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Speaker 1: All right, Deante Johnson kind enough to join me down

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Speaker 1: in sunny Florida. Deonte, take me through where your off

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Speaker 1: season has been like so far and have you started

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Speaker 1: training at in the preparation for the next season. Um.

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Speaker 1: Pretty much, I've just been like I just started back

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Speaker 1: working up like two weeks ago, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I'm

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Speaker 1: restling today. But that's pretty much what it's been, and

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Speaker 1: just pretty much channel with my family majority of the Tom,

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Speaker 1: just trying to do stuff around the house, hang out

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Speaker 1: with him because you know, I haven't seen him in

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Speaker 1: a while, so just just being able to do that

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Speaker 1: just been good. Do you go back watch anything from

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Speaker 1: this past season, UM, go through notes, just mental thoughts about,

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Speaker 1: you know, how things started and then how things ended. Um.

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Speaker 1: I kind of look at trying to like watch a

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Speaker 1: couple of the games on the highlights on YouTube whatnot,

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Speaker 1: because I mean I missed it every day. I mean

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Speaker 1: I trying to look for the things I could have

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Speaker 1: done better throughout the whole year, Um, where the team

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Speaker 1: could have done better or whatnot. But as I look

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Speaker 1: back on and that we had a great season, I

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Speaker 1: mean a heck of the season. In my opinion, we

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Speaker 1: started off strong, I mean then towards them, you know,

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Speaker 1: were kind of let off the gas whatnot. But we

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Speaker 1: still finished. We still had a great season, and everybody

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Speaker 1: still did what they had to do, although we didn't

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Speaker 1: reach the goal that we wanted to. But it's it's football,

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Speaker 1: So what you gotta learned from it then come back

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Speaker 1: next year. Ready. Did you feel like you personally took

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Speaker 1: a big jump in two thousand and twenty. Yeah, every

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Speaker 1: year I feel like I took a jump from me

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Speaker 1: because each each year I'm learning something new, whether that's

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Speaker 1: at my position or somewhere else on the ship, I'm

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Speaker 1: learning something new, trying to elevate my game anyway as possible.

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Speaker 1: So and I feel like I did that this year.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, uh, although I had the sides of drops

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Speaker 1: or whatever, I still had a great year UM players

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Speaker 1: and made teammates. Was with this year that pushed me

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Speaker 1: to play play at the level I was playing that

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Speaker 1: UM just going against those Joe Hayden, Steve Smith, Steve Smith,

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Speaker 1: Nelson or whatnot, just they made me better every day

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Speaker 1: and and that just made me go hard in the

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Speaker 1: games and then showed my work. My work showed in

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Speaker 1: the games and I just want to keep elevating my

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Speaker 1: game this this summer. We'll come back stronger, faster, all that,

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Speaker 1: just to show still a nation that I'm still Beyonce Johnson.

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Speaker 1: You did bring up the drop, so I do want

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Speaker 1: to ask when you look back, who got you through

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Speaker 1: or what got you through kind of that rough period

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Speaker 1: to get you on the right end of that. Um.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of really just mental stuff, you feel me like,

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Speaker 1: it's just really getting into my head just seeing those

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Speaker 1: things on social media, people bashing the name about dropping

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Speaker 1: the ball, but not knowing they're forgetting about what you

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Speaker 1: did in the beginning of the season all up until

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Speaker 1: that point. Like, I'm not perfect. I'm never gonna be perfect.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the best of the best job to ball,

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Speaker 1: so you can't you can't dwell on that. So I'm

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Speaker 1: just I just use that as you and I just

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Speaker 1: locked in that following week. Was there anything from your

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Speaker 1: exit interviews with your coaches coach tomln, coach Hilliard, UM,

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Speaker 1: coach Canada, whoever that you were able to take away

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Speaker 1: that something you can either implement this off season is

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Speaker 1: your training or to get ready for the two thousand

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Speaker 1: twenty one season. UH Coach you really didn't say I

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Speaker 1: really need to work on pretty much anything. I mean,

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Speaker 1: you said I had a solid year, so to me,

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Speaker 1: like I do every year, I just gotta work on

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Speaker 1: every aspect of my game because it's always something you

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Speaker 1: can work on in those areas and you can't just

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Speaker 1: focus on one because all those times that win. So

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Speaker 1: I'm trying to get all those right, those tune or whatnot.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be fine. So what do you anticipate a

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Speaker 1: Matt Canada lead offense will look like in two thousand

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Speaker 1: and twenty one. M hmm. I'm pretty sure he's gonna

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Speaker 1: open offense up. And mean, I'm sure we're still gonna

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Speaker 1: probably run the same offense or not, just gonna add

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Speaker 1: some different things in there. I'm I'm guessing, but I'm

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Speaker 1: sure we're gonna have a great offense. But Ben coming

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Speaker 1: back to I don't know. I mean that he is

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Speaker 1: coming back, But the offense gonna be the same, Ornot,

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Speaker 1: We're gonna still do what we do. I'm looking forward

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Speaker 1: to it, and uh, I'm ready to go go to

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Speaker 1: work with coach Kennady. It sounds like you brought up

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Speaker 1: Ben um a meeting with him in our ruining the

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Speaker 1: second took place in contract is now the next hurdle

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Speaker 1: that they have to go over in terms of getting

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Speaker 1: that number down. So what would it mean to you

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Speaker 1: personally to have been back for another season. It would

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Speaker 1: be be big, I mean because then those everything he's

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Speaker 1: he's he's our leader. I mean, he's our quarters um,

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Speaker 1: and everybody wants to play for being so and I

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Speaker 1: just like, I just like being around him and when

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Speaker 1: he's in the huddle, I just you just want to

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Speaker 1: play for a guy like that because he's Hall of

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Speaker 1: Famers so and this is the things he did and

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Speaker 1: his career is just amazing. So just just me being

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Speaker 1: his president is just crazy to me still. So it's

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Speaker 1: still crazy to me that I'm catching passes from him,

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Speaker 1: coming from when I was watching him when I was

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Speaker 1: a little So I take I take advantage of every

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Speaker 1: opportunity I get out there with men, and I'm looking

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Speaker 1: forward to it this year as well. So lastly, will

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Speaker 1: you pay attention to the large number of free agents

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Speaker 1: that the Steelers have, you know, when that starts in

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Speaker 1: you know the middle of March, and knowing that there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of guys that you played with this past

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Speaker 1: season that potentially will not be here next season. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of the business side of it. Mean,

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Speaker 1: so I'm miss playing with everybody that free free agency

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Speaker 1: this year. I Mean, I don't pretty know much what

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Speaker 1: they're gonna do or not, but hopefully they were able

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Speaker 1: to get some of those guys back or whatnot. And

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Speaker 1: but if not, I mean, I'm still gonna keep in

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Speaker 1: contact with those guys that leave or whatnot, because those

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Speaker 1: friendships don't just and like that, so and um whatever

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Speaker 1: they stillers do them. That's what they're gonna do. So alright,

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Speaker 1: really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining me today, Thank

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Speaker 1: you for having me