Often regarded as one of the most important positions in sports, the quarterback of a football team must command a roster full of players eager to display their athleticism on the gridiron. McGill’s fourth-year starting quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos strives to use his leadership role to build a better team.
“In the context of football, leadership is incredibly important,” Sinodos said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Leadership is all about making everyone around you better, not just improving yourself. It’s easy to just focus on improving yourself, but the real challenge is making your teammates commit to the same standards.”
Sinodinos took on the starting position during his second year at McGill, and having gained that valuable experience early in his career has helped him and his team perform better. Despite this, he knows that his improvement going forward will be instrumental to the team’s success. A key part of constant improvement is modeling both his on-field play and his off-the-field behaviour after successful NFL signal callers.
“Without a doubt, a quarterback whose leadership I try to model [my own] after is Tom Brady,” Sinodinos said. “He is the definition of making everyone around him better. He inspires everyone with his work ethic and confidence. A quarterback that I look up to for his on-field play is Russell Wilson. He has the tools to extend plays and make any throw from inside and outside the pocket”
Listed as 5-11, Sinodinos is shorter than the average quarterback, but he does not let his height impact his confidence and future aspirations. Sinodos hopes to participate in the CFL combine following his time at McGill. Sinodos looks to Russell Wilson as inspiration for someone similar in stature.
“I look up to him because he exhibits sustained greatness while being largely underrated his entire career and overcoming the stigma against Quarterbacks that are not above 6-2,” Sinodinos said.
The off-season is a critical time for players to improve their skills, strength, and intelligence by weight lifting, studying film, and practicing with teammates. Unfortunately, for Sinodinos and his teammates, the 2020 off-season was full of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Sinodinos adapted well to the obstacles.
“Personally, the pandemic has not hindered my development at all,” Sinodinos said. “My father and I decided to invest in a home gym that I regularly used to perform team workouts.”
Social distancing guidelines even proved advantageous for Sinodinos and his teammates.
“Football fields were empty, making it easy to run and throw with either teammates or a quarterback coach three to four times a week,” Sinodinos said. “Additionally, I, as well as my teammates, have taken the opportunity to have more football meetings with our coaches via Zoom to ensure our football IQ stays sharp.”
Despite the time apart from each other and the cancellation of the 2020 RSEQ season, Sinodinos is confident that the team will remain tight-knit.
“The word family is indicative of the relationship of our team,” Sinodinos said. “We are a veteran team where most of us have been together for more than three years. We also try to make the rookies feel welcome every season by inviting them to extra workouts and events.”
With the extra time to pursue other interests over the summer, Sinodinos enjoyed taking free online courses, learning about new programming languages, and learning about android phone application development. These courses have increased both his interest and understanding in his electrical and computer engineering major at McGill.
As Sinodinos enters his final undergraduate year working towards an electrical and computer engineering degree, he plans to apply to McGill’s graduate school for a master’s in electrical and computer engineering after he graduates in Winter 2021. He believes this will help with his future employment opportunities, while allowing him to continue playing for McGill’s football team.
