Life is good if you're Blake Bortles.
A year ago, he was in danger of getting benched in favor of journeyman quarterback Chad Henne. Today, he is walking on sunshine after signing a three-year, $54 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Where did all those dark clouds go?
Bortles picked himself up as the 2017 NFL season went along, grinded it out, and was a Tom Brady comeback away from leading the Jaguars to their first Super Bowl appearance.
He's come a long way from his days at Oviedo (Fla.) High School, where he graduated in 2010. Bortles has since beefed up his star-power resume at UCF, and is now working toward that end in the NFL.
Away from the aforementioned grind, Bortles has hosted football off-season camps at Oviedo High School and in Duval County in partnership with JaxPAL. He also has plans to partner with the Arc Village Jacksonville, an independent-living facility designed to maximize community inclusion for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (There's a backstory we discussed).
I caught up with him before the start of his camp in Jacksonville recently. It was hot and coffee wasn't in our game plan, but Bortles brewed up some interesting tidbits about his personal life, including his take on social media. We got an X's and O's question out of the way before getting into other stuff you probably don't know.
Q: Compare your pre-snap comfort level this year to last.
A: When we started last year, it was kind of an elementary level, in terms of 'I'm hearing the play, I'm thinking about the footwork I have to take, the identification, trying to remember what routes guys are running and all that.' Now, I think I'm kind of owning the offense and having a better understanding of it. Obviously, it is a continuous study and a continuous grind to continue to master it and stay on top of it, but I definitely feel more comfortable with it."
Q: I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but your entire football career has been played out within a 130-mile radius. Can you talk about that dynamic?
A: It's crazy. I've been very fortunate to be able to stay at home and go to UCF. In the house I grew up in, we used to walk to UCF to football games. To be able to play football for UCF and to get drafted by Jacksonville, it's been incredible. Never left the state of Florida. Wouldn't have it any other way. No state income tax, which is awesome. And obviously having friends and family so close. It's great to be able to see them way more than I would be if I played for 28 other teams.
Q: How often do you get back to Orlando?
A: On our bye week, hopefully it's an Oviedo home game and a home UCF game so I can do a Friday and Saturday. And then I do my camp there, and still go see my parents a couple of times a year.
Q: A relationship you cultivated with CJ Williams fostered a passion for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Can you share that backstory?
A: There's a league in Oviedo called Challenger Football League, which is mentally disabled kids playing flag football. It was every Saturday morning, so it was after our Friday night games in high school. The kids on the varsity football team would go out and help these kids play. I started doing that when I was a freshman in high school. I met CJ through that and we connected and had a really good relationship. My mom and his mom became good friends. And now he's part of this thing up here called The Arc (which he plans to partner with). When I left and went to college my brother stepped in and became CJ's buddy for four years. We created a bond with them and everybody in that league.
Q: How old is CJ now?
A: 21.
Q: A $54 million contract buys you a lot of pizzas and a lot of peace of mind too I suppose?
A: It's something I never even thought of last year, even throughout the whole thing. On the outside looking in, I understand why people wondered. Why aren't you thinking about this or the future or what's going to happen? But I was really caught up in helping us win and doing what I could to help with that. To sign a second contract with the team that drafted me was a goal I set a long time ago. It's incredible to have the confidence of the team and be able to come back here for at least a couple of years.
A: Would you draft Blake Bortles on your fantasy football team?
Q: Probably not. Maybe Leonard Fournette.
Q: Go with the safe bet?
A: Exactly.
Q: Do you get caught up in the internet stuff or do you ignore it?
A: I'm off of all social media so I don't even see it. It makes it easier.
Q: Did you do that on purpose?
A: I was never a huge social media guy anyway. I had it to keep up with friends. But once I became an NFL quarterback I wasn't a fan of the whole thing. There's no reason to be on there anyway. If I want to talk to anybody or show anybody pictures, I'll just text them.
Q: You're not like Andrew Luck with the flip phone?
A: No I'm past that. I've got an iPhone. I'm not that far behind the times.
Q: Are you on the UCF National Championship bandwagon?
A: The season they had and what Coach Frost did was incredible. I'm behind them 100 percent. If they claim a National Championship, then I'll call them the national champs. They deserve it. They played well enough.
Q: Did you get any SWAG?
A: No, I didn't. But there were some coaches of the new staff at practice (recently). The first thing I do when I go back to UCF is get some national championship gear and I'll make sure I'll hand it to some of the guys in the locker room,
Q: So you think they're deserving despite the circumstances?
A: Yeah, it's tough. You can argue both sides of it. There is a college football playoff and all that but I think what UCF did to be able to go undefeated and beat a team in a bowl game that was a good SEC team that beat Alabama is a valid argument, although I'll always support UCF regardless.
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