WEBVTT - Ep. 55: Fred Taylor HOF Finalist + Carolina Preparation | Jags A.M. Podcast 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:02.840 A big day here with the Jaguars. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:04.840 We're going to talk a lot about Fred Taylor today, 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.680 but you guys, what are your favorite Fred moments or 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:08.319 your favorite friends? 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:10.360 There are so many, but one of my favorite, which 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.480 is often forgotten, is the fact that it week three 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.400 of the nineteen ninety eight season, James Stewart was hurt 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.000 against the Baltimore Ravens on the first or second play 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.119 of the game. So Fred came in and on the 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.640 third play of the game took his first hand off 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.040 and went fifty two yards for a touchdown. It was 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.840 a huge indication of what he was going to be. 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:31.800 Yeah, there's so many from that year. I was fortunate 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:34.000 enough to cover Fred from ninety eight to two thousand. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.599 I'm gonna go with another moment from his rookie year, 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.160 the one that Fred has told me often was his favorite. 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.239 The Jaguars are down against the Bucks out here in 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.240 one of the I think one of the great games 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:48.000 that the Jaguars played in that era. He went Brian of. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.040 The yards seventy yard the buccaneer sideline. 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.880 Fred had hung out with Warren Sap that summer. Warren 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.480 had told him they were going to get him in 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.800 that game, Fred really didn't say much. He was a 0:00:57.880 --> 0:00:59.960 quiet kid. And then Fred danced into the end zone 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.720 and has always sort of held that over Warren's that set. 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.080 That's Fred's favorite moment and it sure stands out to 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:16.520 me as well. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:29.679 You know, he is off Taylor running left cuts. In fact, 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:31.280 he's got a hold there. He is thirty Taylor rock 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:33.720 side forty there he goes to the forty five to fifty. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:34.560 It's a foot race. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.880 Forty Taylor, thirty Taylor to the twenty, takes to the ten. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.839 He's pulled down, but he gets into the episode touchdown 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:41.880 in the first play. 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:42.119 Of the game. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.280 How about that one of our Monday Night football moments, 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.440 and of course a great moment for Fred Taylor. Our 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.520 big thing today has to be finalist Fred Fred Taylor 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:52.760 making it to the finalist list for the Pro Football 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.280 Hall of Fame for the first time. Obviously we're very 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.840 excited about it. Brian, what does the step mean for Fred? 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.120 Well, I think he is one step closer now towards 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:04.360 knowing that he's going to get into the Hall of Fame. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.560 I mean, I believe that I always have and I 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:08.840 look at that list and there are great players on 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:10.000 that list, but I don't think any of them are 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:12.560 better than Fred John And so for Fred. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.519 It was about getting into the room. And people could 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.720 hold it against him that he didn't have as many. 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.240 Pro Bowls as other players, did have as many touchdowns 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.880 as some other players, but he had big moments in 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.040 big games and on big stages. Remember his two hundred 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.119 and forty three yards at three Rivers Stadium in two 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.040 thousand and four touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.920 he had those kinds of moments. So for Fred, I 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:36.040 think this means that he's. 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.239 On the path. Yeah, I think he's getting in. I 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.200 don't know it's gonna be this year. This can be 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.600 a process, as we all know, and it's a weird process, 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.600 not always a fair process. But getting in the room 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:50.160 is very important in this deal because when you're not 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.720 in the final fifteen, the voters think about you and 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.639 they look at you, but they don't talk to each 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.280 other that much about you. There's not as much convincing. 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.679 And I think once they start, this month will now 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.960 be about these voters making calls to each other, making 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.680 calls to people who played watching. And I've always thought 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:15.960 once the voters go back and start watching Fred's highlights, 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:20.000 his big moments, and they see the unbelievable combination of 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:21.040 size and strength. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:21.480 It's rare. 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.040 Maybe Oj Simpson had it. There's been a few guys 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.320 in league history who have had his combination of size 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.960 and strength, not many and speed. Once they start seeing 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.919 the highlights, once they start seeing the moves and the moments, 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.440 I think his status will rise among voters. Maybe not 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:42.280 this year, but I think it's a sooner rather than 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.920 later now for Fred. I hope so. 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:49.520 Sam Cauvares, the longtime sports director at WJXT Channel four 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.280 here in town, he's the voter who matters now because 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:53.720 he's the guy who's going to have to make the 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.680 case to all those other voters. Of course, he covered 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:58.920 Fred through all those years, and it's going to be 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:01.200 up to him just by himself. There'll be a lot 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.000 of people that will be assisting him in putting together 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.200 the package. 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:06.080 You know, the. 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.880 Pitch if you will, to all those other voters. So 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.040 he's got a lot of work to do. Luckily, he's 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:15.760 got a lot to work with With Fred Taylor. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:17.240 I was gonna say a lot of the video is 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.320 definitely gonna help out that pitch, because if you watch it, 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.880 you can see with your own eyes he's certainly a. 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:22.280 Hall of Famer. 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:23.760 We're gonna talk a little bit more about Fred later 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.080 on in the show, but right now we'll come back 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.080 to present day for our second big thing, which is will. 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:28.600 He or won't he. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.520 Trevor Lawrence suffered his fourth injury so far this season. 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.359 It's an ac sprain in his throwing shoulder. He talked 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.240 a little bit yesterday about what it's gonna take, what 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:38.960 his practice schedule is gonna be like to sleep. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.479 That's the plan right now. I mean, obviously things can change, 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.760 but yeah, as of right now, don't plan on doing 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:49.360 much today and we'll see tomorrow. Kind of take it 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.840 day by day, but yeah, not really gonna throw any 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.320 to day and from there, like I said, it's just 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:56.680 you never know how things are gonna heal up and 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.880 how quickly you're gonna recover. But right now it's still 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:02.400 and still kind of working through the beginning stages of 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.080 you know, getting back, so we'll kind of see how 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:06.360 it goes. But that's the plan right now. 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.960 John, We saw that Trevor was physically at practice. He 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.880 did not participate in practices out there in shorts, just 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.000 kind of going through all the game plan and everything. 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.320 Is this another situation where we won't know until closer 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:20.919 to Friday or Saturday whether he's gonna. 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.080 Play well this one? Man, I know till Sunday. I 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.200 don't really have a gut on this one. I guess 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.359 I've guessed and projected so many times this season that 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:36.000 it all sort of feels lost. Now. I think he'll 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:41.240 play it if capable. If I'm Doug Peterson, I'll go 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:43.279 back to what I've said all week, Brian. I would 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.440 think about the practice time. I would think about the 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:49.599 continuity element. Not that Trevor necessarily can't do it, but 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.400 how much timing does he have with receivers based on 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:56.840 the week? Feels like that's been a thing. I would 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:58.520 worry about that a little bit. But I kind of 0:05:58.520 --> 0:05:59.080 think he goes. 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:01.599 My gut is is that he doesn't. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:03.240 John, and I think if you're a round this league 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:04.800 for any length of time, you start to look at 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.040 transactions on Tuesdays and start. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.760 To read tea leaves. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:10.640 And they went and signed Mad Barkley off of the 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:12.440 Giants practice squad, and now they had to bring him 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:13.320 to the active roster. 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.839 But they could have just elevated E. J. Perry. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.200 I mean, if they thought that there was a legitimate 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.760 chance that Trevor was gonna be able to go, you 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.600 know you wouldn't. I don't think you would have gone 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.159 to this trouble to bring in a guy that Doug 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.640 has some familiarity with. I look at that, and I 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.719 think there's just this is this is one injury too 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.240 far down the road, and this is his throwing shoulder. 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.320 I like to read body language. 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:40.520 I listen carefully, I pay attention, and my gut told 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:42.120 me yesterday that this is gonna be the one that 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.000 he's not gonna be able to go, and they're gonna 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.040 have to try to beat the Carolina Panthers without him 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.400 this week, and I think they can do that. Keep 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:50.800 in mind, you know, this is not just a decision 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.680 for this year. This is a decision for his offseason. 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:55.920 That's his throwing shoulder. And if you want to know 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.040 what happens when you're throwing shoulder ac joint is injured, 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.120 just look at Anthony Richard and the surgical procedure that 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.840 he had for the Colts and his timetable for coming 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:05.560 back and being. 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:05.960 Ready to go. 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.440 So I think they're cautious with this thing, and I 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:10.280 just have the sense he's not going this week. But 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:13.040 that's there's no insight other than what I just told you. 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.520 I got thirty years of doing this guy and reading 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:17.160 the tea leaves. 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:19.480 We'll try to figure things out. We'll talk it out 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.160 a little bit as well. Our final big thing today 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.480 is turnovers. So Trevor has been playing hurt for some time, 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.640 whether that's him playing hurt or some of the other 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.680 communication issues, there's been a lot of turnovers, especially in 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.559 the past couple of weeks, and they've hurt this team. 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:34.680 And Les Taylor talked about that yesterday. 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.240 You know, I think he takes that very personal. He's 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.360 very accountable. That's one of the things that we really 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:45.320 like about Trevor. You know, he understands where his responsibilities 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.120 lie in terms of protecting football for this team, and 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:48.880 so he takes responsibility of that. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:53.480 Ryan. He's accountabile. He always owns up to it. 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.520 But he seems to be making a lot of those 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:57.800 mistakes lately, a little bit more than we're used to. 0:07:58.000 --> 0:07:59.960 Yeah, he leads the NFL over the last three year 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.120 in turnovers, and I wrote this for quick thoughts after 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:06.120 the game on Sunday. You know, he's kind of approaching 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.560 Josh Allen's territory. Alan's a guy who, since he came 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:11.679 into the league in twenty eighteen, has led the league 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:13.880 in turnovers. Now Allen has more than made up with 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.840 it with ninety seven touchdowns and kept his team in contention. 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:21.120 And that's where you hope Trevor gets that he slows 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:21.960 down the rate. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.960 Of turnovers, takes better care of the football. 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.560 Tom Coffin John always used to have a saying and 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:28.200 he'd say it with a sneer on his face and 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.600 callous disregard for the football. I don't think he has 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.880 disregard for the football. I just think on Sunday he 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.120 was off and he just has a tendency turned the 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.440 ball over because he's not quite as careful as he 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.400 needs to be. This is something that he's gonna have 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:43.040 to focus on because he's gonna be asked about it 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:43.880 until it stops. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.760 Yeah, and they tend to snowball. They snowball on Trevor 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:48.760 a little bit, and he's certainly a snowball. In the 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.719 last couple of weeks, I attribute a lot of it 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:56.320 to especially last week, it feels like timing stuff. It 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:59.920 feels like young receiver stuff when he's throwing, when he 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.160 he's in the pocket, he said yesterday, And I think 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.679 it's priority one figure out how to protect the ball 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:07.640 in the pocket. It's one thing to gets sacked, it's 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.079 another thing to fumble as prodigiously as he does. I mean, 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.440 he fumbels a lot in the pocket and it hurts you. 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:18.200 Beyond that, though, what's really hurting them lately first half season, 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.360 first eight games, I think the numbers thirteen turnovers, they 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:26.720 give up nineteen points fifteen turnovers since week seven, sixty 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:31.599 nine points off up. It's caused an avalanche and it's 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.319 as press set. Those numbers are the reason for the slot. 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.160 And the defense has not been as productive at taking 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.520 the bowl away in the second half of the season 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.040 as well, which hasn't helped. 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:45.680 Yes, the turnover differential definitely not great right now. That's 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.240 something they need to work on as well going forward. 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:49.880 To stay with us here on jag Zam, we're going 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.440 to talk more about Fred Taylor's career and his resume 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.240 going into the Hall of Fame, hopefully on this time 0:09:54.280 --> 0:10:04.120 around as a finalist. 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.000 There he goes Freig Taylor, breaks the tackles, he's on 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:13.400 the run, spend fine touchdown Freig Taylor and Checksonville reclaims 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:14.040 the league. 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:15.960 Hollis puts it up and threw in the check. 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.000 Wars are winners over the Denver Broncos. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.360 That on Monday night football moment for Fred always helps 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.120 when you can have those big games on a primetime 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:26.880 stage so other people remember it as well. 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.560 If you go back and look at that game, Fred 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:32.080 had been hampered by a hamstring all season. 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:33.600 Long, and he hadn't played a whole lot. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.000 That was a Monday night game and homefield advantage was 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.640 on the line for the playoffs, and Fred didn't start 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.400 that game and didn't play a whole lot till the 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.640 fourth quarter. That may have been his third or fourth carry, 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:44.920 and of course it was the game winning touchdown. And 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:46.520 I love the fact that they show the highlight there 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.600 at the end that about the four yard line he 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.920 just put sort of jumped effortlessly from the four into 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.640 the end zone. I mean, he was such a gifted 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:56.920 football player physical specimen. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:58.880 He could do things that other people couldn't. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.080 What does this step mean to this process obviously we 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.840 know he's made the semi finalist five times before, but 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.120 to get to the final group to be heard, what 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:10.880 is that process like and what does this mean? 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:14.400 Well, as we talked about it, it puts you in 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:18.959 the room and the conversation, and that's when the voters 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:24.520 start talking to each other. Hey, sell me on your guy, 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:27.959 tell me why he should be in. It's when the 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:32.240 voters start calling people in their area, in their world 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.240 that they know, a team president, a scout who scouted 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.000 this guy, a head coach, a player who played against him, 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.360 and they start trying to figure out who should be in. 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:47.040 One thing that I think fans and observers of the process, 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.040 when their guy doesn't get in, they get very upset 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.320 and it's understandable, I can tell you from it, and 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.680 they criticize the process. There's no great process for the 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.760 Hall of Fame. There's not another one out there that's better. 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.439 What I can tell you is it is from knowing 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:05.959 the people and being at Super Bowls when I've heard 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.880 guys talking about this. The voters care about it. They 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.720 spend a lot of time not with their jobs, but 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:20.240 with talking to other people, asking questions, trying to get 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:22.520 it right. They all want to get it right. There's 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:26.880 fifteen guys. As Bisselli said multiple times, everybody on the 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:31.040 fifteen list deserves to be in. So you're talking about 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.200 sometimes it's not even the most deserving guy that year. 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.679 It's how it falls. But there is a process in 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:42.000 this that a candidate gains momentum sometimes over years. I 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:46.000 thought it happened with Tony. The more he's talked about 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:48.400 then all of a sudden he finished his twelfth that 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.320 year seventh and more and more voters say, you know what, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.560 I didn't vote for him this year, but at some 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.920 point we got to get him in. And that's sort 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.000 of the momentum that can build for a guy. And 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:00.400 I think that's what will happened with Fred. I'm not 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.319 sure he gets in this year, but I think once 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.760 people start talking about him and watching him again, the 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:07.040 momentum is gonna build for Fred. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.080 How many locks did you see on that list? I mean, 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:10.880 how many guys do you say, well, he absolutely is 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.880 going in. I mean, I tell you Julius Peppers, I thought, 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:21.480 Dwight Freeney for sure, Antonio Gates, Andre Johnson. I mean, 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.360 I can make the case for those guys, but they 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:24.000 have to go in. 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.640 Yeah, I don't know. I but again to your point, 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:31.439 I think when you mentioned those guys, I covered Dwight 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.640 and I think he's a Hall of Famer. When I 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.800 looked at the list, I didn't think, boy, he's getting 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.480 in this year. I covered Reggie think he's All of Famer. 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:42.200 Of Reggie Wayne, I don't know there's any locks, but 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:46.520 I think what might hurt Fred this year is there 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.560 are a number of guys and when you talk to 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:51.560 committee members, they talk about it, well, so and so 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.079 has been waiting for a long time. You know, Andre 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.160 Johnson has been in this process for a while. Reggie 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:57.600 Wayne is a lot of guys who've been in it 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:01.560 for a while. Since it might be a year where 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:03.440 the voters say, Okay, we're gonna take this year and 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:05.920 get some guys in who need to be in. Because 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:08.960 it shouldn't work that way, but that's how it does. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.920 At the same time, Fred's the only running back, and 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.800 there wasn't a running back last year either who got in. 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:20.800 There's gonna be nobody else at his position that bumps 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.880 him down in this process. That kind of thing can matter. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:26.880 Teamage too, right, I mean, you wouldn't think that Dwight 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:29.680 Freemy and Reggie would get in the same year. 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.240 Yeah, probably not. It usually doesn't work that way. And 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:38.640 other position groups usually they usually but often multiple wide 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.880 multiple position groups don't get in. I think he has 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.760 a chance. I'd be surprised if somebody has been on 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:50.200 the ballot five times. The semi finalist sort of races 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.480 through the process and gets in as a finalist first year. 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:58.280 But the other side of that statement is this voting 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.600 process often surprises you, so it could easily happen. 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:02.960 You know, you can go back and look at a 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.480 lot of different things about Fred. Randy Moss was the 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:07.600 Rookie of. 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.440 The Year in two thousand and a party in nineteen 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:14.920 ninety eight, he had seventeen touchdowns. Fred had seventeen touchdowns 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:18.800 as a rookie, and four of sixty yards or longer, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.840 and some of those were game winning sorts of plays. 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.240 I think people have forgotten that in two thousand he 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.560 had a stretch of nine consecutive games where he rushed 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:29.840 for at least one hundred yards. At that time, only 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.400 Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders had ever done more than that, 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.520 and since then only Chris Johnson from the Tennessee Titans 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.480 has done at least ten. So you're putting into the 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:40.880 elite company. 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.280 I shouldn't say that you're putting him. He put himself 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:44.920 an elite company with the way that he played. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.360 I would put that's the last time I covered Fred 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:52.960 was two thousand the street that Brian talked about as 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.320 a Jaguars team that year that was falling off of 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:01.880 what they had been. I I would put that year 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:06.040 up with the forty nine touchdown season that I covered 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.760 a Manning as the two most impressive years. Maybe throw 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.280 more Eas's rushing title because of what he did when 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:16.160 he had no help around him. But two thousand eleven 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:21.040 his year that year nine stra eight hundred yard games, 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:23.960 and I forget the stat I knew was with the 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.240 tu an unbelievable number of forty yard runs. Mixed in 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:32.280 with that his ability to break the long run in 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.080 a league where that's hard to do because of the 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:40.000 speed and size of defenses. I mean, he's he's a 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:40.800 Hall of Famer to me. 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:43.440 At some point he once was aggravated with me because 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.360 he heard me say that I thought he was the 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.600 best one yard back in football and I laughed, I said, fred, 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.000 I didn't say one yard. I said one yard line, 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:53.320 meaning he could score from your one yard line. Because 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:55.040 of two hundred and thirty pounds, he was tough to 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:56.640 keep out of the end zone, but he could score 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.400 from his as well. His ninety yard touchdown run in 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.920 the AFC Visual Playoff game here against Miami, which was 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:07.439 undoubtedly the fastest defense in football that year. That's Jason Taylor, 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.640 that's Brock Marion, Sam Madison, and he made them look 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:13.640 silly as he made them run all the way from 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:15.840 sideline to sideline and then just went right. 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.520 Down the middle for ninety yards. It was spectacular. 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.119 Had a thirty eight yard touchdown in that game as well, 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.800 where he stopped and started him at four different times 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.040 and then finally got up the sideline and it was 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:27.560 like the Dolphins were like, how did he do that? 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:33.000 And just watched him go. It was breathtaking. And I 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.120 have to say a quick story. In nineteen ninety eight, 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.239 Tom Coffin was really in on Curtis Enis, the big 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.720 running back from Penn State. He really wanted that big, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.440 bruising guy. It reminded him of Oh J Anderson, who 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.879 played with him at the New York Giants. But Fred's 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.159 Pro Day was held on a Wednesday, and I had 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.320 gotten word back then there was no Internet or social media. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.879 I'd gotten word from some scouting buddies that Fred had 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.240 run really fast, really fast. So I'm sitting in the 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.480 radio studio because we did a Wednesday night show, and 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.359 Tom comes walking down the hallway said, Hey, Tom, was 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.520 Fred as fast as everyone said? And he stuck his 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.640 head and he goes, you know, big eyes. He went 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:10.639 four three, four point three, and then just turned and 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:12.720 walked and went they're taking fread. I mean, at that moment, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.560 you just knew he was so blown away by the 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.359 size speed ratio. Two hundred and thirty pounds to run 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:20.159 four point three and I think Fred will take you 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.560 ran four point two nine at the at the Florida 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:23.000 Pro Day. 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:25.639 It was just it was it was obvious. 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.919 And Curtisinas never did turn into a great back, he 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:29.960 had knee problems. And Fred is a Hall of Famer. 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:31.639 Here's what it's remarkable about the four two and now 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:33.520 I was actually there and it's one of the few 0:18:33.560 --> 0:18:38.440 times that are Pro day that you heard scouts whoa 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:41.320 like And it was across the field and you heard 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.640 a collective whoa. Fred also told me later, and I 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:49.040 think he's he's okay with me telling this. He didn't train, 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:53.439 that's yeah, he showed up. He said he went. You know, 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:57.200 he was young. He went to a lot of parties 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:02.000 after his Florida season, and he he I'm sure he 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.919