WEBVTT - Zach Thomas' Case for Canton with OJ McDuffie and Seth Levit 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:17.959 Down, Miami Run. What is up, Dolphans, And welcome to 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.600 the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins Official 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:26.279 podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:30.200 going everybody? It is Tuesday. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.000 and I'm here to bring you your daily dose of 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.600 Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, it's a crossover 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.040 edition here of the Drivetime Podcast. Seth and o J. 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.720 From the Fish Tank are going to join me. We're 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.640 gonna talk all things Zach Thomas and his Hall of 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.680 Fame candidacy. We're gonna go over his resume, how he 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.640 stacks up against his peers, and get you some great 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.920 stories about Zach both on and off the field, like 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.960 only the guys from the Fish Tank can do. All 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.080 of that and more on this Tuesday, February the second 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:07.840 edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Let's go ahead and 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:09.840 just jump right in now to my two guests from 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.319 the Fish Tank Podcast. You can find them here on 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:16.399 the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. Seth Levitt and o J McDuffie. 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.920 It is that time once again, an off season crossover 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.040 edition here with Drive Time and the Fish Tank Podcast. 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.920 I've got Seth Levitt. I've got O. J McDuffie juice 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:30.280 in the house. What's up boys, Good to be here, man, 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.440 excited to talk about one of my favorite topics, no 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:35.240 doubt about it. Man. We miss you, chat with you, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.399 ben Bro. I've been good. I'm it's it's snowing out here, 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:44.520 so I don't love that. But you know, you know, 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.440 we're back home. I do get to be around the 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.280 family right now, which is great, but we do not 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.640 miss the snow at all. Man. Like I had to 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:52.680 go out and use the ice craper on the windshild 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.120 other day, and I was just saying, this is bullshit 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.080 the entire time, like under my breath, this is bullshit. 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.600 I hate this. I'm not doing work. I learned that 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.560 just when I worked for the Calves and in your hometown. 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:07.160 And I got there and my uncle handed me a defroster, 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.400 this little like it looked like a can oft w 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.160 D forty but it's not, you know, and and and 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.040 an ice craper. I said, what do I need this for? 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:18.679 You said, you'll learn, right, you'll learn. I had to 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.680 go start the car for my mom every morning, you 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.839 know what I mean. And we have the card run 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.280 for like the first half hour, so you know, before 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:29.040 we got in half hour, so at least at least 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:30.359 and we didn't have you know, we had an old 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:32.480 clunker too, so it ran a lot of gas in 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.280 the direct game the driveway, you know, oil spots and 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.560 stuff and snow. It was great. And now when it 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:43.040 drops below sixty here, I'm warming the car up from well, 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.200 every time every time we do a podcast here with 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:46.880 an alumni, they always tell us why I stayed in 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:48.639 South Florida because of the weather, and so, I mean, 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.280 it definitely keeps you there a little bitter. At least, 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:52.760 it's one of the reasons why they stayed down there. 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.880 And uh, we are talking about an alumni on this podcast. 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:57.920 The reason we have you guys on is because for 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.520 the second straight years, Zach Thomas is a final for 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:02.720 the Hall of Fame, when a fifteen finalists will find 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.639 out on Saturday whether or not he does get in. 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.240 And I guess I wanted to start off by asking 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:11.160 this question because O J, you've probably obviously played with 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.040 you know, a few of them, and Seth you've been 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.200 around a few of them as well. We'll start with you, 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.640 o J. What is a Hall of Famer to you, 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:23.639 And how does Zach Thomas fit that criteria Hall of Famers? Um, 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.600 you know, we'll start off with the first thing about Zach. 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:30.440 Zack's a great teammate. And there's nothing like the guy 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:32.639 that leads your team on you know, both sides of 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.400 the ball in that locker room, that people fall in 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.240 line with and on pent behind them. Another thing that 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.720 you've got to think about a Hall of famer's longevity. 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:46.000 Jack Zach played in the league over ten years, Um, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.400 not a long with longevity productivity, you know what I mean. 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.040 How how much did he produced? I mean it's NonStop. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.040 I mean I think he averaged over a hundred fifty 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.080 tackles a year, um, you know with the Miami Dolphins. 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:00.440 And you know, and that's that's that's huge. I mean, 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.000 and and Zach was that guy that did it consistently. 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.200 Another criteria you want to have as a Hall of Famer. 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.360 And then I mean you look at Zac also look 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.480 at his numbers. I mean, bottom line, with the Hall 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.760 of Fames, a lot of time that comes down to numbers. 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:18.679 And you compare his numbers and all the other guys 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:20.960 that are in already that he played in the same 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.200 time with I mean, it makes I mean, it makes 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:25.080 plenty of sense to his actually should be in the 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.480 Hall of Fame, Pro Bowls, All Pro, you know, being 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.160 the best of the best. I mean, I think he 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.200 was All Pro seven times five as the first team 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:33.839 All from mean, there's a lot of different numbers that 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:39.200 you can throw out there, but productivity, consistent, longevity. That's 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.160 the reason Zach Thomas is that guy that should be 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.520 in the Hall of Fame. It's long overdue. And soe 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.279 I know, Seth, you did a lot of the you know, 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.719 stack keeping and stuff with tracking stuff on the flights 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.520 back from road games and just basically we we called 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.200 you pro Football reference from the nineties, right, you were 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.599 the one keeping track of all those status and racking 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.360 up all those tackles. I'm sure Zach was prominent on 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.680 your list. I'd love to hear about how that went, Like, 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.039 did did he ever? Did players ever come and check 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:04.800 on you and say, hey, how many tackles did I get? 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:06.599 Or how many sacks did I get? But I'm also 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.560 wondering kind of you know, we talked about the Hall 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.080 of Fame. It's a it's a you know, a very 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.800 unique brotherhood a very unique, you know, fraternity of of 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.600 football players. There's something about the character by which a 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:19.560 player or the character of a player and the way 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.120 he conducts himself off the field that goes into that 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.840 Hall of Fame. Candasy right, Well, you'd like to think 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.480 that it should. I think there's some unique examples where 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.640 some guys were just so darned dominant that, um, even 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.040 though they may have had some off the field issues, 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:37.680 it just can't keep them out of the hall. Uh. 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.479 The Hall does have some standards that they define a 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:42.719 Hall of Famer by and and and character is a 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.320 part of that. And if character is on the list, 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.120 you know, Zack certainly is is a first ballot quality 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.920 guy as far as character is concerned. And I think 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:52.920 Juice nailed it. I mean, when you look at at 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.480 all of the different categories, UM, I do believe that 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:01.040 his uh, you know, performance first and were most performance 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.680 is critical? Um. I think that you know, they look 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.280 at at the the era that you played in and 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.800 did you dominate your era? You know, were you just 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.600 a guy you can't do regardless of your numbers, if 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.520 you did not stick out in the era that you 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.000 played in, then then how could you be considered one 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.159 of the all time greats? And Zack certainly did um 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.040 and did do that? Uh, they they look at did 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.960 you change individual games? Did you make plays that change 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.680 individual games, that have an impact on individual games in 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.960 the greatest team sport alive? Um? And at the same time, 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.720 did you change the game? Did you change the sport 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:39.720 in any way? And so you know, there's a lot 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.280 of different factors. It's not an exact science. Uh, it's 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:47.560 an incredible voting process. Um. And I think it's something that, uh, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.520 everybody's got a little different different definition as to what 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.280 a Hall of Famer should look like, should smell like, 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.520 and and and what his stats should read. But I 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.440 think O J is right and I think you know, 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.760 Dolphin Nation is right that the Zach Thomas checks the boxes. 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.760 I mean, he's a guy that should be in his 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.800 contemporaries that went in and the first ballot were guys 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:08.520 that he was measured against. You know, when you look 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:10.840 at Ray Lewis, who is arguably one of the greatest 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.080 middle linebackers of all time, you look at Brian Urlacker 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.960 who went into the first ballot, those are the guys 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:18.960 that Zach was measured against, and Zach had all of 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.640 the All pros just as many, if not more than. 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.160 You know, I think he had more than Brian and 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.880 and and measured up there with ray Um. And that's 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:28.800 not a Pro Bowl list. That's not just what's going 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:30.360 on in the end of the East or your conference. 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.000 That's what's going on with the league. And so if 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.280 he was, if he was considered one of the pre 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.880 eminent guys of that generation, and those two guys are 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.240 first ballot guys, I think Zach is do. Yeah, I'm 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:43.280 glad you mentioned the Peers because I've seen that graphic 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.800 I don't know how many times now hundreds with his 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.840 stats right next to Brian Urlacker stats, and they're comparable 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:50.840 across the board and really in the same vein of 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:52.880 ray Lewis too, like you mentioned there, And I think 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:55.160 that's something that maybe people get bogged down. And when 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:56.600 it comes to Hall of Fame voting, how did he 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.840 measure up against the people that he played against in 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.040 that decade long period or whatever it might have been, Like, 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.480 was he a top five player in his position every 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.720 single year? Than? If so, Yeah, he probably deserves some 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:09.120 recognition for knon now We've heard so many stories from 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.320 the fish tank from you know, whatever it might be 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.680 with Zach. And one of my favorite things is talking 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.720 to Channing Crowder, who played you know, with Zach for 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.040 a couple of years there in his rookie portion of 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:19.760 his career and Zach was in the back end of 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:23.520 his Dolphins career, and he always just raved about Zack's preparation, 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.720 telling him where to go, when to shoot a gap 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.640 O J. When you were playing against him in practice 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:30.720 when it was one on ones. How often was he 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:33.480 doing that stuff in practice? Zach was the best man 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.280 because you like Channing talked about, nobody prepared more, you know. 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.080 But see, I had to give Zack the business as 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.080 a as a as a as a rook at times, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:42.760 you know, you know, I had to teach him a 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:44.360 couple of lessons out there and some of those one 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:46.840 on ones when he you know, linebackers trying to get 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.640 me on those crossing routes, so sometimes you gotta fake 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:51.319 that crosser and go back out, you know. I try 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.559 to get Zach to to know that, you know, at 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:55.440 this level, Zack, you're not gonna you're not gonna tee 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:57.160 off for one to star players on your own team 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.520 for one, and for two, you know they're gonna give 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.480 you some different It looks like that. But he was 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.520 always prepared. I mean I remember, you know, Jack ordered breakfast, lunch, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.800 and dinner into the facility before they provided for us. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.839 Now I think the guys get it. Think it a 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.680 cater Now there was. Zach was always in there watching 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:15.920 film and you couldn't really take film home back then, 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:19.280 so he was always in the building. So there's nobody. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.760 There's nobody that knew more about the opposing team than 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.240 Zach Thomas did. And you know, you you see it 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.560 in film. I watched some games even as a fan 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.960 afterwards it seems like a whole defense is going one way, 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:32.800 but Zack is going the other way. And sure enough, 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.319 Zach read to play correctly. And he's the only guy 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.200 that could have made a play. In nine out of 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.520 ten times he made the play. So talk about preparation, Uh, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.319 there's nobody bigger. Nobody watched more film, nobody took more 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:45.800 notes and Zach Thomas and that's what made him. That 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:47.880 made him great as well, not only his ability to 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.640 go out and make plays, but his preparation was the 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.040 best of anybody. How much that do you think comes 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:54.800 from the fact that he was a fifth round draft 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.199 pick and undersized guy that you know wasn't supposed to 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:00.360 make it, because here's this you know, and I'm paraphrasing, slow, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:02.920 late round draft pick that just does not big enough 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:04.520 to play in the league. Do you think that he 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.959 always had that inherently because of his let's call him 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.360 shortcomings physically, or do you think that was something that 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.920 he developed as he became in the National Football League. 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.600 Let me tell you, man, I knew Zach. I met 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.800 Zack when he played against Penn State when he was 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.280 at Texas Tech, and the dude had about twenty some 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.200 tackles against us. So at that point I knew he 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:24.920 was one hell of a player. I knew his working 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.880 ethic was unbelievable. I knew that this this preparation was unbelievable. 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.760 And then so I saw him play against Penn State. 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.360 But then I met him at Walter Camp All American 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.120 banquet where he became. You know, it's one of the 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.520 oldest and greatest college All American teams ever, and Zach 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.720 was one of those guys. And the humility, how humble 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.880 he was, Uh, you know, and he came up and 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.280 introduced himself to me Aca johna card and he's like, hey, 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:48.079 I'm Zack Thomas, me and c that we know who 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:51.040 you are. You had like twenty some tackles against my team. Man, 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:53.280 you don't need to introduce yourself to us. Man. But 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.240 he's always carried himself the exact same way, humble, hard working, 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:59.880 and I think that preparation started in high school planning 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.880 Texas you know, obviously College of Texas Tech, and then 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.400 in the pros. He just never took anything for granted 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.560 and never took any shortcuts and always always prepared and 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.160 worked his butt off. Man and o J. You mentioned 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.520 that he would have food brought into the facility every 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:15.120 single day so we could watch film there, and that 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.959 reminds me of a story seth that you guys, I 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:19.760 think it was Jason Cole might have been on the 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.640 floor stink where he talked about the you know, the 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.160 Cheetos and the light switches and that all the all 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.480 the light outlets in his house had cheeto dust all 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.680 over because he was so ingrained and just watching the 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.520 tape and nothing else that he wouldn't even think to 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.880 like wipe his hands off in between going to the 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:37.840 bathroom or going back to the kitchen. Like, that's just 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:39.440 like that's crazy to me, man, Like, what can you 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.120 tell us about that story? Yeah? I mean, well it 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.520 was a great story. I hadn't heard that one, um. 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.520 And you know, my first year working for the team 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:48.920 was Zack's rookie years, so it was definitely a part 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.440 of his entire journey here in Miami in in some way, 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.920 shape or form. Had not heard that story. Wasn't surprised 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.120 for two reasons. One, if you had ever been to 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.760 Zach and Io's rookie year upon ment over there at 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.320 Saint JOPEI Implantation Juice, that place was filthy. It was 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.880 a pigstye, So you know, cheeto dust on the walls 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:10.480 didn't surprise me. But no, he's he's the ultimate grinder, man. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:12.520 I mean he put as much, if not more time 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.719 in than some of the coaches. And that's not hyperbole. 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.960 I mean he Zach was that kind of a guy. Um, 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.680 and it was it was maniacal in terms of his 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:23.839 dedication to film. And it didn't matter if it was 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.480 a preseason game where he he one time we found 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.080 a he kept these notebooks. And we found a notebook 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.440 for Detroit in a preseason game that he was maybe 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:38.120 gonna play one series in and he had done, you know, 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.240 had filled up half of this notebook and studied his 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.400 preseason How much tape can you pull, Juice on on 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.560 a tape, you know, so he had, but he had 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.800 pulled wherever this coach had been and what Detroit had 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.240 done in these tendencies. And he never wanted to put 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:56.199 bad uh plays out on on film in practice in games. Uh. 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.240 He always wanted to be prepared and then let the performance, 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:03.080 uh you know show for itself there And so you know, 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.839 to hear that story, you just have to laugh. Knowing Zacht, 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.320 but he was. It was unbelievable the amount of time 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.559 that he spent. You've heard so many of his contemporaries 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.319 talk about how he was constantly in their playbook. Peyton Manning, 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.319 you know, of all people would be frustrated that Zack 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.839 was was in his head and in his playbook and 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.000 knew what they were gonna run. And Zach always talked 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.480 about you know, pre snap. Juice said that that he 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:26.560 would look at alignment and that he would make his 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.000 read pre snap before that first step was taken and 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.320 that was really what he thought was his advantage. And 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.520 all that came from film study. It all came from 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.120 film study. Um and and he did have food brought in. 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.000 Thursday nights was long or night there for the coaches, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:41.760 and I'd have to go in and sneak some food 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.439 down to him. You know, the coaches didn't want to 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.240 share that food, and I'd make him play and sneak 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.800 it down for him. But he just lived at the 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:51.240 facility and it was it was pretty special. Now, obviously, 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.400 receiver and linebacker are different positions with different responsibilities. But 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.680 maybe O J. You can help the fans understand what 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.040 exactly goes into that notebook, because you know, we we 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:02.040 hear about film study as fans, and we just think 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.360 a guy maybe goes in and watches his opponent who 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:06.480 he can go up one on one against, maybe some 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:09.600 offensive tendencies, Like what all goes into that notebook? Is 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.520 it like splits of the offensive line receiver alignment? The 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.280 way they stack things like what goes into that study 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.560 that makes him so good and just really makes the 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.120 fans appreciate even more how much he put into it 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.000 to get that production that he ultimately had. Yeah, Actually, 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.240 all that goes into it. A linebacker is probably the 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.800 the toughest position on defense in terms of alignment, especially 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:30.960 when you're the captain on that defense. A lot of times, 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.520 Zach's gotta make the calls. Zack's gotta make the checks, 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.240 you know, And when you look at different alignments and 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.960 seeing you know, offensive linement sitting heavy or sitting light, 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.840 sitting heavy usually or run situations sitting light using a 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.560 past situation alignement itself that he's seen. One little thing 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.520 that he might pick up on film is in that 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.480 notebook saying all right, you know, if Kevin Mawire is 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.520 doing this, this is what they're going to be doing 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.800 a time. And I mean, if you get a chance, 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.040 I'm being right about something. I mean that's obvious in 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.360 the advantage. He's that quarterback literally on the other side 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.000 where you know, as a wide receiver, I worried about coverage. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:07.720 You know, we've got a couple of guys like Blitz, 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:12.080 I got may break it hot. Who I'm blocking quarterbacks? 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.600 Gotta see all that alignment for three you know four 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.880 three or three four? Um, you know a bear defense. 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:19.320 I don't. I don't even see any of that. So 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.160 you know, Zack said, God has seen everything and put 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.520 her body in position, you know, be successful. Get the 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:26.840 secondary set, get the line set. How many times you 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.400 see a linebacker go up and tap a defensive line 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.120 on the butt to move him over maybe six inches 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:34.920 twelve inches, you know, And that was that job as well. 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.440 So there was so much that goes into a line 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.360 but a middle linebacker's book. And what I like most 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.080 about Zach and and and Seal contested this tested this. 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.000 He shared his knowledge with people. You know what I mean, 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:48.920 he wasn't He wasn't stands you with it if he 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.040 knew that. You know, he talked about the Detroit preseason game. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.200 Whoever's gonna play the majority of that game. I guaranteed 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.240 that shared that knowledge with him and share that book 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.240 with him too. And that's the type of teammate he 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.520 was as well. But it's preparational second and none no books. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.800 We talked about unbelievable in the time and the facility 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:08.880 hours up going in, but it had him ready for 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.640 a Sunday or Monday all the time. Yeah, you know 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.360 you mentioned the pre snap checklist he has to go through. 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.680 I find myself watching games trying to do the same thing, 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.040 and it overwhelms me. Man, Like you have thirty seconds 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:21.840 to get the personnel grouping, who's moving with motion and 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:23.440 all just all these things are going on in the 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.040 football field. It's absolutely chaos in the thirty second period 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.080 to get to that, you know, five or six seconds 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.920 snap between whistles and seth. You had mentioned Peyton Manning earlier, 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:34.360 and that's that's kind of where I want to go 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.400 next with the peers and the way they talked about him, 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.560 the guys that played against him on the other side 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.160 of the football, not you know, fellow linebackers like Burlocker 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.520 and Ray Lewis, but you know, Peyton Manning said that 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.400 Zack Thomas gave me more problems than any defensive defensive 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.880 player I ever played against. Kevin Mwai told a story 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:52.360 about how Bill Parcel said, if you don't get Zach 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.280 Thomas blocked, if you don't take care of hifty four, 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.160 we're not gonna win this football game. So he was 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.200 a very you know, well thought of peer across the 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.120 way people attack him, in the way people planned for 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.280 him in the NFL, like that was unanimous, right, because 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:06.680 you mentioned Peyton Ma and Kevin Y to Hall of Famers, 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.120 but there was probably more guys that felt the same way. Yeah, 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:12.880 I mean, he just had tremendous respect and and and look, 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.280 especially in that era, when you're making all those Pro Bowls, 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.760 that's that's players around the league. They're voting for you. 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.520 I mean, that's especially it still is, but it was 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.240 especially that way. You know, back in the times that 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.520 Zach was playing UM and he was highly respected by 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.320 coaches and by players, uh and by and certainly by 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.880 his teammates. You know, you mentioned Kevin Y, and I 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.480 was was kind of blown away when why you only 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.119 have so much time to get up there on that 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:41.879 that podium, you know, you spend your whole life hoping 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:44.320 to make it to that moment, and especially and Kevin Way, 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:46.359 you know, he wasn't a first ballot guy, so he 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.119 had to go through the process multiple times, be told no, 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.480 no multiple times. Finally gets there and he's writing that speech, 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.560 and he takes the time to not mention he mentioned 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:58.240 teammates and guys he played with, but he takes the 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.520 time to mention that Zack m Is deserves to be 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.719 in the Hall of Fame. And and that was I 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.520 was really blown away by that. You know, again, you 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.680 only get so many times, so much time the halls 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.040 reviewing your speech before you even go up there. You 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:13.240 gotta keep TV in mind. You want to get to 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:16.560 the party afterwards with your friends and family and and 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.520 you know, let's face it, Kevin why played pretty well again, Zach. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.680 You know, he gave Zac fits, but he felt that 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:24.879