Name: Marcus “Merqq” Slayton
Sport: Football
Position: Running back
Hometown: Cleveland
High School: Benedictine
School/Year: MSB ’06
Major: Operations and Information anagement
High School Highlights: 2001: All-city football team … 2000: Member of state champion track team.
Georgetown Highlights: 2003: Starting tailback, totaled 701 yards on season . 2004: 20.7-yard kick return average, ranked sixth in Patriot League.
When did you first start playing football? Since I was 10. My mother, she said, “You gonna do something.” So I started playing football. I used to play for a team called the Cleveland Warriors. The first year I played, I was a center.
What was the best moment in your career so far? I think the best moment was when I first started playing for the Warriors. We played a team called the Desmond Howard Saints. I was playing fullback, and I scored the winning touchdown. Everybody ran on the field and pounced on me.
What is a typical football practice like? Stretch. You go do ball drills – ball handling, actually, inside run. We go to team option, from team option to team, from team to seven-on-seven. From there we go back to team, and usually that is where we end. After team, we do “PUP”: pass under pressure. The defense blitzes; we block them and try to score a touchdown in the process. On Wednesday and Thursday we do two-minute drills.
What do you do to get psyched for a match? Well, I pretty much just listen to music. As a team, just play the music. But when we get on the field, it’s war time. A little bit of pushing, a little bit of running around, a little bit of everything.
Any superstitions or lucky items? Eye black. My offensive lineman, William Grubb [COL ’07], he started it.
Who’s your biggest rival? It used to be Byron Anderson [MSB ’05]. We had a little rivalry going on, but he left. But now, I don’t think I have one anymore.
If you could be great at any other sport besides football, what would it be? Why? I think I want to be great at baseball because they play for so long, and that’s where the money is at. They get paid!
Favorite football player? Marcus Allen. He has the same name. When he runs, he’s smooth. Most people say Barry Sanders, but I like Marcus Allen.
Favorite restaurant in Georgetown? Wingo’s. Wingo’s burger and mild chicken wings.
What are you currently listening to? I listen to all sorts: R&B, rap.
What was your freshman dorm? Do you have any good stories from your freshman year? Village C. My roommate came home one night and he brought a girl. She was so drunk. She was talking some weird language and went into the bathroom, throwing up. When I went in there, she had fallen asleep with her head in the toilet. He went in there, woke her up, and next thing I know there was a crash. He had broken the bathroom sink, and she fell asleep again. The next day she tried to leave with his jacket. I think she was still drunk.
Looking back at your years at Georgetown, do you have any regrets? No. No.
Who’s your biggest inspiration? I think my father [Allen Slayton]. He has always been straight with me. Now that I look back at the time when I was younger, I probably could not ask for a better dad than him. I always say when I have kids, I want to be like my father. I had everything growing up – I mean I didn’t have everything, but I had everything.
The thing you miss the most about home? I actually don’t miss home. I take that back – I don’t miss home, but I miss my sister [Laurin].
What magazines do you have on your coffee table? I don’t have any magazines. If it ain’t a school book, I ain’t reading it.
Favorite escape from Georgetown? Probably the movie theater.
Favorite movie? Blade 2. I don’t know, man, I just love that movie. Action from beginning to end.
Favorite TV show? “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Drew Carey, Wayne Brady and those other two cats are hilarious. Especially the tall guy. I can’t remember his name right now.
Favorite course at Georgetown? I have a couple. y first professor, Professor Mitchell, and Professor Holtom. Professor Mitchell was great. I only had one class with her, but I wish I had more. I learned so much more than just English, because she would just talk to us and fill us in with information. She is just a wonderful professor.
Pepsi or Coke? Coke.
What is your biggest pet peeve? Flip flops, in the winter.
Most embarrassing moment? Let me see . when I was in middle school I got slapped in the middle of the cafeteria by a girl.
Who on the team do you rely on the most? I’m gonna tell you like this: Rob LaHayne, Steve Ekechuku, Dominique Saunders, Maurice Banks, Michael Ononibaku, Sheldon Epps, ehdi Hassan, Jackson Dismukes, Craig Warznak, Glenn Castergine, Jason Carter, Joe Kuhns and Kim Sarin. Now if you take all those guys and make them one person, that is the person I rely on the most.
Describe yourself in one word? Awesome.
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? In 10 years . Well, I am going to give you two different versions, the dream and the reality. In the dream world, I see a couple of rush titles, a couple Super Bowl rings, a lavish estate and a nice family. In the reality world, I see myself with a wonderful job, nice family, nice house, making good money. Switch those around: I think the reality world is football, and the dream world a job.
Booey’s or Wisey’s? Wisey’s. y favorite is, well, Dominique Sanders and I actually call it a Burger Sadness, because everybody calls it Madness, so we decided to call it Sadness.
