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Speaker 1: told that we are the big boys in town.

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Speaker 2: He's into is like start great.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, guy can get chills a little bit thinking about

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Speaker 3: what these two guys can do.

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Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen. A lot has happened since we saw

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Speaker 1: you the last time. Welcome into the Balconsade presented by

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Speaker 1: AT and T. The three fellows are here. That's DJ Shockey,

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Speaker 1: Dave Archer. I'm Derek Rackley and we were here before

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Speaker 1: the last regular season game, kind of recapping what happened

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Speaker 1: against the Rams, getting ready for the Saints, and then

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Speaker 1: we had the end of the season and something's happened Fellas,

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Speaker 1: so we'll kind of recap what happened since we were

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Speaker 1: here last. Falcons ended up beating the Saints to finish

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Speaker 1: on a four game win streak. The more organization decided

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Speaker 1: to move on from Raheem Morris and Terry Fontina. Shortly

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Speaker 1: after that, Arthur Blank restructured the organization and decided to

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Speaker 1: name Matt Ryan as the President of Football, the new

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Speaker 1: position that was created under this organization, and they quickly

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Speaker 1: moved forward and zeroed in on their target, and they

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Speaker 1: have now hired Kevin Stefanski as the new head coach

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Speaker 1: of the Atlanta Falcons. So we are going to kind

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Speaker 1: of go backwards a little bit. We're going to talk

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Speaker 1: about what happened towards the end of the season, and

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Speaker 1: then we'll kind of lead up to talking a little

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Speaker 1: bit about the new head coach. So, fellas has been

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Speaker 1: a few weeks since we've been here. Hopefully you guys

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Speaker 1: been doing well. We've got a lot of talk too,

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Speaker 1: So I'm gonna skip the pleasantry so we can get

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Speaker 1: into the football here shock four game win streak to

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Speaker 1: end the season. Let's talk not to get into the

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Speaker 1: weeds as far as like what happened in the game,

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Speaker 1: maybe a little bit more bigger picture, but as you

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Speaker 1: go into the offseason, like how do you feel like

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Speaker 1: even though you're having a change at the top head

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Speaker 1: coach and general manager, How do you feel like that

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Speaker 1: four game win streak kind of helps propel you into

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Speaker 1: the offseason or maybe you feel like it doesn't necessarily.

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Speaker 4: I'm at the first part you mentioned obviously, I think

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Speaker 4: winning always does that for you going into the off season.

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Speaker 4: I think going in winning your last four games, and

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Speaker 4: for me, I point to you going into the off season,

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Speaker 4: especially in those last few ball games when you had

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Speaker 4: nothing really to play for, when I mean nothing to

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Speaker 4: play for as far as playoffs or extra playing time,

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Speaker 4: And I think when you go into the off season

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Speaker 4: and you go in the way they did, I think

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Speaker 4: it just shows you have the right type of guys

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Speaker 4: in your locker room. I think you got the right

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Speaker 4: character guys in your locker room to go back and say,

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Speaker 4: all right, this team was being down a little bit

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Speaker 4: before heading to that four game stretch, had lost you know,

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Speaker 4: in a row, whatever it was, and you got a

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Speaker 4: young team, you got a lot of guys who probably

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Speaker 4: haven't been a part of losing streaks, and they find

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Speaker 4: a way to go do it. So that tells me

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Speaker 4: you got the right character guys in your locker room,

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Speaker 4: and you got guys who really care about each other

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Speaker 4: and the pride of playing for this organization. So yeah,

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Speaker 4: I think the momentum going into the offseason with that

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Speaker 4: four game win Street tells you that, hey, yeah.

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Speaker 2: We got a team that can compete with anybody.

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Speaker 4: Obviously, you going to beat the Rams, who are still

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Speaker 4: playing playoff football right now by to playing an NFC

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Speaker 4: championship game, and you gave them everything they can handle,

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Speaker 4: gave Stafford everything he can handle, made them throw a

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Speaker 4: couple of picks and pick six all that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 4: So I think, yeah, you absolutely have the right guys.

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Speaker 4: And even going into that Saints game, they were on

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Speaker 4: a win streak of their own and feeling pretty good.

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Speaker 4: Their young quarterback was playing well, and you gave them

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Speaker 4: a lot of fits. So I just think going into

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Speaker 4: this offseason, the moment of winning four in a row

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Speaker 4: says a lot about the guys in their locker room,

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Speaker 4: and you got to feel good going into what you

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Speaker 4: feel as though is going to be still a really

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Speaker 4: good football team.

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Speaker 2: Man in twenty six Arch.

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Speaker 1: We've been through coaching changes before in our careers, and

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Speaker 1: I always felt like when you go into the offseason

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Speaker 1: and you have a coaching change and you're going to

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Speaker 1: have a general manager change, there has to be a

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Speaker 1: little bit of uncertainty. That's the word that I came

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Speaker 1: to because even the guys, let's say that are fringe

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Speaker 1: players that maybe battled their tailoff and really made an

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Speaker 1: impression on Raheem Morris and Terry Fotto. You're thinking, well,

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Speaker 1: they know what I've done for the organization, So I

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Speaker 1: feel like I got a pretty good chance to be

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Speaker 1: back here. Well, all that is now gone, right because

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Speaker 1: you're going to have a completely new leadership team, if

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Speaker 1: you will. So there's a lot of uncertainty. But do

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Speaker 1: you feel the same way about how they went into

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Speaker 1: the offseason having gone on the four game win streak

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Speaker 1: and it kind of bleeds a little bit of optimism

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Speaker 1: into twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, no question about it. I had a little bit

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Speaker 3: experience this with the end of my second year. We

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Speaker 3: won i think the last two or three games of

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Speaker 3: the season after having a really struggle during the year,

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Speaker 3: much like we had this year, and really felt like

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Speaker 3: it propelled us into the offseason. You went in with

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Speaker 3: a lot of optimism. You went in with, Hey, let's

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Speaker 3: get back in the git, let's get back in the

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Speaker 3: weight room, let's get back to work, so you're much

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Speaker 3: more willing to get back into it. And I felt

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Speaker 3: like it helped us the following We started four and oh.

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Speaker 3: That following year, we were tied for the division lead

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Speaker 3: halfway through the season, so it did give us some

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Speaker 3: energy in the offseason, which we came in with a

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Speaker 3: lot of confidence. I think you went into the last

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Speaker 3: four games one in five and one score games. You

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Speaker 3: won the last four games all one score games. I

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Speaker 3: think there's some value to finding a way to win

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Speaker 3: those games. I mean, I've got some numbers here that

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Speaker 3: I've tracked down on one score games and the teams

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Speaker 3: that are left and all that kind of stuff. But

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Speaker 3: this league comes down to winning late in games or

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Speaker 3: winning one score games. I think you have to have

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Speaker 3: an idea of how to get that done. What is

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Speaker 3: it going to take to do that? Heightened focus, Guys

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Speaker 3: making plays, certainly, coaches making the right calls. A lot

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Speaker 3: of things have to happen, even a bounce of the

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Speaker 3: ball here or there. But to not be deterred if

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Speaker 3: something happens in the second quarter or the third quarter

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Speaker 3: that keeps you from on keep you from getting to

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Speaker 3: that focus of being able to make that happen, so

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Speaker 3: to me, yes, it carries into the offseason. Rack, but

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Speaker 3: I think the things that you did late in the

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Speaker 3: year maybe even manifest itself into a little bit more

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Speaker 3: than just energy in the offseason.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think you know you guys, you mentioned

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Speaker 1: the Rams and I threw the name out, and you

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Speaker 1: talked about things going into the offseason. I would imagine

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Speaker 1: it's somewhat maddening for the current players, but it's also

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Speaker 1: exciting because they had just beaten the Rams on Monday

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Speaker 1: Night Football and now they're going to go watch the

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Speaker 1: Rams playing in an NFC championship, And those are the

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Speaker 1: times when it's like, guys were right there, like we

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Speaker 1: beat this team, and if there was just a couple

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Speaker 1: other results that would have gone differently, maybe it's us

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Speaker 1: making a run in the postseason. Which kind of leads

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Speaker 1: me to my next topic. And I'll start this one off. Guys,

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Speaker 1: I wanted you, I want to ask you to describe

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty twenty five season in three words, and

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Speaker 1: I know that's a challenge sometimes with this crew. I'm

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Speaker 1: like giving a couple of extra.

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Speaker 2: Second hard to think about.

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Speaker 1: No, I was actually the way it was actually looking

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Speaker 1: I got three versions.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna started off.

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Speaker 1: My three words were five game skid, right, I couldn't

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Speaker 1: help to think about.

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Speaker 2: That.

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Speaker 1: Was that was three?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Five?

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Speaker 3: No, you know, I was just trying to I'm thinking,

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Speaker 3: you're taking me back to the five games.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I gotcha. It's just now, after you see the

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Speaker 1: four game winning streak, after you see what happened in

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Speaker 1: Week eighteen, to where the Falcons game had a impact

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Speaker 1: on the postseason, I couldn't help to think back to

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Speaker 1: the five game skid and just what happens if you

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Speaker 1: get one or two of those games, right, if you

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Speaker 1: end up getting Carolina the second time? We know about

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Speaker 1: the first one was one you want to forget about, right,

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Speaker 1: you go to Germany, like, can you find a way

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Speaker 1: to get the Colts game you had the Patriots? Can

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Speaker 1: you find a way? And look at what the Patriots

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Speaker 1: are doing, like they're going to the AFC Championship game.

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Speaker 1: So in that five game skid, there was just a

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Speaker 1: couple of games where it was like, gosh, if they

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Speaker 1: would have just gone another direction, and maybe that ends

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Speaker 1: up giving you a little bit more motivation for the

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Speaker 1: end of the season. And then obviously you can't go

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Speaker 1: back and relive moments. But those are the times when

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Speaker 1: I'm just like, it's kind of maddening to think about

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Speaker 1: some of those games that were so close to your point,

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Speaker 1: weren't able to get the victories, and maybe it could

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Speaker 1: have changed the final complexion of the season. I couldn't

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Speaker 1: help but think about that five game skit.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so I'm at home and I'm getting ready to

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Speaker 3: watch the podcast. I throw the podcast on. Oh, here's

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Speaker 3: rack shock Art's gonna break things down, and he starts

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Speaker 3: talking about five game lining streak. I just took my

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Speaker 3: blueberry muffet and smashed it.

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Speaker 2: I was all into the.

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Speaker 5: Four game streak. We're talking about energy, and you took

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Speaker 5: me back to the But it's real, right, and there's

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Speaker 5: no question about that.

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Speaker 1: So ar what three words you got? You said you

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Speaker 1: had a couple of different versions.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I got a couple of different versions. Some of

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Speaker 3: it would probably probably hinge on what.

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Speaker 5: You talked about.

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Speaker 3: Should I give all three of them or just let

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Speaker 3: me see if I can pick one out.

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Speaker 2: I'll go with.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I got I got several here. If you

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Speaker 3: can see you want to borrow one of mine, it

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Speaker 3: might be one of my they all kind of fall

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Speaker 3: in the same category sour taste left ye, same thing

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Speaker 3: thing you're talking about, not good enough, and maybe the

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Speaker 3: one I was gonna settle on, which piggybacks on what

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Speaker 3: you said, Golden opportunity lost.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, yep, I mean those are those are pretty heavy

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Speaker 5: for your art.

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Speaker 2: This show.

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Speaker 3: Anyway it goes, it goes to what you're talking about

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Speaker 3: and finding a way to win. We ended up, like

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Speaker 3: I said, we ended up five and five and one

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Speaker 3: score games, and we weren't good enough leftist our taste,

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Speaker 3: I mean, whatever you want to say in those games

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Speaker 3: that you're talking about, that would have created an opportunity

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Speaker 3: talking about the teams that are one score winners or

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Speaker 3: the teams that we played New England seven and three

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Speaker 3: and one score games. They beat us by one. The Rams,

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Speaker 3: they were four and five. They're the only team that

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Speaker 3: didn't get but they won two in the postseason, so

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Speaker 3: they're six and five in one score games. And of

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Speaker 3: course Seattle, we didn't even come close to beating them.

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Speaker 3: It was a one score game at halftime. Yeah, six

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Speaker 3: and three in one score games. So all these team

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Speaker 3: Denvers Denver's eleven and two in one score game so

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Speaker 3: but anyway, yeah, the moments lost yep.

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Speaker 1: So that's two blueberry Buffins switched into the screen.

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Speaker 2: By the way.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so I.

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Speaker 2: Want a banana night out of like either so I

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Speaker 2: wouldn't have anyway. Yeah, not a muffin game, nah, unless

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Speaker 2: it's like a don Chip muffin. I'll take that, okay.

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Speaker 2: Yeah all right.

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Speaker 4: So when I started to think about this, I started

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Speaker 4: to think from the fan perspective, because I have a

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Speaker 4: My mom is a season ticket holder, and I talked

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Speaker 4: to her at the games and the things she talked about,

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Speaker 4: and I talked to other fans or other people that

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Speaker 4: know who are real diehard Falcon fans, and the thing

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Speaker 4: that kept coming to my mind was this season was

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Speaker 4: emotionally tough, and for all the reasons you guys mentioned,

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Speaker 4: and you mentioned being frustrated, just having this maddening feeling

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Speaker 4: of what could have been the golden opportunity that you're

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Speaker 4: left bout, and you think about how emotional this season was,

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Speaker 4: how up and down it was, where you would go

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Speaker 4: through so many roller coaches of emotions and feelings, and

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Speaker 4: feeling great about beating Buffalo on Monday night. You feel

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Speaker 4: good about that, obviously, beating the Rams, being in games,

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Speaker 4: all the one score games that you're holding on by

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Speaker 4: the end of the ball game and then at the end,

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Speaker 4: you know, boom.

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Speaker 2: It hurts you.

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Speaker 4: So I think for me it was such an emotionally

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Speaker 4: tough season up and down even us as guys you

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Speaker 4: played but also been a part of this organization. There's

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Speaker 4: still a little fan in us as well, like we

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Speaker 4: watched the game and we enjoy watching it as organization,

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Speaker 4: and you're invested, we're we're to be honest, we're all

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Speaker 4: invested in how this team does. So I think emotionally

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Speaker 4: it was tough at times to watch and know that

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Speaker 4: your team could be right there where a lot of

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Speaker 4: these teams are playing right now, and how good a

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Speaker 4: football that they showed, and then there were towns You're like, man,

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Speaker 4: what is going on? So I think emotionally, emotionally tough

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Speaker 4: was the one for me that really I think kind

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Speaker 4: of kind of summarized how this season felt for me

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Speaker 4: as a fan, but also as I'm sure all the

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Speaker 4: other fans around uh this organization watching this team.

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Speaker 3: Now we all kind of pointed at the same thing.

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Speaker 3: For the record, what is the three letter, three worded thing.

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Speaker 2: It said, it said three or less.

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Speaker 5: That's what it said.

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Speaker 3: I knew he was gonna go in on, Well, you

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Speaker 3: could have give me emotionally tough season.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know what I mean, Well, archers point,

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Speaker 1: I did say described the twenty twenty five season in

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Speaker 1: three words, But I guess you could if you if

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Speaker 1: you want to make your own definition which podcast.

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Speaker 2: Without getting to the notes, you know what I'm saying

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Speaker 2: it As I go over.

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Speaker 1: The word, it's you know, well shock because of people

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Speaker 1: like your lovely mom who's a season ticket holder, and

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Speaker 1: all of the other fans and sports radio around town.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot of frustration. There is a lot

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Speaker 1: of emotions because this team has not won the division

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Speaker 1: since twenty sixteen, because it has not had a winning

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Speaker 1: season since twenty seventeen. So because of that, Arthur Blank,

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Speaker 1: after he decides to let go of Terry font No

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Speaker 1: and Raheem Morris, he decides to create a new position.

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Speaker 1: This goes back to what he had had explained has

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Speaker 1: gone on throughout the course of the season, hiring a

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Speaker 1: company to kind of review the organization, and he decides

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Speaker 1: to add a new position called President of Football and

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Speaker 1: after some round of interviews, a lot of it kind

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Speaker 1: of centered back to the franchise quarterback and Matt Ryan,

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Speaker 1: who was given that new title for the organization. So

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna come to you Arch and ask you a

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Speaker 1: simple question on how impactful is this going to be

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Speaker 1: having Matty Ice not only back in the building, but

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Speaker 1: a major component of what's going to happen moving forward.

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Speaker 5: I think there's a lot to this rack.

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Speaker 3: I think that first of all, to reach out to

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Speaker 3: a guy that was as good a player as Matt Ryan,

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Speaker 3: to have him come in and help maybe guide you

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Speaker 3: back on the right path is a major step for

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Speaker 3: mister Blank to lean on a guy that he had

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Speaker 3: brought in as a player and then leaned on to

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Speaker 3: take this franchise the height of heights, and then to

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Speaker 3: go back and try to dive back into that, into

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Speaker 3: that treasure chest a little bit. Think about Matt Ryan.

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Speaker 3: Matt's got a young family and I mean pretty good,

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Speaker 3: pretty good gig at CBS and all the kind of

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Speaker 3: things he's doing. Think about the commitment that he's making

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Speaker 3: to jump into this as well, and how much this

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Speaker 3: organization means to him for him to take on this

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Speaker 3: this task of trying to help find our way back

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Speaker 3: to the path. There's no question. He knows what it

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Speaker 3: looks like, knows what it smells like. Okay, And to

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Speaker 3: have a guy in the building like that, you're exponentially

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Speaker 3: higher on the on the on the on the ladder

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Speaker 3: to climbing back to where you want to be. He's

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Speaker 3: a There's nobody that's more competitive than he is. I

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Speaker 3: said this in a tweet. I think that I've been

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Speaker 3: around Matt Ryan for every year that he's been here.

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Speaker 3: I had a chance and and shock, you had a

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Speaker 3: chance to do some of this too.

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Speaker 5: You play.

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Speaker 3: You were around him. I interviewed him every week, pre week,

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Speaker 3: post game, you know, all the kind of things. Had

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Speaker 3: a chance to play golf with him. I know you

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Speaker 3: have as well. The guy is as competitive as the

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Speaker 3: day is long, and so this task he's going to

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Speaker 3: attack it like one of the forty nine game winning

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Speaker 3: drives that he went on as a quarterback in the

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Speaker 3: National Football League. He's trying to get in the saddle

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Speaker 3: again and take us on a game winning drive to

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Speaker 3: get us back to that spot. That's the work ethic

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Speaker 3: he's going to bring to the table.

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Speaker 2: Shak.

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Speaker 1: I've been covering playoff games the last two weeks, and

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Speaker 1: most of my colleagues know that I do some work

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Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Falcons as well, and that was kind

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Speaker 1: of the first question that everybody would ask me is

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Speaker 1: how do you think Matt Ryan's going to do in

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Speaker 1: this role? And to a lot of your same points,

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Speaker 1: Dave that I think of his fourteen years as a

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Speaker 1: quarterback here in the franchise. I think of his six

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Speaker 1: seasons helping them win double digit games, and I think

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Speaker 1: about this organization was probably in its prime for the

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Speaker 1: longest amount of time with him at the helm playing

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Speaker 1: the quarterback position. However, you can't help but think this

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Speaker 1: is a different type of position. This is now a

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Speaker 1: business position and he's going to have a lot of

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Speaker 1: responsibility on his shoulders with this position. So they say, well,

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Speaker 1: how do you think he's going to do? I don't know.

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Speaker 1: We've never seen him in a front office type position,

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Speaker 1: but he's one of the most competitive players. He knows

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Speaker 1: everything about this organization, every fabric about this organization, and

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Speaker 1: it means a ton to him to help this organization

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Speaker 1: get back to winning ways and get back into the postseason.

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Speaker 4: I think a lot of people may not understand what

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Speaker 4: it takes to play quarterback, and I think if you

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Speaker 4: look at what a quarterback encapsulate, and you look at

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Speaker 4: the things that he has to do on a daily,

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Speaker 4: weekly and then a game basis to not just get

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Speaker 4: himself ready, but there are so many other guys that

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Speaker 4: you have to bring with you. And you talk about

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Speaker 4: the success that a guy's had, it don't do it

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Speaker 4: by himself. And I'm sure that everybody's seen the video

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Speaker 4: of him meeting with certain guys and going through certain

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Speaker 4: stuff and arch managed.

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Speaker 2: I played with the guy for three and a half years.

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Speaker 4: The competitive juices between us in those three and a

379
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Speaker 4: half years you would never matter.

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Speaker 2: People used always.

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Speaker 4: Say, man, it's Matt lift Waits, or you don't look

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Speaker 4: like he really I said, this dude works harder than

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Speaker 4: anybody you've ever seen. Like there was not a day

384
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Speaker 4: that we didn't compete in something. And that goes from

385
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Speaker 4: the weight room to the field to making sure you

386
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Speaker 4: got to write checks, reads, getting I mean, there was

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Speaker 4: everything that you can think about.

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Speaker 2: And he was that.

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Speaker 4: And for for me, my mind goes to this is

390
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Speaker 4: a guy who is so detail oriented in everything he

391
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Speaker 4: did when he played. And when I say everything from

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Speaker 4: a guy split to a guy's angle of departure when

393
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Speaker 4: he's coming out his releases to you know this linean

394
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Speaker 4: he watched the lineman's feet at times.

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Speaker 2: There was so many things that you know.

396
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Speaker 4: That people would never realize that happened in a game

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Speaker 4: or happened while preparing for a game. And I think

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Speaker 4: it bodes well for going into this role because he

399
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Speaker 4: knows what hard work looks like. But then also for

400
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Speaker 4: a quarterback, you got to deal with a lot of

401
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:58,600
Speaker 4: different people. You got to deal with a lot of

402
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Speaker 4: different personalities, and here you are in a role where

403
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 4: you got to deal with a lot of different people.

404
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:05,879
Speaker 4: You gotta deal with a lot of different personalities, and

405
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Speaker 4: this guy did it at the highest of the highst

406
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,560
Speaker 4: You're talking about one of the MVP being here. It's

407
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,919
Speaker 4: hard to be in this league for fourteen years, to

408
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,800
Speaker 4: be successful and to have the reputation that he has.

409
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Speaker 4: When you speak about him, you just listen to his

410
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,399
Speaker 4: teammates talk about him. You listen to his peers who

411
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Speaker 4: he worked with at CBS in just a short time

412
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Speaker 4: with three years, and they all say the same thing.

413
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Speaker 4: A guy who is hard work, who is driven, who

414
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Speaker 4: wants the best for everybody around him. But you know,

415
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Speaker 4: when that guy steps up, he's gonna be ready to go.

416
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,040
Speaker 4: And I think Arthur Blank knows exactly who he has

417
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Speaker 4: in that role. And he comes to here as solely

418
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Speaker 4: focused on bringing this organization back to where it should be.

419
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Speaker 4: And Art mentioned it when it first came out. I

420
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Speaker 4: was like, I don't know if he's gonna do it

421
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Speaker 4: because he's got three young kids who he absolutely loves

422
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Speaker 4: to see them grow up. You got the boys who

423
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,639
Speaker 4: are growing, They're gonna be at different sports he was

424
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,720
Speaker 4: coaching at one time, you know what I'm saying. So

425
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,159
Speaker 4: you're like, this guy's a family guy, obviously, But the

426
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,719
Speaker 4: fact that he's willing to not say sacrifice his family,

427
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,199
Speaker 4: but to give a little bit up so that he

428
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Speaker 4: can make this organization better. You got to give the

429
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:20,240
Speaker 4: guy a chance to come in here and do that.

430
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Speaker 4: And I think he has the right mindset to go

431
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Speaker 4: do that. And knowing him like we all do, he

432
00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,840
Speaker 4: will go down on his shield trying to make sure

433
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Speaker 4: he's done everything to make this organization what it should be,

434
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Speaker 4: which is at the top of the league and winning championships.

435
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, Shock just talked about his attention to detail, which

436
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,640
Speaker 3: is off the charts. People have asked me, well, why

437
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:43,440
Speaker 3: is Matt Ryan. You just talked about the first time

438
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,119
Speaker 3: he's ever been an executive. Why would he be a

439
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,120
Speaker 3: good guy to choose your choose your coach or GM.

440
00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,560
Speaker 3: I talked about how he knows what it smells like,

441
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,720
Speaker 3: what it looks like. He's led him to playoff victories,

442
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:56,600
Speaker 3: led him to the Super Bowl, all those kind of things.

443
00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,679
Speaker 3: But this is a really interesting perspecse that he's going

444
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 3: to bring.

445
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 5: To the table. Would you follow this guy?

446
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:03,760
Speaker 1: Yeah?

447
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 3: As a player, and you know, that's different than if

448
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,760
Speaker 3: I'm working and there's a lot of great people that

449
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,160
Speaker 3: work in this building that put together some of these

450
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 3: unbelievably Emmy Award winning videos and all these different kind

451
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,159
Speaker 3: of things, and they've got different facets that they're working on.

452
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,480
Speaker 3: But as a player, there's a single mindedness that you

453
00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,680
Speaker 3: have when you're in that with those fifty three guys.

454
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 3: And there's a guy that stands in front of the

455
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,800
Speaker 3: meeting rooms every week to get ready, to get you

456
00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,800
Speaker 3: ready for that week. Would you follow that guy? He

457
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,400
Speaker 3: knows what that feels like. And not throwing any shade

458
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 3: on anybody else that's in the building, and quite honestly,

459
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:39,959
Speaker 3: there's only a few guys that know what that feels

460
00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,720
Speaker 3: like to be with a guy that you know, I'm

461
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,639
Speaker 3: going to walk through fire with that guy. I know

462
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 3: he's going to have me prepared to play. So that

463
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,119
Speaker 3: player perspective is that little extra thing that he brings

464
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 3: the table to do the evaluation piece on getting people

465
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:54,960
Speaker 3: in the building that can win.

466
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,880
Speaker 1: First of all, your guys' perspective was awesome, and that's

467
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,720
Speaker 1: what's great about this this podcast is that you guys

468
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,440
Speaker 1: were We all have been players, but the unique situations

469
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 1: that we've been in, especially how close you guys have

470
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,720
Speaker 1: been to Matt Ryan, brings another perspective for people to

471
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 1: listen to, to hear about how things work with him

472
00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:16,919
Speaker 1: and what it's going to be like in the future.

473
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,000
Speaker 1: And I'm going to say two things because the last

474
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: two weeks I've been in New England and when I

475
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,280
Speaker 1: was there, I talked to Aaron Salkin, who used to

476
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 1: be here a number of years ago, and I always

477
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,760
Speaker 1: like to ask questions about the organization, and I asked

478
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 1: him about Vrabel and you could just see his face

479
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,959
Speaker 1: light up when he was talking about Mike Vrabel. Okay,

480
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,199
Speaker 1: and I'm not here to talk about the Patriots. What

481
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,760
Speaker 1: I'm here to talk about is how certain people bring

482
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:46,159
Speaker 1: an entire organization together and they get more out of them. Okay,

483
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,959
Speaker 1: So to hear Aaron talk about Mike Vrabel and what

484
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: he's brought to the Patriots organization and how they've flipped

485
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,200
Speaker 1: in a matter of one season. And then last week

486
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,920
Speaker 1: I was in Seattle and I talked to a guy

487
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 1: that used to be there when I played for the Seahawks,

488
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 1: and he started telling me about John Schneider. And he

489
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,600
Speaker 1: started telling me all the unique things that John Schneider

490
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 1: brings to the table, and why that organization has seen

491
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,800
Speaker 1: so much success, why they've got so many good players,

492
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 1: and why a guy like Mike McDonald's there, and once again,

493
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 1: why they've been able to turn it around so quickly.

494
00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 1: The reason why I tell those stories is you've got

495
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,919
Speaker 1: a guy like Matt Ryan, you said, knows what it

496
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,920
Speaker 1: looks like, knows what it smells like, knows what it

497
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 1: should feel like. So now his job is to go

498
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: out and find that right and he feels like he

499
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,359
Speaker 1: found it in Kevin Stefanski. Time will tell, because guys,

500
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,640
Speaker 1: when you are a team that is hiring a new

501
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,960
Speaker 1: head coach in the NFL, it's because your organization or

502
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,159
Speaker 1: your team did not farewell. Generally, slam dunk head coaches

503
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,800
Speaker 1: are not just hanging out there without a job. Okay,

504
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 1: So you either got to go the coordinator route, or

505
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,120
Speaker 1: you've got to get a head coach that's coming from

506
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,760
Speaker 1: a place that needs a change of scenery and things

507
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 1: you hope will be better. Okay, you go the coordinator route.

508
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,240
Speaker 1: You can get Ben Johnson or you could get Aaron Glenn.

509
00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,879
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that they're bad coaches. If I'm not

510
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 1: saying Aaron Glenn's a bad coach and Ben Johnson a

511
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: great coach. But you got two different situations on hot

512
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,119
Speaker 1: candidates from the last hiring cycle. Sure, so sometimes you

513
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,360
Speaker 1: just never know. But they zeroed in on Kevin Stefanski.

514
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about Kevin Stefanski, forty

515
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,639
Speaker 1: three years old, Ben the Cleveland Browns head coach the

516
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 1: last six years, two time AP Coach of the Year

517
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 1: and two times brought that organization to the playoffs. My

518
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,439
Speaker 1: first question to you, shock was when you heard this news,

519
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: what was some of your initial thoughts or reactions that

520
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 1: went to your three year head.

521
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 4: Well, initially the thought was, Okay, you got a guy

522
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 4: who's been there, who's done it. You got over twenty

523
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 4: years in the league of experience, you got a guy

524
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 4: who's worked with because obviously, the first thing that really

525
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,440
Speaker 4: comes to mind for me is, Okay, who is going

526
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 4: to bring the position that is most important? We got

527
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 4: the president of football who knows a little bit about

528
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 4: that position. But then who's the guy who's going to

529
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 4: cultivate that? And you got a guy who's been there,

530
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,320
Speaker 4: who's done and who's had really good success with a

531
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,320
Speaker 4: lot of different players. Now take away the last two years.

532
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 4: Obviously they had some instability a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns,

533
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,360
Speaker 4: and you know that's tough to overcome. But you think

534
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 4: about the guys that he has had successful. The guy

535
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,119
Speaker 4: who's here right now, Kirk Couzley has success with him

536
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,320
Speaker 4: in Minnesota. He had a guy like Baker Mayfield who

537
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,880
Speaker 4: has some success as well. So you look at can

538
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 4: this guy cultivate what is already in the building, which

539
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 4: a lot of people already feel like Michael Pennix is

540
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 4: that guy. Okay, Yeah, Mike's got the injury, but you

541
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,679
Speaker 4: got a guy who's coming here who knows what it

542
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,360
Speaker 4: looks like, knows what it smells like to be able

543
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 4: to bring that guy around. And then you think about, okay,

544
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,679
Speaker 4: what does his offense bring And you look at some

545
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 4: of the success he's had over the years with the

546
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 4: strat zone, the wide zone, the blay action. He's heavy

547
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 4: into that, and oh yeah, he loved tight ends.

548
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 2: What do we love here? If we love tight ends?

549
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,160
Speaker 4: You talk about getting in twelve thirteen personnel something that

550
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,359
Speaker 4: we've done really well over the last few years, and

551
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 4: we got some guys who could do that. So you

552
00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 4: think about, okay, does that fit what we like? Does

553
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,200
Speaker 4: that fit the kind of players we have that's already

554
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 4: in the building. So yes, the scheme the fit. The

555
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,120
Speaker 4: guy who understands that quarter requisition, the guy who played

556
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,719
Speaker 4: dB in college also coach running backs, coach tight end.

557
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,280
Speaker 4: This guy knows a little bit about both sides of

558
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 4: the ball and has been there in the trenches to

559
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,639
Speaker 4: be able to do it. And oh yeah, he's coached

560
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,640
Speaker 4: with some really good guys as well as helped bring

561
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 4: him along. So initially I went through that whole game

562
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 4: and Okay, what are we getting? What do we getting

563
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 4: what kind of guy and if she had to go

564
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:31,919
Speaker 4: look up some more stuff and find out more about

565
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 4: Stefanski and then the more to me, I felt like

566
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 4: this was the higher that fit what we are and

567
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 4: there's not a big correlation of Okay, this guy's totally

568
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,200
Speaker 4: different from the personnel that we already have here in Atlanta,

569
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 4: and I'm excited to see it go. And every situation

570
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 4: is different, Every team's different coach comes into a situation

571
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:55,600
Speaker 4: with different mindsets coming from one job to another. How

572
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,040
Speaker 4: he can make this one better than the last. And

573
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 4: I'm excited to see where this can go. And obviously

574
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,399
Speaker 4: the two pieces with the GM and the president of

575
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,760
Speaker 4: football will work hannan hand with that to make this

576
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 4: the best decision. So I was excited to see what

577
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:14,199
Speaker 4: Stefanski will bring to this organization because of what is

578
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:15,960
Speaker 4: pedigree has already been.

579
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 1: Arch The word stability in the NFL doesn't happen a ton.

580
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,680
Speaker 1: There's not a whole lot of organizations that can tout stability.

581
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,080
Speaker 1: But there's one thing that when I was looking at

582
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski's career is so often you have coaches that

583
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 1: have been so many different places, held so many different roles,

584
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: and Kevin Stefanski has been with two teams for the

585
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,359
Speaker 1: last twenty years. Spent fourteen years with the Vikings, and

586
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: then he ends up getting the Cleveland Browns job and

587
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 1: he's there for six years. So to me, it's a

588
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: guy that knows what it's like to stay somewhere for

589
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:53,480
Speaker 1: a while.

590
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 2: Now.

591
00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,159
Speaker 1: Granted, he had a number of different positions when he

592
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 1: was with Minnesota, but kind of worked his way through

593
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 1: that organization all the way from assistant to the head coach,

594
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,400
Speaker 1: worked his way kind of then as assistant quarterbacks coach,

595
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: and then all the way back up to the offensive

596
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 1: coordinator role, and then became a hot candidate to become

597
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:08,399
Speaker 1: a head coach.

598
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,119
Speaker 2: So you have.

599
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,639
Speaker 1: Somebody that does know what a little bit of stability

600
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 1: looks like, does know what it means to stay with

601
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 1: an organization, because if there's one thing that this organization

602
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,239
Speaker 1: would love to have is some stability where you can

603
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 1: have the same head coach, the same general manager, and

604
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: now the same president of football year after year after

605
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,000
Speaker 1: year or two instill that culture on this team.

606
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 4: Yeah, before you answer it, yeah, is there anything to

607
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 4: the fact that a guy can make it through three

608
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,760
Speaker 4: coaching ours with the Vikings.

609
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, well it tells you obviously he's a guy they

610
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 3: want to retain because of his.

611
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 5: Ability to coach. You talked about he's.

612
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 3: Coached different places and all that kind of stuff from

613
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 3: a from a personnel or what room he's in coaching,

614
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:55,360
Speaker 3: So obviously there's talent there that three different coaches. So

615
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,440
Speaker 3: what was it Brad Childress, Leslie Frazier and then he

616
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 3: moved on to Mike Zimmer correct coach for all those guys,

617
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 3: and they all retained Stefanski and he went from the

618
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:09,360
Speaker 3: different positions. Rack just documented stability. Great word rack, because

619
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 3: that was one of the words that they used in

620
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,440
Speaker 3: the press conference when Matt Ryan was introduced as president

621
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,200
Speaker 3: of football. We want a stable guy that can come

622
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 3: in and stabilize things from a coaching standpoint, vision, focus, accountability,

623
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 3: His demeanor, how he goes about his business, commands respect.

624
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,000
Speaker 3: I've had a chance to reach out to a few

625
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 3: people in the broadcast business that are kind of tucked

626
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 3: in with Cleveland and asked him about Stefanski and resounded resoundingly,

627
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 3: it's he's a guy that commands respect. He's a guy

628
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 3: that was well respected by his players. I think people

629
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 3: interpret he's a player's coach scenario as oh, he lets

630
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 3: him do whatever they want. That's not the case at all.

631
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 3: In fact, you can go back. It's funny how as

632
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,440
Speaker 3: much time changes with the way you do things on

633
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 3: offense or defense, there's a couple of things that don't

634
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 3: ever change. And Vince Lombardi said, way back in the

635
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 3: nineteen sixties, he says, there's there's a and you can

636
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,959
Speaker 3: look it up. There's a He got a poster and

637
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,040
Speaker 3: he wrote, he wrote a letter this is what it

638
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:17,200
Speaker 3: takes to be Number one, And in it he talks

639
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 3: about how every man that plays this game at a

640
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 3: high level wants and craves discipline and accountability. And he

641
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 3: talks about that, and that's what they feel like the

642
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 3: Kevin Stefanski rings. That's what I've gathered on Kevin Stefanski

643
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:35,600
Speaker 3: and what he brings to the table.

644
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 2: Shack.

645
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 3: You talked a little bit about what he's got in

646
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 3: his background. I mean, guys, I get kind of I

647
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 3: get excited about what this guy has been exposed to

648
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 3: in his coaching career. You talk about, you know, Brad

649
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 3: Childress is a guy that comes from the early tree

650
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 3: of the.

651
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 5: West Coast offense. You can talk about.

652
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 3: You can go back to the Bill Walls stage, you

653
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 3: can go back to Andy Reid. He coached under Andy

654
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 3: Reid in Philadelphia. That's Mike Holmgren. That's that style of offense,

655
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 3: that short passing attack. Attack you horizontally and attack the

656
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 3: field that way, draw people away from the interior, and

657
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,480
Speaker 3: then run the football at him. Then it's ebbed to

658
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 3: what Kyle's turned it into. Kyle Shannon's trying to do

659
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 3: what we saw Sean mcvayh do last night with that

660
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 3: duo run game, getting after the getting after the Bears.

661
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 3: Just the he's been exposed to all those different different things.

662
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 3: Not just a wide zone guy. He's a guy that

663
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 3: learns a lot of gap scheme, which I think aids

664
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:32,880
Speaker 3: the play action. I mean, I can go deep into

665
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,320
Speaker 3: this stuff. I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm

666
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 3: excited about it, so I I mean, I'll probably over

667
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 3: overshot my my bounds here a little bit with this,

668
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 3: but I'm really excited about what the guy brings to

669
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 3: the table from a man standpoint and a leader standpoint,

670
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,640
Speaker 3: and then what he's going to be able to impart

671
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 3: on the guy, especially on the offensive side of the football.

672
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 3: That's going to be that's going to take us to

673
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:55,840
Speaker 3: another level.

674
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's great. This is the this is

675
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 1: the time of the year when, yeah, there is time

676
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 1: to be optimistic, there is time to be excited. And

677
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 1: that's that's the only way that you can do it, guys,

678
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 1: because if you're going at this with hesitancy, then you

679
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: don't have everybody going in the right direction. Right, it's

680
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: a it's a new regime. It's gonna be a new

681
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: looking organization. I think there's gonna be some benefits to

682
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:23,360
Speaker 1: having a guy like Matt Ryan. See look the excitement, right.

683
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,360
Speaker 5: I'm already getting a call. Can I the am shift?

684
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,600
Speaker 1: But I think that there's gonna be some value to

685
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: having Matt Ryan come out on the practice field and

686
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: not just as an appearance, but to be out there regularly.

687
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,600
Speaker 1: And you know, if you're Michael Pennix or whichever quarterback

688
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,960
Speaker 1: is on this roster, and and you can come over

689
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 1: there and just be like, hey, you saw it when

690
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 1: I threw that crossing route, Like how would I do

691
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 1: that better? And just to let him go for a minute, Right,

692
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,520
Speaker 1: There's not very many opportunities where you get that and

693
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 1: I think there are some exciting times ahead. And speaking

694
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,720
Speaker 1: of stability, one thing that that just recently came out

695
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,959
Speaker 1: as well as that Kevin Stefanski has made the decision

696
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 1: to keep Jeff Obrick as the defensive coordinator. Understanding this

697
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,200
Speaker 1: actually goes back a couple of weeks now, Jeff Obrick

698
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,880
Speaker 1: already started to get phone calls from other places and

699
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,600
Speaker 1: Arthur Blank said, no, that's not going to happen, so

700
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: he blocked all those requests and ultimately leading it up

701
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: leaving it up to Kevin Stefanski on whether or not

702
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 1: he was going to keep him. But I think it

703
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: was a great decision to do that.

704
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:25,920
Speaker 2: Dejail.

705
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: Let's let's talk about that just real quick. The turnaround

706
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:33,920
Speaker 1: defensively that Atlanta saw under Jeff Obrick's leadership, going from

707
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 1: but not being being in EP to being able to

708
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: get after the quarterback to finishing second in the National

709
00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 1: Football League to having a couple of young guys and

710
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 1: James Pierce Junior and Jalen Walker and Xavier Watts, and

711
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 1: what they did from a performance perspective as rookies. How

712
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 1: excited does that have you? For some at least some

713
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,000
Speaker 1: stability there on? The defensive side of the ball in

714
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: year two under Obrick.

715
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 2: Just think about it.

716
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 4: Probably halfway through seasons, guys are just probably playing off

717
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 4: pure athletic talent, you know what I mean. Just like

718
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 4: obviously these guys understand the scheme. But to be able

719
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 4: to get those guys to play at that level in

720
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:13,040
Speaker 4: year one says a lot about knowing how to use

721
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,359
Speaker 4: your personnel. Sometimes we talk about a guy has, you know,

722
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 4: a particular plan and it's gonna be thrown in regardless.

723
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,320
Speaker 4: I think he used the guys really well. That allowed

724
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 4: them to be able to use their athleticism, to use

725
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,680
Speaker 4: their talents to help this defense play as well as

726
00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 4: it did. And you mentioned so many young guys play

727
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 4: well inness and you know, Billy Bowman was another guy

728
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,279
Speaker 4: who was in that mix, was playing really well, and

729
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:41,640
Speaker 4: obviously he went down with the injury. But you saw

730
00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 4: a guy like Xavier. Watch as the season went on,

731
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,839
Speaker 4: this guy covering fifty three to third every the balls

732
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:52,759
Speaker 4: up in there, Well, quarterback, I'm nervous because this guy

733
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,359
Speaker 4: was going to go get it.

734
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 2: And that's one thing you loved about him.

735
00:34:56,600 --> 00:34:59,319
Speaker 4: Obviously, the young guys up front, you know, unlocking some

736
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,759
Speaker 4: stuff from a Brandon Dorles, who we said coming to

737
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 4: the season had to play at a higher level to

738
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,239
Speaker 4: help this team. Oh yeah, you go out and have

739
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:07,960
Speaker 4: with eight and a half sacks or whatever it is

740
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,759
Speaker 4: from that defensive tackle spot. Obviously, the young rooks on

741
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 4: the out side. I don't think anybody saw James Pierce

742
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 4: coming here having ten and a half sacks in his

743
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 4: rookie season, and then Jalen walked up and they had

744
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 4: another five and a half. I mean, the ability had

745
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,279
Speaker 4: to get off the quarterback, the thing that he did

746
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 4: scheme wise, you know, the different disguises. I remember we

747
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,600
Speaker 4: were talking about the Tampa game and they were getting

748
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,319
Speaker 4: hurt so much with Kobe over on the other side,

749
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,200
Speaker 4: and the small nuance of dropping d Alfred onder there

750
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,960
Speaker 4: and you get interception. Those are in game adjustments that

751
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 4: you make, and that doesn't happen if you don't understand

752
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,440
Speaker 4: your players. But do you understand the game and what

753
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 4: you're seeing. So it's great to have Oprah back. The

754
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 4: dude understands this team. He understands defense, he understands offenses,

755
00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 4: and you saw this defense take a just unbelievable step

756
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:58,920
Speaker 4: and a lot of those guys will be back in

757
00:35:58,960 --> 00:35:59,760
Speaker 4: the Falcons uniform.

758
00:35:59,840 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 5: Next.

759
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 2: So you excited about that.

760
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:03,919
Speaker 1: Archie got to have great players to win in this league,

761
00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:05,840
Speaker 1: but you also have great teachers. And I think we

762
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,840
Speaker 1: would all agree that Olbrick has solidified himself after his

763
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 1: long playing career of being a very good teacher along

764
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,120
Speaker 1: with being a great coordinator.

765
00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we don't know what if his entire staff's

766
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,480
Speaker 3: coming back. We don't know that we do we in

767
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,080
Speaker 3: Rack did a great job of announcing that that Obrick

768
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 3: is back, and I think there's a lot of people

769
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 3: that are pleased about that in the building. He's got

770
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:32,319
Speaker 3: a tremendously focused work ethic. When you watch him out

771
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,680
Speaker 3: on the practice field, he's a teacher like Rack's talking about,

772
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,479
Speaker 3: spends time with players individually about certain techniques and things,

773
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 3: which is something Kevin Stefanski does a great job too

774
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,359
Speaker 3: as well. And I think that maybe when you all

775
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 3: these guys know one another and they know their reputations.

776
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,279
Speaker 3: But I thought the thing that you pointed out, Rack,

777
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:55,280
Speaker 3: that was really important to point out was that mister

778
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,839
Speaker 3: Blank denied people's ability to talk to Olbrick, but did

779
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 3: not tell Kevin Stefanski, this is who you have to hire.

780
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,960
Speaker 3: We want him here if you decide you would like to,

781
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 3: and now it's up to you to make that decision.

782
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 3: I thought that a very something, very distinctive that you

783
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 3: pointed out. They was good to point out, and after

784
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 3: they met, it didn't take Kevin Stefanski very long. Just

785
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:18,760
Speaker 3: I want Jeff Olbrick.

786
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 2: Here's my nation. That's cord Dinner.

787
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: So the pieces are slowly, but sure, I should say slowly.

788
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,360
Speaker 1: It was actually quickly falling into place here and we

789
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 1: just just a couple of a few weeks removed from

790
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:32,839
Speaker 1: the end of the regular season. As I mentioned, there

791
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,160
Speaker 1: was a lot of changes. Atlanta finished the season on

792
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 1: a four game win streak. Arthur Blank decided to move

793
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,760
Speaker 1: on from Terry Fontino, and Raheem Morris ended up hiring

794
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,399
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan as the new President of Football, a newly

795
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,239
Speaker 1: created position here within the organization, and then they moved

796
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: quickly to hire Kevin Stefanski is the next head coach

797
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 1: of the Atlanta Falcons. There's still some things on the

798
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 1: docket as the new general manager will need to be

799
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:58,960
Speaker 1: hired as well. Matt Ryan will be intimately involved with

800
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: that as long as a long with the rest of

801
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:03,720
Speaker 1: the brass of the organization. But two of the three

802
00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:07,879
Speaker 1: major pieces are in place. It was fantastic and I'm

803
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 1: actually waiting for my second interview. But for some reason

804
00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:11,799
Speaker 1: the phones.

805
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:16,399
Speaker 2: Well that was the call. Nor interview must have gone

806
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:16,839
Speaker 2: better in mind.

807
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,279
Speaker 5: No, no, no, I'm actually your agent and we post.

808
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,200
Speaker 1: Well listen, it's now the off season, and so we

809
00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:27,800
Speaker 1: come back here to cover the major things that happened

810
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,800
Speaker 1: along and so as we get more developments with the

811
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,480
Speaker 1: organization and the off season, we will be back here

812
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:35,480
Speaker 1: to recap it. But unfortunately, I can't tell you that

813
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:37,839
Speaker 1: we're going to be here every single week. We would

814
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,319
Speaker 1: all like to. We would love to sit here and

815
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,480
Speaker 1: chop it up and talk football with you, but we

816
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,640
Speaker 1: will be back. Just make sure do your job, make

817
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 1: sure you like, subscribe, review all that stuff. That way,

818
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 1: when we do come back on you automatically get notified.

819
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 1: You don't even have to look for it. We'll just

820
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 1: pop up on your device and say, shock, arch and rack,

821
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 1: we are back with updates, because that's what we do.

822
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:01,920
Speaker 1: We fellas, thanks so much for joining us in the

823
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,879
Speaker 1: off season. All right, it's another great year, and we'll

824
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 1: just turn the page and now we'll start talking about

825
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,279
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, Get ready for another year.

826
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:13,800
Speaker 5: Well, your arch coming up twenty twenty six. Why you

827
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:14,800
Speaker 5: keep why you keep dating?

828
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 2: Because it is amazing.

829
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:17,799
Speaker 1: It's an accomplished no doubt.

830
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, we haven't got to it yet. So yeah, twenty

831
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:22,480
Speaker 3: three coming up hopefully.

832
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,120
Speaker 1: All right, twenty two years completed in the booth for

833
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,399
Speaker 1: Dave Archer. He got by the way, if you weren't

834
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:28,719
Speaker 1: at the game a couple of weeks ago, they put

835
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 1: him up on the screen to give those guys their kudos,

836
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 1: him and West up in the booth for all the

837
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 1: years of service that they do.

838
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,360
Speaker 3: Very kind of organization to do that. Yeah, I appreciate that,

839
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,800
Speaker 3: appreciate the opportunity. Hopefully mister Blanks, he's fit that we

840
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:41,959
Speaker 3: can do it one more time.

841
00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:44,319
Speaker 2: Blockchack, that's what I know. I heard he block other

842
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:45,279
Speaker 2: people from coming to get you.

843
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:49,440
Speaker 1: So when you block people, that's that's how you get

844
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,720
Speaker 1: Jeff Jeff Ulbert back in the organization. This so happens,

845
00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 1: all right, So thanks for joining us, everybody. As I mentioned,

846
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,399
Speaker 1: we'll be back to recap all the major events here

847
00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,080
Speaker 1: going on in the off season as this organization prepares

848
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 1: to load themselves up for what we all hope is

849
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,359
Speaker 1: going to be a fruitful twenty twenty six season. Until then,

850
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 1: enjoy the rest of the NFL playoffs because you know

851
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 1: you are football lovers at heart, so going to continue

852
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 1: to watch all of that, and we'll be here to

853
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 1: update you with everything that's happening with the Atlanta Falcons organization.

854
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,359
Speaker 1: On behalfy of d J. Shockley, Dave Archer, I'm Derek

855
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,360
Speaker 1: Rackley THOS. Thanks so much for joining us everybody on

856
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,680
Speaker 1: the Falcons Amo presented by AP and T. Until next time,