You've Gotta Fight for Your Right
JENNY VRENTAS: What’s been the hardest part about transitioning from left tackle to right tackle?
ERIC FISHER: Honestly, it’s not what many people would think, but my body is very used to being in a left-handed stance, and it’s the complete opposite being in a right-handed stance. So it’s almost like I had to build new muscles on the right side. Now I’m feeling very comfortable over there and things are progressing very well. You really can’t do anything about it except play the position, and my body has just transitioned to it.
VRENTAS: What did 49ers tackle Joe Staley, a former Central Michigan University Chippewa like yourself, tell you about Alex Smith?
FISHER: He said he’s a great guy to play with, and they were really good friends over there in San Francisco. Now I’m getting to know Alex a lot better, and I see what Joe meant. When you have somebody like that, someone you can really get along with, it just makes you want to work that much harder for him to keep him protected. He’s an easy-going guy; he likes working just like I do; he likes taking care of business and just making the most of every day at work. He controls our offense, and it’s great to have a leader like that to protect.
VRENTAS: Your name will always be intertwined with Luke Joeckel and Lane Johnson. Do you, and will you, keep an eye on how those guys are doing in Jacksonville and Philadelphia?
It won’t be a big deal, but I think it’s always going to be a little competition between us three, to see where we take our careers. I thought that was absolutely awesome how three tackles went in the first four picks of the draft, so it’s going to be cool to see what they do and keep on competing with them. There are a lot of great pass rushers in this league, so every week I’m going to have a new challenge. Every day, you’ve got to try to take a little time to look at the future and who you’ll be going against, and what kind of pass rusher they are. But you can’t really make some players stand out more than others. A defensive end is a defensive end, and you have to prepare the same every week.
