Speaker 1: The games over the devil are the world devil? You
Speaker 1: plenty to win the game. He's got it. That's Jet touckdown,
Speaker 1: can't You're listening to the Official New York Jets Podcast,
Speaker 1: a Jets three sixty production. With the third pick in
Speaker 1: the two thousand and eighteen NFL drafts, the New York
Speaker 1: Jets select Sam Donald quarterback USC. That's right, Jets Nations
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, the number three overall selection four months in
Speaker 1: the making lead to the USC quarterback for the Jets
Speaker 1: in the first round. Ethan Greenberg and Eric Allen here
Speaker 1: in studio on the Official Jets Podcast, we got a
Speaker 1: loaded show. What are people gonna be here in today? Well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be here from Sam Donald's collegiate coach, that
Speaker 1: is Clay Helton. We also talked to the A four
Speaker 1: mentioned Sam Donald on his first day here in Florham
Speaker 1: Park as a member of the New York Jets. And
Speaker 1: then finally, a lot of the draft pundits out there
Speaker 1: have praised Mike mcagnet and the Jets scouting staff for
Speaker 1: grabbing Donald at number three overall. Included amongst that bunch
Speaker 1: is Matt Miller, And we got a chance to talk
Speaker 1: to him. You're absolutely right, we did, and this is
Speaker 1: some pretty unique sound that we're gonna have on this show.
Speaker 1: But e a for fans that don't know anything about
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, which I would imagine it would be a
Speaker 1: small contingency. Who is Sam Donald? Why is he a
Speaker 1: good fit here? And why was he so productive at USC? Well?
Speaker 1: First off, Sam Donald is the sixth first round quarterback
Speaker 1: selected in franchise history, and that's something that's really something
Speaker 1: because this franchise goes back to the days nineteen sixty,
Speaker 1: so the Jets haven't taken a ton of quarterbacks as
Speaker 1: far as the first round is concerned. But Donald was
Speaker 1: a two year starter SC. He's a guy who led
Speaker 1: them to a Rose Bowl victory in his first year
Speaker 1: of dramatic victory over Penn State. He is a guy
Speaker 1: who is ultra talented in terms of making good throws
Speaker 1: when his feet are bad. Everybody talks about his athleticism
Speaker 1: greens as far as okay, he can go through his
Speaker 1: progressions inside the pocket, but he's also good making place
Speaker 1: off script and finally, last, but not least, leadership. The
Speaker 1: guy has a lot of charisma. People are drawn to him.
Speaker 1: He has a tremendous upside as well. Just twenty years old,
Speaker 1: will turn twenty one in June. That should make you
Speaker 1: feel old. It does make me feel old, and I
Speaker 1: know he a We we talked about this on a
Speaker 1: previous podcast when we analyze Donald, is that if you
Speaker 1: had one reference for a beer for Sam Donald, it
Speaker 1: was dog Fish Hat at the time. Just but then
Speaker 1: I asked you again and you said you might want
Speaker 1: to go with something a little more West Coast. Yeah. Man,
Speaker 1: we go into Stone Right because that's a brewery in
Speaker 1: southern California. And we gotta pay homage to southern California
Speaker 1: because the Jets take Sam Donald in the first round.
Speaker 1: So I think a lot of Jets fans were toasting
Speaker 1: the selection of Mike mcagnet on Draft night. I think
Speaker 1: that they'd have to be. They'd be foolish not to be,
Speaker 1: especially when you hear all these draft pundits on NFL
Speaker 1: Network ESPN. We're gonna talk to Matt Miller about this later.
Speaker 1: Across the board, everyone seemed that Sam Donald was the
Speaker 1: number one quarterback prospects and he fell to number three.
Speaker 1: And we broke it down a couple of days before
Speaker 1: the draft that it was possible that it could happen,
Speaker 1: and indeed it ended up happening. So I think we
Speaker 1: should pat ourselves in the back for a little bit
Speaker 1: right there. Well, I thought there was a chance that happened.
Speaker 1: But when myself and you were right here in this
Speaker 1: studio and we went through the exercise, I kind of
Speaker 1: thought it was gonna be Josh Chalon who the Browns
Speaker 1: would take with the number one overall selection. And then
Speaker 1: we go back to our days in Indianapolis when everybody
Speaker 1: was talking about se Kwon Barkley, how clean of a
Speaker 1: pick he was, and how well he was going to
Speaker 1: perform at the combine, and indeed he did that. E
Speaker 1: Ever since that in February, I really thought the Giants
Speaker 1: were probably gonna take Barkley, and indeed that happened. We'll
Speaker 1: never know what would have the Jets done if Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield won one and then Donald went to and then
Speaker 1: the Jets picked three. I mean, there's a thousand different
Speaker 1: scenarios that will never know. But because I'll tell you what,
Speaker 1: the Jets exciting Jets getting somebody. It was Passer at
Speaker 1: usc and he of fifty seven touchdowns and twenty two
Speaker 1: interceptions along the way, and he also averaged four yards
Speaker 1: to carry. Sam Donald is very impressive, not only on
Speaker 1: the field, but listening to his press conference, He's very
Speaker 1: collected and you you often use the term California cool. Well,
Speaker 1: he seemed to be in control of it. Didn't seem
Speaker 1: that the media questions that you knew were gonna get
Speaker 1: thrown at him really phased him. And we've talked about
Speaker 1: this before, and I saw this a couple of different places.
Speaker 1: If you look at the successful New York athletes in
Speaker 1: the past, and I'm not saying Sam Donald is certainly
Speaker 1: going to be successful, but he definitely has a couple
Speaker 1: of the same characteristics that other athletes that succeeded in
Speaker 1: New York did, people like Derek Jeter. I'm gonna throw
Speaker 1: in someone from the NHL world for you, Mark Messier
Speaker 1: when he played for the Rangers. You don't, I do
Speaker 1: you do vaguely? Vaguely? Why do you tell the listeners
Speaker 1: how old you were? Messier raised that cup? Well, it
Speaker 1: depends when was the cup hoisted the exact day it
Speaker 1: was in June. That still doesn't help. Because I was
Speaker 1: born in June. I believe it was like a June
Speaker 1: twelve or so. Well, well then I was not on
Speaker 1: this earth. I was almost one years old. I was
Speaker 1: almost zero years old. I love how you. I've done
Speaker 1: my research those two guys, Eli, Yes, thank you. I
Speaker 1: would say those three for sure. But they're the rather
Speaker 1: you know, stoic in the way they operate on the field,
Speaker 1: and they just kind of seemed unfazed by everything from
Speaker 1: a media perspective and off the field. And one thing
Speaker 1: about Sam Donald that everyone says is you never have
Speaker 1: to worry about him when you leave work because he's
Speaker 1: not gonna You're not gonna wake up with a call
Speaker 1: at three thirty in the morning that Sam Donald did
Speaker 1: something bad. He was raised right. We were going to
Speaker 1: hear from him here in a few moments. But the
Speaker 1: son of a medical gas plumber, his mother physical education
Speaker 1: teacher at the middle school level, and his older sister
Speaker 1: and accomplished vol of ball player, and now she's coaching
Speaker 1: at the University of Rodout where there you have at
Speaker 1: go Rhodies. That's what Sam Donald said in his press conference.
Speaker 1: But I think it's time that we should speak to
Speaker 1: Clay Hilton. You actually spoke to him a couple of
Speaker 1: days ago, and he really had some interesting insight on
Speaker 1: what made Sam Donald a top prospect in the NFL draft.
Speaker 1: There aren't many people who know New Jets quarterback Sam
Speaker 1: Donald and USC head coach Clay Hilton coach after Sam,
Speaker 1: what twenty four is a starter for you? And one
Speaker 1: of Rose Bowl along the way. He was drafted by
Speaker 1: the Jets with the third overall selection. How did Sam
Speaker 1: help you set the tone at USC? Well, everybody sees
Speaker 1: the production on the field, but what I was most
Speaker 1: proud of while he was with us is just the
Speaker 1: culture that he established in the locker room on a
Speaker 1: day to day basis. I mean, he's a true professional,
Speaker 1: you know, tries to be a master of his craft,
Speaker 1: student in the game, first one in, last one to go,
Speaker 1: and the other players see that he's a guy that
Speaker 1: leads by example, that works his tail off, and the
Speaker 1: other guys follow because they respect that he defined our
Speaker 1: culture in our building. And I think that's a very
Speaker 1: valuable thing when you especially for the quarterback position. How
Speaker 1: did the system there at USC that you guys ran
Speaker 1: offensively help him make the pro transition? Because Sam went
Speaker 1: through a lot of multi route progressions, also had to
Speaker 1: remike and I'll help you guys set protections up front. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, we've r in this same system here basically
Speaker 1: almost since two thousand one. It is a pro style
Speaker 1: system that is a multi progression system getting five men out,
Speaker 1: and we do allow the quarterback to have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to remike any timing once. I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the areas he's grown a lot over the last two years,
Speaker 1: is protecting himself by remiking. We also give him the
Speaker 1: ability to get us in the correct play, diagnosed front,
Speaker 1: diagnosed coverage, and be able to get us in the
Speaker 1: correct rouno, the correct pass depending on what he sees.
Speaker 1: And uh so, you know, and he grew in all
Speaker 1: those areas while I was here, and when he left us,
Speaker 1: I mean it was just we all knew as a
Speaker 1: coaching staff he's pro ready. I mean, he's ready to
Speaker 1: go lead an organization when his time comes. That's music
Speaker 1: to a Jets fans years of course, coach, he said,
Speaker 1: Sam is the highest ceiling of anybody in this draft
Speaker 1: and he's only twenty years old. He's gonna turn twenty
Speaker 1: one this summer. Are you excited to watch him as
Speaker 1: his pro career starts? And are you amazed how wise
Speaker 1: he is beyond his years. I saw it when I
Speaker 1: first met him when he was sixteen and just said,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this guy's sixteen going on twenty six,
Speaker 1: and he's always been that way, that maturity and that
Speaker 1: poise that he brings to the table. And I'm just
Speaker 1: fascinated that the guys don't have been here five semesters
Speaker 1: and he's been with us two and a half years,
Speaker 1: and to see his progress and to know that he
Speaker 1: hasn't even touched his ceiling yet, I can't even imagine
Speaker 1: where he's going to be two, three or four years
Speaker 1: down the road. He's just a really terrific prospect, a
Speaker 1: dynamic player and person. The Jets really hit the lottery
Speaker 1: with this pick. I'm so glad to the well coach
Speaker 1: Clay Halton. We appreciate your time and thank you so
Speaker 1: much for your great insight today. Green's My major takeaway
Speaker 1: there is that Halton said, this guy is a tremendous
Speaker 1: communicator and he provided that one on one leadership from
Speaker 1: the get go at USC and he was a program changer.
Speaker 1: And you could tell just listening to Clay Holton how
Speaker 1: much he meant to him as far as that program
Speaker 1: is concerned because he went about it the right way
Speaker 1: and he earned the respect of that coaching staff, the fans,
Speaker 1: and most importantly, teammates. I think what really stood out
Speaker 1: to me was what you mentioned when he was entering
Speaker 1: the week of starting his first game at Utah and
Speaker 1: he brings Juju Smith Schuster over and talks with one alone.
Speaker 1: He's like, hey, man, like we you know, we gotta
Speaker 1: focus him over here for and the fact that Jujue
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, man, you're right, You're right about that.
Speaker 1: We we gotta get to work. Thank you to me,
Speaker 1: that speaks volumes because because they didn't want the guys
Speaker 1: celebrating too much and practice, because what they were doing
Speaker 1: was this executing, just keeping your mindset on the task
Speaker 1: at hand. And Sam is very young, like you said,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be twenty one in June, and he's walking
Speaker 1: into a rather young team and the fact that he
Speaker 1: has the courage to do something like that in college
Speaker 1: can only bode well for what he's going to do
Speaker 1: in the NFL. And how about this where Clay Helton
Speaker 1: Sam donald story. He didn't mention this, but I heard
Speaker 1: this on a separate interview with Clay Helton is that
Speaker 1: someone asked him, what's an example of Sam Donald's work ethic,
Speaker 1: and he said, I'll give you an example from last week. Again,
Speaker 1: at the time, this was probably a week or so
Speaker 1: before the draft. So Halton said, I came in to
Speaker 1: work at six thirty in the morning and Sam Donald
Speaker 1: was already throwing, already working with some USC staff on
Speaker 1: their indoor turf field. And he walked up to Donald
Speaker 1: and he said, Sam, well, what are you doing, buddy?
Speaker 1: And he said, coach, this is this is every day now.
Speaker 1: So if you have any questions, if Sam Donald gets it,
Speaker 1: there should be none because he fully understands what he
Speaker 1: needs to do. He has a tremendous work ethic, and
Speaker 1: he's gonna give his for the New York Chess movie, didn't.
Speaker 1: Charlie Castley works for NFL Network now, of course, say
Speaker 1: that he pulled twenty four general managers around draft time
Speaker 1: and said, hey, who was the top quarterback on your board?
Speaker 1: And seventeen of them said Sam Donald. He did say
Speaker 1: that someone else that had Sam Donald number one is
Speaker 1: Bleacher Reports Matt Miller, and that's another guy that's very
Speaker 1: high on Samald. So let's listen to hear what at
Speaker 1: NFL Draft scout had to say. Now let's bring in
Speaker 1: bleacher reports Matt Miller, who continues to do an excellent
Speaker 1: job as NFL Draft scout. You can follow him on Twitter.
Speaker 1: Matt You said after the Jets grabbed Sam Donald with
Speaker 1: the number three overall selection that he was the best
Speaker 1: quarterback in this class. Why, man, I think Sam Donald
Speaker 1: is a special kid and a special player. I mean,
Speaker 1: and he's he's twenty years old. I feel like I
Speaker 1: am finally old enough to because use the kid label
Speaker 1: for him. But I think the things that I look
Speaker 1: for a quarterback accuracy, toughness, poise, the ability to take
Speaker 1: over games in the clutch, and just how great of
Speaker 1: a fit he is for that Jeremy Bates offense, because
Speaker 1: he's athletic enough to get outside the pocket a little bit.
Speaker 1: He has that thick frame where he's not gonna break
Speaker 1: down in the cold, He's not gonna break down if
Speaker 1: he gets hit a little bit. And he's so good
Speaker 1: spinning the ball in tight places. His timing and anticipation
Speaker 1: I thought were the best in the class. His accurate
Speaker 1: see especially up the scene, is dangerous. And then he
Speaker 1: is just so gritty and he's not gonna let little
Speaker 1: things rattle him. And I think something you and I've
Speaker 1: talked about before is that when you're drafted to play
Speaker 1: quarterbacks the New York Jets, you've gotta be able to
Speaker 1: walk into a hospital environment with the expectations, the biggest
Speaker 1: media market in the country, and everyone watching you to
Speaker 1: see if you're gonna crumble or if you're gonna write
Speaker 1: to the occasion. And I think that the way that
Speaker 1: he's made up the intangibles allowed to do that. But
Speaker 1: on the field it sounds cliche, but it factor. He
Speaker 1: has it. Matt, you know the city very well. You're
Speaker 1: often here doing stuff for Bleacher Report. What do you
Speaker 1: think about his steadiness off the field? Now, he's kind
Speaker 1: of a businessman in the sense that, hey, listen, he
Speaker 1: wants to put the hard hat on and go to work. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll take care of his media obligations, but he's not
Speaker 1: really worried about too much what's happening externally. Finally, you're
Speaker 1: have to worry about Sam Darnald getting caught up in
Speaker 1: the light of New York. He's might gonna trying to
Speaker 1: get a marketing deal or a fashion deal. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be great for Jersey. He just wants to go to
Speaker 1: work and care about football, and I think that is
Speaker 1: one thing that I remember talking to you last year
Speaker 1: about Mitch Drabinski was guys like that are perfect for
Speaker 1: this situation that's really unique in New York because they're
Speaker 1: not going to get sucked in by everything else. They're
Speaker 1: gonna be workers and really just dedicated to football. And
Speaker 1: I think he fits that moment really well. What did
Speaker 1: you see the differences in him from two thousand sixteen
Speaker 1: to two thousand and seventeen. He passed for more yards
Speaker 1: last season as a junior. I know, the turnovers one up,
Speaker 1: and some people express concerns about that as well, but
Speaker 1: he's working with some different personnel. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: a big parton and I think stats always need context, right, So, yeah,
Speaker 1: he had a lot of turnovers last year, and I
Speaker 1: think you can look at someone like Marcus Mariotta who
Speaker 1: fumbled a decent amountain college and hasn't been a bumbler
Speaker 1: in the NFL, so you can obviously make corrections to
Speaker 1: clean that up. And I know that's something he talked about, was,
Speaker 1: you know, he needed to change some things with his
Speaker 1: delivery so that he's not dropping the ball down so much.
Speaker 1: And I'm a firm believer that a coach like j
Speaker 1: Emmy Bates can really get in there and help clean
Speaker 1: up some of the issues that that I saw on tape.
Speaker 1: But it's not like you've got to reinvent the wheel here.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was highly successful at USC the last
Speaker 1: two years, and I would say this year did so
Speaker 1: with not a great supporting cast, especially at the wide
Speaker 1: receiver position. He lost three starters on his offensive line
Speaker 1: this year and he was a completely different team and
Speaker 1: it showed up on tape of times, but he never complained.
Speaker 1: I think he's just the ultimate leader in that he
Speaker 1: just he worries about himself and he takes care of
Speaker 1: his mistakes, and it's never anyone else's fold. That's Matt
Speaker 1: Miller who calls home in the show Me state, of course,
Speaker 1: that is Missouri, and he's saying that Mike mccagne has
Speaker 1: showing a lot here in his fourththraft as New York
Speaker 1: Chess general manager. Greg catching up with you is always Matt,
Speaker 1: so Green says. Miller talked about Donald was the top
Speaker 1: quarterback on his board, and he thinks that mccagnet's got
Speaker 1: some good forts in surrounding him, because a lot of
Speaker 1: people two thousand and fifteen talk about Leonard Williams falling
Speaker 1: to the Jets at six. Then you have Jamal Adams
Speaker 1: falling to the Jets at six in two thousands seventeen,
Speaker 1: and then Mike mcagnant on March seventeenth moving up from
Speaker 1: six to three in order to take as Sam Donald,
Speaker 1: who most people on St. Patrick's Day, unless they were
Speaker 1: having a couple adult beverages, didn't think he was gonna
Speaker 1: be there at three. I think that what's most interesting
Speaker 1: is that when the Jets made that move in March,
Speaker 1: a lot of people around the league said, this is
Speaker 1: an interesting trade because you don't really know who's gonna
Speaker 1: be there at number three. And it was one of
Speaker 1: the first trades that they could recall, where you make
Speaker 1: a move at the time you did and you don't
Speaker 1: really know who's gonna be there at the time. And
Speaker 1: at that time everyone thought Sam Donald was gonna go
Speaker 1: number one overall to the Browns. And then a week
Speaker 1: or so later, the owner of the Browns is in
Speaker 1: the stands of usc s Prota with Sam Donald's parents,
Speaker 1: and then how it's funny how things fall work out,
Speaker 1: because you could call it fortune, you could call it
Speaker 1: an educated guests, whatever you want to call it. The
Speaker 1: fact of the matter is is that the Brown didn't
Speaker 1: ended up taking Baker Mayfield. The Cagnet said he had
Speaker 1: a good feeling that the Giants very much like say,
Speaker 1: Kwon Barkley, and how could you not because he's a
Speaker 1: tremendous talent. And then Sam Donald there for the Jets
Speaker 1: at three for the taking. I feel like it was
Speaker 1: a rather simple decision at that point. I thought it
Speaker 1: was a lazy argument because a lot of people were
Speaker 1: saying that just gonna move up to three, just three
Speaker 1: selections in the first round, they're gonna give up a
Speaker 1: trio of second round picks in the process, and potentially
Speaker 1: they're gonna get the third quarterback on their draft board.
Speaker 1: But with all that being said, you always had to
Speaker 1: let it play out. And what mcagnan did was he
Speaker 1: took away a lot of uncertainty because if you were
Speaker 1: sitting there at six, who knows what would have happened.
Speaker 1: That changes the dynamic completely for more quarterbacks. One in
Speaker 1: the top ten on Thursday night, of course, Baker Makefield
Speaker 1: goes one, Sam Donald goes three. The Bills traded up
Speaker 1: to seven in order to get to Josh Allen. They
Speaker 1: had conversations with the Denver Broncos. In fact, the parameters
Speaker 1: of a deal were in place, but the Broncos said,
Speaker 1: John I always said, oh no, no, rarely Chubb's on
Speaker 1: the board, I'm not doing that trade. But the Bills
Speaker 1: still got their guy who they've been linked to for
Speaker 1: a long time. And then Arizona made the move up
Speaker 1: in order to get to Josh Rosen. I thought Rosen
Speaker 1: potentially might fall actually to Miami at eleven, and you
Speaker 1: would have saw three a FC East teams. And now
Speaker 1: we're getting all this talk about how the Patriots were
Speaker 1: very interested in Baker Mayfield. Well know, we don't know
Speaker 1: the Patriots tell you that unless Belichick tells you that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: unless it comes right from Belichick and he's looking in
Speaker 1: the camera and it's recorded, I'm not gonna believe it.
Speaker 1: Because everybody was talking about all they're gonna package this,
Speaker 1: they're gonna move up, they definitely need a guy and
Speaker 1: whatever and things like that. You don't know. The other
Speaker 1: thing you don't know is you don't know the way
Speaker 1: the Jet's board was stacked. People can't guess all they
Speaker 1: want about it. But with all that being said, mccagnan
Speaker 1: moved up in March and he got his guy in April.
Speaker 1: He should be applauded for that. An aggressive move and
Speaker 1: it paid off. Bottom line, it paid off. There was
Speaker 1: great value there, no matter what the compensation he gave up.
Speaker 1: And I will say this, I understand it from the
Speaker 1: what the Colts did, Greens. When you look at what
Speaker 1: the Colts did, I think that in a nice draft.
Speaker 1: And this started with Quintin Nelson and number six overall
Speaker 1: who everybody said it was the top offensive alignment and
Speaker 1: the entire draft. The Colt again, this is a wind
Speaker 1: wind deal and they're saying that he's gonna be healthy.
Speaker 1: We were in Indianapolis. Everybody's saying, Chris Bellard told reporters
Speaker 1: there that hey, listen, we're comforta well where he is.
Speaker 1: And you don't make that deal unless you think Andrew
Speaker 1: luck is coming back. It was a win win in March,
Speaker 1: and it was a win win in April, and now
Speaker 1: it's May, it's still a win win. But here's the thing,
Speaker 1: here's another interesting nugge you talked about the potential of
Speaker 1: three a f C East quarterbacks. Well, they're definitely two
Speaker 1: with Sam Donald and Josh Allen, and they're extremely close.
Speaker 1: They've trained together all off season with Jordan Palmer. They'll
Speaker 1: be four ever lengthd and not. You're a great point there,
Speaker 1: because Donald is gonna be linked to sin Juan Barkley,
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. I mean, Barkley goes to and
Speaker 1: then Donald goes three. But obviously the FC East connection
Speaker 1: there with Slick and Sam and Josh Allen. Josh Allen
Speaker 1: my had the biggest arm we've ever seen come out. Ever.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well, at least in my lifetime. Absolutely, of
Speaker 1: course in your lifetime. Well, I'm just saying JaMarcus Russell
Speaker 1: was close. I think did you see Jamanhall Adams sweet
Speaker 1: the other day? I didn't tell fans about that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think fans will like it. I didn't know if
Speaker 1: I was gonna bring it up. I'd like you to
Speaker 1: bring it up. It's a little salty. But to Jamal
Speaker 1: Adams rivalry starting already. Someone tweeted video of Josh Allen
Speaker 1: throwing an interception and said, oh boy, that Josh Allen
Speaker 1: to Jamal Adams connection is gonna be real nice and
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams quote tweeted it and said, I can't wait
Speaker 1: to catch some passes from one of my favorite qbs.
Speaker 1: Here we go babying on social media. He really is something.
Speaker 1: He's all in on social media. But you know, we've
Speaker 1: we've talked about Sam Donald so much. Now I think
Speaker 1: that we should listen to your interview when Sam toured
Speaker 1: One Jets Drive as the first time as a jet.
Speaker 1: Of course he was here on a Top thirty visit,
Speaker 1: but let's listen in on what Sam told you about
Speaker 1: the process and about what he expects to do in
Speaker 1: the green and white. Sam, what was the thought process
Speaker 1: when the car was rawn in here to One Jets
Speaker 1: Drive today? See in the fields first, that's the first
Speaker 1: thing you see rolling up. It's amazing, you know, I
Speaker 1: just want to get out there and play, you know.
Speaker 1: And then coming in here, meeting with Mr Johnson, meeting
Speaker 1: with Coach Bowls was amazing. Actually got to see Leo
Speaker 1: and Claude Polone, my former teammates. So it's just been
Speaker 1: amazing so far. And that's one thing that you keep
Speaker 1: on reiterating that, Hey, listen, I talked to Jeremy Bates.
Speaker 1: I love talking ball. You like not the camera's so much,
Speaker 1: you'll do that, but you're here to be a football
Speaker 1: player and you're eager to get started. Yeah. I mean
Speaker 1: it's you know, I really want to get started. Um.
Speaker 1: I think for me it's I know that the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: you have to be available to the media, be able
Speaker 1: to talk about certain things. But you know, down in
Speaker 1: my core, I just really want to play football. That's
Speaker 1: what I came here to do, and I'm just really
Speaker 1: excited to get started. How much of a role did
Speaker 1: your family play in all of this huge role? They've
Speaker 1: always been there for me, um, no matter what. Same
Speaker 1: with my best friends and my teammates and all my
Speaker 1: coaches I've ever had. It's just it's amazing to kind
Speaker 1: of think about all those people that have been in
Speaker 1: my life and be able to give them thanks throughout
Speaker 1: this whole process, because I wouldn't be here without them.
Speaker 1: What did you get specifically for him? While from your
Speaker 1: dad and your older sister, they just they're really good
Speaker 1: leaders for me. I think that's the biggest thing, is
Speaker 1: just you know, teaching me how to work hard. Um.
Speaker 1: The work ethic that all three of them have is amazing.
Speaker 1: And you know what what my dad especially was able
Speaker 1: to do with his life, you know, coming home after
Speaker 1: work and wanting to take a nap on the couch,
Speaker 1: me waking him up once I get home from school,
Speaker 1: and wanting to go throw a football out in the
Speaker 1: front yard or play hoops in the backyard. It was
Speaker 1: just he was always willing to do those things, even
Speaker 1: though he worked his butt off during the day. So
Speaker 1: it's just learning from him and learning how to work hard.
Speaker 1: Is is something that I really cherished. What have these
Speaker 1: moments been like for you and your family? It's been amazing,
Speaker 1: you know, It's it hasn't been anything short of that.
Speaker 1: It's just very surreal and something that you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna remember for a long time. But I understand, you know,
Speaker 1: with the end of this chapter comes the next chapter,
Speaker 1: and that's being a jet and um, see how many
Speaker 1: ball games I can win? Why was this a good fit?
Speaker 1: We talked about it last night. You said you talked
Speaker 1: to your mom after your visit here to the Jetsy said, listen,
Speaker 1: I got a real good feeling about it that I
Speaker 1: might go to them at number three. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I've had a really good feeling, you know, depending on
Speaker 1: what you know Cleveland and the Giants did. I knew
Speaker 1: that if I was there at three, that I could
Speaker 1: probably you know, go there, and I was very confident
Speaker 1: and that I had a really great meeting with all
Speaker 1: the coaches, front office, you know, I met some of
Speaker 1: the players. It was amazing. So just getting to know everyone, Um,
Speaker 1: I had a really good feeling afterwards. You had a
Speaker 1: chance to experience Jets Nation already at the Dallas or airport.
Speaker 1: See people recognized, Yeah, I don't know if you were
Speaker 1: in your green tie already, but what did they say
Speaker 1: to you? You know, they're just really excited, you know,
Speaker 1: as any fan would be. But it's just it's amazing
Speaker 1: to be able to embrace that and just say hi
Speaker 1: to everyone, get to meet the fans, signed some autographs,
Speaker 1: take some pictures. My whole time here, I'm just going
Speaker 1: to continue to embrace everything, whether I'm a rookie or
Speaker 1: whether I'm a tenthier vet. You know, I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: always embrace the moment because that's really all I know
Speaker 1: how to do. If you were able to watch yourself
Speaker 1: on tape and somebody said, hey, give me a scout
Speaker 1: on that guy self, scout, what would you say as
Speaker 1: far as what you bring on tape? Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I bring really good football instincts to the game and
Speaker 1: confidence that you can see when I play, whether it's
Speaker 1: fitting in the tight window. And yeah, it gets me
Speaker 1: into trouble sometimes, but um, you know, I'm really confident
Speaker 1: whenever I pull the trigger. And that's something that I'm
Speaker 1: going to continue to do here and just continue to
Speaker 1: be really confident with every decision that I make. And
Speaker 1: last week, can you believe it's only a couple of
Speaker 1: days away when you actually will be on these fields
Speaker 1: right here in Flora Park for rookie Minicamp. Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: You know again, I can't wait to get on this
Speaker 1: field and start practicing with all my teammates. Alrighty, So
Speaker 1: we we broke down Sam Donald, we heard from him,
Speaker 1: We heard from Matt Miller, we heard from Donald head
Speaker 1: coach at USC Clay Helton. Let's look ahead now, Rookie
Speaker 1: Minicamp is around the corner. Josh mccount is still the
Speaker 1: starting quarterback of the New York Jets. Todd Bowles said
Speaker 1: that it is McCown's job entering training camp. However, he
Speaker 1: did say that with Donald, he's not gonna throw him
Speaker 1: in there, but he's not gonna hold him back either.
Speaker 1: No timetable bottom line, that's what you get from Todd Bowles.
Speaker 1: If the guy is ready to play, or play he's
Speaker 1: not ready to play, he won't play. I think that's
Speaker 1: the proper approach. I don't think you set certain benchmarks
Speaker 1: along the way. I'm sure you have some kind of
Speaker 1: plan as far as what kind of erupts these guys
Speaker 1: are gonna be given through our training camp and things
Speaker 1: like that. But Todd Bowles is taking the right approach here.
Speaker 1: That's the only approach you should have. And the other
Speaker 1: thing is it's a great situation because Sam Donald was
Speaker 1: asked about Josh McCown a couple of times. I asked
Speaker 1: him about McCown. He said, guys amazing. And when he
Speaker 1: was asked during his press conference about McCown, he said, listen,
Speaker 1: Josh already texted me said whatever you need, I'm here
Speaker 1: for you. What else can you ask for? Josh McGown
Speaker 1: is a perfect guy to learn from, you know, and
Speaker 1: he's just a great dude. Let alone, you know, throw
Speaker 1: the stats out the window. Everything like that. He's just
Speaker 1: a great guy that everyone likes to be around. Whether
Speaker 1: you're a media member, a friend, a player, everyone seems
Speaker 1: to like Josh McCown. And the big thing in social
Speaker 1: media nowadays too, is to take a photo of your text, right,
Speaker 1: bank a photo your text conversation and let the world
Speaker 1: know about it. What's said about gres Josh McCown's daughter
Speaker 1: did that, didn't she? Well, no, he didn't the conversation
Speaker 1: he was having. Yeah, so so I apologize to Josh
Speaker 1: McCown's daughter. That's well, well, well do you well what
Speaker 1: she said was a little bit of a singer, She texted,
Speaker 1: that's all right to do that, that's very so, oh
Speaker 1: you're calling him all well he so if you if
Speaker 1: you didn't see Josh McCown screenshot at a conversation between
Speaker 1: himself and his daughter, his oldest daughter, and she said
Speaker 1: something like, you do realize that he's you know, a
Speaker 1: year younger than me, or you're older than me or
Speaker 1: something something crazy, And then he he obviously felt a
Speaker 1: little dated with that, but but you let the world
Speaker 1: know about it. Hum, that's a way to people's hearts.
Speaker 1: But I didn't know this was the thing. I'm starting
Speaker 1: to see this. I'm starting to see this more and
Speaker 1: more with people want to converse with on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: Maybe that could be like your your mid season, your
Speaker 1: midyear revolution is to start, is to start screenshotting funny
Speaker 1: moments in your texts and hosting them on Twitter. Should
Speaker 1: I do that? It depends how funny the moment is.
Speaker 1: And you've got to make sure to crop the because
Speaker 1: there could be some things in there that you don't
Speaker 1: want out there right there. Yeah, it depends. Like no
Speaker 1: one needs to know a grocery list. You know, it
Speaker 1: could be a number of things. But you know, I'll
Speaker 1: show you how to crop the photo. Hey, Josh wants
Speaker 1: to be big in the texting because he texted Darble too.
Speaker 1: But whatever you need. I mean, he's not ancient. No,
Speaker 1: I didn't say that. I think he knows how to text,
Speaker 1: Yes he does. He knows how to play some football too,
Speaker 1: and some hoops. Yes, yes, the hoop video. But Tabows
Speaker 1: was not that impressed. He knew he was athletic. We
Speaker 1: talked to him about the owners meetings. He said it
Speaker 1: didn't look like people were really playing too much defense. No,
Speaker 1: but then when he threw down the Doug he said, Okay,
Speaker 1: that was impressive. Yeah, well listen, McCown can bring it well.
Speaker 1: Speaking of high school basketball, didn't Donald average. Donald was
Speaker 1: a high school point guard, which is where his vision
Speaker 1: and he also played linebacker. He likes contact, He likes Yes,
Speaker 1: I do because because I think it's even though I
Speaker 1: grew up in the East Coast, I don't like it
Speaker 1: when people said, oh, who's from southern California might be
Speaker 1: a little bit soft. The sun got this guy a
Speaker 1: little bit. This guy, there's nothing that is soft about him. Again,
Speaker 1: blue collar family, and this is a guy who does
Speaker 1: nothing but working. Like I said before, look at what
Speaker 1: his parents brought to the table and their occupation and
Speaker 1: the way how authentic this kid is in genuine and
Speaker 1: sincere and his approach when you talked to him, he says,
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get on the field. I love
Speaker 1: talking ball with people who know ball. Sam Donald, New
Speaker 1: York Jet. How do you like that? Jets Nation. I'll
Speaker 1: pause for a response, won't hear it because you can't speak.
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll send a text message with the screenshot it.
Speaker 1: They'll send it into us, and that's how we close
Speaker 1: out this episode on the official Jets podcast. That's all.
Speaker 1: We have Ethan Greenberg and Eric Allen again in studio.
Speaker 1: Next up on the pod, we're breaking down rounds two
Speaker 1: through seven. Stay tuned.