Speaker 1: It's time now for another episode of Patch from the
Speaker 1: Past podcast Matt Smith along with Paul Perillo, and we're
Speaker 1: pleased to be joined by number forty six on your scorecard,
Speaker 1: but number one in our hearts, at least for today, right. Well,
Speaker 1: and that's James Devil, who joins us all the way
Speaker 1: from the Jersey Shore. James, how you doing. Nice to
Speaker 1: see you guys. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Are you getting some of that Jim tan laundry thing.
Speaker 3: Going, Yeah, a little bit, although there's not much tanning
Speaker 3: going on right now.
Speaker 2: No, it's so great here. I can't even believe it.
Speaker 2: I don't remember the last time we saw.
Speaker 3: It's been fog. It's been nothing but fog here for
Speaker 3: like a week. But it's all good man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I do think, Paul, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you ever catch us, but I do think periodically we
Speaker 1: still see a little Sulli entire commercial every once in
Speaker 1: a blue moon with James on it.
Speaker 2: James is thrilled to hear that.
Speaker 1: Please, Tom, you've got a good set of all wheel
Speaker 1: tires or something at least out of that.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, mister Sullivan takes care of me. Man,
Speaker 3: He's been a great friend. You know, we kind of
Speaker 3: established a relationship while I was up there playing, and honestly,
Speaker 3: I look up to him now as like like me
Speaker 3: and my little entrepreneurial role. You know, he's got a
Speaker 3: lot of knowledge and experience in this world. So we're
Speaker 3: trying to just you know, keep it fun and keep
Speaker 3: it light. And he's been a great partner thus far.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned entrepreneurial James, and we ask everybody about this.
Speaker 1: Some people are more visible guys who are broadcasting things
Speaker 1: like that, like things like that, What is James Devlin
Speaker 1: up to these days?
Speaker 3: Sure? Yeah, So so upon retirement, I've retired right into
Speaker 3: that you know, initial onset of COVID, so things kind
Speaker 3: of slowed down a little bit. But honestly, it was
Speaker 3: nice for me to kind of like just ease my
Speaker 3: way into like you know, being a real adult and
Speaker 3: stop playing a child's game professionally. So I did a
Speaker 3: lot of soul search in a lot of like what
Speaker 3: I wanted to do. My biggest priority these days is
Speaker 3: my family. Got four kids now and my wife obviously,
Speaker 3: so I'm a huge, huge family man. Try to keep
Speaker 3: that to you know, the highest level of importance, but
Speaker 3: I wanted to I knew I wanted to kind of
Speaker 3: create my own legacy beyond football. I wanted to control
Speaker 3: my my time and destinies here. So I decided to
Speaker 3: go into this entrepreneurial role. I actually took an entrepreneurial
Speaker 3: course through the NFLPA Trust, and that helped kind of
Speaker 3: just connect me with with, you know, people that were
Speaker 3: local and across the country that could kind of guide
Speaker 3: me and what I wanted to do. And ended up
Speaker 3: buying a business here on the Jersey Shore called Soulberry.
Speaker 3: It's a little coffee smoothie, sa e bowl type place
Speaker 3: two blocks off the beach. And so now I'm trying
Speaker 3: to expand that that business for more towns on the
Speaker 3: Jersey Shore, and then hopefully beyond that. My goal here
Speaker 3: in like maybe the next five to ten years is
Speaker 3: to have one in Patriot Place. So hopefully you can
Speaker 3: get a soul Berry up there.
Speaker 2: Maybe we'll have to do a sequel to the Pass
Speaker 2: Pass with Jacobs. We'll keep you in the circulation here
Speaker 2: for Robert and Jonathan, so we'll get that done. Obviously, James,
Speaker 2: your story is one that's been told a lot, you know,
Speaker 2: not the most common path of the NFL. But I'm
Speaker 2: just curious, you know, in your time at Brown and
Speaker 2: your positional moves. You know, when did you think I
Speaker 2: can do this, I could be an NFL player. Was
Speaker 2: there a time before you actually made it that you
Speaker 2: really thought that you could do this?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So I always kind of had the self belief, right,
Speaker 3: I think that you kind of need that when you're
Speaker 3: just embarking on this kind of quest. And like you said,
Speaker 3: I was definitely not like a highly talted prospect coming
Speaker 3: out of college. I had to kind of scratch up
Speaker 3: and claw to find an agent just to represent me,
Speaker 3: let alone, you know, get in front of some NFL teams,
Speaker 3: and really, I would say I went so after college,
Speaker 3: I went and had to try out with the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 3: Didn't even make it to the third day. They had
Speaker 3: me at three four outside linebacker. I was I was
Speaker 3: a mess. And then after that I played in an arena football.
Speaker 3: Then I played in the UFL and that's when I
Speaker 3: made the switch to fullback, and I'd say that's when
Speaker 3: I really felt like, hey, I can do something here.
Speaker 3: Because I was playing I was one of two, like
Speaker 3: you know, true rookies on the team and all the
Speaker 3: other guys I'd say ninety five percent of the roster
Speaker 3: were x NFL guys. So it kind of gave me
Speaker 3: like the first like barometer to measure myself against. And
Speaker 3: so when I earned it started position and I was
Speaker 3: like making some nice plays out there. That's when I
Speaker 3: really felt like, hey, I can do this. I just
Speaker 3: need the right opportunity. And then you know, practice squads
Speaker 3: and stuff like that. Three years later, I was, you know,
Speaker 3: starting for the Pats, So it all kind of that's
Speaker 3: when it really like that was my jump off point.
Speaker 1: I don't know that Paul and I can sit here.
Speaker 1: I know we can't sit here.
Speaker 2: And what's it like to be in.
Speaker 1: An ivy League school? But did you you know, was
Speaker 1: this dream something that you were dreaming of what you
Speaker 1: were Brown? Did you get made fun of? Did you say, oh, please,
Speaker 1: come on, you're gonna end up doing you know, be
Speaker 1: a lawyer, you'll be a doctor. You know, that's why
Speaker 1: you come to Brown. And conversely, did you also hear
Speaker 1: it when you're in the UFL? You know, hey, ivy
Speaker 1: you know, did you get stuck with a nickname or
Speaker 1: was there any kind of stigmatism to IVY League guys
Speaker 1: don't make it to the NFL, what you know, maybe
Speaker 1: in their training staff or something like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'd say, first and foremost being at Brown,
Speaker 3: I mean there was there was definitely doubters because, like
Speaker 3: you said, they're not not every day you know, guys
Speaker 3: come out of the football powerhouse that is Brown University,
Speaker 3: let alone the entire IVY League. But you know, I
Speaker 3: was experienced. I had a year on the team with
Speaker 3: Zach Tiassi and he was drafted to the Giants as
Speaker 3: a linebacker then ended up having a thirteen year career
Speaker 3: as a long snapper. But I knew it was possible,
Speaker 3: and that's kind of all I needed to hear. The rest.
Speaker 3: It was kind of up to me, So I yeah,
Speaker 3: there was doubters. Yeah, there was times when you know,
Speaker 3: guys were going out partying and I was staying back
Speaker 3: because I wanted to wake up early in training, and
Speaker 3: you know, they'd be like, oh, you're not making it
Speaker 3: to the NFL, like just come out, and I'm like, no,
Speaker 3: I got I got bigger aspirations, I got dreams I
Speaker 3: got to like kind of take care of. So there
Speaker 3: was definitely those kind of moments, But to say I
Speaker 3: got picked on, I wouldn't say that. And then once
Speaker 3: I got to the UFL. Once I got to the UFL,
Speaker 3: everyone was kind of in the same boat. We were
Speaker 3: all there with a purpose to try to get exposure
Speaker 3: to get back in the NFL. So there was absolutely
Speaker 3: no you know, naysayan or anything like that. Everyone kind
Speaker 3: of had a story. I mean, there was kind of
Speaker 3: NFL cast offs that were trying to regain their reputations
Speaker 3: and nobody, nobody was higher or lower than anyone in
Speaker 3: that in that organization. That's something that you know, always
Speaker 3: kind of stuck with me because everyone was humbled. Everybody
Speaker 3: was humbled to be there. Although it was a great
Speaker 3: opportunity and we were getting compensated and all that stuff, Like,
Speaker 3: everyone had a humbling journey to get on that roster.
Speaker 3: And uh so it was a it was a great
Speaker 3: learning experience experience, and that is a I don't know
Speaker 3: what I was twenty one, twenty two year old kid.
Speaker 1: Probably a portraits of words. Paul I should have said,
Speaker 1: busted his balls maybe then that yeah, thing like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I definitely definitely got my balls busted.
Speaker 2: Just what was the first impression here. You know, you
Speaker 2: you get in here what was probably what twenty twelve, Yes,
Speaker 2: and you know you're sort of your your first interactions
Speaker 2: with Bill Belichick, Tom Brady. I mean, obviously it's an
Speaker 2: organization that had done a lot of winning and here
Speaker 2: you are trying to find your way as an NFL player,
Speaker 2: let alone, you know, make it into a role. What
Speaker 2: was it first like for you your first impressions?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was it was everything I was looking
Speaker 3: for in a football team. That the the respect, the accountability,
Speaker 3: you know, the kind of I could you could say strictness,
Speaker 3: but it's it's more than that. It's kind of just
Speaker 3: like that. That level of respect that you have for
Speaker 3: your teammates, your coaches, the game itself, and your approach
Speaker 3: to that game. That that is what I what stood
Speaker 3: out to me because coming through the UFL and and
Speaker 3: then my first year and a half with Cincinnati on
Speaker 3: their practice squad, it wasn't it wasn't like that, but uh,
Speaker 3: I always cherished the types of organizations where you know,
Speaker 3: the head coach was like a guy that was almost
Speaker 3: like a father type figure, and I never wanted to
Speaker 3: like let him down. So I had that at Brown
Speaker 3: coach Justice was was a like a very like brute,
Speaker 3: just like you did not want to let him down.
Speaker 3: You didn't want to disappoint him. And so that's what
Speaker 3: I always loved about playing with it for him, and
Speaker 3: then with Bill, it was the same kind of thing,
Speaker 3: the respect that he had being Bill Belichick and all that.
Speaker 3: I never wanted to let him down, you know. I
Speaker 3: wanted to just do everything to try to be the
Speaker 3: best player I could be, for him, for my teammates,
Speaker 3: for my other coaches, the whole organization. So that level
Speaker 3: of respect just really stood out to me, I mean,
Speaker 3: and then just the humility of the guys and the
Speaker 3: lack of ego, you know, coming in and seeing, holy shit,
Speaker 3: this is Bill Belichick. I'm talking to her. This is
Speaker 3: Tom Brady, the you know, the greatest. At that point,
Speaker 3: he was already on his way to becoming the greatest
Speaker 3: quarterback of all time, and now he is. And it's
Speaker 3: just like wow, Like these guys are are you know,
Speaker 3: humble enough and human enough to like just kind of
Speaker 3: sit down and talk to me and you know, say
Speaker 3: what's up in the in the cafeteria and just sit
Speaker 3: down and like have a regular conversation, that level of
Speaker 3: of just humility around across the across the organization really
Speaker 3: stood out.
Speaker 1: Bill often says, or the coaches and players say, James,
Speaker 1: that you know, for new people, draft picks, undrafted free agents,
Speaker 1: people like that, the best route to make the team
Speaker 1: and to make an impact is on special teams. And
Speaker 1: would you agree with that in is there a moment
Speaker 1: where you can remember, you know, on teams that you
Speaker 1: know you were able to maybe stack some things together
Speaker 1: to get them to you know, notice you and say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is somebody that we should that we think we
Speaker 1: should consider keeping to work with.
Speaker 3: Sure. Yeah, so that's exactly That's exactly how how it
Speaker 3: came for me. I mean my first year on twenty twelve,
Speaker 3: I was on a practice squad. They brought me up
Speaker 3: for four games. I played in one game Sunday night
Speaker 3: against the against San Francisco forty nine ers, and all
Speaker 3: I did was special teams. I didn't play one offensive snap.
Speaker 3: We lost that game. It was raining, uh raw and.
Speaker 2: Hold I remember the yea yeah, yeah, interesting game. For
Speaker 2: the first game, it felt, I think we fell behind
Speaker 2: like thirty one to three or something like that, came
Speaker 2: back and then we ended up losing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we came back and we were kind of mounting
Speaker 3: the comeback a little bit, and late in the fourth
Speaker 3: quarter they were punting and Wes Welker was our apartment
Speaker 3: turn at the time, called it like the ten u
Speaker 3: took it back for like maybe fifteen or so yards
Speaker 3: and I got called for a holding against Navarro bowmen.
Speaker 3: And I remember feeling like this big coming off the sideline,
Speaker 3: like not trying to make eye contact with Scott O'Brien,
Speaker 3: our special teams coordinated at the time and Bill and
Speaker 3: all that, just like trying to shrink down. But you know,
Speaker 3: like I learned a lot from that experience. And then
Speaker 3: the following year, so twenty thirteen, go through training camp,
Speaker 3: I'm kind of solidifying myself on the offense. But the
Speaker 3: first play of the entire season, my entire like season
Speaker 3: as a real NFL starter, our opening kickoff. We were
Speaker 3: in Buffalo and we ran this little thing. It's kind
Speaker 3: of back when we had the wedge and I was
Speaker 3: one of like the off men off the wedge and
Speaker 3: I and I kind of trapped behind the wedge guys
Speaker 3: and hit the L two and absolutely just demolished them.
Speaker 3: And that that moment. I was like, that is like
Speaker 3: kind of putting a stamp on who I am. I
Speaker 3: like to be physical, and I just I was like
Speaker 3: the electricity I felt in my body when I made
Speaker 3: that hit and then came off on the sideline, I
Speaker 3: mean I could have like lit up the entire stadium.
Speaker 3: It was. It was unreal. So that that moment, and
Speaker 3: then that was one of the first clips that Bill
Speaker 3: played that following Monday, and I was like, yeah, I
Speaker 3: think I you know, showed everybody who I was and
Speaker 3: what I could do.
Speaker 1: I was just going to ask you, did you get
Speaker 1: an added boy for that? Where you you know, and
Speaker 1: what's that like, you know, on the positive end of it,
Speaker 1: because I'm sure it happens on the other end everybody,
Speaker 1: But what's it like in the other when you get
Speaker 1: that like, hey, this is what we're trying to do
Speaker 1: here an awesome feeling?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. It was a culmination of a lot
Speaker 3: of a lot of experiences, both bad and good, on
Speaker 3: on the on the journey to that point, you know,
Speaker 3: I mean there was like some there was definitely some
Speaker 3: bright days, but there was also some dark days. And
Speaker 3: so having that type of moment where like you finally
Speaker 3: just kind of like erupt on some on somebody and
Speaker 3: like you're You've made it. I mean it was. It
Speaker 3: was a wild experience and one that I'll always remember, man,
Speaker 3: And that's that that type of that type of fight
Speaker 3: and desire for something and then finally obtaining it like
Speaker 3: that continues to drive me to this day. So I'll
Speaker 3: be it. Off the football field, I still I still
Speaker 3: kind of associate everything to you know, how I approached
Speaker 3: the game of football and now I'm trying to do
Speaker 3: it in a different business. But uh yeah, it all
Speaker 3: kind of it all kind of works the same.
Speaker 2: So now you're going to the sidelines and you make
Speaker 2: an icon with anybody whill look back at you, right, yeah,
Speaker 2: so different different. So I remember, you know, and mostly
Speaker 2: because of Andy Andy Hart, who absolutely he was a
Speaker 2: full back in high school in a college and played
Speaker 2: and he absolutely loved the old school full back that
Speaker 2: was James Devlin. So I remember a thirty one yard
Speaker 2: catch in the thirteen season, you know, I mean most
Speaker 2: of your work was down around the goal line. If
Speaker 2: you ever got the ball in your hands, it's you know,
Speaker 2: one yard touchdown runs and things like that. But do
Speaker 2: you remember that thirty one yard. I think it was
Speaker 2: in that season, that thirteen season.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was twenty thirteen. Yes, when they when they
Speaker 3: realized I wasn't I wasn't any fast at all. So
Speaker 3: but yeah, I ran a little wheel route up the
Speaker 3: right sideline on Barkhevius Mingo who later becamemate and went
Speaker 3: up for it with two hands, but I actually only
Speaker 3: caught it with one, brought it down and then I
Speaker 3: forget his first name, his last name was Ward, but
Speaker 3: he was a safety tackle me bounced my head off
Speaker 3: the ground slightly, slightly, cancut still the play, but then
Speaker 3: came back to play and my first play was was
Speaker 3: a wham on their de tackle. So you know, I
Speaker 3: was all right.
Speaker 1: You know, Paul mentions, you know, Andy and fullback. But
Speaker 1: it is a it's kind of a small fraternity these days, James,
Speaker 1: one that I'm sure that you're proud of being a
Speaker 1: part of. But you know, when you look around the league,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you watch how much you watch
Speaker 1: or anything like that, are you surprised? You know, I
Speaker 1: guess that the the the amount or the lack of
Speaker 1: the amount of fullbacks that are in the National Football
Speaker 1: League today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that's always kind of been the moniker, right,
Speaker 3: is like the fullback is kind of getting phased out
Speaker 3: and it's becoming like a dinosaur I've heard used a lot.
Speaker 3: But it's funny because I feel like, you know, you
Speaker 3: see successful teams and especially this time of year when
Speaker 3: when defenses are a little beat up and the teams
Speaker 3: that can run the ball, they really like start to
Speaker 3: establish an identity this time of year, and most of
Speaker 3: those teams have fullbacks, you know, I mean, look at
Speaker 3: the forty nine ers. My guy Juice check Is is
Speaker 3: one of the best. I mean, he's a Harvard guy,
Speaker 3: so kind of got to like, you know, knock him
Speaker 3: for that a little bit, but he's he's a great
Speaker 3: fullback for them. A little bit different style, you know,
Speaker 3: he like he gets he uses his body perfectly in
Speaker 3: their scheme. You know, not much not so much of
Speaker 3: like a downhill guy. But like there's there's fullbacks like
Speaker 3: making a difference. I mean, Yakub Johnson in in uh
Speaker 3: in Las Vegas, I mean the guy the guy has
Speaker 3: having a great year. Jacobs is having a great year
Speaker 3: behind him. So there's definitely examples of the fullback position
Speaker 3: still being utilized in a in a very good way.
Speaker 3: And so I'll always kind of like, you know, keep
Speaker 3: an eye out for those guys and root for him
Speaker 3: because I think a fullback is very useful. It's getting
Speaker 3: more useful as it's getting less used, I think because
Speaker 3: defenses aren't as aware of how to fit two back
Speaker 3: runs as much anymore. And see, I get I get real,
Speaker 3: I get real like advanced in my in my thought
Speaker 3: process sometimes. But I feel like as the NFL kind
Speaker 3: of continues to go down this route where maybe fullbacks
Speaker 3: aren't being used, I think it starts to change the
Speaker 3: landscape of how defense is being played, and it might
Speaker 3: end up becoming more susceptible to actually run these two
Speaker 3: back runs in like the old school style, you know,
Speaker 3: thirty five runs a game, so you could see like
Speaker 3: a resurgence coming back, you know. I think I think
Speaker 3: what Tennessee has been doing with Henry Is is kind
Speaker 3: of a little example of that. And uh, and you're
Speaker 3: seeing examples, you know, across the league sometimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And just as a real quick aside, John Hannah,
Speaker 2: you know, Hall of Fame offensive guard and you know,
Speaker 2: probably second or third greatest player in this team's history. Yeah,
Speaker 2: said exactly what you've said. You know, it's probably going
Speaker 2: back ten years. But he talked about sort of the
Speaker 2: influx of the spread passing games and the smaller linebackers
Speaker 2: and the speed emphasis on defense. He said, it's all
Speaker 2: going to come full circle. Teams, the smart teams are
Speaker 2: gonna come back. They're going to load up with two
Speaker 2: tight ends, fullbacks, and they're going to pound away at
Speaker 2: these smaller defenses. And you look at Baltimore and you know,
Speaker 2: Matt and I talked about this before the podcast, that
Speaker 2: they kid recard is it's like a defensive tackle playing fullback.
Speaker 3: Three pounds is the tackle. Yeah, he plays both ways.
Speaker 3: He plays the tackle on fullback, does a great job
Speaker 3: at both too. And you're exactly right. I'm sorry to
Speaker 3: cut you off, but I think I think the game
Speaker 3: of football is like kind of a microcosm of life.
Speaker 3: And I feel like life is a little bit cicklic
Speaker 3: Things kind of happen and then everybody reacts to that,
Speaker 3: and then you realize that, all right, Well, now like
Speaker 3: the next cycle is like the reaction to that reaction.
Speaker 3: And so I think I think football is the same.
Speaker 3: You know, I thinks, like you said, defense is getting
Speaker 3: smaller defenses not really being aware of I mean, how
Speaker 3: many colleges run full back right now? How many defenses
Speaker 3: are playing you know, you know, traditional two back runs
Speaker 3: in college. And then once these guys get to the NFL,
Speaker 3: you know, they're not seeing much as well. So I
Speaker 3: think there there could be a little chink in the
Speaker 3: armor here down the road.
Speaker 1: James, as you described that is, is that you think
Speaker 1: a good way maybe to describe what happened with you
Speaker 1: guys at the end of the eighteen season because you
Speaker 1: lost to Miami, you lost to Pittsburgh, and you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if there was a hey, what is
Speaker 1: it that we do well here, Let's see if we
Speaker 1: can get back to that. And you guys went to
Speaker 1: a power running game, and that power running game took
Speaker 1: you all the way to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think there was there was a
Speaker 3: little bit of that each season. I felt like late
Speaker 3: in the year it's always nice to be able to
Speaker 3: kind of hang your hat on the run game because
Speaker 3: after you know, sixteen game season at that time, now seventeen,
Speaker 3: people are beat up. You know, nobody wants to you know,
Speaker 3: stick their face in the fin you know, twenty thirty
Speaker 3: times a game, and so if you can kind of
Speaker 3: like establish yourself as a as a quality running team
Speaker 3: the end at the end of the season, it always
Speaker 3: kind of slows the game down. It's like nice and
Speaker 3: methodical and it really opens up the playbook offensively. So
Speaker 3: we always kind of try to do that. But yeah,
Speaker 3: i'd say twenty eighteen was the was the greatest example
Speaker 3: of that. I mean, I think we we really like
Speaker 3: we were challenged honestly when we lost to up to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: You know, our coach has challenged us to like, you know,
Speaker 3: who are we going to be? And we had some
Speaker 3: guys that were like road graders at the time, and
Speaker 3: so we all just kind of like really got back
Speaker 3: to work and like I said, like through that ego
Speaker 3: out the window and just said like, look, we're gonna
Speaker 3: we're gonna make the most of our opportunities. And yeah,
Speaker 3: we had a we had great success running the ball.
Speaker 3: That was that was some of my favorite football you know,
Speaker 3: it's just having my daughter at the time and that Yeah,
Speaker 3: that playoff run in twenty eighteen was was special.
Speaker 2: So that Kansas City game in particular is one that
Speaker 2: Matt and I and a lot of us around here
Speaker 2: talk about you know, we've both been here over twenty years,
Speaker 2: so we've been lucky enough to be part of a
Speaker 2: lot of wins. Yeah, and when we're asked which one
Speaker 2: stands out, you know, obviously Super Bowls are more important
Speaker 2: than AFC championship games, but I think you'd be hard
Speaker 2: pressed to top just in terms of sheer skill on
Speaker 2: both sides of the ball. That game in Kansas City.
Speaker 2: What do you remember about it? And you know, just
Speaker 2: kind of the atmosphere and everything that went into it. It
Speaker 2: was probably one of the landmark wins for you guys,
Speaker 2: no question.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, thinking back of my football career,
Speaker 3: even from you know, the start and when I was
Speaker 3: seven years old till I retired in twenty twenty, that
Speaker 3: stands out as the as my favorite football game I've
Speaker 3: ever played in. And it could, honestly like it gives
Speaker 3: me chills, Like if I didn't know the sweatshirt on
Speaker 3: it show my forums a goosebump right now. It almost
Speaker 3: brings a tear to my eye honestly, because it was
Speaker 3: like it was just it was it was like the
Speaker 3: perfect team against the world environment. First of all, Kansas
Speaker 3: City is a great place to play football. And when
Speaker 3: we were walked in there, like you could just feel
Speaker 3: how much we like, no one wanted us to be there, right,
Speaker 3: so it was us like the forty six guys on
Speaker 3: the field, plus you know, all the help we have
Speaker 3: on the sideline. So call it like seventy to eighty people.
Speaker 3: It was like us against you know, close to ninety thousand.
Speaker 3: And this way we started the game like running the ball. Well,
Speaker 3: I think we ran lead on the first play, Sony
Speaker 3: broke it for like thirteen or something like that, and
Speaker 3: then you know, and then it was the goal line
Speaker 3: run bang, We score a goal line run bang, score,
Speaker 3: and it was everything was kind of like you know,
Speaker 3: just building and building and building, and we knew that
Speaker 3: they were going to break at some point defensively if
Speaker 3: we just kind of kept just you know, kept the
Speaker 3: punches coming and h and then finally, yeah, it kind
Speaker 3: of did. And then they fought back and that whole
Speaker 3: like that just like EBB and flow of the game
Speaker 3: and then you know, going into overtime and geez, like
Speaker 3: all the third downs that we converted, I mean, like
Speaker 3: it is like lighting me up right now just thinking
Speaker 3: about it. And then the final play is one of
Speaker 3: my favorites of all time. And you know, standing over Rex,
Speaker 3: you know as he was in the end zone is
Speaker 3: like one of my favorite football memories. Yeah, it was
Speaker 3: that was that was truly a special one. And just
Speaker 3: the feeling of like brotherhood that we had, like after
Speaker 3: we won that, and like running off the field and
Speaker 3: just the exuberance like among like the misery of all
Speaker 3: the fans and the other team. It was like just
Speaker 3: it was perfect.
Speaker 2: So I do have one email question here from sure
Speaker 2: from young Andy who always wanted to ask you if
Speaker 2: you felt bad that Sony got all the credit for
Speaker 2: that that ground and pound attack and it wasn't you
Speaker 2: getting the credit for it? No?
Speaker 3: No, because that's my role, man, Like that's and that
Speaker 3: I think every fullback would say that across the league.
Speaker 3: Who's really ever played is you don't really play the
Speaker 3: fullback position for the limelight, you know. Like I was
Speaker 3: very happy just kind of in my role, you know,
Speaker 3: quietly just going out there and doing my job. And
Speaker 3: you know it, I loved I you know, I love Sony.
Speaker 3: You know I love that that playoff run. I love
Speaker 3: all the guys that that I played with, man and
Speaker 3: and so I don't have any animosity towards any of that.
Speaker 1: You know, you talk about how it felt when you're
Speaker 1: walking in and everything like that. Did the cold you know,
Speaker 1: did you do you remember how cold it was that day?
Speaker 3: I was pretty cold. That was the cold one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But does are you conditioned and trained to the point
Speaker 1: James where that's not really a factor, especially as you
Speaker 1: get going and you talked about right out of the
Speaker 1: shoot you know, bam, you hit him with the run.
Speaker 1: You went right down the field and scored, ran it in,
Speaker 1: went right down the field again, I think, and could
Speaker 1: have scored. Didn't Tom throw a pick on the second drive? Right? Yeah,
Speaker 1: tremendous time of possession advantage that you guys had as
Speaker 1: you're going through. Do you ever do does a cold dissipate?
Speaker 1: Do you not even realize what's going on because you're
Speaker 1: in the heat of the moment as far as the
Speaker 1: game is concerned.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, i'd say whereas about it, we're about
Speaker 3: his conditioned to the cold as as anybody in the NFL.
Speaker 3: The way that we prepare and the way that we practice,
Speaker 3: you know, outside no matter what it is out there,
Speaker 3: we're we're out there in it, and I was always
Speaker 3: kind of, you know, one of those tough guys that
Speaker 3: wouldn't wear his sleeves of practice, never wear a sleeve
Speaker 3: in a game. And I kind of like reveled that
Speaker 3: a little bit. And you'd feel the cold like one
Speaker 3: hundred percent, especially on the sideline. But then we have
Speaker 3: like the heated benches and the and the you know,
Speaker 3: the blowers over there, so like there's ways around it
Speaker 3: once once you're out on the field. Honestly, the worst
Speaker 3: part is like timeouts, when you're just kind of standing
Speaker 3: in the huddle and like the winds hitting you en
Speaker 3: you know, you got nothing to protect you. But once
Speaker 3: that ball snap, man, like there's you don't have you
Speaker 3: don't have time to think about how cold it is.
Speaker 3: And so that's then like I guess maybe the advantage becomes,
Speaker 3: you know, more apparent when like, you know, that ball
Speaker 3: snapped and it's just like, you know, it's football. You know,
Speaker 3: we don't have time to worry about if it's fifteen
Speaker 3: degrees versus seventy five.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned the euphoria in the end zone and
Speaker 1: one of the great moments of your career, and I
Speaker 1: think we can all remember you know, guys throwing their
Speaker 1: helmets off, Andrews lifting Brady, you know, everybody just you
Speaker 1: know the joy of winning that game. But at what
Speaker 1: point in time do you need to flip the switch
Speaker 1: and say this is you know, we've got one more
Speaker 1: left and it would be a shame for all that
Speaker 1: we've accomplished. Going into Kansas City, nobody thought we could
Speaker 1: do it. We went in and beat the Chiefs. We
Speaker 1: got to now close a deal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was immediate. I mean I remember, I remember everyone,
Speaker 3: almost everybody I hugged, and I can remember vividly, like
Speaker 3: hugging Tom and the first words I heard from his
Speaker 3: mouth where we got one more. And that's everyone was
Speaker 3: saying that. Everybody knew, I mean in the excitement of
Speaker 3: the moment, everybody also knew that, like, you know, we
Speaker 3: didn't fight all this or do all this work throughout
Speaker 3: the season and and fight to get to this point,
Speaker 3: like we we wanted to be here, but there's also
Speaker 3: more to be had. So that was always something that
Speaker 3: you know, I feel like we were always always aware of.
Speaker 3: As you know, the work wasn't done until really the
Speaker 3: work first or second weekend in February when.
Speaker 2: We talk about all these different things and they see
Speaker 2: how fired up you still get about some of these blocks.
Speaker 2: These you know, you're talking about lead and you know
Speaker 2: they having a wham. Was there a guy that you
Speaker 2: went against that particularly stood out to you was toughest
Speaker 2: to block?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'd say, I know. I mean, I tell everybody
Speaker 3: who asked this, Landon Roberts in practice was the toughest
Speaker 3: guy for me because I'd say, like generally speaking, I'm
Speaker 3: I'm like a taller ish fullback, you know, like six',
Speaker 3: Three SO i had kind of lose a lot of
Speaker 3: like natural leverage that like a six foot and maybe
Speaker 3: under guy would. Have But landin's like maybe five, eleven you,
Speaker 3: know maybe six foot right on the. Roster but, uh
Speaker 3: that dude also just had LIKE i, mean he was
Speaker 3: like in practice the first day, pads everybody knew we'd
Speaker 3: get to nine on seven and the first play would
Speaker 3: be lead and it'd be me on me Versus, landen
Speaker 3: and it was just like a like a car accident every,
Speaker 3: time you, know it was just. Wild and so that
Speaker 3: guy just with his natural leverage and his like ability
Speaker 3: to just thump and have like little to no regard
Speaker 3: for his, body he was always a tough guy to.
Speaker 3: Block otherwise then it was like you, know d. TACKLES
Speaker 3: i remember the first TIME i had a wham On
Speaker 3: Vince wilfork AND i felt LIKE i was throwing my
Speaker 3: body into a brick. Wall that dude did not move at.
Speaker 3: All and then, obviously you, know first play of the
Speaker 3: Last Super bowl there against The rams hitting In dominican
Speaker 3: su and, like you, know that was a very similar.
Speaker 3: Feeling so, yeah there was definitely some big BOYS i
Speaker 3: had to go up, against But landed, man it was
Speaker 3: just like every TIME i had to like strap up
Speaker 3: extra tight because this dude was was just coming and you,
Speaker 3: KNOW i definitely wasn't backing a way. Either so it
Speaker 3: was just just gnarly hits every.
Speaker 1: Year AND i don't know if it's the same as a,
Speaker 1: fullback but those downhill linebackers run stopping, linebackers they're not
Speaker 1: in great abundance. Nowadays everybody wants to sideline to sideline.
Speaker 1: Guy you, know everybody wants a guy that's got all the,
Speaker 1: speed can cover a back out of the, backfield can
Speaker 1: maybe get drop into his zone and cover a wide.
Speaker 1: Receiver So, ROBERTS i think another guy who's really formed
Speaker 1: a nice little career for himself at a position THAT
Speaker 1: i don't know if it's, extinct but you, know people
Speaker 1: kind of going away from to your point that you
Speaker 1: made earlier with all the spread and everything like.
Speaker 3: That, YEAH i completely, agree. MAN i, mean now it's
Speaker 3: all about versatility and being able to run and play
Speaker 3: the run and play the pass all this, stuff AND
Speaker 3: i mean just, wait you, KNOW i think we'll see
Speaker 3: things come back around and then you, know linebackers will
Speaker 3: be two fifty two fifty, five two sixty, again and you,
Speaker 3: know we're gonna have to start packing a box up,
Speaker 3: because like you, said two tight ends and a, fullback let's.
Speaker 2: Go did you have you, know, teams you, know a
Speaker 2: particular rivalry that you, know you got a LITTLE x
Speaker 2: juiced up. For what were the teams that that had
Speaker 2: a little bit more motivation to play? Against?
Speaker 3: Yeah so early, On, Uh i'd say The. Broncos they
Speaker 3: were always tough. Games when When peyton was there and
Speaker 3: playing out In, BUFFALO i felt like we always had
Speaker 3: to play them out, there except for that. ONE i
Speaker 3: think they may have Been monday night when they came
Speaker 3: out and that was a real cold. One and, uh
Speaker 3: and we came back from like twenty eight down or
Speaker 3: something at. Halftime but, anyways uh, yeah The broncos were
Speaker 3: were always a good. One The steelers were always a good.
Speaker 3: One The colts were always always a good. Fight and then,
Speaker 3: obviously you, know like our divisional rivals were were always.
Speaker 3: Tough you, know it didn't matter what they're or what they're,
Speaker 3: uh what their their standings. Were it was just we
Speaker 3: knew each other so. Well it was like you, know
Speaker 3: fighting your, Brother so it was there were always. Tough The,
Speaker 3: jets The, dolphins and the and The. Bill The bill
Speaker 3: is obviously, yeah so those one are roway.
Speaker 1: Stuff when you're sitting there In South jersey on the,
Speaker 1: shore you're trying to start this. Business you've got this
Speaker 1: business plan in your. Mind you're thinking, about you, know
Speaker 1: five years down the, road maybe ten years down the.
Speaker 1: Road how, Often, james do you sort of catch yourself
Speaker 1: or is it brought to your attention or anything like
Speaker 1: that that you're a three times Super bowl.
Speaker 3: CHAMPION i, mean i'd say that the Super bowl champion
Speaker 3: thing doesn't come. Up but WHERE i thought you were,
Speaker 3: Going and WHAT i do want to say here, is uh,
Speaker 3: is While i'm on this, journey, right this entrepreneurial journey
Speaker 3: in my life after. Football i'm big about like this
Speaker 3: whole like growth, mindset trying to get better every single
Speaker 3: day at What i'm, doing even THOUGH i, mean, Shit
Speaker 3: i'm not Gonna i'm not gonna bullshit. Here there's days
Speaker 3: WHERE i Know I'm i'm, LIKE i have no idea
Speaker 3: What i'm. Doing i'm just out. Here i'm out here
Speaker 3: trying to way through the. Water But i'll tell you
Speaker 3: it's like. Clockwork almost every single Day i'm reminded of
Speaker 3: something that the game of football taught. Me And i'm
Speaker 3: particularly reminded of something That Bill, belichick you, know was
Speaker 3: like one of his, staples and this like the wisdom
Speaker 3: THAT i THAT i took in for my eight years
Speaker 3: In New. ENGLAND i mean it was like reading like
Speaker 3: every masterclass book and everything about self, help like the
Speaker 3: the guy just like exuberates this wisdom that like WHILE
Speaker 3: i was, PLAYING i was picking it. Up but MAYBE
Speaker 3: i wasn't like, registered MAYBE i wasn't mature enough at
Speaker 3: the point to really like let it resonate with. Me
Speaker 3: but now it's LIKE i realize so much and there's
Speaker 3: like these things that were about football but THEN i
Speaker 3: translate them to business and or things just about. Life
Speaker 3: and that's really been standing out to me AND i
Speaker 3: And i've Told bill that to his, face just, like
Speaker 3: how much like the these lessons come up and in
Speaker 3: my life beyond, football and how MUCH i, appreciate you,
Speaker 3: know the time and the wisdom that he that he.
Speaker 2: Gave do you have much interaction with you, know your former.
Speaker 2: TEAMMATES i, mean it's clear listening to you how much
Speaker 2: you miss. IT i mean just the entirety of. It
Speaker 2: but how much interaction do you still have with the? Guys?
Speaker 3: YEAH i mean obviously living down here In, jersey there's
Speaker 3: not a ton of other guys that are down, Here
Speaker 3: BUT i still keep in contact with with some guys
Speaker 3: on the team. Still you Know David, Andrews, Slate dev,
Speaker 3: mccordy guys like. That and then you know guys that
Speaker 3: have moved on as, well you Know, Julian Danny, mendola you,
Speaker 3: Know Dwayne, allen guys like, that and then some guys
Speaker 3: from like the equipment staff that will always be just
Speaker 3: like dear, Friends like DO i miss the?
Speaker 2: Game?
Speaker 3: Absolutely DO i miss? Those there's like bonds THAT i
Speaker 3: THAT i created in the locker. Room, Yes and the
Speaker 3: and the sad part, is, like you, know for eight
Speaker 3: years was able to interact with these guys on a
Speaker 3: daily basis like, family and now it's LIKE i got
Speaker 3: to set, up you, know a, call and Like dwayne
Speaker 3: lives In San, francisco and now there's like the time
Speaker 3: difference And i'm calling. Him he's with his, son And i'm,
Speaker 3: like you, know it's just like all these you, know mix,
Speaker 3: ups but we still keep in, contact and, like you,
Speaker 3: know one of my favorite Conversations i've had in the
Speaker 3: in the last month was With. Jewels you, know the
Speaker 3: guy's busy as, hell traveling FROM la to back To
Speaker 3: New york and all this, stuff but he still found
Speaker 3: found time to you, know sit down to kind of
Speaker 3: shoot the ship with. Me and so it, was you,
Speaker 3: know we just went went through a lot in those eight.
Speaker 3: Years you, KNOW i was newly, married had had three
Speaker 3: of my four kids at the, time and you, know
Speaker 3: he had his, daughter and you, know all these guys
Speaker 3: were going through all these life experiences together and that
Speaker 3: just doesn't get thrown out the window when we're done
Speaker 3: playing the, game you. Know so, yeah there's definitely good
Speaker 3: relationships That i'll all be cherish from my time with The.
Speaker 1: Pats do you find that, Constant, james when you're talking
Speaker 1: to these guys that it's the, relationships you, know and
Speaker 1: those are the things that are Never, yeah, sure you
Speaker 1: miss being in the locker, room the camaraderie and everything like,
Speaker 1: that the plane, rides even maybe the bus, rides the
Speaker 1: meetings of the all. Times, no but it's those. Relationships
Speaker 1: is that a constant or a theme when you're talking
Speaker 1: to other guys that are no longer.
Speaker 3: Playing, yeah, YEAH i think that's one hundred percent. Correct you, know,
Speaker 3: obviously like the pageantry around the game and how awesome
Speaker 3: it is to be able to play football as a. Profession, like,
Speaker 3: yes that you, KNOW i miss that. TOO i missed the,
Speaker 3: craft if you want to call it. That but the
Speaker 3: thing that will always just stay with you, is like you,
Speaker 3: said the relationships that you build and the experiences you go,
Speaker 3: through the highs and lows of the, season the highs
Speaker 3: and lows of you, know everyday life outside of the
Speaker 3: facility and being able to just kind of wade through
Speaker 3: those waters with these same, guys and, uh you, know
Speaker 3: that's that's. Special you, KNOW i think you find that
Speaker 3: across any any like corporation In america as you start
Speaker 3: to establish relationships with people that you go through these experiences,
Speaker 3: with and nothing's different in the inside a football locker,
Speaker 3: room but it may be heightened a bit because you're
Speaker 3: just in there all day going through all this. Stuff
Speaker 3: and and so, YEAH I i you, KNOW i say
Speaker 3: it all the. Time i'm Not i'm not ashamed to
Speaker 3: SAY i truly love, everything every every guy THAT i played,
Speaker 3: with and every coach that coached. Me And i'm just
Speaker 3: so thankful for the time that you, KNOW i was
Speaker 3: able to, be you, know a part of their. Lives so,
Speaker 3: YEAH i definitely miss.
Speaker 2: It you can let us know which opponents maybe you didn't.
Speaker 3: Like that's.
Speaker 2: Okay NOW i respected. Everybody you, know everybody's playing hard out.
Speaker 2: There it's a. Brotherhood, Yeah, NO.
Speaker 3: I MEAN i always and LIKE i, said like, YOU i,
Speaker 3: MEAN i definitely had respect for my. Opponents you, know
Speaker 3: they all have their stories and they're all human beings
Speaker 3: at the end of the. Day so, NOW i never
Speaker 3: had anybody THAT i hated or hated to. Play it
Speaker 3: was it was always, just you, know we're out there
Speaker 3: playing a. Game and even if you.
Speaker 1: DID i think the events of the recent last week or,
Speaker 1: so and he didn't know about it, beforehand you could
Speaker 1: see that it is truly a brotherhood and everybody respects
Speaker 1: what you guys are, doing what it is that you
Speaker 1: have to, do and it's pretty special to. See it's pretty.
Speaker 3: Special to see one hundred. Percent and like you, said
Speaker 3: like one of your first questions about you know, WHAT
Speaker 3: i WHAT i realized WHEN i first got to The
Speaker 3: patriots or what stood out to me was just like
Speaker 3: the human element behind, it because it, was you, know
Speaker 3: getting to THE. Nfl you always look at your watching
Speaker 3: On sundays as a little, kid and these guys seem
Speaker 3: bigger than. Life and you, know you hear About Tom
Speaker 3: brady from the TIME i was ten years, old about
Speaker 3: how good he, is and you, know winning all These Super,
Speaker 3: bowls and now all of a sudd, Sudden i'm in
Speaker 3: the same room as him as a as a, peer
Speaker 3: AND i, realized, like this guy's just another human. Being
Speaker 3: and SO i, think like you, said this past week
Speaker 3: really like humanizes the game of football a little, bit
Speaker 3: realizes like under these helmets and under these pads and
Speaker 3: jerseys and you, know out on the, field there's just
Speaker 3: twenty two human beings that all have different, stories and
Speaker 3: they all have different experiences and things that they can
Speaker 3: bring to the game and to the. World and, yeah
Speaker 3: when you peel all the all the layers of the onion, back,
Speaker 3: like we're all just human beings at the end of the.
Speaker 3: Day and that's that's the beautiful part of the game of,
Speaker 3: football you, know it's it's real life human drama on
Speaker 3: the field and off the.
Speaker 1: Field so fantastic. Stuff, james really appreciate your. Time best
Speaker 1: wishes for the smoothie and the uh thank you a
Speaker 1: Ashy bowl business and we can help promote that and
Speaker 1: get into A patriot. Place we're happy to do, so.
Speaker 3: Right, well, yeah looking forward to it Many Jersey. Shore
Speaker 3: let me know And i'll a.
Speaker 2: Bow.
Speaker 1: First, yeah, well no surprise THAT i butchered, That, james
Speaker 1: thanks a, lot, Man appreciate your. Time have a great,
Speaker 1: one all.
Speaker 3: Right thank you.
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