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With his next 1,000 yards, Bengals Pro Bowl running back Corey Dillon can reach some powerful milestones. While becoming the franchise's all-time rusher, he can also become just the fourth man (Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin) to gain 1,000 yards in his first six seasons.
But only the numbers are extraordinary for a guy who works hard at being just a guy. In this week's conversation with Geoff Hobson of bengals.com, Dillon talks about normalcy and reaching for the remote instead of records.
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GH:ESPN has talked to you about coming in here to put you on one of their "The Life," segments where they follow around an athlete with a camera. You seem a little perplexed by that.
CD:Damn, it might be just a one-day event. They can get all the footage they want in one day. I'm not that exciting. I'm trying to tell them. They're going to look at the footage and say, 'Corey is one boring guy.'
GH:What's a typical day for you?
CD:** Wake up around eight. Take Cameron (his three-year-old daughter) to school. Or the wife (Desiree) takes Cameron to school. Relax or work out until she gets out of school. Desiree is running her errands, doing her things. I'll either be down here at the stadium, or working out, or down in my "Throne," I call it. Playing video games or watching movies. Or, if I'm not there, I'm out playing golf. If I'm not doing any of that, I'm sleeping. Sleeping is one of my hobbies.
GH: What's the "Throne?" **
CD:** It's a re-finished basement. The theater room. Movies. Pool table. Video games. That's the room I call my very own. Nobody goes there.
GH:Not even Desiree or Cameron? **
CD:** They don't want to come down. That's my "Throne," down there. They don't want to come down.
GH: What's the last movie you watched down there? **
CD:** "Thirteen Ghosts."
GH:Are you a Sci-Fi, mystery guy? **
CD:** I'm more action. Action movies. I'm not too big into the scary stuff.
GH: Favorite actor? **
CD:** There are so many. I would have to say Denzel Washington. He plays his roles well. Also Samuel L. Jackson. I get a blast out of him.
GH: Favorite Denzel movie? **
CD:** "Training Day." He played that role exceptionally well That's not a character he's used to portraying, but he pulled it off. That s real.
GH: Favorite actress? **
CD:** Vanessa Williams. Ever since I was itty-bitty, I always admired her work.
GH: (Strength coach) Kim Wood is just in here talking about Ozzy Osbourne's show on MTV. **
CD:** That guy is something else. My wife and I get a blast out of that. He is crazy. Really crazy.
GH:Favorite TV show? **
CD:** The Sopranos.
GH:Favorite TV character? **
CD:** Martin. I catch him on the USA Channel every once and awhile. He cracks me up.
GH: It sounds like most nights you're upstairs hanging out with the family watching TV. **
CD:** More times we're watching some home-repair type show because I'm forced to watch it.
GH: Desiree has the call on the remote? **
CD:** Yeah, man. Sometimes I get overruled. I bow down and watch those home improvement shows. I like cars, that's what she likes. She likes decorating. She has the remote, but we trade off. I watch one of her shows and then I say, 'That's it,' and we'll switch it.
GH: That sounds pretty familiar. **
CD:** Like every man's house in America.
GH: Can you tell me how many cars you have and what kind? **
CD:** Five. A Ferrari, a Bentley, a Mercedes, a '68 Mustang and a '63 Impala.
GH:What's your favorite? **
CD:** The Mustang. I like my old cars. I'm just infatuated with old cars. I love old cars. Something about them. I'm a car guy. One of those old-fashioned car buff guys. I love fixing them, washing them, driving them.
GH:: Could you fix my fan belt? **
CD:** I know how to fix them, but I'm not getting up under the hood and try to fix it. Why? Take it to the mechanic and let him go and do his thing. I wash my own cars.
GH: How many times a week? **
CD:** Probably once every two weeks because most of them are garaged and don't get dirty.
GH:A lot of guys just send it out to a detail shop. **
CD:** I'll do that some times, but most times I'll do it myself because I know exactly how I want the car.
GH: How do you want it? **
CD:** Clean. Very clean.
GH:ESPN might go for the car thing. **
CD:** What do they want to see? If they were expecting me to take them for a night out on the town, they're mistaken. That's not me.
GH:When is the last time you had a night on the town? **
CD:** Man, a long time.
GH: What's a night on the town with Desiree? **
CD:** The most exciting thing is we go out to dinner. We just go out to eat and enjoy each other's company. Dinner and a movie.
GH: What's the last movie you guys saw? **
CD:** "Spiderman."
GH: Where did you eat? **
CD:** The Waterfront.
GH: What's your favorite restaurant in Cincy? **
CD:** I've got a lot of them. I like Carlo & Johnny's. I like Benihana. The Waterfront. Jeff Ruby's.
GH: You've been saying for a few years you're not drinking like you were when you were younger. **
CD:** It's not a part of my daily routine. Not me. Not anymore. I don't drink to get drunk.
GH:You told me once if they made a movie about you when you were growing up, it would be rated X. Now it sounds like a PG deal and it would be G except for, I'm assuming, because of the language when you golf. **
CD:** PG-13. No, I don't say much when I'm golfing. My golf game is crappy right now.
GH: Isn't it better than it was?
CD: Extremely better.
GH:: Why did you take it up? **
CD:I like it. A lot of guys are into it.
GH:** What's the strength of your game?
CD: Driving. The driver, most definitely.
GH:Weakness? **
CD:** I have to work on my short game. Chipping is fine. Putting is OK. Just 60 yards and in is what I have to work on.
GH: How far can you drive it? **
CD:** About 330 (yards).
GH: Really? Do you keep it in the fairway? **
CD:** Yeah.
GH:You've said the turning point is when Cameron was born, which is when you became a born-again Christian. Describe Cameron. **
CD:** Mini Me. A mini me. I couldn't imagine I was like that when I was a child. She's a great kid. Very smart, very bright. She gets that from her mother. She knows things I didn't know when I was three. She knows everything. She's like a mini recorder. You can't say too much around her. She repeats.
She's very energetic. She's got spunk. Sometimes she doesn't know when to tone it down. Like when I'm trying to sleep and she's still jumping on the bed.
GH:Does she know what you do? **
CD:** She knows Daddy plays football. Sometimes she re-enacts how Daddy is on the field. She throws her arms around and she'll take me on trying to tackle me.
GH:Is she going to be an athlete? **
CD:** If so, I'm her agent. She's very athletic. She's quick, I haven't seen any child at three run as fast as she runs, especially when she s in trouble. She's got some wheels up under her.
GH: You signed your deal (a five-year, $26.1 million contract) a year ago this week. Did life change? **
CD:** Nope, same old, same old. Have to pay the bills just like every other American in the United States. Nothing has really changed. Invested well and now just sit back and focus on football.
GH: Do you think that's part of your success? That you decided to be yourself? **
CD:** I don't have to be somebody else. I don't have to be what people perceive me as.
GH: The big bad guy from the mean streets? **
CD:** I don't have to act like I'm tough, I don't need to prove all that.
GH: That's what I guess you were doing before? **
CD:** Probably so. I don't need to be like that. It wasn't getting me anywhere. That's not who I wanted to be. I don't want to be portrayed as the big, bad, guy. Only on the football field, not off. People couldn't tell the difference, but now I think they can distinguish the difference.
GH: Do you think you can now, too? **
CD:** Oh yeah. Definitely.
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