Cornerback Nathan Vasher was an honor-roll student at Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas, before going on to major in liberal arts at Texas and earn All-America honors as a punt returner for the Longhorns. A fourth-round draft choice in 2004, he led the Bears with five interceptions as a rookie and with eight last season, earning him his first trip to the Pro Bowl. His season included a 108-yard return of a missed San Francisco field goal, the longest scoring play in NFL history.
Q. If football weren’t happening for you, what would you want to be doing?
A. That’s a question my mom [Monica] always used to ask me, but I would always tell her that I wanted to be a football player. She hated that too. But I would like to work in marketing or advertising, particularly something along the lines of slogans, creative things like that. I’m not interested as much in front of the camera, more making it all happen. I’d like to have people working for me someday.
Q. What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome getting to this point in your life?
A. Just having opportunities. I think that the high school that I went to comes to mind, because nobody really went to college, nobody had those kinds of dreams or aspirations. You graduated high school and got a job at the tire mill or worked somewhere else. That’s what all my friends did, that’s what all my brother’s friends did. Overcoming that kind of idea and having aspirations for yourself was hard.
Q. Was college just out of reach?
A. Nobody knew how to really get eligible for college. There were no SAT prep courses that we knew about. I had to go that extra mile to find out things like that, and my high school coach was instrumental in helping me get on that right track, and for that I am really grateful.
Q. What one person in all of history would you like to meet?
A. There’s a lot, really. But I would like most to meet Oprah Winfrey. And also Sean “P Diddy” Combs. They were people who came from one thing and always had aspirations to be more. And Oprah just evolved into this, this . . . “Oprah.” Everybody loves Oprah.
Q. If you could ask her one question, what would it be?
A. “Would you marry me?”
