Speaker 1: It's a very difficult game to win any games, and
Speaker 1: that's why we enjoy watching it because if it was
Speaker 1: easy to do, then the reward wouldn't seem as special
Speaker 1: as it is. You talk about a completely different style
Speaker 1: of calling plays and different concept I mean these are
Speaker 1: completely different concepts as well. So it's not just what
Speaker 1: it's called, but what it means, what a great feeling
Speaker 1: it is. This week, Vikings Football makes its return. This
Speaker 1: is the official Minnesota Vikings Podcast. We're an episode one
Speaker 1: fifty eight. I'm your host, Tatum Everett. We've got Gabe
Speaker 1: Henderson here. We also have producer Eric Davidson and a
Speaker 1: very special guest today for our podcast, we have Vikings
Speaker 1: legendary running back and personal friend of the Vikings Entertainment Network,
Speaker 1: Robert Smith. You know him, you love him. How's it going,
Speaker 1: Robert Summer. It's going great here. It's a big summer
Speaker 1: for you too, but we can talk about that on
Speaker 1: another podcast. But it's it's great. It's so exciting to
Speaker 1: be so close to the season. And obviously you always
Speaker 1: get NFL news, I mean it comes every day, right,
Speaker 1: It's it's three sixty five, three sixty six on leap years. Um,
Speaker 1: but it's nice to actually get close to where we're
Speaker 1: gonna have the new changes, obviously with the staff and
Speaker 1: the systems on both sides of the ball, and finally
Speaker 1: getting a chance to kind of see that in operation.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited. You should be because football is back
Speaker 1: in I feel like it's really good to seeing you
Speaker 1: in person. I had never met you in person, even
Speaker 1: though we've like done content together. So it's kind of wild,
Speaker 1: isn't it. Yeah, go to my third season. I've done
Speaker 1: count I know you guys that Postgame Live together last year,
Speaker 1: but Robert and I've done countless work together. I'm like, dude,
Speaker 1: it's like, actually, the way that you guys greeted each other,
Speaker 1: I felt like you were like best friend. That's that's
Speaker 1: who I am. Like I greet everybody the same. I
Speaker 1: just have fun and Rober, I know you're a good
Speaker 1: guy also just from our conversations and um, love your work.
Speaker 1: I know you have some exciting news to get to
Speaker 1: here early in this podcast, but I've been a fan
Speaker 1: of yours since you since you play back in the day.
Speaker 1: I don't want to make you sound old, but I
Speaker 1: am that doesn't you don't have to but yeah, this
Speaker 1: is this is great just having football back. The vikings are,
Speaker 1: you know, starting football up and in a couple of
Speaker 1: days here, so everybody's throwing, everybody's excited, and we finally
Speaker 1: get some of those questions answered right now. I mean
Speaker 1: in the past seven or eight months, it's all been about, Okay,
Speaker 1: who's going to do this? Who are you expecting to
Speaker 1: have a breakout season here? Blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Football is back, and those guys get to answer those questions.
Speaker 1: Yeah and again, kind of seeing the systems in operation.
Speaker 1: I think it's one thing to have the walkthroughs and
Speaker 1: for people to be out there in practice. You have
Speaker 1: some live sessions, but going against a different team, and
Speaker 1: teams keep it pretty vanilla obviously in the preseason, so
Speaker 1: you're not going to see a lot of exotic looks.
Speaker 1: But just kind of seeing how the guys react to
Speaker 1: live game situations. I think the coaches are as excited
Speaker 1: as we are going to see what it actually looks like.
Speaker 1: And I you know, you hear Raves. You know, I
Speaker 1: saw what Justin Jefferson said Yesterday's like, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: I could see why Cooper Cup was open as much
Speaker 1: as I was, and you're just really happy to be
Speaker 1: in this system. But it's one thing to do it
Speaker 1: in practice, it's another do it in a game. And
Speaker 1: speaking of practice, you'll be out there today being able
Speaker 1: to see some of the guys probably the big first
Speaker 1: big prow or the last big practice will have until
Speaker 1: Sunday's preseason games. So what are you going to be
Speaker 1: looking for when you're out there? Well, I think just
Speaker 1: kind of the way that the guys move, you know,
Speaker 1: are are they hesitant at all? You know? Do the
Speaker 1: guys seem to be confident in the schemes that they're using.
Speaker 1: And not knowing exactly where everybody's supposed to be on
Speaker 1: every play doesn't make that easy. But you can kind
Speaker 1: of tell from the reaction of the coaches, you know,
Speaker 1: how much correction is there after a play and maybe
Speaker 1: how loud is that correction can kind of tell you sometimes,
Speaker 1: Although you know, I think I think the staff is
Speaker 1: going to be different in that regard. You know, that's
Speaker 1: kind of what's happened over the NFL. Across the NFL,
Speaker 1: I think some of the older school coaches that were
Speaker 1: a little louder and newer coaches I think they're more
Speaker 1: into just explaining things to guys, and you know, you
Speaker 1: can say whatever you want about what system or what
Speaker 1: style of coaching is going to be most effective, but
Speaker 1: I think guys are just a little bit different now.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just kind of want to see how
Speaker 1: how smooth and how crisp things look, and you know,
Speaker 1: which which side seems to have the advantage, and you
Speaker 1: know that probably goes back and forth. Rber. I know
Speaker 1: you you played under Danny Green your entire career here,
Speaker 1: but how many offensive coordinator changes did you have? Well,
Speaker 1: we had so Jack Burns was the offensive coordinator I
Speaker 1: believe for like the first three games that I was here,
Speaker 1: So that was my rookie season, and then he got
Speaker 1: fired and Brian took over as the offensive coordinator. And
Speaker 1: as a rookie, I didn't pay that much attention to
Speaker 1: the NFL in depth growing up, and of course it's
Speaker 1: not covered the same way that it is now, And
Speaker 1: I had never heard about coaches getting fired during the season,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, what what just happened? Like, we just
Speaker 1: lost our offensive coordinator. But it was such a great
Speaker 1: change for our team and for this organization. Obviously, Brian
Speaker 1: was just amazing. But then Brian took the head coaching
Speaker 1: job with the Baltimore Ravens after the ninety eight season,
Speaker 1: and then we had Scherm Lewis as a as an
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, and I think that was so it was
Speaker 1: just those changes there, Okay. And the reason why I
Speaker 1: asked is because like during this this time period, right
Speaker 1: like the week of the preseason game, and you were
Speaker 1: installing the new offense or learning new terminology, like how
Speaker 1: much is expected versus how much is kind of warranted?
Speaker 1: Of like, Okay, these guys aren't going to understand everything
Speaker 1: by week one of the preseason. Yeah, And so if
Speaker 1: you think about the changes that we had, none of
Speaker 1: them were system changes. No no, no language new verbiage changes,
Speaker 1: and that is huge. Uh, you know you you talk
Speaker 1: about a completely different style of calling plays and different
Speaker 1: concept I mean these are completely different concepts as well.
Speaker 1: So it's not just what it's called, but what it means.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I think it's it's exciting for
Speaker 1: me to kind of see it in operation because it
Speaker 1: can be the greatest offenses in the world or the
Speaker 1: greatest defense with Ed Dontel. But if the guys don't
Speaker 1: understand it, and if they can't quickly on the run
Speaker 1: make the changes that they need to make, then you know,
Speaker 1: what good is it? And coaches say that all the time.
Speaker 1: It's not what I know, it's what I know that
Speaker 1: I can teach the players. That matters. When you watch
Speaker 1: the preseason game on Sunday or when fans watch it,
Speaker 1: what do you think they'll see from this? Do you
Speaker 1: think they'll see? I mean, obviously we know. I think
Speaker 1: it's it's safe to say this coachings have doesn't want
Speaker 1: a lot of what they're doing offensively to get out there.
Speaker 1: They just you know, they don't, fans can't or they're
Speaker 1: asking fans on to post videos of practice and things
Speaker 1: like that. So what do you think we see? And
Speaker 1: then on the conversely, like is it easier that way
Speaker 1: when they just come out that first week September eleventh,
Speaker 1: not having really any drives into their belt. I guess
Speaker 1: you could say, well, I think what you're going to
Speaker 1: see is probably going to be pretty vanilla. I think
Speaker 1: that you know, the coaches at this time of the
Speaker 1: year and you have to think, you know, you have
Speaker 1: a lot of young players that you try and play.
Speaker 1: You think about the roster size being you know, ninety
Speaker 1: plus at this time of year, and you have so
Speaker 1: many guys you're trying to figure out if they can
Speaker 1: remember the play, get out in a real game, and execute.
Speaker 1: So you're trying to figure those things out initially, and
Speaker 1: apart from not just wanting to show everything that you're
Speaker 1: capable of offensively and defensively, you want to keep things
Speaker 1: simple so that you can just see at a most
Speaker 1: basic level, can these guys get it done? But is
Speaker 1: it easier to just go out at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the season. It just it depends on who you are.
Speaker 1: You have guys in that in that fifty three to
Speaker 1: ninety group, you know, the part of the roster that
Speaker 1: might not make this team, but they might be auditioning
Speaker 1: for another team. So you have young players and obviously
Speaker 1: they're going to need to work. You have guys that
Speaker 1: been in the league, you know, to tow three years
Speaker 1: that might need a breakout and they're the ones that
Speaker 1: you're going to see in the game and they need
Speaker 1: to be in those games. And then you have older players. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's easier for older players a lot of times
Speaker 1: not to take any snaps or just take a couple
Speaker 1: of series in the preseason just to kind of get
Speaker 1: used to it, you know, just kind of get the
Speaker 1: adrenaline flowing of game day and going out there against
Speaker 1: another team. But it's different things for different players. That's interesting.
Speaker 1: You say that, you know, the roster cut down, A
Speaker 1: lot of people don't really talk about that. You mean,
Speaker 1: right now you have ninety players on the roster that'll
Speaker 1: cut down every single week, and it's just been it's
Speaker 1: just been interesting just saying like, you know, people in
Speaker 1: USFL hats on the syline or XFL hats or the
Speaker 1: Canadian Football CFL, and it's just like these guys are
Speaker 1: auditioning for other leagues also, absolutely, and you know, the
Speaker 1: young players need to know that everything that you do
Speaker 1: is going to be on tape. And again, you know,
Speaker 1: you're not just showing the current coaching staff, You're showing
Speaker 1: everybody what you're capable of doing so and that's important
Speaker 1: for these guys. And you know, the great thing is,
Speaker 1: you know what we saw from having the USFL on
Speaker 1: Fox this year is that you know a good number
Speaker 1: of those players are having some tryouts and are part
Speaker 1: of the ninety man rosters for some of these teams. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll take a quick break from Vikings talk. We'll return
Speaker 1: to that. But you did bring up Fox, and I
Speaker 1: think that it's really exciting. You know, you've really made
Speaker 1: a great name for yourself in the broadcasting world post career,
Speaker 1: and it's just continuing this year. You want to share
Speaker 1: some of the exciting news you got going on this season? Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: you know, the inventory for college had been down quite
Speaker 1: a bit. Yeah for Fox, and that may change here
Speaker 1: now with the Big Ten negotiations. But what is it
Speaker 1: gonna be calling a huge number of college games? And
Speaker 1: my boss, one of my bosses there at Fox calls
Speaker 1: me up and he's like, hey, we're gonna have a
Speaker 1: few more NFL games for you this Year's oh, that's great.
Speaker 1: And then he calls me up, this is almost two
Speaker 1: weeks ago, and he says, how would you like to
Speaker 1: call a full slate of NFL games or at least
Speaker 1: fifteen games? And I'm you know, I swore and said
Speaker 1: are you And you know, he said no, we you know,
Speaker 1: we're really happy with the games that you called. And
Speaker 1: you know, I've been calling at least one NFL game
Speaker 1: a year and I got two Vikings games actually two
Speaker 1: years ago, but I've been calling at least one NFL
Speaker 1: game a year, and now I'm going to be calling
Speaker 1: a full slate of games, and I just I just
Speaker 1: couldn't be more excited about it. It's just it's it's
Speaker 1: so exciting. Is it more work prepping for a college
Speaker 1: game or NFL game? That's a really good question. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of work in both, but I think there's
Speaker 1: more detailed work in the NFL because you know, you
Speaker 1: know the players and you know the stories. So I
Speaker 1: think to kind of make the broadcast what you want
Speaker 1: it to be, you dig a lot deeper on stories
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So there's a lot more work in
Speaker 1: college just knowing who the players are. Uh. And you know,
Speaker 1: if if you're calling a Utah or by U or
Speaker 1: a Cal game, You've got a lot of Polynesian name
Speaker 1: games that have you know, multiple soyables and you know
Speaker 1: different pronunciations, so that can be difficult. But the NFL,
Speaker 1: you know, you you're you're familiar more familiar with with
Speaker 1: the names because the guys have been around, I mean college,
Speaker 1: it changes every three years, so that's a challenge in
Speaker 1: and of itself. But I think that the schemes and
Speaker 1: the ways that guys try to get an edge on
Speaker 1: the opponent is different in the NFL, so that you
Speaker 1: end up more you end up digging a little bit
Speaker 1: deeper about the history of the coaching staff and and
Speaker 1: why they've adopted certain systems and how coaches and players
Speaker 1: try and find that razor's edge that can be the
Speaker 1: difference in winning in the NFL. So you're partnering with
Speaker 1: Chris Myers and Jen Hale, who you know and I
Speaker 1: know Tiger Tiger talk again, Tiger talk always. Well, when
Speaker 1: Robert I'm in the building, it's gonna be Buckeye entire talk,
Speaker 1: Michigan and Alabama fan for that knowledge. Bum But you're
Speaker 1: alongside these two guys. So when you join a team
Speaker 1: like that, are you do you go through like a
Speaker 1: practice game, do you work with them? How do you
Speaker 1: kind of build that bond and that chemistry to be
Speaker 1: ready to go on air when you do the first game? Well,
Speaker 1: we called our first game together last December actually, and
Speaker 1: that it was because of an illness. The regular announcer
Speaker 1: had an illness and so I stepped in and Chris
Speaker 1: Meyers had like three flights that he ended up missing
Speaker 1: and the protocols were different. We didn't we didn't we
Speaker 1: weren't out watching practice on Friday. There were COVID restrictions,
Speaker 1: and we didn't meet with the coaching staffs in person,
Speaker 1: so it was a little bit different then. But they
Speaker 1: do just kind of throw you in there. You know.
Speaker 1: I think if somebody's calling a game for the very
Speaker 1: first time, they may have some sessions like that. But
Speaker 1: that's not something we did. But you know, Chris and Jed,
Speaker 1: I mean, there's such professionals and just so easy and
Speaker 1: because I've worked with a number of different announcers and
Speaker 1: and and at different levels, right like people that have
Speaker 1: been doing it for a long time, people that haven't
Speaker 1: been doing it very much. So to step in there
Speaker 1: with somebody in the booth like Chris, like it was
Speaker 1: just it was so easy. You just made it so
Speaker 1: easy for me. And I'm again, I'm just I'm just
Speaker 1: so excited. But you know, you talk about what kind
Speaker 1: of builds that relationship. Uh, you know, it's when we'll
Speaker 1: get together on Friday nights and we'll have dinner and
Speaker 1: we'll be discussing different aspects of the game that week
Speaker 1: or things that we've heard during the week, and you know,
Speaker 1: you have those conversations a lot of times just kind
Speaker 1: of over meals and casually, and that's where some of
Speaker 1: the best information, uh and nuggets for a game will
Speaker 1: come from. That's awesome. I'm so happy. I can't wait
Speaker 1: for you to get on one of our games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, we have a couple of Sunday New games.
Speaker 1: You never know, and you've called a couple already, So like,
Speaker 1: do you I know you're you know, far removed from playing,
Speaker 1: but do you still get that itch? Sometimes I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: I would do this in this situation. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's so much I would do this or guy
Speaker 1: would do that. I think, you know, you look at
Speaker 1: it more objectively and what what you think should happen
Speaker 1: on sertain And again, you know, when you're in a booth,
Speaker 1: you don't necessarily know what the blocking scheme was. You
Speaker 1: can kind of guess, you know, if somebody runs free,
Speaker 1: and if it looks like based on the structure that
Speaker 1: you know it should have been a running back or
Speaker 1: a tight end or one of the linemen that should
Speaker 1: have had a particular block. Um. But yeah, you really
Speaker 1: just kind of look at that things objectively and obviously,
Speaker 1: as you know, as much as I love the organization
Speaker 1: and uh you know, and now like a fan of
Speaker 1: the organization, that one you've heard me swear a few
Speaker 1: times too. But but but it does become easy on
Speaker 1: game day to just be objective because you're calling things
Speaker 1: as you see them. And I'm sure every fan out
Speaker 1: there that's a true fan of the team, uh that
Speaker 1: you're you get angry, like if there's something that you
Speaker 1: don't like, you get angry. And so obviously I'm not
Speaker 1: getting angry during the broadcast, but you can be objective
Speaker 1: without uh, you know, having your pom poms out there
Speaker 1: on a Sunday for a call. Could uh nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 1: Robert Smith excel in this offense so forward focus and innovative. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I've had this discussion. I was
Speaker 1: talking I golfed with Todd Bauman yesterday and we were
Speaker 1: talking about, you know, the evolution of offenses and just
Speaker 1: I mean just night and day, how different they are.
Speaker 1: And yeah, nineteen ninety eight, much much fewer years on
Speaker 1: his on his body, Robert Smith, Yeah, could it could
Speaker 1: flourish in the offense. But it's just fun to see
Speaker 1: the guys do what they do. And you know, the
Speaker 1: really fun part for me now being an analyst and
Speaker 1: watching the game and really trying to again to figure
Speaker 1: out what are the what are the small differences between
Speaker 1: winning and losing. Now it's not just one aspect of
Speaker 1: the game, because when offenses evolved, defenses evolved, and defenses,
Speaker 1: you know, force the offenses to do certain things, and
Speaker 1: offenses force defenses to do certain thing. And from a
Speaker 1: personnel standpoint, I think the type of player and the
Speaker 1: way that they train and the players that fit certain schemes,
Speaker 1: all of those things evolve, and kind of seeing that
Speaker 1: evolution is just it's been really cool to see. And
Speaker 1: because I had the opportunity to work at the college
Speaker 1: level for so many years, you know, seeing how high
Speaker 1: school offenses have influenced college offenses, and then some of
Speaker 1: those college offenses, some of those concepts have made their
Speaker 1: way into the NFL. So kind of seeing it from
Speaker 1: a very broad view has been interesting. It's a kid's game, well,
Speaker 1: but if you also think of it conversely, I feel
Speaker 1: like sometimes these kids are ready to play college ball
Speaker 1: immediately at a high school, and these college kids are
Speaker 1: ready to play immediate in the league because they've been
Speaker 1: in those kinds of systems and football has almost become
Speaker 1: I would and say like professional level, but it's definitely
Speaker 1: gotten a little bit more advanced. I think even when
Speaker 1: you get down to like some high school gets younger
Speaker 1: every year. I mean, you're in the Dallas area, you came, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: But some of the things that you know, the colleges though,
Speaker 1: in the way that they call offenses in particular, like uh,
Speaker 1: you know, using the big cards and boards and things
Speaker 1: like that, I think some some of those college players
Speaker 1: have a little bit of difficulty when they do come
Speaker 1: into the league and they're hearing it and their ear
Speaker 1: and then having to repeat it and say it. You know,
Speaker 1: that's that's where the rush. But you're absolutely right, I
Speaker 1: mean the seven on sevens and you know, the evolution
Speaker 1: of the offenses has has kind of seen this growth
Speaker 1: and value for the for the wide receiver position in general,
Speaker 1: and it's really interesting to kind of see just how
Speaker 1: ready those guys are at every level and the quarterbacks too.
Speaker 1: And I think because players get exposed to social media
Speaker 1: and all of the good and especially the bad because
Speaker 1: the bad people are exposed to it early and it
Speaker 1: just doesn't bother them as much. You become kind of
Speaker 1: numb to it, like, yeah, of course they're going to
Speaker 1: say all that nonsense. You know, So some guys are
Speaker 1: more sensitive than others. But I think that that helps
Speaker 1: players as they advanced through the game from high school
Speaker 1: to college, Like you've been hearing this stuff for a
Speaker 1: long time, whereas twenty thirty years ago you didn't really
Speaker 1: have to deal with it the same way you didn't
Speaker 1: have to deal with media except for the media that
Speaker 1: was writing papers, and if you don't pick it up,
Speaker 1: you don't see it. But people are on social media
Speaker 1: so much they hear all the criticism. So I think
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, players are more purchasing. You know, I am,
Speaker 1: There is no way that I am at any level
Speaker 1: of criticism as these players are. But there are people
Speaker 1: and I heard, oh, she's terrible, we hate her voice,
Speaker 1: all this kind of stuff all the time, and I'm
Speaker 1: so much more numb to it now when I first
Speaker 1: started out. So I kind of I feel like I
Speaker 1: really related to that last point a little too close
Speaker 1: to how well yeah, but you know, but you know
Speaker 1: the good thing is that because you do, you do
Speaker 1: get numb to it. And look like you realize is
Speaker 1: that the people oftentimes are on social media saying those
Speaker 1: kind of things like they just want attentions, and like
Speaker 1: when you see it that way, and then when you
Speaker 1: get into the league or into college and then into
Speaker 1: the league and you hear hear that, you know, even
Speaker 1: even some of the people that you know are writing
Speaker 1: for professional organizations, you can think of them in the
Speaker 1: same regard, like, Yeah, they've got a job to do.
Speaker 1: It's to sound critical sometimes and you can handle the
Speaker 1: criticism better that way. Speaking of critical, I don't I
Speaker 1: promise you this question isn't to set you up, but
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a preface this by saying, preface this by saying,
Speaker 1: because I have an opinion on it, but I'm a
Speaker 1: preface this by saying I worked at an organization before,
Speaker 1: and the organization they would sit certain rookies at they
Speaker 1: drafted throughout the entire preseason, and then during the regular
Speaker 1: season they would blow it up like like Terry McLaurin,
Speaker 1: for example, just signed a second contract, really good athlete,
Speaker 1: but nobody really heard about him when they sat him
Speaker 1: the entire preseason. This is like you just drafted this
Speaker 1: guy and now you see more teams starting to do
Speaker 1: it in the preseason. I know it's for you know,
Speaker 1: body preservation and trying to you know, get him, you know,
Speaker 1: ready for regular game season before we sort of regular
Speaker 1: season games. But how do you feel about the new waves?
Speaker 1: It's been a small increments now, but the new wave
Speaker 1: of resting certain rookies because you want to see what
Speaker 1: they can do in a real game. So it all
Speaker 1: depends on the player. Uh, what kind of system did
Speaker 1: they come from, how complex was it, how difficult has
Speaker 1: it been for them to adopt the professional scheme? And
Speaker 1: if you really have no concerns about that, and you
Speaker 1: have no concerns about how is this player you know,
Speaker 1: in that in that particular example, how does this player
Speaker 1: deal with press coverage, how they deal with some sort
Speaker 1: of adjustments of the routes based on the coverage. If
Speaker 1: you don't have concerns about that, I think the teams
Speaker 1: are more comfortable to say, hey, we don't really need
Speaker 1: to see that much from this player. And that goes
Speaker 1: back to the conversation, especially now because there are three
Speaker 1: preseason games and of five preseason games, as some of
Speaker 1: the teams had, you know, back in the day, you know,
Speaker 1: you really do need to be careful with the players
Speaker 1: that you have and the guys that you're comfortable with,
Speaker 1: but you also need to be faster and evaluating that
Speaker 1: fifty three to ninety group and you have to you
Speaker 1: have to know more. And there are just so many
Speaker 1: reps out there, whether it's in practice. Because you only
Speaker 1: have eleven padded practices now, it changes the way that
Speaker 1: that you evaluate some of those other players and you
Speaker 1: just you don't need to see as much from those
Speaker 1: guys and there's no point exposing them to the injury risk.
Speaker 1: So would you say the starters for the preseason games
Speaker 1: this here? Do you do? You do you like the
Speaker 1: new wave of that of only playing like a game
Speaker 1: or a quarter or I'm here or drive? Like what's
Speaker 1: the balance and that with installing a new offense and
Speaker 1: trying to get comfortable with playing together. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a really good point right there, especially especially when
Speaker 1: you're having a coaching style change and complete change in
Speaker 1: scheme on both sides of the ball. Obviously, Uh, you
Speaker 1: know it can be difficult, but hey, the ones that
Speaker 1: are coaching the team, like, that's what they get paid
Speaker 1: to do, right, and they've been around those changes before
Speaker 1: on different staffs, and they see what works. And you know, coaches,
Speaker 1: coaches have to be coachable too, the way that they
Speaker 1: implement their systems and their history probably of evaluating the
Speaker 1: way they've seen the progression. What should it look like
Speaker 1: after week one? You know, how comfortable are we opening
Speaker 1: up the playbook in week two versus week three? Just
Speaker 1: being around the guys, but then in a training camp
Speaker 1: environment and then in a preseason environment, so they have
Speaker 1: examples to go by, and they know far better than me,
Speaker 1: you know, sitting in a booth talking about it. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know they have they do have.
Speaker 1: Their hands hold a lot of really tough decisions though
Speaker 1: it's a very stacked skill position, and then we're very
Speaker 1: stacked at the skill positions. But I really wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you about the running back room because you've got
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, a healthy Dalvin Cook right now, you have
Speaker 1: Alexander Madison in a contract here, Cane Wong Wu, Ti Chandler.
Speaker 1: When you hear all those names and you have to
Speaker 1: come down to making those decisions like where did the
Speaker 1: reps come from? And and is this one of the
Speaker 1: most talented rooms? I guess in the league. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: certainly believe so. And I don't say that from a
Speaker 1: biased position because we've seen with some of the injury
Speaker 1: issues that Dalvin has had and seeing Alexander Madison come
Speaker 1: in and play the way that he's played certainly impressive.
Speaker 1: And Wong Wu, you know, I saw him when he
Speaker 1: was in college, and you know it could see that
Speaker 1: burst right away. It knew that he was going to
Speaker 1: be special. And the contributions on special teams. I think
Speaker 1: anybody that's anybody that's not a top level player, or
Speaker 1: I should say maybe top two on the depth chart,
Speaker 1: even that second player should be prepared for some special
Speaker 1: teams work. Those guys need to understand that your best
Speaker 1: way to make a roster as a young player, if
Speaker 1: you're not going to be that starter, you better be
Speaker 1: able to contribute on special teams because that, you know,
Speaker 1: when you're when you're talking about position forty five through
Speaker 1: fifty three on the fifth three man roster, when it's
Speaker 1: finally made, a lot of those decisions come down to, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: are we going to keep a fourth running back, Are
Speaker 1: we going to keep a you know, a fourth tight end,
Speaker 1: you know, a sixth safety, things like that come down
Speaker 1: to whether those players are going to be able to
Speaker 1: contribute on special teams. Yeah, that room is one of
Speaker 1: the most I think we we've talked about of the
Speaker 1: podcast before, one of the most perplexing questions for us,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of talent there and where do
Speaker 1: you find who does one and how many do you keep?
Speaker 1: Even Alexander Madison. Yeah, I've been on record saying I
Speaker 1: feel like he's going to have to play special teams
Speaker 1: now in the school. Yeah he hasn't. He's never had
Speaker 1: to play special teams in his past three years. But
Speaker 1: now with a running back battle contract year value, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to be more valuable on the field. And
Speaker 1: and that's just the my biggest question mark when it
Speaker 1: comes to just that backup running back position. Yeah, no question,
Speaker 1: I mean, and that's something you know, I remember coming
Speaker 1: into the league. It was something I did too. I
Speaker 1: was a flyer on the punt team, you know, having
Speaker 1: to having to fight through the double double teams, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. This is a some some some
Speaker 1: great memories though. Glad that they're you know, we're in
Speaker 1: the rear view mirror soon into my career, and they
Speaker 1: have to do that stuff. But yeah, you do. You
Speaker 1: have to be ready for those for those special teams responsibilities. Again,
Speaker 1: if you're not that top level guy, now what is uh?
Speaker 1: I think my next question is like, what is the
Speaker 1: definition of success for preseason game number one? Outside of
Speaker 1: keeping your players healthy? Uh? Yeah, keeping your players and
Speaker 1: you don't you don't want you know, any stupid penalties.
Speaker 1: So you just you just want a nice, clean game
Speaker 1: and you don't want uh, communication issues with your quarterback
Speaker 1: um or whoever it is, if it's a linebacker or
Speaker 1: a safety. You don't want any of those communication issues
Speaker 1: from coordinator to the field. Uh. And just guys going
Speaker 1: out and and playing as clean a game as possible, um,
Speaker 1: being injury free. I got a final question for you, Robert. Um.
Speaker 1: I know that you've got to get to practice and
Speaker 1: make some you know, appearances around here. Um, but I'm
Speaker 1: curious to see how much you can say first on
Speaker 1: this point. But I sat in that, you know, watching
Speaker 1: away games with you, and how many games came down
Speaker 1: to the final the scoring before the halftime and then
Speaker 1: the final minute of the game where we were just
Speaker 1: on the end edge of our seat and this team
Speaker 1: just back and forth giving us basically heart attacks every
Speaker 1: single leek least since then with new coaching staff, new
Speaker 1: faces around here. Just real, maybe like a minute or so,
Speaker 1: if you could just describe your thoughts on are you
Speaker 1: confident in this move? And like what would define success
Speaker 1: for this team this season? Yeah, and you know, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: what defined I'll start at the end there. What defined success?
Speaker 1: You know, depends a lot on what happens during the
Speaker 1: course of a season. And you know, as when you're
Speaker 1: following your team closely, it's easy for you to find
Speaker 1: those types of situations that you can point to and say, well,
Speaker 1: it should have been different here. But you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of teams face those kind of things. You know,
Speaker 1: you have a lot of adversity throughout the course of
Speaker 1: a seat and it's just the nature of the game.
Speaker 1: You know. Basketball is a contact sport. Football's a collision sport.
Speaker 1: It's a violent sport. The possibility of injury exists all
Speaker 1: the time, and you just have to deal with those
Speaker 1: kind of things. And it's so hard to predict based
Speaker 1: on who that injury would be to when in the
Speaker 1: year it happens, who you happen to be playing that week.
Speaker 1: So there are a lot of variables on what success
Speaker 1: really looks like. I think, ultimately, this is a team
Speaker 1: that has a roster construction that it's a playoff team.
Speaker 1: It's a playoff team that should win playoff games. You know,
Speaker 1: at least a game in the playoffs on paper, but
Speaker 1: that's not how games are played. And you know, evaluating,
Speaker 1: you know, was it the good move? I think it
Speaker 1: was the right move. You know, when staffs are around
Speaker 1: for a while, sometimes the message gets stale and sometimes
Speaker 1: it seems like there's a communication breakdown, and that's certainly
Speaker 1: seem to be the case here. So I think it's
Speaker 1: a good move. But you know, everybody gets excited, and
Speaker 1: I don't mean to sound negative, but everybody gets everybody
Speaker 1: gets excited about the fresh new faces that arrive. But
Speaker 1: remember most of the teams around the league, when these
Speaker 1: changes are happening, everybody's getting that everybody's getting that fresh look.
Speaker 1: And you know, these hires are made because oftentimes the
Speaker 1: coaches are impressive in the you know, in those interviews,
Speaker 1: and the team feels, oh, yeah, well they're going to
Speaker 1: make the change, and oh they've got great ideas. Everybody's
Speaker 1: got those. It's a very difficult game to win any games,
Speaker 1: let alone enough games to get you into the playoffs
Speaker 1: and advance in the playoffs and ultimately win a championship.
Speaker 1: It's difficult, and that's why we enjoy watching it because
Speaker 1: if it was easy to do, then the reward wouldn't
Speaker 1: wouldn't seems as special as it is. And I think
Speaker 1: that goes in my last question. I think that reward
Speaker 1: goes for us who are behind the camera or in
Speaker 1: front of the camera talking about the actual action on
Speaker 1: the field. So for you understanding, you know, your journey
Speaker 1: from post football to right now twenty twenty two, heading
Speaker 1: into the season NFL on Fox, what is the definition
Speaker 1: of success for Robert Smith? Huh, that's a that's a
Speaker 1: that's a good question, you know. And when when I
Speaker 1: spoke with the um, with Chris and Jen and our
Speaker 1: producer Eric and some of my bosses at at Fox, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the thing that I pointed out to them
Speaker 1: was actually I told them the story of me getting
Speaker 1: drafted up here, and uh, you know, I was drafted
Speaker 1: twenty first overall UH in ninety three. And I remember
Speaker 1: Ty Willingham, who was a running back coach then looking
Speaker 1: at UH, sitting down, sitting me down and looking at
Speaker 1: some film I'll never forget from Michigan State. Came when
Speaker 1: I was at Ohio State and it was a run
Speaker 1: to the left. It was wide zone play and uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know, probably about seven eight yard game, but
Speaker 1: all the way on the outside. And he pointed out
Speaker 1: to me, if you plant your foot here and you
Speaker 1: make this cut, this could have been six points. So
Speaker 1: eight yards is great, but don't do it where you're
Speaker 1: going to lose an opportunity to get six points. And
Speaker 1: I told them, like in my evaluation and how you
Speaker 1: guys evaluate what I do, but more importantly communicate to
Speaker 1: me how I can get better. I want to I
Speaker 1: always want to know if there's something that I could
Speaker 1: have done that would have either been smoother or that
Speaker 1: would have made the broadcast better, because ultimately, the way
Speaker 1: that Fox looks at football, we want we want it
Speaker 1: to be a celebration of football. We want people to
Speaker 1: We know that people are excited about it. But when
Speaker 1: we're in the broadcast booth, we're celebrating football. But you know,
Speaker 1: you obviously want to be honest in your evaluation and
Speaker 1: why did this work? Why did this play not work?
Speaker 1: What could have been done, or what's coming? You know,
Speaker 1: say it all the time, like you don't have to
Speaker 1: be Tony Romo, but let us know what's next. So
Speaker 1: all those little pieces, you know, there's there's just so
Speaker 1: much that can happen in a broadcast. But I just
Speaker 1: want to be the best broadcaster that I can be.
Speaker 1: And if there's something that I can do and something
Speaker 1: that they can see or that they heard that can
Speaker 1: help me do that, I'm all for it. And coaches
Speaker 1: have to be coachable. Players have to be coachable, announcers
Speaker 1: have to be coachable. We all have to be coachable.
Speaker 1: Constructive criticism is the foundation of advancement pretty much. I
Speaker 1: love that. That's how you end a podcasts and that's
Speaker 1: why you're successful and you get asked to do a whole, entire,
Speaker 1: full slate of NFL games. This is how from Vikings
Speaker 1: post game Live to a full set of NFL games.
Speaker 1: We're so happy for you, Robert. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for being here on the bench giving us some time.
Speaker 1: We love having you back here in Minnesota. Um yeah,
Speaker 1: best of luck this season. We hope hope to god
Speaker 1: you'll be on some of our broadcasts. Sounds good. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Thanks Robert Well. That conversation just made me really really
Speaker 1: excited for Sunday. Now, Saturday is a travel day for
Speaker 1: the team before the first preseason game of the year.
Speaker 1: You can watch Sunday's game on Fox nine or the
Speaker 1: NFL Network. It's the Vikings and the Raiders. Kickoff is
Speaker 1: set for three twenty five. But here is a little
Speaker 1: bit of a catch. We have another option this season
Speaker 1: for your viewing pleasure. It's called purple Cast. It begins
Speaker 1: around three twenty ish on Fox nine's digital channel. Think
Speaker 1: Manning Cast, but it's me and Mark Rosen as your
Speaker 1: co hosts. We will have a ton of exciting guests
Speaker 1: who will stop by during the game while we're watching.
Speaker 1: We've got Jared Allen, Chris Jericho, Jamie Urdall, Sky Sports Is,
Speaker 1: Neil Reynolds, Matt Castle, Ali Kendricks, Caitlin Feelin and Steph
Speaker 1: Ham will be in studio. It's going to be so
Speaker 1: much fun. Again purple Cast on Fox nine's digital channel,
Speaker 1: but getting around three twenty we will watch the game
Speaker 1: live with you guys and all of our guests. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a really, really fun way to watch this
Speaker 1: first Vikings preseason game of the year. Get ready for
Speaker 1: the return of Vikings football this Sunday,