo, the Hefty Lefty, the Blond Bomber. Do you have a favorite?
I love J. Lo. I really do. It's awesome. I mean look at Jennifer Lopez, anytime you can be associated with her, that can't be a bad thing. The Hefty Lefty, yeah that's one I've had forever. I did see a new one on the Internet one time that I like. It was Mobile, Agile, Hostile and Hungry. I think that's my second favorite to J. Lo.
4. If you could challenge every college quarterback in the country to any kind of contest, what would it be?
Any contest? Against every quarterback in the country? That's easy, I could out-eat them. It sounds bad, but I could. Give me pizza, hamburgers, chicken, anything. That might come across wrong, but look at me. I'm a big guy.
5. Speaking of your weight, it seems to be a pretty big issue. How often do people ask you about it?
At least three or four times a day. It's actually gotten a lot better since coach (Guy) Morriss has thrown the scale out and just focused on getting me in shape. I understand why people ask though. Because it's an issue, obviously, and an issue I need to battle. But I just have to keep at it until I get it under control.
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Five questions with Jared Lorenzen
