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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast featuring Jaguars dot Com Senior

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Speaker 1: writer John Oser and Jaguars executive producer Dave the Kennis.

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Speaker 1: This week is one I'm excited about, and not because

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Speaker 1: it's necessarily a new voice to Jaguars fans, but it's

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Speaker 1: an old friend of mine. I think most people who

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Speaker 1: follow the Jaguars know that's Pete Prisco, who is our

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Speaker 1: guest and I go way way back. We cover the

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Speaker 1: Jags together. But one of the things in the Ozone

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Speaker 1: podcast that we wanted to do was perhaps give the viewers,

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Speaker 1: the readers, the listeners some insight into people that they

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Speaker 1: hear from in a way that they normally don't hear

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Speaker 1: about that person. So in today's oz own podcast, we're

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Speaker 1: gonna talk to Pete Prisco, maybe not as much about

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Speaker 1: the Jaguars per se, but get into a little bit

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Speaker 1: of Pete's back round, how he and I met some

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Speaker 1: of the early times with the Jaguars, and give fans

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Speaker 1: a chance to get to know somebody who they have

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Speaker 1: certainly heard from a lot. So today's podcast, Pete Frisco, Pete,

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Speaker 1: how you do everybody oh so quick telling people I'm

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Speaker 1: a friend of yours. I mean, come on, well, if

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Speaker 1: we aren't friends in this business, I don't know who is.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's kind of the nature of this podcast.

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Speaker 1: And uh, we've talked over the years on Jaguars channels

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Speaker 1: a lot about the current team, and goodness knows, we've

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Speaker 1: talked enough about Tony Boselli that we're tired of it.

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Speaker 1: But beyond that, we covered this team for six years together,

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Speaker 1: wrote a book, saw a lot of things that I'm

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Speaker 1: not sure that the people who listened to the Jaguars

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Speaker 1: no much about your background beyond CBS and the Times

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Speaker 1: Union or some of the stories that we saw in

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Speaker 1: six years. And you, me and Mike be Honky, we're

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Speaker 1: traveling with this team. So I'm hoping over a couple

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Speaker 1: of podcasts to get into that. I think it'll be fun.

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Speaker 1: So it's uh, I there won't be Nova Sally talk

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Speaker 1: or though I'm sure you might like that with him.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's all we do is talk about the Sally,

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Speaker 1: get him in the hall, get him in the hall,

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Speaker 1: and off with it at some point. And there's other

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Speaker 1: guys I'd love to get into, Jimmy and some other

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Speaker 1: guys who I think ought to be in the hall

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Speaker 1: from that time and hopefully we'll get into that as well.

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Speaker 1: But before we start, um, I see a couple of questions,

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Speaker 1: and maybe even I don't know that well. I know

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Speaker 1: you went to a s U and then took some

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Speaker 1: turns through Denver and Tulsa before the TU. But tell

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Speaker 1: people how you got to the TU and sort of

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Speaker 1: how you became a Jacksonville sports media guy. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: went to as you, um, majored in broadcast journalism, which

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Speaker 1: is kind of funny now because most people have majored

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Speaker 1: in journalism and most of the stuff I even now

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Speaker 1: it is all broadcast and so that worked out well.

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Speaker 1: Even though the school at the time wasn't great for that,

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Speaker 1: it is now it's probably the best school in the

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Speaker 1: country for broadcast journalism. They have a giant facility downtown now,

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Speaker 1: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Although they've never honored me,

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Speaker 1: so I don't. I don't you know, they haven't. It

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Speaker 1: never brought me back to speak or anything. Maybe they

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Speaker 1: remember how you worry when you were there. Yeah, we

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Speaker 1: worked in the school paper. I was a good guy,

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Speaker 1: you know, that was the fun part of that. We

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Speaker 1: all worked on the school paper and I was the

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Speaker 1: sports editor and got to go on road trips. Well

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Speaker 1: we had every we had like four of us. We

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Speaker 1: got to divide up the road trips and we traveled

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Speaker 1: with the media relations director and had to stay in

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Speaker 1: the room with him, but we got here's what we

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Speaker 1: got when you got on the road. You got all

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Speaker 1: the you know, free food you could eat on the

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Speaker 1: plane and everything, which was huge for a college kid.

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Speaker 1: And then status for the TV broadcast, which they paid

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Speaker 1: just like thirty five bucks, which was gold for the

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Speaker 1: next month in college back then. So it was a

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Speaker 1: great experience. I picked first and l A and then

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Speaker 1: somebody picked I think that year was they picked Stanford,

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Speaker 1: and then Oregon, and then I picked Washington had the

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Speaker 1: last one was mine. I got Washington State and uh

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Speaker 1: I went to Idaho to because it was only eight

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Speaker 1: team Washington at the time was and the bars closed.

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Speaker 1: John and I had no way to get home back

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Speaker 1: to the hotel and there were no calves. I had

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Speaker 1: begged for a ride. Finally got back and had to

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Speaker 1: be on the bus in like five hours. He was.

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Speaker 1: There was no uber then, but you'll you'll remember this.

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Speaker 1: There was actually a sports bar in Idaho, where they

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Speaker 1: had a nail hammered into the wall way up, and

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Speaker 1: I said, well, what the hell is that? You remember

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Speaker 1: gust uh what was his name, gust Johnson who played

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Speaker 1: for the Bullets and Wizards back in the day forward, Well,

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Speaker 1: that's how high he jumped, and it was there to

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Speaker 1: challenge anybody who wanted to try and reach it. And

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Speaker 1: I think because he went, I think he went to

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Speaker 1: Ido and and that thing stayed there forever until DJ's

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Speaker 1: little brother broke the record, Joey Johnson, and he ended

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Speaker 1: up playing a little bit too. So so anyway, so

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Speaker 1: I go to Issue. Then I get out of school.

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Speaker 1: I got get a part time job in Denver, which

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Speaker 1: was the best experience of my life because the staff

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Speaker 1: was great and it wasn't a part time job. Denver

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Speaker 1: Post was a monster of a newspaper, so they actually

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Speaker 1: allowed me go do Brocos games, and I did college hockey,

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Speaker 1: and I traveled with college hockey. Um I went down

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Speaker 1: to Uston to do something on the Gamblers. When when

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Speaker 1: they merged the two franchises in USFL to do something

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Speaker 1: on Mouse Davis and June Jones, I found JR. Richards

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Speaker 1: standing on the curb and wrote a story about him,

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Speaker 1: which was a good story and ended up being the

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Speaker 1: Sporting News actually, so we got to do a lot

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Speaker 1: of stuff. Left there, I went to UM Tulsa worked

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Speaker 1: at the Tulsa Tribune in the afternoon, which was a

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Speaker 1: fun experience. Uh. Became hated in that city because I

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Speaker 1: was like everything and anything. They weren't, you know, they were, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you Yankee New Yorker. They called me, you know, they

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Speaker 1: didn't like But and Nolan Richardson, who was then the

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Speaker 1: coach at Tulsa. That's where the infamous Prisco disco cisco came.

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Speaker 1: And then uh, when I left there, part because I

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Speaker 1: was an idiot and they wanted me out, but I

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Speaker 1: deserved to be let go, let's put it that way.

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Speaker 1: And then um went home, was thinking about doing something else.

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Speaker 1: Started working for the St. Pete Times as a stringer.

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Speaker 1: Remember that they had They paid good money for that job.

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Speaker 1: I was there South Florida s fringer and then ended

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Speaker 1: up at the Times Union and got hired to do

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Speaker 1: college football. Initially, remember I was the Georgia beat guy.

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Speaker 1: You started out on Georgia and then quickly worked with

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Speaker 1: your friend Jeff Freeze on Florida two years, two years,

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Speaker 1: and then in eight nine and I moved over and

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Speaker 1: I started doing the NFL and we did the NFL.

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Speaker 1: I would go to games every weekend and I went

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Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl. From that point on, I've been

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Speaker 1: in every one since that. What was blistering in the

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Speaker 1: in the super Dome that year the Broncos I got

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Speaker 1: killed by the four nine, And that was so long ago.

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Speaker 1: I love to tell that story because I was so

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Speaker 1: long ago, John, that the players in the locker room

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Speaker 1: were screaming, we got the speed limit. Remember because of

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Speaker 1: speed limit now pre Jaguars and the TV, you guys

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Speaker 1: covered it and I was there, but I wasn't on

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Speaker 1: that level yet. Um, when do you recall at first

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Speaker 1: you were covering games and a lot of papers back

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Speaker 1: then had NFL guys even though they weren't in NFL city.

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Speaker 1: That was common. It would never happen now, obviously, but

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Speaker 1: that was common back then. When did you get the idea,

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Speaker 1: P that you were covering and expansion race more than

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Speaker 1: you were in the NFL, because it it's sort of

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Speaker 1: changed for those five years, didn't it. It did. That

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Speaker 1: was the number one priority, which is why I went

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Speaker 1: to every meeting that they possibly had if the NFL

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Speaker 1: had a meeting and they were you know, remember those

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Speaker 1: spring meetings were very limited on access, but we went.

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Speaker 1: I had to go manufacturer story. I hope I get

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Speaker 1: one owners have a lot of lobbies didn't. Oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: I hope I got one story where an owner. I

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Speaker 1: could trick an owner and saying yeah, they have a chance,

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Speaker 1: and then get a headline Jacksonville has a chance. You know,

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Speaker 1: I was begging for stuff like that. It's actually where

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Speaker 1: I got to know Roger Goodell, which you know that

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Speaker 1: that whole experience was invaluable to me. I mean, he

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Speaker 1: was a young guy in the league office at the time,

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Speaker 1: and he was kind of the point man on expansion,

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Speaker 1: and you know, we used to kid him. There were

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Speaker 1: a bunch of us that traveled around that in the

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Speaker 1: expansion cities, and we kind of all bonded together, and

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Speaker 1: we used to call him the boyer would be commissioner.

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Speaker 1: And he didn't like it because he was He perceived

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Speaker 1: it as being if he his name kept getting out there,

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Speaker 1: then they would do the exact opposite. And as it

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Speaker 1: worked out, he ended up becoming the commissioner. A relationship

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Speaker 1: with Roger. In fact, shortly after he became commissioner, I

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Speaker 1: was at a Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit, and I

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Speaker 1: was sitting there at the pregame meal, and all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, I feel this flick in the back of

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Speaker 1: my ear and I look up and it's Roger Goodell,

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Speaker 1: and I go, come on, Roger, commissioner. And now I

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Speaker 1: ken't be doing that to me anymore. People don't know

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Speaker 1: who he is as a guy. He's actually a down

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Speaker 1: the earth, easy, easy to get along with guy if

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Speaker 1: you know him. And I've got to know him over

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Speaker 1: the years, and I think he's done a good job,

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Speaker 1: by the way, and he uh. The expansion process is

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Speaker 1: fascinating because I was covering Florida. I was covering high

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Speaker 1: schools when it first started covering Florida before I joined

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Speaker 1: you on the Jags when they got it, so I

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Speaker 1: wasn't with you during a lot of the reporting for that.

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Speaker 1: But what I've always been curious about. I've always told

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Speaker 1: people that you knew or had a feeling about Jacksonville

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Speaker 1: getting it long before anybody else, and everybody thought you

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Speaker 1: were crazy. And I will get to that in a minute,

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Speaker 1: But when did you first get the idea that they

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Speaker 1: really had a chance, if you can recall that, because

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Speaker 1: they got ninety four. But you started telling people way

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Speaker 1: before that to the point, Pete where people of the

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Speaker 1: paper didn't believe you. No. And you remember the one

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Speaker 1: story I broke, which was infuriated a lot of people

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Speaker 1: before that even got to that level because they thought

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Speaker 1: I was going to ruin it for him to get

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Speaker 1: any chances get any team. Was that Charlie Rice, the

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Speaker 1: late Charlie Rice from Barnett Banks, was in negotiations to

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Speaker 1: try and buy the New England Patriots and bring him

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Speaker 1: to Jacksonville. Remember that one, and that one was seen

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Speaker 1: in the league circles. They got mad about it because

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Speaker 1: it got out. Charlie Rice and Gang were mad about it,

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Speaker 1: and the expansion group in Jacksonville was mad about it

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Speaker 1: because they thought they were going to ruin any chance

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Speaker 1: that they had. So but it was that was legitimate

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Speaker 1: because the Kayam at the time was trying to sell

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Speaker 1: the team, and he obviously sold the team to to

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Speaker 1: Bob Kraft. So that was one of the first stories.

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Speaker 1: And then as the process played out, remember they awarded

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Speaker 1: him in two different meetings. They first went to Charlotte

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Speaker 1: and then it was all up in our up in

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Speaker 1: the air, but who's gonna get the next one? And

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Speaker 1: it was going to St. Louis, I mean it would

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Speaker 1: have been St. Louis. Jacksonville would have never had a franchise. St.

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Speaker 1: Louis was getting the team, and then one of their

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Speaker 1: investors screwed it all up. And when that happened, they

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Speaker 1: turned to Wayne Weaver and said, hey, we like you,

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Speaker 1: we want you in St. Louis. And he said no,

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Speaker 1: it's either Jacksonville or nothing, and he didn't go, and

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Speaker 1: even though he was from St. Louis. So then I

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Speaker 1: started getting winded that Jacksonville was really I mean, this

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Speaker 1: league was really excited about Wayne Weaver and that would

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Speaker 1: be a real strong point for them to push it

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Speaker 1: over the top. And so they had that. Obviously, they

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Speaker 1: had to sell all the tickets and touchdown Jacksonville and

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Speaker 1: the whole thing it looked like it was falling apart.

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Speaker 1: They brought it back the other But that's kind of

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Speaker 1: where that started. And believe me that when I wrote

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Speaker 1: that story, I got a ton of pushback from people

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Speaker 1: saying jackson Will still alive. Nobody believed me. But that

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Speaker 1: that source was rock solid. And there was a point where,

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Speaker 1: as I recall, you told me the paper I didn't

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Speaker 1: want to run the story because they thought you were wrong.

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Speaker 1: If I remember my memories, because there were so many

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Speaker 1: of them, they didn't run because they thought I was wrong.

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Speaker 1: But on that when you were no, I e. The

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Speaker 1: Burnell Coughlin riff, remember, so I bring that one up again. Um, oh,

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Speaker 1: we'll get to that. They I think there was, yeah,

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Speaker 1: because it used to remember it used to be you

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Speaker 1: had to have eighteen sources to write a story back

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Speaker 1: then and now you don't even need one. No, no,

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Speaker 1: you don't. And even though this was like rock solid source,

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Speaker 1: they were a little scared about it. So yeah, But

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Speaker 1: eventually I got to convinced to write it. Run up

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Speaker 1: the year when Kaughlin was the coach, but they didn't

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Speaker 1: have a team, or the team wasn't there yet. I've

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Speaker 1: always been intrigued by the relationship between you guys, because

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Speaker 1: I was there for so much of it. When you

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Speaker 1: cover a beat and you're dealing with the head coach,

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Speaker 1: and that's really the head coach that you dealt with

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Speaker 1: as a beat writer, because you weren't a beat writer

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Speaker 1: after you left. Um, what was that year like? And

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Speaker 1: I know the answer to it. When Tom didn't have

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Speaker 1: a team and you guys were basically at each other

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Speaker 1: every day. Well, it started off poorly because I wrote

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Speaker 1: the story and talked to some of his former receivers

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Speaker 1: and they called him maniac coach. After that, I think

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Speaker 1: it was more talked to receivers in Green Bay and

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Speaker 1: in Philly, right, and it was mark Ingram or one

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Speaker 1: of those two use the maniac cop line. And he

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Speaker 1: never forgot that that that you know, shot shot. You

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Speaker 1: know how he would say, that's a shot, that's a shot.

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Speaker 1: And so that didn't exactly you know, make it warm

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Speaker 1: and fuzzy. Um. And then and then you know that

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Speaker 1: whole season. Remember he had his tapes in that room.

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Speaker 1: Remember you remember the first year was in that trailer.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, I remember talking about the trailer. I

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Speaker 1: came after the trailers. Well, in the trailer, you'd have

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Speaker 1: to go into the trailer and walk down the hallway

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Speaker 1: and go to his office. Well, he was very you

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Speaker 1: know how he always was. He never wanted anybody in

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Speaker 1: his office. Remember the story where he left Peter King

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Speaker 1: in the office and Peter King got the story about

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Speaker 1: the tapes on the that he was looking at, and

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Speaker 1: one of them was Mark Grunelle, and Coughlin got angry

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Speaker 1: about it. And from that point on, nobody ever went

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Speaker 1: into his office. Remember that was the end of it.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, no, I never saw I never saw the

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Speaker 1: inside of his office ever. You believe that the whole

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Speaker 1: time I covered that team. Remember he used to meet

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Speaker 1: us in different rooms and stuff. He never let us

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Speaker 1: go into his office. In part I found out later

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Speaker 1: his desk was raised up so he can look down

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Speaker 1: on the players when they came in. And after Jack

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Speaker 1: del Rio told me that actually, and I wrote that

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Speaker 1: story that he chopped the desk back down and brought

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Speaker 1: it down to the level. And Kaufman read that somehow

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Speaker 1: and said, oh, another shot. There you go, taking a

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Speaker 1: shot the desk shot. He came back in two thousand

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Speaker 1: and he left. Remember I left in O one when

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Speaker 1: Kauflan still the coach, and you had left about six

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Speaker 1: months before me. I went to the Colts for ten years.

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Speaker 1: Came back and in the first couple of months Jack

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Speaker 1: was still the head coach. I went down to interview him.

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Speaker 1: That was in two thousand and eleven, and it was

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Speaker 1: the first time in sixteen I had never seen the

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Speaker 1: inside of the head coaches office. I told that Jack

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Speaker 1: started laughing. Yeah, he used to laugh about it all

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Speaker 1: the time. Kauflan used to, you know, get mad about it,

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Speaker 1: but that's just who he was, and you know, we

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Speaker 1: just have to go. He remember me and you hiding

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Speaker 1: in them in the weight room when he came in

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Speaker 1: because Kevin Gilbride, everybody was terrified. It was I'll tell

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Speaker 1: you what, I couldn't being a beat guy. Really, first

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Speaker 1: time in the NFL. I couldn't have asked for more.

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Speaker 1: It was the greatest experience ever for me, being able

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Speaker 1: to deal with him on a daily basis and being

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Speaker 1: able to deal with a new bunch of guys in

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Speaker 1: a locker room. They were all kind of coming together,

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Speaker 1: it was, and you were there for all. It was great.

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Speaker 1: The theater was great. The stuff that went on would

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Speaker 1: never go on now. I mean, I think that's what

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Speaker 1: is is most fascinating to me. Yeah, I've been doing

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Speaker 1: this twenty five years and now you've been doing it longer.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I realized, Like we talked about it,

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Speaker 1: we were on the beat, we'd be on the road

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Speaker 1: and we'd say, you know, expansion year. But at the

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Speaker 1: age we were, I don't think we realized exactly was

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Speaker 1: an incredible comtunity it was. Were storing a nube. I

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Speaker 1: don't think. I don't think you realize until you look

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Speaker 1: back that all the stories Leon Brown and Steven's point,

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Speaker 1: Basselli getting hurt, there, guys yelling at us, and just

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Speaker 1: the coming together of that team I've never covered. I've

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Speaker 1: covered a super Bowl championship, I've covered that team getting

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Speaker 1: to playoffs, but never a season quite like ninety. No,

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Speaker 1: the six weeks of Steven's point, they beat the day

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Speaker 1: like that, Remember it was, it was And you know,

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Speaker 1: I still never I don't ever let Tony Basselli forget that.

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Speaker 1: They sent him home on the private plane. Everybody else

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Speaker 1: gets hurt, they go home, they sent the private plane

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Speaker 1: playing for Tony Basselli. And and so yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: you mentioned Leon Brown. That was still one of the

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Speaker 1: most And I saw him a couple of years ago.

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Speaker 1: He's a police officer in Jacksonville. One of the most

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Speaker 1: disgusting injuries we've ever seen. You where remember it was

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Speaker 1: facing one way and his leg was going the other way,

336
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Speaker 1: and well, and and we've talked before. It's the only

337
00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:12,520
Speaker 1: time I've seen players who wouldn't look at an injury

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Speaker 1: when it happened. They were running and looking away and

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Speaker 1: not wanting to be around it. It was that bad

340
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Speaker 1: and Leon Brown people who don't know it it was a

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Speaker 1: running back from Paxson, who was a good player. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure he made the team or not, but it was. Yeah,

343
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,359
Speaker 1: it was a horrific injury and obviously never played again.

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Speaker 1: So remember remember the other thing, it was raining that day. Yeah,

345
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Speaker 1: so there was some theory that I remember he went

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Speaker 1: out and practiced anyways, and there was some theory that

347
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Speaker 1: the wet field contributed to it. But then not only that,

348
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Speaker 1: as most coaches would do, he moved the drink. Coughlin

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Speaker 1: moved the drill over ten ten tenor hard the next

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Speaker 1: play with Leon Foot facing um green Bay. And then

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Speaker 1: it was the Ernest Gibbons um uh Desmond. So, I

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Speaker 1: mean that was another one. It was just he was Look,

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Speaker 1: I came to respect him with the utmost respect, I

354
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Speaker 1: really did. But in that first year, and you know what,

355
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Speaker 1: you were part of it, he was psycho And that's

356
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Speaker 1: I think the interesting thing. There's so many of when

357
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Speaker 1: you cover a guy the way you covered Tom and

358
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Speaker 1: I covered Spurrier in Florida, and I was around coaches

359
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,720
Speaker 1: when I was in Indianapolis. But when you're the beat

360
00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,560
Speaker 1: guy and you're talking to him every day and you're

361
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,359
Speaker 1: trying to poke and prode for information, I think you

362
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,000
Speaker 1: really get to know a coach on a level where

363
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,840
Speaker 1: you're thinking about him all the time. It's it's a

364
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,240
Speaker 1: weird level that you're trying to analyze a guy. But

365
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,440
Speaker 1: I've talked to you since then, and and the respect

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Speaker 1: that you have for him, and I think it goes

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Speaker 1: the other way too. I I guess the question would be,

368
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Speaker 1: there's the persona of Tom, but you had a respect

369
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Speaker 1: for him beyond that, And the respect really is real. You,

370
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Speaker 1: I think, have an admiration for the guy, don't you.

371
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Speaker 1: He's a good man. There's a lot of coaches in

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Speaker 1: the league you aren't good man. Tom Coffin is a

373
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Speaker 1: good man, and that's why you gotta respect him. Look,

374
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Speaker 1: he can be as crazy and maniacal as any coach

375
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Speaker 1: ever has been, and he was. I mean, we didn't

376
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,160
Speaker 1: you could tell stories all day about you know, painting

377
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,199
Speaker 1: the inside of the of the hallways instead of just

378
00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 1: painting part of it and then having him do it

379
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,680
Speaker 1: over and over again because he didn't like it. I mean,

380
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,479
Speaker 1: little crazy things. But you know what, he was always

381
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Speaker 1: a good man. And we didn't see that a lot

382
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,600
Speaker 1: during football season, but me and you would always sit

383
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,639
Speaker 1: down with him at like the owners meetings, with him

384
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Speaker 1: and his wife Judy, and we've always come away we say, God,

385
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,440
Speaker 1: why don't we get that side of him that much?

386
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 1: You know, because he was so open and accommodated. And

387
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,640
Speaker 1: then there's the other Tom. And you'll remember this story.

388
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Speaker 1: You remember at the seafood Jubilee at the Senior we

389
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,439
Speaker 1: was passing around the wages and how to pick up

390
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 1: the plates and clean it up. Remember, I mean that's yeah,

391
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,480
Speaker 1: so yeah, but good man. And you can't say that

392
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Speaker 1: about you know, there's some good coaches in the league

393
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Speaker 1: and some good men in league. But one thing about

394
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 1: Tom Coughlin, he is genuine when it comes to being

395
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,520
Speaker 1: him as a person. There's no question about that. When

396
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,959
Speaker 1: we flew home from Stevens Point after six weeks and

397
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,520
Speaker 1: you're sleeping at seven am and your brother says, hey, Pete,

398
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,399
Speaker 1: Tom's on the phone. Was you a good man that morning? Uh? No.

399
00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 1: And in fact, the stuff he said on there I

400
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,919
Speaker 1: cannot repeat on here. It was it was actually probably

401
00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:44,359
Speaker 1: more like six and uh and I was hurting and

402
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: the worst possibly and I picked it and I took

403
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,040
Speaker 1: the phone call and as soon as I said, I

404
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:53,600
Speaker 1: went oho, and we just went off. After they had

405
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:58,719
Speaker 1: lost the Lions in a preseason game, and you had

406
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:00,840
Speaker 1: written that players were saying in their legs were dead

407
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,040
Speaker 1: because camp was tough, and we and he didn't see

408
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,720
Speaker 1: the story until the next day. So by that time

409
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 1: he had a fester and he called me. We flew home.

410
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,840
Speaker 1: Remember I went out there and he just ripped me.

411
00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:14,600
Speaker 1: And I said to him. Finally, I said to him,

412
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Speaker 1: I I all right, Tom, whatever, don't give him an excuse.

413
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 1: Was the thing he kept screaming over and over again.

414
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Speaker 1: And then finally I said, Tom, do I call you

415
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Speaker 1: at six o'clock in the morning. He goes, no, I

416
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Speaker 1: go good, And I hung up on him. Let me,

417
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:32,000
Speaker 1: I see this. Do you think the nineties six run

418
00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,760
Speaker 1: happens if he had been any different that first season? Nope,

419
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: absolutely not. Absolutely, he really did take the franchise. He

420
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:42,920
Speaker 1: did the right way. He did it. I mean he

421
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 1: went overboard him some things, but he did it the

422
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:46,919
Speaker 1: right way. That's the only way. And he you know,

423
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,159
Speaker 1: he even going back years and you've been around me

424
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: when we talked to him about ninety five and he says,

425
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,480
Speaker 1: I had to weed out that team. I had to

426
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 1: find out who was here to stay and who's here

427
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:58,719
Speaker 1: to play. And that's why he beat the daylights out

428
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 1: of him and Steve. It's point, so I get. I know,

429
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: I think the foundation was built by that. What's your

430
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,640
Speaker 1: favorite rubber hallway story? We walked that hallway with him

431
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: every day for five years. Anything stand out? Oh yeah,

432
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 1: there's a there's a The one that stands out more

433
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,480
Speaker 1: than any is I. I was talking to him about

434
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,680
Speaker 1: contract extension and I said, hey, Tom, I'm gonna do

435
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:25,640
Speaker 1: a Sunday thing where I said it's time they need

436
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,880
Speaker 1: to give him a contract extension. And he goes, okay, okay,

437
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,120
Speaker 1: I go. But there's you know, when you do get it,

438
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: and he's gonna get it, I said, I want you

439
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,280
Speaker 1: to make sure I get it first. You give it

440
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,919
Speaker 1: to me, Okay, okay. So I write the column. You

441
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:45,000
Speaker 1: know it was you know, he deserved it well. In between,

442
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,480
Speaker 1: I think the time that he got his extension at

443
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,120
Speaker 1: the time to call or they announced extent, or gave

444
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,440
Speaker 1: it to me, and the column came out. I reported

445
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,120
Speaker 1: of the Jimmy Smith hiding the injury. Remember that. Yeah,

446
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 1: I had warned him, and you heard me many of

447
00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,119
Speaker 1: the time. They said, Tommy can't hide injuries. And I

448
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:05,919
Speaker 1: went out in the parking lot, which was the greatest

449
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:07,359
Speaker 1: thing in the world because it was public property, and

450
00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: I waited for players. They told me Jimmy wasn't practicing.

451
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: So I came back in. Remember you were right there.

452
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 1: I called yellow and I said, enough of this, Greg.

453
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,879
Speaker 1: This is every week with him, he's hiding injuries. So

454
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,320
Speaker 1: about Jimmy jumped me the next day. He was mad

455
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,399
Speaker 1: for the dumb reason. I don't know why, because it

456
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: was his injury. And a couple of days later, Cofflin's

457
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 1: walking down the hallway. Know what happened? Was this before

458
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: that they released his contracts extension? Remember the team gave

459
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: it everybody. So then Cofflin's walking down the hallway a

460
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,160
Speaker 1: couple of days later and I go, tom you at

461
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:47,160
Speaker 1: me sure? And he looked at me and he goes,

462
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,119
Speaker 1: what are you talking about? I go, you told me

463
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,800
Speaker 1: you would give me the contract extension, and he walked,

464
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,119
Speaker 1: kept walking and he turned back and he goes, what

465
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 1: you called the little lead, The deal was off. That's

466
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 1: one of my favorites. The calling me out for his

467
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 1: grade was always a good one. You remember that one

468
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,360
Speaker 1: too late in the afternoon. Do you remember that one?

469
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,400
Speaker 1: You gotta be minded. The first question was was anything

470
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,160
Speaker 1: so not worth the trouble? Then you're grades? No? Because

471
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: the offensive lineman used to hate it, and they all

472
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,080
Speaker 1: hated it. It was just it infuriated them. But he,

473
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 1: of all people, he said, don't pay attention to the media,

474
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 1: called me out one afternoon and he pulled me out

475
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,680
Speaker 1: in the hallway and I go what. He goes, be minus?

476
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 1: And what are you talking about? He goes, we won

477
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,120
Speaker 1: twenty four to twelve or whatever it was. He goes,

478
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 1: and you gave me a B minus. I said, okay, Tom,

479
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,760
Speaker 1: let me just tell you this. You say you don't

480
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 1: read the paper, so how the hell you know you

481
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: gotta be minus? My daughter told me. I said, well, okay,

482
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 1: your daughter told you, and it really bothers you that much.

483
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna give you this opportunity.

484
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 1: You give yourself a grade and not put it in

485
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:06,199
Speaker 1: the paper to morrow. He started, Yeah, it's uh, it

486
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: was a different time. I think maybe it's not like

487
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 1: an old man here, But I don't know that the

488
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:15,639
Speaker 1: Beat guys today have the opportunity for a relationship like that. Uh.

489
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,959
Speaker 1: And and and maybe it's because the league is so different.

490
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: There was national media back then, but there wasn't Twitter.

491
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,160
Speaker 1: There wasn't you know, time's changed. But I'm not sure

492
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:28,320
Speaker 1: that you know this, John. There were things that happened

493
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: in that locker room that if they happened in today's there,

494
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 1: they'd be instant fodder on Twitter. Oh yeah, and swinging

495
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: and or you know, coming after us and yelling at

496
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,119
Speaker 1: us and screaming at us and everything else and threatening us.

497
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,600
Speaker 1: That you know that happens nowadays, and it's instant, you know,

498
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: all over the place. It's you know, it's not gonna

499
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 1: be a little small little blurb or something. So the

500
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,480
Speaker 1: room incidents where the team could kind of go to

501
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,600
Speaker 1: everybody and keep them quiet, and they weren't major. I mean,

502
00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 1: if they had been major, they had been reported, but

503
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 1: it the minor desktops which were sort of part of it.

504
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,480
Speaker 1: And I think to Pete that that that's probably why

505
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 1: there's a little less trust than there ever was between

506
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,879
Speaker 1: players and media, because there's no way to keep things

507
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,719
Speaker 1: like that from being out anymore. Yeah, and and I

508
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 1: get it, I believe me. As I travel around the

509
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 1: league and I get to know people, and the the

510
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 1: access and trust is so much more limited than what

511
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,879
Speaker 1: it used to be. I mean, that's just that's the

512
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:37,480
Speaker 1: bottom line. And you know, like hovering around, you know,

513
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: guys hovering around media relations directors, hovering around when you're

514
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,639
Speaker 1: talking to a guy didn't happen to us. It's a

515
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: lot we got to talk to him. Yeah, you could

516
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,439
Speaker 1: always go over the locker locker and talk to a

517
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: guy one on one, you know, it was it wasn't

518
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: hard to do. And nowadays, even like me being a

519
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 1: national guy now when I go out, sometimes you get

520
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 1: a pr guy standing in the vicinity. You know, I

521
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,479
Speaker 1: don't need down here. The guys are grown man. I'm

522
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 1: asking a grown man questions. He can speak for himself.

523
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 1: I think the Jaguars people, to their credit or pretty

524
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 1: good about that. But it is tough when when you

525
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: it's hard to talk to somebody with the third person

526
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 1: stand there. It just people will say. People will say,

527
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,280
Speaker 1: I'm saying this because I've been around that team for

528
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,120
Speaker 1: so long, but having traveled off, I've been through every

529
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: team and everything, the Jaguars, media department, media relationship. For him,

530
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 1: it doesn't get the credit it deserves for being as

531
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,440
Speaker 1: good as they are. And I mean that all the

532
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: way that from Dan Edwards down there, you know, Tad Dickman, Brooks,

533
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 1: all of them. When you need stuff, I've never had

534
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 1: a problem getting things other than the Nile you didn't

535
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 1: want to do it last year, but that's a whole

536
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,160
Speaker 1: nother story. But guys on camera, they let me set

537
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: up where I need to. They give me the time,

538
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,680
Speaker 1: and you know that can with my camera. Guys that can't.

539
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:56,840
Speaker 1: That's not always the case in some cities. So I

540
00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: think if the Jaguars were a good team, people would

541
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: really lies that how helpful they are. And I know

542
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 1: a lot of guys come in there in the last

543
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,120
Speaker 1: couple of years and it's been and I hear for

544
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 1: like guys say, how much better it is. You know

545
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 1: that they remember the old days when there were you know,

546
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 1: guards in the hallways and uh, you know that kind

547
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,720
Speaker 1: of thing, because it was tough back in those days,

548
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 1: Tom put a security guard because you had a bad tooth.

549
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,520
Speaker 1: Remember I lost the crown. I lost the crown. It

550
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 1: popped off, and you know there was no mirror there.

551
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 1: So I go storming out in the security. No, the

552
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: guard was there already, the story is, and he goes,

553
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 1: you can't go over there, Piaza unto the bathroom. I go,

554
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: I just lost the crown. I got to see what

555
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: it looks like. So because that one had a mirror,

556
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 1: and I went in there and looked. The next day

557
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 1: we're on the practice field and Tom put that mirror in.

558
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: Remember in the bathroom where I would have had there

559
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 1: in the bathroom. Yeah, it was, it was. It was

560
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 1: a crazy I remember the one year where me and

561
00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: you and everybody we weren't allowed if it remember even

562
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: it was pouring, they didn't want us go down to

563
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,239
Speaker 1: the hallway, down the hallway. It it was just it was.

564
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 1: It was so tight back then. It didn't need to be.

565
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 1: Then when Jack came in, it probably got a little

566
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 1: too loose, and then Gus it was loose. And that's no,

567
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: it's not a reflection to them as coaches, just that's

568
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: who they were as people. I don't you know. I

569
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: don't have a problem now, but I know there's a

570
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,800
Speaker 1: few more when Coffin was around, there were a few

571
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 1: more les rules the last couple of years where they're

572
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 1: not yes here. But that's Tom. Don't you remember when

573
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,120
Speaker 1: he moved the media room. I mean he moved us

574
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,479
Speaker 1: into He moved because me and you were looking at

575
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 1: it the hallway watching guys get cut right. Yeah, they

576
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 1: moved it down and moved it back. So yeah, at

577
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 1: first it wasn't even a media room. It was just

578
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 1: like some hallway. We had to sit in it when

579
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: the entrance. Then they moved us down and we had it.

580
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,600
Speaker 1: We're in the middle of the I mean, granted, I'm

581
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 1: gonna sit there and say this, that was one of

582
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 1: the best rooms ever because we was right in the

583
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: middle of everybody. We could get that. Coaches used to

584
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,239
Speaker 1: come by and talk to us. That that drove him

585
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: up the wall. Dania used to come in and look

586
00:30:54,240 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: at his stats every week. Remember that's I still tell

587
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: of Keenan. He's still why you know, he's a wide

588
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 1: receiver coach there. He used to come in and remember

589
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,280
Speaker 1: he picked up this league because league stats were always

590
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 1: by paper back then that's and he picked him up

591
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,160
Speaker 1: and where am I on this? And we'd go me

592
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,080
Speaker 1: and you would look at him. Do you know exactly

593
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 1: where you are? Keen and stop it. We'll close this week,

594
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: U because we're talking again next week. A cord at

595
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: the same time. Um, how much did that time, I

596
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 1: guess shape you for what you're doing now? A ton

597
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 1: a ton. It made me I want to be aggressive.

598
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,960
Speaker 1: It made me learn that I could be aggressive and

599
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 1: not be, you know, fearful of the repercussions if I was.

600
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: And it told me how to get a story. I mean,

601
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 1: I could always get a story. I mean Fred Taylor,

602
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 1: Fred Taylor will tell you I tricked him to this

603
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: day into saying he could rush for two thousand yards.

604
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:56,880
Speaker 1: I didn't trick and I just got a good story.

605
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 1: And you know, and so I could do that. I

606
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 1: could get guys to talk. And I still to this day.

607
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: You know, one of my bosses said to me recently,

608
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:05,600
Speaker 1: he goes, you know the best thing about you is

609
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: you talk to everybody the exact same way. It could

610
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,000
Speaker 1: be the CEO of a major company or the guy

611
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 1: you know, wait waiter at the at the at the restaurant.

612
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:19,160
Speaker 1: You talk to him all the same way, and and

613
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,160
Speaker 1: that's a good thing. And I think that's something that

614
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: helped me in the locker room and help me throughout

615
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 1: my careers, being able to talk to everybody and handle

616
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: him all the same way. I was never in all

617
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 1: of them. I respected him, but I was never in

618
00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: all of any of them. Is there anything you miss

619
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 1: uh being be guys? Yeah, the interactions. I love talking

620
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 1: football with players, and I love being able to you know,

621
00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: Tony Vssli was great to be just walk over and

622
00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: talk to him. I would never admit that to him

623
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 1: now and talk football and going over to talk to

624
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 1: Fred Taylor and you know, just talking about stuff away

625
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: from football and getting to know the guys on a

626
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 1: personal level. I missed that that that, you know, and

627
00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: I tried to do that a little bit. And I've

628
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 1: got the you know, skies I never knew before. I've got,

629
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,160
Speaker 1: you know, I've made relationships with him, like Honey Badger

630
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: for example. I've got to know him over the years

631
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,720
Speaker 1: and and after I don't know if you saw the video,

632
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 1: but after the Super Bowl this year, I was doing

633
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 1: a live hit and he was coming over to do

634
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: a hit with us, and he just, you know, naturally

635
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: in the flow of things, he jumped on me and

636
00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 1: like tackled me almost, you know, and and it went viral.

637
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: And that's how I missed those kind of relationships with

638
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,400
Speaker 1: players because you don't get a lot of them in

639
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: our business anymore. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to

640
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 1: jump very high right go, But my back hasn't been

641
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 1: the same. With the next episode, for people listening, we're

642
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:45,040
Speaker 1: gonna dig deep on some of the nineties the Glory

643
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 1: Year teams because Pete and I were up front for

644
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 1: all of them. Pete will talk to you then, got it,

645
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk to Pete again next week. There

646
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,760
Speaker 1: was so much to cover with him, and we decided

647
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,640
Speaker 1: to break it into two episodes. We both up and

648
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 1: went really really long. But Dave, I think theest thing

649
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 1: about Pete, and I was trying to think of how

650
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:08,520
Speaker 1: I wanted to verbalize this um media guys sometimes get

651
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,720
Speaker 1: associated with teams rightfuly, so that's who they grew up covering.

652
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,800
Speaker 1: And as we were talking to Pete, we really didn't

653
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:21,879
Speaker 1: even intro Pete as being from CBS Sports, and he's

654
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 1: obviously been with CBS for twenty years. But I think

655
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 1: to Jaguars fans, the point of getting at is to

656
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 1: Jaguars fans, he's still a Jaguars writer. There's still a connection,

657
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:38,560
Speaker 1: and he's not a Homer, He's not a fan of

658
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,399
Speaker 1: the team per se, but he is the guy that

659
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,680
Speaker 1: there's certain people in the media, there's certain experts and

660
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:50,320
Speaker 1: analysts who really really know the Jaguar as well. And

661
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,880
Speaker 1: I would put Pete still yeah, because he does the

662
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 1: show every week with Tony, because he has still been

663
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,839
Speaker 1: tied to Jacksonville. Maybe not quite to the levels when

664
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 1: he was covering the team, but I would still I

665
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,120
Speaker 1: would still put Pete up with one of the two

666
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: three four most knowledge with people about this team. And

667
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 1: I think fans of this team will always feel a

668
00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 1: connection and I think he will too. With this organization.

669
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,640
Speaker 1: It's not fair to say that it made his career,

670
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: but there is certainly a strong association with Pete Cristo

671
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,439
Speaker 1: and the Jaguars, and one on some level I think

672
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 1: that he feels is very important to him. Yeah, when

673
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 1: you said twenty years, I was like, really, twenty years,

674
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,920
Speaker 1: it's been that long there's been at CBS Sports, And

675
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,840
Speaker 1: it's funny with everything he's the longest running and I

676
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,440
Speaker 1: don't think we talked about this on anither podcasts, but

677
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 1: he has been with his internet site, if you call it,

678
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,520
Speaker 1: at CBS Sports and he's now more TV, but he

679
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 1: has been with the same organization longer than any other

680
00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,120
Speaker 1: national writer. Meaning Peter came as the sports illustrati, He's

681
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 1: left Sports Illustrated. Michael Silber is the sports illustrator. There's

682
00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 1: there's guys who have been national guys longest, but Pete

683
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 1: left for CBS and it will be twenty years in October.

684
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 1: Because I can remember we were walking through Dallas Stadium,

685
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 1: Cowboys Stadium, the day that Alvis Wood has scored the

686
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: winning touchdown, which you can probably remember it overtime. Before

687
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 1: that game, he and I were walking to the Cowboys

688
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,360
Speaker 1: Stadium the press box, and he got the call from CBS,

689
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:31,759
Speaker 1: and that's when I knew I was gonna be taken

690
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:33,919
Speaker 1: over the Beat, and it's when I knew Pete would

691
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,719
Speaker 1: be leading. And this isn't to discredit any Beat writer

692
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,680
Speaker 1: that's been here before, but it seems like it went

693
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,799
Speaker 1: Pete Priscoe and then whoever the current one is. But

694
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,279
Speaker 1: I know that's not true. It just seems like he's

695
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 1: so ingrained with the Jaguars and and so knowledgeable and

696
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 1: kind of I don't want to call on an advocate

697
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 1: because that's kind of a wrong context, but he's definitely

698
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,719
Speaker 1: like the national voice that has info on the Jaguars,

699
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,160
Speaker 1: which I think most don't. I think that's what kind

700
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,280
Speaker 1: of makes him unique for Jaguars fans, and and even

701
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,920
Speaker 1: now since recently with the Vasselli Hall of Fame stuff,

702
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:13,840
Speaker 1: he's been very vocal about it um And I've always

703
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,240
Speaker 1: appreciated Pete since he's been with CBS, where he's still

704
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: he never turned to like, Okay, there's the big market

705
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: teams in Green Bay and then no one else. I

706
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:29,160
Speaker 1: really appreciate he's always been always has his eye on

707
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,319
Speaker 1: the Jaguars and always kind of knows what's going on

708
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,400
Speaker 1: and has an opinion about it um like. And the

709
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,239
Speaker 1: one thing I thought was really interesting about a conversation

710
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 1: where your conversation with him was kind of his path

711
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,360
Speaker 1: to Jacksonville and how it all worked out. It just

712
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,799
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, being in the business, it just

713
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:50,080
Speaker 1: seems like everyone kind of has the same story. Where

714
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,360
Speaker 1: you you work at your college paper or your college

715
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,919
Speaker 1: TV station, and then you go work somewhere and cover

716
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,000
Speaker 1: the Olympic type sports, and then eventually you get to

717
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,560
Speaker 1: the NFL. And uh, it was just interesting to hear

718
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,200
Speaker 1: his path because I didn't know it. Um, but I

719
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: always appreciate Pete and he's he's a good guy to

720
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 1: work with. He's on our Monday show with Tony and

721
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,320
Speaker 1: j P and uh he's always you know, he's always

722
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 1: easy to work with. Yeah, I met Pete. Uh where

723
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 1: did my first stage of the newspaper. He was full time.

724
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:23,480
Speaker 1: I was part time, just starting out. And uh, I

725
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 1: gotta admit we were not kindred spirits when we first

726
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 1: met me. He was a little bit older than I was.

727
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,200
Speaker 1: He was this guy from South Florida, from my New

728
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,799
Speaker 1: York I was. I was sort of a Jacksonville kid.

729
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 1: We were not one in the same personality wise. I'm

730
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,359
Speaker 1: much quieter. Uh, he's much more outgoing. But we got

731
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:47,879
Speaker 1: the beat together and I was his backup in and

732
00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:50,280
Speaker 1: I worked for five or six years together. I respected

733
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,839
Speaker 1: as much as I respect anybody in the business. And

734
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:55,040
Speaker 1: I probably the final thought for today on Pete, I

735
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,280
Speaker 1: would say you mentioned him not being in an advocate

736
00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,120
Speaker 1: of the Jags and I would say that's true. Not

737
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 1: an advocate of anybody, but what he is is he's

738
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,799
Speaker 1: very aware that there are times when this team, this

739
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:12,960
Speaker 1: market gets treated unfairly because of what I think most

740
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 1: readers and fans realize. There is a little bit of

741
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,160
Speaker 1: national people look at Jacksonville and think, oh, you know,

742
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,239
Speaker 1: how do they have a team? There's a certain reputation.

743
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:28,400
Speaker 1: Pete's always defensive of that, and and if defensive is

744
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,760
Speaker 1: the right word, but he's always a defender of the market,

745
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:36,439
Speaker 1: and he feels an affinity for this town. It's where

746
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:41,200
Speaker 1: he grew up. Professionally, he's very tied in. He respects

747
00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,759
Speaker 1: this town. He knows what this town has gone through

748
00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 1: to have the NFL. He was as tied in as

749
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,560
Speaker 1: anybody to that. So I don't know if it's fair

750
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: to call him, uh an advocate for the team on

751
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 1: the field necessarily, but in terms of the franchise, in

752
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 1: terms of making an effort to eat this franchise as

753
00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:05,480
Speaker 1: fair as a as as he possibly can, he's probably

754
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 1: the number one A think in the Jacksonville media, and

755
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 1: uh not everybody in his position would necessarily do that.

756
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,280
Speaker 1: So I think fans, I think they have that Fuel Compete.

757
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 1: I think most fans would follow the team, respect him,

758
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,879
Speaker 1: and they get that vibe from him. So uh, that's

759
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 1: probably Daves the best way to end this week. Those

760
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,320
Speaker 1: own podcasts, Repete, I want to thank you as always.

761
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,279
Speaker 1: Thank Joe Fortunito was always making these things sound as

762
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,799
Speaker 1: good as it possibly can with me involved so much,

763
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:36,759
Speaker 1: and I look forward to hearing Compete next week as well.

764
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 1: Thank you everybody,