Our weekly Q&A -- an offbeat conversation with a player -- is with New York Jets center Nick Mangold. He's a four-time Pro Bowler and the veteran leader of the offense:
You've worked with an interesting collection of quarterbacks over the years -- Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens, Brett Favre, Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith. Give me a quick sentence on each guy, starting with Chad.
Mangold: One of the smartest guys I've ever been around. Taught me a lot about how to look at defenses. Kellen, we came in together [in the 2006 draft], so it was neat playing with him. Favre is a legend. I watched him growing up. To be able to play with him was really cool. Mark, coming in, was my first experience with a rookie, so I learned a lot of total offense. Geno, my second time around with a rookie. I have a lot more experience to fall back on.
Some day, you'll be able to tell some great stories. You worked with quarterbacks at both sides of the spectrum. Favre was 39 when he was here. Now you're with a rookie.
Mangold: Yeah, Geno is 22 [actually 23]. I mean, Geno was born in the '90s. I have to deal with that.
Favorite Favre memory:
Mangold: The second day he was in there, Eric [Mangini] had the penalty lap. We committed a penalty and we both had to run. The crowd [at training camp] was cheering as we were running around -- cheering for a penalty, which is kind of funny. That was my first real interaction with Brett. We talked the whole time. I was like, 'Hey, I'm Nick, nice to meet you.' I think we were a YouTube sensation before we even got into the locker room.
You've developed a strong interest in wine over the years. Tell us how that got started:
Mangold: My wife and I always had wine with dinner. It was one of those things where we saw everyone else do it, so we should probably do it, too. The first time we went out to Napa, we went to Vineyard 29. It's in St. Helena, set on the west side of 29. We sat there and the lady, Holly, gave us a bottle and she had to run off. She said, 'Here,, enjoy the bottle. Here's some crackers, some wine, I have to go.' She let us sit on their deck, overlooking the valley. We had the wine. A month later, we ordered some stuff from her and it came in. We opened up a bottle and I was taken straight back to sitting on her deck, with the sun setting. From that moment on, I was sucked in.
Offensive linemen are known as grunts or "Hogs," but you're a sophisticated wine lover. Do you think you're shattering the stereotype of linemen?
Mangold: I never thought of it image-wise. The wine just tastes really good, so I'll go with it.
Your sister, Holley, is famous in her own right. She was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team and is currently appearing on the TV show, "The Biggest Loser." You must be proud of her.
Mangold: It's amazing, what she's been able to do. Think about it: She represented our country in the Olympics. That's an amazing feat. I couldn't be prouder. Now she's on TV, doing "The Biggest Loser." We taped it the other night, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. It's kind of neat to me. I always liked that show; now I have a vested interest.