How did you meet?
Sanya: We met during freshman year at the University of Texas in the cafeteria. I saw him walking, and I said, “Come here, hot stuff.” I introduced myself, and a week later, we started dating.
When did you get married?
Sanya: We were together for seven years before we got married. We got married in...
Aaron: 2008
Sanya: 2010
Aaron: We got married in 2010. We got engaged in 2008
Sanya: 2007
This is the best part about interviewing a married couple. You guys can fact check one another.
Sanya: Yes. I’m right,
When did you become a professional athlete, Sanya?
Sanya: I made my Olympic team in 2004 and turned pro in 2005.
Aaron: So I had me a sugar mama while I was in college.
Sanya: Yes, you did.
At that point was it difficult Aaron that you were still in college, while Sanya was traveling as a pro?
Aaron: I think by that time we had become accustomed to it.
Sanya: When I first met him in 2003, I made my first team and went to Paris and was gone for a few months.
Aaron: When she was gone, it was during training camp, which was my busiest time of the year, so we started getting used to it.
Sanya: I think it made our relationship better, because I miss him when I’m gone.
So Sanya, you’re able to train here when Aaron is with the Giants. Aaron, do you travel with her during your offseason? Paris sounds a bit sexier than some of the NFL destinations.
Aaron: Exactly. I get a chance to go to Paris. She gets a chance to go to Jacksonville.
Ok, let’s play a game called “Who’s the fastest?”
Sanya: (claps)
Aaron: (buries head in hands)
Who’s the fastest to get upset?
Aaron: She is.
Sanya: Yeah, I think that would be me.
Are you more sensitive than he is?
Sanya: Oh yes, I’m much more sensitive.
Aaron: I really don’t have any emotions.
Who’s the fastest to say they are sorry?
Sanya: Me
Aaron: (laughs)
That’s a really bad combination.
Sanya: It is, right! I get mad first, and then I say I’m sorry first.
Who’s the fastest to make a mess?
Sanya: Me again. Can’t you ask something where he wins?
Let me rephrase the question, Aaron. What are you the fastest at?
Sanya: See, I’m the fastest on the track, too, so it all makes sense.
Sanya and Aaron: (laughs)
Aaron: I’m a Texas boy, so I don’t do anything fast. I move real slow. I’m laid back and chill.
Did you both grow up in Texas?
Sanya: No I was actually born in Jamaica, but I migrated to South Florida when I was 12.
Aaron: You migrated?
In the winter. Everything migrates to Florida in the winter. What was it like to grow up in Jamaica?
Sanya: It was awesome! My parents worked really hard to become an upper middle-class family. I went to a great prep school. I started running when I was 7, so I had very fond memories growing up there. In Jamaica, you either play soccer or do track, and I don’t have the coordination for soccer. My dad played soccer for Jamaica.
Wait, you dad played soccer for the Jamaican national team?
Sanya: Yeah!
What position did he play?
Aaron: Forward
Sanya: That’s his best friend. Sometimes I think he forgets that I’m actually his daughter and he’s his son-in-law.
What was it like when you made the Olympics for the first time?
Sanya: That was my dream! Ever since I was 9, I told my teachers I wanted to be an Olympic champion. To make the team at 19 years old, it as a big deal. You always remember the first time you get that package, when your uniform comes. I’m wearing the USA uniform. You run with the same uniform for four years, and then when the Olympics comes, you get your new uniform for the next four years, so there’s a big sense of pride when you get it.
It must be hard for you to watch, Aaron.
Aaron: Nope. As long as she’s prepared. To me it’s simple. Times don’t lie. She has the fastest time of all her competition, so if she executes her race, I’m never nervous.
It must be the same for you, Aaron. Growing up playing football, to compete in the Super Bowl must seem like such a faraway dream.
Aaron: Like Sanya said, it’s a childhood dream. Everyone who plays football dreams of playing in that game. To be the guy on the field that kids want to be, to play in that game, kids at home looking up to you, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Sanya, you have a new reality show. How did the idea for the show come about?
Sanya: I thought for many years that I had a family that was worthy of TV. So over the years, I’ve been persistent in my efforts.
Aaron: Veeee-ry persistent.
Sanya: It took me a while to convince my family, but WE TV picked it up. It’s called Sanya’s Glam and Gold. I think it brought us closer together. And the great thing about reality tv is that it forces you to address your problems, so it was great. I think a lot of people think Ross is very shy, but they’re going to be in for a rude awakening because my honey is quite a character.
Who is going to be the break out star?
Sanya: The cast consists of myself and Ross, my father Archie and my mother Sharon, my sister Sherrie and my cousin Yolanda. They are the main characters. My mom is a breakout star because she is a drama queen and crazy on “10.”
When you’re athletic careers are over, have you thought about what you are going to do?
Aaron: I’m trying to venture into real estate, and I’d like to do some personal coaching. Not head coaching, but individual coaching. Grabbing a kid that’s at risk and helping them find a way out.
What about you, Sanya?
Sanya: I have lots of big dreams! I own a salon with my sister. I want to own a few more businesses. I want to host on TV. I love beauty and fashion, so I want to do something in that space. So everything, TV, fashion, beauty, family! I want to start having kids in three, four, five years.
Aaron: Yeah, I’m gonna start knocking her up soon.
No pressure on those kids by the way. Their parents are just two anonymous people that haven’t achieved anything.
Sanya: They are going to need to get full scholarships to the University of Texas, but no pressure.
Do you have a sense of where the finish line is for your career, Sanya?
Sanya: I can’t see myself running too much past the Rio Games in 2016. It’s so hard to make four Olympic teams in track, so to do that would be incredible, and it would allow me to defend my Gold Medal. After that I will bow out gracefully.
And now that Aaron is back here in New York with the Giants, it must create more opportunities for fashion and TV?
Aaron: Being in New York is the best. It’s where I got drafted. It’s where I won two Super Bowls. It’s a blessing.
Sanya: And it’s good for all of the other things as well. Good job, baby!
