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All-SEC and All-American defensive back will join UTSports.com for a live chat Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Berry is a finalist for the Thorpe Award and the Lott Trophy. The Thorpe Award, given to the nation's top defensive back, will be presented Thursday night in Orlando.
Berry finished second on the team with 83 tackles this season, including 6.0 for a loss. He intercepted a pair of passes and recoverd two fumbles as well.
The chat will begin at 1 p.m., but you can go ahead and begin leaving questions now.
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| Josh Wright: I guess I'll ask the most obvious question. Are you sticking around next year? |
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Eric Berry: I'm just waiting to meet with coach before I make my decision.
Definitely my teammates and my coach, those are probably the two biggest ones to talk to other than my family. |
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| Dustin, Braselton, GA: I'm a huge Tennessee fan. Do you think Coach Kiffin has the vols on the right track to be a championship contender soon. |
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Eric Berry: I think he does. Just seeing the strides we made this year coming off a 5-7 season. |
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| Carl Lee (Memphis): eric, you are the man. i really hope that you return for your senior year. you are a hero to a ton of tennesseans. my question: who is the best receiver that youve gone up against during your time at tennessee? |
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Eric Berry: Best receiver? I would have to say one was McKinley from South Carolina. He was tough to guard in the slot. When I was playing corner, probably Riley Cooper from Florida. That's the only person that scored a touchdown on me. |
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| Cleveland, Ohio: It has been a pleasure to watch such a gifted athlete. What position do you think you will play in the pros? And do you have a favorite team? |
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Eric Berry: I really don't know what position. I've been hearing corner, safety, free safety, strong safety, nickel corner. I just want to play football. Wherever they put me, I just want to have fun. My favorite team is the Cowboys. |
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Eric Berry: My dad liked them, and I try to be like my dad growing up. He was a big fan because they gave him a shot. He always said he'd love the Cowboys for giving him an opportunity to play. I just liked them for that fact. |
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| K Reece, Carthage, TN: What is the most notable thing you have learned about yourself while playing college football? Wish you all the best in your future. You have represented yourself and the University well and your effort is greatly appreciated. Go Vols! |
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Eric Berry: I'd probably say that I learned that I have a lot of patience. You have to have patience. things don't go your way a lot of the times, you just have to bounce back. Especially the season we had last year. I hate to bring that up, but I'd never had a losing season in my life. You go through a lot of things in college football, and it teaches you about life. |
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| Desten (Memphis,TN): Hey Eric,
I always see pictures of you signing things with fans and i know your very popular with them, so I was wondering do you enjoy this popularity? |
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Eric Berry: I do. I wasn't that popular in high school. I'm trying to get used to the attention. THere was people in my high school who didn't know who I was from playing football. They didn't know who No. 10 was. I'm used to being behind the scenes and being kind of low key. Now everybody knows you. |
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| knoxville tn: How do you think next season will be in the second year of this new coaching staff? |
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Eric Berry: I think it's going to get a lot better. There's some stuff we had to work on as a team from the players standpoint getting adjusted to those guys. As soon as we get on their page and their agenda, it should be rolling. |
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| Mack, Knoxville: I just wanted to first thank you for attending University of Tennessee and for the memories. You have provided many memorable moments for fans, but what was your most memorable moment? |
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Eric Berry: Probably my dad when he came to the UCLA game and was honored. That was the main reason I came to Tennessee, so we could share that moment. Two different Berrys, but we were both there as captains. That was pretty cool. |
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| Stan (Winder, GA): You came to Tennessee a freshman with the apparent maturity of an upperclassman. Who has been the strongest influence in your life up to this point? In what ways do you feel you've tried to share that with the younger guys on the team? |
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Eric Berry: Definitely my dad. Just a lot of things he taught me at a younger age. Probably the biggest thing he always taught me was perserverance. No matter what you're put in or what stands in your way, you have to find a way to overcome that obstacle. He did that in his actions with his family. |
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Eric Berry: I try to show it in the way I play. Whenever we're losing or we're down, things might not be going our way, during the game I'm still going 120 miles per hour. You never know what would happen. I'm not going down without a fight. |
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| Desten (Memphis, TN): What songs do you listen to before games? |
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Eric Berry: Oh man... 'Better Believe It' by Little Bootsie. There's a couple of them. |
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Eric Berry: That's probably the main one I listen to. Gucci's "Follow Me" |
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| Kyle Howard (Evansville, IN): What are your thoughts on facing Virginia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A bowl?? |
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Eric Berry: Looking forward to it. It could be the start of us playing Va Tech every year. It could be a good matchup. They're right over the border. They're a good team. I actually played with Tyrod in the All-American game. I'm looking forward to this one. Now I'm playing against him. |
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| Robert, Knoxville: Eric, looking back over your career at UT what play or game will you remember the most?
See you in Atlanta to break the record!!!!! GO VOLS ... |
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Eric Berry: The game would have to be Kentucky my freshman year. Four overtimes and all the drama going on. That was one of the wildest games I've ever been a part of. The play is when I got beat for the touchdown by Riley Cooper. I told myself I was never going to let that happen again in college. I think that helped my career go the way it did. Getting burned early kind of humbled me. That helped me stay grounded and make sure I kept working. |
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| James (Milford, CT): If you could describe in one word what Tennessee defense is..what would it be? |
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Eric Berry: I wish I could use two words. "Reckless Abandon." |
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| Stephen (Knoxville): Eric, what does it mean to you to break the NCAA interception return yards record? |
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Eric Berry: It'll obviously mean a lot. That's a pretty big record. At the same time, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it's not stressing me out. I just love playing football. |
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Eric Berry: That would be cool to do it in my hometown. |
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| Thomas (salisbury, NC): How do you like playing for Monte Kiffin? |
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Eric Berry: I love it. He's energetic. You can tell he loves his job. Just the way he always takes the blame for everything. Not everything, but he never puts it on us as players if he didn't explain it clearly. It's hard to find a coach that doesn't put the blame on the coach nowadays. If you watch college football, you see a lot of players getting fussed out. He doesn't do that. We respect him a lot because of that. |
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| Cody: What is your favorite hit you put on somebody? |
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Drew Edwards: Which one of those did you hear more about from people? |
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Eric Berry: The Georgia one, just because I know more people there and it was back home. The Tebow hit was pretty cool. I don't know what I was thinking. |
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Drew Edwards: You're in Orlando for the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards show. What's that like being around all those other players? |
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Eric Berry: A lot of people don't realize I'm a big college football fan. I just saw Toby walking down the hall. I was looking at him like, what is there to tackle on him? I don't know where you tackle him. It's good to see all the fellas outside of football. We do that so much. This gives us a chance to sit back and relax a little bit. |
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Drew Edwards: What's the most star struck player to be around? |
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Eric Berry: Probably Colt McCoy, I think we were both star struck. It was real funny how we went about it. It was cool. |
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| Joseph(greenville,sc): Any funny stories you can tell us about Monte or Coach O? |
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Eric Berry: Monte has so many... I would have to say one of the best ones Coach O has is when he first got here he didn't know all his D-linemen. One had missed class or something. But he went up to the guy and fussed him out real bad. He told Coach O he didn't miss class. Coach O fussed him out, told him to be quiet. Everyone came up and told him he was talking to wrong one. He was like, 'Sorry, son.' And he went right back to fussing at the other guy. |
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| Matt(Oak Hill): Hey Eric,good season for you and the vols.So I was wondering who do you hang around the most? Hope to see you in orange and white next season. |
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| Adam (Virginia): What does it feel like to hear 100,000 people chanting your name over and over again? |
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Eric Berry: It feels crazy. I don't know if I'm supposed to jump up and down or stand there. To be honest with you, it's a very confusing moment. I do like it, but it's crazy. I don't know what to do at that point. |
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Eric Berry: They were fun to do. Plus it was during the summer where I had a lot of time. I didn't stay bored during the summer. Just having fun, making those videos. Barry (Rice) coming up with so many different ideas. It was fun. |
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| Prince Edward, Knoxville, TN: Looking back, would you have liked to do anything differently this season? |
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Eric Berry: Not at all. I don't htink there's anything I could have changed this season. I could have changed my number. Everybody's always looking for 14 now. I'm on that side, they're throwing to the other side. |
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| Josh Biggs: Do you find that players from other teams normally respect you on the field or do they typically trash talk? |
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Eric Berry: It's about 90 percent respect. We all respect each other. But not too many talk trash. I just play. I don't really talk trash. That's why I have that big pacifier mouthpiece, so I don't say anything. I don't want to get a penalty. A lot of people were singing the Eric Berry song during the games, but they weren't talking trash. |
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| Matt(Oak Hill): What is your favorite home cooked meal? |
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Eric Berry: My dad makes a number of dishes. But I have to say it's chicken and rice. He loves to cook. But his chicken and rice is one of my favorties since I was little. |
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| Troy (Johnson City, TN): Thnaks for being such a great roll model to all those "young" Volunteers out there. What is your favorite book? |
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Eric Berry: "The Magic of Thinking Big." It's basically about your mindset, what you should focus on to be successful. It talks a lot about your subconsicous mind and putting good thoughts there. Always stay positive, shoot for the stars. It changes your whole personality. |
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| Jonathan, Mountain City: EB, if you had a heisman vote, who would you vote for? |
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Eric Berry: I'd probably have to say either Colt or Tim. I'm fans of those two. I don't know which one, though. But it's between those two. |
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| Chattanooga, Tennessee: Who is your favorite team to play against? |
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Eric Berry: That is crazy. I don't know. They're all so good. |
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Eric Berry: I'd have to say Florida and Alabama. But I love playing against Georgia at Georgia. Just because I love playing against Georgia. I love beating my home team. |
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| Devin (Cleveland, Tn): Eric, hope to see you in orange and white next year. You are my favorite player since Peyton. My question is how has janzen Jackson done this season in comparison to your freshman year? |
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Eric Berry: His grades are a lot higher than mine were my freshman year. That's good, considering he's playing safety instead of corner. He has the right kind of foundation. He has a good foundation and a good understanding of the defense that's going to help him next year and the year after. |
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| Kyle (South Pittsburg): What do you love doing more...sacking a quarterback on a bone crushing hit or picking one off and taking it to the house? I know you have done both in your career. You will be missed next year!! |
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Eric Berry: Taking it to the house. The only bad thing is if you take it to the house you have to go back out on kickoffs and then you're going to start out on defense. |
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Drew Edwards: That's about all the time we have. Any last thoughts? |
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Eric Berry: Thanks to all the Vol fans for all the support you give us every year. Go Vols! |
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