Fresno State Athletics
Exclusive Interview With Former Bulldog Joe Schey
5/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 24, 2005
Joe Schey is the kind of person who can make anyone smile.Despite his enormous size, 6-7, 290 pounds, Schey is known as a gentle giant. As a Bulldog offensive tackle, he was anything but on the field. Schey earned first-team All-WAC honors in his senior season of 2002, helping the Bulldogs to a 9-5 record and a win over Georgia Tech in the Silicon Valley Football Classic, Fresno State's first bowl win in a decade.
Schey's impact on the field led the Bulldogs to a WAC championship and four consecutive bowl games during his career. Schey was equally impressive away from the football field, earning Academic All-WAC honors twice and being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
What makes Joe so beloved is the way he is with people. Toiling as an offensive lineman, where notoriety doesn't come easily, it is rare that he got asked for autographs. But when he did, his personality and huge smile shined. Schey made such an impression, especially with children, he became a fan favorite. So much so, that 6-year-old Austin Johnson, the son of former Athletics Director Scott Johnson, tabbed Joe as his favorite player. Austin proudly wore a red No. 75 (Schey's number) jersey his father had specially made to all Bulldog games.
After finished his career and earning his degree in sociology, Schey signed a free agent contract with the New England Patriots, where he was a member of the "taxi" squad. He was released from the Patriots in January 2004 and returned to Fresno to continue his education, taking a job as a substitute teacher.
Last year, Joe heard about auditions for a movie seeking football players. Happy Madison Productions and Paramount Pictures is producing a remake of the 1970s classic football movie "The Longest Yard." The original starred Burt Reynolds. The remake includes Reynolds, in a different role, and stars Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, plus former NFL receiver Michael Irvin. It will be released nationwide May 27.
During the making of the movie Schey met up with another former Bulldog, Brandon Molale, who played for the Bulldogs in 1993-94.
Molale is a more veteran actor, whose credits include such movies as "Cheaper by the Dozen," "The Waterboy," "The Hulk" and television appearances on "Boston Legal" and "That 70s Show." He has recurring roles on the daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Schey plays a prison guard who also plays offensive tackle, not much of a stretch for a guy who spent his playing career in the trenches. Schey wears No. 76 in the movie but wanted his college number of 75, but it wasn't available, according to the producers.
Joe Schey recently visited with gobulldogs.com about his experience making the movie and what lies ahead.
GoBulldogs.com: How did this come about?
Joe Schey: My Dad called and said he saw in the newspapers they were looking for people to play in the movie.
GB: What was the audition like?
JS: I signed up and filled out an application. It was at the Home Depot Center and we had to go through a work out so they could see who was legit. There were about 500 guys there. They cut some of the guys right off the bat and then we went back for a second day and they eventually cut it to 44 guys. Most of the guys were former players or Arena (League) players on their off-season. We had position groups and had to run 40 yard dashes and run the bags. Basic football stuff.
GB: Where was it filmed?
JS: The football scenes were filmed at El Camino Junior college. The prison scenes were shot in New Mexico. It took six weeks to shoot just the game, which was at El Camino.
GB: What are you doing for the premier?
JS: I got invited to the Holly wood premiere at the Paramount Theatre. I'm taking my fiancée, Corryn McQuown.
GB: Have you seen it?
JS: I will see it Sunday (May 22) for the first time.
GB: Had you seen the original?
JS: Yeah, I've seen it a couple times.
GB: What was your role?
JS: I played a prison guard who plays tackle.
GB: Tell us something you learned about the following stars:
JS:
- Adam Sandler: He's as funny in real life as he is in the movies. He would show-up riding in on his moped and everyone would start cracking up. One time, he got on the microphone and starting singing love songs to Bob Goldberg. We would sit around and talk football and talk about our football picks. He has a pretty cool guy.
- Chris Rock: I didn't see him much. His character died at the New Mexico prison, so he wasn't there for the football scenes. He stopped by a couple of times and I saw him but never really saw him much.
- Burt Reynolds: A great guy...a really great guy. He always had a smile on his face. He told some really good stories. There was a lot of down time. We would run a play 10 times until it was right and then we'd have a two-hour break to set up for the next scene, so we had a lot of time to talk. He was just one of the guys. He just sat around and talked with us. He talked about playing at Florida State and Lee Corso. (Reynolds and Corso were college teammate at Florida State). He also said whenever he recruited for Florida State, he may have lost some recruits but he never lost a recruit's Mom. He was really funny. He'd be out there throwing the ball around and playing catch. We played a lot of touch football games with all of the guys.
I met a lot of really cool guys. Nelly was great, so were Kevin Nash, Brian Bosworth and Steve Austin.
Did you have to join the Screen Actor's Guild?
JS: Yeah. I had to fill-out the application and pay the $1,400 membership. It was cool, though, because the benefits are very good. We got treated really well. We got paid well and sometimes if we did something really well we would get paid a little more. The only thing we had to provide was our own housing, but I have family there so I stayed with them. They had catered food from 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. and everything was top notch. It was like being in the NFL training camp all over again. We had gourmet food and all-you-could-eat. We had omelet bars for breakfast and the lunch buffet has 16-ounce steaks. They had a tent with nothing but drinks, anything and everything you could want. It was all first-class.
GB: What was a typical day on the set like?
JS: We had to be there at 6:30 a.m. and be on field dressed and read by 8 a.m. Then we would sit around for two hours to wait for the fog to burn off. We would run the plays, like running the scout team offense. We had a big board that had all of the plays drawn-up on it. We would rehearse it while the producer watched. We did it until we got it the way he wanted and then went to put it on film. It was choreographed football but it was full speed getting off the ball. There was a lot of waiting around. It would take six hours to film one play. They would do close-ups and you would have to hit and lock-up with the d-line and then they would show the quarterback. It was pretty interesting.
GB: How realistic were the football action scenes?
JS: All the hits were real. We had guys get separated shoulders and neck burners. All the hitting was legit. We ended up having a lot of sub-plots bubbling-up on the set. Guys were trying to make an impression so they could get another role, so they would really go at it. Plus sitting around in the hot sun got some guys mad so they were taking it on other guys. Some of the hits were pretty violent.
GB: What former Bulldogs could be actors?
JS: Anybody can do what I did. But being an actor is a lot harder than people think. It's not as easy as showing up and doing it. Some of them may be prima donnas but they are very good at what they do. They definitely have a talent.
GB: Was being a football actor easier or harder than being a football player?
JS: There is similar pressure to do everything right. When they load a case of film in the camera, which isn't cheap, you don't want to be the guy who screws up the scene. You want to do it right. It's not different, though, than having Pat Hill yell at you for not doing your job. There was pressure but overall it wasn't nearly as physically demanding as playing football.
GB: What are your favorite memories of playing for the Bulldogs?
JS: Beating Georgia Tech in the Silicon Valley Bowl. Winning that game was so special. The whole experience at Fresno State for me was great. It is great to see how the whole town has grown and how the program has gone from rags to riches, so to speak. It's really cool hanging out in the community now and listening to what people say. Since I'm not an insider anymore, I enjoy hearing what everyone else says about the program and to see how much they love the Bulldogs. Seeing it from the other side of the fence really does prove to me that people live and die for Fresno State. That's why I choose to make my home here. I'm moved in here forever. Fresno's my town.
GB: Will this lead to more roles for you?
JS: Someday I want to pursue it more, but right now I'm busy getting finished with my master's degree. (Schey is getting a master's degree in education). It's not something I'm dead-set on right now, but in about six months when I'm finished with school I will look at some options. I've had a couple commercial auditions and I tried out for a part for a football movie starring The Rock called "Gridiron Gang," but it's about a high school team and I think they were looking for some younger looking guys.
GB: What's next for Joe Schey?
JS: I'm getting married in the next year. I bought a new house and I'm still renovating an older house I bought before, so between that and school I keep pretty busy. Once I finish school, then it will be a game time decision. I could see myself teaching, acting for getting more involved in real estate. Right now I'm keeping my options open.
- Fresno State Media Relations
