American Military is Spoken of by Professional American Football Player of Belizean Garifuna Heritage, Mr. Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr
Many Subjects were spoken of in Probing Interview
Copyright 2023 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.
United States of America – Every year, The National Football League (NFL) has an Initiative dealing with American Military Service that takes place around Veteran’s Day Holiday in November.
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In November of 2021, The NFL interviewed various Professional American Football Players about their thoughts and feelings about the American Military and The NFL’s Salute to Service game.
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Professional American Football Player of Belizean Garifuna Heritage, Mr. Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr, a Defensive Player, while playing for The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was interviewed by Casey Phillips about the matter.
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He gave his thoughts about people in American Military and also talked about the differences between Belize and The United States of America, as well as other topics.
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Interviewer: Why is the Salute to Service Game Important to You?
Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr: “For one, Everybody in my Family is Military, Especially my Wife. She was just promoted to Tech Sargeant.”
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Interviewer: “Look at That! Tell me about how you met and what you thought about her being in the Military. What that’s been like, being Married to someone who is in the Military?”
Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr: “In the beginning, I already had Respect for Her. Just being around my Cousins, my Uncles, all of them just serving. I got guys, well my cousin right now, is Deployed. So getting with her, and meeting her in College, it was a Respect Thing already. And then, she was already a great woman. A great person. And I understood what she was going through, that commitment. That level of trust and I was like, if you can sacrifice for something greater than you, I know you can be there for somebody like me. “
Interviewer: “That’s Amazing. NFL Career. Military Career. Those are two that ask you to move a lot. They are very uncertain at times. There’s a lot of chaos going on. How do you guys make that work and how has that influenced your Marriage?”
Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr: “Being Adaptable. I think that’s one of the biggest things. Like you said, being able to move a lot of places but also pick back up where you left off, so when we move around, just leaning on one another where she got to go to work or us moving around relocating different teams, it’s hard on both of us sometimes. Sometimes she has to leave and go do her thing, adrift. And I got to do my thing on Sundays, Monday or Thursday night, depending on where it’s asked to be, and so we understand that we gonna have to move around and we also understand that we have to make those types of changes on the fly and we just communicate, talk.”
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Interviewer: “Being married to somebody military is definitely not the only unconventional part of your path to get here. So you were the First Belizean to be drafted in the NFL. Did you know that at the time when that happened?”
Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr: “No I didn’t. And to be honest with you, I didn’t really even think about it. And then when it all started happening and they came up with the name, The Belizean Beast, it was just, it was like, surreal. Dang. I’ve always wanted to be a household name. I didn’t know I was going to do it in my own country so it was, it was an honor.”
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Mr. Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr goes on to talk about the origin of his nickname, Nacho, the cultural differences between Belize and The United States of America, Being poor yet consistently distributing food and supplies to the homeless, and much more. Take a look at this seven and a half minute interview below when you get a chance.
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Mr. Rakeem Nuñez Roches Sr currently plays for The New York Giants as he was a Free Agent in the Spring of 2023 and signed with them in the Offseason. A Defensive Player who plays on the Defensive Line, often as a Nose Tackle. He wears #93 for the New York Giants.