Speaker 1: To us buyers touch style by waddle stuck into the
Speaker 1: end zone of Miami Boy, tight froll, tight window. They
Speaker 1: had to get that touchdown on that play. They get it.
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphans And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your
Speaker 1: host Travis Wingfield And on today show, we have another
Speaker 1: free agent signing. Tehron Armstead, formerly of the New Orleans Saints,
Speaker 1: has agreed to a deal with the Miami Dolphins. We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk to Tehron on this podcast. We're also going
Speaker 1: to get into his stats, his data, the advanced metrics,
Speaker 1: all the fun stuff that he has accomplished over the
Speaker 1: course of a brilliant, brilliant nine year career. All of
Speaker 1: that and the whole heck of a lot more from
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drive Time Podcast. To Ron Armstead, the
Speaker 1: number one ranked player on Pro Football Focus, is best
Speaker 1: player available free agent list, and the number four overall
Speaker 1: player on NFL dot Com before the franchise tags. He
Speaker 1: became the number one player after those went down, so
Speaker 1: the overall consensus number one player available from Pro Football
Speaker 1: Focus NFL dot com. To Ron Armstead is a Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphin three time Pro bowler, giving the Dolphins pffs top
Speaker 1: ranked free agent tackle less than a week after adding
Speaker 1: the third ranked guard on Pro Football Focuses list and
Speaker 1: number thirty one overall and Connor Williams. Here are a
Speaker 1: couple of things to look at with to Ron Armstead,
Speaker 1: because there are a lot We're gonna play some audio
Speaker 1: here from to Ron himself obviously, but also from some
Speaker 1: instructional videos and different clinics he has done with the
Speaker 1: offensive line masterminds and Duke manny Weather, and there's so
Speaker 1: much good content out there on this guy. Can't wait
Speaker 1: to bring it to you. Guys. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: jump right in first up here. Nine year career. Over
Speaker 1: those nine years, just a hundred and forty three quarterback
Speaker 1: pressures and twenty four sacks from Pro Football Focus on
Speaker 1: three thousand, eight hundred twenty nine pass blocking snaps. That's
Speaker 1: a three point seven percent pressure rate and a point
Speaker 1: six percent sack rate, both of those figures best among
Speaker 1: all NFL tackles. Between those numbers landed Armstead eight swon
Speaker 1: on Pro Football Focus is top one dred and one
Speaker 1: players of the decade for and during that decade, only
Speaker 1: Cleveland's Joe Thomas and Andrew Whitworth of the Rams and
Speaker 1: Bengals surrendered pressure late rates at a lower rate than
Speaker 1: the four point one percent granted by Armstead. So you
Speaker 1: hear a difference in those two numbers. Those last two
Speaker 1: seasons project a Whitworth light trajectory into his late thirties
Speaker 1: because the aforementioned pressure number, ranking third among tackles for
Speaker 1: the decade, has been reduce used by point four percent
Speaker 1: over the last two seasons. Armstead's played ninety seven career games,
Speaker 1: he started ninety three of them, being an offensive stalwart
Speaker 1: for the Saints for a long long time that produced
Speaker 1: division titles, deep playoff runs, and numerous top five offensive
Speaker 1: attacks in his time there with the Saints. The Saints
Speaker 1: finished no worse than fifth and points scored between two
Speaker 1: thousand sixteen two thousand twenty. Over that spam, Armstead anchored
Speaker 1: the left edge for fifty six games while surrendering just
Speaker 1: seventies six quarterback pressures. That's a rate of one point
Speaker 1: three six pressures allowed per game. That's the best among
Speaker 1: all tackles over that five year spam and after playing
Speaker 1: on an offense that finished top three in passing each
Speaker 1: of his first four years in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: Armstead also blocks for a three top six rushing offenses
Speaker 1: over the last five years. He's done everything in this
Speaker 1: league so far. He's also revered by his peers and
Speaker 1: by film gurus alike. How about former Super Bowl champion
Speaker 1: and Old bawlguard Shawn O'Hara, who had quite the monologue
Speaker 1: last week on Good Morning Football talking about who he
Speaker 1: believed was the top free agent available into Ron Armstead.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and play that audio. When you say
Speaker 1: monster from one monster to to another in Toront Armstead,
Speaker 1: that's a term of endearment coming from you like that.
Speaker 1: I think when you look at torontarms said on the show,
Speaker 1: he's such a nice guy. And and you know, the
Speaker 1: other day I called him Mr T and I feel
Speaker 1: like he is Mr T. And on Sundays he turns
Speaker 1: into Clumber Lane. And right now, when you say, what's
Speaker 1: the prediction for this game? And I think when you
Speaker 1: look at that, look at Toron, say, he's not just
Speaker 1: blocking defensive ends, He's mauling them like Clumber Lane did
Speaker 1: to Rocky Balboa. All right, here he is as a
Speaker 1: left tackle right here. Okay, this is gonna be a twist.
Speaker 1: All right, this is gonna be an e t twist.
Speaker 1: He meaning the end goes first tackles the looper. Now,
Speaker 1: as a tackle in the guard, it's always about, Hey,
Speaker 1: you've got to shut off the penetrator, pass him off
Speaker 1: to your guard, and then wait for the looper toron
Speaker 1: arms and says, look, I'm gonna handle this by myself.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm pity the fool they're trying to run
Speaker 1: a stunt on me. Look what he does to Benson
Speaker 1: Maoia right here, the defensive end, I mean, just told him.
Speaker 1: You want to talk about Monster's ball right here? Look
Speaker 1: at him, just ragged him, throw him on the ground.
Speaker 1: They didn't even bother to block the defensive tackle that's
Speaker 1: looping around because he's just too busy toying with this
Speaker 1: defensive end. Look, I mean, that's a grown man. This
Speaker 1: is the NFL, right here. This is not like, hey,
Speaker 1: Division one Double A going up against some B squad
Speaker 1: right here. All right, how about in the run game,
Speaker 1: let's talk about moving people at the point of attack.
Speaker 1: I want you to watch him. He's on the back
Speaker 1: side of his play right here, but Alviut Camara cuts
Speaker 1: it back and look, you know what Mr t has
Speaker 1: right here. He's got what I call a coupon. He's
Speaker 1: got a two for one. He's gonna block two guys
Speaker 1: on this. Look at what he does on the back
Speaker 1: side of his play, basically three guys right there. He's
Speaker 1: gotta buy two get one free coupon to go along
Speaker 1: with that. I mean, look at that that wall right here,
Speaker 1: that Toronto Armstead creative for Alvin Camarre. Okay, you can
Speaker 1: run through that hole right there. I mean that's a
Speaker 1: lot of green right there. Ron Armstead on the back
Speaker 1: side of that play. I know you, I know you're quick.
Speaker 1: You've got a great burst screen acceleration. All right, So
Speaker 1: let's go on to the third play right here. Remember
Speaker 1: that touchdown, that six game touchdown alvi Camara hand on
Speaker 1: Christmas Day. This is a big part of it right here. Now,
Speaker 1: this defensive end right here is in a k M
Speaker 1: A technique right now, which stands for kick my rror.
Speaker 1: On St. Patrick's Day, we can say that look at
Speaker 1: the movement right here. He gets on this defense event
Speaker 1: and I want you to watch the finish right here. Watch.
Speaker 1: I mean this is going belly to belly sup lex
Speaker 1: right here, and this defensive end right now is on
Speaker 1: one leg. He is until right here and Tehron is
Speaker 1: taking up for a ride on the Armstead train. And
Speaker 1: look at this. I mean you want to talk about
Speaker 1: posterizing a defensive end for offensive linement. This is the
Speaker 1: epitome of Scottie Pippen dunking on Patrick Ewing right here
Speaker 1: posterizing the defensive end. I think he took his helmet
Speaker 1: off right there so that he gets smile to the
Speaker 1: fans and let everybody know what he's just into that
Speaker 1: Vikings defensive endge Ron Armstead. Look, he is super athletic.
Speaker 1: Everybody remembers him running a four seven one still the
Speaker 1: fastest time at the combine from an offensive linement. His
Speaker 1: athleticism is only outdone by how physical he actually is.
Speaker 1: He's got great feet, but you could see the strength
Speaker 1: and the power right there. Look, Toront Armstead still out there.
Speaker 1: If you are a team that is struggling to protect
Speaker 1: your quarterback, where you want an injection of run game brutality,
Speaker 1: This is the guy that will bring it home. I look,
Speaker 1: I would love for my gma to bring him in,
Speaker 1: but he's he's out there okay, and I'm sure you'll
Speaker 1: be out there much longer. So there you go. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be out there much longer. He was not.
Speaker 1: He is now a Miami Dolphin. Again. That's Good Morning Football.
Speaker 1: You can watch that week days, every single day, Monday
Speaker 1: through Friday on the NFL Network. So we're gonna have
Speaker 1: a bunch of video clip I'm gonna put with guys
Speaker 1: that I've are from folks. I have found clips of
Speaker 1: Toron Armstead doing some of the stuff Shanahara talked about
Speaker 1: their Brandon Thorne as well as Ben Finel, Fennel and
Speaker 1: Brian Baldinger. Plenty of guys putting great content out there
Speaker 1: with all the work this guy's this guy does, and
Speaker 1: Brandon Thorne, who owns the Trench Warfare news stack and
Speaker 1: has a podcast that's really good about offensive line play.
Speaker 1: He says that Tehran Armstead has PhD level tackle play here.
Speaker 1: That's how he describes the abilities that really serve in
Speaker 1: dual functionality. Not only does Armstead's mastery of the craft
Speaker 1: make him one of the NFL's sturdiest offensive lineman. It
Speaker 1: has that ripple effect and augmenting other players across the
Speaker 1: offensive line, like you heard O'Hara talk about there with
Speaker 1: some of those stunts in games he picked up helping
Speaker 1: clear out too defensive lineman on a cutback run by
Speaker 1: Alvin Kamara to spring him for a big run. Not
Speaker 1: only is he easing the load of the left guard
Speaker 1: next to him, he's taking pressure off the opposite side
Speaker 1: of the offensive line. Where there's a clip that I'm
Speaker 1: gonna share with you guys on Twitter by Duke manny
Speaker 1: Weather at Big Duke fifty where he comes all the
Speaker 1: way across the formation and picks up an overload blitz
Speaker 1: from the right side of the offensive line. He comes
Speaker 1: all the way over the vision, the awareness, the understanding
Speaker 1: of the rush scheme of the defense and how to
Speaker 1: get there, the athletic ability to get there, that's only
Speaker 1: going to help the entire offensive line play better football.
Speaker 1: And then from there, the ability to slide protection like okay,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and get their best pass rusher out
Speaker 1: there isolate Armstead, slide everybody else over and double and
Speaker 1: help and chip and help pick up the overload pressure
Speaker 1: they might throw, and you can let to Ron Arms
Speaker 1: that go out there and block the other team's best
Speaker 1: because he's capable of doing that, and you can still
Speaker 1: count on him to lock that down to come across
Speaker 1: the formation pick up the overload blitz. That's the PhD
Speaker 1: level comparison that you're talking about there. Speaking of helping
Speaker 1: his teammates, just ask the guards who have played alongside
Speaker 1: to Ron Armstead. Jerry Evans made back to back Pro
Speaker 1: Bowls in his first in Armstead's first two seasons, but
Speaker 1: to be fair, Evans was already a four time Pro
Speaker 1: bowler prior to Armstead's arrival. But then the Saints needed
Speaker 1: to replace Evans when he hung up his cleats. Enter
Speaker 1: Larry Warford, who didn't coproble his first four years in
Speaker 1: the NFL, each with the Detroit Lions. Then he comes
Speaker 1: to New Orleans. What does he do? Three straight years
Speaker 1: three straight Pro Bowl seventeen nineteen, never missing the All
Speaker 1: Star Game in those three years. In the second year
Speaker 1: of Warford's tenure in New Orleans, their other guard, Andrew's Pete,
Speaker 1: became the next man in the middle to earn a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl nod in three consecutive seasons through and then
Speaker 1: finally the other book nd Ryan Ramcheck was drafted was
Speaker 1: great right away. Wasn't a Pro Bowl selection his sophomore season,
Speaker 1: but he was voted to a p All Pro second team,
Speaker 1: which is a better distinction in my opinion. So Armstead
Speaker 1: and ram Check combined for the fewest pressures allowed per
Speaker 1: pass blocking rep of any tackle that year. Ineen, and
Speaker 1: you heard O'Hara talk about the four which still stands
Speaker 1: as the best forty yard dash time from an offensive
Speaker 1: tackle in NFL history. Look, elite physical traits are always
Speaker 1: gonna get a player's foot in the door. Perhaps it
Speaker 1: was that skill set that got Armstead on the NFL's radar.
Speaker 1: His four seven one forty yard dash the asked us
Speaker 1: ever by a tackle remains that way going back, and
Speaker 1: the entirety of Armstead's workout put him in rarefied air.
Speaker 1: From a physical standpoint nine point five eight ranks twenty
Speaker 1: second all time on the Relative Athletics scorecard, that, of course,
Speaker 1: is the cumulative combined workout scorecard, twenty second all time
Speaker 1: of over sevent offensive tackles. The movement skills make him
Speaker 1: a match made in heaven for his own scheme that
Speaker 1: asks you to get out wide, get out in space,
Speaker 1: and inflict that will off the edge. And he also
Speaker 1: pairs those eye popping physical traits with a true mastery
Speaker 1: of the game. Again, his ability to mix up his sets.
Speaker 1: You'll see these videos I post on Twitter, and the
Speaker 1: punches he throws in pass pro it can derail even
Speaker 1: the best pass rushers the entire National Football League has
Speaker 1: to offer. He has this way of drawing out the
Speaker 1: oppositions move early in the in the rep, which gives
Speaker 1: him the advantage even if his quick set or his
Speaker 1: quick his shorten the distance set puts him at a
Speaker 1: momentary disadvantage. His ability to mix up his set and
Speaker 1: shorten those angles is achievable without consequence because of the
Speaker 1: balance and smoothweight transfer and the typewriter feat he has.
Speaker 1: Man go, there's a clip I put out there of
Speaker 1: him in practice where he's just working against a Patriots
Speaker 1: pass rusher and joint practices and the feet. Man, it's
Speaker 1: it's like Laramie Tunsel was when he was when he
Speaker 1: was coming out. It's it's better than that. It's really
Speaker 1: really good. And you just watch his consistent hand placement.
Speaker 1: To me, it's like watching I told you guys, I
Speaker 1: was really into solo climbing a few months ago on
Speaker 1: Netflix in the different documentaries, it reminds me of a
Speaker 1: solo climber. Once those hands click in and they engage,
Speaker 1: they click into place, it's onto the next rep because
Speaker 1: his grip strength is so good he's not going to
Speaker 1: get beat from there. Finally, the mentorship and advocacy for
Speaker 1: HBC use historically black colleges and universities because Armstead nine
Speaker 1: years of pro came out of Arkansas Pine Bluff. There
Speaker 1: was a great clip of him talking to Cameron Wolf.
Speaker 1: We all know Cam with the NFL Network does great
Speaker 1: work for them, and here in Miami. He had a
Speaker 1: great interview with Toron Armstead talking about his origins and
Speaker 1: give thing back to the players that were trying to
Speaker 1: follow his footsteps. He said, I dedicate a lot of
Speaker 1: my success and makeup of who I am or who
Speaker 1: have become as a man and as a player to
Speaker 1: my experience in Arkansas Pine Bluff being that HBCU player
Speaker 1: that kind of get out of the mud mentality. So
Speaker 1: coming to the NFL, just having that chip on my
Speaker 1: shoulder of being a small school guy and then he
Speaker 1: also talked about the mentorship of the younger guys. Quote.
Speaker 1: I sat with a large amount of players yesterday for
Speaker 1: about an hour and a half, and we talked about finances,
Speaker 1: we talked career, we talked everything. It was great. Those
Speaker 1: guys were so locked in. I think they clenched onto
Speaker 1: every word. It was an amazing time. End quote. How
Speaker 1: about in Miami, Armstead joins the Miami offensive line room
Speaker 1: with an average age of twenty four point six years old.
Speaker 1: In addition to his on field performance, the wealth of
Speaker 1: wisdom that arms said has to offer a young line,
Speaker 1: a line that started five players in week Gate team
Speaker 1: last year that season finale went over, the Patriots started
Speaker 1: five players who were either drafted or undrafted, acquired within
Speaker 1: the last three years through the draft through college in
Speaker 1: a victory. It's quantifiable the amount of experience and wealth
Speaker 1: that he can inflict or in part I should say
Speaker 1: on the rest of the offensive line and whether with
Speaker 1: NFL teammates are mentoring college players looking to follow his
Speaker 1: career path. The book on Armstead's character, it's just it
Speaker 1: remains untarnished compared to what I've seen out there. I mean,
Speaker 1: here's a great quote Torn arms that exemplifies everything that
Speaker 1: is great about HBCUs. We thank him for his generous
Speaker 1: support and commitment. That was Doug Williams Super Bowl twenty
Speaker 1: two m VP. So tons of good stuff. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and take our first break here on this edition
Speaker 1: of the Drivetime Podcast, the Tahrn Armstead. Welcome to Miami
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Podcast. Next, I want to play
Speaker 1: some clips I found from those offensive line masterminds, clinics
Speaker 1: and all the stuff he offers. And then the third segment,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get the big fellow on the podcast. Here
Speaker 1: to Ron Armstead joining us on Drivetime. Coming up next
Speaker 1: with Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. So
Speaker 1: we talked about in the opening segment there the impact
Speaker 1: that Torn Armstead could have on younger players on the
Speaker 1: offensive line and the work he does with Duke manny
Speaker 1: Weather and the offensive line masterminds. Here's what Duke manny
Speaker 1: Weather tweeted about the Dolphins addition of Torn Armstead. The
Speaker 1: Dolphins just got a culture changer that can do it
Speaker 1: all in the past, protection and the run game, but
Speaker 1: we'll also bring the young guys along with him. And
Speaker 1: because of that, you win games because of Tahrn Armstead,
Speaker 1: very very high praise. They're from, in my opinion, the
Speaker 1: best offensive line mind out there right now outside of
Speaker 1: the game itself. The guy on the outside that doesn't
Speaker 1: work with these guys and gets these young guys ready.
Speaker 1: Duke Manu weathers as good as it gets. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and hear this one minute clip of Armstead addressing
Speaker 1: people or that the the offensive talent as well as
Speaker 1: coaches and and scouts alike at the offensive line masterminds
Speaker 1: clinic urt yourself to lane to gay on my salf
Speaker 1: train is great to had account. But the whole thing
Speaker 1: about development, it's fun in that the blueprint is out there,
Speaker 1: all the families, every technique is out there. Just stop
Speaker 1: a role out of stuff there. Everything evolves and development plint.
Speaker 1: Once you put like I watched the train and I
Speaker 1: take something from training. I watch Ja Jason Peter jumpson.
Speaker 1: I feel like mutasames of my camp. So I took
Speaker 1: his jump set. I watched Tweran like its forty five
Speaker 1: degree set. It's consistent, is the same. He squeared he's
Speaker 1: strong at his base, so I took that from him.
Speaker 1: I can say nothing from we work well. He's building
Speaker 1: when he played, it's not it's not my comp So
Speaker 1: just building that that whole and then I found my
Speaker 1: my game. But then all those players, like people that's
Speaker 1: been doing it well for a long time, all my
Speaker 1: young guys in New Orleans, I make them do that,
Speaker 1: like watch them take two guys, write them up to
Speaker 1: see how it compares, what do you do well, and
Speaker 1: try to implement it. Given out homework to the young
Speaker 1: guys there are in New Orleans. I love that thought
Speaker 1: process of finding guys that have similar skill sets and
Speaker 1: similar traits as you and then find a way to
Speaker 1: implement what they do well into your game. That's great
Speaker 1: stuff there from Toronto Armstead. And then you know Duke
Speaker 1: many Weather talks about the impact you can have in
Speaker 1: the young guys. You hear it right there. Let's go
Speaker 1: back to the offensive masterminds here in a post that
Speaker 1: Duke manny Weather put up back in teen talking about
Speaker 1: when you really deep dive into the thought process and
Speaker 1: the mental of very slash elite players, you find that
Speaker 1: they have mastered the fundamentals which allows them to see
Speaker 1: and do things differently than most. Here's to run Armstead
Speaker 1: talking about that an offensive line masterminds back in. That's
Speaker 1: that's the biggest that's the biggest key to the whole
Speaker 1: things is to to get there under control. I'm more
Speaker 1: comfortable with a type five, So regards where he originally
Speaker 1: lines up, I want them earned him. Duke started the
Speaker 1: type of this is this is my compass on the
Speaker 1: right here, and I can get my hands on them.
Speaker 1: Now we started that line. I'm gonna take the necessary
Speaker 1: footwork to get him mad to this type. And it's
Speaker 1: all about the small steps to be a show. So
Speaker 1: get go back. I just beauties when I gotta come.
Speaker 1: You know, he does a big, small level, big conso
Speaker 1: with the right, but by the time to get back,
Speaker 1: he's back in his big He just turned that one
Speaker 1: too far. He's up in front of the class teaching
Speaker 1: them about how to how to attack different techniques and
Speaker 1: different leverages, how to shorten a nine technique into a
Speaker 1: five technique by your footwork and coming in under control again.
Speaker 1: Just a guy that's gonna serve in so many positive ways,
Speaker 1: both on the field, but also on the way he
Speaker 1: coaches and the way he sees things and the way
Speaker 1: he gets guys prepared. Going to be a big asset
Speaker 1: there to Frank Smith, to Matt apple Bomb, to Mike McDaniels,
Speaker 1: to the entire offensive line and the entire offense. Just
Speaker 1: the way this guy works, it's such a big impact.
Speaker 1: And you can get a guy like that into your building.
Speaker 1: So to Ron Armstead here in Miami, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and hear him talking about bringing the hands in the
Speaker 1: running game and the and the power of your hands
Speaker 1: as an offensive lineman to help dictate reps um with
Speaker 1: staring and staring with a strong, sane man against both
Speaker 1: of them. He just understood the letters. Where how did
Speaker 1: you guys? Uh? He always telling from you buck my
Speaker 1: hands and running can get his hands in a lot
Speaker 1: of time, no under but as he worked his speed.
Speaker 1: He's president. He's president. And again it's like a guy
Speaker 1: he one way. So you get a guy that would
Speaker 1: be and reached many time he accelerated into the ground. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I don't put you about the hands and run
Speaker 1: game president a lot and back especially outside if you
Speaker 1: gotta be ship running understanding the bass from the club,
Speaker 1: he's got to go back face having a lot that
Speaker 1: lot it is, I won't be impressively. Don't forget about
Speaker 1: your hands in the running game was the message there again,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna play all these for you guys. There
Speaker 1: are so many of them. He's just he's made his
Speaker 1: rounds on social media because he has so many impressive clips,
Speaker 1: both as a mentor, as a teacher, but especially and
Speaker 1: more importantly as a player on the field. Man, he's
Speaker 1: so impressive. I can't wait any more to get him
Speaker 1: on here. I'm sure you guys are sick of hair
Speaker 1: and me talk and you want to hear to Ron himself.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and do that. Take our last break
Speaker 1: here on the torn Arms and edition of the Drivetime podcast.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Miami, Big fella, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Speaker 1: What's up? Dolphins? Travis Wingfield here, the host of the
Speaker 1: Drift Time Podcast, and I am joined today by new
Speaker 1: Dolphins offensive tackle to Ron Armstead. To Ron, what's going on? Man?
Speaker 1: What's going on? Travis? Thank you for having me. Happy
Speaker 1: to have you, and I gotta ask you been the
Speaker 1: jersey A new collection, new item to the collection or
Speaker 1: have you had that for a while? New item to
Speaker 1: the collection, I'll be honest, new item to the collection.
Speaker 1: Always been a big Marino fan, you know. I always
Speaker 1: been a big football fan, so you always respect to
Speaker 1: the legends, you know, the Hall of famers in I
Speaker 1: saw Dan on my visit. Uh, it was just shocked
Speaker 1: to meet him in person. So it was only right
Speaker 1: there to get new jersey. You weren't wearing that, were
Speaker 1: you know? I was just gonna say, if you're wearing that,
Speaker 1: it's a great first impression. That's awesome, too good, too good.
Speaker 1: So talking about a quarterback, you know, are you gonna
Speaker 1: be hitting up Teddy here to kind of get some
Speaker 1: some lay the land about where to go in South Florida?
Speaker 1: Are your former teammate? Oh? For sure, for sure? You
Speaker 1: know Teddy, he's from here, He's from Miami. Uh, that's
Speaker 1: that's my brother. You know, talk to him all the time. Actually,
Speaker 1: gonna call him when I when I leave here today.
Speaker 1: Just trying to figure out exactly where I'll be living, living, restaurants,
Speaker 1: things to go, do, all that good, all that good stuff. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about the decision to come here
Speaker 1: to Miami. What was ultimately the deciding factor for you
Speaker 1: just signed with the Dolphins. Man, Everything just felt perfect, honestly, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, time and alignment, it just it just felt
Speaker 1: like the exact place that I needed to be. UM,
Speaker 1: the the fans, we're showing so much love, reaching out
Speaker 1: just expressing their one for me. Then the team, the
Speaker 1: front office, the coaches, they just expressed how much they
Speaker 1: wanted me in this building, being to be a part
Speaker 1: of his team. The vision that that that we have
Speaker 1: moving forward. Uh man, it was it was a no brainer. Really.
Speaker 1: We love to hear the fans are all on your
Speaker 1: corner now. And then getting you that recruiting pitch a
Speaker 1: little bit there on social works here you go, you
Speaker 1: guys here there first, So you come into an offensive
Speaker 1: line room that has a lot of young talented players here,
Speaker 1: how do you think that you're experience and wisdom can
Speaker 1: really help out the entirety of that Dolphin's offensive line?
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, just just just really that, you know, coming
Speaker 1: with my experience being vocal and leading by example. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, I I know what it takes to perform
Speaker 1: at the high level up front. I know how hard
Speaker 1: it is, UM, and I know how it's not our
Speaker 1: very rewarding position. You know. We we do we do
Speaker 1: our work, We do our job, and that's it. That's
Speaker 1: what we're supposed to do. And Uh, we're not that.
Speaker 1: We're not the glory spots. We're not scoring touchdown celebrating
Speaker 1: so um making making guys comfortable with that or just
Speaker 1: thrive for that self gratification or gratification between ourselves when
Speaker 1: we know what our impact is. UM, that's the standard.
Speaker 1: That's the standard where we're stepping out to have impact blocks,
Speaker 1: make plays. You know. So you see Tarik and Waddle
Speaker 1: make plays, make touchdowns, we're making touch downs. They just
Speaker 1: look different opening the whole the same same level exciting
Speaker 1: for you is just for those guys running in and listen,
Speaker 1: it's nothing better than me having a big impact block
Speaker 1: and and running back scoring off my block. So that's
Speaker 1: my touchdown, Like I want the ball, really, I want
Speaker 1: the baown. There's a couple of clips of you in
Speaker 1: that six touchdown game from Camara back against the Vikings
Speaker 1: where you took a guy all the way off the sidelines,
Speaker 1: and that's like my favorite clips I've ever seen in
Speaker 1: my entire life from an office. Really good. And speaking
Speaker 1: of that, you know, I saw some clips of you also,
Speaker 1: you know, talking about working with younger guys, the offensive
Speaker 1: line masterminds is something something that you're very into and
Speaker 1: very involved with How did you kind of discover that
Speaker 1: passion for helping younger players and why is it so
Speaker 1: important for you to kind of impart your wisdom on
Speaker 1: the next generation. I mean, I think it's just kind
Speaker 1: of natural for me to uh share my knowledge and experience.
Speaker 1: Um you know, I feel like I have a lot
Speaker 1: of leadership qualities that has been ingrained in me through
Speaker 1: my upbringing and then my early years in the league.
Speaker 1: Um So, my trainer, Duke many Weather, he puts that
Speaker 1: platform together and it's just a great time to to
Speaker 1: balance ideas off each other, to just talk through different
Speaker 1: situations and scenarios that come up while playing this game.
Speaker 1: Uh So, Online Masterminds is a perfect platform for a
Speaker 1: guy's young and veterans to to come in and just
Speaker 1: learn to get different ideas and understand we're all trying
Speaker 1: to do the same job. It can be done different ways,
Speaker 1: different technique, different terminology, but we're all trying to complete
Speaker 1: the same objective. It's it's fun to watch me. I've
Speaker 1: been I've been going back over those. There's a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of them. Duke posts them on Twitter, so they're
Speaker 1: they're available for you on Twitter. There but you also
Speaker 1: did an interview at the HBCU Legacy Bowl this past
Speaker 1: offseason talking about mentoring the players at that game. Why
Speaker 1: is it so important for you to pay it forward
Speaker 1: to an HBCUs coming from Arkansas Pine Bluff like you did.
Speaker 1: I know that, I know the road, Uh, and it
Speaker 1: is a it is a longer row, honestly, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: just different, different opportunities and access that you have at
Speaker 1: these smaller schools compared to the bigger ones. So you
Speaker 1: just gotta understand the value of staying course, staying hungry, uh,
Speaker 1: putting your best foot forward, learn how to be professional. Um.
Speaker 1: So a lot of other schools have alumni that come
Speaker 1: back and just share their experiences that small schools we don't,
Speaker 1: not not as much, not as frequent, we get a
Speaker 1: chance to hear it and know what to expect on
Speaker 1: that on that next level. So I think it's important
Speaker 1: to just be able to articulate that, you know, spread
Speaker 1: that that knowledge and experience. Definitely talking about you know,
Speaker 1: the leadership qualities. Wanna talk some football with you, now?
Speaker 1: What about this offense that you've seen from you know,
Speaker 1: tape or just experience around the National Football League? How
Speaker 1: do you think this offense suit your skill set, that
Speaker 1: that that word perfect comes comes right back to play
Speaker 1: like U for what I like to do be explosive, physical,
Speaker 1: get out and run play fast. Uh this this is
Speaker 1: that you know, we get a chance to go. Uh
Speaker 1: you know we want to we want to turn these
Speaker 1: games into two track meets. And we have a track
Speaker 1: We have a track team, but we have a physical
Speaker 1: track team and that we we will never the front line.
Speaker 1: We can never let that be foreshadowed by by the speed.
Speaker 1: Like that physicality has to be our number one implement
Speaker 1: and then the speed kills all plays together definitely. So
Speaker 1: you also reunite here with Frank Smith, Dolphins, our offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: former offensive line asistant there in New Orleans where the
Speaker 1: Dolphins have here in Frank Smith, And how would you
Speaker 1: describe your relationship with him? He's just a very special individual. Uh,
Speaker 1: really cerebral guy, intelligent man. Um he was my assistant
Speaker 1: on line coach my rookie year in New Orleans, so
Speaker 1: ten years ago. And uh that impression that he left
Speaker 1: on me nine years later, help was it was? It
Speaker 1: was instrumental for me coming back reuniting with him again.
Speaker 1: You know, So having him. His uh, the way he
Speaker 1: sees the game is is different, It is unique, and
Speaker 1: it works. He's had a ton of success in his
Speaker 1: coaching career UM, and I think pair with Mike is
Speaker 1: even more crazed to masterminds. Frank is a guy that
Speaker 1: that understands who he is as a coach and and
Speaker 1: what he does best is allow players to understand who
Speaker 1: they are. And you'll be surprised at how frequent NFL
Speaker 1: players don't have the confidence uh and knowing who they
Speaker 1: are as a player, finding ways to play to their
Speaker 1: strengths talent, talent and abilities. Frank does a great job
Speaker 1: of getting that out of players so they can put
Speaker 1: it on. That's perfect. That goes back to something you
Speaker 1: talked about masterminds when you mentioned like know about who
Speaker 1: got who's who, different guys that have your type of
Speaker 1: skill sets that you can use and take what they
Speaker 1: use and put into your game. That's great stuff. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you come here also to block for quarterback to a Tongkavaloa.
Speaker 1: What do you like about his game? I think he's
Speaker 1: as accurate and as precise as I've I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: UM really smart. I know some of his college teammates,
Speaker 1: so they talk about them, they all love them. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to meet him, excited to block form, put
Speaker 1: myself on the line for him, make sure the other
Speaker 1: guys are doing the same at all times. So, um, listen, this,
Speaker 1: this whole everything and this and this totality, I'm excited
Speaker 1: about it definitely tells us that a chance to meet
Speaker 1: coach McDaniel. Yet listen, man, Mike, Mike is great. Men.
Speaker 1: The energy, the energy is bringing, just the viber. He's excited.
Speaker 1: He's just man, and and it's contagious that that energy
Speaker 1: is contagious. Like I know how I can have a
Speaker 1: feel for how practice will be from the from the energy,
Speaker 1: from the competition. Just I like it. I'm ready. How
Speaker 1: about coach I have? I have Matt met Matt talked
Speaker 1: to him for a while. Uh, really smart, really smart
Speaker 1: football mind. Uh been back and forth between college and
Speaker 1: the pro. So from that developmental standpoint, he understands it.
Speaker 1: He knows how to how to get that that that done.
Speaker 1: And then um, having an NFL experience too, he knows
Speaker 1: how to deal with veterans like myself. He's a guy
Speaker 1: where he doesn't feel like you know everything won't won't
Speaker 1: be a dictator in the room. You know, this is
Speaker 1: a man's business, you know, where we're all grown man.
Speaker 1: So being able to work with each other, Um, it's
Speaker 1: it's been. It's been great talking to talking to Matt.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to work with him and in depth learned
Speaker 1: from him. I'm excited to be coach. By thing, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. His players at BC loved him. I
Speaker 1: have a chance to catch up with those guys at
Speaker 1: the combine. They were effusive in their praise of coach Applebaum.
Speaker 1: So you know, you come into this position with the
Speaker 1: Dolphins after a nine year career in New Orleans, and
Speaker 1: you know, so many other linemen now are showing this
Speaker 1: longevity across the National Football League, playing well into their thirties.
Speaker 1: I mean, Andrew Witworth just retired it was at forty
Speaker 1: forty years old. So how is that accomplished? Do you think?
Speaker 1: How do how do guys on the offensive line have
Speaker 1: longer careers nowadays? I just understanding the game really, uh,
Speaker 1: playing smart, really really knowing how to get the job done,
Speaker 1: angles leverage physicality. Um, you know, you gotta be blessed
Speaker 1: and fortunate to have health. You know not not too
Speaker 1: many serious injuries or season ending injuries and things like that. Um,
Speaker 1: So it's a it's a it's a collection of thing,
Speaker 1: but collection of things. But you have to be uh
Speaker 1: smart cerebal player. You gotta be able to know the
Speaker 1: game and know how to diagnose the game to play
Speaker 1: so long because it's new talent that comes in. New
Speaker 1: talent comes in, so the game evolves at all times.
Speaker 1: It's a lot more open and spacing and passing than
Speaker 1: it was back in the day when running the ball
Speaker 1: so much. So um being able to adapt to that,
Speaker 1: the evolution of the game, the the excess and knows
Speaker 1: being being a student of it. It speaks to the
Speaker 1: few that's been able to do it at such a
Speaker 1: high level for so long. You know that as well
Speaker 1: as anybody. I think your first four years you guys
Speaker 1: like a top four passing offense, and then ther next
Speaker 1: four years like top four rushing offenses. So back and
Speaker 1: forth in New Orleans. So I want to go away
Speaker 1: from football here for just a second. One thing I
Speaker 1: think that those are the linements don't have that you
Speaker 1: have is the bars your raptor you're I've seen a
Speaker 1: few videos of them are you looking forward to continue
Speaker 1: that down here? Oh yeah, no, for sure. For sure.
Speaker 1: The music is it's a part of me. I've been
Speaker 1: doing it for a long time. You know. We started
Speaker 1: rapping in high school. Uh been doing it since. Just
Speaker 1: started putting it on like big platforms. Though. Um So
Speaker 1: now that I put my first few singles on all
Speaker 1: streaming platforms, you know, one of them kind of took
Speaker 1: off more than I ever even imagined. Uh dropped the
Speaker 1: album album deal. Well now just it's time to put
Speaker 1: out and put out more music and I love doing
Speaker 1: it more content. We'll take that one more question for
Speaker 1: you here at Toron. So you have an opportunity here
Speaker 1: in Miami, whether it's on the football field, whether it's
Speaker 1: in the community, whether it's going out and and just
Speaker 1: learning the area of South Florida. What's one thing you're
Speaker 1: looking forward to most about being in South Florida. Uh,
Speaker 1: just just embracing the city, really embracing the city as
Speaker 1: a whole, and and having them embraced me as a
Speaker 1: as a as a man, and uh embrace my family,
Speaker 1: you know, be inviting and welcoming to the city. Uh,
Speaker 1: allowing me to get into the community, because that's that's
Speaker 1: that's that's what I do. That's that's naturally what I do. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know when out went out, map out exactly where
Speaker 1: I give my schedule in my routines together. You know,
Speaker 1: I'll be at different schools, hospitals, trying to figure out
Speaker 1: ways to implement these programs that I've been building. You know,
Speaker 1: I've got a community center Illinois, got learning center in
Speaker 1: the world, and so just trying to implement these programs
Speaker 1: and bringing the Florida. The more people we can touch
Speaker 1: and impact in a in a positive way, that's that's
Speaker 1: what we will continue to do. That's awesome stuff. Toront Armstead,
Speaker 1: Dolphins offensive tackle, thank you so much, appreciate you, Appreciate you.
Speaker 1: And there he goes to Ron Armstead. Really good stuff
Speaker 1: there from the Dolphins new offensive tackle and on the
Speaker 1: five Things piece up on Miami Dolphins dot com. You
Speaker 1: can also read more about when he was named the
Speaker 1: Saints Man of the Year in twenty nineteen, talking a
Speaker 1: lot about the work he did in the community and
Speaker 1: how heavily invested he is in that work and how
Speaker 1: much he wants to get involved, at least he told
Speaker 1: us today in the media availability, how much he wants
Speaker 1: to get involved here in South Florida. So really good
Speaker 1: stuff there at Ron Armstead. Let's go ahead and put
Speaker 1: a bow on this podcast. You all please be sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, tuned in,
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review. You can give
Speaker 1: me a follow on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the
Speaker 1: team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast
Speaker 1: with Seth and o J. Go check out our YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: We have these interviews on the video platform up on
Speaker 1: YouTube right now. You can also find all the media
Speaker 1: availabilities as well as Dolphins Today and last but not least,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot com for all the five thanks pieces.
Speaker 1: Until next time, fins up, Caroline, Daddy, He's coming home.