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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, and welcome to the latest edition of

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Speaker 1: the Falcons in Focus podcast presented by Ticketmaster. I'm Scott Behar.

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Speaker 1: That's Tarreon Walk, the man of the hour Falcons Safety

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Speaker 1: and as you can tell, Tarren is an Alabama alum

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Speaker 1: and she wore a special sweatshirt for safety. DeMarco, hellums,

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Speaker 1: welcome to the show, my friendsh There's gonna be so

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Speaker 1: many Georgia fans. I can see the YouTube comments right now.

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Speaker 1: What's up with that sweatshirt? What's up with that sweatshirt?

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Speaker 1: What's over with that sweatshirt?

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Speaker 2: The one player I can do it for on this

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Speaker 2: team right now.

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Speaker 1: Exactly Before we get to a lot of fun stuff,

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Speaker 1: I do need to let you know that Ticketmaster is

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Speaker 1: the official ticket provider of the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL.

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Speaker 1: So whether you're going to see the Falcons at Mercedes

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Speaker 1: Benz Stadium or away, please make sure to log onto

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Speaker 1: ticketmaster dot com slash Falcons. That's ticketmaster dot com slash Falcons.

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Speaker 1: To Marco, I want to go back in time just

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Speaker 1: a little bit. You're not that old, so we can't

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Speaker 1: go back that far. But you were born there, you

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Speaker 1: were born but I kind of did a deep dive

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Speaker 1: into your high school career, like a really deep dive.

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Speaker 1: So take me back to it's the I believe you're

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Speaker 1: a senior. It's the semi finals over Good Council, and

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Speaker 1: you played it Damatha High School in high till Marrion Wit,

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Speaker 1: which is you're from Washington, d C. That's what maybe

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Speaker 1: ten to fifteen miles outside the city. Yep, very close,

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Speaker 1: and DeMarco played for a Juggernaut, so everybody knows.

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Speaker 3: Okay, So in.

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Speaker 1: The semi finals, while playing defensive back and wide receiver

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Speaker 1: and apparently on special teams, your man had two touchdowns

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Speaker 1: on offense, two interceptions, and blocked a punt that resulted

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Speaker 1: in a safety, accounting for fourteen of Dematha's thirty four points,

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Speaker 1: not counting pats. Is that like as lockdown as you've

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Speaker 1: ever been? Like, what do you remember from that time?

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Speaker 1: Because that's such a huge game. You have a chance

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Speaker 1: to go to the finals, and you were obviously in

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Speaker 1: a zone there.

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Speaker 3: I just remember just thinking back to my junior year.

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Speaker 3: We didn't really have a good season, especially for my

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Speaker 3: high school standards. We lost in the playoffs. I didn't

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Speaker 3: have good enough record as we should have, and going

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Speaker 3: into that next year, going into the playoffs, we had

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Speaker 3: good counsel and I just wanted to make sure that

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Speaker 3: we was playing in the championship game. So I just

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Speaker 3: knew that, you know, whatever I had to do, whether

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Speaker 3: it was on offense, on defense, special teams, I just

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Speaker 3: knew that whatever plays I had to make, that it

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Speaker 3: was gonna result. And that's getting back to the championship game.

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Speaker 1: I mean, and that's exactly what happened. And we're gonna

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Speaker 1: go over your I have all of your high school

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Speaker 1: stats and they're massive, and normally this is a podcast

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Speaker 1: like full of like positive memories, so I hate to

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Speaker 1: bring up a bad one, but I watched I watched

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Speaker 1: the video on YouTube called forty five seconds of Madness,

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Speaker 1: which refers to it's the Matha against Gonzaga, and to

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Speaker 1: watch the last forty five seconds of that game, there

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Speaker 1: was like three lead changes right to go back and forth.

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Speaker 1: Unfortunately y'all ended up losing that game. But what I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of what fascinated me is the quarterback

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Speaker 1: on the other side was like Caleb Williams from Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: slash USC slash presumptive number one pick. So you have two.

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Speaker 1: You know, kids who end up going to Juggernaut schools

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Speaker 1: like that must have been as hyped of a game

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Speaker 1: like going into it and an experience as you can

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Speaker 1: have in that area, probably right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. It was definitely a great, great experience

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Speaker 3: to you know, be in that game, you know, being

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Speaker 3: able to compete against guys like Caleb and you know,

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Speaker 3: just seeing you know, as he is a little bit

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Speaker 3: younger than me, just seeing know how he came up,

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Speaker 3: you know, coming to the Thematic football camps when he

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Speaker 3: was younger, just how he came up as a freshman

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Speaker 3: at Gonzaga, and it was just it was just good

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Speaker 3: to you know, see him where he is now and

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Speaker 3: just knowing that that's where he would be playing those

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Speaker 3: games back then. You know, we all saw the put

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Speaker 3: centry that he had. Uh So you know it's exciting,

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Speaker 3: you know to look back at those high school memories

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Speaker 3: and you know it's unfortunate that, yeah, I was on

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Speaker 3: losing it of those games so close. Yeah, but it's

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Speaker 3: definitely great to you know, look back and know that

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Speaker 3: you know, that high school game one of the best

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Speaker 3: ones of all time. You know, had some great players

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Speaker 3: and you know I was one of them, and you

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Speaker 3: know Kayler was as well as well as some other guys.

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Speaker 2: So you said it was forty five seconds of madness. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I feel like forty five seconds or forty five minutes

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Speaker 2: out there.

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Speaker 3: It felt like forty five minutes I felt. You know,

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Speaker 3: emotions were up and down, you know, because we had

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Speaker 3: to lead the whole game. I got out to a

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Speaker 3: big lead early. You know, they started to come back,

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Speaker 3: and you know, we just try to hold on and

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Speaker 3: uh at the end of the game, you know, they

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Speaker 3: scored and every I guess they thought they had a

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Speaker 3: game winning touchdown. You know, we had that no never end,

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Speaker 3: you know, mentally on our side of the ball. So

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Speaker 3: you know, we took back the kick, and then you

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Speaker 3: got people on our side who thought the game was over,

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Speaker 3: and you know some of us are telling the game

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Speaker 3: man over. They have a good quarterback on their side.

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Speaker 3: He can throw the ball seventy yards and that's what

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Speaker 3: he did.

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Speaker 2: Is that like the most back and forth, quick finish

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Speaker 2: that you've been a part of.

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Speaker 3: Oh, that was definitely the craziest game I've ever been

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Speaker 3: a part of until I got to Alabama.

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Speaker 1: Until and we're gonna get to the Alabama thing really

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Speaker 1: soon and taranad that conversation. Another interesting thing besides the

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Speaker 1: fact that your senior year at seventy eight catches for

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Speaker 1: fourteen hundred yards, twenty one touchdowns, twelve interceptions including three

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Speaker 1: return for a score, and ninety one tackles casual, so

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Speaker 1: you're playing like one hundred and twenty snaps or something.

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Speaker 1: You're playing a crazy amount of snaps, So you know,

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Speaker 1: how do you survive Friday nights doing all that?

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Speaker 3: In high school, it was really just a dog mentality,

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Speaker 3: you know. I came into high school at receiver, you know,

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Speaker 3: that was kind of my natural position. Started to play

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Speaker 3: safety just on some rotational thing. You know, some guys

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Speaker 3: you know, it was a open spot and you know

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Speaker 3: I loved just to be on the field, so you

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Speaker 3: know I took that spot as well. You know, just

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Speaker 3: being able to play both ways. It's just something I've

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Speaker 3: been doing that I when I was in Little league.

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Speaker 3: So in high school really nothing changed for me as

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Speaker 3: far as wanting to have the ball in my hands

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Speaker 3: and also wanted to hit and my team, I know

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Speaker 3: they wanted me to do it and I was one

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Speaker 3: of the best guys doing it. So it wasn't like

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Speaker 3: I was taking away from anybody else, you know, it

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Speaker 3: was something that I was doing to help my team,

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Speaker 3: and I enjoyed it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's one last high school fact. I told

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Speaker 1: you I went down a rabbit hole. You you got

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Speaker 1: had the what must have been really cool? You got

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Speaker 1: to play receiver with your brother. You were a sophomore,

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Speaker 1: he was a senior, right, Yeah, Delantey who went on

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Speaker 1: to a Stony Brook. But what's that experience like You've

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Speaker 1: got your brother on the opposite end of the formation.

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Speaker 1: You guys are playing the same position, winning ball games.

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Speaker 1: Tell us about that.

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Speaker 3: It was great just knowing that, you know, my brother

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Speaker 3: is somebody that I look up to. He's always been

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Speaker 3: a great example for me, you know, on and off

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Speaker 3: the field. And you know, my parents definitely took pride

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Speaker 3: in that a lot. Uh probably one of the reasons

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Speaker 3: they want us to go to the same high school

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Speaker 3: because we weren't close enough in age where we played

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Speaker 3: on the same football team, right, you know, but those

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Speaker 3: four years in college, you know, we got to be

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Speaker 3: together for two of those and every time, you know,

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Speaker 3: we were out there on offense, on different sides of

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Speaker 3: the field. My mom always made sure that she snapped

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Speaker 3: the picture. She's having her boys out there at the

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Speaker 3: same time was definitely something that she took pride in.

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Speaker 3: My dad as well, So it was definitely good to

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Speaker 3: you know, be able to play with my brother in

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Speaker 3: high school, you know, just be able to share the

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Speaker 3: field with him, something I always wanted to do.

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Speaker 2: Did one wear your number and the other were your brothers?

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Speaker 3: Oh no, they just wore the Matha shirt. They just

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Speaker 3: wore the Matha shirts. They didn't want to wear the

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Speaker 3: Matha and another team shirt. As long as we went

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Speaker 3: to the Matha it was all good.

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Speaker 1: I read I think you were quoted in a story

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Speaker 1: about him that you got to see the journey of

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Speaker 1: a high school kid getting you know, recruiting letters and

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Speaker 1: those types of things, and then you actually maybe went

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Speaker 1: on some unofficial visits with him. Like what was that experience? Like, like,

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Speaker 1: as your brother's going through, it ends up at Stony Brook,

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Speaker 1: but you're this young kid who gets to see somebody

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Speaker 1: a couple of years and gets to kind of experience

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Speaker 1: it that way.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely great, you know, just having him there

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Speaker 3: as an example, you know, just tagging along with him

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Speaker 3: unofficial visits, going to camps, just being out there. You know,

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Speaker 3: I remember a camp specifically where he was out there

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Speaker 3: competing and you know, I'm just sitting on the sideline.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: I asked my dad, and I want to go out

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Speaker 3: there and I find a helmet, find some cliques, and

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Speaker 3: I'm in the seventh eighth grade going against college guys,

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Speaker 3: and I'm out there competing, you know, doing my job well.

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Speaker 3: And you know, honestly, I got to offer in eighth

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Speaker 3: grade from the University of Maryland just because you know,

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Speaker 3: I was at a camp with my brother. Yeah, and

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Speaker 3: you know, I just went out there and I did

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Speaker 3: good enough where you know, they offered me a scholarship

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Speaker 3: in the eighth grade. So just my brother being there

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Speaker 3: is definitely a huge part of my journey, just because

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Speaker 3: as he was doing everything and I was right behind him.

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Speaker 3: So I just had a two year head start.

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Speaker 2: That's crazy. He's eighth grade with the scholarship.

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Speaker 1: Serious.

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Speaker 2: I know it's a thing, but like it was one

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Speaker 2: my mind.

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Speaker 1: I've read with conflicting reports, there was other twenty five

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Speaker 1: or twenty eight scholarship offers. By the time you were

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Speaker 1: all said and done.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was I honestly stopped counting, but it was.

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Speaker 3: It was over twenty for sure.

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Speaker 2: All right, now we're gonna get you know which one

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Speaker 2: he landed.

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Speaker 1: He landed at Alabama. So there's got to be a

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Speaker 1: recruiting origin story.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, how why It's hard to tell.

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Speaker 3: It's hard to tell Nick Saban though, but it started

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Speaker 3: off with coach Locksley. Coach Locksley was one of the

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Speaker 3: guys at Maryland when I got my first offer in

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Speaker 3: eighth grade, so I know, we kind of had a

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Speaker 3: bond him. He had a bond with my dad. He's

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Speaker 3: from the area.

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Speaker 1: He's a great dude.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he's definitely a great dude. And he had a

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Speaker 3: bond with my dad for a long time. And when

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Speaker 3: he went to when he went to University of Alabama

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Speaker 3: as their receiver coaching OC, you know, we kept in touch.

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Speaker 3: He recruited me. I let him know that I was

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Speaker 3: interested in Alabama because you know, it's always one of

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Speaker 3: the schools that I grew up watching. And I went

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Speaker 3: down there for a visit after they offered me, and

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Speaker 3: I came back another for another visit in the summertime

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Speaker 3: for official visit. You know, it was no no students,

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Speaker 3: just football going on. You know, I just wanted to

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Speaker 3: focus in on what football had to offer for me

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Speaker 3: and got to see got to see the guys compete.

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Speaker 3: You know, I hear a lot of stories about you know,

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Speaker 3: Alabama's this, you know, guys don't play, it's hard and

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Speaker 3: things like that. But coming from my high school, you know,

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Speaker 3: I know a lot of people aren't used to what

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Speaker 3: I'm used to. So I kind of just wanted to

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Speaker 3: see for myself. And going down there, I saw how

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Speaker 3: they practiced, saw how coach Saving coach. I saw the

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Speaker 3: jerseys all the NFL you know, alumni that played dB

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Speaker 3: coming out of there, because I knew I wanted to

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Speaker 3: play dB in college. And I went to Coach Saving.

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Speaker 3: You know, he set me in his office. You know,

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Speaker 3: he just talked to me, you know, let me know

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Speaker 3: what his plan was for me. You know that. You know,

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Speaker 3: I'm just coming here with a scholarship. You know, he

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Speaker 3: doesn't do any promises, you know, no jersey number, no

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Speaker 3: things like that, and you know, that's kind of what

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Speaker 3: I wanted, and I wanted to work for what I had,

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Speaker 3: and he showed me his rings. I got to try

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Speaker 3: on all the championship rings. Really, yeah, I got, I

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Speaker 3: got to put all the rings on, and you know,

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Speaker 3: I'm somebody that likes winning. So you know, I wanted

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Speaker 3: high school. You know, I came from you know, a

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Speaker 3: good program, and you know I wanted to be around

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Speaker 3: more guys you know that wanted to win. So you

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Speaker 3: know that's how and I got to Alabama. You know,

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Speaker 3: I wanted to compete for national championships.

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Speaker 2: Were you surprised by him at all? Neck the first

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Speaker 2: time you met.

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Speaker 3: Him, I wouldn't say surprised. It was kind of just

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Speaker 3: like this is like, actually, Nick Saban, I'm really shaking

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Speaker 3: Nick sabing hand, you know, just being a little kid.

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Speaker 3: You know, ever since I started watching football, you know,

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Speaker 3: he's always been a staple with Alabama. You know how

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Speaker 3: guys go from different colleges and things like that, but

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Speaker 3: Savings something somebody at Alabama that's always been consistent. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's always gonna be Alabama, you know, as long as

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Speaker 3: coach Savans there. So you know, I really appreciated that

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Speaker 3: as well. You know how you know a lot of coaches,

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Speaker 3: you know, they move on different jobs, you know, for

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Speaker 3: themselves or for their families. Know, it's it's nothing against them.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I really appreciate, you know, how coach

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Speaker 3: Savings always there and how he's one on one with the.

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Speaker 2: Dbs, you know, Yeah, that's his background.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he's very hands on with the DB's and I

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Speaker 3: honestly couldn't. I couldn't pass that up, you know, as

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Speaker 3: a as a dB, you know, as somebody who know

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Speaker 3: who knows, like you know, where I wanted to be

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Speaker 3: as far as the next level. I knew Alabama and

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Speaker 3: Coach Savan gave me the best chance for that.

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Speaker 2: Had Luxey left by the time you got there, because

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Speaker 2: he's now the head coach at Maryland, right, yeah, he

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Speaker 2: had did y'all overlap? Or did he leave before you

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Speaker 2: got there?

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Speaker 3: No, he left before I got there, you know, but

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Speaker 3: I was you know, I was already committed. You know,

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Speaker 3: I was already My mind was already made up. You

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Speaker 3: know that that's where I wanted to be.

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Speaker 1: And you got a chance to try on the rings

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Speaker 1: when you were a high school kid committing. But then

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Speaker 1: you added a couple more to the collection, right, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you got your own. And so you go to Alabama.

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Speaker 1: You plan on the goal is to win a lot

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Speaker 1: and win national titles, and you just think of I'm

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Speaker 1: from California, and even on the other side of the country,

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Speaker 1: Alabama represents like sorry Georgia fans, but for a long

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Speaker 1: time has represented the class of college football. So so

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Speaker 1: what I'm saying is like, you must have been scrutiny,

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Speaker 1: you know, you scrutinized every time that you don't win

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Speaker 1: by twenty right, and then you win the national title

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Speaker 1: after all that work, after being guaranteed nothing right, and

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Speaker 1: then you contribute heavily to one of them. What's that experience?

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Speaker 1: Like all the confetti's coming down, you finally realize this

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Speaker 1: dream that you've had put us in that moment.

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Speaker 3: It's kind of like when people say, you know that

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Speaker 3: they reached the mountain top. You know, there's it's it's

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Speaker 3: a grind, you know, playing the sec you know, playing

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Speaker 3: you know under coach Sabing, you know, just playing in

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Speaker 3: that that environment where you know you're expected to win

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Speaker 3: and you're expected to perform. You know, well every time

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Speaker 3: you step out there, you know, really expected to be perfect,

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Speaker 3: even though you won't. So you know, when you do

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Speaker 3: get to that point where you know you win and

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Speaker 3: you know you get everything that you've been working for,

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Speaker 3: you know, the rings. You know, you get all the glory.

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Speaker 3: It's definitely you know there's people out there that cry.

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Speaker 3: You know, I definitely shed a tear, you know when

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Speaker 3: I won my national championship, you know, just because you

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Speaker 3: know all your hard work paid off, you know, for

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Speaker 3: at least a year. You know, nobody can say anything

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Speaker 3: to you. You just know that, you know it's something

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Speaker 3: that will last forever. You know, I still I still remember,

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Speaker 3: you know, all the big games that I played in.

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Speaker 3: You know, I can name all ten guys that are

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Speaker 3: right next to me. So it's definitely a lasting memory.

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Speaker 3: I think that's a big part of it, you know,

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Speaker 3: because you know, you play Alabama and you win a

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Speaker 3: national championship, your name goes on a Walker champions So

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Speaker 3: you win a national championship, your name is Alabama forever.

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Speaker 2: I caught a misspelling on one of the Walker champions

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Speaker 2: on it got fixed.

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Speaker 1: So okay, now this is according to Jordan Battle.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: He says, uh, the nickname DeMarco Hitman Helms was bestowed

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Speaker 1: by you. Did you give yourself your own nickname?

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Speaker 3: I don't remember.

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Speaker 2: I did.

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Speaker 1: I take it back, but it's fitting though, because another

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Speaker 1: quote is that you know, if you're not on my team,

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna spare you. Like that's that's your approach

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Speaker 1: to the game, right is physicality and getting after it.

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Speaker 1: Is that kind of how you are on the field.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that's kind of how I an't on the field,

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Speaker 3: you know, just because I feel like I'm the complete

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Speaker 3: opposite off the field. You know, I really see myself

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Speaker 3: as somebody that's really laid back and chill, But when

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Speaker 3: I'm on the field, you know, it's kind of like

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Speaker 3: a switch that flips, you know, whereas you know, my

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Speaker 3: guys versus their guys. You know, it's kind of that mentality,

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Speaker 3: you know, where you know there's eleven of us on

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Speaker 3: the field, there are eleven of you guys, so you know,

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Speaker 3: we all have our one on one battles, and I

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Speaker 3: honestly know that at the end of the day, you know,

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Speaker 3: these are the guys that I work out with, I

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Speaker 3: meet with, you know, I shed blood, sweat and tears with.

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Speaker 3: So these are the guys that I'm going to go

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Speaker 3: to war with, you know. All the guys that are

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Speaker 3: on the other side, I'm sorry, but I'm sorry, but

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Speaker 3: I really don't feel for you into after the game.

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Speaker 1: That's great. Before we wrap up, we have to get

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Speaker 1: to a completely non football related question about in front.

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Speaker 2: Of yours your dog is because he's your son.

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Speaker 3: No, I just called him, you know, I just I

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Speaker 3: just like this man.

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Speaker 2: Because did you know Nino is son in Spanish? Though? Okay,

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Speaker 2: I wasn't sure I needed to know. Dude, the dog

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Speaker 2: has massive ears.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he's an ex American bully. I had him since

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Speaker 3: he was sixteen weeks so everybody that knows me, you know,

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Speaker 3: I treat him just like my son. Yeah, he spoil you.

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Speaker 3: You know, he gets the best of everything. But you know,

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Speaker 3: he's a great dog, so he deserves it. Like yeah,

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Speaker 3: they put it right up, straight up.

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Speaker 1: So when when did you get the dog?

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Speaker 3: I got him in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Oh wow, Okay, it is roaming the streets of Georgia

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Speaker 1: right now or what.

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Speaker 3: No, he's at home. He's at home, holding the house down. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: he'd be ready to you know, every time I walk

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Speaker 3: back home. You know, he's definitely excited to see me.

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Speaker 3: So I'm glad.

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Speaker 2: Was that a post graduation like present to yourself? Oh?

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Speaker 3: No, I got him after the season in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 3: I actually had a laboring surgery and I just I

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Speaker 3: was like, man, I just need a friend. He just

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Speaker 3: came around the perfect time.

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Speaker 2: That is so that is great.

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Speaker 1: Just need a friend. That's That's gonna be a good

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Speaker 1: way to end it. DeMarco, thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: the time. Thanks to everybody for joining the Falcons in

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Speaker 1: focused podcast presented by Ticketmaster. Please do what you do, rate, review,

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Speaker 1: and subscribe to the Atlanta Falcons podcast network and subscribe

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Speaker 1: to the YouTube channel Atlanta Falcons. I think it's just

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Speaker 1: slash Atlanta Falcons after YouTube. So thank you so much

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Speaker 1: to Tarran to DeMarco appreciation. We will be back again

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Speaker 1: next week with another awesome guest.

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Speaker 2: See you