Ask a Lion: Chase Lucas explains what he liked, disliked about his ‘Hard Knocks’ depiction

On Friday, we chatted with Detroit Lions rookie cornerback Chase Lucas in the first part of our “Ask a Detroit Lion” series. In this series, we’ll allow you, the reader, to submit questions throughout the week, and we will ask as many as we can to your favorite Lions player.

I wanted to start with Lucas, because he’s one of the newcomers to the team, and had an infectious personality on this year’s version of “Hard Knocks.”

So without further ado, here is my conversation with Lucas:

What quarterback are you most eager to face in the NFL?

“I really want to play Justin Herbert again. Yeah, cause we were able to beat him when he was at Oregon before getting into that playoff. So I know he’s been doing great things in the league, so I would love to play him again, for sure.”

What was your impression of how they showed you in “Hard Knocks”?

“Uh.... [laughs] I liked it, you know what I mean? At first, it was really, really dope. Like, I figured they were kinda picturing me as the underdog, but at the end, man, they kinda made me mad, because it was like they were making me look like I was begging for a spot on the team. But the cuts were already over! I had already made the team! We were just going over a situation.

“But at the end of the day, I feel like it was a great representation of me and just how I live my life, man. I liked it.”

Were your friends and family teasing you for that?

“Yeah, man. As soon as that last episode dropped, my boys were calling me like, ‘Man, you was begging to get a spot?’ I was like, ‘Man, nah, I ain’t even like that.’

“But my family loved it. It was definitely dope. I’m still going around Detroit trying to get stuff to eat and people being like, ‘Hey, man. I loved your story on ‘Hard Knocks.’ Congratulations on making the team. We were rooting for you,’ and stuff like that. So it touched me. I really do appreciate everything they did and put me on.”

Did you ever get a call from the team that you had made the 53-man roster?

“No.”

So you just had to wait to see if you were going to get cut?

“Man, yeah. I was just like, ‘Man, it’s going to be a couple of days where if you get a phone call from a 313 number, it’s going to be a bad day.’ Luckily, I didn’t get no call and I just kept it pushing from there, man.”

Was there ever a point where you felt like, ‘I made it. I’m set.’?

“Uh... [laughs]”

I guess you still can’t completely feel that way.

“Yeah, exactly. So it was a good feeling. It was a great feeling just knowing that the coaches trust me to be on this team, but at the end of the day, the NFL stands for ‘not for long,’ so you never know where you’re going to be.”

Where did you put that onside kick recovery ball?

“It’s at my grandparent's house. Yeah, already. As soon as we were done with camp, I—for Labor Day—went back to Arizona, brought the ball, surprised my family and everything. So, yeah, they got it back at the house.”

Were you a fan of any Lions players before you were drafted by them?

“Of course, Megatron (Calvin Johnson), and (Matthew) Stafford, of course. But other than that, I really didn’t even watch football like that. Honestly, I always loved playing it. Never really liked watching it. But definitely—and especially because I was a Cardinals fan—Anquan Boldin came here and I saw him just get that game-winner. So I know they’ve got a lot of players, especially Reggie Bush and all of that, too. So they’ve got a couple of players I was really fond of.”

If you were to take anyone to your hometown, what would you have to show them/do?

“I’ma take A.J. (Parker), we’re going to go to Tempe, Arizona—or not even. We’re going to go to Scottsdale, Arizona and we’re going to go to Old Town. Because that’s all you can do in Arizona [laughs]. Party, get lit, and have fun. [To Parker] Yeah, because you’re my boy.”

Where would you go for food?

[A.J. Parker] “Pasta. He eats pasta all day.”

[Lucas] “Nah, okay. So I love steak, you know what I mean? So I think the best steakhouse to me is Ruth’s Chris. Ruth’s Chris is Scottsdale, Paradise Valley. So I’d take him there.”

What are your sides with that steak?

“Ooh, man. Gotta get the lobster mac and cheese. Gotta get that. Mashed potatoes, of course. And then you gotta get, on the side, you gotta get the spicy shrimp. Oh my gosh, scrumptious.”

Favorite movie genre?

“Comedy, gotta be. Comedy, 100 percent.”

Best comedy movies?

“‘Step Brothers’ for sure. 100 percent. ‘Friday’ all three of them. You’ve got to. I need one more. Hey, (Isaiah) Buggs, what’s your favorite comedy movie?”

[Someone from across the locker room] “‘Rush Hour!’”

[Lucas] “Oooh, ‘Rush Hour.’ Yeah, the Rush Hour trilogy, too. Ooh, that take. ‘Bad Boys.’”

Best advice you got from Herm Edwards and/or Marvin Lewis

“It was something that, my first-day meeting Coach Herm, he had told me, he was like, ‘The one thing that I want to teach you and a lot of these college players is to not disrespect the game of football, because if you disrespect the game of football, it will always find a way to disrespect you back. And I always took that with a grain of salt, and that’s why I just always am how I am. Just always ready, positive energy, and just ready to go in practice and stuff, because I never want to be that person that gets disrespected by the game I love.”

Where does your sense of confidence come from?

“It’s really just my experiences through life, through football. I feel like a lot of people—I always liked being the underdog. And I’ve always felt like, even though I was smaller, on the skinnier side, everybody kinda always looked at me as such. But I always knew that you couldn’t size up heart. So I always had a good confidence about myself. I knew I was athletic. I knew I’m smart on the football field, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have that confidence, all that goes out the window.

“So I don’t care if you’re the best receiver in the nation or top Hall of Famer in the nation, whatever it is, man, I’ma feel that (confidence) at the end of the day. I’m going to win this battle and win this matchup. That’s just always how I’ve kinda been, and I feel like that’s how I’m going to carry through till I’m six feet in the ground. Always.”