Joe Arlauckas (Rochester, New York, 1965), former player of the the real Madrid and historic figure in European basketball, is once again at the forefront of the sport, this time from another angle: as a commentator on American football. Next to Arvydas Sabonisformed one of the … the most feared duos on the continent. Together, they guided the White team to victory in the 1995 Euroleague and the 1994 ACB League. With his imposing physique, his time in the elite and his charisma, Arlauckas now embodies another look: that of a tough, physical, authentic veteran; a man who experienced sport from the inside and who now analyzes it from another prism, that of NFL. His voice will bring the games to life for Dazn’s Spanish-speaking audience.
— This year, he makes his debut as an American football commentator. How are you approaching this new project? Are you excited?
– A lot. Even though I have been in the basketball world for many years, this American football project motivates me as if it were something new. Last year we talked about something similar, but for one reason or another it couldn’t happen. This year, I am experiencing it little by little, serenely, but with a great desire to contribute. Also, with the momentum the NFL is giving here, with the game between the Dolphins and the Commanders in Madrid, it makes me believe that American football will grow a lot in Spain.
“I loved baseball; “And I tried American football, but I saw right away that I didn’t have the ability to withstand that many hits.”
—We all know his role as a basketball player, but where does his love of American football come from?
— As a child. I think you were born here with football; us there, with baseball more or less. I loved baseball, but like I always say, sometimes you try to do things you can’t do. I also wanted to be a singer… but I sing terribly (laughs). As a child, I tried American football because I liked the contact, but I quickly realized that I didn’t have the ability to withstand that many hits. It’s a very hard sport. I played a season to get stronger with basketball in mind. At the end of that semester, I said, “Okay, that’s it. “I took off my helmet, my pads, I put on my basketball jersey and I said to myself: ‘I’m going to play, but harder.’
— Have you also watched the NFL since you were little, or was it just a hobby?
– Always. I tell you: I am a member of the Miami Dolphins and at my house Sunday was sacred. My mother was Italian: pasta on Sunday, bread… the typical thing. I always told her, “Mom, cook at lunch,” so we could eat and sit and watch the game. She would sit in her chair and, if Miami won, I would tell her, ‘Don’t get up, you can’t move.’ It was pure superstition. My mother said to me, “Son, I have to go to the bathroom. And I: ‘No, you can’t.’ I was so crazy since I was little. It was a family tradition: watching the matches together, my parents, my brothers…
— Favorite team then: Miami Dolphins?
—Miami, always.
— What is the game you remember the most?
— I’ve seen millions of games, but if I have to stick to just one, it’s the Super Bowl between the Patriots and the Falcons. Brady trailed 28-3 early in the fourth quarter…and they come back. It was spectacular. Amazing. Another: the year the Giants beat the Patriots, with that reception stuck to the helmet. It was impressive. I told you about two Super Bowls, but there are also Wild Card games and playoffs that are awesome. But the Patriots thing was…to me, incredible. Watching Brady tell his team, “We’re going to win this game,” while trailing by 25…and win.
—What do you think an athlete needs to succeed in the NFL?
—Good luck, good luck. Injuries are decisive. Before, the average career of a player was two and a half years. And many contracts weren’t even guaranteed. People think about the two or three years they were in the NFL, but before that, they played in high school, in college…they have bruised knees, bruised backs, bruised heads. And many did not earn a cent. And then, you have to have madness. A chip that activates when you put on the headphones and say: “Let’s play, let’s bang and enjoy three hours.”
“To work little is to guarantee that we will not succeed; and the most difficult thing today is to overcome the bad times”
— As a successful athlete, what advice would you give to any young person who wants to succeed in this world?
— Everyone says “work hard,” but that’s the easy answer. I believe in work, yes, and also in luck. What I always tell them is that working harder than everyone else doesn’t guarantee anything. But working little guarantees that you won’t succeed. That’s for sure. And the hardest thing today is overcoming the bad times. I see that a lot of young people need that extra step to say, “Okay, today I took two steps back, tomorrow I need to take four steps forward.” A bad day is the same as a good day: you have to keep going and moving forward and moving forward.
— Do you still play basketball?
– Certainly not. I don’t touch a ball. It even disgusts me. My shoulders are terrible and I can’t pull. And I was a shooter. Now I don’t make a single free throw. And I’m also independent: if I break something, what should I do? I no longer have the doctors I had at 20 or the body I had at 25. A sprained ankle used to take two weeks; now it’s been six months.
—And you watch basketball?
— I see him for work. I don’t see the ACB at all: they don’t pay me. It’s clear (laughs). The Euroleague yes, because I comment on the matches.
“Before, if your finger hurt, you played the same; Now many are thinking about their percentages, their numbers…”
—What do you think a team needs to win the Euroleague this year?
— Good luck too. There are of course injuries, but now they are different: before, if we had a sore finger, we played the same; Now many think about their percentages, their numbers… This is also the key to keeping the team healthy during the season. Sometimes a team arrives damaged until March and gets everyone back at the end, with energy, and wins easily. Like in Madrid a few years ago. Others, like Fenerbahçe at the time, arrived without five players. Injuries also decide titles.
— How did you start playing basketball?
— Because of my father… I played baseball like all the kids in the United States, but he encouraged me to try basketball.
— What role did your family – for example your father – play in encouraging you to choose basketball as a career path?
—My family was the key. My father gave me one fundamental piece of advice: go to college. This opened the door to stability, to studies, to real basketball. I am convinced that without this family push, I might not be speaking to you today. It was a mixture of responsibility, opportunity and conviction. And it worked.
—He lived in an era that many remember with nostalgia, this unstoppable couple with Sabonis. How do you view basketball today compared to the one you played?
— That has changed a lot. In some things it’s better, in others it’s less. Today, the game is more physical, more tactical, with more preparation and professionalism. It’s positive. But I miss the most visceral part: that street instinct, the raw scoring talent, the competitive pride. Now everything is more structured, more measured. But that’s the evolution of sport. You must accept it.
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