1
00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:08,920
Speaker 1: This is incredible. I wish other people could hear this.

2
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,600
Speaker 1: You'll miss it all Bro. Should I do the intro

3
00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,680
Speaker 1: like this? This is a little bit of a spooky

4
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:21,560
Speaker 1: season episode. This sounds so weird. All right, Welcome to

5
00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,400
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers You've got the podcast. Today, I

6
00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,960
Speaker 1: have joined by the People's tight end, George Kittle. George,

7
00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,199
Speaker 1: can you tell the people what we're listening to in

8
00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:34,000
Speaker 1: our headphones? Yeah?

9
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,080
Speaker 2: Well wood shit, spooky season.

10
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,880
Speaker 1: We just want to ship the tone for the risk.

11
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,720
Speaker 3: Welcome to the forty nine ers You've got male podcast.

12
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,320
Speaker 3: I'm your host, Lindsay Plaris, and today I am joined

13
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,800
Speaker 3: by the People's tight end, mister George Kittle.

14
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,080
Speaker 2: Hello, thanks for having me.

15
00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:54,280
Speaker 3: Thanks. What do you think about the sound effects there?

16
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:54,680
Speaker 1: Oh?

17
00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,640
Speaker 4: I absolutely love anything spooky season, So that's fantastic.

18
00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,240
Speaker 2: I was willing to do the whole interview like.

19
00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,840
Speaker 3: That, iks not, but thank you for the participation. All right. So,

20
00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 3: as you probably have guessed, one of the reasons that

21
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 3: we've brought you on the show today is because we

22
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,760
Speaker 3: are about to celebrate a big time holiday in these

23
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,080
Speaker 3: part we are and I'm not talking about Halloween.

24
00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:15,360
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no.

25
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,760
Speaker 3: It is a more important holiday in the month of October.

26
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,880
Speaker 3: That it is National tight Ends Day.

27
00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,840
Speaker 2: Ooh, the holiday of holidays.

28
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:24,200
Speaker 3: The best holidays.

29
00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,160
Speaker 2: Someone say it kicks off holiday season.

30
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,440
Speaker 3: So it kicks off spooky season.

31
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,600
Speaker 4: I mean, like you go National tight Ends Day right

32
00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,080
Speaker 4: into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

33
00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,160
Speaker 2: Wow, I'm incredible.

34
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,160
Speaker 3: Got a controversial question since we're talking about the holidays.

35
00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.

36
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,280
Speaker 3: When is it too early to start decorating for Christmas? Oh?

37
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,319
Speaker 4: You know what, I used to be a big stickler

38
00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 4: on that, and I was, you have to wait until

39
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:50,400
Speaker 4: after Thanksgiving.

40
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:51,520
Speaker 3: I agree with this.

41
00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,440
Speaker 4: That was my big thing, after Thanksgiving or our December first.

42
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,040
Speaker 4: You know, that's kind of my thing. Now it goes

43
00:01:58,040 --> 00:01:59,639
Speaker 4: whenever my wife Claire wants to decorate.

44
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:00,560
Speaker 2: It is okay with me.

45
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:02,160
Speaker 3: That is also a correct answer.

46
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:03,800
Speaker 4: Thank you so much. I thought you were going to

47
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,840
Speaker 4: ask me if Diehards a Christmas movie, and yes it is.

48
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,880
Speaker 3: Oh well that that is on the subject.

49
00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:09,639
Speaker 2: That is controversial.

50
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:11,799
Speaker 3: It is. I mean, I think it's a Christmas movie

51
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 3: because it's we turned around the twenty fifth Thank you

52
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,120
Speaker 3: of December. But we will, we'll bank that for our

53
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,080
Speaker 3: Christmas episode. I'll be back perfect, Okay, so let's talk

54
00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:23,480
Speaker 3: National tight Ends Day.

55
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:24,000
Speaker 2: Let's do it.

56
00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 3: Will you tell us how National tight Ends Day came

57
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:26,920
Speaker 3: to be?

58
00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:28,639
Speaker 2: Yes, let's see.

59
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,800
Speaker 4: It was like my first micd up Week two against

60
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,360
Speaker 4: the Detroit Lions in twenty eighteen, and I think we

61
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:35,639
Speaker 4: had like a bunch of tight ends.

62
00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:36,640
Speaker 2: We're active that.

63
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,760
Speaker 4: Day and it was I think it was me, Garrett Selle,

64
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,960
Speaker 4: cole Wick, maybe ROSTWELLI his rookie season, but we're all

65
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:46,800
Speaker 4: just having a great time because the tight end room

66
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:47,639
Speaker 4: is always a great room.

67
00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 2: We always like to have.

68
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,320
Speaker 4: A lot of fun, a lot of high energy out there.

69
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 4: And I think Jimmy knew I was miked up and

70
00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,760
Speaker 4: we start started, you know, it's uh, you know it's

71
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:57,320
Speaker 4: tight ended Day. Jimmy like, you know, throw the tight

72
00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,000
Speaker 4: ends the ball, we all have an opportunity to score

73
00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,880
Speaker 4: a touchdown. And he goes, yeah, it's National tight Ends Day.

74
00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 4: And I'm like it's a holiday, and he's like, yeah,

75
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,920
Speaker 4: it is a holiday. And it just clicked from there

76
00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,240
Speaker 4: and then like Garrett Selik scored a touchdown and like

77
00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,800
Speaker 4: we're just screaming National tight Ends Day at him, and

78
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,400
Speaker 4: then that's all happened the entire year. And then come

79
00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,519
Speaker 4: next spring. I get like the NFL films is like, hey,

80
00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:20,440
Speaker 4: you want to We're gonna do National Tightenands Day, make

81
00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,080
Speaker 4: it an actual holiday, and I was like, sounds great.

82
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:24,280
Speaker 2: What do you guys want to talk about?

83
00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:25,680
Speaker 4: And so then we just kind of it's kind of

84
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,400
Speaker 4: grown from there and when like the first year was

85
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,359
Speaker 4: kind of league wide, all the titands are like, what

86
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,680
Speaker 4: are we doing? And now it's kind of turned into

87
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:34,640
Speaker 4: a fun thing where you know, titands are featured, all

88
00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,360
Speaker 4: the titans are micd up, which is really fun. And

89
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:38,920
Speaker 4: you gotta hear from your favorite tight end.

90
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,800
Speaker 3: And what is the proper way for a non tight

91
00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,520
Speaker 3: end for the faithful? How do they celebrate National tight

92
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:45,040
Speaker 3: Ends Day?

93
00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:52,920
Speaker 4: Let's see appropriately, cheer very very loud, eat great food,

94
00:03:53,480 --> 00:04:00,000
Speaker 4: drink great fluids, hydrate, gatorade, whatever you want to hide

95
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,840
Speaker 4: it with. Use a water mix a water in there somewhere,

96
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,960
Speaker 4: and spike something once in a while, you know, once

97
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 4: you finish your beverage, spike it, you know, And every

98
00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 4: time a tight end scores, have one more as long

99
00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:12,520
Speaker 4: as you're not driving.

100
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,880
Speaker 3: I like that advice. How will you be celebrating National

101
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:17,120
Speaker 3: tight Ends Day on the field?

102
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,719
Speaker 2: Touchdowns I like it, and spiking the ball and spiking

103
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:21,960
Speaker 2: the heck out of that football.

104
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,960
Speaker 3: So one part of your game is that you've always

105
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,800
Speaker 3: prided yourself on making an impact on the field, whether

106
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,680
Speaker 3: you have the ball in your hands or not. Can

107
00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,560
Speaker 3: you talk to us a little bit about where that

108
00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,760
Speaker 3: passion for past pro and run blocking came from.

109
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what, I didn't really play tight end

110
00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,240
Speaker 4: until I got to college, and then literally my first

111
00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:44,000
Speaker 4: day on campus, they said, if you don't learn how

112
00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,920
Speaker 4: to run block, you'll never play here. And I was like, well,

113
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:48,920
Speaker 4: that's tough. I'm never trying to make it to the NFL.

114
00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:51,760
Speaker 4: So I took it upon myself to just try really hard.

115
00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,720
Speaker 4: And at the University of Iowa, you spend I mean

116
00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,520
Speaker 4: I sawid hour of your day every single day practicing.

117
00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,360
Speaker 4: Whether it's run blocking or pass blocking, you just do it.

118
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,360
Speaker 4: There's no getting around it. So you're either going to

119
00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,120
Speaker 4: try to get better at it or you're going to suffer.

120
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,440
Speaker 4: And you might suffer the whole time as it is,

121
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,160
Speaker 4: but I just kind of decided, well, I'm going to

122
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 4: try my best at this and I'm going to get

123
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,080
Speaker 4: better at it. And after you know, hundreds and thousands

124
00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,839
Speaker 4: of reps. I got pretty good at it, and I

125
00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,039
Speaker 4: just took a pride in it that I'm gonna be

126
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:20,880
Speaker 4: able to be the tip of the spear or you're

127
00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,360
Speaker 4: gonna be able to rely on me in a one

128
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,039
Speaker 4: on one pass pro versus a defensive end. And you know,

129
00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,440
Speaker 4: also the titan gets to play, he gets to do

130
00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 4: everything on a football field, you know, pass, pro, run, block,

131
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,960
Speaker 4: run routes, reverses, throw the ball like, they get to

132
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 4: do everything. And so in my opinion, I'm going to

133
00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,239
Speaker 4: try to be I don't want to be average at everything.

134
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:40,320
Speaker 4: I want to be great at everything. And so that's

135
00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:41,360
Speaker 4: why I want to be a tight end.

136
00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,040
Speaker 3: You also have a little bit of a background from

137
00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,680
Speaker 3: your dad, who was a left tackle that he was,

138
00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,479
Speaker 3: So what type of pointers has he given you in

139
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,320
Speaker 3: terms of blocking through the years?

140
00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:52,599
Speaker 2: So many I'll never forget.

141
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,440
Speaker 4: My very first tackle football practice was fifth grade and

142
00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,839
Speaker 4: he had the entire team doing past blocking drills with bags,

143
00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,599
Speaker 4: like everybody's sliding down the line, punching a bag, sliding

144
00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,600
Speaker 4: down the line, punching a bag, mirror dodge, running off

145
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,880
Speaker 4: the ball, hitting it. And he also convinced all the

146
00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,800
Speaker 4: kids he said all of you will strive to become

147
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,640
Speaker 4: offensive linemen, but not all of you are good enough

148
00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,480
Speaker 4: to become an offensive lineman. And that's okay because people

149
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,680
Speaker 4: need to play quarterback and people need to play wide receiver.

150
00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:24,480
Speaker 4: But just letting you know that off to line is

151
00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,200
Speaker 4: the best position in football. And so we had all

152
00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,800
Speaker 4: of us convinced that off to line, and like, I

153
00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:30,440
Speaker 4: knew my dad and I knew what he was saying.

154
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:31,760
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know. I like getting the

155
00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 2: ball and running, like that's really fun.

156
00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,400
Speaker 4: But like all these kids were just everyone like the

157
00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,800
Speaker 4: super small kids that you have to play cornerback because

158
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,520
Speaker 4: they're just not physically big enough. We're playing trying to

159
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,039
Speaker 4: play offsive line and like complaining that they weren't getting chances.

160
00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:44,920
Speaker 2: So that was really fun.

161
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,279
Speaker 4: So all the blocking stuff I've been doing since I

162
00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,880
Speaker 4: was a kid, and then every you know, every I

163
00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 4: watch every game with my dad and he always, you know,

164
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,960
Speaker 4: has coaching tips for me. I also send him the film,

165
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:56,679
Speaker 4: so if I'm not with him, he sends me tips

166
00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:58,839
Speaker 4: or hey, what about your first step? What about your

167
00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,800
Speaker 4: second step? Thoughts on this aiming point? Your inside hand

168
00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:03,719
Speaker 4: wasn't very good here you got to focus on that.

169
00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,400
Speaker 4: It's always it's all positive critique, Like he's never like

170
00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,400
Speaker 4: docking down to me or anything like that. And at

171
00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 4: this point in my career, it's a fun, playful banter too,

172
00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,400
Speaker 4: because he's an excellent coach.

173
00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:14,440
Speaker 2: I'm a pretty good player, and so we just kind

174
00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:15,680
Speaker 2: of bounce ideas off each other.

175
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,680
Speaker 3: So do you think he ever wanted to play any

176
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,360
Speaker 3: other position than offensive line?

177
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,600
Speaker 4: I know, so he played d line a little bit

178
00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,840
Speaker 4: in college as well. But yeah, he's a trench guy.

179
00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:29,600
Speaker 4: You keep him in the You keep him in that trench,

180
00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,000
Speaker 4: and he has a thoroughly good time.

181
00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 3: Part of your game obviously, like you said, tight ends

182
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,880
Speaker 3: do a little bit of everything, is to catch touchdown passes.

183
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 3: So what is your favorite kind of game day when

184
00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:44,600
Speaker 3: you are very, very heavily featured in the pass catching

185
00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:46,280
Speaker 3: game or when you're blocking a lot.

186
00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,040
Speaker 4: Well, here's my thing. If I have let's just say

187
00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,240
Speaker 4: our team game, our game plan, we have like seventy

188
00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,040
Speaker 4: total plays. If I get five to eight catches, I

189
00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,760
Speaker 4: thoroughly enjoy that because that means probably another fifty of

190
00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,680
Speaker 4: those are in blocking, and so I'll make do with

191
00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,320
Speaker 4: those fifty plays. So, uh, you know, I like catching

192
00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,840
Speaker 4: the ball, I like scoring touchdowns, and if they need

193
00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,040
Speaker 4: me in the run game or blocking like that, I

194
00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,840
Speaker 4: just take pride and I'm gonna have fun regardless, hearty mix.

195
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,880
Speaker 3: So, where does a game like the Dallas Sunday Night

196
00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,920
Speaker 3: hat trick game rank and games that you've had the

197
00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:18,520
Speaker 3: most fun in?

198
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 4: That was really fun going three for three not getting tackled.

199
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,280
Speaker 4: It's a blast. Your body definitely feels better the next day.

200
00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,960
Speaker 4: Scoring three touchdowns for the first time the day before

201
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,800
Speaker 4: I turn thirty also pretty cool.

202
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,480
Speaker 2: You know, bleated, thank you so much. So that was

203
00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:33,200
Speaker 2: pretty awesome.

204
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,640
Speaker 3: What are I guess the other maybe one or two games?

205
00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:37,960
Speaker 3: Favorite games of your career?

206
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:44,360
Speaker 4: Ooh, NFC Championship game. Uh, you know, winning by thirty

207
00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,040
Speaker 4: points in the NFC Champions Game is pretty fun. T

208
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,080
Speaker 4: was nineteen Saints game was pretty fun just because it

209
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,920
Speaker 4: was like forty five to forty four, forty three, just

210
00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:58,480
Speaker 4: an outrageously fun lightning work, lightning work, fireworks game. Sorry

211
00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,120
Speaker 4: mixing my words up there. Those are really fun. Two

212
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,000
Speaker 4: hundred and ten yards against the Broncos in one half

213
00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:08,880
Speaker 4: was pretty fun as well. Also, like playing Minnesota in

214
00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:10,760
Speaker 4: the Tales of nineteen Playoffs was also fun, and the

215
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,719
Speaker 4: twenty one playoffs just because we ran the ball so effectively,

216
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,440
Speaker 4: and it's just fun to, you know, play really good

217
00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:18,560
Speaker 4: games together as an offense.

218
00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,680
Speaker 3: So you've hit some big career milestones, had some big

219
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,960
Speaker 3: games off the field. You also like to have fun,

220
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,000
Speaker 3: and you're also very involved in the community. You've done

221
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,000
Speaker 3: a lot of work with military families and then also

222
00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,800
Speaker 3: with cancer warriors. When did you become interested in that.

223
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,120
Speaker 4: Let's see, the military has always been a big deal

224
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,520
Speaker 4: to me because I've had multiple family members that have served.

225
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,560
Speaker 4: Most specifically, I have an uncle, My uncle Pat served

226
00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,080
Speaker 4: in the National Guard. He did three tours, and I

227
00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 4: lived really close to their family, and I just like

228
00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,360
Speaker 4: saw the impact of him not being there around and

229
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,440
Speaker 4: like how hard that is for a family, and like

230
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,880
Speaker 4: they still you know, they they did everything they could,

231
00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:58,920
Speaker 4: but like when your dad's not there and he's a

232
00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:00,920
Speaker 4: very vital part of that fan and like how active

233
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,120
Speaker 4: he is in his community. It just like it kind

234
00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,560
Speaker 4: of hit home with me because I was around them

235
00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,200
Speaker 4: all the time, and so seeing families now like I

236
00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:14,319
Speaker 4: got to work with TAPS, and like seeing families who

237
00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,840
Speaker 4: have lost loved ones at war, and like losing that

238
00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,360
Speaker 4: and having that hole. It's just, yeah, it hits close

239
00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,560
Speaker 4: to home because I've seen that before and I've seen

240
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,720
Speaker 4: what does of my family members, and so I just

241
00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,200
Speaker 4: try everything I can just to be a part of

242
00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,319
Speaker 4: that and I maybe get someone to smile just a

243
00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,800
Speaker 4: little bit, pick up their mood, and just you know,

244
00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,199
Speaker 4: try to get them in a positive attitude for that

245
00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,200
Speaker 4: singular day and when it comes to you know, children's

246
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,679
Speaker 4: hospitals and stuff like that. The University of Iowa has

247
00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,080
Speaker 4: Iowa Children's Hospital right now in Mexicanick Stadium. They do

248
00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,360
Speaker 4: the wave after the first quarter, which is one of

249
00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:50,199
Speaker 4: the coolest things ever and ever since I was a freshman,

250
00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,200
Speaker 4: they would you'd go over there two or three times

251
00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,640
Speaker 4: a year or more if you volunteered for it. Just

252
00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,040
Speaker 4: go hang out in the children's hospital and you're aisle

253
00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,079
Speaker 4: some Iowa football grout fit, just gray sweats, gray hoodie,

254
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:03,839
Speaker 4: and to be able to, you know, just go in

255
00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:05,840
Speaker 4: there and hang out these kids and it was really

256
00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,280
Speaker 4: special and it was really cool. Last year I was

257
00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,960
Speaker 4: able to big out one of the one of the

258
00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,440
Speaker 4: families that I met at the children's hospital my freshman year.

259
00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,600
Speaker 4: I ended up seeing her two or three times, and

260
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:16,839
Speaker 4: then they were able to come out to a game

261
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,160
Speaker 4: last year and she said, all I wanted was a

262
00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:21,280
Speaker 4: touchdown ball, and I happened to score two touchdowns and

263
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:23,240
Speaker 4: so she got one of the touchdown balls, which was

264
00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,440
Speaker 4: it was spectacular. So and just we got to visit

265
00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,319
Speaker 4: Larry yesterday. We had like fifteen guys show up for

266
00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,040
Speaker 4: the Stanford Children's Hospital. It was wonderful just to see

267
00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,599
Speaker 4: how positive that they can be when I know, the

268
00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:38,439
Speaker 4: last thing that any one of those kids wants to

269
00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:40,640
Speaker 4: do is be inside in the hospital room, and they'd

270
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,000
Speaker 4: rather be outside playing playing sports, you know, watching cartoons,

271
00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,160
Speaker 4: doing stuff with their friends.

272
00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,679
Speaker 2: And they still have these positive attitudes.

273
00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:49,840
Speaker 4: Even though they're you know, in the hospital you know

274
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,040
Speaker 4: room and dealing with adversity that you know, I personally

275
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,440
Speaker 4: never dealt with myself. And just to see their attitude,

276
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,680
Speaker 4: it's very inspiring. And so I just love to be

277
00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,680
Speaker 4: around these kids and their face families and also you know,

278
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:03,160
Speaker 4: just try to put a smile on their face and

279
00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:04,280
Speaker 4: hang out them for just a little bit.

280
00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,720
Speaker 3: You mentioned the visit to the local children's hospital, and

281
00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,959
Speaker 3: that actually had a really large contingency of forty nine

282
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,360
Speaker 3: ers players. As a leader of the locker room, Is

283
00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,800
Speaker 3: that something that you encourage the other players to be

284
00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 3: involved with or is it just kind of the natural

285
00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,120
Speaker 3: tendency of this group of guys both.

286
00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,320
Speaker 4: I think we have a fantastic team and there are

287
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,079
Speaker 4: there's like a core group of guys that do every

288
00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,000
Speaker 4: single Tuesday our community service stuff. They always they're always

289
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,240
Speaker 4: doing it. I true, I try to do as many

290
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,680
Speaker 4: as I possibly can, but when it comes to Children's Hospital,

291
00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:34,679
Speaker 4: it's always something that I go around like, Hey, we're

292
00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,880
Speaker 4: visiting the Children's hospital today. If you guys can make it,

293
00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:39,760
Speaker 4: this is this is the one that you know, this

294
00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,480
Speaker 4: is the one that you guys should make because it's

295
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,000
Speaker 4: you get to really make a huge impact on a

296
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,000
Speaker 4: bunch of kids, which you should do and you should

297
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:48,840
Speaker 4: want to do that. And so I'm always a little

298
00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,640
Speaker 4: stickler for that one. That one Thanksgiving and Christmas, So

299
00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,199
Speaker 4: that those are my three that I always try to

300
00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 4: encourage more guys to participate in because it means a

301
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:57,240
Speaker 4: lot to a lot of those families.

302
00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,280
Speaker 3: Is that something the community Tuesdays that you've been in with,

303
00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,120
Speaker 3: Is that something you started your rookie year to now

304
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:04,440
Speaker 3: that always have been a part of it.

305
00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, I have. I've always done it. It kind of

306
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,720
Speaker 4: started with my vet tight end my rookie season, Garrett Seleek.

307
00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,320
Speaker 4: He always did him and he's like, dude, you're gonna

308
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:15,680
Speaker 4: come with me whether you want to or not. I

309
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,240
Speaker 4: was like, all right, sounds good, and so we would

310
00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,400
Speaker 4: just we'd go to him and he would always drive

311
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,320
Speaker 4: me and uh my wife, my girlfriend then my wife

312
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:23,760
Speaker 4: now she'd go with us to a lot of the

313
00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,319
Speaker 4: events too. And one, it's a fun opportunity to give

314
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,319
Speaker 4: back to the community, but you also, you know, you're

315
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:30,800
Speaker 4: out of the house. You're not just sitting on your

316
00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,760
Speaker 4: couch watching TV, playing video games. You're out doing something productive,

317
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,640
Speaker 4: and you're building your relationship with your teammates outside of

318
00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:37,040
Speaker 4: the field.

319
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:38,280
Speaker 2: Because while we see.

320
00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,280
Speaker 4: Each other every single day and we you know, hang

321
00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:41,920
Speaker 4: out a little bit in the locker room and stuff

322
00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:43,720
Speaker 4: like that, but most of the time you're in meetings

323
00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:46,120
Speaker 4: or you're studying, you're eating, you're on the field. And

324
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:47,959
Speaker 4: so to have the opportunity to hang out with guys

325
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:49,960
Speaker 4: outside of that and to see the type of character

326
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,199
Speaker 4: that your teammates have outside of the stadium, it's really cool.

327
00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,520
Speaker 2: And that's what develops these fun relationships and bonds.

328
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,360
Speaker 3: You mentioned that you encourage a lot of the younger guys.

329
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:00,920
Speaker 3: There's a couple new tight ends in the forty nine

330
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,679
Speaker 3: ers locker room. Take us inside that room and what

331
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,520
Speaker 3: the dynamics of that are. It definitely seems like you're

332
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,400
Speaker 3: the biggest personality in that room.

333
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:14,640
Speaker 4: Uh, I don't know about that one. Maybe maybe let's see,

334
00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:16,959
Speaker 4: I don't know Dwell he might have the biggest personality. No,

335
00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,000
Speaker 4: it's definitely me. I'm definitely the loudest Dwell. He's been

336
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 4: with me for six years now, so that's been awesome.

337
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:25,760
Speaker 4: He doesn't laugh at many of my jokes anymore, just

338
00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,880
Speaker 4: because he's heard he's I get him once in a while,

339
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,960
Speaker 4: and if I got a chuckle out of Dwelly, I

340
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,280
Speaker 4: know it's a good joke. Charlie Warner's fantastic. He just

341
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,320
Speaker 4: brings that country vibe to the room, that dad vibe too,

342
00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,840
Speaker 4: because he's the only father in the room, which is fantastic.

343
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,840
Speaker 4: And then yeah, we have three new guys in cam

344
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,600
Speaker 4: Lat too, Braiden Willis and Jake Tungus. Jake joined us

345
00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,880
Speaker 4: after training camp. Braiden cam Or fantastic. It's been fun

346
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,480
Speaker 4: to have them in the room. And it's cool too

347
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,000
Speaker 4: because like when you first get rookies, everyone's very quiet

348
00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,080
Speaker 4: most of the time. You know, some rookies are loud,

349
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,960
Speaker 4: but art we're very quiet. And to see them kind

350
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:05,200
Speaker 4: of just open up a little bit and you know,

351
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,240
Speaker 4: have fun with a tight end room, it's been it's

352
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 4: been a blast. And then Toungus has been a great

353
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,160
Speaker 4: vibe too. He came from Chicago. Also, one of my

354
00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:12,840
Speaker 4: best friends, robbed Tony in place with the Bears, and

355
00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,040
Speaker 4: so they were together for a little bit, and uh,

356
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,840
Speaker 4: he gave me the lowdown on him, and so it's

357
00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:18,000
Speaker 4: been fun to get to know him as well.

358
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,320
Speaker 2: And he's a Low Scotts native too, which is pretty cool.

359
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:21,680
Speaker 2: A native awesome.

360
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,240
Speaker 3: So at what point did you start to see the

361
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,680
Speaker 3: rookie tight ends really open up and kind of feel

362
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:28,240
Speaker 3: comfortable in this new setting.

363
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,400
Speaker 4: I would say, you know, OTA's are both like very

364
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,240
Speaker 4: dialed in, and I was like, you, guys, like, I

365
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,000
Speaker 4: love it, be professional every single day, but you can

366
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,760
Speaker 4: still like, you know, enjoy yourself, like you have fun.

367
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,640
Speaker 2: Football is fun. You know, we're playing a kid's game.

368
00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:45,320
Speaker 2: Enjoy it.

369
00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:47,440
Speaker 4: Like it is your profession, it's your job, so take

370
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,920
Speaker 4: it seriously, but like enjoy yourself please, otherwise it gets

371
00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,280
Speaker 4: really difficult or more difficult than it has to be.

372
00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,480
Speaker 4: And I would say, like kind of towards the end

373
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,600
Speaker 4: of training camp or like the first week of the season,

374
00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:01,120
Speaker 4: like they're like kind of just like a breath of air, like, oh, okay,

375
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,520
Speaker 4: well I made it through that, I made it through

376
00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,840
Speaker 4: training camp. I'm on the team, all right, now let's

377
00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,520
Speaker 4: go to work for the season. But just I can

378
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 4: see in them, just seeing them open up a little bit,

379
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:11,600
Speaker 4: it was kind of fun.

380
00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,880
Speaker 2: Just it's just fun to see guys grow really too.

381
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,400
Speaker 3: What did you tell them about National tight Ends Day

382
00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:18,680
Speaker 3: And were they even aware of the holiday prior?

383
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,600
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, they got T shirts with their lockers. They're

384
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 2: very excited about that.

385
00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,640
Speaker 4: You know what, And I I've I've made this very

386
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,560
Speaker 4: clear to every titand that's ever man room, is that

387
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,600
Speaker 4: every single day is National tight Ends Day. You just

388
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:31,320
Speaker 4: have to you know, you just have to celebrate it yourself.

389
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,520
Speaker 4: While not everybody celebrates that, I do celebrate it, but

390
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,000
Speaker 4: just doing enjoy it, have fun.

391
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,440
Speaker 3: What should we expect from you guys on National tit

392
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:47,200
Speaker 3: end they touchdowns, touchdowns. Okay that nothing else, no special attire, nothing.

393
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,640
Speaker 4: Oh I'm I am going to look really good. I

394
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:50,800
Speaker 4: will say that I got.

395
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 2: I got.

396
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,320
Speaker 4: My sneaker collection is continuing to expand, and I've been

397
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,960
Speaker 4: able to complete a couple of my shoe collections that

398
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:01,040
Speaker 4: are you know. I completed my goalilocks in the Three

399
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,280
Speaker 4: Bears collection, which I'm very pumped about. I just got

400
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,479
Speaker 4: Mama Bear. And so these sneakers are gonna finally get us.

401
00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,920
Speaker 4: You're gonna see him on the red carpet finally the debut.

402
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:11,120
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so excited.

403
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,560
Speaker 3: So the forty nine Ers Studios team did a really

404
00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,360
Speaker 3: awesome piece on you and your shoe collection last year.

405
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,600
Speaker 3: What would you say that the count is officially up to.

406
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:27,440
Speaker 4: Oh, dear lord, I got like seventy five to ninety

407
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,520
Speaker 4: five pairs in here, and like probably thirty to forty

408
00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:31,320
Speaker 4: pairs in Nashville.

409
00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,440
Speaker 3: Oh, I actually expected more, to be honest, I could

410
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:35,840
Speaker 3: be flying completely.

411
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:37,880
Speaker 2: I'm not honestly sure. Let's see ten.

412
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:39,640
Speaker 4: You know what, now, let's just call it like one

413
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:41,720
Speaker 4: twenty here in like fifty in Nashville.

414
00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,760
Speaker 3: Okay, sneakerhead here, very big sneaker head