Chris Horton's 76-tackle, three-interception rookie season was a pleasant surprise for the Washington Redskins in 2008.
A seventh-round pick known more for his extra-long dread locks than his skills at strong safety until early last September, Horton climbed up defensive scheme at Usain Bolt-like speed.
He intercepted two passes during his first start in week-two last year, the second clinching a victory. Two weeks later he intercepted a Tony Romo pass in Dallas, the easiest way for any Redskins defender to guarantee the support of his team's fan base.
Horton's expected to begin this season where he finished last: starting at strong safety opposite Laron Landry in the Redskins' secondary.
I caught up with Horton after practice on Wednesday afternoon and it didn't take me long to figure out that for a young guy (he's 24), Horton really doesn't spend much time keeping up with the newest technologies.
"Is that the twitter stuff or something else?," he asked me after I had inquired about whether or not he'd been watching Chad Ochocinco's live online web-shows from his dorm room at Bengals camp.
I then explained the difference between twitter and doing a web-show to the jovial 211-pound UCLA product.
Horton knows that some of his teammates are on twitter, but he says that he won't be joining them in the "twitterverse" any time soon.
"I'm not into that twitter stuff at all," Horton continued. "I stay away from all that. I don't need to be on it. That's just another thing to worry about doing every night when I am tired. It's just a way to get into trouble," he added.
"No twitter for me. I'll continue to be on my website, 'predator48.com,' but that's pretty much it. I'll do a video blog every once in a while to interact with the people."
A fan-friendly, emerging star who regularly holds court with the media, Horton seems like a perfect candidate to spend countless hours on twitter. But that just isn't his style.
"I don't want to have to come home every night and be tweeting, or whatever you call that stuff," he said.
"I think it's kind of a waste of time. I mean the guys who have all the extra time to post what they are doing in their daily lives, that's up to them. If that's what they want to do then so be it. But you won't see '48' on there tweeting."
So what does Horton do with the time he gains by not thinking about what to tweet?
"I go back to my place and I try to re-watch film and see what I did wrong in practice. I'll see if there is something in the play book that I have to freshen up on. Then I like to play some XBOX."
Horton's game of choice?
"I like Call of Duty," Horton said. "I'll play a couple of games a night. Maybe four games. I'll shut the XBOX down by 10 or 10:30 and then relax. Maybe watch a movie."
Surprisingly, the 24-year-old safety would rather play a first-person shooter game than 'Madden.' But he did say that he's already pre-ordered the new Madden.
"I am looking forward to playing Madden but I am more excited for November for the new 'Call of Duty' to come out," Horton said while smiling.
As for who Horton will be playing with ...
"My boy [Maurice] Jones-Drew [of the Jacksonville Jaguars]," Horton said. "Andre Carter and Kareem Moore will be on there with me, too. We've got our own clan. Lots of guys from Jacksonville are in it and some fans are even getting in on it now."
Apparently the clan is called 'HYS,' which stands for humble yourself. "We're globally known out there," Horton said about his group of fellow gamers.
Oh, and one more thing.
If you want to play video games with or against the New Orleans native, you can. He told me to give his gamer-tag out.
Horton's online handle is D5BLOCK.
He may not be on twitter but he's still interacting with the fans. One hour of online gaming at a time.
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