Yardbarker: OvieMughelli

Visiting Bristol

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:04:07 -0500

I was in NY a while back and went into ESPN Magazine headquarters just to chat and discuss future possibilities of working together. Before I knew it, I was sitting in a chair with cameras and lights all around me. They wanted me to be the first to try out their new feature where celebrity athletes read their magazine aloud. My reaction was "Are you sure you want ME to do this?" But I'll try anything once, so I went ahead and gave it a shot. They wanted me to impersonate Favre, but I really wasn't sure where to start. I just tried to do the country accent and put myself in his shoes as he was about to go into his final play. At that time, everyone thought he wasn't coming back. I have a lot of respect for Brett, and I think it's great that he's coming back. Some people didn't agree with the way that went about it, but that's all in the past now. If you have the itch, you should be able to come back and play, especially if you're someone like him. You can check out the video below. I hope Brett doesn't see this and take it the wrong way. As they say, imitation is the best form flattery!

Rookie Pranks, etc.

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:04:41 -0500

What's up Yardbarkers? I've been gone for a while, but play time is over, and I'm a firm believer in working hard, so that's what I've been doing. In the off-season, I had a lot of fun traveling to NYC, Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Vegas, LA, etc... and I'm tired. I'm glad that football season is starting because it gives me a chance to stay in one place. No more flight itineraries... I can just stay in Atlanta. Even though camp isn't my favorite part of football, I've come to understand that it's a very important part of making a good team. If you want to be good in November/December and make it to the Super Bowl, you need to be good now. I didn't understand that when I was younger, but now I know that you need to give it 100% every day in camp, and that's what's going to give you an edge over the competition during the season. That's why I've been trying to keep a positive outlook on these long two-a-days for the last two weeks. There's a great feeling in the Falcons locker room this year. The guys are having fun, they're smiling, they're enjoying the coaches, and they're enjoying each other. Messing with the rookies a little bit has been fun. There's this "card trick" that the vets like to show the rookies, and it goes like this: Step 1: Rookie picks a card from the deck Step 2: Rookie looks at card and puts it back into the deck Step 3: Vet shuffles deck around, and throws one card on the ground, face down... asks rookie if that's his card. Step 4: Rookie bends down to pick up card... entire deck is thrown at the back of his head. It's still funny, no matter how many times you see it. They've also been singing, of course. Matt Ryan was probably more comfortable in his NFL debut last week than he was when he had to sing in front of all of us. I think we had him do "Sweet Caroline" or something like that. He does this thing where he turns beet red. It's hilarious. On the field, the "work hard, play hard" atmosphere that Coach Smith has brought to the team has been good, because we know that after he challenges us during practice, he'll be sure to give us the chance to rest and recover. He has ways of making practice fun and exciting through things like competition between offense and defense (if offense scores, defense runs and vice versa). Personally, I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself this year because I want to take my game to another level. When I got here last year, my goal was to make the Pro Bowl, since I was second-team All-Pro the year before when I was with the Ravens. When the Pro Bowl didn't happen for me, though, it was a really disappointing setback, which is why I've been working extra hard this off-season. Our first pre-season game against the Jaguars was the first test of how much my off-season work had paid off. I was actually a little nervous going into it, but it turns out that I didn't need to be. I handled all of my blocks, had two catches, two first downs, and even a fumble recovery on special teams. Of course I was disappointed that we lost, but it was a success because it was the first time that our offense and defense, with all the new players, really came together and played as a unit. It was a lot of fun. I don't want to say that I was SURPRISED at how good we were, but I have to say that I didn't know that we would get this good this quickly. If we continue to improve from here, I know that we're going to surprise a lot of people this year.

Falcons Generating Some Buzz

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:38:07 -0500

Hey Yardbarkers! Just checking in to let you know that camp is going great so far. I'm exhausted but excited for the season to start. The local newspapers are already talking about what the Falcons are bringing this year...check it out: "...Mularkey forgot to mention that Turner most likely would be chauffeured to, and maybe through, the offensive line by bruising fullback Ovie Mughelli. Turner and Mughelli, the Falcons' two big-free agent signings the past two seasons, provide nearly 500 pounds of speed and muscle. So the linemen's re-arrangement of vertebrae could be even more severe if they don't do their jobs..."

ESPYs Red Carpet Experience

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:17:07 -0500

Last Wednesday was the day that the ESPYs were filmed, and the entire day was SO hectic for me. I had to drive around with my broken navigation system to get my ESPY tickets from one hotel, then go over to my publicist's hotel to get the suit that I'd had custom-made. The suit was late, the valet at each place took a good half-hour, and traffic was insane, so my schedule was completely thrown off. On top of that, I was nervous about my first experience as a red carpet correspondent. I kept worrying that I would freeze up and choke, and all I could think was "What did I get myself into?" I finally arrived at the Nokia Theater to meet the Yardbarker folks just as the red carpet opened up. I was sweaty, nervous, and carrying a backpack - basically sort of a mess. On top of that, right as I got there and realized that I had forgotten my tickets for the show, I got stung by a bee. Just some icing on the cake. Even though things had gone wrong throughout the day, everything worked out great. It was really interesting to see the red carpet from the perspective of the media. Every outlet has their own designated space, but because I was so much bigger than the other reporters, they had to give me some extra elbow room to work with. It was funny, too, because everyone was so surprised to see me there with the media. They kept saying, "Who the hell gave YOU a microphone? Did you steal that?" I started off a little slow with the interviews, because I was late and didn't have a chance to prepare. All I was told was to be myself and try to work in some of the questions that had been written up for me. I was a little nervous, and for my first interview, I kept holding the microphone up to the wrong person's face while we were talking. After a while, though, I got the hang of it and just started chatting with the guys like it was before or after a game. Once we got talking, it would take me about 10 minutes to actually get to the questions. I was trying to be like Jay Leno or David Letterman and smoothly segue from the small talk to the questions, but I think I could still use a little work on that. Luckily, I wasn't the only one experiencing this for the first time. Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, Kendra, was there as a correspondent, too. When we found out that we were both doing this for the first time, we chatted for a little bit and exchanged interview tips. I'm sure it was all much easier for her, though. No matter what comes out of her mouth, she's got a pretty face and everyone will still want to talk to her. As for me, I need to be a little bit more verbally stimulating or my career as reporter will be over before it even starts. In the end, everything worked out great. The one thing that was disappointing was not making it in time to actually walk down the carpet myself, but I'm still glad I did this, because it was a lot of fun. The show afterward was amazing, too. It was definitely a SHOW, and Justin Timberlake did a great job hosting. He sang, danced, and really interacted with the audience. At one point he even sat on the floor next to Beckham, grabbed his leg, and sniffed him. And it was hilarious when he started making fun of TO for crying at a press conference. The whole place was dying laughing. Not sure if they were laughing with TO or at him, but Justin must've asked him permission ahead of time because I couldn't believe that he even went there. Another treat was watching one of my favorite artists, Lupe Fiasco, perform with a live band, but my absolute favorite part was the duet that Greg Oden did with Justin. It was funny to see Oden up there singing with Justin and playing the piano. Well, I hope you guys enjoy watching my interviews, because I really enjoyed doing them. I'll check in again with the Yard soon. Training camp starts Friday, and I'm excited for another season of football!

Kickin' it with Beckham and My Week in LA

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:44:34 -0500

Hey yardbarkers, how's everyone doing? Last week was a crazy week for me. I was only in LA for five days, but so much happened each day and I just had to share all the crazy stories with all of you. This off-season, I went to a lot of wonderful places all over the country and world - Brazil, the Dominican Republic, NY, Phoenix, Vegas... It's safe to say, though, that of all these trips, my week in LA for the ESPYs was one of my favorites. Before last week, I had only been there once for the BET awards, but my schedule was so tight on that trip that I didn't really get to experience the city. So this time I set out with two goals in mind: work out and enjoy everything that LA has to offer. During the first couple days I spent some time working out at the Home Depot Center, which is the home of the LA Galaxy soccer team. When I first got there, I didn't put two and two together that since it's the Galaxy stadium, this was where David Beckham plays. When I got there, I saw this guy standing and talking to one of my trainers. We casually said "hi" to each other, and as I walked away I kept thinking to myself that he looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Eventually, I figured it out and confirmed with one of the other guys that it really was Beckham. He was shorter than I thought he'd be, but seeing him was a cool way to kick off my week. There were also quite a few NFL stars there that I got to work out with and talk to. Reggie Bush and I hung out and talked a little trash. He's real laid back, and we ended up joking around a lot together. Someone else that I really enjoyed meeting was TJ Houshmandzadeh. I used to play for the Ravens, so TJ wasn't exactly a favorite person of mine. Up until last week, the picture I had in my mind of him was on the field with Chad Johnson, talking serious trash to our guys like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. Because of that, I had always thought that he was a very ill-tempered guy, but when I got to meet him with his helmet off, he turned out to be one of the nicest guys I've ever met. After the workouts on my first day, I was really excited because I had been invited to a party at the Playboy Mansion that night. There was a lot of confusion involved in actually getting there, though. I was supposed to go to UCLA, where there was a shuttle that would take us to the Mansion. Of course, the GPS system broke in the Sebring I'd rented (yes, a Sebring - that's what happens when you're in a rush at the rental place.) With no GPS and this being my second time in LA, I had no clue how to get to the campus. I was calling friends and asking random people on the side of the road at every stoplight, trying to get directions and make it there on time. Luckily, I did. The focus of the evening was a charity poker tournament, so it wasn't one of those big official Playboy parties, and there aren't any crazy stories to tell. I did have a great time, though. It's a huge mansion, and I ran into anybody and everybody. One of the more interesting parts of the party was the waitresses, who were completely naked aside from the paint that covered their bodies. Pretty much the kind of thing you would expect at Hef's house. The Girls Next Door ladies also came down for a bit just to make an appearance. All-in-all, it was a great night, and I can finally say I fulfilled every teenage boy's dream by going there. The next day I worked out again, then in the evening I went on a date to a pretty well-known sushi place called Nobu. This ended up being a very "LA" experience for me. There were tons of celebrities in the restaurant. I recognized all kinds of people from TV shows and movies that I'd seen, and I got really excited and a little star-struck. It was difficult to play it cool and act like I was used to this sort of thing. You can't embarrass yourself by acting like too much of a fan in those situations. Another thing about this place that was very different from anything you see in Atlanta was the paparazzi standing outside. This was my first experience with them, and I was genuinely curious. I asked one of the guys if he was really on the clock while he was just standing there holding his camera, and he told me that yes, he was being paid for waiting around. I can't believe that's actually their job! The photographers weren't exactly interested in me, which is just fine because I really don't need all those flashing cameras in my face. But when Lebron James walked out, the light bulbs started flashing and everybody was yelling out questions. It was a crazy thing to see. The next day (Wednesday) was when the ESPYs were filmed, and it was even more hectic and exciting than the other two days. Stay tuned - I'll be writing about and sharing video of my day as Yardbarker's red carpet correspondent very soon!

My Foundation Featured in Essence Magazine

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:17:33 -0500

Hey Yardbarkers! How's it going? As you may already know, giving back to the community is something that I feel very strongly about. That's why I wanted to stop by real quick and share some news with you - I'm being featured in the Essence Magazine 2008 Do Right Men Issue for the work I've been doing with my foundation. I'm very proud of this recognition for my efforts in the community, and I hope it'll inspire others to do what they can to give back. If you'd like to vote for me, you can do that here: http://www.essence.com/essence/dorightmen/bio_oviemughelli.html Also, please check out my site to see what I've been up to in the community. Donations are greatly appreciated! http://oviemughelli34.com/community.htm.

Giving Back

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:17:15 -0500

It's all about giving back to the kids

Ovie Mughelli

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:16:03 -0500

Not just a football player

Happy Birthday to me

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:17:00 -0500

Happy belated birthday to me I guess. I turned 28 this past Tuesday and had one of the best birthdays ever in my opinion. My birthday started with me waking up early in the morning because I had to go to mini camp. Unfortunately, I don't think Coach Mike Smith would accept me missing a chance to get better with my teammates just because its my 28th anniversary of life on this earth; even if our practices are voluntary. But anyway, after practice I planned to do 3 of my favorite things to celebrate. Relax and play video games, go to the theatre to watch a movie, and EAT some good food at a swanky restaurant. I accomplished the first 2 things without a problem but I never got to have a good quiet meal because my brother and some of my friends took me to a rooftop lounge on top of the Glenn Hotel to a surprise birthday party for me. And I truly was surprised. What surprised me most was that there was so many people that showed up to celebrate with me. Everyone I have met from my networking functions, charity events, football stuff I do around the city, business dealings, or just from hanging out in the city showed up. But what made me feel real good was to see some of my teammates like DJ Shockley, Michael Turner, Roddy White, Jerious Norwood and others stopped by. I can say I really felt special. Something that impressed me was that my backup fullback Corey McIntyre helped to set this up with my assistant. It's not always that you have 2 people who play the same position really be cool with each other on and off the field. I know this because in Baltimore when I was a backup FB the starter showed no love towards me and even told me that I should concentrate on special teams because I would never take his spot. But leaving the party helped inspire and motivate me to become even better in every way because I know that a lot of people got high expectations for me in this city from football to philanthropy and are cheering me on and I definitely don't plan to disappoint. P.S. people keep asking me what I want for my birthday because they think I have everything (which is not true). And I don't know what to tell them. I want to hear from you guys on what some of your favorite birthday presents were or your favorite birthday surprises.

Mini-Camp Update

Sat, 31 May 2008 17:27:00 -0500

What's up yardbarker? I would say were about half way thru with the mini camps and veteran camps and OTA's (Organized Team Activities) and passing camps, and whatever else Coach Smith is putting us thru to get this team on the right track. After these last 2 months of preparation, I can honestly say there is no team I would rather be on then the falcons. When people encounter change we always compare it to our past experiences and weigh the pros and the cons. With Coach Smiths mini-camps and OTA's some of the players, including myself were not to keen on the long hours we were putting in to prepare for training camp because it was more than we did with Petrino (and more than what most guys are doing around the league). I remember during the off-season in Baltimore, it truly was an off-season and voluntary truly meant voluntary. I distinctly remember some of our camps being no more then 2 to 3 hrs long. The fact that we had so many veterans like Ray Lewis, Steve Mcnair, Jonathan Ogden and even the great Deion Sanders probably allowed us to operate in a more laid back environment in the off-season. As I've mentioned before this was and is not the case in ATL. But there is a special thing happening in Atlanta. Which is why many of my teamate's no longer grumble with the early mornings and extra film sessions when it's only May. At first the coaches would have to beg, plead and even sometimes lay on guilt trips to make sure everyone would come to all the voluntary workouts and camps, but now it is the players who are policing each other and encouraging everyone not only to be here but to make sure we all get better every day as a team. Going thru the motions is no longer an option in Atlanta. Either you work or u get out the way. Being a 6-year veteran, I've seen this team unity thing occur before but never have I seen it happen this early into a team's season or to a team that has had a changing of the guard such as the falcons have had. If you ask anyone on the team last year they all will probably tell you that the fun had been taken out of the game. If you ask these same players that same question today, they will tell u that all we do when we drive thru those gates at Flowery Branch is have fun. A big reason that is happening is because of the tone Mike Smith has set and the tone that the leaders and veterans of the team have set. Coach Smith makes sure to keep the fun in the off-season by scheduling different activities for us such as fishing, bowling, golfing, etc. The funniest thing ever was when he put up a blooper reel of some of the guys worst golf swings with video references to Caddyshack and Happy Gilmore to drive the point home (no pun intended (well it was kind of intended)). Laughter is becoming a way of life at Flowery Branch. If you enjoy what you do, you will always be great at what you do.

ESPN Dramatic Reading

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:00:23 -0500

Hey Yardbarkers, I have a surprise for you. I know all y'all see me as a bruising Fullback, however little do you guys know, I am also a trained thespian. Upon graduation of college I had a dilemma on whether to go into my first love which is acting or professional football. I reluctantly chose football. While I was out in NY for the NFL draft, ESPN The Magazine gave me a chance to get back to my roots and show all the haters that I can cross over at any time. Below is some of my best work. Excuse my French/ country side accent, I've been away from the game for a while. Enjoy.

Shock the World

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:43:25 -0500

"Shock the World" was what the t-shirts read in the Atlanta Hawks stadium. And I think the Hawks did just that. As I've told u guys before, I'm not the biggest basketball fan (but I'm getting there), plus you have to support your home team no matter what. Going to the Hawks game on Monday and Friday changed the whole way I look at basketball and Atlanta's team. It definitely helped that I had floor seats. Because it's a completely different game when you are watching what looks like a bunch of ants scurry around the court compared to when u are on the same level watching these giants dance around the court like gazelles. But back to the shock the world t-shirts, I don't think anyone gave the hawks a chance to even win one game against the mighty Celtics, much less take the series to game 7. The lack of faith from the city in their sports team reminds me of a certain other Atlanta team that starts with an F. I know that the citywide support for the falcons was probably at an all time low last year and I also know that we brought a lot of that upon ourselves, and I know we might have to go thru some of that lack of support at the beginning of the season again but what the hawks have shown me is that if they can shock the world, so can we. And I truly believe that every man on my team feels the same way. No one is giving us a chance next year but no one gave the hawks a chance at the beginning of their season. It just goes to show that we the players have the wonderful opportunity to choose our own destiny. It doesn't matter what the announcers or so called experts or even what skeptical fans say, if the falcons want to go to the playoffs we are going, and I've already set my mind on that. So I am not sure what our t-shirts will say, cuz I don't want to steal the hawk's idea, but it will have something to do with shocking the world. I know the hawks ended up losing the series overall and it really sucked seeing them go down after all their hard work but I think its an excellent foundation to build on so my hats off to the whole team and organization for putting on a great show and giving the falcons a blueprint of how to do what no one thinks can be done.

Update

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:54:02 -0500

What's up Yardbarkers? I'm sorry for going ghost on y'all since my second post, but I've been doing a little traveling. I have probably been on 6 flights in the last couple of weeks. Some of the highlights were going to Cancun for some business and pleasure, then going to San Antonio to work out with Priest Holmes, and throwing out the first pitch at the season opener for the Augusta GreenJackets. At first I wasn't too thrilled about the 2 hour drive from Atlanta to Augusta, but at the end of my day when we had that 2 hour drive back to Atlanta, I was happy I went. To be completely honest Yardbarkers, even though I have great respect for those who can play America's pastime at a high level, baseball is not one of my favorite sports. It's a little more fun to play than it is to watch, but it's just not my cup of tea. Maybe that stems from a traumatic experience of being hit in the head with a baseball in little league (but that's another story). Needless to say, I was excited when the falcons added a hospital visit and a trip to the Augusta Boys and Girls Club to my itinerary as well. The two-hour ride with members of Falcons personnel wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At first I wasn't sure how professional I had to be. I didn't know if I was allowed to kick my shoes off and take a nap or if I had to sit up, be ridged and respectful and make small talk. The uneasiness stemmed from the fact that though I have spoken to them several times, I have never been confined in a limo with them for 2 hours. I am glad to report that we all had a great time and were laughing, joking and strategizing for future ventures. We even avoided the dreaded awkward silence that we all hate. The real fun started on our first stop at the Children's hospital. My father is a doctor, but I was never sure that I wanted to take over the family business. I don't like seeing people (especially children) in pain or suffering. As I've grown older and wiser I've realized that whether I look at it or choose to look away, there will ALWAYS be adults and children suffering, so I can either choose to do what I can to curb it or to do nothing. This is why I've been trying to make more of a concerted effort to stop by children's hospitals. As the hospital staff went into every room and made sure it was ok for me to come in, I could hear some of the kids squeal with excitement. I would walk in with my falcon's jersey and a teddy bear and do whatever I could think of to let each child know how precious he or she is. Every room was a different experience, but the one that really touched me was when I walked into the hospital room of a little boy named Jack. Jack was one of the kids who squealed when the hospital worker told him I was coming in. When I walked in I barely had time to introduce myself before he ran up and hugged my leg. Jack's face was beaming the whole time I was in the room and he kept on looking over to his dad saying, "he's a real football player." You would think I was giving this kid a blank check to Toys-R-Us as excited as he was. But all I was giving was my time, attention, and a little brown falcons teddy bear. I think that was more than enough for Jack and his dad. What really got me was when I was leaving the room Jack's father stopped me and seemed to be holding back tears as he told me that this was the happiest day of Jack's life. The words of Jack's father really meant a lot to me because it reminded me how even though we as athletes and as people do and say things that we think are small; they can mean the whole world to someone else. PS- I don't want to write an essay on here but I have so much I want to share with you guys. There's still my visit to the Boys and Girls club, my adventures in throwing out the first pitch and especially my being Laura Turner Seydel's guest at a dinner commemorating the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King. I can guarantee that you guys are going to be blown away when I let you know about how I plan to align the Ovie Mughelli Foundation with Laura Turner Seydel and her Captain Planet Foundation to promote environmentalism in our youth. Sorry for the movie trailer preview, but I just want to let you Yardbarkers know that the best is yet to come.

Back To Work 1.0

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:11:52 -0500

Hey Guys I just noticed that my original Back To Work blog did not post completely. Here is the part that was cut off. Enjoy. Finally I am back in Atlanta and I can definitely say that I have missed this city. Even though I have only been a part of the dirty bird franchise for a year now ( March 2nd to be exact) I am really starting to view Atlanta as my home. I have been doing a lot of traveling since the season ended. I started with a weekend get away in Las Vegas then I stopped in Phoenix for the Superbowl which is a great experience every year ( it will be even better when I am playing in the game and not just watching). After the Superbowl, I flew to Hawaii to hang ten during the Pro-Bowl. After I got all of my fun out of the way it was back to business when I headed to Northern California to attend a business entrepreneurial program presented by the NFL at Standford University. From Standford I spent a week in Charleston at Moms house ( everyone know you cant stay away from home for too long before Moms is on the phone complaining.) After my much needed visit home I had the great pleasure and honor to speak at Columbia University as the keynote Speaker for the Sports Philanthropy Project. I was extremely nervous however I was told I did a great job (thanks everyone for all the support and motivation). Now if you are exhausted reading the above paragraph, just imagine how tired I am from going through it. A lot has changed football wise since the season has ended. We have a entire new staff, including a great new GM from New England, our new head coach from the Jaguars, offensive coordinator courtesy of the Steelers and lastly my running back coach who we call Shaft. As far as I am concerned our whole staff is a bunch of Bad Mother (shut yo' mouth). There were many causalities of war from the regime change. The one that hit me the most was when Alge Crumpler was released. Coming from Baltimore, Crump reminded me a lot of pro-bowl TE Todd Heap except he had a better tan. The reason Crump and I became so tight was because he was just an all around great person. He was always joking and laughing and cared about his teammates as individuals not just football player. I am very confident that he is going to do his thing with the Titans. I will be sure to pour out a little Gatorade next time I am on the field.