Speaker 1: Official plot is presented by when Bett Betty is a
Speaker 1: team sport but together at win Bett Eric Ellen here
Speaker 1: inside the studio, joined by Jets center Connor McGovern Connor,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me today. First off,
Speaker 1: a lot of additions for the Jets here in the
Speaker 1: off season, but you have a special one yourself, don't you. Yep? Yeah,
Speaker 1: My wife and I had just brought home our for
Speaker 1: our first baby. Oh we had a baby girl on
Speaker 1: four fourteen. Um got home from the hospital on on
Speaker 1: Saturday and uh, you know, just doing the doing the
Speaker 1: dad life right now. I'll be back in Jersey and
Speaker 1: uh in the building next week. What's her name? And
Speaker 1: how is everybody doing? Mom and baby are great. The
Speaker 1: baby's name is Dylan Lucy McGovern um. And she was
Speaker 1: a big girl, measuring eight pounds fifteen ounces, so she
Speaker 1: was an ounce short of being a nine pound baby.
Speaker 1: So but happ being healthy. Yep, yep, big girl. Now
Speaker 1: you're out west right now. The Jets offseason voluntary portion
Speaker 1: of the program started. But you have a good excuse
Speaker 1: here not to be here right Yeah, I got I
Speaker 1: got the blessing from the coaches to uh to to
Speaker 1: postpone it a week. It was actually, so we came
Speaker 1: over with the hospital on Saturday, and then it was
Speaker 1: Easter Sunday, and uh, I'm from North Dakota and a
Speaker 1: blizzard rolled through on Sunday. So even if I tried
Speaker 1: to get out on Sunday, there's no way I was
Speaker 1: getting out of here on Sunday. Um. And then Monday
Speaker 1: it was still pretty bad, so I wouldn't been able
Speaker 1: to get there till you know, tonight anyways. And the
Speaker 1: coaches were like, you know what, enjoy being a dad
Speaker 1: for a week, um, and we'll see you next Monday.
Speaker 1: So they were the Jets were awesome about it. So
Speaker 1: a guy from North Dakota, what is your definition of
Speaker 1: a blizzard? Uh? You know, it was only about two
Speaker 1: or two or three inches, which isn't a lot of
Speaker 1: snow volume. But it was windy, you know, like thirt winds.
Speaker 1: Then it was blowing my crazy. Your visibility you know,
Speaker 1: it's like a quarter of a mile or half a mile,
Speaker 1: so it's not great visibility. Um. So it was a
Speaker 1: it was a you know, if it was February, it
Speaker 1: would have been a pretty normal snow light blizzard, but
Speaker 1: for April it was it was a pretty big one. So,
Speaker 1: but you're hanging out with your parents right now, so
Speaker 1: everybody's to celebrate the new addition to the family. And also,
Speaker 1: you guys are gonna have a new home. You're working
Speaker 1: on that, right Yep, yep, working on building a new home.
Speaker 1: So we Uh my dad likes to joke that his
Speaker 1: NFL son moved back home. Um, we just kind of
Speaker 1: did the classic millennial thing. And we're living with our
Speaker 1: my parents right now while our our house is getting
Speaker 1: built here at Park. Hey man, it's been a busy
Speaker 1: off season for you on multiple fronts. What can you
Speaker 1: tell me about your participation in the Able Games and
Speaker 1: what are the Able Games? Yes? The Able Games is
Speaker 1: something that uh myself and Kim Platt some over at
Speaker 1: T and T Fitness Year and Fargo came up with
Speaker 1: UM and it's a platform for people with all abilities
Speaker 1: to compete UM in a physical competition. You know. Being
Speaker 1: an NFL football player, competitions kind of my life. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's something that I love and I find something
Speaker 1: to compete in every day. UM. I think everybody on
Speaker 1: the team or in the NFL is a is you
Speaker 1: know what you classify as ultra competitive and you just
Speaker 1: you just love it. And UM, so I got involved
Speaker 1: with the Special Olympics our special needs athletes through the
Speaker 1: Special Olympics in college. My good buddy Mitch Morris, who's
Speaker 1: a center in the NFL, UM got me involved with
Speaker 1: the Special Olympics that in Missouri, who has as a
Speaker 1: state has a phenomenal special needs are Special Olympics program.
Speaker 1: And so Kim was a family friend compliants as a
Speaker 1: family friend of my family, and she reached out to
Speaker 1: my mom was like, hey, it just kind of have
Speaker 1: any interest UM and working with TNT coming and spokesperson.
Speaker 1: And she didn't even know that I I wanted to
Speaker 1: start work with people's special needs. So I was a yeah,
Speaker 1: I love to. We kind of you know, brainstorm came
Speaker 1: with the ABLE Games UM and so it's the second year.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, we raised a ton of money both
Speaker 1: the first year in the second year UM and then
Speaker 1: actually organically through the competition and and the classes that
Speaker 1: T and t UM does for athletes with special needs.
Speaker 1: UM we have now started ABLE which is UM a
Speaker 1: pe curriculum that the State of North Dakota UM is
Speaker 1: pretty much adopting as a whole it'll be a PE curriculum.
Speaker 1: A student and a enable body and especially needs student
Speaker 1: can both UM get their required PE credits for a
Speaker 1: semester because they partner up and then they go through
Speaker 1: our curriculum um AT in a school year. UM So
Speaker 1: it's a way for us to get into and help
Speaker 1: as many people as we possibly can. We don't have
Speaker 1: to have everybody come to T and T to help
Speaker 1: them UM. So we're bringing the curriculum to the schools,
Speaker 1: also to gyms, So whether you're a cross the gym
Speaker 1: or UM any sort of fitness center, you can take
Speaker 1: our curriculum and and and have fitness classes for people
Speaker 1: especial needs. And everything is partnered because it's a great
Speaker 1: way to you know, get people working with UM people
Speaker 1: especial needs. You know, sometimes it can be intimidating. You
Speaker 1: don't want to, you know, do the wrong things, say
Speaker 1: the wrong thing, But when you get working with them
Speaker 1: and and and really being around people, especially needs, you
Speaker 1: really see the love that they bring and and how
Speaker 1: special they are. You know, I don't think I've ever
Speaker 1: seen anybody I love the way a special needs person does.
Speaker 1: So and then when they get to compete, you know,
Speaker 1: to have a parent come up to you at the
Speaker 1: ABLE Games and say, you know that you know who
Speaker 1: have You know, they've always wanted their son or daughter
Speaker 1: to to compete in in you know, just like everybody
Speaker 1: else does UM, and to come up and you know,
Speaker 1: tears in their eyes, saying how awesome it was to
Speaker 1: finally get to see their child, who's now maybe in
Speaker 1: their twenties, finally get to compete, finally get to see
Speaker 1: the smile on the special needs athletes face from competing. UM.
Speaker 1: It's been truly special. And the final piece actually it's
Speaker 1: it's crazy how fast this has grown in two years
Speaker 1: is able vocation UM. So right now in a special
Speaker 1: needs UM person I like to call my athletes because
Speaker 1: the ABLE Games. But when especial needs person is done
Speaker 1: with high school, they kind of just go to medicaid
Speaker 1: right now, and there's not a great path for him,
Speaker 1: you know, like everybody else you can go to You
Speaker 1: go to high school, then you go to college where
Speaker 1: you go to a vocation school UM, and there's no
Speaker 1: real path for or for special needs people. So we're
Speaker 1: trying to build that path because a lot of them
Speaker 1: are able to do a lot of things and through
Speaker 1: the competition has really shown how able these people are
Speaker 1: and this demographic is. Um. So it's been amazing. Um,
Speaker 1: it's been incredibly fulfilling for my wife and I too
Speaker 1: to be so involved in this and and to see
Speaker 1: the way to see the way it's growing. UM. So,
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully ables in in every state and every
Speaker 1: pe class um and able vocation is is in every
Speaker 1: state to help help bring a bring a workforce with
Speaker 1: the people with special needs and allow them to to
Speaker 1: live that fulfilling life through competing, through physical education, and
Speaker 1: then through vocations. We're just trying to, um, yeah, give
Speaker 1: them the most fulfilling life we possibly can. You mentioned
Speaker 1: Mitch Moore's back at Missouri. Was there a specific child
Speaker 1: or specific event or experience that you had in college
Speaker 1: where you said, hey, not only did I like participating
Speaker 1: in this and being involved, but this is something that
Speaker 1: I want to continue to do down the line. Yeah
Speaker 1: we uh um we. So during this competition, it was
Speaker 1: a it was a weightlifting um meet for the Special Olympics,
Speaker 1: and this athlete came up. Um. The individual had to
Speaker 1: have been I don't know, a hundred eighty, a hundred
Speaker 1: fifty pounds. The coach helped walk them to the bench.
Speaker 1: You know, they couldn't get to the bench on their own.
Speaker 1: They laid down and I was on one of the
Speaker 1: sides loading weights and helping spot and they it was
Speaker 1: like to seventy five, so it was like double their
Speaker 1: body way easily double their body weight on a bench.
Speaker 1: And you know, the coach they laid down the bench,
Speaker 1: it was like, all right, are you ready? And they
Speaker 1: like they like kind of give them a head shape
Speaker 1: and lays down and absolutely smokes like a two x
Speaker 1: body weight bench. And I was like, holy moly, that
Speaker 1: is incredible. And that's kind of what did it for me,
Speaker 1: Like just to see, you know something where like I
Speaker 1: was like, there's no way this athlete is getting this bench,
Speaker 1: and then they just came down and absolutely smoked it.
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, this is this is really cool
Speaker 1: And I think a lot more people need to experience
Speaker 1: this because it's something that I had no idea that
Speaker 1: was there. And and and you know, I think the
Speaker 1: word able comes because I use it all the time
Speaker 1: about how able these athletes are, and I think that's
Speaker 1: kind of where we got a name from. But to
Speaker 1: see that that athlete was able to do that was
Speaker 1: was phenomenal. It was it was, it was life changing.
Speaker 1: So so how many days was the most recent able
Speaker 1: games and how many events were the children able to
Speaker 1: participate in? The kids? So we had a Friday morning
Speaker 1: we had like a Place sixty type event for children
Speaker 1: young children with special needs UM. And then Friday afternoon
Speaker 1: we did this thing called the Celebrity Face Off. I
Speaker 1: had some my NFL friends and CrossFit friends UM in
Speaker 1: town and it was kind of like a Pep rally.
Speaker 1: You just did fun things UM with sponsors, and each
Speaker 1: sponsored team had a special needs adult and a special
Speaker 1: needs UM teenager and they got to compete in fun
Speaker 1: games like a relay with an egg on a spoon
Speaker 1: and kind of like a dodgeball type thing and a
Speaker 1: tug of war that kind of stuff. Kind of just
Speaker 1: to allow the sponsors to get their employees around people
Speaker 1: especial needs and and how to work with them and
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. And then Saturday Sunday was
Speaker 1: the competitions. It was all they said, all day Sunday. UM.
Speaker 1: It was five events UM, so we had four or
Speaker 1: if we had uh five classes In fitness competitions, r
Speaker 1: X is like the top tier and then you have scaled,
Speaker 1: then you have novice, and then you had special needs
Speaker 1: adult and special needs child, which is essentially teenagers. So
Speaker 1: there's five five groups, five events apiece. We had, um,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, almost two hundred athletes, UM, at
Speaker 1: least it was I think it was ninety athletes with
Speaker 1: special needs in almost three d athletes total. So it
Speaker 1: was awesome. Wow. So how emotional has this last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ben for you? As far as the strides
Speaker 1: are taken with the kids they're back home the Able Games?
Speaker 1: How much this has grown and how you're a dad? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's been. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: You know. Uh. We had set the deadline or the
Speaker 1: uh the date for the Able Games a year in advanced,
Speaker 1: and then a couple of months later we found out
Speaker 1: we were pregnant. It was gonna the due date was
Speaker 1: the Monday after the Able Games. So my wife, who
Speaker 1: was full term nine months pregnant, she went to the
Speaker 1: gall on Thursday night, both things, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. UM,
Speaker 1: she did amazing. She was she was a rock star
Speaker 1: and everybody there, you know, I just couldn't believe how awesome.
Speaker 1: She did. And then um, Monday came and our our
Speaker 1: daughter didn't quite come yet, and she was about four
Speaker 1: days late. So then we got a couple of days
Speaker 1: to catch our breath and and kind of reset and
Speaker 1: get ready for our baby girl to come. It's o Connor.
Speaker 1: How important was it not only to get the games off,
Speaker 1: but now this thing is expanding, Like you talked about
Speaker 1: getting into the schools now, yeah, I mean that's to me,
Speaker 1: that's the cool like even the coolest parts. It came
Speaker 1: about so organically. It was just a need that was
Speaker 1: there and and and a niche that T and T
Speaker 1: and um our idea can kind of fit. So um
Speaker 1: it worked out. It was just it And I think
Speaker 1: that's the coolest part of just organic. Nothing was forced.
Speaker 1: It was just a need that we saw and we
Speaker 1: kind of capitalize on it and and really fill in
Speaker 1: that need to help as many people as possible. And
Speaker 1: you said how many kids participated? You said, like three hundred, right,
Speaker 1: We had feudered athletes that range from r X to
Speaker 1: uh you know, kids with special needs, the special needs
Speaker 1: kids and adults. We had ninety um, I think nineties
Speaker 1: special needs athletes competing. But there's not live in New
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Speaker 1: York Jets. Oppose up to the change in terms of
Speaker 1: positions at wimpit dot com. Must be on the older
Speaker 1: at President of New Jersey if you have someone you
Speaker 1: know has a gambling problem on sevens or seven one
Speaker 1: one seven? All right, So I wanted to get back
Speaker 1: to you a little bit as far as your day,
Speaker 1: like you used are you still a killer in the
Speaker 1: weight room? Because it's funny you mentioned somebody in terms
Speaker 1: of back in Missouri getting on the bench. Didn't you
Speaker 1: once tear a peck trying to bench five plus? I did, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was on my way to set the school record,
Speaker 1: and um I got a little cocky and uh, I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't quite get my back right to to do
Speaker 1: a heavy bench and I I thought I was just
Speaker 1: gonna bench five hundred pounds like it was nothing, and
Speaker 1: I was wrong, and I tore my pack. But I
Speaker 1: did manage to get the squad record for for the
Speaker 1: universe for the UH weight room. And what was the
Speaker 1: squad record? Uh? So we did five rep maxes and
Speaker 1: I did six nine five reps, which if you do
Speaker 1: the algorithm or whatever mathematical you know, to figure out
Speaker 1: your one rep max, that came out to about just
Speaker 1: over eight hundred pounds. But I have I've never put
Speaker 1: eight hundred pounds on my back. I've done over I've
Speaker 1: done about seven fifty I think is my best one rep.
Speaker 1: That's legitimately crazy. You said six nineties? So how many
Speaker 1: plates on each side? So we had a bigger bar,
Speaker 1: so is a you know, a big seventy pound bar,
Speaker 1: so it's a lot thicker, so it wouldn't bend quite
Speaker 1: as much. And I had, um, three hundred pound plates
Speaker 1: on each side, um, and then a forty five on
Speaker 1: each side and some smaller ones, so um, it would
Speaker 1: it would have been six ninety would be would that
Speaker 1: be about eight plates on each side if you did
Speaker 1: it like just forty pretty sure, that's right, quick, quick
Speaker 1: meathead math. In my head, I think it's a plates man.
Speaker 1: That is ridiculous because I was thinking when you're talking
Speaker 1: six maybe once, but you're doing it five times. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did it for five reps. I uh yeah. Then
Speaker 1: I got excited. I thought I was cool. Went to
Speaker 1: rip my shirt off and I like ripped my shirt
Speaker 1: off and my bell was too ted, almost passed out.
Speaker 1: It was a it was a whole deal, but it
Speaker 1: was it was fun. It was exciting. I had the
Speaker 1: whole football team in the weight room. Um, it was
Speaker 1: a Friday. We've been getting hyped. It was. It was
Speaker 1: a really cool experience. Hey, let me ask you how
Speaker 1: painful the torrent peck was. It wasn't too bad. Luckily
Speaker 1: had great coaches. Um. One of our coaches had trained
Speaker 1: out west side bar bell Um And as soon as
Speaker 1: the bar hit my chest and he saw my elbow
Speaker 1: kind of tweak out and said the bar go up.
Speaker 1: He knew instantly that I had started tearing my pecks,
Speaker 1: and he grabbed the bar um and saved me from
Speaker 1: a lot worse, and which was a great two. Didn't
Speaker 1: have to have surgery. Um, just got a peck half
Speaker 1: held on by some scar tissue right now. So um,
Speaker 1: but no, it could have been a lot worse, but
Speaker 1: I didn't have such great spotters there and coaches. Oh
Speaker 1: my god. How much time off do you give yourself
Speaker 1: during the off season? I, you know, I like to
Speaker 1: I I love to work out, so I kind of
Speaker 1: you know, maybe a week this year is a little
Speaker 1: different with with my knee, but normally I take about
Speaker 1: a week of not really doing anything, um, and then
Speaker 1: kind of slowly build back in um and do you know,
Speaker 1: more of a forty five to an hour workout and
Speaker 1: then just kind of slowly add add exercises and sets
Speaker 1: on as I go um through the off season. But no,
Speaker 1: I love it. I love working out. I love I
Speaker 1: love the grind. So it's it's you know, my getaway.
Speaker 1: It's it's, uh, you know, I need that part of
Speaker 1: my day, so I I don't take too much time off.
Speaker 1: What are you listening to when you're working out? Depends?
Speaker 1: It depends on the day, you know, if it depends
Speaker 1: on the exercise I'm doing at the time, it depends
Speaker 1: on the mood I'm in um. You know, if I'm
Speaker 1: doing heavy squats, it's you know, heavy metal, some god smack,
Speaker 1: you know, like kind of what I call like. You know,
Speaker 1: it's more like a Little John, like the high tempo wrap.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like so in Missoo and your max aout squats,
Speaker 1: they just played throw it Up by Little John for
Speaker 1: all day. All day it was on. So that that
Speaker 1: song comes on, it's it's time to squat some heavyweight. Hey,
Speaker 1: what do you attribute your durability in National Football League?
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to your knee in a second, but
Speaker 1: seven eight career games sixty seven stars. You played in
Speaker 1: fifteen games last year. Uh, you had an amazing durability
Speaker 1: ron before missing a couple of games. What do you
Speaker 1: attribute that too? Uh? Well, one, uh, you know, a
Speaker 1: little bit of luck, uh, some good genetics and then
Speaker 1: um taking care of your body. You know. The kind
Speaker 1: of the way I train is to try to make
Speaker 1: it so that is anything that I can do in
Speaker 1: the off season to really build my body and build
Speaker 1: that durability aspect of it. Um I do. I kind
Speaker 1: of try incorporate that in my trade as much as
Speaker 1: I can, And I think a big aspect that UM
Speaker 1: A lot of younger athletes don't understand is the mobility aspect.
Speaker 1: It's not being truly flexible, the big mobile UM. So
Speaker 1: I do a ton of mobility work and try to
Speaker 1: do everything I can that way to UM. You know,
Speaker 1: if you get in those odd positions where you might
Speaker 1: get hurt, UM, you should you should have the mobility
Speaker 1: to be able to withstand that and uh UM to
Speaker 1: a to a point obviously UM to to not get
Speaker 1: hurt and just kind of try to do that with
Speaker 1: the training. Interesting you say mobility work. When you're talking
Speaker 1: about mobility work, what are some important exercises for you
Speaker 1: as an offensive linement? To me, the biggest are are
Speaker 1: a full snatch and a full clean, you know, really
Speaker 1: catching it in the bottom of that position bottom of
Speaker 1: the squad you're able to beat. Have your ankles at
Speaker 1: full flat or full doors reflection, your knees at fully
Speaker 1: fully flexed position, your hips at a fully flexed position,
Speaker 1: and handle a lot of weight UM, and then snatch.
Speaker 1: It's the same thing for your knees, hips and ankles
Speaker 1: plus and your back, but you're adding your shoulders into it. UM.
Speaker 1: It's a movement that you know posted on Instagram and
Speaker 1: you get people commenting, Oh, it's so bad for your
Speaker 1: back at this, that and the other, but you can
Speaker 1: see it on film. I'll get in an odd position
Speaker 1: where I'm a you know, maybe a little bit bent
Speaker 1: in a weird angle, and I'm able to have the
Speaker 1: strength and an odd position, um to kind of come
Speaker 1: out of that, you know, withstand the block and and
Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, you know, for
Speaker 1: the most part, uh, come out a little bit you know,
Speaker 1: injury free. Obviously you can't prevent every single injury, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's there's a lot and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of other things too, just you do you
Speaker 1: need to stretch, You need to do all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff too, But um, yeah, it's it's snatches and
Speaker 1: cleans have been been the biggest thing in my opinion,
Speaker 1: to to help me be at where I am in
Speaker 1: my career and and stay injury free. Wouldn't Bed is
Speaker 1: now live in New Jersey and they're bringing the excitement
Speaker 1: of wouldn't Las Vegas to online sports bidding getting on
Speaker 1: all your paper teams play There was in sports, from
Speaker 1: boosted parlays to live in game odds on every major sport.
Speaker 1: They have what you need to win. Sign up today
Speaker 1: to receive a special offer risk free five hundred dollar
Speaker 1: sports bet. Download the wind Beat up now or visit
Speaker 1: w y and and bet dot com to start winning.
Speaker 1: Wind Bet an official sports book, and gave me partner
Speaker 1: up the New York Jets offers up to change in
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Speaker 1: twenty one or older in President of New Jersey. If
Speaker 1: you were someone you know has a gambling problem, call
Speaker 1: Zerousevean one one seven. You alluded to it before. How
Speaker 1: is the knee and our things on schedule right now
Speaker 1: for you? I'm a hundred percent ben ronning, been squatting, jumping, cleaning, snatching.
Speaker 1: I'm back to uh, back to to be able to
Speaker 1: play a game. If I I, uh you know, if
Speaker 1: it was season, I would be practicing every day and
Speaker 1: playing every snap. So, um, I feel really good. Um.
Speaker 1: I spent most of the off season in Jersey rehabbing.
Speaker 1: Um you know, is the m c L is kind
Speaker 1: of the the injury that bit the old line this year,
Speaker 1: and so they had healed um quite a few of them,
Speaker 1: and uh and so I trusted that staff for any injury,
Speaker 1: but especially this one because of how many they had
Speaker 1: had healed this year. So um state in Jersey, I
Speaker 1: got back to almost a hundred percent before I left,
Speaker 1: and then came back to to North Dakota for the
Speaker 1: able games and to have the baby, and then we're
Speaker 1: headed back to Jersey. A awesome What have you thought
Speaker 1: of the Jets off season the date? Most notably, what's
Speaker 1: gonna be happening next to you? On either side? A
Speaker 1: VT gonna move over to right guard and you pick
Speaker 1: up a pro bowler at left Guarden Lake and Tomlinson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know if you watch the talking heads of football
Speaker 1: that they don't always talk about the Jets off season.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, maybe we haven't had the blockbuster trades
Speaker 1: or whatever the crazy offseason has spent. But in my opinion,
Speaker 1: the Jets have have had the best off season, um
Speaker 1: in in terms of you know, patching um the places
Speaker 1: that you know, we need to be patched. And and
Speaker 1: I've been been very impressed with this offseason. Um every
Speaker 1: move is has made me happy. So um yeah, to
Speaker 1: have a pro bowler next to you you, it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to beat. And then obviously a v T
Speaker 1: is on a fast track to that Pro Bowl level.
Speaker 1: And Um, for a guy at his age and athleticism,
Speaker 1: for him, switch and left to right isn't a big deal.
Speaker 1: So um, I would expect another, you know, an even
Speaker 1: better year out of a V team. And and then
Speaker 1: lake And has been in the system for for his
Speaker 1: you know, I think his whole career and with h
Speaker 1: j B every year except for last, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 1: So for him to come in, he's he's not he's
Speaker 1: not a you know what I would say, Uh, he's
Speaker 1: definitely not a green horn in this system. So he'll
Speaker 1: come in and and instantly be a leader and actually
Speaker 1: have more experience and this offensive system than anybody else.
Speaker 1: So uh, it's like as an offensive line wise, we're
Speaker 1: in we're in great straight but I think if you
Speaker 1: look on paper, we we have to be one of
Speaker 1: the better offensive lines on paper. So we just need
Speaker 1: to come out and make sure we prove proved that
Speaker 1: the papers telling the truth. Yeah. Have you been able
Speaker 1: to talk to link in it all after he signed
Speaker 1: with the Jets. Obviously if you had a busy offseason,
Speaker 1: maybe you guys have exchanged texts or something like that. Yep, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we've we've taxed a couple of times. We have the group,
Speaker 1: we have the online group chat going. Um, it's always
Speaker 1: a good time in the online group chat. It's it's uh, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be quiet for a week and then
Speaker 1: it'll pick up for a week and and uh, some good, good,
Speaker 1: good conversation has had in the online group chat for sure.
Speaker 1: Last year, let's talk about you individually. Was that your
Speaker 1: best year in the NFL? And it's so why would
Speaker 1: you say that? Yeah? I think it was my best
Speaker 1: year in the the NFL. Um. You know, I I
Speaker 1: fit well in this system. This system places in my strengths. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you know it's just I was probably you know,
Speaker 1: the most confidence going into the year. Um. I you know,
Speaker 1: my body was the best that have been going into
Speaker 1: it a season and um, yeah, I mean just everything
Speaker 1: kind of clicked, uh last year, and um, I'd like
Speaker 1: to have an even better season this year. You know,
Speaker 1: I have this going into your seven in the NFL,
Speaker 1: which someone had asked me that a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: ago and I hadn't said it yet, and I was like, man,
Speaker 1: seven sounds old. Six and sound old. Seven sounds old,
Speaker 1: But um, I'm going into your seven. But I've had
Speaker 1: six offensive coordinators, six old line coaches. Sup. This would
Speaker 1: be my first year UM in the exact same system,
Speaker 1: with the exact same offensive coordinating, the exact same ol
Speaker 1: line coach. So I'm really excited to to see how
Speaker 1: I can take my game to the next level. I
Speaker 1: get to spend you know, the next two months, um,
Speaker 1: building on what I had last year instead of restarting.
Speaker 1: So I'm really excited to build upon last year. And uh,
Speaker 1: and I kind of go from there. What about the
Speaker 1: kid behind and Zac Wilson, how much did your communication
Speaker 1: maybe improve over the course of a year just by
Speaker 1: playing with each other? And also what did you like
Speaker 1: from him? Maybe what you saw on the field or
Speaker 1: off the field. Yeah, I think Zach's gonna have a
Speaker 1: phenomenal year. You know, you saw it as the year
Speaker 1: went on, his confidence grow, his playmaking ability grow, um,
Speaker 1: and so you know he he has the ability to
Speaker 1: make that that huge play UM and that's what makes
Speaker 1: you know, quarterbacks in this league special. And as the
Speaker 1: year went on, he also got like that, I think
Speaker 1: naturally he's a playmaker. And then as the year went on,
Speaker 1: he got better at being more systematic you know, when
Speaker 1: that big plays not they're just taking the checked out
Speaker 1: and moving on and getting that building up to that
Speaker 1: big player started instead of trying to make that highlight
Speaker 1: you know sports center play every single play. Um. It
Speaker 1: takes a maturity to to let that build and capitalize
Speaker 1: when an opportunity comes, and when that opportunity is not there, um,
Speaker 1: to take the easy couple of yards and move on.
Speaker 1: And and that's really what, in my opinion, what you
Speaker 1: saw grow from Zack. And then our communication is great,
Speaker 1: you know he uh, you know, I have a great
Speaker 1: relationship and whether it's on the field, off the field
Speaker 1: and meetings, you and I communicate really really well. UM.
Speaker 1: So I'm really excited for this year. UM, whether that
Speaker 1: be because the old line, you know, got mc back healthy,
Speaker 1: got Zack back, we got some weapons on the outside,
Speaker 1: and I'm really excited. Yeah. I think there's a crazy
Speaker 1: stat that we looked up just today we're talking about
Speaker 1: it that the Jets were the second team since the
Speaker 1: merger nineteen seventy to have rookies lead them in receiving
Speaker 1: yards like you mentioned Elijah More in rushing yards, Michael Carter,
Speaker 1: and then passing yards and Zachs and so this this
Speaker 1: is a young team with some talent on it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then one of our best offense, Liman, is also
Speaker 1: a rookie. So um to have an offense built around
Speaker 1: essentially rookies um for lack of a better term. And
Speaker 1: then and to have them going into year two with
Speaker 1: the same system, same coaches, same building, you know, and
Speaker 1: then adding the pieces around them that are needed to
Speaker 1: really take it to the next level. I think our
Speaker 1: offense could be really special. Will give me your favorite
Speaker 1: Robert Sola story from your one so I don't I
Speaker 1: don't know if I can tell the exact story, but
Speaker 1: it was on we're all friends here as a team
Speaker 1: meeting and we're in Green Bay, UM. And the story
Speaker 1: that's all I told was was awesome. And so my
Speaker 1: favorite thing, I'll just say that my favorite thing about
Speaker 1: sala Um is how he teaches and and kind of
Speaker 1: a hum almost like a parable kind of way for
Speaker 1: if that makes sense, Like he tells great stories, um,
Speaker 1: and they all have great meaning and more than just
Speaker 1: on the field, meaning like he's really leading men and
Speaker 1: t because there are some some of the guys in
Speaker 1: the league are are young and they and they still
Speaker 1: need that you know how to be a great man
Speaker 1: example and solids that. Um. So his stories, whether they
Speaker 1: were the night before games or in this case, the
Speaker 1: day of a joy practice, um uh, they're awesome. And
Speaker 1: I think he's he's a great leader. Um and and
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed playing for him. You know, something that's
Speaker 1: always struck with me about Robert is that he never
Speaker 1: calls any of the guys boys or kids or rookies.
Speaker 1: He calls everybody young men. Yeah yeah, Carter, Okay, you
Speaker 1: just talked about it before. Man, you bet in the
Speaker 1: league for a few years. Now, you got a birthday
Speaker 1: coming up. Let's go. Let's go back to two thousand
Speaker 1: seventeen real quick. What was your draft experience? Like you're
Speaker 1: taking in the fifth round out of Missouri. I don't
Speaker 1: know if everybody remembers this, but it's not like you
Speaker 1: were playing center at Missouri before you were drafted. No,
Speaker 1: I kind of my whole career, I've always kind of
Speaker 1: been like the backup center that plays guard. Um you know,
Speaker 1: and and uh so, I actually had to play left
Speaker 1: tackle my senior year at college, which, um, especially in
Speaker 1: the SEC being you know, six four, three hundred pounds
Speaker 1: on a good day. UM, three oh five. Maybe you
Speaker 1: know you're a little I'm a little small. I got
Speaker 1: arms at if a draft analyst was talking about me
Speaker 1: at tackle, would say incredibly short, good first center, incredibly
Speaker 1: short for tackle. UM. So me playing left tackle my
Speaker 1: senior year didn't do me any favors in the draft. UM.
Speaker 1: Then I went and got hurt at the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: when I was supposed to kind of the first thirty
Speaker 1: minutes of the first practice. UM. And that's kind of
Speaker 1: I was using that to kind of cement that I
Speaker 1: was in NFL guard. UM. So I went in fifth
Speaker 1: round of the draft, came into the broncos Um. Little
Speaker 1: adversity of my first year at the broncos Um. But
Speaker 1: ever since then, you know, I was I've always kind
Speaker 1: of been that backup center that was playing guard. But
Speaker 1: then unfortunately one of my best friends, UM in my
Speaker 1: third year got hurt, Matt Artis UM and I, like
Speaker 1: I said, I was the backup center playing guards. So
Speaker 1: I slid over to center in the middle of the game.
Speaker 1: UM and uh and and the rest is history. And
Speaker 1: I really enjoy a center and UM, to be honest,
Speaker 1: I've always felt like it was naturally my position that
Speaker 1: I would excel at the best um and I just
Speaker 1: never quite had the opportunity at a great center in
Speaker 1: college named Evan Bain who was in the NFL UM
Speaker 1: and then got to the Broncos and Matt Partis was there,
Speaker 1: so I wasn't going to be centered with him there.
Speaker 1: Um and so but once I had that opportunity, I
Speaker 1: really really capitalized on it and uh and kind of
Speaker 1: cemented myself there. And it's the position that I really enjoy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you kind of like the overlook piece up there is
Speaker 1: this offensive line moves ahead, Hey do you will you
Speaker 1: pay attention draft weekend or a veteran in your shoes
Speaker 1: is kind of like, hey, wake me up after the
Speaker 1: draft is over. Now I know what I have to
Speaker 1: do to get ready. I enjoyed the draft. Um, it's
Speaker 1: it's a cool experience. You know. I remember it and
Speaker 1: how how you know, emotional it was and how special
Speaker 1: it was when I was going through it. Um. The
Speaker 1: stories you hear about you know, uh, ESPN or whoever.
Speaker 1: NFL does a great job of filling everybody in the background.
Speaker 1: And and you know, because sometimes we get a little
Speaker 1: you know, depersonalized. I guess. Uh, And it really kind
Speaker 1: of brings the person into the picture in the draft,
Speaker 1: in my opinion. And I love hearing the stories and
Speaker 1: and seeing the adversity everybody's fought through to get to
Speaker 1: where they are. Um, So I enjoy it. And plus
Speaker 1: you you like to see who who your rookies are
Speaker 1: gonna be, who's gonna be buying you rookie dinner? So um,
Speaker 1: I enjoy it to watch it and see how it goes,
Speaker 1: and to see who your new teammates are and uh
Speaker 1: and yeah, I enjoy watching. Yeah, it's a great opportunity
Speaker 1: for this organization, right with the two top ten picks,
Speaker 1: the four in the top thirty eight nine overall. And
Speaker 1: we were just talking about before a few of those
Speaker 1: guys in that two thousand twenty one draft class. If
Speaker 1: you get another draft class like the one you had
Speaker 1: last year, do you think you guys are gonna be
Speaker 1: well on your way to what Joe Douglas said playing
Speaker 1: meaningful games in December. Yeah, I mean, if you if
Speaker 1: you can hit on two drafts in a row like
Speaker 1: we did last year, um, you're set up for you know,
Speaker 1: a solid five, six, seven, eight years are really really
Speaker 1: good football ahead. UM and I think, you know, Joe
Speaker 1: d his team, Coach Sala, all the coaches, they're the
Speaker 1: right guys that are are are there to do it.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's kind of funny. I was at
Speaker 1: the end of the season doing my ex interviews. I
Speaker 1: was hurt, and I kind of went into interviews a
Speaker 1: little early so I didn't have to be there the
Speaker 1: last day taking everybody's time. When I was sitting there
Speaker 1: talking to coach Sala, and I was like, just out
Speaker 1: of curiosity, like what do you look for when you
Speaker 1: draft a guy? And he was like, He's like, I
Speaker 1: don't look for who has the most potential per se.
Speaker 1: He's like, I look for the guy that's going to
Speaker 1: hit his highest potential or who's most likely to hit
Speaker 1: his full potential. He's like, I want a team full
Speaker 1: of guys that are hitting and operating at the higher
Speaker 1: their highest potential, not guys that have them potential. And
Speaker 1: I thought that was that was awesome and and that like,
Speaker 1: to me, tell says that he's drafting guys on who
Speaker 1: they are, not you know what they can do. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a great way to build a
Speaker 1: very successful team. UM, a great way to build a
Speaker 1: championship team. And as you saw from the one draft, Um,
Speaker 1: Joe D and Coach Solo and all that, all that everybody,
Speaker 1: you know, the hundreds of people that go into to
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff did a phenomenal job. And
Speaker 1: I just see them building on that next year with
Speaker 1: you know that basis in mind when when you get
Speaker 1: Joe D and saw brand an extremely high level and
Speaker 1: really picking the guys that are gonna to fulfill that
Speaker 1: and reach their potential every day. Um, you're gonna you're
Speaker 1: gonna win a lot of football games. Wow. We're gonna
Speaker 1: leave it at that, well said, kind of recovering such
Speaker 1: an exciting offseason for you, your family, the people out
Speaker 1: there in North Dakota who you're helping. Congratulations and all
Speaker 1: of that. And if we don't see before your birthday,
Speaker 1: Happy birthday, my man. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Getting old, not quite dirty, but almost getting back, definitely
Speaker 1: getting back. Thanks buddy,