Speaker 1: Audible is back, John con Jemmy Kimbo camper with you.
Speaker 1: The Audible presented by Microsoft Surface. And I know you're
Speaker 1: big with your Microsoft Surface. You don't have your surface.
Speaker 1: You ain't got ship. No, I'm out to do. I'm
Speaker 1: a lost puppy. Yeah. Hey, uh, let's let's get let's
Speaker 1: get down to it here for a couple couple of
Speaker 1: things going on. First, Jet Weick coming in New York.
Speaker 1: Jets come back. That means Adam Gayes coming back. Uh,
Speaker 1: Sam Donald uh. And and they're a team that you know,
Speaker 1: not so many weeks ago they beat the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 1: and I remember reading the New York Post and boy
Speaker 1: then it was okay, here come the Jets. You know,
Speaker 1: still got a chance to make the playoffs. This and
Speaker 1: that and this and that, and boy, what a what
Speaker 1: a difference a few weeks. Maybe Sam Donald has just
Speaker 1: been harassed, blitzed, sacked, interceptions galore, and uh. And next thing,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure that that the Adam gaze, the
Speaker 1: former Dolphin coaches, boy just pulling out his hair up
Speaker 1: there with what the is going on. And a good
Speaker 1: opportunity for the Dolphins with the team coming in here,
Speaker 1: really in disarrayed. John, Yeah, one in six football team
Speaker 1: that you would have thought in the preseason that this
Speaker 1: is one of the teams that are gonna show the
Speaker 1: most improvement. You had a new head coach that's offensive minded,
Speaker 1: that can bring along a second year quarterback in Sam Donald.
Speaker 1: It seems like ever since you know, Sam was sidelined
Speaker 1: with the mono sickness and and came back. He played
Speaker 1: really well against the Dallas Cowboys. You saw him get
Speaker 1: the football to parts of the field that the Jets
Speaker 1: haven't been able to exploit against opposing defenses. And then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, for back to back weeks, it's
Speaker 1: just been a case of the turnovers, sacks, pressures that
Speaker 1: they look like they don't know. Uh, they aren't a
Speaker 1: semblance of what the team played against the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: And it's just not close. And it feels like the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: as they have over the last three weeks, haven't been improving.
Speaker 1: It's been an approving football team. You could see where
Speaker 1: the separation is getting closer, and and the Dolphins had
Speaker 1: chance in each of those three games to win. So
Speaker 1: it's a tale of two teams for sure. Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about talking about the last game against Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: here quickly, but you look at Sam Donald fifteen sacks, uh,
Speaker 1: eight interceptions, five touchdowns and fifteen sacks. He missed what
Speaker 1: three games? Three games, So that's uh, that's all and
Speaker 1: and and for the Dolphins, that's been kind of one
Speaker 1: of their one of their issues on games getting to
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And I think we saw it last week
Speaker 1: in the Pittsburgh game where early on they were able
Speaker 1: to do some things up front and get and and pressure,
Speaker 1: pressure him, make him put the ball up for grabs.
Speaker 1: And there were john there, there were you know, talking
Speaker 1: talking to some people that I think they counted six
Speaker 1: balls that could have been uh they were, yeah, exactly
Speaker 1: where we're really would have made a difference. And it's
Speaker 1: certainly the big one, uh, you know, coming off of Oleary,
Speaker 1: bounce off O'Leary turns out it turns into interception and
Speaker 1: that that turns into touchdown, field goal, whatever it was.
Speaker 1: But points off stalls your drive, points on the board
Speaker 1: for them, and everything turned around kind of at that point. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, this was a Pittsburgh Steeler team that the
Speaker 1: fans were actually booming. You know, in the second quarter,
Speaker 1: they were booing, and they had every right to. They
Speaker 1: didn't look like a team that was gonna win. And
Speaker 1: that interception turned into points right before halftime, and you
Speaker 1: could just feel the oxygen getting into the lungs of
Speaker 1: the Steeler fans and more importantly, the the football team
Speaker 1: because it ignited the defense. Uh, it was a different
Speaker 1: defense that came out in the second half. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: it was a different offense that came out in the
Speaker 1: second half and kind of slowly took over the football game,
Speaker 1: and you could feel it sliding away from the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: But up until that point, you know, it's fourteen nothing
Speaker 1: and the Dolphins were rolling. You know, the Steelers get
Speaker 1: a field goal, but you didn't feel like they were
Speaker 1: gonna score before halftime. A matter of factly, you felt
Speaker 1: like the Dolphins might take it down and get the
Speaker 1: seventeen and possibly twenty one. So, um, it was a
Speaker 1: huge play in the football game in terms of being
Speaker 1: able to capitalize on instant field position. But I still,
Speaker 1: in my mind, I thought it was a backbreaking play.
Speaker 1: You know, when you send eight and you're in you've
Speaker 1: got zero coverage, you're in man to man coverage and
Speaker 1: you've got the front that really didn't match the type
Speaker 1: of coverage that was played on the play. You get
Speaker 1: a one yard slant, you get miscommunication, you get a
Speaker 1: guy with nothing but green grass, and it turns into
Speaker 1: a forty five yard touchdown. And in my opinion, that
Speaker 1: was the ultimate game changer for the Miami Dolins. And
Speaker 1: I think John, that comes from from what we just
Speaker 1: talked about with facing the Jets. Even though they've given
Speaker 1: a fifteen sacks, you know, the Dolphins don't. I don't,
Speaker 1: I would, I would guess pretty closely, John, the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Dolphins have maybe had one or two sacks coming from
Speaker 1: just a traditional four man rush. Everything else comes off
Speaker 1: of you know that they've kind of been forcing that
Speaker 1: situation where we gotta show a different look. We gotta
Speaker 1: get that little where the guys are wandering around, they
Speaker 1: look confusion thing then have guys come, guys coming off
Speaker 1: the corner, and and you know, I understand that playing
Speaker 1: in third and twenty, I believe it was and you
Speaker 1: and you and you get beat on that, And I
Speaker 1: know there's been a lot of conversation, well, how how
Speaker 1: can you go how can you rush eight and go
Speaker 1: through where they're running there are three three a man
Speaker 1: and man and three receivers. One guy breaks free. But
Speaker 1: that's the only way the Dolphins have gotten pressure. So
Speaker 1: it's tough to fault to me to fault Patrick Graham,
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, for that under those circumstances, because that's the
Speaker 1: only way you've been able to get pressure on a quarterback.
Speaker 1: You're almost hamstrung with you know, if you if you don't,
Speaker 1: then that quarterback sits back there and and looks and
Speaker 1: looks and gets to the first second, third choice, throws
Speaker 1: a ball down the field or you you put it
Speaker 1: in his face and and see if we can get
Speaker 1: to him in time. Well, we've seen plenty of opposing
Speaker 1: offenses when the Dolphins play a traditional defense on third
Speaker 1: and twelve, third and sixteen get thirteen or seventeen. So
Speaker 1: I don't disagree about going after him. I just don't
Speaker 1: think that the pressure matched the coverage from the back end.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna send eight, well you better be in
Speaker 1: that catch position. It maybe five yards off the ball
Speaker 1: instead of twelve or fourteen, where you've you've given so
Speaker 1: much room to special athletes. You know, Johnson, even though
Speaker 1: he's a rookie he didn't play like a rookie, and
Speaker 1: you got Juju on the other side, could have easily
Speaker 1: been him in that situation. So I don't agree with
Speaker 1: the scheme of being aggressive, and I know head coach
Speaker 1: Brian Flores talked about, Hey, I'm going to be aggressive,
Speaker 1: that's my mentality. Don't disagree with that one on board.
Speaker 1: What I do have question with is the front didn't
Speaker 1: match the coverage. If you're gonna go after somebody like that,
Speaker 1: it's very difficult to cover a one yard slant from
Speaker 1: four twelve yards off the ball or four teens yards
Speaker 1: off the ball when you have so much room in
Speaker 1: between where the catch is made and where you're trying
Speaker 1: to make the tackle. The hole in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field, it was enormous. It was, I mean, you're
Speaker 1: really off that. Say you'd take one step and and
Speaker 1: and then run a slant, you had no chance against that,
Speaker 1: and and and then then the field was so there
Speaker 1: was such a void in the middle of the field
Speaker 1: that it was twenty yards before someone even got anywhere
Speaker 1: nearing and and really yeah, and that to me was
Speaker 1: the question mark that I had, or the issue I
Speaker 1: had with it. No doubt, Hey, it's a but the
Speaker 1: start you'd like to start, you know. And it's funny
Speaker 1: since since Ryan Fitzpatricks, Fitzpatrick has come in to start,
Speaker 1: going going back to the fourth quarter of the Washington
Speaker 1: game last week in Buffalo, this game, he's shown the
Speaker 1: ability far far more effectively than than than Josh Rosen. Now,
Speaker 1: the one thing that Rosen was given you, he was
Speaker 1: giving you the long ball. He's giving you that that
Speaker 1: big chunk play. Whereas the one of the one of
Speaker 1: the issues with this football team, and you see it,
Speaker 1: you know, the touchdown they had, they got four first
Speaker 1: downs and then they got their touchdown. You know, this
Speaker 1: is not a team that's getting big chunk plays. So
Speaker 1: they've got to take what we had the drive last week.
Speaker 1: Six team plays in that in that drive where you
Speaker 1: know you can't you can't do that on a consistent basis,
Speaker 1: especially a young football team like this that you know,
Speaker 1: the the old theory. If you're a defensive you know
Speaker 1: there's certain defensive coordinators with here is ben don't break
Speaker 1: where Let's let the more snaps they have to take
Speaker 1: to get to the end zone, the better chance we
Speaker 1: have because they'll make a mistake. We'll be there to
Speaker 1: take advantage of it. And I think that's exactly what
Speaker 1: we see out of this football team, although sometimes it
Speaker 1: doesn't take very long for that that mistake to happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that that explosive play where you saw Albert
Speaker 1: Wilson or Jachem Grant make last year on regularity, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't that the ball had to travel forty five
Speaker 1: yards down the field. These guys were catching screens and
Speaker 1: slamms a little little now passes, you know where he's uncovered,
Speaker 1: and they're making two guys miss, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: the team's getting blocks down the field and they're just
Speaker 1: following those blocks, and they're great in space. When they
Speaker 1: have their hands on the football, they turn into really
Speaker 1: running backs and they're able to avoid and make people miss,
Speaker 1: and they turn into big, explosive touchdowns. And and that's
Speaker 1: really what the Dolphins are missing, and you're hoping that
Speaker 1: you get a little bit more of that. I think
Speaker 1: Albert Wilson's getting closer to a hund percent. He's been
Speaker 1: playing but hasn't really had that twitch that you've seen
Speaker 1: last year. Joachim Grant has been in the same kind
Speaker 1: of position. For me, anyway, you don't you see him
Speaker 1: explode on a comeback route and you say, maybe he's there,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe he's that guy that is gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: round into form where he's making those types of plays
Speaker 1: on a consistent basis. Because it's not that Ryan Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: can't throw the football downfield. It's just that the time
Speaker 1: in the pocket and availability downfield have been more of
Speaker 1: back shoulder types of things to Kasicky in the seam,
Speaker 1: or or you you get a guy like Devonte going
Speaker 1: up and getting the football or Williams going up and
Speaker 1: getting the football, you don't have u those quick plays
Speaker 1: around the line of scrimmage. They are making people miss.
Speaker 1: And now you've got a twenty eight yard game that
Speaker 1: hasn't been in the offense. It's it's been tough, and
Speaker 1: you know, you you you talk about Albert Wilson and
Speaker 1: Jachim Grant and I'm with you. You know, you watch them.
Speaker 1: They look good, but they that that that burst that
Speaker 1: we saw early last year on those little plays, it's
Speaker 1: just it's just not there, and they're they're getting caught
Speaker 1: by that that last guy or getting caught by someone
Speaker 1: where last year they're able to move and that's something
Speaker 1: I think they will continue. Is the more they play
Speaker 1: in the in, the healthier they get. You'll see that,
Speaker 1: but but it makes it tough. The other thing Johnny
Speaker 1: is is a is the overwhelming disparity in giveaways to
Speaker 1: take aways for this football team. Four four giveaways this week,
Speaker 1: one one takeaway in the in the game and as
Speaker 1: I said earlier, probably should have had, clearly should have
Speaker 1: had three where the ball was another one that X
Speaker 1: could have got, probably two more than X could have got.
Speaker 1: Mama has had one. There was one by the defensive
Speaker 1: front that Taco could have had that that that dropped
Speaker 1: down by him. So you know, if you're not gonna
Speaker 1: be the type of foot ball if you're gonna be
Speaker 1: the type of football team that the Dolphins are right now, boy,
Speaker 1: you can't afford to let those opportunities land on the ground. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I agree. Anytime you can get takeaways and more, and
Speaker 1: it really bodes into what the offense is lacking. You
Speaker 1: need to get instant field position because you can't start
Speaker 1: on your own fifteen or eighteen yard line thinking you're
Speaker 1: gonna take a twelve plays and get points. It happens,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't happen with regularity, and it it doesn't
Speaker 1: happen a whole lot to you know, probably the NFL.
Speaker 1: You know, you're taking advantage of takeaways because it's giving
Speaker 1: you instant field position. It's it's it's really cutting the
Speaker 1: field in half. And if you're giving it away at
Speaker 1: the same at the same rate, it's not gonna it's
Speaker 1: putting too much pressure on the defense. So I agree
Speaker 1: with fits on the one. The one was like a punt, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you a shot.
Speaker 1: You came to go downfield, make a play. If we
Speaker 1: don't get it, it's okay, they're gonna get the ball
Speaker 1: inside the five yard line. That one I kind of
Speaker 1: washed away. But but it's the other it's the other takeaways.
Speaker 1: It's the other sacks that put your punting team in
Speaker 1: a bad spot that gives the football to you know,
Speaker 1: the Steelers maybe at the opposing forty yard line that
Speaker 1: they're licking their chops, going, hey we go six yards.
Speaker 1: We can do this, and you know, you you wonder
Speaker 1: why things change. But you know, X doesn't play in
Speaker 1: the second half, he comes out, the new issue flares up.
Speaker 1: He doesn't play Ken Webster. It's funny because Ken Webster
Speaker 1: went down. That hurts. You know, two months ago we
Speaker 1: know who Ken Webster was. You know, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. It's but but here's how you're depending on
Speaker 1: you depending on him. He goes down with the ankle,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden that Ryan lewis playing
Speaker 1: positions he's not really accustomed to. You've got will it's
Speaker 1: playing positions. You know, you've got need Um playing out there.
Speaker 1: Those are your starters. Now, that's it, and it's probably
Speaker 1: gonna be that way playing safety. You know, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of Uh, there's a lot of guys playing different
Speaker 1: positions that you didn't plan on going into the game.
Speaker 1: Now you have a plan for it, but you're not
Speaker 1: depending on it for half of the football game. Well,
Speaker 1: it's funny, John, because we've seen it now throughout the
Speaker 1: courses year earlier, early on, for the first really five weeks,
Speaker 1: was that offensive line. It was just you know, who's
Speaker 1: coming in there, who's playing here? Now who's playing And
Speaker 1: they're starting to settle in. And they're starting to settle
Speaker 1: in because they're getting know, they're getting they're getting to
Speaker 1: work together with each other. Uh, and then last week
Speaker 1: up in Buffalo, Uh, you lose Wilkins and you and
Speaker 1: you went into the game with all the defensive tackle
Speaker 1: pre defensive tackles to begin with. So you gotta make
Speaker 1: changes on the fly there and then here we are.
Speaker 1: When you go in, you gotta x back. You know,
Speaker 1: he's coming back from the injury. He picks up the
Speaker 1: first row, first throw that uh that they put up,
Speaker 1: he picks it off. Rudolph throws up and he picks
Speaker 1: it off, and you thinking, oh, we've got something going here,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, he goes down, Webster
Speaker 1: goes down. And then those guys, those guys that are
Speaker 1: coming in, look, they're doing the best they can, but
Speaker 1: you know they're they're not your they're not your your
Speaker 1: front line guys. And it's it's tough too. You know,
Speaker 1: as a coach, you're in there and and and coaching
Speaker 1: them too. Technique, you know, responsibilit no mellors this and that.
Speaker 1: But there, as you said, not playing the same position
Speaker 1: all the time, different guys, Your communication kind of goes
Speaker 1: by the wayside when you lose a Rashaw Jones and
Speaker 1: guys like that, and so it's it's it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be it's it's gonna be difficult for those guys. Now
Speaker 1: X has gone for the year. Webster not sure what
Speaker 1: he is the thing they made the move with with
Speaker 1: a key to lead. He'll never he'll never take the field. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think see that. Um So, so it's going
Speaker 1: to be like you said, that group of the group
Speaker 1: of guys in the secondary, they don't have to find
Speaker 1: some way to elevate their game, uh, if they want
Speaker 1: to compete and compete through it and find that win.
Speaker 1: So somewhere throughout the course of the season, Well, they're
Speaker 1: playing the right team this week in terms of wins
Speaker 1: and losses and success. Because I don't know if anybody
Speaker 1: scares you other than Levan Bell in the backfield. In
Speaker 1: terms of wide receiver Robby Anderson, it seems like he's
Speaker 1: he's always been like yet he has and and that
Speaker 1: that might be the one guy you circle. But other
Speaker 1: than that, I mean, this is an offensive line that's
Speaker 1: kind of like who's on it? You know? And maybe
Speaker 1: maybe this is the week that they can force and
Speaker 1: Williams he loves on and Quinn and Williams is playing
Speaker 1: well for him, But uh, you know, yeah, they and
Speaker 1: they you know they they have their own issues. They
Speaker 1: have their issues. This is this is there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of issues on that football field come Sunday
Speaker 1: at hard Rock Stadium on both sides of a lot
Speaker 1: of questions. But but this is a chance for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins to you know, to to to take advantage of
Speaker 1: a team that's that's in a like situation as as
Speaker 1: they're in. You know, a team that a team that's
Speaker 1: you know, got got personnel problems, whether it's injuries, whether
Speaker 1: it's guys that don't want to play. Moving on they
Speaker 1: move loft to the the guard that didn't want to play
Speaker 1: all year long, and and so they've got away defensive
Speaker 1: got the same type of issues that this football team has.
Speaker 1: The good thing is you're playing at home. Well that's
Speaker 1: that's you're you're trying to get your first win. You'd
Speaker 1: love to have it come at hard Rock Stadium in
Speaker 1: front of your fans who have been you know, kind
Speaker 1: of pulling pulling their weight, you know, and wanting to
Speaker 1: see that win. And they've seen improvement, we've seen improvement
Speaker 1: over the last three weeks. They beat you know, you
Speaker 1: have a chance to win in the fourth quarter against
Speaker 1: Washington at home, that doesn't get done. You go on
Speaker 1: the road against Buffalo, who has a really nice record,
Speaker 1: but I don't know if they're all that great. You
Speaker 1: know that there's only probably one or two teams in
Speaker 1: the a f C that you feel like those are
Speaker 1: really good football teams. Then there's a cluster of teams
Speaker 1: in the middle that they can be beat on any week.
Speaker 1: So I would think the Miami Dolphins have a chance
Speaker 1: this week at home against the Jets that are floundering
Speaker 1: at this point, especially offensively. And you're look at with
Speaker 1: like you talking about Levan Bell and what he thinks.
Speaker 1: I would I would assume, although we don't coach Gay,
Speaker 1: he he wants to throw that ball up in the air.
Speaker 1: But but you would you would think that this would
Speaker 1: be the perfect time for them to say we're gonna
Speaker 1: ride you for We're gonna give you twenty five plus carries,
Speaker 1: throw it to and all that stuff for this. So
Speaker 1: this team to be ready for for that type of
Speaker 1: game this week. I think, you know, we saw what
Speaker 1: Adam Gaze wanted to do against the Denver Broncos in
Speaker 1: terms of a head coach, you know, leaving an organization,
Speaker 1: maybe not on the best terms. I think that he's
Speaker 1: going to have this team ready to play and he'll
Speaker 1: definitely have every every gadget play, every everything in his
Speaker 1: at his disposal to try to win this game on
Speaker 1: the road, to try to stick it to the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that, Hey, John, one of the things I
Speaker 1: want to touch on in fourth and two, fourth and one,
Speaker 1: the Ryan Fitzpatrick uh runs with the football get stopped.
Speaker 1: Looked like he had it. They marked the ball, they
Speaker 1: can't figure it out. Then they and they move the chains.
Speaker 1: Then then to move the chains back after looking at
Speaker 1: the inst replay, then they take the chaine out for
Speaker 1: the measurement. Talk that over ten minutes to me, John,
Speaker 1: once you pick up those chains, it's over. You can't
Speaker 1: you can't replicate exact exactly the spot the football was
Speaker 1: in number one or nor can you put the chains
Speaker 1: back in the exact samee. Well, you might get the
Speaker 1: yard line, but it might be six inches. It was
Speaker 1: about a two inch difference between the first down when
Speaker 1: they brought the chain out. My memory, serge and credit
Speaker 1: wasn't two to four inches about all it was that
Speaker 1: that gave him the There's no way and once they
Speaker 1: moved the chains, they should that there should be a
Speaker 1: rule in the National football you cannot go back and
Speaker 1: do that. There's it's been decided. I'm sorry. One way
Speaker 1: you could be on the right side of that or
Speaker 1: the wrong side of that. But it's so hard to
Speaker 1: now set the chains again, set the football in the
Speaker 1: right spot, and then bring the chains out like that. John,
Speaker 1: I watched I sit there and watch these guys officials
Speaker 1: in the sideline. It's not easy to try to be
Speaker 1: somewhere with the ball in there. And and you watch
Speaker 1: the haphazard way that they make those marks. You know,
Speaker 1: they the places and the guy's way on the sideline,
Speaker 1: and there's a bunch of bodies fix his foot down somewhere,
Speaker 1: you know, and have a hot dog and one and
Speaker 1: the chain on the chain gang it comes. And if
Speaker 1: you ever seen these guys he slippers in are the chains.
Speaker 1: There's somebody usually the guys are in the chain gangs.
Speaker 1: Someone in that organization owes him something. I got tickets coming, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got. You got guys out there that can barely
Speaker 1: run up and down the field and they're taking pictures
Speaker 1: and doing Coming from the Witness Protection Program, ahold of change.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna use that, You're gonna use that on
Speaker 1: an intu replay to try to re re replicate that
Speaker 1: way way too many variables. But that that being said, John,
Speaker 1: that's what you get when you're the Miami Dolf. That's
Speaker 1: what you get when you're a team that's struggling. That
Speaker 1: that's just a bad, horrible break on that. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: you know that that, you know you're struggling to fight
Speaker 1: back and get it back, get back into the game.
Speaker 1: Fits makes a great play there. He's covered in and
Speaker 1: you know he wants to get it out in the
Speaker 1: flat it's covered. The choices a quarterback is to tuck it.
Speaker 1: You know you've got a short distance to go. You
Speaker 1: go ahead first, you don't slide because you want to
Speaker 1: have the market me as close to the line to
Speaker 1: gain as possible. And it looks clear like it's right there.
Speaker 1: I mean it's a decision, a bang bang play officials
Speaker 1: is first down, they moved the chains, everybody's okay, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, fifteen minutes later it's Steelers. Well,
Speaker 1: I've seen things like that happen in college football. When
Speaker 1: you gotta when you got a crew from the other
Speaker 1: team that the other the other team you're playing, that
Speaker 1: let a little bit and and the referee servant time
Speaker 1: and then they get to the spot the football. Yeah
Speaker 1: you've seen that happen, no doubt. But in the NFL
Speaker 1: know that. But and that that you know, that was
Speaker 1: an opportunity to kind of recapture a little momentum and
Speaker 1: move on. But uh, look, it's a it was a
Speaker 1: tough game up there, and it looks a tough place
Speaker 1: to play in. John, I I never thought, you know,
Speaker 1: I've been a Pittsburgh a handful of times, both playing
Speaker 1: and covering this football team, and I don't know that
Speaker 1: I ever ever saw that team that those fat fan
Speaker 1: base turn on. That team is vocally and as quickly
Speaker 1: as they did down fourteen nothing because they're struggling, they're
Speaker 1: doing nothing, They're not getting much on the ground. Mason
Speaker 1: Rudolph is throwing the ball all over the place. You
Speaker 1: got no accuracy. That offense is three and out there.
Speaker 1: You know, they throw the interception, then they got a
Speaker 1: punt twice, you know, before they finally get the field goal.
Speaker 1: And but but up to that time, the chorus of
Speaker 1: it was cleaning down on heindfield was something I never
Speaker 1: thought i'd see. You could hear watch it on TV.
Speaker 1: I mean you're there and you can actually you know,
Speaker 1: you're going, wow, I bet this is we got a shot.
Speaker 1: What I'm thinking, yeah, you know, if you one more turns,
Speaker 1: one more score stick, one more nail in the coffin,
Speaker 1: this thing is over. Yeah, And it's it's amazing how
Speaker 1: a couple of plays. That's why coaches always used to
Speaker 1: tell you know, it's it's it's you don't know which
Speaker 1: plays are going to be able to be game changers.
Speaker 1: And there's probably five, six seven plays you can go back.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's only two or three. But that interception and
Speaker 1: then that conversion on third down completely, I'm sure you
Speaker 1: felt it in the stadium. It was like no one
Speaker 1: ever bowed before in Pittsburgh. You know, they started cheering
Speaker 1: that that. You can see the players get excited about it.
Speaker 1: They're getting at the ball back in the third quarter. Well,
Speaker 1: because I'm thinking the same thing. You know, you kicked
Speaker 1: the field that you you hold a new field goes,
Speaker 1: you're in good ship. Well I'm not talking about the
Speaker 1: first one, all right. And then I and I believe
Speaker 1: that interception I think the pick six or the the
Speaker 1: I'm sorry that yeah, the deflection, no, no, the past,
Speaker 1: the h the one to Johnson after after the interception
Speaker 1: before the half makes it a fourteen tenant half exactly
Speaker 1: you got about a but I think it's about a
Speaker 1: buck twenty. I think six maybe on the clock when
Speaker 1: they started, and I'm going, man, just hold on for
Speaker 1: hold on your life, and just if you can just
Speaker 1: keep them from a touchdown. You're going to half to
Speaker 1: halftime with at worse fourteen six lead. You you're feeling
Speaker 1: pretty damn good about correct me if I'm wrong, But
Speaker 1: I think the wind was coming off the lake that way,
Speaker 1: so it was no guarantee anything over yards. It was
Speaker 1: gonna be a little dicey, right, no, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: And then to see him running and you just just
Speaker 1: kind of thought, you know that that was I know
Speaker 1: it was before halftime, still had a lot of football
Speaker 1: to play, but well, you just felt like that was
Speaker 1: a backbreaker. And it's sure, I'm sure you know, halftimes
Speaker 1: only ten or twelve minutes as it is, it felt
Speaker 1: probably felt like two minutes, and the Steelers had the
Speaker 1: ball back again starting in the third course. No doubt
Speaker 1: about it. But uh, you know, another tough one. And
Speaker 1: but but you know, you keep you know, I keep
Speaker 1: saying it. I keep trying to tell people, and they
Speaker 1: talk to me, and you know, you know, I talked
Speaker 1: to all this guys. These I don't know, they don't
Speaker 1: even look like they don't even I am surprised how
Speaker 1: many people come to go. This team looks like they
Speaker 1: don't even want to play. I think, looking at what
Speaker 1: what team? You are even watching the games or you
Speaker 1: just you know that's here. That's the somebody told me,
Speaker 1: and then somebody told him and because and and look
Speaker 1: if if this team was a bunch of guys that
Speaker 1: weren't working hard, didn't care, um, you know it didn't
Speaker 1: you didn't bother them if they lose. You know, I've
Speaker 1: seen guys like that, But this team is anything but that.
Speaker 1: And and just see him play that hard, work that
Speaker 1: hard um and and just have that slipped through their
Speaker 1: fingers in the first half, because you knew in the
Speaker 1: second half after that it was gonna be tough, especially
Speaker 1: when you see all the injuries and all exactly. You know,
Speaker 1: so you're depleted, you have a depleted secondary, and that's
Speaker 1: really where the game changed because Smith, Smith, Schuster and
Speaker 1: Deante Johnson, you know, combined were close to two hundred
Speaker 1: yards in terms of receiving yards, two touchdowns and ten catches,
Speaker 1: and and you you, you you lacked any pressure in
Speaker 1: the second half. That allowed Mason Rudolph to kind of
Speaker 1: stand back and you're back in the game and get
Speaker 1: back into the game in there, and and his focus
Speaker 1: became better and his accuracy became better because he wasn't
Speaker 1: being harassed, he wasn't having to move around the pocket
Speaker 1: to try to get the ball out of out of
Speaker 1: the backfield. And on the flip side, the defense for
Speaker 1: the Steelers turned it on and they started getting you know,
Speaker 1: more action in the backfield, shutting down the running games
Speaker 1: the Dolphins had and really forcing their hand on fits.
Speaker 1: And it was tough when you have what coming from
Speaker 1: one side, Bud Dupree on the other side, you've got
Speaker 1: Bush in the middle, You've got a really good secondary
Speaker 1: on the outside. And then make it comes away with
Speaker 1: two picks, you know what you know, then you kind
Speaker 1: of you kind of you kind of knew going in
Speaker 1: that you know, making keep trying to keep Maka out
Speaker 1: of this game, and he comes up with two picks.
Speaker 1: One was you know that, but one was a game change, no,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. But just a tough, tough, tough,
Speaker 1: tough loss for this football team. But they've they've all
Speaker 1: been tough. But like you said, now you start looking
Speaker 1: forward to the Jets and and what's happened with this guy?
Speaker 1: And you know, it was funny because I stand on
Speaker 1: the sideline and or before the game and I see
Speaker 1: some guy working out. I'm going, man, you know you
Speaker 1: know what I was. He was that guy, you know,
Speaker 1: And I look at guy's legs must be as big
Speaker 1: as tree trunks. And then all of a sudden during
Speaker 1: the game, I see him rock BiDi was Arberton Dici
Speaker 1: goes in and gets a handful of snap and well,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, I don't think he's in I
Speaker 1: don't think he's in game condition yet. Um, but I
Speaker 1: tell he's a stout, big, thick lower body, prototypical defensive
Speaker 1: tackle guy that as you look forward to next year
Speaker 1: and look, he's had his issues. That's the reason he's
Speaker 1: here with this football team right now. But boy, if
Speaker 1: you could get his head on straight with physical talent
Speaker 1: that he's got to to to to be part of
Speaker 1: that core that you move on with next year. Because
Speaker 1: to me, every every guy like that that that you've
Speaker 1: got that that turns out that hey, this guy could
Speaker 1: be a player that's one of less guy you've got
Speaker 1: a draft or or finding the free agent market to
Speaker 1: fill in there, because that's what this that's what this
Speaker 1: offseason gonna be about, is gonna be about the draft
Speaker 1: and free agency and fill in the holes. And and
Speaker 1: as I sit down and talk to you know, talk
Speaker 1: to We're gonna talk to Mark Walton a little bit.
Speaker 1: Talk to Mark, we'll talk about his opportunity. But here
Speaker 1: again is another young guy that's got potential that that
Speaker 1: you can see being part of the future of this
Speaker 1: franchise moving forward. And so there there's you know, Taco Charlton, Taco. Yeah,
Speaker 1: those guys right, No, got nothing for that guy. You know,
Speaker 1: Shaq Calhoun. I don't know what Shack is gonna end
Speaker 1: up be in. Here's another food undrafted free agent. There's
Speaker 1: a guy. So there's there, There's there are guys there
Speaker 1: that can can really be the core of this unit. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, the real competition for this football team
Speaker 1: is going to start in April. Or in in in
Speaker 1: in March, when the when the NFL season opens, in
Speaker 1: free agency, and then the draft in April, and then
Speaker 1: that's that's you know, that's that's where this football team has.
Speaker 1: They can't afford, they can't afford to have a ball
Speaker 1: bounce off their shoulder pads and going for a pick.
Speaker 1: They've got to make the right decisions and they've gotta
Speaker 1: they've got to be smart about what they do. Know
Speaker 1: if they've if they've got nine picks in the in
Speaker 1: the first, you know, three or four rounds, and they've
Speaker 1: got to hit on a better part of with no questions.
Speaker 1: Got to be starters on this. By the way, Mark
Speaker 1: Mark Walton got him coming in. So let's let's have
Speaker 1: a talk with Mark here. With Mark Wallton, Mark, Uh,
Speaker 1: you're one of those rare guys. You're you're a Miami guy.
Speaker 1: You you went to Cork at Washington High School. Um,
Speaker 1: you go to the University of Miami, be a little
Speaker 1: stop in Cincinnati, then you come back to Miami, but
Speaker 1: be able to play you know, grow up as a
Speaker 1: as a kid youth football, high school of football, college football,
Speaker 1: and then come back and play in the NFL. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's a rare guy that gets the opportunity to
Speaker 1: do that. Oh yeah, and this is something I look
Speaker 1: forward to doing. I've been doing. Um, I'm I'm growing
Speaker 1: up being a Hurricane fan of Miami Dolphin fan and
Speaker 1: an opportunity to presenters off this all season, I ran
Speaker 1: with it and I knew directly what I want to do,
Speaker 1: and I know I want to be a Dolphin. I know,
Speaker 1: um my energy was gonna bring to this organization and
Speaker 1: I'm glad it worked out for me and I'm glad
Speaker 1: to coach. You see what I'm what I'm about. You know,
Speaker 1: South Florida and Dade Dade County certainly one of the
Speaker 1: hot bets for UH for high school football, quality of hype.
Speaker 1: I school football down here gets a lot of guys ready,
Speaker 1: uh to to move on to the second career and
Speaker 1: then onto the NFL. What was about Booker T. Washington
Speaker 1: that gave you the foundation to to be the type
Speaker 1: of player that you've become. When I first walked in
Speaker 1: that building, Coach Ice Harris to Mice Harris joint, I
Speaker 1: mean senior and junior, both of them was my head
Speaker 1: coaches thought my time there. Uh, they basically told me
Speaker 1: just come in and work hall and you're gonna you're
Speaker 1: gonna get what you want deserve. And it since that day,
Speaker 1: I just wor work hall. And we still disciplining into
Speaker 1: the guys, you know, just working hall, just doing it,
Speaker 1: doing the little thing is the right way. Uh, just
Speaker 1: carrying outself the right way to whatever we do, just
Speaker 1: do it on a ten percent uh it because I
Speaker 1: always save you're wrong if if if you're not sure
Speaker 1: what you're doing, just I'd rather be wrong you do
Speaker 1: it a hundred ten percent and doing it I'm not sure.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just want I just come out there
Speaker 1: and do what I could do best to have the
Speaker 1: team win. And and and that's playing football. En I've talked
Speaker 1: to a number of times, and it's tough. It's a
Speaker 1: tough area around there growing up. And and I think
Speaker 1: they've done a good job. They're bringing in good athletes,
Speaker 1: but also making sure that they they're aware that they
Speaker 1: don't do the work in the school room. They don't
Speaker 1: work in the classroom, they don't know if they're not
Speaker 1: gonna play football. And I think it's a lot, a
Speaker 1: lot a lot of guys to be eligible to go
Speaker 1: to college in different places, whether there's Division one, Division two, whatever,
Speaker 1: just places where they can continue their career and continue
Speaker 1: your education. Because he big on that UM about you know,
Speaker 1: getting good grades, getting the right right g p A
Speaker 1: to and play UM football to be eligible. But the
Speaker 1: end of the day, you know, and we when we
Speaker 1: was there, I don't know if they still do it
Speaker 1: now because it's a tough schedule with you chet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we used all have a study hall right at the school.
Speaker 1: We come in and do our work. He mandatory that
Speaker 1: UM make sure we do that before practicing at the practice.
Speaker 1: And if guy's not doing it, doing their own homework,
Speaker 1: doing class work, you know you're not practicing. You ain't
Speaker 1: playing coming on that field till you get your class
Speaker 1: work right. Parents are upset about it. You gotta go
Speaker 1: see the principal see whatever. You gotta have to school
Speaker 1: or first before you being on football players. So because
Speaker 1: I see big on that and it got us ready
Speaker 1: for own college, you know it serves you well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so here you are with the Dolphins and then
Speaker 1: you're you're get an opportunity to start and get carries.
Speaker 1: I know you're happy with that opportunity. And I mean
Speaker 1: this league is all about opportunities and and once you
Speaker 1: get the opportunity, making the most of it? Are you?
Speaker 1: I I know, I don't never know one's every satisfied
Speaker 1: with where they're at. But do you like the trajectory
Speaker 1: that you're taking with this football team and and the
Speaker 1: carries that you're getting right now? I mean, I'm in
Speaker 1: love with everything that's going to run this building, UM, coaches, players,
Speaker 1: I mean my role and then the day I just
Speaker 1: mean it was given I almost say if it was
Speaker 1: given to me was I mean I've worked at it,
Speaker 1: and I mean this opportunity and presented something, I just
Speaker 1: gotta put my best foot forward. And how do things
Speaker 1: that I I I can handle in UM, and that's
Speaker 1: going in and playing football. And if I'm the lead back,
Speaker 1: I just gotta go out there and control control I
Speaker 1: can control and help this team, UH prosperting when winning games,
Speaker 1: and we just try to hold hold each other accountable.
Speaker 1: If you if you do a little self scouting, what
Speaker 1: do you think, UM, is your best asset is running back?
Speaker 1: What what makes you what you are? I think I
Speaker 1: love to go out that compee. I'm I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a football player. I like the pass block. I
Speaker 1: can run. I like to run the ball, tough, physical,
Speaker 1: IM I could catch the ball to backfield. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, it all start with pass block,
Speaker 1: and first I like to protect the quarterback. Um, I
Speaker 1: mean I think that's what helped me get on this
Speaker 1: get this the stage right here where I'm at right now.
Speaker 1: You're looking at the team, no doubt it's struggling right now,
Speaker 1: and then we're looking for that that first win, and
Speaker 1: I believe that win is gonna come. But but you
Speaker 1: look around in that locker room and and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of young, good talent on this football team, and
Speaker 1: maybe not enough to get to where you want to be.
Speaker 1: But do you like what you think the future holds
Speaker 1: for this team with with that that core of young
Speaker 1: players that you see in that locker room. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think got feature bright. You know, we were a
Speaker 1: young team and then the day we we we we're
Speaker 1: still trying to learn to win. Um we've been we've
Speaker 1: been doing a good job. A week by week we've
Speaker 1: been improving. And UM, I think that win will come
Speaker 1: pretty soon. So once it, once it come, a thin
Speaker 1: get the rust off back and we get we get
Speaker 1: that that bit of taste out of our mouth and
Speaker 1: we will know that winn and fielding this belt. So
Speaker 1: we think once we get that first win at lead
Speaker 1: a multiple win so the other team. But we talented.
Speaker 1: I mean, I love to win this fruture. Our fruture
Speaker 1: looks for us. I mean it's right now. We'll be
Speaker 1: struggling about that in the day next year. I think
Speaker 1: it's future bright, you know you. Brian Flores came in.
Speaker 1: He talked about discipline, He talked about doing the little things,
Speaker 1: doing your job, small details, and and early on it
Speaker 1: looked like that, you know that the message maybe wasn't
Speaker 1: getting through. But now you look at it. You know,
Speaker 1: the pre snap penalties are down, mistakes are down. You know,
Speaker 1: guys are guys are doing the right things on the field. Uh,
Speaker 1: And it looks like his fingerprint is all over this team.
Speaker 1: Now do you like the message that he delivers to you,
Speaker 1: and the and the and the demands that he has
Speaker 1: for you, guys? I mean he, I mean, his his
Speaker 1: own philosophy is pretty simple. You know, you go out
Speaker 1: there and just follow his rules and men, it ain't
Speaker 1: too hard. You know, he wants to be a disciminate
Speaker 1: team and that's something I think that's we were gaining,
Speaker 1: were gaining that his trust and that we we allowed
Speaker 1: him to control this team, and we followed his lead
Speaker 1: and be able to own control the penalties pre snap
Speaker 1: penalties and not get false stars, and we just we
Speaker 1: just learned how to build that winning culture. We're just
Speaker 1: trying to get over that little hump. So even though
Speaker 1: the small details about the penalties Preestnalis, I think that
Speaker 1: went very much down. And it was the first few
Speaker 1: weeks you talked about, you know, going through these struggles
Speaker 1: and knowing that there's there's a wind come around the
Speaker 1: corner somewhere. Does that that weight in that expectation from
Speaker 1: outside sources? Does that does that we're on you a
Speaker 1: little bit, even family friends. Forget about newspapers and radio
Speaker 1: and all that type of thing, but just just from
Speaker 1: the from from the people you're closely associated with. I mean,
Speaker 1: I try to not let that botherment nothing, because I
Speaker 1: know what's in this building. I mean, what we got
Speaker 1: in this building. And and and then then they whatever
Speaker 1: the outside they can say, whatever the family can say,
Speaker 1: whatever what we need to do to better, Uh, I
Speaker 1: mean I can know only control. We can control and
Speaker 1: that's what that's what we we got these fifty three
Speaker 1: man's in this room, man in that meeting room, and
Speaker 1: and that in that locker room. I mean I trust them,
Speaker 1: guys in them, and I know they trust me. We
Speaker 1: trust each other, and sooner or later we're gonna put
Speaker 1: it off. I can't really about what the outside to
Speaker 1: think about this team. Typically on a on a home game,
Speaker 1: extra tickets coming your way on home games. Now I
Speaker 1: try to stay I sorry to keep it less out
Speaker 1: of it, less than five. You know, if if everybody
Speaker 1: can't everybody can't come to every game, you don't understand.
Speaker 1: You know, if people don't understand the tickets aren't free,
Speaker 1: you gotta pay some tickets, and they think it's called
Speaker 1: people want tickets from and go. You know, I gotta get,
Speaker 1: I gotta, I gotta, I gotta have a game check
Speaker 1: left game check. I mean my family, I mean, they
Speaker 1: pretty understand about it. You know, they try to um
Speaker 1: come to the games when they get when they can
Speaker 1: come on their own town. But sometimes I'll try to
Speaker 1: get I try to switch it around. Gets free tickets
Speaker 1: to certain people, then the next week, get a free
Speaker 1: tickets to the next group of guy. But man, my
Speaker 1: family're pretty pretty straightful. They they don't bother me too
Speaker 1: much about tickets. Yeah, since you've been if you had
Speaker 1: a chance to go see a football game, book or
Speaker 1: tea football game. I've been in through football games and
Speaker 1: it's glad to see them guys on winning. But you know,
Speaker 1: we we started off very slow, but I think we
Speaker 1: didn't playoffs, so we're gonna we're gonna get it going well.
Speaker 1: Dad County, I mean that's a there's you look at
Speaker 1: Dade County and those teams that are down there, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a it's a dog fighting every week. Definitely.
Speaker 1: Pal keeps them going, keep keeps singing there in central
Speaker 1: Northwest City. Yeah, it's always been been like that all
Speaker 1: the time since you were there. Oh yeah, it's been
Speaker 1: a brutal been in brutal city in interaction with each other,
Speaker 1: with them teams, but it's all it's all fun and
Speaker 1: love again, love of the game. But then I think
Speaker 1: we still running Day County book. Yeah, well, I'm sure
Speaker 1: there's I'm sure there'd be some arguments there, but you
Speaker 1: certainly have a pretty good argument for for what you've
Speaker 1: done over there for the years and what that program
Speaker 1: has been all about. Appreciate you spending some time with us.
Speaker 1: Wish you the best, stay healthy and keep pounding the
Speaker 1: rock man, that's and know what you like to do.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you all, Thank you, appreciate it, Thank you all right,
Speaker 1: Mark Walton, And uh, well, I tell you, you know,
Speaker 1: I envy the handful of guys who had been able
Speaker 1: to do this John to play high school football, college
Speaker 1: football and play in the NFL in the town you
Speaker 1: grow up in. It's pretty cool and that that to
Speaker 1: me is a really really cool experience. Yes, it feels
Speaker 1: so fortunate because, uh, you know, the rough path that
Speaker 1: Mark Walton has taken to be able to become the
Speaker 1: number one running back in the National Football League for
Speaker 1: for a team in two thousand nineteen, he probably didn't
Speaker 1: see himself, uh having that opportunity, and he's really taken
Speaker 1: advantage of it all. All I see him do is
Speaker 1: work extremely hard at his craft, take really good coaching, um,
Speaker 1: and also be productive with that opportunity. You know, the
Speaker 1: guy looks fresh, and the guy makes yards when it
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of yards to
Speaker 1: be made, and he looks explosive once he gets to
Speaker 1: that second level. So I'm so happy that Mark Waldon
Speaker 1: is a part of this football team, and hopefully he's
Speaker 1: part of this team for uh, you know, the near future.
Speaker 1: The guys we talked about being core young core guys,
Speaker 1: and Mark Walton looks like he could be one of
Speaker 1: those guys. And funny, I, you know, when I haven't
Speaker 1: told this story much, but I came when I when
Speaker 1: I came out in the draft, I I you know,
Speaker 1: I grew up in the Bay Area. You know, I
Speaker 1: was on the bottom of the Bay Area in San
Speaker 1: Jose and Oakland's on one side, in San Francisco's on
Speaker 1: the other side. And you know, you grew up in
Speaker 1: an area like that, you're the forty Niner fan, you're
Speaker 1: a Raider fan, right one or the other. And uh,
Speaker 1: I was kind of more of a forty Niner fan,
Speaker 1: but always watched the Raiders because the Raiders were the
Speaker 1: Raiders at that time, you know, and and they were
Speaker 1: fun to watch. And so my my draft here, the
Speaker 1: Raiders didn't have a a first round pick, they had
Speaker 1: a second round pick, was their highest pick, and so
Speaker 1: I get drafted by the Dolphins. I was nineteenth player
Speaker 1: and nineteenth pick in the first round by the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And and and I'm just a thrilled about come in
Speaker 1: Miami because kids from northern California the places I didn't
Speaker 1: want to go, Buffalo, Green Bay, you know, Baltimore is
Speaker 1: a pretty good team at the time. And so uh so,
Speaker 1: so I get drafted. Two days after the draft, I
Speaker 1: get a call from from my agent and he says, hey, says, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, All Davis called because he he had done
Speaker 1: a deal with the Raiders moving Ted Kaual like a
Speaker 1: tight end over from the forty niners to the Raiders
Speaker 1: in a trade, so he hadn't be built a relationship
Speaker 1: with that with Al Davis. So he calls me and
Speaker 1: he said, hey, I got some news raiser when he
Speaker 1: was Al Davis wants you to play for the Raiders,
Speaker 1: he I said, And I said, I said, man, that
Speaker 1: that'd be pretty nice. I said, you know, so I
Speaker 1: could do the same thing, you know, high school college football,
Speaker 1: all in the same town. I said, yeah, that'd be great.
Speaker 1: I go, I go, yeah, I'm I'm for that. And
Speaker 1: he goes, he goes, Okay, here's what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: I go, what said? He goes, you gotta call coach
Speaker 1: Shula and tell him I don't want to play for
Speaker 1: you in the Miami Dolphins. And I said, what what
Speaker 1: he says, Yeah, just call him and say, hey, look,
Speaker 1: I appreciate I appreciate you drafting me. I thought about it.
Speaker 1: I don't want to play for the Dolphins, you know,
Speaker 1: I I just don't want to play. And tell me
Speaker 1: when you hang up the phone, and I said, I said, I.
Speaker 1: I said, are you freaking crazy? You think I'm a
Speaker 1: coming to the league, into this league? And and you
Speaker 1: know at the time, I'm coming from San Jose State.
Speaker 1: I've been to cook two different colleges. I'm just happy
Speaker 1: to be Hey, I'm just happy to have an invitation.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to have a plane ticket. That problem is,
Speaker 1: it was like thirty years behind. And I said, there
Speaker 1: is no way in hell I'm gonna be that guy
Speaker 1: coming out of college. No one knew me anyway. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not like you know Leroy seven was the first
Speaker 1: pick of not like Leroy Selmon saying I don't want
Speaker 1: to go to I'm gonna go somewhere else. But that's
Speaker 1: final le Roight, where do you want to go? Me?
Speaker 1: Going out? No, I said no, no, no, no, that's
Speaker 1: what that That ended that conversation, and really quick he
Speaker 1: said you sure, I said, I'm it was a really
Speaker 1: good thought. I appreciate the thought, but thanks, but no thanks.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine that happens, right, and you you make
Speaker 1: the call to coach and then and then it doesn't happen, right,
Speaker 1: you gotta come back to Miami after making that. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, you know, and I didn't know Coachula
Speaker 1: at the time. The only time I've spoken to him
Speaker 1: as went on draft drafted and he say, you know,
Speaker 1: be here Thursday. We got the twelve minute run about
Speaker 1: the most he said to me. But having having played
Speaker 1: for for Coach Schuler for ten years afterwards, I couldn't
Speaker 1: imagine what what he would have said. And and I
Speaker 1: might have shipped my pants on the phone. You're right
Speaker 1: at that moment, if if actually actually you probably could
Speaker 1: imagine what he would have said. I could imagine. I
Speaker 1: can imagine very well, because I heard he said some
Speaker 1: stuff to me with with with a lot of less
Speaker 1: things that could have been worse than that. And you
Speaker 1: were playing for him at a high level. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I think I think about that sometimes and saying, man, what, oh,
Speaker 1: I couldn't imagine what that have been like. But it
Speaker 1: was an opportunity and it was and Mark's fortunate. I mean, really,
Speaker 1: you look at guys like that that are uh, you know,
Speaker 1: so fortunate to be able to do that, and you
Speaker 1: think about same probably the same situation with Dan Reno
Speaker 1: growing up in in Oakland, p A. Playing high school
Speaker 1: at Central Catholic and then the Steelers and going to
Speaker 1: pit and then the Steelers had an opportunity, you know,
Speaker 1: to take him. You have thought that would have been perfect,
Speaker 1: you know, but glad it didn't work out. Didn't work out.
Speaker 1: Glad it didn't work out for them, and it was
Speaker 1: good to have him. But but but you know, it's funny
Speaker 1: because Danny was up in in Pittsburgh. I know your
Speaker 1: daughter Cash was up for the game too, you're a
Speaker 1: pitt guy, and and uh so he's you know, I
Speaker 1: know Danny went up early, and you know, he's always
Speaker 1: always fun for him to go back up there. I'm
Speaker 1: sure that he saw so many people and family and
Speaker 1: friends and and it's great, you know, it's it's such
Speaker 1: a it's such a cool town, especially when you get
Speaker 1: a day at like you know, Monday, and it wasn't
Speaker 1: real cold, it wasn't windy and nasty and raining. And
Speaker 1: then maybe on Saturday it was, but Monday was perfect.
Speaker 1: You know. It's funny, John, you spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time in Pittsburgh. Um, you know me, I didn't the
Speaker 1: first time I went to Pittsburgh's the first time when
Speaker 1: I'm played. Um. But but you know, Pittsburgh one of
Speaker 1: those teams, you know, still Mills steel mill team. And
Speaker 1: that's whether steelers in in a in an industrial town
Speaker 1: when when industry hit took a big hit, uh, in
Speaker 1: the you know, in the in the sixties, seventies and eighties,
Speaker 1: you know, going out of business and then you look
Speaker 1: at you go to downtown Buffalo and you can see
Speaker 1: the remnants of what that city was. You know, Buffalo is.
Speaker 1: It's still a great place and it's still there. They've
Speaker 1: they've survived and and you know, but but those those
Speaker 1: industrial cities that lost that that heart of what they were,
Speaker 1: the jobs and all that stuff. And then and then
Speaker 1: he just kind of crumbled. But you know, we we
Speaker 1: went to a restaurant on on Saturday night, was up
Speaker 1: up that up there Washington Mount Washington, and the first
Speaker 1: time I've been up there big and you look down
Speaker 1: over that city and it is it's an absolutely beautiful,
Speaker 1: beautiful city. And what they've done and how they've been
Speaker 1: able to um reinvent themselves as a as a city, banks,
Speaker 1: all those types of things, a lot of business in there,
Speaker 1: and you know, I can see why people that come
Speaker 1: from Pittsburgh, that grew up in Pittsburgh, well just just
Speaker 1: their their roots run deep there and and no matter
Speaker 1: where they're at, they're still Pittsburgh people. Yeah, you see them,
Speaker 1: and all you have to do is listen for the
Speaker 1: accent and a couple of words. It's funny that that
Speaker 1: you say that, but you know, it really reinvented itself
Speaker 1: in the health care industry too with u p MC
Speaker 1: and and you know, uh, it's just unbelievable the job
Speaker 1: opportunities with the university and and with business, and it
Speaker 1: seems like it's branched out. It's just not the city now.
Speaker 1: They have so many different you know, Ducaine's there, they
Speaker 1: got they've got a number of numbers, a number of colleges, versities.
Speaker 1: Really really downtown, really impressed by, uh by Pittsburgh. And
Speaker 1: and all was about and then and then the game
Speaker 1: started well, then then the second quarter started and then
Speaker 1: the kind of went downhill. It was, you know, it
Speaker 1: was encouraging to see the team go on the road
Speaker 1: Monday night, big stage, all the eyes are on you
Speaker 1: and and play a half that you felt like, wow,
Speaker 1: that was you know, just replicate that you're in for
Speaker 1: a four quarter games and John those those things too,
Speaker 1: even even that and then you know, talking to coach
Speaker 1: Floras after the game and uh, you know, and he
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, the stage wasn't too big for
Speaker 1: these guys, and they came out it was it was
Speaker 1: a tough crowd to begin with. They shut the crowd down.
Speaker 1: Things didn't work out the way they wanted the second half,
Speaker 1: but you know, it wasn't too big for him. And
Speaker 1: that's all steps and in growth for a young football
Speaker 1: team to play in those you know, they fortunately think
Speaker 1: one prime time game Monday night, you know, you get
Speaker 1: a little a little taste of it. So the next
Speaker 1: time you get in it, uh, you know, you know
Speaker 1: what it's all about. And and this football team, you know,
Speaker 1: down the road, they're gonna play in a lot of
Speaker 1: money night football games. If things work out the way
Speaker 1: the way it's expecting the way I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: work out for this team. They're gonna find themselves in
Speaker 1: all those prime time games, and a lot of these
Speaker 1: guys that are here right now, we're gonna play in
Speaker 1: some of those games. So the more optics exposure, the
Speaker 1: more reps you get in those situations, Like anything else,
Speaker 1: no matter what you do have, the more reps you get,
Speaker 1: the better you get at it. And I think that's
Speaker 1: gonna gonna pay dividends for some of these young guys
Speaker 1: long the way. I sure hope. So you know, you
Speaker 1: we talked about a few of the names that were,
Speaker 1: you know, on this roster now that you hope that
Speaker 1: are gonna stay on this roster. You know, a guy
Speaker 1: like Christian Wilkins that gets his first exposure, you know,
Speaker 1: at a Monday night football game, a number one draft
Speaker 1: choice to the Miami Dolphins, and you're hoping that he's
Speaker 1: he's playing on a defense that has Jerome Baker and
Speaker 1: Vince Beagle and and and ray Kwon McMillan and and
Speaker 1: guys like that that are in von Gottcha that that
Speaker 1: are gonna be around this this team, in this franchise
Speaker 1: for a long time, no doubt. All Right, that's gonna
Speaker 1: do it. So it's uh, it's the Miami Dolphins and
Speaker 1: the New York Jets come to Town hard Rock Stadium
Speaker 1: on Sunday one o'clock, and uh, John's gonna be a
Speaker 1: really good opportunity for his football team. And it's gonna
Speaker 1: be Uh, it's gonna be a little surreal, it is,
Speaker 1: you know, with with with everything that's gone on in
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and what's going on now
Speaker 1: and and and seeing you know, coach Gaye coming back
Speaker 1: on the staff line and the staff. Yeah, a bunch
Speaker 1: of that staff, Jefferson, a bunch of those guys were here,
Speaker 1: and uh, it'll be a little bit like old handshake,
Speaker 1: got a handshake, but uh but it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: good It's gonna be a good game. And uh, well
Speaker 1: I just I just you know, it's for some reason,
Speaker 1: I got a feeling this this may be this may
Speaker 1: be the Sunday that, uh, that these guys get to
Speaker 1: hoop it up a little hope. So they deserve it.
Speaker 1: They've been working hard and they're they're getting close. Hopefully
Speaker 1: this is the one they kick in. And we'd like
Speaker 1: to thank Microsoft Surface for sponsoring the audible. Here with
Speaker 1: us and uh we'll catch you guys next week. Look
Speaker 1: us up. We'll be out on Thursday. Take easy, m