Speaker 1: Hey, Vikings fans. Ben Lever here.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to be a new Lifetime member, and
Speaker 2: so are my kids.
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Speaker 4: This is the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm your host Tatum Everett and the Vikings were victorious
Speaker 2: down in Jacksonville. A twelve to seven victory over the
Speaker 2: Jags improved the Vikings record to seven and two. We're
Speaker 2: now joined by Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips.
Speaker 4: One day removed from the victory.
Speaker 2: And Harrison, you know, the time possession was a wacky
Speaker 2: in this one. We were just talking before the podcast
Speaker 2: about how that can.
Speaker 4: Affect the way that you feel.
Speaker 2: You know, they had the ball for forty two minutes,
Speaker 2: the offense did, and then you guys were just kind
Speaker 2: of waiting to get your chance.
Speaker 4: I mean, what is that? Have you ever been a
Speaker 4: part of something like that?
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm sure there's been some games that we've
Speaker 3: heavily won the time of possession, but yeah, it's you
Speaker 3: feel a little more fresh, for sure. I don't know
Speaker 3: if there's too many defensive players complaining about how they
Speaker 3: how they feel today now. They were very physical snaps
Speaker 3: because the style of the game, a lot of you know,
Speaker 3: twelve personnel, you know, tough duo, double team type stuff
Speaker 3: in the trenches. But you feel a little bit better
Speaker 3: not being out on your feet that much. And then
Speaker 3: you have to be able to mentally stay locked in
Speaker 3: when you're on the sidelines and there's a timeout and
Speaker 3: a long drive and a halftime and a court. You
Speaker 3: got to be able to then keep the body repped up.
Speaker 2: It almost felt like you guys shined during the sudden
Speaker 2: change plays like those drives where you had you know,
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold was in his three picks. Afterwards, you allowed
Speaker 2: no points two point nine yards per play on those drives.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was incredible what you guys do. So
Speaker 2: despite hanging out there on the sidelines for a little while,
Speaker 2: you guys were able to get in there. And how
Speaker 2: does that work, Like, how do you kind of mentally
Speaker 2: get ready for those moments?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think that that's something we've had
Speaker 3: built back in OTAs and some of the way that
Speaker 3: they built our roster. A lot of guys on our
Speaker 3: defense have a reason to have a chip on them
Speaker 3: shoulder ben counted out before, or have a lot to prove,
Speaker 3: And so that's just kind of.
Speaker 1: The identity of the team.
Speaker 3: And with Flow's leadership, you know, he has his coin
Speaker 3: sayings like you know you don't seek comfort, and uh,
Speaker 3: we don't want to comfort seeking group. We want to
Speaker 3: have a group that runs into the burning building.
Speaker 1: And so when those.
Speaker 3: Huge moments and momentum shifting plays happen in a game,
Speaker 3: we want to go in and put out the fire immediately.
Speaker 1: And so there are a lot of times where we'll.
Speaker 3: Take the field in those moments and their smiles on
Speaker 3: our faces like dang, this is that Like, if you
Speaker 3: want to be an elite football player, you're gonna make
Speaker 3: a play right now to help this team win. So, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's as unfortunate as those situations are when they come up.
Speaker 3: We have a group that's not like tucking your tail.
Speaker 3: They're putting their chin up and poking their chest out,
Speaker 3: saying like I can't wait to stand up in this moment.
Speaker 4: It just said something that kind of caught my attention.
Speaker 2: A lot of guys who feel like they've been counted out,
Speaker 2: How did you guys talk about those things.
Speaker 4: How do you know that about one another?
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 3: You can't have unique results without unique relationships. And so
Speaker 3: the unique relationships that we built when you're sitting in
Speaker 3: the sana, or when you're on a road trip, or
Speaker 3: when you're in Cleveland for a week with joint practices
Speaker 3: and golfing in the off season, you know, things just
Speaker 3: organically come up. You know, what's your family structure, Like, oh,
Speaker 3: your mom and dad's still in the picture, how your siblings?
Speaker 1: What you know?
Speaker 3: Tell me about high school? Oh, you didn't get recruited
Speaker 3: or this this school flipped on you. Or you thought
Speaker 3: you were going to get drafted here and you got
Speaker 3: drafted there. They just kind of organically come out. And
Speaker 3: I think the easiest way to relate to one another
Speaker 3: is through shared adversity, because everyone in their life has
Speaker 3: gone through something, and yeah, just through those kind of
Speaker 3: small organic And sometimes we'll have players get up and
Speaker 3: introduce themselves or say where they're from and tell a
Speaker 3: story about themselves, and you know that that also gets
Speaker 3: a chance to be vulnerable and learn more about other
Speaker 3: people's why why they play the game and why they
Speaker 3: dedicate so much of our life and sacrifice for this,
Speaker 3: and yeah, you know, you've you know a lot of
Speaker 3: our team, so you probably know some of those individual
Speaker 3: stories themselves. But yeah, it's nice to look to the
Speaker 3: guy next to you and know that he's not just
Speaker 3: out here to try to make another statistic or something
Speaker 3: like that. He's out here because he loves the game
Speaker 3: and what it does for he and his family.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you mentioned that a little bit in
Speaker 2: some of your postgame interviews about this defense being a
Speaker 2: selfless group and how instrumental that is to success. How
Speaker 2: much does that play into it because you guys are
Speaker 2: obviously out there and you are getting there.
Speaker 4: I mean, guys are leading the league in takeaways, like.
Speaker 2: There are stats out there, thirty sacks on the year,
Speaker 2: there are stats like there.
Speaker 4: But how do you convince or how does everyone.
Speaker 2: Get on the same page as far as like, hey,
Speaker 2: we need to be selfless in this because it's not
Speaker 2: always the case in this league.
Speaker 1: I think it's because of how close of a group
Speaker 1: we are.
Speaker 3: You know, if you're just colleagues with the guys next
Speaker 3: to you, and you're just coworkers out there like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't really care if I pissed this guy off
Speaker 3: for this guy. I mean, this is my job and
Speaker 3: this is what i have to do to make a living.
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna go make sure and I go get mine. Well,
Speaker 3: when you're out there with your family and you're out
Speaker 3: there with your brothers, like the people that you love,
Speaker 3: you don't want to let them down and you don't
Speaker 3: want to, you know, have to come back after. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, you might have a hero play, but then
Speaker 3: the three other ones that you did the wrong thing,
Speaker 3: we got gashed on, and now we're not tops in
Speaker 3: the league. Now we're we're losing football games and we're
Speaker 3: playing bad defense. And so I think we just have
Speaker 3: enough guys to understand like, yeah, there's a few moments
Speaker 3: and a few times you can kind of shoot a
Speaker 3: shot or get a little more aggressive through your responsibility.
Speaker 3: But for the most part, we don't have a group
Speaker 3: that's like I'm going to get a sack today no
Speaker 3: matter what the freak happens.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, I'm gonna catch a pick.
Speaker 1: I don't care what I have to do. I'm jump
Speaker 1: every out until I get one.
Speaker 3: Well, great, you got burnt four other times, or sweet
Speaker 3: every time you swum out of a double team they
Speaker 3: ran it for two hundred fifty yards, but you got
Speaker 3: your sack.
Speaker 1: We don't have that.
Speaker 4: Group, so that's really awesome.
Speaker 1: Good.
Speaker 4: I mean, the results are still coming though.
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys had three turnovers on the final
Speaker 2: three drives of that Jaguars game. Had you guys before that,
Speaker 2: we're all talking about we got to turn this ball over.
Speaker 4: Like, was there that conversation on the sideline.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of times we were just like,
Speaker 3: all right, this is gonna you know, we think this
Speaker 3: is going to game that we have to win on
Speaker 3: our side, Like let's let's let's make the takeaway, let's
Speaker 3: make the stop, let's just keep giving the ball back
Speaker 3: into the offense's hands, especially when we got the lead
Speaker 3: there towards the end.
Speaker 1: But yeah, that always comes up. Coaches are running up
Speaker 1: and down the sidelines, veteran players too. We gotta take
Speaker 1: the ball off these guys. We get it. Wet. I
Speaker 1: got a turnover. So thankful with the way it ended.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one of those was your fumble recovery off the
Speaker 2: botch snap a chuckle it on that one. That was
Speaker 2: a pretty cool moment when you see the ball get
Speaker 2: loose like that, like what's your first reaction.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. Yeah, it happened really fast.
Speaker 1: It was like a gap scheme.
Speaker 3: I think they were going to run some type of
Speaker 3: trap counterpass, and so we also had a pressure on
Speaker 3: so I was moving, I was moving a different direction.
Speaker 3: The center was trying to get to me, so we crossed.
Speaker 3: I see the ball kind of pop up, and uh,
Speaker 3: obviously it kind of came right to me.
Speaker 1: So it would have been very embarrassing if I didn't
Speaker 1: end up with that football.
Speaker 3: But we got the football, and yeah, you know, you
Speaker 3: can call it what you call it.
Speaker 4: It was.
Speaker 1: You know, Jesus took the wheel there for that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think that there should just be a
Speaker 3: different category for like three hundred pounds plus.
Speaker 1: We shouldn't have the same standard.
Speaker 4: Maybe not so sprightly like not. So I don't know,
Speaker 4: a light.
Speaker 1: Footage, keep it nice in my wheelhouse. Trying to heart
Speaker 1: a hamstring out here, That's very true.
Speaker 3: But you know, I am looking back, and if you know,
Speaker 3: each week when you watch the film, you go back
Speaker 3: and you stay up late at night thinking if I
Speaker 3: had this play back or this play back, what I
Speaker 3: could have done. And I'm just thinking about when I
Speaker 3: saw that Jaguar mascot in the end zone, and you
Speaker 3: just keep me up at night last night, I'm wondering,
Speaker 3: would it have been worth it to just totally take
Speaker 3: him out, deck him.
Speaker 1: I mean, Cam's going for the celebrations of the year.
Speaker 3: I'm sure I would get fined physically put hands on
Speaker 3: a mascot, But like he tried to stop the selly
Speaker 3: and then we were all kind of clustered after that,
Speaker 3: and I just I think if I could play it
Speaker 3: over again, I would have played it differently, and I'd
Speaker 3: been on Sports Center today and I would have been
Speaker 3: fine tomorrow.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I don't think that the Jaguar's going
Speaker 2: to do anything to you, but I wouldn't want to
Speaker 2: be on your bad side.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know it just yeah, what could have been?
Speaker 4: You know, what could have been? He is a little
Speaker 4: bit of a troll, though he is a bit I liked.
Speaker 1: I think it was cool. I didn't think it was cool.
Speaker 3: I just when he was in the end zone and
Speaker 3: I was trying to hand him the football, so I
Speaker 3: was like, Okay, if he if he plays along, if
Speaker 3: he if he takes the football, and maybe I could
Speaker 3: then tackle him. So I was trying to put the
Speaker 3: football in front of him and he wasn't. He wasn't taken.
Speaker 3: I was like, all right, so he's just kind of
Speaker 3: doing this thing. I'm sure they have strict instructions as well,
Speaker 3: but yeah.
Speaker 2: So that before though, that was he was like really
Speaker 2: up in there. And afterwards, Kevin O'Connell was very fired
Speaker 2: up in his speech about you guys, especially on defense,
Speaker 2: just talking about how the whole team though never flinched
Speaker 2: and the attitude of like this is the one that
Speaker 2: you're never going to forget. And to me as like
Speaker 2: a fan or not a fan perspective all the way,
Speaker 2: but just from the outside looking in, I was like
Speaker 2: one that you'll never forget. Like I'm when I think
Speaker 2: of that, I think of those like major moments like
Speaker 2: throughout the season or you know, a big dominant win
Speaker 2: over a tough Texans team or the win over the.
Speaker 4: Forty nine ers rate But like, why would he say you'll.
Speaker 2: Remember this one the most after you know what heuckspired
Speaker 2: on the field.
Speaker 1: I think because it takes a full team.
Speaker 3: You know, there's gonna be times in a season where
Speaker 3: one or two phases of the football game aren't going
Speaker 3: the way that you want it, but you build a
Speaker 3: team the right way.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: It's not a PingER for finger pointing outfit. It's it's
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 1: Guys understanding, like all right, hey, there's been.
Speaker 3: Weeks that we gave up a handful of touchdowns or
Speaker 3: a handful of yards and our offense then answered the
Speaker 3: call every single time. For us, this is one of
Speaker 3: those moments where, hey, things things are kind of going
Speaker 3: the way they are defensively, we gotta we gotta do
Speaker 3: this ourselves. We got to you know, help our brothers
Speaker 3: out for all the times that they helped us out,
Speaker 3: and special teams plays a role in that. Other times
Speaker 3: there's you know when you look at starting field positions
Speaker 3: and field goal percentage and punts and all these great things.
Speaker 3: So I think you look back on it almost to
Speaker 3: like the Raiders win two years ago, shutout to say
Speaker 3: that like there's we don't have to be you know,
Speaker 3: we've thought that we had a model of how we
Speaker 3: win football games. You know, you strike first, go up
Speaker 3: early in the first quarter, a point differentials insane, you know,
Speaker 3: protect the football, win the turnover battle. And when you
Speaker 3: don't do those things, you could say like, dang, if
Speaker 3: this isn't our you know, we found our recipe to
Speaker 3: win and this isn't going the right way and we
Speaker 3: still want So that allows you to say, like, Okay,
Speaker 3: you know we have a mentally strong group that's able
Speaker 3: to find find ways to win even though if it's
Speaker 3: not exactly how we plan it to be. And I'm
Speaker 3: sure that that's why, you know, Ko mentioned it's something
Speaker 3: you can look back on, just that all of us
Speaker 3: as a team can have increased confidence knowing that if
Speaker 3: the games aren't starting out to the way that we've
Speaker 3: seen repeated success before, we still are in every every game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's that's just a great point. You mentioned
Speaker 2: the special teams. Parker Romo for four. I mean, the dude,
Speaker 2: the dude has ice in his veins.
Speaker 4: I mean that was.
Speaker 2: Incredible, and I mean he was the only one to
Speaker 2: score points in this game after seeing the defensive scored
Speaker 2: so many points. Defense scores so much points in this
Speaker 2: one or throughout the season the offense has been scoring
Speaker 2: and now Parker Romo.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's incredible.
Speaker 3: It's just one of those stories you love to hear, like,
Speaker 3: even if you're not a fan of sport, just like
Speaker 3: you know, this guy's been a kicker for fifteen years
Speaker 3: or however long and loved the game and worked his
Speaker 3: butt off and set goals and thought that those goals may.
Speaker 1: He fell short.
Speaker 3: And then sure enough he gets his number called get
Speaker 3: in an NFL football game. And I mean, obviously not
Speaker 3: but single handedly you know, quote unquote when when.
Speaker 4: That game he didn't fluedge.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and moment that we just joked today while we
Speaker 3: were in the lift. I don't remember who I was
Speaker 3: joking with or whatever, but like, this guy forty five
Speaker 3: years from now on the golf course is going to
Speaker 3: be talking about this game like there's no doubt about
Speaker 3: first time rookie. I'll go nail four for four And yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm just really happy for him. I cheer for those moments.
Speaker 3: And again, you talk about a team that has players
Speaker 3: with chips on their shoulders and things to prove, and
Speaker 3: he falls.
Speaker 1: In that category.
Speaker 2: I kind of feel like he was an unsung hero
Speaker 2: of this season. He'll always be like an unsung hero
Speaker 2: of this season for his performance in that one.
Speaker 4: And I think that's a word.
Speaker 2: If people use a lot to describe what you do,
Speaker 2: they're in the middle. So is there any kind of
Speaker 2: relation to that, Like, do you kind of understand maybe
Speaker 2: where he's coming from a little bit?
Speaker 1: I guess.
Speaker 3: I guess we'll have to see how the trajectory of
Speaker 3: the season holds out. But I know that, you know,
Speaker 3: we won a football game, and wins are very hard
Speaker 3: to come by because of what he did for us yesterday,
Speaker 3: and I'm glad that he gets his moment like yeah,
Speaker 3: for being an unsung hero. It's nice to I asked
Speaker 3: him how many text messages he got.
Speaker 1: I think he said two hundred and eighty eight.
Speaker 4: Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: I said, I'd never had two hundred and eighty.
Speaker 4: Eight, not even after the draft day.
Speaker 3: I thought, that's why I said, I said, my highest
Speaker 3: ones are a draft day, signing my contract here, and
Speaker 3: then signing my extension would have been the most.
Speaker 1: But I wasn't. I wasn't in that those numbers.
Speaker 2: No, it's actually funny you mentioned that because I wanted
Speaker 2: to bring this up at some point during this conversation.
Speaker 2: I remember you coming in here after you signed the
Speaker 2: contract here, and you had said to us how important
Speaker 2: it was to sign that second contract, like what that
Speaker 2: means to you and your family and your accomplishments, and
Speaker 2: then in September you get that extension. What were the
Speaker 2: feelings like comparably, because I kind of wanted to ask
Speaker 2: you that because we've talked after the first one, but
Speaker 2: not after this one as much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, both situations were highly emotional, and not
Speaker 3: only positive emotions. For when the first free agency came you,
Speaker 3: I was under the impressions that I would never get
Speaker 3: to free agency because I thought that I would remain
Speaker 3: in Buffalo, and so there was that dang, I'm saying
Speaker 3: goodbye to a really cool chapter of my life. And
Speaker 3: there was that part, and then Minnesota was super happy
Speaker 3: and positive stuff. So there was that kind of contradiction.
Speaker 3: And then with this last one there was the you know,
Speaker 3: kind of long talks from when the season finished last
Speaker 3: year going into the last year of your deal. There's
Speaker 3: nothing guaranteed. We like you here, but you get you know,
Speaker 3: your age is a thing, You're playing well, but you know,
Speaker 3: there's just so many conversations and your agents and your
Speaker 3: team are telling you one thing, and then the vikings
Speaker 3: are another thing, and then you start throwing values in
Speaker 3: the situation where my agents say that if you do
Speaker 3: what you we think you're gonna do you play how
Speaker 3: you're supposed to play. We see you at this number,
Speaker 3: but the team sees you at this number, so you know,
Speaker 3: for when it finally got done, there was a huge
Speaker 3: weight lifted off my shoulder, but there was still that
Speaker 3: battle of different emotions of like, well did.
Speaker 1: I did I leave some money on the table but
Speaker 1: not the money on the table.
Speaker 3: But ultimately the difference in dollars is easily surpassed by
Speaker 3: being in an organization that I love, cities that I love,
Speaker 3: around a team that's doing incredible things, led leadership that
Speaker 3: is absolutely fantastic, and so like, you can't put a
Speaker 3: price tag on some of that stuff. And then yeah,
Speaker 3: I had set goals for a monetary amount of what
Speaker 3: I wanted to get from this game to set up
Speaker 3: future generations of my family, and hopefully playing this out
Speaker 3: you can do that for me.
Speaker 2: We've got to take a quick break from our conversation
Speaker 2: with Harrison Phillips, but he agreed to return afterwards and
Speaker 2: we are going to talk a little bit more about
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Speaker 2: You are listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast and we
Speaker 2: are here with defensive Tackle Harrison Phillips and uh you
Speaker 2: guys are now three and oh.
Speaker 4: In the AFC South.
Speaker 2: You're about to wrap up that whole AFC South tour
Speaker 2: on Sunday against the Titans, and for that sweep. I
Speaker 2: know it's a little early in the week and you're
Speaker 2: not going to watch film n till later today, But
Speaker 2: what do you know about this team?
Speaker 3: I mean, well, okay, so this will be our last
Speaker 3: AFC South opponent.
Speaker 1: Yes, these guys, I know this their.
Speaker 3: Identity playing them in the past, like their physical They
Speaker 3: want to set the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively,
Speaker 3: and they have some unbelievable all pros at the positions
Speaker 3: uh to set that temple that that are those aggressive
Speaker 3: mindset of people. So I know that for us it's
Speaker 3: going to be how we respond as a team. I
Speaker 3: know defensively we've joked about not being out on the
Speaker 3: field as much, but on the other side of the football,
Speaker 3: being out on the field more than they have this
Speaker 3: entire season. So how how quickly can we address the recovery,
Speaker 3: get our bodies back, get a plan in place so
Speaker 3: that we were able to go down I mean a
Speaker 3: road game against a team that every time I see
Speaker 3: them or watch them when they've been on there, they're fighting,
Speaker 3: and they're fighting and their clawn and they're scratching and
Speaker 3: they want to win. And so you know, I'm not
Speaker 3: sure I didn't get to watch yet how the quarterback
Speaker 3: play happened from this last week. I believe will Levis
Speaker 3: was starting for them or but I know that again,
Speaker 3: like anybody in this league is in this league for
Speaker 3: a reason, and any given Sunday is a saying for reasons.
Speaker 4: So you guys kind of know what it's like.
Speaker 2: Even if a team is two and seven, which the
Speaker 2: Titans are heading into this one, you can't count any
Speaker 2: of these people out.
Speaker 3: I mean, you never want to say, like you play
Speaker 3: to the level. We want to have a Minnesota Viking standard.
Speaker 3: We play to that standard. We don't if there is
Speaker 3: a team that we are more talented to, you wouldn't
Speaker 3: want to play at their level. And then against the
Speaker 3: good opponents play good. You want to play Minnesota Viking
Speaker 3: standard football every single game you play. And so that's
Speaker 3: probably what our messaging should be this this week is
Speaker 3: it's the most important week of the season because it's
Speaker 3: our next week.
Speaker 1: It's the next game.
Speaker 3: That's why it's the most important one, and we just
Speaker 3: have to be our best version of ourselves.
Speaker 2: Why do you think that becomes a narrative in the media, Oh, well,
Speaker 2: they're playing they only play up to their competition, or
Speaker 2: they play down.
Speaker 4: Like why do you think that becomes a narrative?
Speaker 1: That's a good question.
Speaker 3: I mean, I would just I think that came up
Speaker 3: a lot in twenty two.
Speaker 1: When we had all those one score games, Like.
Speaker 3: Everything was one score, three points for that. And I
Speaker 3: mean if you just look historically NFL football games, I
Speaker 3: would say seventy five percent of them are one score game.
Speaker 3: So like we just were in the norm for what
Speaker 3: happens in football. And I don't know, it's just an
Speaker 3: easy way for probably for media to put reasoning to
Speaker 3: things happening in football. But and I understand, you know
Speaker 3: that they're just trying to get a check, get a click,
Speaker 3: get you know, you get the get this exclusive story,
Speaker 3: that the hot take.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4: I'm not sure I can see you doing the media
Speaker 4: in the future.
Speaker 1: Maybe we just.
Speaker 3: Talked about we were talking about Belichick, and we were
Speaker 3: talking about coaches who say, like.
Speaker 1: You know, don't listen to the media.
Speaker 3: And now in the media and yeah, right now, my
Speaker 3: initial impressions are probably higher than some of my teammates
Speaker 3: because I've seen how much great media attention has come
Speaker 3: to my playmakers through Harrison's playmakers, and so I'm a
Speaker 3: little bit more reluctant to have positive relationships and some
Speaker 3: of my teammates.
Speaker 1: With the media.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, we'll see how it all plays.
Speaker 3: I think Paul Allen does a good job. I'm not
Speaker 3: necessarily coming for his job. I want to play for
Speaker 3: a little longer.
Speaker 2: I think great, though, I mean he's gonna I mean,
Speaker 2: he's going to retire eventually.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the hot tub takes are getting a little.
Speaker 2: But there are so many former players who now do
Speaker 2: like the color commentary. You don't have to like to
Speaker 2: do the play by play. But I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 2: do you want to make a play call.
Speaker 3: I think it's a highly competitive market. And I think
Speaker 3: that you talked about what my role is here as
Speaker 3: unsung hero.
Speaker 4: I don't think so.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I can compete with some of
Speaker 3: these franchise players.
Speaker 4: When I beg, I really beg to differ.
Speaker 2: I think you see some of these guys out there
Speaker 2: who were analysts, and maybe maybe you make such a
Speaker 2: huge market here in Minnesota, Like one day you come
Speaker 2: in as a color analyst, or you can work with
Speaker 2: us at VANNA afterwards.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, depends on where you in a shake call
Speaker 4: home at.
Speaker 1: The end of the day. It depends on what salary
Speaker 1: you're offering. Yeah, I will look.
Speaker 3: I love this game and unlike a lot of other professions.
Speaker 3: For example, if you if you're in sales and you
Speaker 3: work in sales for twenty years, you learn a lot
Speaker 3: in that profession that you can transition into many other fields.
Speaker 1: You know, you maybe became.
Speaker 3: Excellent and excel, or you know how to set up
Speaker 3: business like you just you learn a lot of qualities
Speaker 3: that can parallel to other professions.
Speaker 1: In football, it's not necessary.
Speaker 3: I can break down coverages and offensive schemes, and I
Speaker 3: could talk your guys' heads off, talk circles around you
Speaker 3: when it comes to football, but that doesn't translate to anything.
Speaker 1: Outside of football.
Speaker 3: And so that's why the transition when people are done
Speaker 3: with the game, it's so difficult. So long story Shortsy,
Speaker 3: I'd love to lean in to those strengths and that
Speaker 3: those things that I've learned over my long career of
Speaker 3: playing football since a little kid, and not just completely
Speaker 3: cut myself off from the game.
Speaker 1: I mean, I love it to death. So coaching, we'll
Speaker 1: see what life looks like. We'll see what we'll see
Speaker 1: what life looks like at that.
Speaker 4: With coaching, the schedules just as hard.
Speaker 1: It's not more hard, it's harder.
Speaker 3: And the way that even in my short time playing,
Speaker 3: how the NFL player has changed, I'm not I'm not
Speaker 3: sure that as the new wave of players coming in
Speaker 3: with n I L and however those the new player
Speaker 3: is if the coaching style that I'd want to have
Speaker 3: would be receptable, I might not be a very liked
Speaker 3: coach now, kids and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Little league I'd love to love t ball coach and
Speaker 1: would't that be great? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Well, you can tell that you love being around that
Speaker 2: age group and being around those guys. You see that
Speaker 2: with your love from playmakers and what you're able to do,
Speaker 2: and you mentioned them a little bit already. What's the
Speaker 2: latest with with what you've been doing with your with
Speaker 2: your foundation.
Speaker 3: Well, I got to give a shout out to our
Speaker 3: our unified team that we sponsor Hacer Bikes.
Speaker 1: We've got some playmakers on the team.
Speaker 3: Big Dub in Jacksonville, Big Duve got to see him
Speaker 3: at the hotel the night before game, and they're celebrating,
Speaker 3: having a beer, you know, making sure that the club
Speaker 3: that they were going to go to that night was vetted,
Speaker 3: you know, make sure they have a good time. Yea.
Speaker 3: But yeah, you know, I have my Thanksgiving turkey drive
Speaker 3: next week, so me and my Harrison's Playmakers will be
Speaker 3: handing out two hundred meals and Thanksgiving turkeys to our
Speaker 3: veterans at the VA. And you know, that's always a
Speaker 3: really fun one because it's my individuals with developmental differences
Speaker 3: and special needs giving back and serving in their own communities.
Speaker 3: A lot of times people think that, like the children
Speaker 3: and young adults that I work with are the charity themselves,
Speaker 3: but no, they're actually just like you and I serving
Speaker 3: in their community around the holidays and then as like
Speaker 3: a thank you to some of them and stuff, about
Speaker 3: a month later, I'll be taking one hundred or one
Speaker 3: hundred and fifty Harrison's Playmaker's Christmas shopping.
Speaker 4: It's not the shopping and shields. Yeah, they always love that.
Speaker 3: And what's really cool about it is that, you know,
Speaker 3: we'll give them a gift card. I think it's a
Speaker 3: one hundred one hundred and fifty dollars gift card I'll
Speaker 3: get for each of them, and it's up to them.
Speaker 3: I've done a lot of things all year round where
Speaker 3: I've asked them to do challenges or community events or
Speaker 3: like my Thanksgiving drive, bring in donations, and so the
Speaker 3: Christmas one is like, hey, this is a thank you
Speaker 3: for all the great work you've done this year. You've
Speaker 3: always answered the challenges I put out. And however, you know,
Speaker 3: when you're shopping, here's also a wish list of some
Speaker 3: items that other people might need.
Speaker 1: And I think last year.
Speaker 3: We chose Warrior Dog Rescue, and this year we're secondhand hounds,
Speaker 3: I think. But so we'll have a list from a
Speaker 3: nonprofit organization here in the Twin Cities and they're say, hey,
Speaker 3: these are the ten things we need the most. And
Speaker 3: so I'll give this playmaker his one hundred dollars one
Speaker 3: hundred dollars gift card and he can go spend all
Speaker 3: of it on his legos or or on her Barbie
Speaker 3: dolls or whatever. And so sometimes when you see him
Speaker 3: checking out, you'll see someone say, you know, by themselves
Speaker 3: a ninety dollars gift and then like one dog treat
Speaker 3: or you'll see someone by themselves one small little socks
Speaker 3: and the other ninety something dollars on the nonprofit. It's
Speaker 3: super cool to see that and let them make that
Speaker 3: choice for themselves.
Speaker 2: Was that your goal when you created this, like to
Speaker 2: to provide a sense of community between your playmakers that
Speaker 2: they are giving back, Like?
Speaker 1: Where?
Speaker 4: How did that idea originally?
Speaker 3: I just think that for people who don't have a
Speaker 3: direct link to someone with differences other than like, oh
Speaker 3: I saw them in middle school or high school or
Speaker 3: something like that, there's sometimes a sense of pity or
Speaker 3: a sense of I don't think these people can do
Speaker 3: many things they're not like is just a negative connotation,
Speaker 3: and I really didn't like that.
Speaker 1: I want some of the best.
Speaker 3: Relationships and some of the most caring and loving people
Speaker 3: that I've ever met in.
Speaker 1: My life have differences.
Speaker 3: And so I was like, what is the easiest way
Speaker 3: to try to flip this perception to some people out
Speaker 3: there that you know ignorantly have no idea how amazing
Speaker 3: and special these people are. And so I thought that
Speaker 3: the number one way to shut up these haters would
Speaker 3: be to say, these people are so capable and such
Speaker 3: amazing civilians that they are serving and giving back in
Speaker 3: their own communities. You think that they need all these
Speaker 3: programs and all this help and stuff, and sometimes everyone
Speaker 3: needs a helping hand, But the vast majority of my
Speaker 3: playmakers are the first ones to volunteer and the first
Speaker 3: ones to sign up to do something. And so that's
Speaker 3: where that thought first came to me, is like, I
Speaker 3: think the easiest way to show the world my playmakers
Speaker 3: can kick is that they will go out in the community.
Speaker 1: And do things and stuff.
Speaker 3: We'll clean up a park, We'll meet up at the
Speaker 3: VA and handout meals, We'll bring in donations for animal rescues,
Speaker 3: We'll do a bunch of stuff to show the world that,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm so good.
Speaker 1: I can take care of myself and take care of.
Speaker 3: Other peoples, and I'm a benefit to our society.
Speaker 2: You mentioned doing the VA work and this is the
Speaker 2: Salute to Service Month for the NFL.
Speaker 4: What does this initiative mean to you?
Speaker 3: Both my grandfathers served in the military, and you know,
Speaker 3: if my life had won a different way and sports
Speaker 3: wasn't my outlet, I think that that would have been
Speaker 3: an option for me. I just have an extreme amount
Speaker 3: of gratitude through my years in the NFL, working with
Speaker 3: the organizations I do. I've got to sit down for
Speaker 3: hours with World War two survivors, with Vietnam survivors and
Speaker 3: talk to these people and hear their stories and hear
Speaker 3: what it's like, and it just gives you such a
Speaker 3: perspective and such a gratitude that I can play a
Speaker 3: childhood's game. We can sit here in a podcast studio
Speaker 3: and BS talk for a couple of minutes because people
Speaker 3: sacrifice their lives and fought for our freedoms.
Speaker 1: And the things that they've seen.
Speaker 3: Some of the stories that people have opened up to
Speaker 3: me about gave me just an incredible perspective on life.
Speaker 3: And when I'm in the thick of it, when it's
Speaker 3: a full padded practice in week eleven and my body
Speaker 3: frickin hurts and I think that I'm going to war,
Speaker 3: this isn't going to war. These guys really went to war,
Speaker 3: and they and they fought for the freedom that I
Speaker 3: have to be in such a great country. And so
Speaker 3: this the Salute to service also is complete side note,
Speaker 3: but the Salute to Service gear is always the coolest gear.
Speaker 1: Every single year. The artist.
Speaker 3: It's nice, but Yeah, I wear that gear with honor,
Speaker 3: and I make it a mission every week to find
Speaker 3: the military people at our stadium and at our games
Speaker 3: and I shake their hand, looking in the eyes and
Speaker 3: say thank you for your service.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. Well, thank you for doing that on behalf
Speaker 2: of the Vikings. That salute to service game will not
Speaker 2: be until December first, when the Cardinals play the Vikings
Speaker 2: at noon as of now at us Bank Stadium, So
Speaker 2: looking forward to that one.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for time, Harrison.
Speaker 2: You didn't have to give this all of your free time,
Speaker 2: but I really appreciate it.
Speaker 3: No, it's always good to come on and give the
Speaker 3: give the fans here in the Twin Cities a little content.
Speaker 3: All love you, we love we love them.
Speaker 1: I promise you, promise you.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Of course we are so happy and honored to have
Speaker 2: Harrison Phillips on this week's episode of the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
Speaker 2: We thank you as well for tuning in. We record
Speaker 2: this every week. You can find it on our podcast
Speaker 2: channel wherever you listen to your podcast, and please check
Speaker 2: out all of our preview content on Vikings dot com,
Speaker 2: the Vikings YouTube page, or the Vikings app. The Vikings
Speaker 2: are back out on the road against the Tennessee Titans
Speaker 2: from Nashville at noon on Sunday. Thank you so much
Speaker 2: for listening. We'll see you at noon for that kickoff
Speaker 2: on CBS