Tim Dwight is arguably the best athlete to ever come out of Iowa. He’s a University of Iowa native where he starred in both track and football.

Dwight is currently enjoying the California sunshine as a member of the San Diego Chargers.

The following is a light-hearted question-and-answer session with Dwight. Read on to find out what Iowa City bars are good for scoping chicks, why Yoga is better than bulk, and where to get some decent sushi next time you are in San Diego.

Marcus Charter: When you were at Iowa City High, what exactly did it feel like to know you were going to win every time you walked on the track?

Tim Dwight: You learn to compete. I learned that if you prepare the right way, good things can happen. After my freshman year, all the way through high school, it just became a habit.

Getting on the track, I knew I could be competitive, because of what I built up over the years and what I did during the week. It’s a good feeling to know you’ve done the work. As corny as it sounds, I tried to do the best I could.

MC: Was your success due to hard work or genetics?

TD: There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t try to get better. I tried to establish as a younger kid, `Hey do the work, because doing the work is what is going to help you be consistent throughout your career.’ Genetics did play a role as well, though.

MC: What are some of your favorite memories as a Hawkeye?

TD: My first touchdown against Central Michigan when I was a freshman was a big one.

Also, beating Penn State at Penn State. They were ranked ninth or something, and it was only our second or third time beating them there. Just being a Hawkeye after growing up watching them was cool.

MC: The best bar in Iowa City?

TD: To have a nice time and relax … Quinton’s, but if you want to go for girls, it’s either Brothers or Vitos. There is definitely a lot of eye candy.

MC: What were your first impressions upon entering the NFL?

TD: The game is so fast. You are playing against the best players in the world every day. Here, everyone is competing for a job, and it is a job. It’s hard for guys to make the transition from college.

Listen, after practice you go home, you get off your feet, you do things as a professional. You’re getting paid to be the best, you’re getting paid to win and compete on the field.

There are so many things you have to worry about – where your money is going, getting your rest, getting people tickets, watching film, learning as much as you can about your offense.

There is just so much going on, so many people coming at you.

The NCAA needs to do a better job of preparing guys coming into the NFL.

MC: How big was your first NFL paycheck?

TD: The net was $141,000.

MC: What did you do with it?

TD: Paid off credit card bills, paid my agent. It’s still the biggest check I’ve ever gotten at once. At that point in my life, it was unbelievable. I called my old man, and he said, “I make that in three years.” It’s pretty amazing.

MC: What was the deal with your beer-drinking end zone dance in Atlanta? Was that a Pabst Blue Ribbon?

TD: That’s just something fun I did. We were sitting at 4-11, it was a Monday night game, and I thought if I got into the end zone a couple of times I would kick back and have a coldie. That was a Pacifico not a Pabst Blue Ribbon.

MC: What hurts more, a ruined appendix or the hardest hit you’ve ever taken?

TD: The appendix. It’s called a JP drain. They put a drain at the end of your colon, where your appendix was, and let fluid drip out of you.

After the drain has been in a couple days and you are feeling better, they pull it out of your stomach. They make you breathe in, blow out real hard, and they pull it out of you. That was the worst.

MC: What is one thing about the NFL the public doesn’t know?

TD: It’s a bitch. Getting up every day, coming to work, jumping in the Cold Plunge for the 20 minutes, getting in the hot tub, running around with little nicks and bruises.

You constantly have to be making quick decisions. Your job depends on making quick decisions, and if you don’t make enough of them, then you’re out of there.

MC: Are you a member of the Breakfast Club (The Chargers early-morning workout group)?

TD: No, no I’m not. I don’t get up early with those guys. They lift four days a week, and that is not something I’m big on. I’ve shied away from the weights. I do a lot more yoga and things like that. More West Coast kind of stuff.

MC: Are you single?

TD: I’m kind of dating a girl from D.C. who went to Iowa last year.

MC: So there are no Chargers’ Girls in your future?

TD: No, nothing like that. They do their own thing out there, and we don’t pay much attention to them.

MC: Are you ESPN The Magazine’s “Golden Boy?”

TD: I don’t know. I heard I was in there again this month. It’s kind of excessive to the point that it’s like `Are you kidding me?’ Everybody wants to be in those kinds of magazines, but three times in the last three months, I mean, let’s cut it out.

MC: Have you eaten at Junior Seau’s restaurant?

TD: A few times. He just put in a new sushi bar. It’s good, but not the best in the city.

MC: What’s better: Seau’s place or Flutie Flakes?

TD: Definitely Flutie Flakes. I have to go with my QB. I had a whole box in a week, but I didn’t play well, so I have shied a way from the Flakes.

MC: Tell me one good thing about Iowa State.

TD: My sister went there.

Marcus Charter is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Ames.