Getting to Know: Antonio Callaway
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In search of help at receiver for this upcoming season, Florida turned its recruiting efforts to Antonio Callaway and eventually landed the four-star wide out on National Signing Day.
Following his official visit to Florida the previous weekend, Callaway, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound receiver out of Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Fla., picked UF over West Virginia, Miami and Alabama to become the second wide receiver to join the Gators' 2015 recruiting class. After graduating from high school on May 27, Callaway plans to arrive at UF on June 23 and enroll starting the Summer B semester.
Inside the Gators caught up with Callaway for the latest segment of our "Getting to Know" series for the incoming 2015 freshmen signees.
What led to your decision to attend the University of Florida?
Callaway: I had more opportunities at UF and the quarterback Treon Harris, we have good chemistry. I know I can help the offense.
What's your relationship been like with Harris, a fellow Booker T. Washington alum?
Callaway: He's like a big brother. I knew him outside of football, so that's what makes it better.
What was your favorite part of your recruitment process?
Callaway: Signing on the dotted line.
What was your least favorite part of your recruitment process?
Callaway: Getting asked the same questions over and over and over. It was every day.
How do the coaches plan to use you moving forward?
Callaway: I really don't know too much. I know I'm coming in to play right away and help them. I don't know if they're going to have me on the inside or outside yet.
In high school, did you prefer playing in the slot or on the outside?
Callaway: I was better one-on-one on the outside, but I can play both.
What aspects of your game are you aiming to polish this summer and fall?
Callaway: I've been working on my routes, like not losing speed out of my routes. I used to when I was running my routes, when I'd get to the top of my routes my speed would break down or slow down. I've been working on staying at top speed on my routes.
What would you say is your greatest strength as a football player?
Callaway: My work ethic. I work hard in everything that I do and I always want to be No. 1.
What have your interactions with Jim McElwain been like so far? What about him drove you to stay firm to your commitment to Florida?
Callaway: I talk to him every now and then. I check on him and see how he's doing. He's a good man.
Obviously when you committed to UF the program did not have a wide receivers coach in place at the time, but what has your relationship been like with new wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon II?
Callaway: Coach Kerry, when he was at FIU he kept it real with me. He's said to me to keep working, make sure everything's great and be ready to play.
If it weren't for Florida, where would you have signed?
Callaway: Alabama.
Have you decided on a college major yet?
Callaway: Not yet, but I think I want to major in business.
If you could play any team at home in the Swamp who would it be?
Callaway: Miami, because some of my good teammates and friends on and off the field, they play for the University of Miami.
Do you have any superstitions or rituals in your personal life for before a game?
Callaway: I have a wristband that I never take off. The refs, they used to be like, "Oh, take your wristband off or you have to get out of the game." I'd take my wristband off and I'd put it in my pants, or I'd still have it on but I'd put my glove over it and like tighten my glove. That way, it's not showing. But I always have it on. In track too, they tried to make me take it off, but I always kept it in my zipper pocket.
Do you have anything written on the wristband?
Callaway: It says "grace in the park."
Which NFL team is your favorite?
Callaway: Miami Dolphins.
If you were to eventually become a first-round NFL draft choice, what is the first thing you would buy?
Callaway: I'd buy my mom a house and a car.
If you could play with any former college athlete, who would it be and why?
Callaway: Percy Harvin, because he was my favorite because he was small and fast.
What's your favorite genre of music to listen to?
Callaway: I like rap.
What is your favorite TV show?
Callaway: "The First 48."
What is your favorite movie?
Callaway: "Boyz n the Hood."
Which celebrity would you most want to trade places with for one day?
Callaway: Bill Gates.
If you had your choice of anyone on the planet, who would you go out with for one dream date?
Callaway: Angelina Jolie.
Name one thing you can't live without.
Callaway: My mom and my sisters.
What is on your bucket list? Name three things you want to do before dying.
Callaway: I want to go skydiving and I want to go to Niagra Falls.
👐🏽 been up to date 😉 🐊 pic.twitter.com/RpYwhP5bJQ- RICH gang (@Ripbobby_G) June 9, 2015