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Speaker 1: And welcome to the fourteenth episode Wow of Bird Noises

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Speaker 1: and lanthous and podcasts about football and mostly everything else.

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Speaker 1: I said a couple of weeks ago when I had

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Speaker 1: rookie Marlon Davidson on here, that it is good to

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Speaker 1: be back, and it is really good to be back.

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Speaker 1: But it's even better today because we finally have Falcons

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Speaker 1: general manager Thomas Dimitro on the show, who I've been

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Speaker 1: waiting to get on the show since February. But it's

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Speaker 1: a lot's happened since then in all of our lives.

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Speaker 1: But Thomas, welcome to Bird Noises. It's so good to

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Speaker 1: see you. Well, thanks for having me. I'm glad to

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Speaker 1: have you back, and I'm glad we're having an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to talk about some of the most important things in

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Speaker 1: this world right now. And look, you look good. You

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Speaker 1: look ready to face it and take care of business.

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Speaker 1: So let's let's jump in. Yeah, I'm working my way

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Speaker 1: back here, almost one hundred percent here, and I'm just

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Speaker 1: gonna ask you really quick. I ask every buddy, what

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Speaker 1: do you think of the name Bird Noises? Be honest,

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Speaker 1: be brutally honest. Coach Quinn hated Jack Jack Albert said

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Speaker 1: it needed juice. It probably needs some juice. To be

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Speaker 1: honest with you, I'm a pretty understanding, open minded person.

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Speaker 1: But I think as as far as football goes, let's

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Speaker 1: let's find something a little more appealing and enticing. All right,

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Speaker 1: I'll let Dan gad know since he came up with

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Speaker 1: the name. All right, Well, listen, there's You are such

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Speaker 1: an interesting person on and off the field, in and

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Speaker 1: out of Flowery Branch. I don't know how many people

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Speaker 1: know about all the things that you're into. I find

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Speaker 1: you fascinating, and the more I read about you, the

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Speaker 1: more I see so many commonalities. Not that I'm a

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Speaker 1: football GM, but just how you live your life and

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Speaker 1: when I read things about your dad and your family,

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Speaker 1: but you have a love and passion for cycling your pasctarianism,

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Speaker 1: and so I want to talk about some of that stuff,

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Speaker 1: and then the virtual side of of being quarantined, and

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Speaker 1: how you handled the draft, everything like that. But first

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Speaker 1: and foremost, I want to ask you about what's going

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Speaker 1: on in the world around us right now. You know

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Speaker 1: there are ongoing protests in Atlanta and throughout the country,

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Speaker 1: and you had said, I've always believed we are all

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Speaker 1: created equal and should be treated as such, but have

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Speaker 1: passively held back my voice. I've decided it's time for

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Speaker 1: me to step up and take action, and that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what you did. This past Sunday. You participated participated in

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Speaker 1: a march of the Governor's mansion, and I just want

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Speaker 1: to ask you what kind of impact did that have

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Speaker 1: on you and how are you, in your position in

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Speaker 1: your platform, going to keep the momentum going well. First,

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Speaker 1: I want to say and give tons of credit or

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Speaker 1: most all the credit to my mother for raising me

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Speaker 1: as someone that believes that we are all created equal

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Speaker 1: and from the bottom of my soul always believed that.

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Speaker 1: What I had mentioned there in my in my statement

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Speaker 1: of my comment was yes, I've had my sides where

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Speaker 1: I have definitely an open minded side in a a

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Speaker 1: an outspoken side politically over the years of my own

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Speaker 1: way and my own sortle of friends. But I've been

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Speaker 1: very particular about how I've shared that, especially as I've

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Speaker 1: moved into the general manager role, and I've realized that

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Speaker 1: I do not want to at least over the years,

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Speaker 1: have not wanted to offend anyone because you know, Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Falcons is attached to my name and I've realized most recently,

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Speaker 1: especially through what has been going on here, you know,

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Speaker 1: the tragedies that have been happening, and they've been happening

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Speaker 1: a lot longer than obviously just what's happened in Minnesota recently,

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Speaker 1: of course, which is horrendous, that it is time for

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Speaker 1: me to stop sitting back or pulling back in and

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Speaker 1: concerning myself about you know, expressing myself where appropriate and

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Speaker 1: when appropriate. So that was what I was saying, like,

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Speaker 1: it's time for me to believe there will be times

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Speaker 1: when it is not wrong for me to make a

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Speaker 1: comment or step out or continue to do my part

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Speaker 1: in helping to you know, rid this wonderful country of

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Speaker 1: something that is is really complicated right now. We have

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Speaker 1: a lot of work to do. It's a beautiful country,

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Speaker 1: and yet we have a lot of work to do,

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Speaker 1: and I want to be a part of that. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to just be a silent element of all this.

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Speaker 1: I want to continue to help and do my part. Well,

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Speaker 1: it's really great seeing you, and I know fans that

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Speaker 1: I give emails in questions every morning from the fan base,

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Speaker 1: and I know they notice when they see Dan Quinn

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Speaker 1: and Matt Ryan starting to go fund me and the

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Speaker 1: general manager Thomas de Mitrof out there marching and reading

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Speaker 1: about it, and you know, we all have to do

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Speaker 1: our part, and it was really good to see you

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Speaker 1: guys out there participate too with all of us, and

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Speaker 1: I just hope we can keep the momentum going. And

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Speaker 1: hats off to what you guys are doing in your

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Speaker 1: donations and everything. Well, you know, this all starts with

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Speaker 1: Arthur Blank and I'm beyond proud to be a part

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Speaker 1: of this organization. Arthur's at the front of it all,

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Speaker 1: from from league initiatives to how he's handling this organization

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Speaker 1: and this city you know, in the country. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he's just incredibly philanthropic. But it's not just that, it's

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Speaker 1: what he believes in his heart and his soul. And

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Speaker 1: we all know that to our head coach, who to

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Speaker 1: me is one of the very best of what he does,

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Speaker 1: and his ability to communicate with the players, race aside,

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Speaker 1: it does not matter to him, and that is very,

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Speaker 1: very unbelievably authentic with him and his brotherhood and what

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Speaker 1: he believes. It's not just a line, it's not contrived.

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Speaker 1: That's what he believes, and our football team knows that

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Speaker 1: to where Matt Ryan is from his go go fund

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Speaker 1: me donation and what he's done and how he's raising

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Speaker 1: I don't even know exactly where we are right now.

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Speaker 1: We're well over a million dollars, which I think he

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Speaker 1: should be incredibly proud. I love where he is right now.

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Speaker 1: I think our team will continue to come together, everyone

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Speaker 1: will continue to put their best look forward. And again

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Speaker 1: I'm encouraged by the direction of where we are going. Again,

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Speaker 1: we have a lot of work to do, but we

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Speaker 1: are heading in the right direction. You certainly do have

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Speaker 1: a lot of work to but it's it's great to

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Speaker 1: see you guys from an organizational standpoint out in front.

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Speaker 1: And the one word that just comes in mind when

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Speaker 1: I think of you and Dan and arthur's just genuine

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Speaker 1: and just strong and just it's just it's just good

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Speaker 1: to see. Well, I'm going to switch gears here yet again.

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Speaker 1: You know, I love to talk to you about your

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Speaker 1: Canadian ties and maybe you can get you on again

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Speaker 1: um and talk about you know, you learn the game

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Speaker 1: under your dad and just the scouting stories. I'd love

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Speaker 1: to talk about scouting. You did grow up in Canada,

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Speaker 1: though not a lot of people know that I don't

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Speaker 1: know if a lot of people know that. I didn't

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Speaker 1: know that until I, you know, got to know you.

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Speaker 1: But you went to the University of Quealth and you

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Speaker 1: were a pretty decent player up there. You were a

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Speaker 1: defensive back. No, I only laugh because when you look

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Speaker 1: at it when you're playing, you think life revolves around

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Speaker 1: you and everything was so important and big, and you

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Speaker 1: come down here and you realize the level of athletes here.

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Speaker 1: And as much as I love the sport, you know,

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Speaker 1: I always wanted to play, even if it didn't matter

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Speaker 1: what level of professional football it was. I could even

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Speaker 1: think about playing in like, uh, you know, the Czech

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Speaker 1: Republic or something, or Japan. But never did I love

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Speaker 1: football that much. Yes, I did spend a lot of

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Speaker 1: time in Canada. I'm a proud American through and through.

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Speaker 1: My dad had brought us to Canada when he was

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Speaker 1: coaching in the Canadian Football League, so I got a

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Speaker 1: chance to be around and have some amazing Canadian friends

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Speaker 1: and and uh Canadian family because my brother, of course

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Speaker 1: lives up there now and married Canadian. He has Canadian kids.

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Speaker 1: So my my ties in Canada are at a lot

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Speaker 1: of levels. And I did go to school there. I

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Speaker 1: went to this high school there and I ended up

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Speaker 1: going to college up there. Uh. And it's the education

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Speaker 1: is really good up there, and it's very rounded and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think very um just multi layered and

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Speaker 1: multifaceted and honestly just multicultural and something that I think

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Speaker 1: was very good in parts of developing who I am.

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Speaker 1: And uh and while I said I'm a proud American,

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Speaker 1: I love being down here, my time up in Canada,

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Speaker 1: you know, helped set the tone for a lot of

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Speaker 1: elements of who I am. I have some great friends

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Speaker 1: up there, and uh, I appreciate that my dad took

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Speaker 1: me up there during his CFL years. That's right, a

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Speaker 1: lot of CFL ties there. Um, well, let's let's move

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Speaker 1: on from that. I don't know if you want to

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Speaker 1: talk about like any of your crag, about any your

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Speaker 1: on field accomplishments or anything like that, but we can

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Speaker 1: we can move on. So, as we were talking about earlier,

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Speaker 1: the last time we were at, last time I was

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Speaker 1: in Flowery Branch was like March thirteenth, and uh, you

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Speaker 1: know all of us have been quarantined though we were

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Speaker 1: starting to reopen again. Um, you know, since then, I

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Speaker 1: know coaches and some of the NFL personnel are working

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Speaker 1: their way back into flowery branch. But a lot of

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Speaker 1: the pre draft, during the draft, and everything since and

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Speaker 1: even even with your free agents has been done through

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Speaker 1: virtual meetings, a lot of phone calls, a lot of

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Speaker 1: talking to prospects, free agents, and through the virtual world

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Speaker 1: now video conferencing. What has that been like? And uh,

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Speaker 1: you know? And then outside of football, what have you

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Speaker 1: been doing with you and your family to you know,

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Speaker 1: avoid going stir crazy because you know, I know that

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Speaker 1: you're pretty active outside of football. You love extreme sports,

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Speaker 1: are used to um, you know, I know you love

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Speaker 1: to cycle and uh um snowboard and all that. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if you still have your motorcycle. But um,

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Speaker 1: you know, what's what's that been like? So I first

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Speaker 1: start by saying, yes, it was complicated for us, um

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Speaker 1: and it still is, but we're getting used to it.

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Speaker 1: I think one of the great things about this, as

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Speaker 1: tough as it's been from a pandemic standpoint, is learning

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Speaker 1: how to be comfortable with, you know, balancing your life

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Speaker 1: and being smart about how you interact and mainly being

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Speaker 1: able to adeptly work remotely. You know, for so long

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Speaker 1: we were concerned about, you know, being at home working

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Speaker 1: because we we thought that it's sent the wrong message

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Speaker 1: that we weren't working harder. We all realize we're all

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Speaker 1: probably working harder, and we have more meetings in a

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Speaker 1: day than we ever have had in our lives, and

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Speaker 1: we have to manage that. That's that's not easy. Not

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Speaker 1: looking for anyone to feel sorry for us, of course,

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Speaker 1: but you know, Dan and I communicate all the time, virtually.

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Speaker 1: I communicate with all of our staff as much as possible, virtually.

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Speaker 1: Quite honestly, I try to stay steered clear as much

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Speaker 1: as possible from phone calls. I'm so much more used

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Speaker 1: to looking at people and communicating as we are now

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Speaker 1: than I ever would have imagined. And you know, when

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Speaker 1: I'm getting on the phone with our with our personnel directors,

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Speaker 1: maybe Steve Sabo, Anthony Robinson and Shepley Hurd, we'll bang

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Speaker 1: out a quick FaceTime like that, and everyone knows obviously

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Speaker 1: it's not that difficult, but we all know how to

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Speaker 1: do it prior to this, so probably most of us

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Speaker 1: we're fiddling around and fumbling around trying to figure out

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Speaker 1: how to, you know, to be right about how we're connecting.

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Speaker 1: Now we can get on with twenty five or thirty people,

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Speaker 1: and you know, we know what we do. We know,

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Speaker 1: we know we need to mute, we know we need

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Speaker 1: to take our cameras off to give us more coverage

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Speaker 1: and clearer coverage. We're knowing all the little a little

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Speaker 1: hints and in the tricks of the trade, which is great,

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Speaker 1: which I think is going to be great for us

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Speaker 1: as we move on. And this has actually precipitated a

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Speaker 1: lot of discussion within football operations and a lot of

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Speaker 1: my contemporaries around the country in this job of how

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Speaker 1: they're going to make remote working a part of their

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Speaker 1: life going forward and their their department's life going forward.

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Speaker 1: Meaning where will there be a time when, instead of

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Speaker 1: staying until eleven o'clock at night, that certain people can

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Speaker 1: get home and be set up remotely if someone does

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Speaker 1: in fact need them. And that's a whole other topic

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Speaker 1: of the conversation. I think it's a great topic the conversation.

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Speaker 1: It will affect morale in a very positive way, and

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Speaker 1: it will allow people to know that if they did

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Speaker 1: have to get home for a reason, or if it

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Speaker 1: was granted to them, that they could leave a little

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Speaker 1: earlier on a Wednesday or Thursday because they had another

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Speaker 1: family commitment, that they could work with that family commitment

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Speaker 1: and still work at home and be able to communicate

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Speaker 1: versus sending an email that they could literally go over

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Speaker 1: things like this face to face. Dan and I very

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Speaker 1: interestingly enough, spent a lot of time prior to the

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Speaker 1: draft watching video together. So I would bring it up

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Speaker 1: on my screen and we would be watching it, having

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Speaker 1: dialogue while we were watching video. I could foresee that

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Speaker 1: happening in a time when you know, I'm leaving at

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Speaker 1: eight thirty or nine o'clock on a certain day, and

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Speaker 1: you know, as coaches, they're there in midnight or something,

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Speaker 1: and he wanted to talk about a free agent that

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Speaker 1: came up, and we're able to watch it together. That's

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Speaker 1: a great feeling of knowing that we have become much

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Speaker 1: more capable of doing that, and it'll be interesting to

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Speaker 1: see how that affects the rest of how we're all working.

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Speaker 1: You imagine, you know how a day, you know, when

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Speaker 1: you're home, At least for us too, it seems like

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Speaker 1: an eight hour day can easily slip into a nine

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Speaker 1: ten hour day. Um, and so you've got to be disciplined.

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Speaker 1: You know, close the laptop, go do things, get out

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Speaker 1: of the house, go exercise. Uh, you know, put it

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Speaker 1: on your calendar, whatever it may be. Um, are you

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Speaker 1: finding that you're able to kind of find outlets, you know,

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Speaker 1: and in balance it being at home that you know,

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Speaker 1: what's what's been some challenges? Were you there? And that's

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Speaker 1: you asked me earlier. Yes, I still am into all

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Speaker 1: the sports I'm into, and I'm still into cycling. Of course,

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Speaker 1: I understand when the CDC put that out about the

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Speaker 1: imperative elements and regularity of exercise. I loved hearing that

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Speaker 1: because I've always felt that that was really important. So

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Speaker 1: I've been very mindful of that and I've been very

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Speaker 1: regular with my fitness. And of course when you're at home,

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Speaker 1: I think at least I tend to eat that much

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Speaker 1: better and I just I feel like I'm much more round.

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Speaker 1: It comes back to being rounded the mind, body, and

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Speaker 1: soul element. Not to be hokey about it at all.

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Speaker 1: For those of those people that don't believe about believe

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Speaker 1: in that. I do believe in that. I am so

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Speaker 1: much more effective when I have proper sleep, when I

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Speaker 1: have proper eat, when I have proper fitness, and I'm

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Speaker 1: much better to communicate with My mind is clear, and

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Speaker 1: I keep that in. I keep that at the top

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Speaker 1: of my mind in a lot of different ways, and

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Speaker 1: I feel like it's the same way with most of

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Speaker 1: the people that are communicating within our organization. So I

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Speaker 1: am very regular about it, and I think that's been

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Speaker 1: really important for us and the people who Unfortunately we

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Speaker 1: had some people who weren't able to get out of

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Speaker 1: their apartments. Can you imagine that you talked a little

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Speaker 1: bit about being in a room for a long time.

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Speaker 1: Some of the people we I don't know if everyone

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Speaker 1: knows this. We sent all of our associates home who

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Speaker 1: you know, were I guess I was going to say, well,

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Speaker 1: and some of them were younger, didn't really matter chronologically,

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Speaker 1: but that didn't have a full set up in Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: So if they were from Jersey, or if they were

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Speaker 1: from la or wherever, they would go home so they

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Speaker 1: could be around the families and not be cooped up

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Speaker 1: in a one bedroom apartment. And that was a big

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Speaker 1: part of thanks to you, Steve Kennon and Rich McKay

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Speaker 1: and Arthur you know, encouraging people to get out of here.

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Speaker 1: Those really tough times. That was a very big and

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Speaker 1: important thing for the morale of this organization. So it

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Speaker 1: sounds like moving forward without getting into the details, though,

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Speaker 1: you guys have kind of picked up something, especially from

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Speaker 1: the scouting perspective too. I gotta believe that, hey, you

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Speaker 1: know what, we can travel, we can communicate just as

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Speaker 1: effectively without you know, maybe you can even you know,

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Speaker 1: instead of waiting to call somebody. I don't know, but

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Speaker 1: it seems like that you're definitely taking some positives out

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Speaker 1: of this positives And look, Dan and I spent a

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Speaker 1: lot of time with a lot of players virtually that

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Speaker 1: we wouldn't have done. Yes, we did not go out

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Speaker 1: on the road as much this year because we couldn't

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Speaker 1: of course during that time. But our interaction with the players,

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Speaker 1: to me, was invaluable for us and we will take

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Speaker 1: that with us moving forward. So many benefits to that,

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Speaker 1: and I think again finding the benefits understanding that we're

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Speaker 1: much more adaptable than we thought we were. I think

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Speaker 1: that is our organization. I think that is our league,

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Speaker 1: and it's something that I'm very proud of. You have

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Speaker 1: to be adaptable. So as far as being a dad too,

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Speaker 1: challenges there you know, finishing up school and stuff like

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Speaker 1: that that I know, we had some challenges here, so

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Speaker 1: my wife teaches and then we've got you know, kids

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Speaker 1: taking online stuff. So how was that for you with Mason?

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Speaker 1: I would say I tried to take advantage of the

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Speaker 1: time that I had with my children much more than

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Speaker 1: I have been able to, and that was important for me.

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Speaker 1: It is important for me, and I did not want

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Speaker 1: to step back at the transition of all this and

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Speaker 1: God willing God bless us and hopefully God willing it's

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Speaker 1: around the corner for us to you know, get get

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Speaker 1: through all of this. That said, I just think it's

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Speaker 1: it's so important to make sure that you do spend

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Speaker 1: the proper amount of time with your kids. I mean, yes,

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Speaker 1: they did a lot of stuff online. I was able

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Speaker 1: to watch some of their schooling that I never would

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Speaker 1: have been able to watch at all, right while they

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Speaker 1: were on line. They're no longer in school now, right

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Speaker 1: their school is finished. I'm sure most isn't the Southeast

336
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Speaker 1: and least, but watching them interact with their the kids

337
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Speaker 1: in the school, albeit virtually, and the teachers, so it

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Speaker 1: was really good for me. It was really good. Back

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Speaker 1: to what you said, earlier on in our conversation, it

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Speaker 1: struck a chord for me, and it's something that I

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Speaker 1: need to remind myself the importance of being there as

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Speaker 1: a as a very good father as much as I

343
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Speaker 1: can be, and I'm not always around give him my job,

344
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Speaker 1: but but making sure that I do my part. Well,

345
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Speaker 1: I think that's a perfect segue into the draft because

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Speaker 1: one of the coolest moments, coolest images from the draft

347
00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,400
Speaker 1: was you and your son sitting in your house, yeah,

348
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,359
Speaker 1: making draft picks together. Maybe you know, you get your

349
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Speaker 1: side while you're making the picks and talking to Dan

350
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Speaker 1: and you know, Rich McKay or Arthur or whoever your scouts.

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Speaker 1: That was pretty cool to watch. And I'm sure your son,

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Speaker 1: Mason will never forget that, and I'm sure, Well, I'm

353
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Speaker 1: just gonna ask you at any point during the draft

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Speaker 1: where you're kind of sitting there next looking at Mason, going,

355
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Speaker 1: is this really happening? And this is this is kind

356
00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,119
Speaker 1: of cool? Right? No? I mean, I thought, look, this

357
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 1: is probably gonna be a once in a lifetime situation

358
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Speaker 1: where we're dealing with it like this again. So let's

359
00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,480
Speaker 1: let's let's do what all that we can with this.

360
00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,399
Speaker 1: So I put him too work. I gave him a

361
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Speaker 1: few different duties which you didn't really well with. If

362
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,480
Speaker 1: we were on the line and we were going to

363
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:10,640
Speaker 1: trade with Jacksonville at nine. Hypothetically, he and David Caldwell

364
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,680
Speaker 1: Junior know each other well, so I thought that would

365
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,119
Speaker 1: have been a great you know, a great visual to

366
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,280
Speaker 1: have him reaching out and calling David say are we

367
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,399
Speaker 1: going to do this deal? And never came to that,

368
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,800
Speaker 1: of course. But Mason was man manning the phones. You know.

369
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Speaker 1: I had two phones set up pre programmed, so he

370
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,159
Speaker 1: would be there and I'd say, you know, give me

371
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,200
Speaker 1: Coach Belichick, and he would dial Belichick's number and hand

372
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Speaker 1: me the phone. And so it was good for him

373
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Speaker 1: or whoever it was, Ryan Pace or Mickey Loomis down

374
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,880
Speaker 1: in New Orleans or I won't be Mickey Loomis out

375
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 1: often in New Orleans. Maybe that's the wrong person to say,

376
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,480
Speaker 1: but the reality is we had we had a really

377
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Speaker 1: good system set up here. And I will say, as

378
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,080
Speaker 1: I've said before, you know our draft room, as you

379
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:53,680
Speaker 1: know it, it's got a lot of people in there

380
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,400
Speaker 1: any on any given draft day. I mean i'd say

381
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 1: close to fifty given all the different scouts and all

382
00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,320
Speaker 1: the different dignitaries that are in there. This year. You

383
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,840
Speaker 1: think about it, there was two of us, so there

384
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,399
Speaker 1: was a calmness about it that I thought was really beneficial.

385
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,840
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, again, I really like our draft

386
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,879
Speaker 1: this year. I thought we were really well thought out

387
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: and really direct with what we were doing. We knew

388
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,120
Speaker 1: which which direction we were going to go, and we

389
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,879
Speaker 1: stayed focused on where we were going. I thought it

390
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:30,200
Speaker 1: had a lot to do with how our IT group

391
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:35,120
Speaker 1: set us up. I mean those guys, you know, Carl Pierberg,

392
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 1: my Cruise, our football tech group, They just they knocked

393
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:40,840
Speaker 1: it out of the park. I thought the league did

394
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,000
Speaker 1: as well. I thought it was almost glitch free and

395
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: what they had to deal with it in a very end, Matt,

396
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:50,040
Speaker 1: my Son and I sitting there and the rest of

397
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,080
Speaker 1: the league sitting there, you got a chance to see

398
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:57,919
Speaker 1: a human side, which again, though we may never revisit that,

399
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 1: I think the memories are forever emblazoned. Yeah, it was

400
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 1: really cool to watch you guys. I would pay money

401
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,440
Speaker 1: to hear Mason called Bill Belichick on the phone though,

402
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,080
Speaker 1: just have a conversation with Bill, and I didn't thought

403
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,320
Speaker 1: the commissioner. It was. It was great seeing him in

404
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: his basement and in the last day, you know, he's

405
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 1: sitting there in his chair and a T shirt. It

406
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: was cool. I think for a lot of fans to

407
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: see that side of him and see that side of

408
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 1: you guys in your in your element and with your family.

409
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,480
Speaker 1: And it's interesting that you say that it was more calm.

410
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: I just wonder if moving forward, if maybe there'll be

411
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:39,240
Speaker 1: less people in the draft room or not a need

412
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,960
Speaker 1: to have so many people in the room. It'll be

413
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,880
Speaker 1: interesting conversations that you guys have. I'm sure, well those

414
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 1: are gonna be interesting conversations, not only you know, with

415
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,119
Speaker 1: regard to the draft. Yeah, it will be. It'll be

416
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,879
Speaker 1: really interesting. How we're going to navigate, you know, travel

417
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,360
Speaker 1: for instance, when we are traveling, I mean, I know

418
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 1: that we're gonna be truncating that the numbers and the

419
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:02,639
Speaker 1: that are going to be getting on the plane. We

420
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 1: just have to be able to be able to travel

421
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 1: full plane. So who's going to be traveling, who's not,

422
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,440
Speaker 1: who has duties on the road. There's just going to

423
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: be so many changes here. Back to adaptable and people,

424
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 1: we all can't get our feelings hurt. Right, sometimes there's

425
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: going to be you know, elements. Now they're talking about

426
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,959
Speaker 1: different tiers, right, There's certain things that people will be

427
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,680
Speaker 1: able to be involved with another other other people won't.

428
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 1: That's just the way it is. Yeah, and we'll get

429
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,879
Speaker 1: used to it. Well, Hey, you know what, until they

430
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 1: can find a vaccine and make sure ensure everybody's health

431
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:43,400
Speaker 1: and safety, it won't bother me so much. So let

432
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,680
Speaker 1: me ask you real quick, what was the toughest part

433
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: of all of this. Was there any frustrating moments from

434
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,199
Speaker 1: player physicals maybe to the lack of travel in the

435
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 1: in the preac process or did you at any point

436
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 1: you don't have to go, you know, elaborate too much

437
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,680
Speaker 1: on this if you don't want to, But was there

438
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 1: any point where you just kind of wish, Hey, I

439
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 1: wish I could see this guy in person. I wish

440
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 1: we could interview you know, did you feel like where

441
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 1: the interview of the video conference maybe hurt somebody or

442
00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: maybe a smaller school guy or something like that. I

443
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 1: don't know. I think the biggest thing you touched on

444
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,480
Speaker 1: was the medical side of it, all right, Yeah, but

445
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,000
Speaker 1: I continue to always try to find the bright side

446
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 1: and the silver lining in any of this. Can you

447
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: imagine if we were a month before and we didn't

448
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,639
Speaker 1: accomplish our whole combine duties, I cannot even imagine how

449
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 1: we would have drafted that way. So we were very,

450
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,880
Speaker 1: very fortunate of the timing. Yes, there were sixty other

451
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,560
Speaker 1: guys that we had re checks to do, and we

452
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 1: navigated through that and we figured it out, so that

453
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 1: that settled my mind. So, yes, it was still the

454
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 1: medical side and still is the medical side on the

455
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 1: free agency side of things, and a lot of these

456
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 1: players we want to get those physicals done, but we

457
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,239
Speaker 1: can't do them right now as of yet. So, um,

458
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,120
Speaker 1: those are those are those are complicated when you're trying

459
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 1: to put together a team. Again, I think we accomplished

460
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 1: what we wanted to accomplish and needed to accomplish in

461
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,239
Speaker 1: free agency. With that, you know, something I was you know,

462
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 1: encouraged by as well. He gave us a bigger opportunity

463
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: in the draft because we were able to acquire a

464
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: you know, a rush and as well as a tight

465
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,119
Speaker 1: end as well as a running back that would be

466
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 1: really important, significant contributors for us. So it allowed us

467
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: to pull back a little bit more and be more

468
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 1: creative and open in the draft. That was really really

469
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 1: big for us. UM. I will say back to being

470
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 1: around and we were talking about what was frustrating, what

471
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: was difficulty again going back to you know, I have

472
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,399
Speaker 1: always felt like there was this incessant knock on my

473
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,879
Speaker 1: door as a general manager, but even that much more

474
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 1: here because you literally had virtually those first few weeks,

475
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: I felt like we had a conference call every hour

476
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: on the hour. Yeah, that that became complicated. Every once

477
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,200
Speaker 1: in a while when I wasn't sharing um the meetings,

478
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,160
Speaker 1: I told Dan, I gave a little secret. I said, Dan,

479
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,880
Speaker 1: get your bands ready, and when you're not sharing it,

480
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:23,199
Speaker 1: you can you can you know, put your you know,

481
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: take off your video, be working your you know, your bands,

482
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 1: whatever your TRX or whatever it is. So we laughed

483
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 1: a little bit about that, but it helped every once

484
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 1: in a while, got you got your ten minutes or

485
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes of fitness in well, no one knew you were,

486
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,639
Speaker 1: you know, doing curls or something got to you just

487
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 1: you just glued to the monitor all day. I take it.

488
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 1: So you just said you liked your draft class, you

489
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: feel good about it, um, so right now and you

490
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: know Todd Gurley passed his physicals. That's good. See as

491
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:01,760
Speaker 1: far as where the team stands right now, because I

492
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,920
Speaker 1: asked you about this heading into the draft, I'll ask

493
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 1: you now, do you like where you're at after the draft?

494
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 1: After you know you can still sign some players here?

495
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 1: And you guys always talk about once camp starts and

496
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: players are cut toward the end of preseason, there's that

497
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: other area, that other period of player acquisition. But as

498
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: it stands right now, do you like your draft class?

499
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,679
Speaker 1: Your free agents? You're undrafted free agents? Do you like

500
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:34,360
Speaker 1: where this team is right now? Heading into we assume

501
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,120
Speaker 1: training camp on time and its ability to compete against

502
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 1: you know, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and Carolina and the South,

503
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: you feel like you've gotten better. I feel like we

504
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 1: definitely have gotten better. Of course, we've lost some very

505
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: good football players. I understand that for a number of

506
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 1: different reasons. I thought we've been very thoughtful and mindful

507
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,880
Speaker 1: and thorough with how we've how we've filled the gap

508
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 1: that we were left with. That is important for me.

509
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 1: I believe our head coach believes that in our coaching

510
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,199
Speaker 1: staff is very encouraged by what they've been working with.

511
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: So far during the virtual you know, virtual classrooms and

512
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,959
Speaker 1: such that I like a lot, and I do believe

513
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,199
Speaker 1: that this is a very talented football team, and you know,

514
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: we need to continue to grow together as a team.

515
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 1: We need to continue to to you know, be consistent

516
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 1: and work through things together and continue to mature as

517
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 1: a football team. You know, maturity is not always the

518
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,720
Speaker 1: chronological agent for football team. It's it's continuity. We have

519
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 1: our coaching staff back together, which I think is going

520
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,160
Speaker 1: to be really important for our maturity and our consistency

521
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: and our you know, regular accountability. Those are the those

522
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,000
Speaker 1: are really really important elements to this football team and

523
00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,200
Speaker 1: us continuing to be successful. I think Dan has done

524
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,240
Speaker 1: a hell of a job in the offseason with his

525
00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 1: coaching staff as well as you can imagine. There's not

526
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,680
Speaker 1: a more competitive or directed guy than than Dan. And

527
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 1: he does it with a smile and an upbeat attitude,

528
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: which I love. And it's yeah, not contrived. It it's

529
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 1: authentic and those guys appreciate it. So do the players,

530
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,880
Speaker 1: as you can imagine. So we are I believe that

531
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: we're in a really good spot. Of course, it's it's

532
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: there are high expectations coming into this season. Everyone knows that,

533
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: and no one's shying away from that. Dan and myself included.

534
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 1: There's a lot of questions right now as you guys

535
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: kind of head into you know, June and July and

536
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: when training camp might start, what the protocol might be.

537
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 1: There's you know, I know you guys are talking about

538
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: the commissioners laid out phases and that kind of thing.

539
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 1: But you've got to be ready as a GM for

540
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: just about anything, right and as a football team for

541
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:53,200
Speaker 1: a different kind of you. How do you guard against

542
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 1: spending too much time thinking about what if? Like what

543
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,880
Speaker 1: if the season is pushed back? Or what if we

544
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 1: you end up playing a season without fans? What if?

545
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 1: You know what, There's so many different scenarios we can

546
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 1: get into. Do you guys spend a lot of time

547
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 1: talking and planning about that from a strategic sense? And

548
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,440
Speaker 1: do you think the NFL has done a good job

549
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: to keep the playing field pretty equal amongst all thirty

550
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: two teams with this whole process, So you can get

551
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: carried away with what ifs? Yeah, doubt inherently I have

552
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,720
Speaker 1: a what if side to me because that's how I

553
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 1: was raised. For the longest time, you have to have

554
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 1: what is I think if you have an understanding of

555
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,280
Speaker 1: the depth of your what ifs, so to speak, I

556
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 1: think then you're in a good space. We have, as

557
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 1: I've said, a very thoughtful organization, a very very intelligent organization.

558
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: You look across the board of the people, not only

559
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 1: on the football oup side, but on the business side.

560
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 1: What everyone did during this this COVID time, the leadership

561
00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 1: at Steve Cannon and Rich McKay of us at the

562
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: very top, with Arthur you know, with Arthur Blank and

563
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 1: all the different levels of leadership within this organization. I

564
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: was amazed at how everyone stepped up and beyond admirable

565
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: how everyone led in their own areas. And I think

566
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 1: that's really really important for us. And I think when

567
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 1: the whats came from department to department, we met him

568
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,240
Speaker 1: head on, we talked about them, We tucked him aside

569
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,120
Speaker 1: when it was time to tuck aside, we kept them

570
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 1: at the forefront when it was time for us to

571
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,680
Speaker 1: really address them. To me, that's a sign of a

572
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:39,120
Speaker 1: very good organization and again well thought out, intelligent organization.

573
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 1: And we'll continue to grow all the time. We'll make

574
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 1: sure that we have things in order, but we won't

575
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: get so caught up in a mat where we're flailing

576
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 1: around and we can't make decisions. That is not a

577
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,760
Speaker 1: way to approach it. We could go round and round

578
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,000
Speaker 1: about all the whats, including now that Tom Brady is

579
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: in our division. Of course we look at them. Of

580
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 1: course we're monitor at all, but it's not going to

581
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 1: steer and direct us to a spot where we where

582
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,000
Speaker 1: we become sort of I'd like to use this word mercurial.

583
00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,280
Speaker 1: We're just starting around everywhere with no real direction. We

584
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,000
Speaker 1: have a lot of direction here and that's set from

585
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,480
Speaker 1: the very top of this organization and that's really really

586
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 1: important for us. So yeah, you know, so you're not

587
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 1: having a lot of conversations like what if the stadiums

588
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 1: are only twenty five percent full or what if the

589
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,120
Speaker 1: stadiums are empty? Is that in advantage for the visiting teams.

590
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,719
Speaker 1: You're not getting into any of that stuff, are they are?

591
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 1: People are having those conversations again within departments where it's appropriate. Yeah.

592
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 1: As far as the overarching themes and approaches, we're keeping

593
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: that in perspective. Yeah, we also have back to adapt

594
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:51,200
Speaker 1: the adaptability side and the ability to move. You know,

595
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in that idea of having an

596
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:59,600
Speaker 1: element of driftwood to you. Right, you fight everything you can't,

597
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,480
Speaker 1: you have to be able to navigate. And I think

598
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 1: that's a really important sort of philosophical approach that I

599
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:11,440
Speaker 1: believe in life in general. Can't fight everything you know,

600
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: you can't you know, you can't foresee everything that's going

601
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 1: to happen. Get yourself set up. I do believe not

602
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 1: to use a war analogy because I'm really hesitant to

603
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,520
Speaker 1: do that because I respect the military as I do.

604
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,080
Speaker 1: But preparing times and peace lead lesson times of war

605
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 1: is outside of that is a very important thing for

606
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 1: us to make sure that we are preparing properly so

607
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 1: that when things start flying that we're ready. That's awesome

608
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,640
Speaker 1: and the fans will love hearing that, Thomas, we got

609
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,880
Speaker 1: to do this again. And there's a lot to there's

610
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: a lot of I've been dying to get you on

611
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: the podcast because I just I would love to talk

612
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 1: about scouting. I love to talk about your upbringing in

613
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 1: a personal sense. I love to talk to you about Dad.

614
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 1: But we'll have to We'll have to do it again.

615
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,760
Speaker 1: We'll do it again anytime, just do it periodically. So

616
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,319
Speaker 1: no one gets sick of it. But no, there's a

617
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,239
Speaker 1: lot to talk about it. I get it. And this

618
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 1: is you know, a podcast is just such a great

619
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 1: place to be these days. I think they're they're like

620
00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:19,160
Speaker 1: having a conversation with someone over you know, whatever they

621
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: like to drink. Of course, yeah, you're you're, You're the

622
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 1: perfect subject matter for a podcast. There's I just feel

623
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 1: like there's so you're the way you live your life

624
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 1: and the way you approach it. Um, you know, I

625
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,240
Speaker 1: forget what the word you use in the one story

626
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 1: and the piece that I liked it was it anomalous? Uh?

627
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 1: You know how you kind of just do things to

628
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,479
Speaker 1: you walk to your own beat and you do things

629
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 1: the way you want to do it. Um, you said

630
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 1: humbly and anomalous too, So I thought that was kind

631
00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,680
Speaker 1: of interesting. But yeah, I would say to that point

632
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: to finish this off, I mean, I think I've often

633
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 1: asked people that come into interview for us, especially younger people.

634
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,799
Speaker 1: I know this sounds a little off because younger people

635
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:10,720
Speaker 1: you may not have a family mantra so to speak,

636
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 1: and a but I've asked him what philosophy do you

637
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,880
Speaker 1: live by? At this point in your life. You know,

638
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:16,960
Speaker 1: it could be in their twenties, which is going to

639
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,120
Speaker 1: change in their thirties and the forties and the fifties

640
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,439
Speaker 1: and beyond of course. And I'm when I got here

641
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 1: back in in my early forties, I really worked on

642
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,920
Speaker 1: trying to decide on what my family mantra was going

643
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 1: to be for myself and my kids and such. And

644
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,799
Speaker 1: what I came up with at that time was sore, saver,

645
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,800
Speaker 1: and share. I think you've seen it on a snowboard

646
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: in my in my office, and you know, those are

647
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,400
Speaker 1: the three esses for me that I believe. And it's simple,

648
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 1: of course, but you know, going bigger, going home, you know,

649
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 1: shooting for the stars, like I believe in my approach

650
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:54,479
Speaker 1: to life, Like I believe in the way we should

651
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,319
Speaker 1: approaching as as football people, building this team like we

652
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: did when we made moves for Julio Jones or whatever

653
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:03,840
Speaker 1: we have done. I do believe in making sure that

654
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,040
Speaker 1: you go for it. You can't sit on your hands.

655
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: As far as the savor side of it, obviously, we

656
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: are all blessed, we all have elements of life that

657
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,600
Speaker 1: we're blessed in its savor at all, because it can

658
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,680
Speaker 1: be fleeting and that is such an important thing that

659
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:20,360
Speaker 1: I say to my kids or I say to the

660
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 1: people that we're working with, if you're not savoring it,

661
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,680
Speaker 1: and you're you're a perfect example of it, brother, like

662
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,719
Speaker 1: God bless you. I mean, there's there. We have to

663
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,320
Speaker 1: savor where we are because it is, it is fleeting

664
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 1: and being able to savor it you realize the appreciation

665
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,520
Speaker 1: you have for what we do have. And then the

666
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,879
Speaker 1: share side we're sharing. We talked about that. I mean,

667
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 1: share is not only film probably which is good as well,

668
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:47,400
Speaker 1: but it's sharing your your knowledge, sharing your your wisdom,

669
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:53,319
Speaker 1: um you know, sharing your thoughts and your um where appropriate,

670
00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:57,759
Speaker 1: your activism, you know, sharing sharing your you know, being

671
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,000
Speaker 1: able to share what you can share it to edge

672
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,759
Speaker 1: you kate and edify people as massively important in my mind,

673
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,279
Speaker 1: and I think so in the end, the source saber

674
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: and share is something that I firmly believe in and

675
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,480
Speaker 1: I'll believe in with that. That is awesome