Speaker 1: Command Is Family.
Speaker 2: This is the Next Man Up Podcast, and we have
Speaker 2: special guests for you.
Speaker 1: We have Kwan Martin.
Speaker 2: We have to go back a little bit to Arizona
Speaker 2: where me and Kwan Martin caught up before the world
Speaker 2: trip handed. Then we have a true legend Hall of
Speaker 2: Famer first Ballot Hall of Famer Champ Bailey joins the
Speaker 2: show to talk about his time in Washington and our
Speaker 2: happy year is to be back in the fall. Then
Speaker 2: we got to get some national love. Hey Adams joins
Speaker 2: the show to talk about the thing she's seen from
Speaker 2: the Washington Commanders. All that starts now on Next Man Up.
Speaker 3: What's good? Command Is Family. This is Next Man Up.
Speaker 2: I'm your host, Blind Cope Junior here with somebody extremely special,
Speaker 2: Kwan Martin, my brother.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: It's good to see you.
Speaker 5: Appreciate you man.
Speaker 3: I think last time we sat down like this, you.
Speaker 2: K like ota yeah, man, like yeah, like ten months
Speaker 2: ago type stuff, like you you are really your rookie
Speaker 2: and like things have changed for you.
Speaker 3: Tell us what has changed for you in year two
Speaker 3: since that last time we spoke.
Speaker 5: Really man, Just being able to learn, grow, develop, you know,
Speaker 5: just kind of find my way in the league. And uh,
Speaker 5: you know, just get in while I fit there pretty much, man,
Speaker 5: and just really just building that name, making that name
Speaker 5: for myself.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you really fit in well.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 2: You know you're getting a lot of love. You were
Speaker 2: named the captain for Arizona. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2: Were you surprised?
Speaker 5: I don't know, because I was captain during the preseason
Speaker 5: and I kind of felt the coming. And today in
Speaker 5: the meeting, he was like, I got a captain. I
Speaker 5: was like, damn, I gotta feel that he might call me.
Speaker 5: I kind of felt the coming a little bit, so
Speaker 5: you know, it was great man, just to you know,
Speaker 5: hear my name come up, see my you know picture
Speaker 5: up on the board, and coach just telling me, you
Speaker 5: know that I'm counting for this game.
Speaker 3: That means a lot, you know this stuff.
Speaker 5: I talk about my family all the time, man, just
Speaker 5: you know, just trying to set an example for everybody, uh,
Speaker 5: you know, back where I'm from, kids in my neighborhood. Man,
Speaker 5: just you know, showing me that you can do it.
Speaker 5: You know it is possible. And man, you know, it's
Speaker 5: just a great opportunity to go out there and representing
Speaker 5: this program.
Speaker 2: And you even played since you were five years old, man,
Speaker 2: So to have that seat on your jersey, Man, what
Speaker 2: does that mean to you?
Speaker 5: I mean it means a lot.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 5: My first time really just being the captain and since
Speaker 5: I've been playing, man, so it's been great.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: Never had the opportunity in college to.
Speaker 5: Be, you know, captain on the team. So just to
Speaker 5: be a captain at this level just you know, kind
Speaker 5: of speak to herself.
Speaker 3: I think what's so special about that is this is
Speaker 3: a new coaching staff. This is not a coaching.
Speaker 2: Staff that drafted you. They didn't keep a lot of
Speaker 2: people around, but you not only was kept, but you
Speaker 2: also were named the starter. What is it like to
Speaker 2: get that kind of respect before you even played a
Speaker 2: regular season game?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Man, it means a lot.
Speaker 5: You know. Obviously we talked with you know, coach Quinn
Speaker 5: and Adam Peters, you know, before things kind of got rolling,
Speaker 5: and you know, he just kind of told me where
Speaker 5: my role could be on this team. Man.
Speaker 3: I embraced it.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 5: I just went out work hard, put my head down
Speaker 5: and just kept grinding. Man, and you know just kind
Speaker 5: of you know, made it impossible to go and noticed.
Speaker 5: I feel like that's what I've always done my whole.
Speaker 2: Career, and I'm sure that there's different expectations that come
Speaker 2: with happening in your coaching staff. And I remember you
Speaker 2: saying preseason that the coaches want you to be more vocal.
Speaker 2: How's that been so far? Because you're very chi.
Speaker 3: Man, it's been great.
Speaker 5: I feel like not even just coach Quinn, but really
Speaker 5: just everybody in the building just you know, pushing me
Speaker 5: to be more vocal. Bobby Wagner, you know, everybody just
Speaker 5: standing on me, man when they know that time they
Speaker 5: couldn't really hear me on the field. So Coach Quinn
Speaker 5: always said like would you want to be led by you?
Speaker 5: So you know, like when he say that, I'm like okay,
Speaker 5: like like let me make sure I'm getting the calls
Speaker 5: out everybody can hear him, and I just show my
Speaker 5: leadership on the field.
Speaker 2: You told me last time we sat and spoke, you
Speaker 2: said that will motivate you as being overlooked, you were
Speaker 2: under recruited even playing your whole life right even.
Speaker 3: The second round pick.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm sure you feel like you're supposed to
Speaker 2: go on the first So what motivates you now? Because
Speaker 2: now you're getting recognition now you're getting in love now.
Speaker 2: People are really starting to see who you are. So
Speaker 2: what motivates you now?
Speaker 3: Really?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 5: Just this team, the guys around me, and uh, just
Speaker 5: not want to let the team down, man, And uh,
Speaker 5: just trying to put my best feel forward. And you know,
Speaker 5: just knowing that these coaches believe in me and my
Speaker 5: teammates believe in me, and uh, you know, I'm just
Speaker 5: gonna go out and get him my best every play,
Speaker 5: every down, every game. And I feel like it shows.
Speaker 2: You've got a new rerunnament in Jeremy Chin. And I'm
Speaker 2: sure you hadn't seen it, but I spoke to him.
Speaker 3: And we had a moment. It was very weird.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lost wars off the but Jeremy Chin
Speaker 2: is like, I'm pissed off and he's got real, real
Speaker 2: angry Like playing next to a guy like that that
Speaker 2: really like he locks in when.
Speaker 3: He's on that field.
Speaker 5: Man, he's been you know, somebody I've looked up to
Speaker 5: since day one. Man, Just you know how he carris
Speaker 5: yourself in the building, how he handles itself on the
Speaker 5: practice field. So they're just kind of taking a little
Speaker 5: things for him, and he don't really even know, but
Speaker 5: you know, I'm peeping you know everything he's doing. You
Speaker 5: know how he handled every situation.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 5: So I've really learned a lot from that dude. And
Speaker 5: you know, he's just been that voice for me, that
Speaker 5: you're for me, that leader, and you know, you've just
Speaker 5: been pushing me to communicate more, like I said, And
Speaker 5: it's been great man to play alongside him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had an event where it was me, you
Speaker 3: and Jeremy Channing.
Speaker 2: During that event, you said something I thought was very
Speaker 2: interesting because it didn't really dawn on me.
Speaker 3: But this is really your first time getting to focus
Speaker 3: on one position. You said.
Speaker 2: You're like, man, this is my first time not having
Speaker 2: to be all overfield. Man, why why is that so
Speaker 2: important to you this season? And why has it been
Speaker 2: so beneficial for.
Speaker 5: I Just feel like, you know, it allowed me to
Speaker 5: reach my full potential. You know, I can do it
Speaker 5: but just float around everywhere, man, I feel like it's
Speaker 5: kind of hard to really just lock in on the
Speaker 5: small details at each and every position. But yeah, man,
Speaker 5: it's just been special for me. And I talked to
Speaker 5: my mom, my parents, my girlfriend, every everybody about you know,
Speaker 5: just the focus that comes with you know, playing a position,
Speaker 5: and the coaches, like I said, they just pushed me
Speaker 5: to be more vocal, be that leader and just be
Speaker 5: that voice on this defensive.
Speaker 3: And you've been so special this year.
Speaker 2: Man, I can't wait to see what you do Sunday
Speaker 2: against the the Browns. We'll be back home again. It'll
Speaker 2: be your first time back home. We've been on a
Speaker 2: little road trip. The fans have showed up and showed
Speaker 2: out for us. Man on this road, we've seen them
Speaker 2: so much. And then at the home game, it was crazy, Man,
Speaker 2: How excited you to see those fans again after being.
Speaker 3: On the road for so long.
Speaker 5: Man, Super excited, Man, just to go in and play
Speaker 5: another home game.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 5: I like the fans. They've they've been, you know, pretty excited,
Speaker 5: you know with everything going on in the building with
Speaker 5: the program and uh, you know, I just fly. You know,
Speaker 5: it's time for us to take that next step and
Speaker 5: uh just get a fans what they want to see.
Speaker 3: And Kwama has been great seeing you developed.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: Man can't wait to see you out on that field. Brother,
Speaker 3: appreciate your time, Appreciate.
Speaker 2: You now command this family. Have to bring in a
Speaker 2: very special friend of mine. She pulled up for training
Speaker 2: camp and saw all the great things we were doing
Speaker 2: out here, and it's continued to show the Burgundy and
Speaker 2: Gold a lot of national love. Now Command is family.
Speaker 2: It's not always the next man up. Sometimes it's the
Speaker 2: next woman. For the first time, we have a woman
Speaker 2: on the show, so we're gonna call it next Woman.
Speaker 1: It up.
Speaker 2: She is from national media. She has a big time show.
Speaker 2: Welcoming in Kay Adams. How are you doing.
Speaker 7: I'm so great, next woman, I'd like to do this.
Speaker 3: Yes, we love it.
Speaker 2: We love and talk about we'd like to talk about,
Speaker 2: you know, our past, what got us here. And just
Speaker 2: like me, we don't end up in our seats, right,
Speaker 2: We don't end up doing what we do unless we
Speaker 2: love the game of football. So you tell me when
Speaker 2: did you find your love for football?
Speaker 7: Oh man?
Speaker 8: I started to love football growing up in Chicago. I
Speaker 8: was raised by two Polish immigrants who'd never heard of football,
Speaker 8: and the Bears were very good or competitive, and me
Speaker 8: and my brother just wanted to figure out what's like
Speaker 8: the most American communal, bring everybody together thing everybody's talking about.
Speaker 8: We of course had the bulls at that point with
Speaker 8: Michael Jordan, but still football was huge in Chicago, so
Speaker 8: you know, we had Matt Forte and we had Devin
Speaker 8: Hester to root for as I was growing up, and then.
Speaker 7: I really liked fantasy football. If you were really.
Speaker 8: Asking me, like, at what point was I like, I
Speaker 8: love this. It's the fact that I'm really competitive. So
Speaker 8: and I got in my first year drafted my team,
Speaker 8: didn't really know the players very well, learned about them.
Speaker 8: I won my league the first year I played. But
Speaker 8: I think, like I'm trying to think of who it was.
Speaker 8: Matt Fourte was definitely on my team, and at that
Speaker 8: point it was you have this wealth of knowledge about
Speaker 8: thirty two teams and all these different players, not just
Speaker 8: the fifty three in your hometown. And I love that
Speaker 8: and the competitive nature of it. And I think that
Speaker 8: just the storylines of it and getting my heart broken
Speaker 8: watching the Bears and to the cults after that Devin
Speaker 8: Hester trutch down like that sort of is where it.
Speaker 7: Snapped my heart.
Speaker 8: But similarly to you, you know what you're saying, you
Speaker 8: have to love the game. I love celebrating the game.
Speaker 8: I love that I'm still at this point curious about
Speaker 8: absolutely everything, every team, every storyline, and that's really what's
Speaker 8: driven me to keep loving it as much as I do.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure that's what keeps you so interesting when
Speaker 2: you do these interviews, when you talk because you have
Speaker 2: you know, you're inquisitive, you want to know things, and
Speaker 2: we see some great stuff. And you actually were here
Speaker 2: during training camp. You had the chance to go to
Speaker 2: every think like twelve or fourteen like spots.
Speaker 3: How many thank you?
Speaker 6: Twenty?
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, twenty different training camps and you came
Speaker 2: to kick it with us. It was so hot, it
Speaker 2: was just the day. What you got to see what
Speaker 2: a lot of people are seeing now. You got to
Speaker 2: see Jaden Daniels and company and see what they could do.
Speaker 2: When you were back here in training camp, did you
Speaker 2: really like see what was going to be happening? Did
Speaker 2: you have a feeling that hey, commanders a brot to
Speaker 2: do something special.
Speaker 8: I thought he was how he looked out there, and
Speaker 8: I liked his and that's what I still like now.
Speaker 8: I just liked his composure. I liked how he was
Speaker 8: carrying himself out there. But I will say my big
Speaker 8: take of meeting you and you brought a lot of
Speaker 8: energy to our life on up and atoms in that trip.
Speaker 7: But it was so hot.
Speaker 8: I remember, we were so well taken care of by
Speaker 8: the commanders. My takeaway was, oh, man, they don't want
Speaker 8: me to blow up their spot.
Speaker 7: My thought was.
Speaker 8: And I sat with Dan Quinn for twenty minutes, and
Speaker 8: I sat with pain and I, you know, got to
Speaker 8: ha you know, the no part of Johan Dutson and
Speaker 8: every Bobby Wagner who I've known for.
Speaker 7: Years and years and years.
Speaker 8: The sort of takeaway was like, don't like, don't talk
Speaker 8: about us. You know, at that point Dkey was unwilling
Speaker 8: to name Jaden the starter, and I was like, oh, no,
Speaker 8: is that a bad thing?
Speaker 7: Is that a good thing?
Speaker 8: But it was all a really thoughtful, methodical way of
Speaker 8: carrying out this vision that they've all had. And I
Speaker 8: really took away this kid is special and they don't
Speaker 8: want anybody to know about it until week one. Of course,
Speaker 8: you sawated in college and we know that he's a
Speaker 8: special player, but he's sort of a one on one
Speaker 8: player as well, So I knew. I knew it was
Speaker 8: a secret they were trying to keep a lid on.
Speaker 7: That's what I know.
Speaker 6: Okay, we appreciation you keeping that secret for us. But
Speaker 6: now that the speakers down now we know what we
Speaker 6: have in jayde Dane's real quickly. So you talked to
Speaker 6: dan Quinn that I'll talk to a lot of cultures
Speaker 6: during your tour. What about dan Quinn stood out to you?
Speaker 8: I think he never gets enough credit for what a
Speaker 8: transcendent leader he is. And it's not always superstars. He's
Speaker 8: somebody whether you have a that you know, he's somebody
Speaker 8: that you know. Aaron Rodgers, I think he could coach him,
Speaker 8: while I think you can coach you. I'm rookie like
Speaker 8: Jayden Daniels and everything in between, and not every coach
Speaker 8: is like that.
Speaker 7: He is so thoughtful.
Speaker 8: I believe that would be a word that I would
Speaker 8: use to describe him. As far as a leadership style,
Speaker 8: I think he's very organized and mindful about what he
Speaker 8: wants to execute, what Jaden needs, what these veterans need
Speaker 8: in the messaging. He's always been like that back even
Speaker 8: when I knew him with the Falcons. It was about mottos,
Speaker 8: it was about buying in. It's about toughness, high energy,
Speaker 8: and that's the kind of coaching that's really working in
Speaker 8: the NFL right now.
Speaker 7: He had so much success.
Speaker 8: Of course, Matt Ryan MVP ye or MVP candidate, and
Speaker 8: now we see what he's doing with Jaden and as
Speaker 8: special as Jayden is, we have to give Dann credit
Speaker 8: for that.
Speaker 2: And I love talking to people like you. Go are outside, right,
Speaker 2: you're in the national media, so you're not here. I'm
Speaker 2: drinking the kool aid every day. So me, I'm going
Speaker 2: to be feeling good. I'm going to be feeling like
Speaker 2: we're going to be winning every single game because that's
Speaker 2: my job to do that.
Speaker 6: But you you're in the national media on the outside.
Speaker 2: So you tell me at three and one, right now,
Speaker 2: how do you feel about the lost Commander is always
Speaker 2: for real?
Speaker 8: Oh, you know, it's so funny because you're on the inside.
Speaker 8: But I'm friends with Kevin Durant. Now you know over
Speaker 8: on FanDuel he is the biggest Commander's fan. I will
Speaker 8: say it's a very interesting experience to have. Sometimes, you know,
Speaker 8: teams really buy into their hype. Sometimes fans enjoy it,
Speaker 8: which is actually really rare. And then sometimes fans are
Speaker 8: really demanding and the Bears are like that, you know,
Speaker 8: like they're not giving Caleb much patience.
Speaker 7: Much of that.
Speaker 8: Commanders are different. I think it's a fan base that's
Speaker 8: waited for it so long. On the outside is very
Speaker 8: fun to see guys like Kevin Durant or some fans,
Speaker 8: some celebrity fans, Guys that I've known for a long time,
Speaker 8: Women that I've known for a long time who have
Speaker 8: never told me that their Commanders fans are like, thanks
Speaker 8: for saying that about my Commanders, and I'm like, you're Commanders,
Speaker 8: and they're like, no lifelong fan, but for whatever reason,
Speaker 8: I don't even know about it. So there's certainly this
Speaker 8: excitement that I'm feeling known when it comes to ball.
Speaker 8: Absolutely they should be considered a contender on up and
Speaker 8: atoms today and talking about where DeVante Adams should go.
Speaker 8: So I had a list of contenders, and among those
Speaker 8: kind of boys, sorry, and among the Jets and the
Speaker 8: reuniting with you know, Aaron Rodgers, I put the Commanders
Speaker 8: because that's a team that has the space, the need.
Speaker 8: They were interested in Brandon Nayuk and what I'm saying
Speaker 8: more about the holistic big part of it is that's
Speaker 8: a team that I would love to make that move
Speaker 8: because it shows you just how all in they are
Speaker 8: for this year.
Speaker 2: And I love that because we know you're a Devonte
Speaker 2: Adams for it, right. We know that you guys are good,
Speaker 2: so I'm hoping they're giving him a little bit of
Speaker 2: extra Like, hey man, you know, Burning and Gold ain't
Speaker 2: too bad. You know, maybe we talked to the ages
Speaker 2: that make that happen, but you just were part of
Speaker 2: this Davante Adams debacle right now.
Speaker 6: We don't want to speculate on where he will go.
Speaker 2: However, I find it very I admire it because I
Speaker 2: understand what it's like, right, having these personal relationship with players,
Speaker 2: but then having to do our jobs as well.
Speaker 3: How tough is it.
Speaker 2: Knowing that, like y'all would have a regular conversation about
Speaker 2: this and this and that, but then having to do
Speaker 2: your job in a way where you can't really spill
Speaker 2: the beans on what a player like that's going to do.
Speaker 2: But you guys have a relationship where you probably kind
Speaker 2: of know where.
Speaker 3: His heads really is.
Speaker 8: I'm just as curious as everybody else to see what happened.
Speaker 7: I said it on my show this morning.
Speaker 8: I think I want I know that I want him
Speaker 8: to be happy, and I want him to be playing
Speaker 8: meaningful football, and I want him to get a ring.
Speaker 7: I think he deserves it. I think it'd be so
Speaker 7: nice if he made.
Speaker 8: The move to secure the bag and be with his
Speaker 8: old quarterback and it didn't work out, and now the
Speaker 8: move gets made where he does get to contend on
Speaker 8: the team. I think last week I asked him about
Speaker 8: Jayden Daniels before a lot of this was going on,
Speaker 8: and he was emphatic. He went so far as to say,
Speaker 8: and I do think DeVante Adams a very easy interview,
Speaker 8: very honest, very he doesn't think about it, He's already
Speaker 8: thought about the question. He sort of knows the line
Speaker 8: of questioning in his head. And he's a true adult,
Speaker 8: like a true adult in the way he carries himself
Speaker 8: and always has. So it's a very easy interview because
Speaker 8: sometimes you worry about how a question is going to
Speaker 8: be taken, or how to ask a question in a
Speaker 8: way that's going to be respectful, or to get the
Speaker 8: information you want, where I don't really have that with Davante.
Speaker 8: I really can ask him anything and I know he'll
Speaker 8: understand what I'm he'll say what he's going to say,
Speaker 8: which he has this entire time. But I asked him
Speaker 8: about Jaden and I was a little surprised. I didn't
Speaker 8: think I'd get as emphatic of a response where he
Speaker 8: said man, I thought, well, you know, I think he's
Speaker 8: sort of joking saying, man, I you know if he'd
Speaker 8: fallen to us, if only he had fallen to the Raiders,
Speaker 8: and you know, the Internet had their way with that.
Speaker 8: But really what he's saying is, I'm seeing how special
Speaker 8: this young player is that me at my age I
Speaker 8: would love to play with him. I see his skills
Speaker 8: like Evets don't give Brookies love like that. They just don't.
Speaker 8: So that's all you needed to hear from a guy
Speaker 8: like Adam's on this. But as far as where he's
Speaker 8: going to go, wouldn't that be wild to have him there?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 8: Absolutely wild. I can't even imagine what that city would
Speaker 8: be like.
Speaker 2: It would make my job a lot more. You tell
Speaker 2: you about job's already extremely interesting. So you talk about
Speaker 2: these places that DeVante AM's may fit. So let's talk
Speaker 2: about the Commanders. Why do you think why was he
Speaker 2: Why would the Commanders on your list of places he
Speaker 2: would be a good fit for.
Speaker 7: I think because a lot of it is.
Speaker 8: I think Adam Peters did a really good job of
Speaker 8: foundationally getting this team to where it needs to be.
Speaker 8: And when you're sitting there at three in a run
Speaker 8: and you're looking at the complexion of the division that
Speaker 8: you're in, and you feel the confidence that Cliff Kingsbury
Speaker 8: brings you and that this young quarterback brings you, like,
Speaker 8: where's the time to waste?
Speaker 7: Sort of a situation. And we heard the rumors. I'm
Speaker 7: sure you did as well.
Speaker 8: You know more than I do about their interests in
Speaker 8: Brandon Ayuk in the off season. They were, you know, interesting,
Speaker 8: if they were asking or interest in acquiring him, why
Speaker 8: would they not feel that way with DeVante Adams? So
Speaker 8: that sort of made sense. I think Adam Peters has
Speaker 8: it in him. It takes a certain sort of GM
Speaker 8: to feel supported by his ownership group and to feel
Speaker 8: like the coaching is here right now, in the here
Speaker 8: and now to make it happen. And it sort of
Speaker 8: seems like it's all working right now and I couldn't
Speaker 8: be more excited.
Speaker 2: Hey, I love your energy and optimism on it. I
Speaker 2: guess we'll just have to wait and see. Just like you,
Speaker 2: I have no insider info, but just like the rest
Speaker 2: of the four, do.
Speaker 3: You need him?
Speaker 2: It's a great question, That's how I asked me to ask,
Speaker 2: because to me, it's like get a weapon, you get
Speaker 2: a weapon, right. However, I love the receivers, the tight ends,
Speaker 2: I love the weapons we already have in the building,
Speaker 2: and we three.
Speaker 6: And one, so it's hard to say we need really anything.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I would just say, like if you don't get
Speaker 8: them and it goes to the Jets or you don't
Speaker 8: want to go to the Cowboys and and CD, that
Speaker 8: we don't want.
Speaker 7: We don't want that.
Speaker 6: If we're Washington, if you.
Speaker 8: Know, if it goes somewhere and you don't get him
Speaker 8: like Sill, I wouldn't cry about it if I was
Speaker 8: Washington Nott right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, there's so many other things to be optimistic about,
Speaker 2: and you don't really see that like here, like you
Speaker 2: always want that big name free agent, like people freak.
Speaker 3: Out about it.
Speaker 2: But now that things are going so well, people are
Speaker 2: kind of chilling, like, oh, you know, if it happens, happens,
Speaker 2: you know, it's a different type of energy.
Speaker 1: Ink.
Speaker 2: I know you're busy. I know you got a lot
Speaker 2: of people in your CAREB right now. I appreciate you
Speaker 2: taking the time World War question for before we go,
Speaker 2: we have the Cleveland Browns and I'm not sure if
Speaker 2: you went to Cleveland during your training camp visits. However,
Speaker 2: I do know you're very familiar with all NFL teams,
Speaker 2: So ask you what kind of challenges does a team
Speaker 2: like the Cleveland Browns pose for the Commanders. Yes, we
Speaker 2: know they're struggling right now, however, they still have a
Speaker 2: gotten to Shaun Watson that can get it done.
Speaker 8: I got to be honest, I don't think it's a challenge.
Speaker 8: And I hope that this I obviously don't want this.
Speaker 8: Commanders seem to be looking past them, but this should
Speaker 8: be a team that's looking and staring down you know,
Speaker 8: four and one, by being consistent, by having Jaden be
Speaker 8: as special as he is. And I would say, I
Speaker 8: really don't see the challenge. I feel like the Browns
Speaker 8: are inconsistent and they what they lack is what the
Speaker 8: Commanders have, and that's confidence and that's poise. And you're
Speaker 8: seeing a very lack of confidence on that offense with
Speaker 8: the Browns. And I would say, I would say that
Speaker 8: the most impressive thing I've seen. I mean, there's obviously
Speaker 8: lots to be excited about with the Commander's offense, but
Speaker 8: Jayden and will he he doesn't do it often, but
Speaker 8: he made a mistake, you know, and once when he
Speaker 8: makes a mistake, that's when I'm watching. I'm saying, oh boy,
Speaker 8: how is he going to handle himself? How's and for
Speaker 8: him to just no problem pull it together. That is veteran,
Speaker 8: that is poised. That is I'm not afraid that if
Speaker 8: he turns the ball over that he's not getting it back.
Speaker 8: Cheering on his defense and he's going to go right
Speaker 8: down and score. We've seen that now and I think
Speaker 8: that gives that gives them the edge going into this game, and.
Speaker 7: It better not be close. Commanders, Jay, I love.
Speaker 2: The optimism, and you know what, it sounds like, we're
Speaker 2: starting to make you a Burgundy and Gold fan slowly.
Speaker 2: But Chirley, you don't got to change your family yet.
Speaker 2: We don't bring you up on this side.
Speaker 7: I wanted to go to a game so bad.
Speaker 8: I was supposed to come for the Giants opener, and
Speaker 8: then I wasn't able to come, And now I'm really
Speaker 8: really trying to get down there. But but yes, just
Speaker 8: so everybody knows, Kevin Durant comes on up in Adams
Speaker 8: and he told me he's picking the commanders every week.
Speaker 7: That he comes out.
Speaker 8: He's a true like a like a sick pup level fan.
Speaker 8: So and I'm sure everybody out there knows that as well.
Speaker 8: So he will be cheering on the Commanders and I
Speaker 8: will be helping be the.
Speaker 7: Hype girl too.
Speaker 6: Hey, we love that. Hopefully you can get kick on
Speaker 6: next man up as well.
Speaker 3: We have y'all both on.
Speaker 2: We love the Burgundy and gold love Kate, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for your time.
Speaker 6: It's always we appreciate you.
Speaker 2: I love seeing what you're doing with Uppen Adams and
Speaker 2: just you just you're just a shooting star taking off.
Speaker 3: So thank You's amazing.
Speaker 8: You have the bad vibes in the business that should
Speaker 8: be on your little undertitle.
Speaker 4: Here.
Speaker 6: I take Friday and that I'll take. Hey, I'll take
Speaker 6: you take I promise this.
Speaker 2: Man commanded family, y'all. Next moving up from up in Adams,
Speaker 2: Hey Adams, thank you so much, Key.
Speaker 1: Command this family for our next man up.
Speaker 2: You know, we love to bring in a legend and
Speaker 2: this one is a true legend. Fifteen years in the
Speaker 2: NFL Hall of Fame, career holds so many records for
Speaker 2: a defensive back. Was drafted here in the first round,
Speaker 2: seventh overall and it's just a true legend, one of
Speaker 2: the best to ever do it in this game. Welcome
Speaker 2: me in, Champ Bailey. My boy got the lok saw.
Speaker 2: He's comfee. You feeling good?
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, thanks for having me. Man, I'm chilling.
Speaker 1: Oh man.
Speaker 2: It's a blessing to have you. And we have so
Speaker 2: much to talk about. But I want to start in
Speaker 2: the beginning. Man, I want to start in the beginning.
Speaker 2: When you got drafted to Washington. That was a while ago.
Speaker 2: But take us back there. What was young Champ Bailey
Speaker 2: feeling thinking being drafted so high, going in the first round,
Speaker 2: accomplishing those dreams?
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, twenty five years ago. You know, I think
Speaker 4: back then, man, I just wanted to play ball.
Speaker 3: That's all that. Man, when you're young.
Speaker 4: I was twenty years old and they called by name,
Speaker 4: you know, sort of a dramatic draft.
Speaker 3: But at that time, I was just I just wanted to.
Speaker 4: Play ball, and I was fortunate enough to come to
Speaker 4: a team that, you know, a story franchise, the hottest
Speaker 4: division in football.
Speaker 3: It just it worked out perfectly.
Speaker 4: And then you know, the people I got to connect with,
Speaker 4: that's a whole other story.
Speaker 2: It's not every day, a rookie comes in and has
Speaker 2: a locker room right next to Daryl Green, and then
Speaker 2: I locker right next to Deon Sanders. Those are Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame players and you're coming in and getting that
Speaker 2: pedigree right away.
Speaker 1: How valuable was that for young chat Bailey? Well?
Speaker 3: Very valuable.
Speaker 4: Well, if you remember, it was just Darren at first,
Speaker 4: and you know, our defensive back coach, Tom Hayes really
Speaker 4: just put me under Dal's wing and and Drell taught
Speaker 4: me only he could, right, it was it was. It
Speaker 4: was interesting because we were two different type of players
Speaker 4: as far as how we were built, you know, the
Speaker 4: things we could do. You know, I was a press corner.
Speaker 4: He was off, you know, just staying step for step
Speaker 4: with guys.
Speaker 3: That was his mo.
Speaker 4: But the things I learned from him were crucial to
Speaker 4: the early part of my career. I mean, I mean, honestly, man,
Speaker 4: if I didn't have him in those moments, I didn't
Speaker 4: know how to play corner until we got together. Like
Speaker 4: I was an athlete, I mean you could see I
Speaker 4: could do things, but I had the tools.
Speaker 3: But ultimately, man, it was it.
Speaker 4: Was his tutelage that really got me over the top
Speaker 4: and solidified who I was going to be earlier in
Speaker 4: my career.
Speaker 2: What were some of those things that he did tell
Speaker 2: you that helped you? Like, you know, as people that
Speaker 2: that don't play the game right, they're like, man, what
Speaker 2: are those that advice that you get?
Speaker 1: But it could be anything under the sun.
Speaker 2: It could be life things, it could be family things,
Speaker 2: it could be financial things. What were some of those
Speaker 2: things that you did get from Darryl green Well?
Speaker 4: He used to have this saying, uh, he still uses it,
Speaker 4: I'm sure like your hands are great, but your feet
Speaker 4: are better. And what he met is, you know when
Speaker 4: when I play bump and run. The thing about Darryl
Speaker 4: he don't.
Speaker 3: He don't like to touch people at the line. He
Speaker 3: never did.
Speaker 4: His thing was I'm just gonna move with you. You go,
Speaker 4: you go later on going latter two and and he
Speaker 4: would always tell me, you know, it's great, you got
Speaker 4: these long arms, you're strong and all this.
Speaker 3: You've got a bigger body type. But it's really about
Speaker 3: your feet.
Speaker 4: And I teach that now when I'm teaching any young
Speaker 4: kid about anything, it's all about your feet. And you know,
Speaker 4: just just narrowing and focusing in on what was important
Speaker 4: and then my hands were just the bonus, and I
Speaker 4: bought into it.
Speaker 3: I bought into it because I saw him do it.
Speaker 4: You know, he was good at it, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 4: if I could put that in my game where it's
Speaker 4: not about it if I touch you, it's more about
Speaker 4: if I could stay with you. And you know, it
Speaker 4: really helped me become a great bumping rint corner corner,
Speaker 4: you know, early in my career, and.
Speaker 2: You're competing and growing as a corner and then they
Speaker 2: bring Deon Sanders in one of a legend, right, one
Speaker 2: of the best to ever do it.
Speaker 1: Man, how did that affect you?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: That sort of solidified everything Daryl was saying, because you
Speaker 4: got to think my rookie year is really just the
Speaker 4: process of me buying in. But then here comes Dion
Speaker 4: and then what I realized. You know, Dione would do things,
Speaker 4: but he was he was always conscious of his footwork.
Speaker 4: Now this is later in his career. He's really buying
Speaker 4: into his technique. And you know he would get in
Speaker 4: this motorcycle stance and you know people would always.
Speaker 3: You know, try to emulate that.
Speaker 4: But not only was it a fear tactic, it was
Speaker 4: still he would when he wouldn't go at you. He
Speaker 4: would still come back to bas and being square and
Speaker 4: trying to move with you. So it was always about defeat.
Speaker 4: And I'm more built like Dion than Darryl, Like we're
Speaker 4: both taller, longer corners, you know, with great speed and quickness,
Speaker 4: and to be able to understand and buy into the
Speaker 4: aspect of your cheek being the integral part of why
Speaker 4: you stay toe to toe with these bigger receivers and
Speaker 4: these quick guys. I mean it really, it really solidified
Speaker 4: what I was going.
Speaker 2: To be and what I could be and what to
Speaker 2: do for your confidence because I read somewhere that when
Speaker 2: da comes in, you're immediately right like he's the o G.
Speaker 2: So you're like, you know what, he's the starter, he's
Speaker 2: taking it all. But that wasn't necessarily the case, was
Speaker 2: it for you?
Speaker 3: No, it wasn't.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: What's funny is that that was my initial thought, like,
Speaker 4: I'm not starting. Here's two of my itels obviously gonna
Speaker 4: play before me. I was reassured by north Turner like, no,
Speaker 4: you're starting one of them coming off the bench.
Speaker 3: It's you know, because I think they knew that I was.
Speaker 4: I was in for a great second year because of
Speaker 4: how I finished my rookie year. You know, I really
Speaker 4: I think that's one playoff game we won that year.
Speaker 3: I had a really good game.
Speaker 4: I mean it was it was just one of those
Speaker 4: things like, oh man, coming off this off season, this
Speaker 4: kid is ready. And I think they knew that and
Speaker 4: I felt it too.
Speaker 3: But still these are my itels. I didn't playing before then.
Speaker 4: But it worked out great because you know, they wanted
Speaker 4: to see me grow and become what they had already done,
Speaker 4: and you know, it was a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2: And Chimp, I really just don't think young corners get
Speaker 2: that type of like game and that type of just
Speaker 2: path that you have. What is your favorite memory from
Speaker 2: Washington when you were playing days in Washington?
Speaker 4: You know, I got some good memories, and it's more
Speaker 4: about the people I played with. I mean, you mentioned
Speaker 4: two of the greatest right two first ballot Hall of
Speaker 4: Fame corners, and I give them a lot of credit
Speaker 4: for get me on that first ballot, but it's the
Speaker 4: Bruce Smith, ah Man, Sam Jade liilm Evans. I mean,
Speaker 4: these guys that were, they were they had something to
Speaker 4: do with my growth as a young player.
Speaker 3: Darryl pounds. Who who the guy I replaced as a starter?
Speaker 4: I mean I started from my first game, but he
Speaker 4: was the starter, you know, all through the spring summer,
Speaker 4: we got the training camp, he was a starter, and
Speaker 4: then I ended up starting before the first game.
Speaker 3: But he didn't let that get in the way of
Speaker 3: him mentoring me, teaching me little things.
Speaker 4: It was just it was just great to have that
Speaker 4: kind of mentorship early. So I mean that's what I
Speaker 4: really remember the most because every time I see a
Speaker 4: guy get drafted, I'm always looking at, well, who's his vets?
Speaker 4: Like who are the guys that are gonna be you know,
Speaker 4: and you don't know where that leadership for that mentorship
Speaker 4: is gonna come from when you walk in the door,
Speaker 4: because you don't know these guys, you just see them.
Speaker 4: I didn't think Bruce Smith would take to me and
Speaker 4: look at me as a potential Hall of famer like himself,
Speaker 4: Like these guys were already Hall of Famer.
Speaker 3: Before I ever stepped on the field with them.
Speaker 4: So having that it really it really helped me early
Speaker 4: on because I knew what success looked like and I
Speaker 4: got the witness it.
Speaker 1: Every day we talk about these Washington memories.
Speaker 2: I always think of this photo that I see all
Speaker 2: the time, because, as you know, I work with Fred
Speaker 2: Smooth quite a lot, so you know, we're looking them
Speaker 2: up and doing different things, and there's this photo of you,
Speaker 2: Darryl Green and Fred Smooth walking down the field y'all
Speaker 2: and y'all uniforms.
Speaker 1: What was it like being a veteran, I guess when
Speaker 1: you're still young as well. By having a young guy
Speaker 1: like Smooth come into the building and come into the locker.
Speaker 4: Room, I mean, it was, it was fun. It was
Speaker 4: It was a lot of fun. We had a lot
Speaker 4: of good time together. I think it gave a different dynamic.
Speaker 4: But you know the thing about Smoothest, he was just
Speaker 4: as hungry as I was. You know, he thought he
Speaker 4: was the best. He played and practiced like it. And
Speaker 4: I would like to think he took some of those
Speaker 4: traits that I could show him at that young age
Speaker 4: of how to be successful. Because I'm coming off my
Speaker 4: first Pro Bowl and then he comes in, Dion goes out,
Speaker 4: but Daryl's still there, so we do have our steady
Speaker 4: hand at the top. You know, we all respected him
Speaker 4: and you know his leadership. But here's Smooth who hasn't
Speaker 4: changed a bit, so if you've been around and you
Speaker 4: know how he was even back then, like it was
Speaker 4: even worse back then, Like how loud and disruptive he were.
Speaker 4: He was, but he but I think all in all,
Speaker 4: what mattered the most is that he wanted to be
Speaker 4: a great football player. He thought he was, and he
Speaker 4: worked like it. And man, he was the most fun
Speaker 4: teammate I've ever been around. Because it wasn't nothing. He
Speaker 4: wasn't down to do it. So, you know, we had
Speaker 4: some really good time together. I learned some things from him,
Speaker 4: you know, just just little stuff, man, you know.
Speaker 3: The way he played.
Speaker 4: He couldn't do some of the things I could do,
Speaker 4: and I couldn't do some things he could do.
Speaker 3: Like it was just you know, as Darrel always had the.
Speaker 4: Same man, there was no real book on how to
Speaker 4: play corner like you got to figure out what works
Speaker 4: for you. There's some things that are constant. But all
Speaker 4: in all, man, we're all different. We all gonna get
Speaker 4: it done differently.
Speaker 1: And the same way you talk about Fred is the
Speaker 1: same way he talks about you.
Speaker 8: Man.
Speaker 2: He revers you guys so much for being those Ojizu
Speaker 2: just helped him out being those guys that helped him
Speaker 2: just kind of ease his way into the NFL, because
Speaker 2: that's a tough locker room to go in and compete with,
Speaker 2: right when you got two guys that are really man
Speaker 2: established like that, and you know now that you're back
Speaker 2: in the fall, Man, let me tell you there's nobody
Speaker 2: these fans love more than Fred Smooth. And I don't
Speaker 2: know outside of you and Daryl, I don't know if
Speaker 2: there's anybody that can give us those Fred Smooth stories.
Speaker 2: So if you would give us just that one favorite
Speaker 2: memory of your time in friendschoo, whether he's being crazy,
Speaker 2: whether he's talking trash in the locker room, because we
Speaker 2: hear stories all the time, but I'd love to hear
Speaker 2: it from somebody else.
Speaker 4: I never forget this one time. Well, I got two
Speaker 4: little things for you, but one is more embarrassing for me.
Speaker 4: One is kind of his personality. So you know, as rookies,
Speaker 4: you know, I wouldn't say it was hazing, but we
Speaker 4: would always make him do certain things. And I can't
Speaker 4: remember what the demand was from Smooth, and he just
Speaker 4: bust out, man, I'll take the physical challenge. And he
Speaker 4: had no idea what he was getting himself into. So
Speaker 4: we ended up taping him to the gold post. It
Speaker 4: was just but it was smooth though. He was not
Speaker 4: going to go down the traditional way. He's not gonna sing,
Speaker 4: he's not gonna go get food. He didn't do he
Speaker 4: didn't want to do anything. So he was just like,
Speaker 4: I'll take the physical challenge. I'm like, I didn't know
Speaker 4: what that meant. Of course, I'm not grabbing him and
Speaker 4: taking him to the gold post, but I'm making sure
Speaker 4: the big boys don't hurt him along the way, right.
Speaker 3: So, but that was who he was.
Speaker 4: But there's also this one incident. I was about to
Speaker 4: be late for practice, and I don't know if Freddy
Speaker 4: gonna remember this, but but I called Smooth. I'm on
Speaker 4: the other side the beltway, and I'm like, Smooth, I'm
Speaker 4: forty five minutes out.
Speaker 3: Practice started fifteen minutes. Just tell coach. I'm in the
Speaker 3: bathroom on the toilet, Like, just tell him.
Speaker 4: So our coach at the time, I mean, you gotta think,
Speaker 4: like I'm kind of established. I'm in my fourth or
Speaker 4: fifth year at this point, and you know, I could
Speaker 4: get away with some things.
Speaker 3: But at the same.
Speaker 4: Time, I'm accountable and I.
Speaker 3: Never did and push the envelope.
Speaker 4: But this one particular time, I just overslept up and
Speaker 4: I'm on my way to the facility.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm trying to you know, the belt Way unpredictable.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm traffic weaving in and now trying to
Speaker 4: go back to Potonac and just trying to get down
Speaker 4: in Virginia to get the practice. And he held it
Speaker 4: down for me till I got there. Of course, they
Speaker 4: didn't ask a lot of questions. I remember running out
Speaker 4: on the field, staying out there for about twenty minutes,
Speaker 4: and running back in like I had to go to
Speaker 4: the bathroom because I had to sell the story because
Speaker 4: coach thought I had a messed up stothing could get
Speaker 4: just be over like that.
Speaker 3: So it was just one of them things, man. And
Speaker 3: that's what Smooth was.
Speaker 4: Man. Smooth looked out for me. I looked out for him.
Speaker 4: And you know, I'll never forget those moments with him, okay, man.
Speaker 2: And and then Fred talks about those moments a lot too, man.
Speaker 2: So it's a member of love on both.
Speaker 1: Sides of that.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to talk to Hi about it. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure what y'all was taking him to the goal post.
Speaker 2: He was talking trash deep.
Speaker 3: Yeah the whole time, the whole time.
Speaker 4: He didn't shut up one second of it. But it
Speaker 4: was who he was and we all laughed too. You know,
Speaker 4: nobody wanted to harm me. You just you know, sometimes
Speaker 4: you gotta let rookies know.
Speaker 2: It's great to hear those stories because some of you
Speaker 2: guys were a true brotherhood.
Speaker 1: And so then I gotta I gotta move forward to
Speaker 1: you were traded.
Speaker 2: You were traded for Clinton ports a lot of fans
Speaker 2: to this day, one of my best friends is a
Speaker 2: Washington fan, and he says it worst trade ever in
Speaker 2: NFL history because they felt like they lost somebody they
Speaker 2: truly loved. In a champ Bailey talk to us about
Speaker 2: what you went through during that time. So I'm sure
Speaker 2: you didn't see it coming, or maybe you did. I
Speaker 2: know you loved playing here. How did that trade effect?
Speaker 2: You bring us back then?
Speaker 1: And you know what went down?
Speaker 3: Well, at the.
Speaker 4: Time, they you know, we were contract negotiating. Is you know,
Speaker 4: really weird when you're playing. But I remember during that season,
Speaker 4: my fifth year, my last year in Washington, they just.
Speaker 3: Kept lowballing me.
Speaker 4: And you know, I remember the last statement they told
Speaker 4: my agent was you'll never get that what we were
Speaker 4: asking for. So that's when they decided, Okay, well we're
Speaker 4: gonna attempt to trade, and.
Speaker 3: They franchised me. Then they didn't tempt to trade me.
Speaker 4: I remember Joe Gibbs called me because he was becoming
Speaker 4: in as a new coach and I never got to
Speaker 4: play for him, but he called me.
Speaker 3: It was like, I hope he worked this out, YadA YadA, But.
Speaker 4: Of course he had no real saying how that was
Speaker 4: gonna work out. We didn't have a relationship, so there
Speaker 4: was no like loyal to I expected from him.
Speaker 3: But long story short, man, it was just they decided
Speaker 3: to trade me.
Speaker 4: I told Denver what I wanted if I would because
Speaker 4: I could have bucked the trade all together by not
Speaker 4: signing the franchise tag.
Speaker 3: Right, and Denver looked at the contract.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they wanted to pay me exactly what I was
Speaker 4: asking for, so I was like, damn, I should ask
Speaker 4: for more. But you know, at that time that was
Speaker 4: good enough. But you know, it happened, and then you know,
Speaker 4: I was a little upset with the fact that we
Speaker 4: were losing porters. I was like, we can't trade somebody
Speaker 4: else because I'm a running back fan. I grew up
Speaker 4: playing running back. I played running back in high school.
Speaker 4: I'm a running back fan and I love Clinton Ports.
Speaker 4: So I'm like, damn, so we gotta go. I gotta
Speaker 4: go to Denver. He's coming here. But I think the
Speaker 4: icing on the cake was the second round pick, which
Speaker 4: they eventually used to get Tatum Ball. So I was
Speaker 4: feeling like, oh yeah, we got a we got a good,
Speaker 4: good deal. We got this other fast back from from
Speaker 4: Oklahoma State and it worked out. But at the time, man,
Speaker 4: I did not want Porters to leave. Pray somebody else,
Speaker 4: like anybody, but this guy, like I was a big
Speaker 4: fan of his and what he did in his short career.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think he was coming off his second
Speaker 4: season or something. I can't I can't remember, but he was.
Speaker 4: He was all pro back, And for me, it was
Speaker 4: just it was a little daunting because I didn't.
Speaker 3: Know what to expect. I think Denver, I think snow,
Speaker 3: you know, yeah, now I'm going.
Speaker 4: But I'm going to a team and a franchise that
Speaker 4: had a good run up to that point and having
Speaker 4: a great run game, always in the playoffs, just always
Speaker 4: a winning pedigree. I'm like, it's just it just made
Speaker 4: it made sense for me in that point in my
Speaker 4: career that I make this lead and then, you know,
Speaker 4: fortunate enough for guys at that point in their career
Speaker 4: it's fifth sixth year when you moved to another team,
Speaker 4: people look at you as a leader coming in, So
Speaker 4: I had that respect walking in obviously, you know, big
Speaker 4: responsibility to be a leader, going from a guy that
Speaker 4: was kind of raised in Washington. But now I'm over
Speaker 4: here and people think I've done as much as you
Speaker 4: know most guys whole career, you know, So it's just
Speaker 4: you know, the respect was there. You know they treated
Speaker 4: me well, and you know it was the best thing
Speaker 4: happened in my career to get traded.
Speaker 2: But in that moment, right like now, we can look
Speaker 2: back and say it's the best thing ever. But like
Speaker 2: you said, you were raised in Washington, you loved it here.
Speaker 2: Did that put a chip on your shoulder? Not just
Speaker 2: getting traded but also you know, having to go through
Speaker 2: these negotiations and then not really seeing your value.
Speaker 1: Did all that put a chip on.
Speaker 3: Your shoulder a little bit? A little bit?
Speaker 4: You know, I wasn't really concerned with the past, and
Speaker 4: it did. I think what bothered me is that they
Speaker 4: didn't respect you know, what I had done, you know,
Speaker 4: and it was like, you know, I've been the four
Speaker 4: straight Pro Bowls in my five years there, you know,
Speaker 4: and I was an alternate as a rookie. But I think,
Speaker 4: you know, that really opened my eyes to what really matters,
Speaker 4: and it was relationships.
Speaker 3: And you know, they didn't draft me. Dan Snyder didn't
Speaker 3: draft me.
Speaker 4: He took over ownership in the summer after I got
Speaker 4: drafted by Charlie Cassell. So when Cassley ended up leaving
Speaker 4: before my rookie season, you know, there was no they
Speaker 4: weren't loyal to me. I mean, if you remember they
Speaker 4: drafted LeVar Arrington as Samuelson next year. Well, Lamar ended
Speaker 4: up getting a new deal before I left, so you
Speaker 4: know you could tell.
Speaker 3: Where the loyalties lot.
Speaker 4: I mean, and he deserved it, but I did too,
Speaker 4: So it was just it was just obvious, you know,
Speaker 4: I wasn't valued. So the best thing was for me
Speaker 4: to leave and trust me. I told people all the time,
Speaker 4: like I have equally as much Washington fans as Denver
Speaker 4: fans come up to me to this day, tap me on.
Speaker 3: The shoulder, talk about the trade.
Speaker 4: It's equal and it's been like that since I left.
Speaker 3: That was twenty years ago, so you know that. So there.
Speaker 3: It's always been in the back of my mind to
Speaker 3: be reacclimated with the franchise, but it really did take
Speaker 3: new ownership to get that done.
Speaker 2: And before we get onto you being back with the franchise,
Speaker 2: we have to talk about that first ballot Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame because clearly that trade led to what was a
Speaker 2: race a great career, turned it into an amazing career,
Speaker 2: and then you end up being a first ballot Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer. From everything you've been through, man, all of
Speaker 2: that stuff, even that trade, right, all of these things
Speaker 2: being overlooked.
Speaker 1: What did that.
Speaker 2: Moment mean for you to be able to be on
Speaker 2: that stage and get that gold jacket?
Speaker 3: I mean it was amazing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I'm on that stage with some guys
Speaker 4: I played with, some guys I grew up revering.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was dude, it.
Speaker 4: Was amazing, And you know it's people tell me, used
Speaker 4: to tell me all the time. You know, within those
Speaker 4: five years I was retired before I'm eligible. Yeah, you're
Speaker 4: going first ballot, But I never really bought into it
Speaker 4: because I'm like, man, anything can happen like that. There's
Speaker 4: nothing more I could do to change the minds of
Speaker 4: these voters, you know.
Speaker 3: But again it goes back to relationships.
Speaker 4: Like I just remember being a guy in the locker
Speaker 4: room that the media could always come up to.
Speaker 3: And now who's voting the media. It's as simple as that.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, that's that's funny because all these
Speaker 4: these things carry over in life, and I'm like, oh, well,
Speaker 4: football is a part of my life, so why does
Speaker 4: it not exist here. I've seen so much evidence of
Speaker 4: how much these relationships mean. And you know, I try
Speaker 4: to tell guys all the time, no matter what, like
Speaker 4: some point, your career is going to end, and what
Speaker 4: your value is going to be based off the relationships
Speaker 4: you've built. And I never got away from that. And
Speaker 4: I'm lucky for me, it was natural for me. And
Speaker 4: I think a lot of people can see how some
Speaker 4: guys get left off and not get looked at for
Speaker 4: a Hall of Fame, and they deserve it.
Speaker 3: There's so many guys that deserve to be in. But
Speaker 3: I do think there's.
Speaker 4: Some people that are not in because they don't have
Speaker 4: the right They just didn't rub people the right way
Speaker 4: for whatever reason.
Speaker 3: Not that it's warranted, but it is what it is. Like,
Speaker 3: that's just how it is, you know, and you know,
Speaker 3: but I did.
Speaker 4: I do think my resume spoke for itself. So just
Speaker 4: based off game alone, yeah, you know, I felt like
Speaker 4: I should have been in, but again it's not in
Speaker 4: my control. So I felt good because we had three
Speaker 4: first ballots on my in my class with Ed Reed
Speaker 4: and Tony Gonzales, and then you throw Tylo in the mix. Man,
Speaker 4: you're talking about a hell of a secondary. That was
Speaker 4: a great class man. I was just happy to be
Speaker 4: in Man with some guys I love watching.
Speaker 2: Oh well deserved. Man, you were such a monster on
Speaker 2: that field. And I'm sure Washington fans you know, they
Speaker 2: missed you because we talked about this before we got on.
Speaker 1: You had not been back to after being traded.
Speaker 2: You had not The last time you had been in
Speaker 2: Washington was O nine, you were playing for the Broncos
Speaker 2: against US, and then you hadn't been back since until
Speaker 2: last season. New ownership comes in and decides we are
Speaker 2: going to make Champ Bailey our legend of the game
Speaker 2: for our very first home game as new ownership, which
Speaker 2: is I don't think people realize how big of a
Speaker 2: deal that is, especially somebody that hadn't been in the
Speaker 2: fold in a while.
Speaker 1: How much did that mean to you to be able
Speaker 1: to be back on that field, have all those.
Speaker 2: Burgundy and gold fans yell at you and cheer for
Speaker 2: you and just be so happy to see you. Man,
Speaker 2: What was that moment like for you after being separated
Speaker 2: for so long?
Speaker 3: It was amazing and it was overdue, you know.
Speaker 4: And I got to give you know, Tim Hottower and
Speaker 4: those guys a lot of credit for I mean, continuing
Speaker 4: to reach out. And you know, there were calls for
Speaker 4: me to come back, but again before new ownership, but
Speaker 4: it never felt right. And then when the team was sold,
Speaker 4: it just felt right at that time. It just they
Speaker 4: they made me feel like I was part of the family.
Speaker 4: And it never was a disconnection, because that's how close
Speaker 4: knit these circles are when it comes to former athletes
Speaker 4: and people you work with in this business. I mean,
Speaker 4: those bonds are strong. It's not it's not hard to reconnect.
Speaker 4: It's really not like we all could get around and
Speaker 4: talk about our times as a player or administrator or
Speaker 4: coach or whatever it may be. An owner, you know,
Speaker 4: and it's one of those circles you always want to
Speaker 4: be a part of. And I'm just happy to be
Speaker 4: a part of one of the most story franchises ever
Speaker 4: like this. I never wanted to disconnect, you know, from
Speaker 4: the franchise and you know, but if you're not valued
Speaker 4: in that way, then I'm not. I'm never going to
Speaker 4: force my way into somebody's house. That's just not who
Speaker 4: I am. But I got to give everybody there a
Speaker 4: lot of credit. Man, they're really changing the culture. It's
Speaker 4: been overdue. As you can tell.
Speaker 3: It's not hard to do that when when you have
Speaker 3: a team and a fan base like that.
Speaker 4: Like like I say, man, there's more people just as
Speaker 4: many people come up to me today about my time there,
Speaker 4: and there's been so many great players.
Speaker 3: Clint Porters wasn't wasn't a bus. They got something break
Speaker 3: out of that trade. So it wasn't like, yeah, it
Speaker 3: wasn't like I left for nothing like he was. He
Speaker 3: was a beast. So to be remembered, man, I mean,
Speaker 3: it's it's gratifying.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: It means a lot.
Speaker 2: And your ogi's getting loved too. He will be having
Speaker 2: his jersey retired. I know you will be there for that, man,
Speaker 2: how awesome.
Speaker 4: He hit me the other day, asked me, was I coming? Like,
Speaker 4: what is he talking about?
Speaker 1: Of course I'm gonna be there. How big is that
Speaker 1: gonna be there? You're gonna be on that field with him.
Speaker 2: Man, you're gonna see all of his hard work, because you,
Speaker 2: better than anybody, have got to really see the work
Speaker 2: and the time he put into his craft. And now
Speaker 2: he's finally getting recognized. For man, how special is that
Speaker 2: gonna be for somebody that.
Speaker 1: Was his mentee?
Speaker 4: Look, man, this dude. The fact that he's having to
Speaker 4: wait this long is is.
Speaker 3: It's criminal. It doesn't make anything. But what people don't
Speaker 3: understand is we've been can connected.
Speaker 4: Since I've retired, a lot a lot more since I
Speaker 4: retired and over the years of my career, like we
Speaker 4: always stayed connected, and for me it was it was.
Speaker 3: It was easy.
Speaker 4: Because I looked up to him, not for what he
Speaker 4: did on the field, but more what he did off
Speaker 4: the field. It's charity work, the business that he's done
Speaker 4: since he's retired, and we worked with some of the
Speaker 4: same companies now, so it's nothing to do. Like I say,
Speaker 4: we never got disconnected, like he was always my mentor.
Speaker 4: It still is like, we make sure we are on
Speaker 4: the phone at least two or three times a year,
Speaker 4: no matter what we're texting about something. You know, he's
Speaker 4: presenting opportunities to me and vice versa. So it's there's
Speaker 4: always been that bond. So I'm just happy to finally
Speaker 4: see him get the recognition that's been overdue for all
Speaker 4: these years. Nobody should everwhere twenty eight have ever again
Speaker 4: on the whole league, Like it's he means that much
Speaker 4: to the younger generation and the career.
Speaker 3: That he had. I mean, this dude played twenty one years.
Speaker 4: Come on, man, you tell me your corner getting past
Speaker 4: fifteen These days it's not happening. So, I mean, I
Speaker 4: got a lot of respect for him. I'm just happy
Speaker 4: I could get there and witness it in person and
Speaker 4: watch him cry again because you know he I can
Speaker 4: tell this one got to him.
Speaker 3: You know, this one, this one really got to him.
Speaker 2: And it shows the love that you guys had for
Speaker 2: this organization and this fan base, the way that you
Speaker 2: guys get emotional on the way you got to show up.
Speaker 2: So thank you for sharing that. And of course we
Speaker 2: got to talk about today's game. We got a lot
Speaker 2: of young secondary in there. We got kwalm Martin, we
Speaker 2: got Mike Sanders Shill, we have emmanual Force, We have
Speaker 2: all these young guys and a lot of things are changing.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about the lay of the land
Speaker 2: now for Washington.
Speaker 1: And how bright our future looks?
Speaker 4: Well, looks great, I think, you know, defensively, we've always
Speaker 4: had some good pieces, just and consistent, and I think
Speaker 4: the one constant thing that we have been missing is
Speaker 4: the quarterback.
Speaker 3: And we've had a good running game here and there.
Speaker 4: And Brian Robinson looks like a beast for some reason. Man,
Speaker 4: he just looked beast mood now for some reason. I
Speaker 4: don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: He always was that he always wasn't just you.
Speaker 3: Know, but it feels different.
Speaker 4: It feels like he has another level of confidence that
Speaker 4: I hadn't seen. He pops out on the screen to
Speaker 4: me like and I feel like in some ways that
Speaker 4: reflects the leadership that he has Silently. I don't know
Speaker 4: who he is or what type of person he is,
Speaker 4: but it just feels like he's energizing the team for
Speaker 4: some reason. Now, don't get me wrong, you know, it's
Speaker 4: obviously early in his career, but you know, one thing
Speaker 4: about this league. If you've noticed, man, you got to
Speaker 4: be mobile like that. All the good quarterbacks now have mobility.
Speaker 4: I think the least mobile guy is Yo Borrow and
Speaker 4: he can move a little bit. So I mean it's
Speaker 4: if you don't have some mobility, you're not gonna win early.
Speaker 4: And Jayden Daniels looks good in that pocket. But when
Speaker 4: you can dial up a quarterback run here and there,
Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson, like, I mean, it's dangerous, man. He creates
Speaker 4: another headache for the defense, something else they gotta work on.
Speaker 4: So you just never know what's coming at you. And boy,
Speaker 4: coordinator got to be in heaven with a guy like this.
Speaker 2: I think we are all at heaven, man, and we
Speaker 2: cannot wait till Sunday's game against the Browns to see
Speaker 2: them boys go out there and just continue to get better.
Speaker 2: And before we let you go on Sunday as well
Speaker 2: as Santanta Mans another guy that works with me and
Speaker 2: fred a lot, he will be the legend of the game.
Speaker 2: And you were defensive back for a very long time,
Speaker 2: so there's nobody prepared for receivers quite like you. Can
Speaker 2: you give us a little bit of Santana Moss story,
Speaker 2: something about Santanta mass when you would line up agains
Speaker 2: him and playing what kind of player was he in?
Speaker 2: How cool is it to see a OG like that
Speaker 2: get get on it, just like you were honored last season?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Fortunate though for me, I never had to match up
Speaker 4: against him, so I didn't I didn't have to like
Speaker 4: really tear into who he was. But you know, he
Speaker 4: one thing you couldn't, you know, get away from or
Speaker 4: at least ignore, was his speed. I mean, he was
Speaker 4: just one of those guys and he was always taking
Speaker 4: the lid off the defense and just really putting pressure
Speaker 4: on him. So I can remember preparing that week and
Speaker 4: we were just always trying to figure out, like when
Speaker 4: is he going deep? And I never forget he beat
Speaker 4: me on a corner route. They were in some kind
Speaker 4: of bunch formation or something and he was lined up
Speaker 4: at the first receiver. Now, usually the first receive it
Speaker 4: don't go deep. He's usually the one going under or
Speaker 4: run something short. And ran a corner from that number
Speaker 4: one spot and I'm like, whoa hold on? And man,
Speaker 4: like I say, man, this dude here, he's one of
Speaker 4: those guys that's super underrated. We don't talk about enough
Speaker 4: I mean every time his highlights pop up on my timeline,
Speaker 4: I just sit I just sit there and watch him.
Speaker 4: I mean, because he was amazing to watch. I only
Speaker 4: played him that one I think that one. Maybe once
Speaker 4: othern when he was with the Jets, but that that
Speaker 4: one time I remember vividly.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 2: And it's so great just having legends like you guys
Speaker 2: as part of this building. I think it speaks to
Speaker 2: not only the fan based on how much you guys
Speaker 2: are the fans, but just the people that you guys
Speaker 2: are too.
Speaker 1: Man so Champ. We're so happy to have you back
Speaker 1: in the fall.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: We ain't gonna let you go. We're gonna hold on
Speaker 1: to you tight now. Man chat. We're so happy to
Speaker 1: have it.
Speaker 3: Man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, Man, thank you for your time.
Speaker 2: Bro.
Speaker 1: We really appreciate having you on.
Speaker 3: Man all right, Man, looking forward to seeing y'all peace.
Speaker 2: Man Commanded, Sammy, we appreciate you watching this episode of
Speaker 2: Next Man Up. You can stream every episode of Next
Speaker 2: Man Up, even last seasons, on the Commander's YouTube page
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcast. Until Next Time Command
Speaker 2: His Family. I'm Brian Corpa JUNR. And this is next
Speaker 2: man up,