After the conclusion of the highly-anticipated Battle for LA this past Saturday at the Kit-Kat Rivalry Weekend, Lane “Surefour” Roberts and a few other members of the Gladiators spent some time talking with members of the media. Several members of the media expressed similar kinds of questions, inquiring about the atmosphere at The Novo or the momentum of the match, but Surefour had apparently arrived to the post-game press conference with a determination that none saw coming.
He had a message to deliver, and he delivered it. Several times.
Five times to be exact.
“I just play the same, no matter who I’m playing against.”
“I’m just here so I won’t get fined”
These half-trolling, half-defiant type of responses aren’t unfamiliar to professional athletes, who are required to attend a certain number of press conferences. With this being the final week of a very long season, maybe Surefour had finally had enough of giving tailored answers to each question. Or, maybe in preparation for the interview, Surefour took some time looking over this tape of one of the NFL’s greatest personalities, Marshawn Lynch.
All in Good Fun
To be clear, Surefour was not simply saying this quote and then remaining silent. Both he and the members of the media laughed along with these responses, loving the chance to see one of the OWL’s best personalities just be himself and relax. It was also clearly a running joke after the second or third time Surefour replied with the same answer.
Additionally, his responses to the several questions the Gladiators were asked included other insights that were genuine and thoughtful. One such response came when he was asked about the two very important kills he got on Volskaya Industries, and if they helped him and the Gladiators kick it into gear and take over the rest of the match.
“I mean, a lot of people have a weird view of how Overwatch works. All they see is, ‘Oh, he’s getting more kills. That means he’s really good. Wow.’ Where I play exactly the same. I have the same confidence, I don’t get tilted. I don’t get overconfident. However the match is going on, I played the same as I did the first map.
But, maybe the other team starts playing differently after something big happens. Now I have to play a little bit more careful. Then, maybe later I can see that I can take more aggressive angles because they’re letting me. It’s a lot of give and take based on what the team’s doing. So if the team’s giving me space, I’ll use it. If the team’s not giving the space, then, of course, I’m not gonna be able to hit as many shots.”
All in all, it was good to see a relaxed and happy Surefour going into the post-season, even if it did mean a little bit of trolling. One thing seems likely though, despite whatever other roadblocks come his way, Surefour’s going to play the same, no matter who he’s playing against.
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