Mailbag: Whose off-field persona surprised you?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

Of all the players you have covered and interviewed, whose persona off the field was completely different or unexpected than what you saw on the field during games or even practices? – Ed Dickson/Seaside Park, NJ

Patrik: Well, this is a fun question, and I'm assuming you mean all-time and not simply in this year's coaching or player cycle. If so, I'd have to go with DaRon Bland on this one. To see Bland in between the lines is to see someone who plays with savagery and an aura and air of confidence and take-no-prisoners attitude that would make many clutch their proverbial pearls. But, and let me be perfectly clear here, he is an entirely different person off of the field. Once the helmet and uniform is taken off, Bland is the polar opposite of what I just described. He's quiet, polite, introverted and even shy at times and not simply with the media. Always wearing his trademark quirky smile to show he's just a kid from Fresno living his dream, it's impossible to not appreciate both his journey and who he is as a man and as a player; always knowing the two sides operate on two entirely different sides of the track.

Honorable mention goes to Osa Odighizuwa, who isn't introverted at all, but whose on-field violence and primal screams give way off of the field to what amounts to a big, friendly and extroverted teddy bear that loves anime. That is, if that teddy bear was also physically constructed to combat Terminators ... or Griffith (Google it).

Nick: Maybe it's because we've been talking about him lately, but I would categorized Zack Martin in this scenario. Zack is a guy that has a lot more personality off the field than you would see by his demeanor. Don't get me wrong, he's not retiring from the NFL so he can go do stand-up comedy but he's certainly someone that has a lot more charm, wit and a sense of humor than comes across on the field or in his interviews with the media.

Another guy I'd throw into that mix is Sean Lee. Now, he is pretty no-nonsense when it came to playing football and the way he studied and prepared was second to none. But he also had a side to him that not many people saw that was much more outgoing and down to earth.

And on the flip side, the biggest difference in what you saw on the field and off the field was probably Marion Barber. The most violent runner I can remember was a soft-spoken, rather shy and quiet person off the field that really on his closest teammates got to know and see. I know this, those guys miss him dearly. But he was nothing like the bruising, charismatic running back whose nickname was the "Barbarian" - a nickname Marion didn't like, by the way.

Nick: