The Nate Stupar Mailbag: does he even lift, bro?

Falcons linebacker Nate Stupar is back, graciously answering your questions about special teams, the Falcons' defense, and whether or not he even lifts, bro.

You can follow and interact with Nate on Twitter, @thenastynate54, and you can learn more about Stupar on and off the field and check out his training camp diary on his website, StupLyfe.com.

Do you have to be a little bit crazy to be great at special teams coverage?

I think so! I don't know anywhere else where you run full speed and collide with someone who is running at their top speed as well. It takes something special to be able to run down and make someone miss and then be able to make a tackle. I guess that's why they call us professionals.

What do you think is the defense's biggest strength?

I think the biggest strength of our defense is our relentless effort to go after the ball. Either its our hustle to the play and tackling it or our efforts to try and attack the football in the sense of trying to cause fumbles and turnovers. Our coaching staff has done a tremendous job of coaching us in the art of attacking the ball.

Are you going to grow your beard out?

To be honest, I really don't even think about it until my wife says something. Once she says that it's starting to scratch or make her break out from kissing her, I know its that time for it to be trimmed. But as for now, yes, I am growing it out and seeing how long I can go. Make sure to look out for #FearTheBeard, lol.

Ranch (on pizza)? Why not bleu cheese?

I don't know why I like ranch on it. It all started back in college when Drew Astorino put ranch on everything, so one day I decided to try it out on pizza. In this case Drew was doing it as well, and it just stuck. Its a habit I've been doing for a while now. I like bleu cheese, but only on wings. I don't know why I like it only on wings, anything else I hate. My parents are even confused as well because no one else in my family enjoys bleu cheese.

Do you even lift, bro?

Haha, yes I do lift. Being strong and fast is a part of my job. It's always a balance between how much lifting I can do because of all the running we do in practice. So its definitely tricky but our weight staff does an excellent job of balancing the two. I also love to do bi's and tri's a couple days before the game. You gotta look good out there!

Many thanks to Nate for answering our questions. Start thinking up some questions for Nate for next week's mailbag!