LILJ Interview with PLL’s Jarrod Neumann Sponsored by Epoch

Jarrod Neumann has recently emerged as a top defender for the Premiere Lacrosse League’s (PLL) Chaos Lacrosse Club. He broke out in 2019, winning the league’s Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year award and scored five two-point goals in 10 games. In 2020, the former University of Providence Friar led his team to a birth in the PLL Championship Series, picking up 16 ground balls in seven games. Coach Corey sat down with Neumann last May to discuss his journey and what he’s been up to during the pandemic.

Neumann’s lacrosse career started at the advanced age of 18. He was planning on running track but some friends and an old legend pushed him to the lacrosse field. “Matt Striebel, inducted into the Hall of Fame, multi-Team USA player, just overall great midfielder, definitely considered one of the best of all time at his position, became my high school coach,” Neumann said. “I had no idea who he was but my friends were all very excited about it, they played lacrosse. I had never seen a lacrosse game.”

Once he was convinced to play, Neumann began his career and fell in love. “I played two months of lacrosse starting at 18 years old, did a post graduate year where I played that spring and then went to tons of prospect days, clinics, camps for colleges all over the country because I decided this is something I want to do at the next level and ended up in Providence,” Neumann said.

He reflects fondly on his time in college. “I had a great experience,” Neumann said. “I spent four years there, I couldn’t be happier with my time there. [Provicence has] probably some of the nicest facilities in the country hands down. I think they’re definitely up there, they’re definitely top five of the nicest facilities out there. Beautiful place, great city, great teammates, great relationships.”

Neumann was drafted in the third round of the 2017 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) draft by the Florida Launch where he spent two seasons before finding a new challenge. “I ended up getting drafted to the MLL and spent some time in the pros,” Neumann said. “In my third year, which would have been my third year in the MLL, the PLL started and I decided to make the jump.”

Neumann is a unique defender with offensive capabilities and he may be changing the way the game is played. “That’s probably the coolest part for me, being a new breed or what’s been coined as sort of a ‘new generation’ of defenseman” Neumann said. “Everyone I’ve looked at or watched or admired for their defensive skills has always been the never-cross-the-midfield-line sort of guy.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been tough for athletes like Neumann to work on their skills but he has found a way to stay sharp and in shape. “I have some dumbells and weights that I use but then pushups, situps,” Neumann said. “Now with the announcement of the quarantined PLL championship tournament, I’ve started including cardio more and more.”

Being part of the “new generation” of defenders, Neumann needs to work on his shot but it’s been tough finding space to do so. “If I shoot, I need at least 15-20 [yards] to shoot from,” Neumann said. “If I’m warming up and doing basic shooting drills to start, I can use a 10-yard surface but when I start taking full, live-rep shots, I need 15-20 yards away from the net to shoot, essentially half of a field is good.”

Another unique thing about Neumann’s game is his stick which was custom-made by Epoch Lacrosse. “I remember reaching out to the Epoch guys and [saying] ‘hey, I’m an all-star, it’s my first time, I want something special. I want a special shaft, something that’s not going to be seen very often, I’d love it to match the uniforms,'” Neumann said. “They said they would work on it and they would get back to me. They obviouslt coordinated very well with the guys over at the PLL and they made me that shaft.”

Neumann had nothing but positive things to say about his collaboration with Epoch. “Epoch has been great to me over my time, we have a great relationship,” Neumann said. “They’re guys that just get it. They want to provide you with the best equipment that they can and they want to make sure it lasts at the highest level.”

Off the field, Neumann recieves a lot of attention for his massive hot sauce collection. “Hot sauce has played a role in my life since I was a young kid,” Neumann said. “I think the first hot sauce I had was tabasco. I think I picked up a bowl of chili that wasn’t mine and someone had loaded with tabasco and I tried it and I loved it.”

From there, the love has grown into a massive stash. “I have a shalf right now in my fridge with about 16 or 17 hot sauces,” Neumann said. “They range from the popular brands that I have to give a fair rating and try to like the truffle hot sauce, I [have] your basic tabasco, red hot siracha and then I [have] everything up to El Diablo hot sauce and ‘The Bomb.'”

The hot sauces find their way on just about everything Neumann eats. “Basically every sandwich I get, I would put hot sauce on it,” Neumann said. “My favorite things to put hot sauce on are Hamburger Helper, growing up as a kid I would always put hot sauce on that, Hamburger Helper, mac and cheese, anything like that, then definitely, like I said, sandwiches and then lastly, adding some sort of chili oil to ramen, I love a good spice bowl of ramen.”

Neumann will be back on the field in June for the PLL and we’ll likely see lots of shots and maybe a little hot sauce.

Video Timestamps

:35 How he’s adjusting to the pandemic

:55 What he’s doing to stay in shape

1:28 How is his body feeling

2:02 Finding places to practice

2:38 How he practices shooting

3:15 Drills for game situations

3:38 Using his left hand

4:06 How he increased his shooting percentage

5:16 Being part of the new generation of defensemen

6:42 Lacrosse journey

9:10 Mindset going into prospect days

10:55 PLL Experience

12:43 His unique stick and being an Epoch athlete

14:41 Hot sauce collection

16:10 What he puts hot sauce on

17:14 Question for John Sexton

 

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