C.J. Bailey on Grayson McCall: "I'm Better Because of Him"

NC State quarterback C.J. Bailey met with the media ahead of the Wolfpack's upcoming matchup versus Stanford.

NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Bailey’s interview.

"I just asked [Grayson McCall] the other day, ‘If I were to play for you, what should I call you, Grayson or Coach?’ He told me to call him, ‘OG.’”

“He's been a great help. He's been a great leader. I just try to mimic everything he does. I’ve just been watching him, observing. He’s been in my ear and helping me out. It was really big that he came to all those games, and I went to him because he helped out a lot. He’s always been there for me.”

“It's never a tense conversation. We're always excited for each other, even if things are not going as well. We always try to help each other out and hype each other up. He always hypes me up. It's never a tense conversation. We’re always upbeat.”

“It's really tough for Grayson to have to go through that. Some people don't know how hard that is in your career; last year. Coming to the games, even though he ended his career, he wanted to wait for us. He's still coming to the games, still coming to practice, coming to our meetings in the morning, still helping with the game plan, helping us out, and everything. It's really tough on him, but it's God's plan, and God’ll help him go wherever he wants to go next in life.”

“I'm a true freshman, but I don't even want to call myself that anymore because of Grayson. I feel like I’ve just been better because of him. I just feel like I’ve grown out of my title as a freshman because of him.”

“That's not easy, but we did it. We had to say, 'Let's go play for him,' instead of just harping on it and being sad over it. We just said, ‘Go play for him, and, do it for Grayson.’”

“He never came in with lousy energy. He never came in tired, never came in sad, never came in confused. He always knew what he had to do. He always knew. He always had a plan of what he was going to do. He was always upbeat, energized, and was the loudest one in the building to keep everyone going as well as he was going.”

“His voice. He's got a good voice. He always knew what to say in the right moment. He never has a blank mind where he doesn't know what he’s doing. He's a really smart guy.”

“I've made a lot of progress since the first game against La. Tech. I’ve grown a lot. I’ve gotten better every week. It’s just showing I’m getting comfortable being out there.”

“This bye week, I've been resetting mentally and physically. I just took that bye week as the time to take football off. Now, we’re back. We just came back and locked back in on the assignment and the game plan this weekend. It's helped a lot, that bye week. I feel like we're going to come out this weekend with some fire in our eyes.”

“Not really. I'm just thinking about playing smarter, getting down, getting out of bounds, and not taking as many hits. I’ll still play my game. I don't need any extra protection. Sometimes, it's good to wear, but sometimes I feel like I don't need it.”

“I'm just not used to that. My whole life, I probably didn't wear a rib protector until this year, but I always played fearless. I always like taking hits. I don’t have a problem with it, but that moment kind of shocked me a little. I still had awareness to get down and get out.”

“As the weeks have gone on, I’ve gained a lot of confidence, and I’ve gained a lot trust in my guys. I know they're going to make those plays. I trust myself to deliver a ball for them to catch it. If I put it anywhere in their vicinity, they’re going to catch it."