When the 2019 season ended, Quandre Diggs expected that the new year would bring a full offseason with the Seahawks, the team that acquired him in a midseason trade with Detroit. But instead of being in Renton for offseason workouts, Diggs is at home like the rest of us thanks to the COVID-19 crisis.
And while Diggs looks forward to getting back to football whenever that time comes, he also isn't complaining about his life at home in Austin, Texas with his girlfriend, their 10-month-old daughter, Ariya, and three nephews who are staying with them.
After being away for much Ariya's first five months in this world during football season, Diggs has been with his daughter nearly all day, every day since the season ended, adding to the father-daughter bond.
"The quarantine is perfect for me," he said. "This is my life—I stay home chill with my family, play video games, hang out, crack jokes on Twitter and Instagram. This is just kind of my life, I'm never around a bunch of people… One thing I have honed up on is just being a dad. You guys know how proud I am of being a dad, but just spending these last, what, five months with her have been amazing. The way she learns, the way she reacts to me when I go get her out of the crib in the morning, those are the things that I'll miss when we do end up starting up. That's been the dopest part, just being around my daughter."
A typical day for Diggs starts with getting up at 7 a.m. when Ariya wakes up, having breakfast with family, then getting his daily workouts going with his trainer by 9. After that it's virtual team meetings and position group meetings, then depending on how he's feeling maybe some extra cardio work on the Peloton. Diggs has also kept up his job as one of his team's biggest trash-talkers on social media—longtime friend Tyler Lockett being a frequent victim, as is DK Metcalf—while also finding time to hone his skills on the barbecue.
"I give myself about a seven," he said of his grilling abilities. "I'm only about a year and half in, so I'm just getting better with time, like fine wine."
Like everyone else involved with the NFL, Diggs doesn't know what will come next, but he has a good perspective on this situation as he stays ready at home.
"All I'm doing is preparing myself to be the best player, the best person, the best teammate I can be, and I'm just kind of rolling with the punches, that's what I can do," he said. "The pandemic is bigger than football at the moment. I've got a 10-month old daughter that I've got to take care of, I've got an 87-year-old grandmother that I've got to keep safe. So at the end of the day, this pandemic is bigger than football. We've just got let the facts, let the doctors and scientists, let those guys figure that out. Whenever (NFL commissioner Roger) Goodell or whoever makes that announcement that we can come back and play ball, then we'll go from there."
Even though this hasn't been a normal NFL offseason, Diggs is still confident he'll return to Seattle a better player than the one who had to hit the ground-running midseason.
"I think I'll be really far ahead," he said. "I've had my iPad for a month, month and a half, so I've been able to watch film, go over some of the stuff that I feel like I needed to fix in my game. My trainers, I explain to the them what I want to work on and we attack it. So I'm sure you'll see a more confident me and somebody who is just going to continue to make plays."
