Speaker 1: Relations.
Speaker 2: Prowd said they were trying to get something done in
Speaker 2: the off season. Is a good thing now because you're
Speaker 2: asking price, You're asking price got higher.
Speaker 1: Or uh we was all I mean, I knew this
Speaker 1: where I wanted to be. So we was always in negotiations,
Speaker 1: like after the Super Bowl. So I mean, I was
Speaker 1: hopefully we could have got something done earlier. But I'm
Speaker 1: I'm happy we got something done, you know, and I'm
Speaker 1: here and I remain here for the rest of my career,
Speaker 1: you know, So I wanted to I'd just like to think,
Speaker 1: you know, the Yorks, this whole organization, uh Kyle John,
Speaker 1: my coaches, you know, my teammates, you know, for pushing
Speaker 1: me every day, you know, just being able to play
Speaker 1: with you know, all these great guys.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I I had no no other option but to try
Speaker 1: and be great. So I just tiped my hat off
Speaker 1: to to my team. Why would you want to test
Speaker 1: the restricted free agency? Why were you this? I've been
Speaker 1: a West Coast guy my whole life. The camaraderie within
Speaker 1: the team, you know, all the players, my brothers, my family,
Speaker 1: m my family is from this side. Uh, So I
Speaker 1: knew it was a place that I could see myself,
Speaker 1: you know, long term.
Speaker 2: A phone call that that the deal was done. But
Speaker 2: do you take time to kind of reflect on your
Speaker 2: journey to to get to that point and what what
Speaker 2: we're kind of the emotions of of that.
Speaker 1: Uh. I was, I was. I was happy, I my
Speaker 1: uh when I heard my agent tell me the deal
Speaker 1: was finally done. You know, I was, you know, I
Speaker 1: I burst out into tears. You know it was you
Speaker 1: know that I I finally you know, able to change
Speaker 1: my family's life, you know, for for generations, you know.
Speaker 1: So it was just a blessing you look back at
Speaker 1: way like your draft day when it was oh yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. Uh. I actually was uh just telling uh
Speaker 1: Tig and Malick about it this morning, you know, just
Speaker 1: being you know drafted, you know in the fifth round,
Speaker 1: you know, going four rounds going by and not hearing
Speaker 1: your name. You know. I was just seeing Bleacher Report
Speaker 1: articles and stuff, you know with my name on it
Speaker 1: saying I was gonna be selected in the third round.
Speaker 1: So I was. I was happy for day two. So
Speaker 1: when that didn't happen, you know, day three, it started
Speaker 1: to get a little scary for me. You know, I
Speaker 1: thought I was gonna be able to hold my composure,
Speaker 1: but no, I'll just I gave up honestly, you know.
Speaker 1: And then there was a four oh eight number calling.
Speaker 1: I didn't know which team it was because I thought
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers were in San Francisco, but I didn't.
Speaker 1: So when when I answered the phone, you know, it
Speaker 1: was it was John and I immediately just started screaming yes,
Speaker 1: like it's finally happened. And after that it was, you know,
Speaker 1: it was just all up to me, you know, to
Speaker 1: just put everything into the plane.
Speaker 2: Kind of was recounting the time and you've got him
Speaker 2: a fine, what do you remember about that?
Speaker 1: I remember it was posted by accident, So when I
Speaker 1: posted it, I just seen my phone kept going off,
Speaker 1: you know, and I was like, I didn't post nothing
Speaker 1: on Instagram. So then when I look back, it was
Speaker 1: like it was everywhere. Then I seen the Sports Center
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, this is bad. I might
Speaker 1: be yeah, I was. I was like I might be cut,
Speaker 1: you know, So I was nervous. I remember, h coach,
Speaker 1: see you, Corey Underling. I remember him calling me and
Speaker 1: he was like, why did you post that? And I
Speaker 1: was like I didn't try to and he was like,
Speaker 1: oh man, and then five minutes later he called me back.
Speaker 1: He was like, you're good, You're good. It was a
Speaker 1: good post. But yeah, now I can finally pay Kyle back,
Speaker 1: you know, for Carter's tuition. Kyle mentioned that your rookie year,
Speaker 1: your confidence was a little bit down, and now that
Speaker 1: you're one of the more confident people, the most confident
Speaker 1: person on the team.
Speaker 2: When did that really change for you?
Speaker 1: That really took place when I had my son at
Speaker 1: that time, the season had just ended, he was about
Speaker 1: six months. I had moved to Arizona, and I felt
Speaker 1: like that was like my my growth, my growth stage.
Speaker 1: You know, I stayed. I stayed in that whole off season.
Speaker 1: I stayed, just stayed my head down, working really just
Speaker 1: putting myself in situations, watching film, like you know, with
Speaker 1: with our defense, making different calls and checks and seeing
Speaker 1: you know, like how teams attacked certain coverages and stuff.
Speaker 1: And I felt like that that what elevated my game.
Speaker 2: Congrats some of the new deal. There's nobody does it alone.
Speaker 2: Who were there some guys along the way. I know
Speaker 2: you worked at the mom bansitute. Who are some guys
Speaker 2: that kind of helped you get to this point?
Speaker 1: I would say, my family, family and friends, you know,
Speaker 1: just pushing me to be great. You know, always I was.
Speaker 1: It was kind of like never like the people I
Speaker 1: had around me, they were never like I would say,
Speaker 1: haters or were like they always told me that you know,
Speaker 1: they look for for them for me to be great,
Speaker 1: you know, to push me to get to new heights.
Speaker 1: And they always was telling me like, oh you can't,
Speaker 1: you can't do this, like just as a way of
Speaker 1: a challenge, because I'm the person like I like to
Speaker 1: be challenged. I'm like a competitive, competitive person. So when
Speaker 1: they would tell me stuff like that, I would like
Speaker 1: to try to prove them wrong. So I would say
Speaker 1: them they actually, you know, moted me to the player
Speaker 1: I am right now.
Speaker 2: At the time that you were drafted, we learned that
Speaker 2: you had a connection with Richard Sherman, both being from
Speaker 2: LA How big of an influence has he been? And
Speaker 2: it just realized also when you were talking about the
Speaker 2: fifth round, he also dropped, yeah, ground, is that something
Speaker 2: that that you talked to Richard about? Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. You know, he paved the way you
Speaker 1: know for guys like me in my in my area.
Speaker 1: You know, he was like one of the first to
Speaker 1: do it. So to see him get a big contract,
Speaker 1: it was like motivation to me to let me know
Speaker 1: that I can that I can do the same. And
Speaker 1: you know, I appreciate him also, you know, for just
Speaker 1: being that big brother and you know, uh calling me,
Speaker 1: you know when times weren't good and uh and just
Speaker 1: getting me through it and just telling me to be
Speaker 1: that dog. You said you'd be.
Speaker 2: Wornting a rush to get a deal done. You were
Speaker 2: more focused on kind of solidifying yourself as a top
Speaker 2: corner in this league. Do you feel like this deal
Speaker 2: solidifies that that everybody else now agrees with yourself?
Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, for sure. I wanted to, you know, prove
Speaker 1: to you guys. You know, I was always the person
Speaker 1: you know, I would be confident and then speaking speaking
Speaker 1: aloud and saying stuff like I'm the best. But I
Speaker 1: wanted to prove to you guys first, you know, and
Speaker 1: prove to the world you know who I am. You
Speaker 1: can deal puts a target on your back or do
Speaker 1: you feel like it's already be Oh yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I'm I'm happy if it did put a target on
Speaker 1: my back, because you know, I'm ready for anything.
Speaker 2: On you. If you talked to him at all.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I talked to Mooney. You know, he was
Speaker 1: I talked to him last night. It was he was
Speaker 1: excited for me, you know. I I was just telling him,
Speaker 1: can't wait to have him back, you know, so we
Speaker 1: can get this thing on the road and uh get
Speaker 1: a bowl. You know. But he was in good spirits
Speaker 1: and uh, you know he was happy for me. You know,
Speaker 1: we we talked about this all the time. He used
Speaker 1: to always tell me, I can't wait. I can't wait
Speaker 1: till you get paid, you know, change your life. Thank
Speaker 1: you