Speaker 1: It's type for another episode of Patch from the Past podcast.
Speaker 1: Matt Smith, along with Paul Barlow please to be joined
Speaker 1: by number twenty eight. Can you believe that number twenty eight?
Speaker 1: It is great to see Corey Dylon here. Corey, thanks
Speaker 1: for joining us, man, thanks for having me. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: It's great to see you. It's been a while. I
Speaker 1: know you came back in December. I think last year.
Speaker 1: You're here today, you're going into the Bengals Ring of
Speaker 1: Honor or Hall of Fame. It seems like you're reconnecting
Speaker 1: with the franchises that you played with, and that's got
Speaker 1: to make you feel great.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been a long time coming. I kind of
Speaker 2: went off the reservation, so to say, for many years.
Speaker 2: So just getting back and coming back around organizations, it's
Speaker 2: a good feeling.
Speaker 3: So full disclosure, we did try to get you in
Speaker 3: December too. That's one of our one of our few failures. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: see right, Paul, we didn't get them the first time around.
Speaker 4: But it is great.
Speaker 3: I would echo what Matt said. You know, we're going
Speaker 3: to get into the two thousand and four season, but
Speaker 3: that is a that is one that I think has
Speaker 3: a special place in the heart of a lot of
Speaker 3: people in this area that that twenty four team was
Speaker 3: a special team and you know, I'm really looking forward
Speaker 3: to getting some.
Speaker 2: Of your man. It was it was great to be
Speaker 2: a part of that team. Man, there's so many Hall
Speaker 2: of Fame caliber players on that team. It's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2: That's that's one of the favorite teams out of my
Speaker 2: whole career I played for. And dude, I had a
Speaker 2: great time. That was. That was one hell of a run.
Speaker 1: So let's get to it. You're at April, it's before
Speaker 1: the draft, right. Were there conversations going on. Did you
Speaker 1: think that that was a possibility or did it catch
Speaker 1: you off guard?
Speaker 2: Courty? No, Man, to be honest, I'm at home. I'm
Speaker 2: thinking like worst case scenario type things. So I'm thinking, like, man,
Speaker 2: I may have to sit out a year or whatever.
Speaker 2: I think. I think the Raiders was real serious about
Speaker 2: bringing me in, and and that was that was my
Speaker 2: first first option, and that's what I was thinking, like, man,
Speaker 2: I might be going to Oakland. So to actually get
Speaker 2: the call from my agent was like and he told
Speaker 2: me like this. He was just like, pack a back,
Speaker 2: We're going to Boston. And and and I said for what,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm like, for what we were going to
Speaker 2: bost for. And he just told me, man, shut up,
Speaker 2: just pack a back and meet me at the airport.
Speaker 2: So actually coming down here and and meeting with Bill
Speaker 2: and Scott Pioli, Man, we had a great conversation and
Speaker 2: it was simple, man, It didn't take that long. It
Speaker 2: was just like, hey, you know, what, do you think
Speaker 2: you could play for us? I said absolutely. We shook
Speaker 2: hands and that was that was it, and the rest
Speaker 2: is history.
Speaker 3: So at the end in Cincinnati, you know, we we
Speaker 3: you know, we're only watching from afar, you know, so
Speaker 3: we're seeing the highlights where you know, we're hearing the
Speaker 3: you know, the chatter, and we were like, well, does
Speaker 3: this guy really want to play? But it got to
Speaker 3: the point where it was so bad for you with
Speaker 3: that organization that you you felt strongly enough as you
Speaker 3: just said that you you thought you might just sit
Speaker 3: out rather than play for them again. It must have
Speaker 3: been it must have felt like a rebirth to come
Speaker 3: here and play for play for the Patriots.
Speaker 2: Dude. It was so refreshing, you know, just coming from
Speaker 2: the situation I came in. We were at ends odds
Speaker 2: ends about just what transpired that whole year. So, you
Speaker 2: know what, I'm coming off an injury and and just
Speaker 2: some of the stuff that was going on during that year,
Speaker 2: I mean just compounded the situation. So actually to get
Speaker 2: a fresh new start and actually come to an organization
Speaker 2: that winning is everything, I embraced that. That's what I
Speaker 2: wanted to do.
Speaker 1: Did you have any preconceived notions? I mean, it feels
Speaker 1: like it's almost like a get out of jail free
Speaker 1: card for you. Maybe you'd have accepted to go anyplace
Speaker 1: hosted Bill, Yeah, but here you're coming to the defending
Speaker 1: super Bowl champions. You don't know anything about the organization
Speaker 1: other than they're the defending champs. What was your feeling
Speaker 1: coming in.
Speaker 2: Ah, Man, that was a lot of anxiety, to be
Speaker 2: honest with you, because you don't know what to expect.
Speaker 2: They already got something in place and they're rolling. And
Speaker 2: then you got this, You got this notion of like
Speaker 2: what they really need me for? They just want the
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, you know what I mean. So I think
Speaker 2: I think some people think it's easy to be traded
Speaker 2: to a super Bowl champion. Man, there's more pressure on
Speaker 2: you to make your mark and to contribute to that,
Speaker 2: to that team. So I mean I embraced that situation
Speaker 2: as well. I just wanted to come in and, you
Speaker 2: know what, do my part. And for the most part, man,
Speaker 2: my teammates were great. They accepted me, the organization accepted me.
Speaker 2: Bill let me do my theme, man, So it kind
Speaker 2: of worked out.
Speaker 3: So that's interesting that you had something anxiety coming in. Interesting, right,
Speaker 3: So what was you know, what you said that they
Speaker 3: really accepted you. What was the moment that you sort
Speaker 3: of felt accepted.
Speaker 2: Well, hey, some of these players already knew, right, so
Speaker 2: that that kind of that kind of bridged the gap
Speaker 2: of getting comfortable, meaning that you.
Speaker 1: Could play like in two thousand and one, they had
Speaker 1: to face him.
Speaker 2: You know. Yeah. So I mean just breaking the eyes
Speaker 2: and getting to know these guys, and I mean just
Speaker 2: coming here doing training camp and us joking around and
Speaker 2: getting familiar with each other, we kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: everybody was just like, oh okay, so some of the
Speaker 2: things I hear ain't what they are, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean? So yeah, i mean I'm pretty sure coming
Speaker 2: in due to the fact that less Cincinnati, they were like,
Speaker 2: can we trust him? Can is he gonna be able
Speaker 2: to fit any with us, can he does? You know,
Speaker 2: Just things like that of that nature and just coming
Speaker 2: in and they seeing my personality like I'm just like them,
Speaker 2: I think kind of broke the eyes and we started
Speaker 2: we started yelling and they let me do my thing.
Speaker 1: So there was an acclamation period definitely training camp, preseason maybe.
Speaker 2: Okay, definitely, I mean, and then on top of that,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure people was still thinking wondering if I
Speaker 2: could play as well. So yeah, so it was it
Speaker 2: was a lot of things going on, a lot of
Speaker 2: things that have anxiety about, to be honest with you,
Speaker 2: but just being me and my personality, nothing I couldn't handle.
Speaker 2: And I think I came in and fit in with
Speaker 2: the guys good.
Speaker 4: Was it really quick in training camp?
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously they were a good team, right, But
Speaker 3: I always felt that that old four team was the
Speaker 3: first one that was sort of there was There was
Speaker 3: no asterisks, there was no yeah butts.
Speaker 4: They were just dominant.
Speaker 3: And was there a moment where you just sort of
Speaker 3: felt like, Wow, this team can really be special.
Speaker 2: I think I think when we went off to that
Speaker 2: five oh start, man, I was just like, yeah, we're
Speaker 2: pretty damn good. You know what I mean, and I don't.
Speaker 2: Only only the way we lose is if we beat
Speaker 2: ourselves type thing. And I kind of felt that, you know,
Speaker 2: because we're dominant on defense and we got great players
Speaker 2: on offense. So I really felt overall, only way we
Speaker 2: losing if we beat our stuff and make mistakes. So
Speaker 2: it during that whole season, I mean, everybody I like,
Speaker 2: I like players holding players accountable offense and defense. That's
Speaker 2: what we did all year man, so it it it
Speaker 2: panned out and it kept us focus as just coming
Speaker 2: in and you know the you know the famous quote,
Speaker 2: just do your job, you know, and that's what we
Speaker 2: did and and players held everybody accountable for just doing
Speaker 2: your job. So and if you're off, you're not. You know,
Speaker 2: other players consense that, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 2: it's just the confidence another player will give you when
Speaker 2: you may be struggling a little bit to go out
Speaker 2: there and perform, man means everything that signs up a
Speaker 2: good team.
Speaker 1: You come to New England at an interesting point in time.
Speaker 1: Everybody today knows how great Tom Brady was right in
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, and I'm not taking anything away
Speaker 1: from him. He was a two time Super Bowl winning
Speaker 1: quarterback at the time, but he wasn't Tom Brady. What
Speaker 1: did you see out of him, Corey at that point
Speaker 1: in time as a player, you knew he was a
Speaker 1: pretty good quarterback, but nobody in there wild the dreams
Speaker 1: was ever going to think that what happened happened. What
Speaker 1: did you see that you thought made him great?
Speaker 2: Man? Just just being that ultimate competitor, and you could
Speaker 2: see that. I can see that right off the bat.
Speaker 2: I can see that. I knew it. Just how he prepares,
Speaker 2: he was always first, then laughed out and the way
Speaker 2: he gathered all of us. There's not one player in
Speaker 2: that locker room that wouldn't run through a brick wall
Speaker 2: for Tom Brady. And that's what it's about. He controlled,
Speaker 2: he had that, he had that control over the team,
Speaker 2: where hey, man, let's when he gets going with head
Speaker 2: button people and screaming, let's go man, It's it's exciting
Speaker 2: for your quarterback to see your quarterback to express those
Speaker 2: kind of emotions and energy. Man, it fires everybody up.
Speaker 2: So ultimate leader, ultimate competitor. And I seen it. I
Speaker 2: seen it then. I knew he was gonna be great
Speaker 2: so and he proved it so easily. He proved it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know it sounds a little funny because they
Speaker 3: went fourteen and two and three en route to the
Speaker 3: Super Bowl, so it's not like, yes, they locked into it,
Speaker 3: but it kind of got a lot of breaks in
Speaker 3: O three and O four. I kind of looked at
Speaker 3: it as you were the missing piece, like you were
Speaker 3: that one ingredient that made them completely, as you said,
Speaker 3: unbeatable unless you beat yourselves. Can you just remember that
Speaker 3: year just being that league guy franchise record for rushing
Speaker 3: yards I think over sixteen hundred rushing yards in four
Speaker 3: just the dominant way that you guys went about it.
Speaker 3: You could beat teams offensively, defensively, special teams. I used
Speaker 3: to have a joke in the press box. I would decide,
Speaker 3: like first drive of the game, whether or not you
Speaker 3: guys showed up that day, and if the game was over,
Speaker 3: and it was a game in Cleveland, I think Bethel
Speaker 3: Johnson returned the opening.
Speaker 4: I looked at my boss and I said, that's game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, man, that that was the thing. Man.
Speaker 2: We can win in so many ways. There's been times
Speaker 2: like during that all four season where we start off
Speaker 2: in five wides. We're not even running the ball, We'll
Speaker 2: go a whole two series. We don't even run the ball.
Speaker 2: And I just think that was the scheming of Charlie Wise.
Speaker 2: He he was a genius in running that running that offense, man,
Speaker 2: and dude, it was I felt like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I was a closer, you know, and so in so
Speaker 2: many ways, like in those grimy games, like you need
Speaker 2: those tough yards, that's where I showed up and showed
Speaker 2: up big. So yeah, we had a we had a
Speaker 2: variety of ways of winning football games and just just
Speaker 2: just knowing that, you know what, at the end of
Speaker 2: these games like that late third quarters, in the fourth quarters,
Speaker 2: I show up big and they gave me the ball,
Speaker 2: they let they let me go and I and I
Speaker 2: ran with it.
Speaker 1: What was the nickname that Puski? I don't know if
Speaker 1: Bruski's the author of the nickname. What's the nickname?
Speaker 2: Clock killing? Yeah, yeah, so it's it's true. I used
Speaker 2: to run a control, controlling on the ground, run out
Speaker 2: that clock and there it is.
Speaker 1: And that was really what a way to play football too.
Speaker 1: It was get a lead, you know, and then just
Speaker 1: hammered home. Trust your defense. That's a pretty decent recipe
Speaker 1: for success.
Speaker 2: Isn't it. Yeah? It worked it though, for it worked
Speaker 2: all the way to Jacksonville.
Speaker 3: Yes, Like honestly, for you did feel like a rebirth
Speaker 3: of sorts, you know, to to just come and have
Speaker 3: that much success, both individually and as a team.
Speaker 1: And maybe reaffirmed Corey what you were thinking when you
Speaker 1: were in a different space, you know, with Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: everything like that.
Speaker 3: I don't suss a record for individual you know, single
Speaker 3: game rushing, like you had a lot of individual accolades,
Speaker 3: but this, the team success came with it.
Speaker 2: You know what what dawned on me? I didn't. I
Speaker 2: didn't understand like like being at an other organization, you
Speaker 2: would hear, you would hear like what other organizations do.
Speaker 2: So I never I never knew what the Patriot Way was.
Speaker 2: I didn't. I didn't. I didn't get that. I was like,
Speaker 2: what is you know what I mean like, I don't know,
Speaker 2: is that a code? What's going on? Like? And you
Speaker 2: would hear that from from other places, because I mean,
Speaker 2: I grew up. I'm from Seattle, I know Lawyer mylloy
Speaker 2: and I've been to Willie McGinnis and all these guys
Speaker 2: before I got here. So me actually coming over and
Speaker 2: like in the narrative out there before I even got here, Oh,
Speaker 2: he'd never fit in. It's the patriotet. I was like,
Speaker 2: I don't even know what the hell that is, to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, But getting over here and seeing
Speaker 2: it firsthand and figuring out what it is. It's just
Speaker 2: a guy doing his job, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: going out there playing the right way.
Speaker 1: And I think Paul certainly in that era right around there,
Speaker 1: Bill had a tremendous amount of success with picking the
Speaker 1: right like not listening to the narrative, Oh, Corey Dillon's
Speaker 1: gonna kill your team. You don't want to bring him
Speaker 1: and he's a bad apple. You know that's gonna He's
Speaker 1: a killer for your You know what, let me see
Speaker 1: what I can do with Corey Dillon. Have a talk
Speaker 1: with you, man to man, and as you said, let
Speaker 1: me just do my job.
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Is it when you look back at that, do you
Speaker 1: think that that's part of Bill's genius?
Speaker 2: You know what? I think? Treating a player like a
Speaker 2: player exactly exactly. Listen. One thing about Bill is, hey, man,
Speaker 2: if you're out there, you're doing your job. He's not
Speaker 2: gonna really, he ain't gonna mess with you. Only time
Speaker 2: he's gonna deal with you is if you don't know
Speaker 2: what you're doing. You know what I mean. And for
Speaker 2: the most part, he let me come here and grow.
Speaker 2: He didn't. Me and Bill had great conversations. You know,
Speaker 2: I knew what I was doing. I knew my assignment,
Speaker 2: and I prided myself on going out there and executing
Speaker 2: that part of it. So it wasn't really nothing else
Speaker 2: really to talk about other than xens and o's and
Speaker 2: preparing me for the next situation. It was never no
Speaker 2: negativity whatsoever. So and he's like that with every player.
Speaker 2: As long as you're doing your job, he's not really good.
Speaker 2: There's nothing to be said.
Speaker 3: So earlier you said something about that team being so
Speaker 3: so talented. You realize the only way we're going to
Speaker 3: screw this up is if we beat ourselves, right. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that late season game in Miami, oh wow, the Monday night, Well.
Speaker 4: You guys basically did exactly.
Speaker 2: I mean, I see, I see, I see my image
Speaker 2: going on that trailer. Man, it is way quick. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I remember that game, and and and and since our retirement,
Speaker 2: there's always something with New England in Miami that goes wrong. Yeah,
Speaker 2: weird games, weird games. Yeah, we're we're down there. I
Speaker 2: don't know what what was we We were fourteen and.
Speaker 3: One, yeah, yep, thirteen and one. Yeah, we have one loss.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, we were one loss, twelve thirteen whatever.
Speaker 2: And Monday night, Monday night, we're controlling the game. Everything
Speaker 2: is going good. Man, it just weird stuff started happening. Man.
Speaker 2: It just interception here, fumble here, and I'm just looking
Speaker 2: like wow. But I tell you what, I tell you
Speaker 2: what I think. Honestly, I don't like losing. I hate losing,
Speaker 2: but I think we needed to lose that game to
Speaker 2: reset and get back focused, because I mean, when you're
Speaker 2: running through the season and you're thirteen and one or whatever,
Speaker 2: you can get a little complacent, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I think Bill used that game, prime example, to
Speaker 2: reset us, get us back where we need to be.
Speaker 2: That following week of practice was I can only imagine.
Speaker 2: I was just like, I don't want to lose again.
Speaker 2: You know, that part of itself us. It got us
Speaker 2: set up for the playoff run.
Speaker 1: I think Paul a lot of fans will look back
Speaker 1: and I don't know how much argument there is as
Speaker 1: to what the best Patriots team of all time is
Speaker 1: I certainly like what would be the ill fortune?
Speaker 4: That's my vote, right, But if you think.
Speaker 1: About that in the year and Corey, what did this happen?
Speaker 1: On the other side of the ball, Law goes down,
Speaker 1: you know, Asante goes down, Troy Brown is playing defensive
Speaker 1: back earth when Moreland. You know, guys are just coming
Speaker 1: out of nowhere, but they're making plays and they're being
Speaker 1: put in a position where maybe they're not getting exposed
Speaker 1: or anything like that, and the team is coming around
Speaker 1: you to try to cover up some of those places.
Speaker 1: That was a pretty remarkable part of that team with
Speaker 1: some of the difficulties that.
Speaker 2: You had from a personnel standpoint, I mean, and that's
Speaker 2: that's just the brilliance of the players we had. We're
Speaker 2: you know, could switch. Who Who would ever thought Troy
Speaker 2: Brown can get over there and play corner, right, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean? Who would think of that? What
Speaker 2: coach would think of you know what, Troy, we need
Speaker 2: you at corner this week, and had a confidence of
Speaker 2: putting them in there and letting him play corner. I
Speaker 2: think I think overall what was real underrated is we
Speaker 2: had a lot of good players. Verse of tile players.
Speaker 2: I think that's what Bill likes. Players that are versatile
Speaker 2: and can do many things. And it's that's kind of
Speaker 2: a genius move. We're gonna just take Troy Bown and
Speaker 2: make him play corner and then for the most part,
Speaker 2: Troy went out there and held his own so and
Speaker 2: that shows what kind of player he is, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. So, And but I think I think
Speaker 2: that team and like, if you start going through this,
Speaker 2: this whole walk of dynasty, I think some of those players.
Speaker 2: I think that that All four team is underrated because
Speaker 2: people didn't know the caliber of players we had. I did.
Speaker 2: I knew. I worked with him every day.
Speaker 1: Right, So Corey Dillon's in All Pro. Okay, and you
Speaker 1: were in the Pro Bowl that year and All Pro.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows who Corey Dillon is. Here's a guy who
Speaker 1: I think grows under the radar for a lot that
Speaker 1: really emerge that year, and that's David Gibbons. Like who's
Speaker 1: David give you know, right, and who's David Givens. David
Speaker 1: Gibbons was a hell of a player in that system,
Speaker 1: wasn't he Absolutely?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I Mean he stepped up big when when Branch
Speaker 2: went down so and and that's what I'm saying there
Speaker 2: was we had so many talented players on that squad,
Speaker 2: Like when somebody get hurt, somebody'll step back up and
Speaker 2: and and and feel that voided till they get back.
Speaker 2: I think I think that's that's how we survived, and
Speaker 2: that's where our confidence grew as a team that no
Speaker 2: matter what happens, we're gonna have. The next guy's gonna
Speaker 2: step up and we're gonna keep rolling.
Speaker 3: You get you getting into the playoffs that year first
Speaker 3: game is what I think is probably one of your highlights.
Speaker 3: You know, the game against the Colts here and the
Speaker 3: terrible weather. You get the great images of you with
Speaker 3: all the mud and stuff all, you know, before we
Speaker 3: had the you know, the field turf put in or
Speaker 3: still natural grass.
Speaker 4: Then was that your first ever playoff game? Did you
Speaker 4: have a playoff apparent?
Speaker 2: First ever playoff game?
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, I think the Colts are still
Speaker 3: chasing you. It had to be really satisfying.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, yeah it was, man, it was. It was
Speaker 2: a cold one. I think it was some snow flurries here.
Speaker 1: Right at the beginning, just to get Manning off his game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just look and you know what I'm from. I'm
Speaker 2: from Seattle, Man, I'm used to those snowy, cold, muddy games.
Speaker 2: So I knew it was I knew it was gonna be.
Speaker 2: You know, we've gotta do some running. We're gonna be
Speaker 2: on the ground this game. We're gonna do a lot
Speaker 2: of running. So dude, it was after the first initial hit, man,
Speaker 2: I just settled in and started doing my job. Man,
Speaker 2: And it turned out. I don't know if it's like
Speaker 2: what forty four ground something like that should have had.
Speaker 1: I mean, were that I mean, were you on the
Speaker 1: dives of the pilot.
Speaker 2: You know what? Officials came back the following year, I said,
Speaker 2: you know what, this was actually a touchdown. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: I I wish I wish they would have called it,
Speaker 2: called it right the first time. But you know what,
Speaker 2: we end up winning the game, So that's all that matters.
Speaker 1: That image of you diving for the pounds.
Speaker 2: You have kids, Yeah, they see you see that one.
Speaker 2: Look at d Yeah. My daughter is always like, Dad,
Speaker 2: you didn't play. You weren't good. I'm like, you better
Speaker 2: check this out, come back and watch some film.
Speaker 4: Divisional round.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then the next game, Corey, you know that was
Speaker 1: that that Indie game is hard fought. The defense really
Speaker 1: shut Manny down. You're going into Pittsburgh where you got
Speaker 1: thumped in the regular season, you know, and what was
Speaker 1: the confidence level of going back in there and say,
Speaker 1: you know what did go down in the Pittsburgh game.
Speaker 1: I went down in the first so that was a
Speaker 1: little bit of a what was your confidence level like
Speaker 1: going into Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: I think I missed that Pittsburgh game too, with a
Speaker 2: ham Street in the regular season, so I didn't play
Speaker 2: that game as well. And they rumped us pretty good
Speaker 2: up there, and I know, I got some friends up there,
Speaker 2: Joey Porter and all that, and they was talking cash,
Speaker 2: you know what, they were talking cash, And you know
Speaker 2: what our attitude was like, Man, let's let's beat them down.
Speaker 2: Let's beat them down. Let's go out there and jump
Speaker 2: on them early and let them know we're back. We're
Speaker 2: we fully loaded, everybody everybody's up, We're not at a disadvantage,
Speaker 2: and let's go show them what we got. And we
Speaker 2: jumped out on them quick and they couldn't recover.
Speaker 3: Was that the mindset going in, like you knew that
Speaker 3: you were missing some pieces the first time around, and
Speaker 3: you were fully confiden because they were fifteen and one.
Speaker 2: Listen, Petersburg was pretty good too.
Speaker 4: Right, pretty now.
Speaker 3: Willie used to tell everybody that no one thought you
Speaker 3: guys could win, even though you were favored on the road. Again,
Speaker 3: the fifteen to one team, which told everybody just how
Speaker 3: good people thought that two thousand and four pages.
Speaker 2: Well, I think I think that I think people recognized
Speaker 2: from the regular season we have people missing and and
Speaker 2: us fully loaded. We match up very well with them,
Speaker 2: and it was just a it was just a war
Speaker 2: of will at that point. Don't get me wrong. Pitchburgh
Speaker 2: had a stack one hell of a football team, you know,
Speaker 2: but we had players too, so and that was and
Speaker 2: that was the thing. Man, oh man, Let's see let's
Speaker 2: see who who who? Who weakends first? And I think
Speaker 2: we jumped out them real good. And by the by
Speaker 2: the third quarterman, that game was, that game was out
Speaker 2: of control. It was it was pretty much in the bag.
Speaker 1: And what was going through your mind then, like, there
Speaker 1: can't be many better feelings in watching a place empty out.
Speaker 1: You're beating them really good, as you said, right, and
Speaker 1: you're going to.
Speaker 2: The Super Bowl. My first initial feeling is they used
Speaker 2: to they used to kick my butt when I played
Speaker 2: for Cincinnati, so now hey payback. I got you. I
Speaker 2: got you. So that was my that was my first thought.
Speaker 2: Second thought is, man, we just whipped you on the
Speaker 2: biggest stage in the AFC Championship game. After all that
Speaker 2: was said, all that was done in the regular season,
Speaker 2: all the talking. We kind of killed that noise too,
Speaker 2: and then we're off to the super Bowl. It gets
Speaker 2: no better than that. It gets no better than going
Speaker 2: up to Hinesfield, beating them on their own turn and
Speaker 2: earning the birth at birth to the super Bowl, super
Speaker 2: Bowl thirty nine.
Speaker 3: And what do you remember about you know that that period,
Speaker 3: heading into Jacksonville and getting ready to take on the Eagles.
Speaker 2: I just couldn't believe I'm there, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: a glans It back on where I was last year
Speaker 2: at that time to where I was then, unbelievable, unbelievable.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I mean I put into work, I
Speaker 2: put in the work. But even though when you do
Speaker 2: put into work, some people still don't don't get to
Speaker 2: experience what I was experienced at that moment. So it
Speaker 2: was a blessing, man, It was a blessing, and it
Speaker 2: just reversed back to that handshake between Bill and me
Speaker 2: and Scott Pioli, Like that's the only That's what it
Speaker 2: goes back to. You think you could play for us? Yes?
Speaker 1: Indeed, sort of comfortable circle in that quarry, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's people doubt their doubters, right, people questioning you could
Speaker 1: it happen? Not only did it happen, but you end
Speaker 1: the year with Lombardi Trophy in your hand. That's got
Speaker 1: to be pretty satisfying.
Speaker 2: Oh man, what a feeling? What what a feeling? I
Speaker 2: mean if you it's just coming back full circle like
Speaker 2: from the year before to the end. And believe me,
Speaker 2: there's there's a there's gonna be a lot of nace
Speaker 2: hears for the rest of your life, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's just natural. But to but to
Speaker 2: go through what I went through and then the very
Speaker 2: next year be holding up the trophy says says it all.
Speaker 2: You know, I think that kind of killed a lot
Speaker 2: of misconception out there about who I am and what
Speaker 2: I can do.
Speaker 3: So now moving forward, you you know, you start the
Speaker 3: old five season looking, you know, to win three in
Speaker 3: a row for a three peat. Obviously hasn't been done. Yeah,
Speaker 3: Kansas City is going to try to do it this year.
Speaker 2: It ain't gonna happen. Why Why Because it's never happened.
Speaker 2: It's never happened. I don't everybody's shooting for you.
Speaker 1: Did you sense did you get that? Did you get
Speaker 1: a sense that you're getting everybody's best shot?
Speaker 2: In absolutely? Absolutely? I think the four we were getting
Speaker 2: everybody's best shot. Honestly, everybody's best shot. And I think
Speaker 2: I think the consensus around the the league and to
Speaker 2: most like you know what, we're tired of seeing them
Speaker 2: win anyway. So I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure teams
Speaker 2: are are gearing up. They're gonna give Kansas City all
Speaker 2: they can handle. I don't, I don't seem I don't
Speaker 2: see them three p at all.
Speaker 1: Where did you see the pressures? Besides getting everybody's best
Speaker 1: shot to four was magical. Nothing went wrong that year,
Speaker 1: and so you can't just roll the balls back out
Speaker 1: again in five. You got to, like Bill used to say,
Speaker 1: it's a new year, you gotta put in the work
Speaker 1: and everything like that. Where did you see that thing
Speaker 1: went wrong?
Speaker 2: Five? I mean there was a lot of injuries. I
Speaker 2: mean I missed games that that that that year. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean you gotta have you gotta have some luck
Speaker 2: to to complete the mission of winning a Super Bowl
Speaker 2: man and that and and number one, staying healthy is
Speaker 2: is key. Uh, I don't I wasn't healthy. A lot
Speaker 2: of other players that were down. So we kind of
Speaker 2: we kind of struggled that year. We we still we
Speaker 2: still made it to the playoffs. I think we went
Speaker 2: up to Denver. We lost to Denver, which I thought
Speaker 2: we had that we we would have seen Pittsburgh again,
Speaker 2: and oh what a feeling that would have been. That
Speaker 2: would have been another good one. And I think I
Speaker 2: don't know, I think Pittsburgh did they win it that year? Yes, yea. Honestly,
Speaker 2: I'm sitting here, I'm thinking, damn, I could be have
Speaker 2: to have to stoo rings man to be honest with you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you know, just from Afar, I would say,
Speaker 3: you guys look like you're a little lot of gas.
Speaker 2: That too.
Speaker 4: In Denver, you know, a tough place to play, no
Speaker 4: mile high.
Speaker 3: And I think all the sort of attrition of the
Speaker 3: long playoff runs, Yeah, I think caught up to you.
Speaker 3: But you want to say you could have had two
Speaker 3: Let's fast forward to six and you got a twenty
Speaker 3: one to three lead late in the second quarter of
Speaker 3: the AFC Championship game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, could it?
Speaker 4: I think we might have ruined it for him.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a different year though. Core They drafted
Speaker 1: back in the first round. Yeah, what you're thinking when
Speaker 1: you saw that happen?
Speaker 2: Nothing like? Okay? I mean, you still got to come
Speaker 2: in here and play, like you know what I mean, Like,
Speaker 2: just because you were drafted doesn't mean it doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 2: A great player told me this. It doesn't matter what
Speaker 2: round you're drafted. It matters what you do when you
Speaker 2: get there. That's a great boomer of sciencen. So you
Speaker 2: gotta still come in here and play. And then at
Speaker 2: the at the end of the day, what's the worst
Speaker 2: thing going to happen? Somebody get cut? I mean, I'm
Speaker 2: not getting cut, So I'm not worried about that aspect
Speaker 2: of it. So what it boiled down too was and
Speaker 2: you know what, Hey, we're gonna mix it up. Hey
Speaker 2: we split carries, and that's fine with me. I never
Speaker 2: griped about that whatsoever. I kind of thought of it
Speaker 2: as hell, I need a break too sometimes that part
Speaker 2: as well, that part as well, I never took it
Speaker 2: as a as a negative so and then on top
Speaker 2: of that, man, we embrace guys that's coming in here
Speaker 2: that can help you win. Who doesn't want that. So
Speaker 2: I never looked at it in a negative light. I
Speaker 2: looked at it as a another teammate here to help
Speaker 2: us win. And like you said, man, we get up there,
Speaker 2: we get up there to Andy Man and and I'm thinking,
Speaker 2: then we're going back. And then I don't know what happened, man,
Speaker 2: That big head Fela with the word and pulled a
Speaker 2: number on us.
Speaker 3: Man, And that didn't mean to gloss over one of
Speaker 3: the more underrated playoff victories of the dynasty.
Speaker 4: And that's the week before in San Diego.
Speaker 2: Oh Man, I think I think Ladani is still mad
Speaker 2: about that. When you're question, we weren't supposed to win
Speaker 2: that game at all, and I think they were the
Speaker 2: favorites to win it all.
Speaker 1: They were fortune too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. So and actually going up to San Diego
Speaker 2: and playing one hell of a team, man, that team
Speaker 2: was good on defense, good on offense, and we were
Speaker 2: we were in a slug fest all four quarters. And
Speaker 2: the actually go up there and come out with the
Speaker 2: win was was special that was. That was a good
Speaker 2: win for us. Uh.
Speaker 1: I don't want to trivialize it because I think, uh,
Speaker 1: when you say that you're a part of a trivia question,
Speaker 1: it trivializes the accomplishment. But I do Paul had mentioned
Speaker 1: this earlier. I don't know how many Patriots fans right
Speaker 1: off the top of the head go, oh, single season
Speaker 1: record rushing record, Corey Dillon sixteen hundred yards. That's a
Speaker 1: hell of an accomplishment and one you must be very
Speaker 1: proud of to see that record still stands today.
Speaker 2: I'm proud, man, I'm just I'm just proud to be
Speaker 2: a part of the history here. Man, That's what I'm
Speaker 2: proud of. Yeah. I always got the attitude of records
Speaker 2: are meant to be broken, which they they are. Some
Speaker 2: young step will come along in here and it clips that.
Speaker 2: But you know what, I'm an chaerish it since I
Speaker 2: got it now, you know. So it was great, man.
Speaker 2: It's a reflection on that year, who I played with,
Speaker 2: the people who was around the organization, and to cap
Speaker 2: that that great season of rushing off with a super Bowl. Man,
Speaker 2: that's that's everything. That's something I never forget, never forget.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as those six you know, obviously a very disappointing.
Speaker 3: We just talked about it, very disappointing, and you sort
Speaker 3: of have an idea in your mind of what the
Speaker 3: future was going to hold for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, man, I I just had enough, I
Speaker 2: think at that point, you know, like, yeah, I'm getting older.
Speaker 2: I was like thirty two, man, I was, I was.
Speaker 2: I was in my late early thirties. I mean, and
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, man, I already gave you so much to
Speaker 2: this game. I mean, and in my mind, what more
Speaker 2: can I do or what more do I want to do?
Speaker 2: You know? And at that time, some of the older
Speaker 2: guys that hang around, you know, catch bad, bad injuries,
Speaker 2: you know, so and the style of football I like
Speaker 2: to play, Yeah, that was coming. That was coming. So
Speaker 2: I just thought to myself, like, man, this might be
Speaker 2: the best time to shut it down and go figure
Speaker 2: out something else to do with your life.
Speaker 1: Which is what what are you work to these days?
Speaker 2: I think?
Speaker 1: ANSWERED want to know.
Speaker 2: Man, I'm trying to fix this hook I got in
Speaker 2: golf with the driver. Hey, I get a hold of it.
Speaker 2: I mean, for the most part, I'm putting it out
Speaker 2: there three hundred plus, but sometimes I have these these
Speaker 2: snap hooks. So that's that's the thing on my agenda lately.
Speaker 2: It's fixing that hook. Yeah. And then other than that, man,
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just living the easy life, man, and
Speaker 2: just get my kids through through school and things that
Speaker 2: that just a normal, normal life.
Speaker 1: That's the way it should be, man. Yeah, that's the
Speaker 1: way it should be.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: And then to be able to come back here, you know,
Speaker 1: I know you're going to be out and fans are
Speaker 1: going to see your practice, but I think people are
Speaker 1: going to kind of do a double take, Paul, you know,
Speaker 1: because unlike a guy like maybe Teddy Troy still in
Speaker 1: the staff, you know, Willie's been around that.
Speaker 4: Guys are in the media.
Speaker 1: You guys are in the media, and I think people go,
Speaker 1: Holy Strong, that's clock killing Corey Y. That's here in
Speaker 1: front of us. That's gonna be a big deal for
Speaker 1: I think for fans around here.
Speaker 5: Corey.
Speaker 2: Well, like I said, I've been on the ground for
Speaker 2: a decade and people haven't really seen me. So yeah, man,
Speaker 2: it's it's gonna be good. It's gonna be good to
Speaker 2: see some familiar faces. I ain't seen it in a
Speaker 2: long time, So yeah, man, I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 4: How much do you still follow the week?
Speaker 2: I do? I keep I keep track. I keep track, man,
Speaker 2: every time every time the passes on, I'm watching. So
Speaker 2: I'm on it. I'm on it. You know, I'm just
Speaker 2: a fan now, I'm a fanboy. Now I could just
Speaker 2: sit back from the from the living room and still
Speaker 2: try to call out play. Hey, wow, I'm glad you
Speaker 2: guys brought that up because I was just doing I
Speaker 2: was just doing some media things with Cincinnati as well,
Speaker 2: and like I told him, man that that that week,
Speaker 2: I'm sitting at one now out smart you know. Hey,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna. I'm gonna see both from organizations
Speaker 2: play and then the best team win. That's all I
Speaker 2: could do. No words, no comment, is no nothing real quick.
Speaker 4: We'll let you go.
Speaker 3: Just the way the game is played now as a
Speaker 3: bruising running back does that that bumm you out at
Speaker 3: all the way that's kind of all spread and it's.
Speaker 2: A lot of passing that which I don't It ain't.
Speaker 2: It ain't no power football no more. It's it's more
Speaker 2: passing and I don't And to be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I don't like how the running back position been devalued.
Speaker 2: So it kind of sucks kind of watching watching all
Speaker 2: these things by committee, you know, but that's where that's
Speaker 2: where we're at. So I gotta I'm I'm still a
Speaker 2: football player and fan and love the game, so gotta
Speaker 2: watch it. Gotta love it and hopefully hopefully power football
Speaker 2: come back and stuff.
Speaker 1: He says, the way the games change, that records.
Speaker 2: Are going to be made to be broken. I don't
Speaker 2: think so with that running back by committee.
Speaker 1: Sixteen sixteen hundred yards, it's going to be tough to
Speaker 1: get when you're when you're sharing.
Speaker 2: Those Yeah, yes, I really think so. But I said
Speaker 2: that records, they go find that one stud running back.
Speaker 2: That's God, that's gonna be that throwback and he and
Speaker 2: he he's gonna be able to get it done. Yeah bye.
Speaker 2: If you're doing it by committee, it will never happen, right,
Speaker 2: Coret appreciate the time in great Thank you, thank you,
Speaker 2: great seeing you guys as well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Thank you for downloading this podcast.
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