On Sunday night, HBO aired the season finale of the highly-watched, critically acclaimed drama Ballers, which is a dramatization about a former NFL player turned financial advisor (played by Dwayne Johnson).

Ballers explores the world of professional athletes and the different stages of an athlete’s respective career, while also featuring several cameos from different NFL players.

One of those players is Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jared Odrick.  

Odrick is a talented former first-round draft pick who left the Miami Dolphins and drove up I-95 to Jacksonville as a free agent this past March.  

“It was an easy decision once I started speaking to people like Duff (Mark Duffner) who was here before,” Odrick explained when asked why he decided to play for the Jaguars, a team that’s won just seven games in the past two seasons combined. “I hold him in a high regard and he held Gus (Bradley) in a high regard and in general. When I was approached and listening to how they would use me as a person and a player, as opposed to attempting to go after this number free agent that will provide this or that or that or keep people’s jobs, it was nice to hear they wanted me as a person to come here and do something specific for them.”

On the surface, Odrick is a big, imposing figure who has crazy hair and crazier eyes, which are featured on the world’s largest scoreboards that reside at Everbank Field to whip the crowd into a frenzy.  

When you speak to Odrick, you quickly understand why he was chosen for a television role.  The former Penn State defensive lineman is highly intelligent, an eloquent speaker and has opinions on everything from, of course, football to movies to money to the perception of athletes.  

The television show Ballers has been criticized by some former NFL players for being outlandish and having no similarities to real life for professional athletes. Odrick disagrees.

“I think there are a lot of parallels,” Odrick told Football Insiders about the show.  “I think there are a lot of similarities.”

Odrick had a memorable scene in the show, where he is playing dice and “motor-boating” a large breasted woman.

When asked about his scene and his preparation, Odrick responded, “I had four years to prepare for my role at Penn State. It was awesome.”

Odrick was somewhat guarded when asked about the specific parallels between the television show and real life.  

“Of course there are some things that aren’t realistic,” Odrick explained in our exclusive interview.  “I think that’s to be said about anything and everything that’s dramatized.  Something like ‘Gone Girl’ to ‘Ballers.’  There are just some things that aren’t realistic where they have to bend the narrative a bit to keep it interesting for television.

“But there are some things that are pretty accurate too.”

Our conversation took a different turn when I brought up how the television show portrays some athletes that live luxurious lifestyles and some who are struggling maintaining those lifestyles.  

I then brought up how a lot of the public believes that football players are overpaid and T.V. shows where they are seen driving Lamborghini’s and having separate “sex houses” don’t help the perception.

“What’s funny is athletes are sometimes begrudged (for) our wages because our wages are public,” Odrick said.  “It helps and hurts because it’s on television and it’s a dramatization.”

What about the difference between athletes and actors or other high-paid performers?

Fans get bent out of shape if the $8 million per year left tackle misses a block, but it’s no big deal if an actor gets $25 million for a movie that bombs.

“Nobody gets upset because they’re in a different forum where they think smoking cigarettes is cool,” said the introspective sixth-year defensive end.  “They can go off and do something, ‘bad ass’ and be highly regarded for it.  When we do, it’s something different because our ‘bad assery’ is supposed to be taken care of on the field. In a way it is, but you understand the position that you’re in and that’s your job as a professional and what you represent and how you represent yourself and your organization.”

So professional athletes’ salaries are public and thus their wages are begrudged, and yet they have to be model citizens in this day and age.  

Even when they are model citizens and perform superbly on the field, some guys get lambasted for taking up too much of a team’s salary cap.  This is in a league with close to no fully-guaranteed contracts, where teams hold the right to waive or release a player at their discretion, or threaten to do so if he doesn’t take pay cuts.  

“We live in a capitalistic society and that shows you capitalism at its best and how it’s sometimes begrudged because we’re supposed to be team players.  You want to be just as much of a team player as you want to be a capitalist,” Odrick explained.

So where is the balance between making as much money as you can with a limited time to earn and giving a “hometown discount” to keep a winning team together?

“You’re here to win championships and support your family,” said the 302-pound former first-round pick who received $22.5 million guaranteed after signing his contract with Jacksonville.  “You’re going to support your family yourself.  The guys wearing the suits on Wall Street, anybody else they’re going to capitalize as much as possible.  These guys here aren’t getting married until 35, not having kids until 35, 40; pushing back things so they can help the team.  When you see the business side of it, it makes it a little less of a passion for the fans.  That’s the trick about being a professional and sometimes people forget that we’re professionals.”

So what does being a professional mean to Odrick?

“Being a professional is trying to encompass what football is,” he said.  “As a teammate and as a business man and you have to be able to do both well.”

Odrick is certainly a professional and capitalist on and off the football field and he shouldn’t be disparaged because of it.  At this point in his Jacksonville career, he’s looked stellar and is well on his way to earning every dollar promised to him.  He’s another talented player on what could be an underrated defense in 2015.

The Jaguars’ defensive line, better known as “The Hit Squad,” has high expectations.

“You always shoot for the top five (in total defense),” Odrick said.  “Of course you want to be in the top half but we set goals in the top five and I think we have the ability and the capability to do that.  It’s going to take work.  We’re not just going to set a goal and it’s going to happen.  It’s going to take a concerted, genuine effort to get to that point.”

The Jacksonville defense finished 2014 ranked 26th overall.  Even with the additions of Odrick, linebacker Dan Skuta, cornerback Davon House and safety Sergio Brown and the return of Paul Posluszny from injury, the team has a long way to go to reach that lofty goal.

We in the media tend to get frustrated when players and coaches give canned, “we’re just trying to get better every day,” type of cliched answers.  Then when athletes go out and are honest, they often get blasted for it.  Odrick is adding a certain intelligence, professionalism and swagger to the Jaguars defensive line, locker room, the Jacksonville community and your television set; and we’re all better off for it.