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Speaker 3: Hey everybody.
Speaker 1: This weekend, the Jets Woman bark on their first draft
Speaker 1: with GM Darren Mugy and head coach Aaron Glenn. The
Speaker 1: organization will also celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of a
Speaker 1: franchise altering draft class. The Jets became the only team
Speaker 1: in the Common Draft era to make four first round picks.
Speaker 1: Bill Parcells and personnel director Dick Haley drafted defensive end
Speaker 1: Shawn Ellis, edge John Abraham, quarterback Chad Pennington, and tight
Speaker 1: on Anthony Becked. Ellis, a Tennessee product, went number twelve overall.
Speaker 1: Abraham starred South Carolina, went right behind at number thirteen.
Speaker 1: Pennington was taken eighteenth, and Becked went twenty seventh. While
Speaker 1: the four first rounders were unprecedented, the Jets also got
Speaker 1: a fifth ace in the two thousand class when they
Speaker 1: selected wide receiver Lavernias Coals in the third round. It
Speaker 1: was Woody Johnson's first draft as an owner, and the
Speaker 1: Jets grabbed five players who would line up in forty
Speaker 1: two playoff games for the Green and White, plus five
Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen regular season contests. On this very special
Speaker 1: installment of the Official DUTs podcast, we look back at
Speaker 1: the jets historic two thousand draft class. Sean, what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this being the twenty fifth anniversary of
Speaker 1: the two thousand Jets draft class?
Speaker 4: Amazing when you peel back everything and you understand what
Speaker 4: that class for the Jets really was. I mean, you know,
Speaker 4: for us to you know, have as long a career
Speaker 4: as we had, you know, it's amazing. So that's the
Speaker 4: word I I summing up with with, amazing.
Speaker 1: So what were your memories of the pre draft process
Speaker 1: coming out of Tennessee.
Speaker 4: Well, for me, it was just I remember flying to
Speaker 4: New York a lot. I remember me being up up
Speaker 4: in New York a lot and didn't understand why. I mean,
Speaker 4: after I went through the first couple of process and
Speaker 4: then it was like I was up here every other weekend,
Speaker 4: you know, so, so I kind of when it actually happened,
Speaker 4: me getting drafted by the Jets, it all made sense then,
Speaker 4: you know, they were just trying to figure out what
Speaker 4: they wanted to do.
Speaker 1: So do you remember, do you recall those interactions you
Speaker 1: just said you were up here a lot up in
Speaker 1: the Northeast and New York. Who were you talking to during.
Speaker 4: Well, parsel a lot? Yeah, I had meeting with a
Speaker 4: parcel who was a GRO. I mean it was him.
Speaker 4: The GM at the time was Terry, Terry Bradway. Terry Bradway, Yeah,
Speaker 4: it was him, you know, talk to him a couple
Speaker 4: of times. So it was just I guest to me,
Speaker 4: I was talking with my wife yesterday, I was like,
Speaker 4: remember all the times I was flying up here. I
Speaker 4: kind of felt like they were just trying to hide
Speaker 4: me from going to other teams. Really if it just
Speaker 4: be stuck up in the hotel. I meet with him
Speaker 4: that morning and I don't see them again for two days.
Speaker 1: So Terry was actually Terry was actually hired in two
Speaker 1: thousand and one, and then HERM. Edwards was hired as
Speaker 1: head coach in two thousand and one. But you're right,
Speaker 1: the architect of that draft in two thousand was Parcels. Yes,
Speaker 1: for you, coming out of school, you would won a
Speaker 1: national championship with the volunteers. You knew you were gonna
Speaker 1: go early in the draft. What was that presence? Like
Speaker 1: those interactions like with Parcels?
Speaker 4: It was just great to the point, you know, he
Speaker 4: was truthful with me. He saw a vision for me.
Speaker 4: He bleed in my talents, and he just told me
Speaker 4: just stay the course. So you know, on my projection
Speaker 4: where I'm going and everything could be fine for me.
Speaker 4: So you know, I just wish he could have stayed
Speaker 4: the whole time, you know, doing our career.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, because the rookie season of two thousand
Speaker 1: you played under l Grow and then Herbs was hired
Speaker 1: in oh one and then Herm was on board from
Speaker 1: oh one to five?
Speaker 3: Where were you draft weekend?
Speaker 1: You know how typically people get together, maybe have the
Speaker 1: folks at their house and gather.
Speaker 3: What did you do?
Speaker 4: I was in asking me and John we had a
Speaker 4: draft party together in Columbia, South Carolina, So our families
Speaker 4: met up in Columbia. We rented out this sports bar,
Speaker 4: and we had a family night there and that's where
Speaker 4: it all went down.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: How many people were there do you think.
Speaker 2: Might have been? I know it was a lot.
Speaker 4: It was a lot of my family members, a lot
Speaker 4: of my my neighborhood from where I'm from was there.
Speaker 2: So for me, it had to be over with two
Speaker 2: hundred people.
Speaker 3: Hey, So was there an element of surprise though?
Speaker 1: Because the Jets had to move up to get you
Speaker 1: at twelve they moved up for spots to get that
Speaker 1: selection right.
Speaker 2: Now, it was it was a surprise.
Speaker 4: They didn't like hint one way or another, like we're
Speaker 4: going to take you, you know, But when it happened,
Speaker 4: it made sense, you know, because I spent so much
Speaker 4: time up there and well in New York.
Speaker 2: So actually I thought I was going higher.
Speaker 4: I thought I was going higher, and but you know,
Speaker 4: the chips failed away at failed all right.
Speaker 1: So you said, this is so interesting that you had
Speaker 1: a draft party with John Abraham. Now Abe ends up
Speaker 1: being selected one pick after you. He attended South Carolina.
Speaker 1: With that being said, what was your relationship like with
Speaker 1: Abraham at the time.
Speaker 4: At the time, we were friends. You know, we grew
Speaker 4: up well, we didn't grow up together in the same neighborhoods.
Speaker 4: I'm from the upper State front of the lower State.
Speaker 4: But through football, you know, reading the papers and and
Speaker 4: the banquets, you know, the all star bankers for the state.
Speaker 2: You know, we became friends.
Speaker 4: And it just solidified when we became when we signed
Speaker 4: to the same agent, and then that built our bond
Speaker 4: even further.
Speaker 1: All right, is there is there a moment there where
Speaker 1: you pick up the call, you're celebrating, you're awfully emotional,
Speaker 1: and then you find out that the next pick is Abraham?
Speaker 3: What was that all? Like?
Speaker 4: I think at the time both of us were standing
Speaker 4: there when it happened. So they called my name, so
Speaker 4: you know, obviously I'm hugging my mom and all that, right,
Speaker 4: and then while I'm doing that, he happy for me,
Speaker 4: and then he don't.
Speaker 2: Even really get to hear his name called.
Speaker 4: It was right, you know, he didn't expend for us
Speaker 4: to go back to back like that, and then he
Speaker 4: was our agents like him, Hell go the phone and
Speaker 4: that thing. You know he was going to He was
Speaker 4: coming to the Jets too, so it was just like,
Speaker 4: you know, amazing.
Speaker 1: So you guys are celebrating. It's a festive atmosphere. And
Speaker 1: then a couple picks later, you hear that the Jets
Speaker 1: draft a quarterback out of Marshall named Chad Pennington.
Speaker 3: What were your thoughts?
Speaker 4: Well, I knew Chad, Well didn't know him. I knew
Speaker 4: him from Marshall throwing the random off. So that was
Speaker 4: like a big thing, right, the creed had with random off.
Speaker 4: So hearing his name, I was like, great. You know,
Speaker 4: I met Chad once in Tennessee, you know, just hanging
Speaker 4: out one night. We met, not knowing that he was
Speaker 4: gonna be my teammate. Like a couple months later and
Speaker 4: you know, they called his name. I was like, wow,
Speaker 4: Chad coming to the Jets too as well. So it
Speaker 4: was just crazy, man.
Speaker 1: So Anthony completes it. He's the fourth first round pick.
Speaker 1: Did you think at that time that hey, we have
Speaker 1: a chance to put our imprint on the franchise or
Speaker 1: you just getting drafted is like, hey, listen, I just
Speaker 1: got to take care of my business and then see
Speaker 1: how everything transpliers down the road.
Speaker 4: I mean pretty much, just you know, we just got
Speaker 4: me take care of my own business. It really didn't
Speaker 4: dawn on me until I guess later on with the
Speaker 4: significance was because we didn't have much detail on how
Speaker 4: everything went down. So once we came, once we came
Speaker 4: to the Jets, and then they started calling us the
Speaker 4: four Horsemens, and and you know we're taking pictures together.
Speaker 4: You know it don't understand that it was something special.
Speaker 4: But again, we was young, so we didn't know what
Speaker 4: we was getting into.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: So what nickname did you like the best? You just
Speaker 1: mentioned the four horsemen. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: A lot of people always said four aces as well.
Speaker 4: Well, I think at first of the four horses, right, yeah,
Speaker 4: I think at one point was or then it changed
Speaker 4: to the four ases.
Speaker 2: How it was. I liked the four aces. What's up?
Speaker 3: Okay?
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So did you have any idea that you
Speaker 1: were picking up this stud in the third round? Lavernius Calls?
Speaker 1: Like on Draft weekend? Hey, you actually beat Florida State
Speaker 1: in the National title game. But did you know what
Speaker 1: kind of player Calls was going to be?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean we watched a lot of tape on him,
Speaker 4: you know, coming up in that National championship game with
Speaker 4: him and Peter Ward, So just just getting familiar with
Speaker 4: him through game footage and they actually playing against him,
Speaker 4: and then when he got drafted, I was like, wow,
Speaker 4: you know, we got a good receiver then, you know.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, outstanding receiver. Looking back now, as you guys have.
Speaker 1: Had an opportunity to do, I think here in these
Speaker 1: days as we head to the draft, the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five NFL Draft, what are you most proud of what
Speaker 1: you guys accomplished.
Speaker 4: I guess we're coming in and getting a team to
Speaker 4: the playoffs on a on a regular basis, if you
Speaker 4: want to say, and just just just our you know,
Speaker 4: toughness that that we had considering everything that we went
Speaker 4: through with the coaching changes, with with you know, the
Speaker 4: whole dynamics of the Jets, and for us to still
Speaker 4: you know, stay levelheaded and stay committed to the game,
Speaker 4: you know, and kept working to try to get to
Speaker 4: a certain place in our careers, you know, with all
Speaker 4: the injuries and whatnot. It was just our prowess just
Speaker 4: to keep just to keep marching forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you made it look easier early on in your
Speaker 1: career rookie season, I think you had eight and a
Speaker 1: half sacks, and then you go all the way to
Speaker 1: twenty ten, your final year with the Jets. One of
Speaker 1: your last games was that divisional round victory over the
Speaker 1: Patriots when you had two sacks. When you look back
Speaker 1: at your career with the Jets, what stands out to
Speaker 1: you individually.
Speaker 4: Individually? What stands out to me individually? I think individually
Speaker 4: for me is just my approach to the run game.
Speaker 4: I think for me, the way I like to play
Speaker 4: in the run game and playing in like multiple defenses,
Speaker 4: different positions within the line, having to sacrifice my game
Speaker 4: a lot, you know. I think I think that's you know,
Speaker 4: and still turn out to have a good career, you know.
Speaker 4: I think for me, that's that's the most.
Speaker 3: That dynamic with Abraham. Can you speak to that?
Speaker 1: And do you ever wonder what it would have been
Speaker 1: like if you could have played a little bit longer
Speaker 1: with him as well?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4: I think we could have could have end up been,
Speaker 4: you know, to the best defensive ends in the league
Speaker 4: at that time, if not in the history of the game.
Speaker 4: You know, times, the times that I was able to
Speaker 4: really play defensive end, I think.
Speaker 2: He was gone then, so are you?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I only played defensive end like really twice,
Speaker 4: like real defensive end. You know, all the rest of
Speaker 4: them like two gapping and three four defense for me. So,
Speaker 4: like I said last night, that was a learning curve
Speaker 4: coming in as a rookie not understanding what really three
Speaker 4: four really entails the traditional three four.
Speaker 2: So that's what I was saying. I had to like stay.
Speaker 4: Out to practice every day just to get the stands
Speaker 4: just the concept of what I was supposed to be
Speaker 4: doing down, you know, because I struggled a little bit,
Speaker 4: you know with that defense. You know, because I was
Speaker 4: an attack guy. I was like to get off the ball,
Speaker 4: like to use my size and speed and to come
Speaker 4: and having to be a three to four end.
Speaker 2: It was like so frustrating. It was so frustrating.
Speaker 1: Because you got to be unselfish and that with that position,
Speaker 1: because you're taking on blocks. I mean, bottom line is, hey,
Speaker 1: a lot of the time your job is to free
Speaker 1: up other people.
Speaker 2: Frail for other people.
Speaker 4: And then you know when you see the numbers, you know,
Speaker 4: me getting aim and half sass that year, it was
Speaker 4: like incredible, you know because to me, I'm like, now
Speaker 4: I should have had I should have had double digits.
Speaker 4: I missed a couple, but you know, just just to
Speaker 4: fight through all that and still be productive in the
Speaker 4: past game. You know, I definitely had my eyes set
Speaker 4: for when herm came in right, because I'm like, cool,
Speaker 4: finally I get to go back the end. I could
Speaker 4: to play my position. Me and Abraham will be bookings.
Speaker 4: So we show we showed flashes when both of us
Speaker 4: out there, like we could really put pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 4: Then her and Kane he moved back to d tackle
Speaker 4: and you know, again I had to go through another change,
Speaker 4: had to gain weight, do all that, and it just
Speaker 4: wasn't good for me. And then finally they moved me
Speaker 4: back outside, went on way out of shape, and my
Speaker 4: numbers suffered within those two years, and then finally got
Speaker 4: back on track and get to the Pro Bowl had double.
Speaker 4: So I mean, if me and Abe could have like
Speaker 4: just could have just left us alone and just let
Speaker 4: us play left and right, I think it would have
Speaker 4: been like awesome.
Speaker 1: How unique was Abe in terms of his past rushing proworths.
Speaker 1: And also do you think that he should be considered
Speaker 1: for the Hall of Fame when you look at the
Speaker 1: the totality of his career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I honestly why not?
Speaker 4: Because if you look at his numbers, his numbers is
Speaker 4: up there with the best of so, I.
Speaker 2: Mean he should he should be. It's shocking to me
Speaker 2: that he's not.
Speaker 4: So I don't know what's the you know, the politics
Speaker 4: in that, but yeah, his his speed, his ability to
Speaker 4: get low and bend the corner, you know, and to
Speaker 4: get inside was like second to none.
Speaker 1: Huntington, he really took the league by storm there in
Speaker 1: two thousand and two when he took over for Vinnie.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: Your memories that two thousand and two season where you
Speaker 1: guys started out of the gates slow, you make the
Speaker 1: quarterback change, and then Pennington leads you guys to a
Speaker 1: division title.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that was that was That was a rough start,
Speaker 4: you know at the beginning of that season, but we
Speaker 4: battled back and then when Chad came in, he just
Speaker 4: let us you know, he didn't he didn't wave it
Speaker 4: one bit, you know, he said.
Speaker 2: You know, he go do his job, he can help
Speaker 2: us get out the hole. And we just followed him.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: The defense we had a good defense that year as well,
Speaker 4: so and to go and play against the Coats and
Speaker 4: win that game, you know, was was you know huge
Speaker 4: to have a playoff game at home. We haven't had
Speaker 4: that in a while, so to win a playoff game
Speaker 4: at home against the Coats, against Manning and to blow
Speaker 4: them out like that was like huge.
Speaker 1: That's the last time the Jets had a home playoff game,
Speaker 1: you know that, right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yep?
Speaker 1: It felt like throughout your career here with the Jets,
Speaker 1: like almost every other year and then Rex gets here
Speaker 1: or her and following the old eight season in oh nine,
Speaker 1: ten back to back runs the FC championship games.
Speaker 3: What were those respective runs like for you?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: Man, it was considering where where the organization you know,
Speaker 4: it had been, and where we was at that at
Speaker 4: that time, and getting too to those two FC championship games.
Speaker 2: Man, it was, it was, it was you know.
Speaker 4: Lovely just say it was lovely considered considering everything that
Speaker 4: the Jets went through and to be able to be
Speaker 4: knocking on that door like that, it was just like,
Speaker 4: you know, time, it's been too long, it's time for
Speaker 4: us to get there. It's time for us to get there,
Speaker 4: and just to you know, just to urge and wanting
Speaker 4: to get to the Super Bowl and win it for
Speaker 4: our fans, you know, that was all in my mind,
Speaker 4: you know at that time, you know, we fell short,
Speaker 4: but we had a we had a major run those.
Speaker 3: Years, you certainly did.
Speaker 1: How much of an appreciation did you have for back
Speaker 1: because he's a guy kind of put us hard, hat on,
Speaker 1: want to work, not a lot of flashy numbers, but
Speaker 1: he's a guy much like you on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball.
Speaker 3: Is you knew what you're gonna get from Anthony in
Speaker 3: terms of being a blocker.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, I mean I had to go. We was
Speaker 4: baling every day, me and Anthony. So we go hard
Speaker 4: at We went hard at each other, you know, just
Speaker 4: just him. The pride that he took into the ring game,
Speaker 4: the same pride I took him to defending the run.
Speaker 4: So you know, so we had our battles, you know,
Speaker 4: doing doing practice and things like that. But a man
Speaker 4: is Anthony Beck is a hell of a guy, you know,
Speaker 4: smart guy. You see what he's doing now coaching. So
Speaker 4: he was definitely a person that loves the game. He
Speaker 4: came out, he workes, you know, screamly hard, and you know,
Speaker 4: he was just a great teammate to have.
Speaker 1: All right, So you when you up to the league,
Speaker 1: when you were drafted by the Jets, you come into
Speaker 1: Weaview Bank Hall on the campus of Hofster University and
Speaker 1: one of your defensive teammates is a cornerback by the
Speaker 1: name of Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 3: What was it like to have Aaron as.
Speaker 1: A teammate and now twenty five years later, what is
Speaker 1: it like for you, big cat, to know that Aaron
Speaker 1: Glenn is leading the Jets.
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: Man, it's great. You know, I'm excited for him. I
Speaker 4: hope he's able to do everything that he set out
Speaker 4: to do with the team and lead them, you know,
Speaker 4: to the premised land. But walking into that locker room,
Speaker 4: you know, first my first experience of ag is like
Speaker 4: he always the life of the locker room, always always talking, always.
Speaker 2: You know, yaffing, stirring to pot up with people. You know.
Speaker 4: Then you go out there on the field. He challenged
Speaker 4: you all day long. You just hear his voice all
Speaker 4: day long in practice and to get into meet rooms.
Speaker 4: Then you realize, like, man, this dude knows his stuff,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, Like, you know, the coverage,
Speaker 4: he like he knows everything. And just to be able to,
Speaker 4: you know, experience it as a rookie and seeing that
Speaker 4: it just stepped up all game up even more of
Speaker 4: how professional that we have to be.
Speaker 1: So he left a huge impression on you from the
Speaker 1: get huh oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't even really think he knows it, but
Speaker 2: yeah he did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then when you heard the Jets it hired
Speaker 1: him and he's gonna be leading them to start the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five season. You mentioned that before. I mean,
Speaker 1: how much like do you have a family feel now?
Speaker 1: Even more so to the Jets because this is.
Speaker 3: The team that drafted you.
Speaker 1: You were a first round pick, but Aaron Glenn was
Speaker 1: the first round pick of the Jets.
Speaker 3: In ninety four.
Speaker 1: Like, he's the guy who has blood, blood sweat and
Speaker 1: tears into this thing.
Speaker 2: Here he is again, here is again. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Man, Like I said, it's awesome, you know, for him
Speaker 4: to come back around and to get his his head
Speaker 4: coach and start with the Jets. I mean, I feel like,
Speaker 4: just it's just blessing in disguise, you know. I think
Speaker 4: it's one of those it's one of those feelings of
Speaker 4: you know, it's just I can't explain it. I'm excited
Speaker 4: for him myself, So I can't wait to see him
Speaker 4: on the sideline, you know, doing doing his thing, doing
Speaker 4: what you do. So I just can't wait to see him,
Speaker 4: you know, I haven't seen him in a while, so
Speaker 4: I asked about him a lot. I run into Ray
Speaker 4: Mickens a lot, so you know him, and Ray Mickens
Speaker 4: was really real cool. So I talked to him a lot.
Speaker 4: Ray and asked him about AG a lot. So the
Speaker 4: fact that he even went into coaching years ago, I
Speaker 4: knew then, like if.
Speaker 2: Like that was his his passion. His passion was the coach.
Speaker 4: Maybe he didn't realize that he was in the league,
Speaker 4: but he was always helping and coaching play as a teammate.
Speaker 4: So it just see him now. It just transitioned to
Speaker 4: him being a head coach. It's great.
Speaker 1: The two thousand draft was foundational for the Jets organization
Speaker 1: from a National Football League perspective. A guy, a skinny
Speaker 1: dude out of Michigan was drafted in a sixth round
Speaker 1: by the New England Patriots.
Speaker 3: That was Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: Your thoughts on him going in the sixth round the
Speaker 1: same draft that you went in the first round with
Speaker 1: three of your future teammates and John Abraham, Anthony Beck
Speaker 1: and Jet Pinnington of.
Speaker 4: Course, Yeah, Well, the drift really didn't know much about
Speaker 4: Tom right, I didn't really know much, but I wish
Speaker 4: I wouldn't have been hustling to chase him down out
Speaker 4: of bounds.
Speaker 2: I wish I would have. I wish I would have
Speaker 2: been loafing on that plate.
Speaker 1: So so you're talking about Drew Bledsell two thousand and
Speaker 1: one season, right, You know that was a tough moment
Speaker 1: for Jets fans because you guys ultimately won that game.
Speaker 1: I was on the field that game was ten to three,
Speaker 1: Curtis Martin had more than one hundred yards, and you
Speaker 1: guys played fantastic defense.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, So to be able to be it, well,
Speaker 4: Mo did the major damnage to the hit. But I
Speaker 4: feel if I wouldn't never tried to script the ball
Speaker 4: out the back, he would have saw mode and it
Speaker 4: just went out of bound.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he didn't. So that hit led to Brady
Speaker 2: coming in.
Speaker 1: So unbelievable because the connections are everywhere, right, because the
Speaker 1: Jets ultimately were able to select you because Belichick resigned
Speaker 1: as head coach at NYJ and he went on to
Speaker 1: New England of course, right right, right, So, so what
Speaker 1: do you think it's going to be like Draft weekend?
Speaker 1: Looking back now twenty five years, will you tune into
Speaker 1: the draft to see what the Jets are doing in
Speaker 1: your former teammate and Aaron Glennon in his first draft.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm definitely gonna be watching.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, I mean I watched the draft every year.
Speaker 4: I try to, you know, try to pick and you
Speaker 4: know who the Jets you choose. I try to play
Speaker 4: the little draft guru game a little bit.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: So this is good man, this is good, big cat.
Speaker 1: And who you going with number seven?
Speaker 2: Uh? I think I'm gonna get the kid from Michigan,
Speaker 2: the defensive tackle.
Speaker 3: Oh, Mason Graham.
Speaker 2: Mason Graham.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, of course you lineman.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, because you know Quinn Williams. He needs some help.
Speaker 4: He needs some young help. He needs some young help.
Speaker 3: All right. So before we get you out of here,
Speaker 3: I got a favor.
Speaker 1: What would you say, looking at the camera here as
Speaker 1: we talk, what would you say to a draft pick
Speaker 1: who is going to be selected by the Jets next weekend,
Speaker 1: after they're taken by the Green.
Speaker 2: And White, after they take it by the Green?
Speaker 6: Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you had a message, a heartfelt message from
Speaker 1: Sean Ellie.
Speaker 4: Oh well, it may not be pertaining football so much.
Speaker 3: It's just life, that's fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, whatever advice you want whatever congratulations you want.
Speaker 4: My I would say, keep your circle small, right, and
Speaker 4: that even means your family members sometimes, Well, you got
Speaker 4: to keep that circle small. And you have to understand
Speaker 4: that it's a business and that every year you're required
Speaker 4: to produce.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: So with that being said, you have to eliminate certain
Speaker 4: things from your life. And I think coming in as
Speaker 4: a rookie, you still have the baggage of college habits.
Speaker 4: You have the excitement of getting new money and all
Speaker 4: that goes all the you know, drummer that goes with that.
Speaker 4: So my advice would be to just eliminate all the
Speaker 4: scratch Try to eliminate all discratchings, keep your circle small,
Speaker 4: just focus on the craft that hand, and keep your
Speaker 4: head down.
Speaker 2: There's no light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 4: When you do see light, you can walk out of it,
Speaker 4: hold your head high and say I gave it all
Speaker 4: that I have that I had, and you could just
Speaker 4: ride off into the sunset.
Speaker 1: I love that before you ride out into the sunset.
Speaker 1: What about playing for the Jets organization? What would you
Speaker 1: say to a draftee about playing for this place and
Speaker 1: plane for Aaron Glenn.
Speaker 4: Well, playing for the Jets is an ultimate experience in itself.
Speaker 4: You have you have fan base that love you and
Speaker 4: they hate you too, so it's a love and hate relationship.
Speaker 4: So long as long as you're giving them what they want,
Speaker 4: they're going to love you. And and and that's you know,
Speaker 4: they're the type of fans that a hold you accountable
Speaker 4: and show you love it at the same time, Aaron Glenn,
Speaker 4: you're getting a coach that's going to be that's going
Speaker 4: to hold you accountable, that's going to work as hard
Speaker 4: as you going to work. And and as a team,
Speaker 4: you're going to have a great time with them because
Speaker 4: he's a fun guy, and he's a guy with no nonsense.
Speaker 2: He's idle.
Speaker 4: So you know, you just go in and just do
Speaker 4: your work and just do what he asked you to do.
Speaker 4: Just meet all your requirements and you'll be fine.
Speaker 1: Awesome advice and and we're gonna get you out with
Speaker 1: this one.
Speaker 3: Snowball in Seattle.
Speaker 1: Your recollections tell us what you saw leaning into it,
Speaker 1: and then what prompted.
Speaker 3: You to have that kind of interaction with the fan.
Speaker 3: I want you to have phone with this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, standing on the field getting getting hit with
Speaker 4: snowballs while we're playing in the game, you know. So
Speaker 4: that was frustrated, right, and then we go to the sideline,
Speaker 4: We're getting hit with snowball. So when the game was
Speaker 4: over with, So when the game was over, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 4: all right, walking out, walking out. They still hitting us,
Speaker 4: So I'm gonna join the party. I'm gonna join the
Speaker 4: snowball fight. When I went to go pick up the
Speaker 4: snow I didn't intend for it. I didn't realize it
Speaker 4: was that big, right, So I'm reaching out, like I'm
Speaker 4: gonna just make me a snowball.
Speaker 2: So when I grabbed it and it, you know, and
Speaker 2: I picked I.
Speaker 4: Just said forget it and I went and just throw
Speaker 4: it in the stands and ran off.
Speaker 2: So it was all in fun. I felt like I
Speaker 2: had to get my lip back.
Speaker 1: The Jets fans to this day are still saluting you
Speaker 1: for that, right.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I loved it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that was That was That was fun.
Speaker 4: Was actually that was well, it wasn't too fun for us,
Speaker 4: but the game itself, but planning that environment was fun.
Speaker 2: It was fun.
Speaker 1: Well led to do a couple of great years because
Speaker 1: after you know, slow ending to that season two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight and you guys got going to nine to
Speaker 1: ten for two of the most memorable seasons in franchise history.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3: Hey man, this was fun.
Speaker 2: All right, man? Thanks for having me.
Speaker 5: The Official Jets Podcast is presented by Kendra Scott, the
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Speaker 5: Day Ready, jewelry styles and so much more at kendrascott
Speaker 5: dot com.
Speaker 3: Abe.
Speaker 1: It's been twenty five years since that historic two thousand draft,
Speaker 1: class man, What has the past couple of days been
Speaker 1: like thinking about that?
Speaker 3: That a quarter century has gone by?
Speaker 6: Well, you know the funny thing is, I've been thinking
Speaker 6: about it since probably twenty twenty three. You know, you
Speaker 6: know those years are coming about. I'm like, dag, it's
Speaker 6: almost twenty five years, and you know, and I wasn't
Speaker 6: even thinking about myself. I was thinking about the two
Speaker 6: thousand draft Tom Brad. I'm like, whonder we gonna do?
Speaker 6: Tom Brady's gonna be twenty five other hold ons, I
Speaker 6: was in that draft too, I sai, hold on, we
Speaker 6: had four draft, I said, So. I actually put it
Speaker 6: on my Instagram page. When I really start and realizing
Speaker 6: I'm like it close, Well, I called Tracy perlmant first.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm being a little brad. I was like, Tracy,
Speaker 6: so what y'all doing for you? You know, it's twenty
Speaker 6: five years for first round pick. Come on, what you're
Speaker 6: gonna do? So I went to Instagram and said it
Speaker 6: all so. But I was trying to tell everybody I
Speaker 6: could before, like let's do something like you know, let's
Speaker 6: do something, you know, just make the guys feel good
Speaker 6: because you know me Chashwan not saying it won't happen again,
Speaker 6: but you know that was that was something special that
Speaker 6: happened in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So who brought up the idea, Hey, maybe you guys
Speaker 1: should have a draft party together?
Speaker 3: There in you both just happened to have the same agent.
Speaker 1: Did he come to both of you guys and say, hey, listen,
Speaker 1: I got a good idea, let's bring everybody the same spot.
Speaker 6: It went great that day, though, like I tell people,
Speaker 6: that is one moment besides that, in the sack moment
Speaker 6: I wish I could have again, like just being drafted.
Speaker 6: You know how it is, man, when you get on
Speaker 6: the show and you're just your name is being called.
Speaker 6: People don't understand like that feeling like you will never
Speaker 6: really get unless you're an entertainer, unless you're somebody who
Speaker 6: does something you know that well, you know how people
Speaker 6: are now, people do so crazy stuff on IGI just
Speaker 6: for attention, But I ain't never felt like it, even
Speaker 6: though they boo the hell out of me, I still
Speaker 6: was like just happy as hell, you know. And you know,
Speaker 6: because you know a lot of us kids at the time,
Speaker 6: I was twenty one, I'm thinking all my problems was solved,
Speaker 6: and you know, being being an adult now, like I
Speaker 6: wish I'd had a little more. I wish I'd have
Speaker 6: stuck around you more. I wish I'd have listened to
Speaker 6: you more. I wish I would have talked to y'all
Speaker 6: more and like tell you how I feel, because I
Speaker 6: still had a lot of growing up do as a man.
Speaker 1: But were you you were able to actually celebrate the
Speaker 1: moment because Sean was telling me that here you are,
Speaker 1: he gets drafted, he gets the call from the Jets,
Speaker 1: and you're congratulating him, and then a matter of seconds
Speaker 1: it's you was getting drafted.
Speaker 6: I mean, like I said, it was it was a
Speaker 6: consistent euphoria because you know, it's like if you're watching
Speaker 6: your kid do something, even if it's your brother or
Speaker 6: your friend or somebody like and like I said, it's
Speaker 6: like a connection we had like we first met each other.
Speaker 6: It was like we were best friend, like d D.
Speaker 6: So when he got his name, I called, I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 6: So I'm waiting. I'm like, okay, cool, So I probably
Speaker 6: go to San Francisco or Carolina because the Jets did
Speaker 6: not contact me until the day before and it just
Speaker 6: it just happened. I happened to be home and they
Speaker 6: asked for my contact number because I really my friend
Speaker 6: was like my roommate at the time, because I stilled
Speaker 6: in a roommate. He was like, Hey, New York. On
Speaker 6: the phone, I'm thinking it's the Giants. I'm just being real.
Speaker 2: I thought.
Speaker 6: I was like, oh, I said, I think that was
Speaker 6: the Jets. After I got talked to him and then
Speaker 6: it came down. So my celebration was it was just
Speaker 6: it was like just having a big rush of relief. Man,
Speaker 6: you know, playing four years, losing twenty one straight games,
Speaker 6: you know, putting it leaving it all in South Carolina. Man,
Speaker 6: it just ready to get it started. So like when
Speaker 6: Shawn name was called, I was excited, and then they
Speaker 6: like they leaned over just like this, oh John, hold
Speaker 6: hold on, they're taking you at thirteen. And I was like,
Speaker 6: what so you know it's literally Sean. Like right after
Speaker 6: they said Sean name, his mom is family, everybody in
Speaker 6: the site, and they just he literally just leaned like this,
Speaker 6: hey John, somebody get John. And I seen him like
Speaker 6: trying to get it because I was in the bathroom
Speaker 6: trying to get ready and trying to calm down because
Speaker 6: I ain't known what's happening. You get picked at thirteen,
Speaker 6: I said, what so I had to go right back
Speaker 6: to the bathroom.
Speaker 2: I had to go right back to the bathroom.
Speaker 6: I'm like, I broke down. I broke down, and then
Speaker 6: they called my name and I gave my mom a hug,
Speaker 6: and like I said, like I wish I wuld I
Speaker 6: wish we had iPhones. Then I wish we had the
Speaker 6: memories like that could be just taped the whole time,
Speaker 6: because that's something like when me and Sean will always
Speaker 6: share together.
Speaker 1: B Do you realize history was at hand. That's unprecedented.
Speaker 1: Four first round picks because after yourself and Sean golf,
Speaker 1: of course a couple of picks later. Chad Pennington for
Speaker 1: Marshall is selected and then at the end of the
Speaker 1: first round Anthony Back from West Virginia makes it for.
Speaker 6: Realistically. No, as I got older, yes, you know, I
Speaker 6: thought like maybe it was something that happened before, you know,
Speaker 6: because I wasn't really like you know, I played one
Speaker 6: year in high school and four years of college. So
Speaker 6: that's why I said, when I got to the league,
Speaker 6: I wish I would have talked to people like you
Speaker 6: more talk because you could have helped me out with
Speaker 6: you know, the media. You could have helped me out
Speaker 6: with like John who need you to do this, Like
Speaker 6: we're not mad at you, but we want you to
Speaker 6: talk more like this, or be more spacific like this,
Speaker 6: we do want to see your life or give us
Speaker 6: more some time like things like that. I think I
Speaker 6: could have learned. And so when I got to the GETS,
Speaker 6: I didn't know anything about y'all. So that's why I
Speaker 6: was kind of quiet when I first got there. But
Speaker 6: I said, I know I could play my ass off.
Speaker 6: I got booze, so let me show these people that
Speaker 6: I can play football. Let me tell these people like
Speaker 6: I was worth the pick. And I never really got
Speaker 6: into the Jets until maybe like maybe fourth or fifth
Speaker 6: year in there, because the first three years were kind
Speaker 6: of going like this. You know, I got hurt that
Speaker 6: one year, and the next year I'm all Pro Pro Bowl,
Speaker 6: the next year Pro Bowl. So the first three years
Speaker 6: were going like I'm like, good Lord, so I'm thinking
Speaker 6: i'ma be i'ma be one of the greatest Jets ever.
Speaker 6: And then the DUI happened and it was just like, oh, well,
Speaker 6: still here.
Speaker 1: Though, what what do you think the legacy this group
Speaker 1: should be?
Speaker 3: The two thousand Jets draft class? How do you want
Speaker 3: them to this class?
Speaker 6: Well, obviously the legacy is everyone ended up okay, like
Speaker 6: the end of our careers. You see Chazz working for
Speaker 6: the NFL. Sean is raising his great kids, and you
Speaker 6: see his son's guy balling out. La Vernius is raising
Speaker 6: his family now doing the little stuff with y'all, you know,
Speaker 6: always being around the Jets. Anthony Beck's a head coach,
Speaker 6: John Abraham is doing whatever he can now. So it's
Speaker 6: like everybody had a successful ending. Like you know, even
Speaker 6: though it was a lot of trials and tribulations, we
Speaker 6: didn't end our careers. No one in their careers with
Speaker 6: the Jesus. Well maybe Laverarnius. But I'm like, but we
Speaker 6: all ended up good. Like it's nothing really bad. I
Speaker 6: mean besides, like I said, trials and tribulations you go
Speaker 6: through life. It's just men going through life.
Speaker 3: Yo.
Speaker 1: Why were you guys able to play at a high
Speaker 1: level for so long? Not just yourself, but when you
Speaker 1: put it together, the aggregate. You Pennington, he endured a
Speaker 1: lot in terms of injuries, and he kept on coming
Speaker 1: back two times NFL Comeback Player of the Year. You
Speaker 1: got Anthony back to played more than ten years in
Speaker 1: the NFL, and then Sean had that long run here
Speaker 1: before he finished off his career with the Patriots, and
Speaker 1: Laverni has had two stints here as well. But it
Speaker 1: wasn't like anybody oftentimes you see the draft class a
Speaker 1: you know this where oh, well, this guy played year.
Speaker 1: This guy played fifteen games, he got hurt and he
Speaker 1: just didn't work out for him. Why were you guys
Speaker 1: able to endure and also play at such a high
Speaker 1: level for so long?
Speaker 6: I can speak for me personally. I wanted to be
Speaker 6: the last man standing. And I think we all were
Speaker 6: like that. Like, I mean, like even Sean, even me
Speaker 6: and Lavernce. We made a little made a little pack.
Speaker 6: You know, the first person to do this, We're gonna
Speaker 6: have to pay them this, you know. So I think
Speaker 6: we just had that competition in US and it literally
Speaker 6: came from that draft because I watched Chad. Whenever I
Speaker 6: played Chad, I wanted to give Chad teams my best.
Speaker 6: Whenever I paid against Sean the Jets, I wanted to
Speaker 6: give him my best. Whenever I had to see again,
Speaker 6: whenever I had to see Lavernes, I want to give
Speaker 6: him my best. Because being a first round pick in four,
Speaker 6: you always gonna be compared to which one was the
Speaker 6: best on them four. So you're like, oh, it was
Speaker 6: Abraham the best, Oh it was Chad the best, or
Speaker 6: he was the best? He the best. So I wanted
Speaker 6: to stay as long as I could. But I also
Speaker 6: want to be productive because I know where I came from.
Speaker 6: I knew what draft I came from. I knew I boomed.
Speaker 6: I knew that people didn't think, and I think we
Speaker 6: all went throw ups and downs. Even with Beck you know, oh,
Speaker 6: you know, can he catch the ball? Ken He turned
Speaker 6: to a blocking tight end. At this Cole's had to leave,
Speaker 6: go to Washington, come back to the Jets. Sean started
Speaker 6: off slowly, then he picked it up in the middle
Speaker 6: of his career that he ended up going to New England.
Speaker 6: It was like we always had something go Chad with
Speaker 6: his injuries, like you said, came back, go to Miami,
Speaker 6: have to see the Jets every other day. Dang. Then,
Speaker 6: So it's like all these competitions we always had in
Speaker 6: our head, and it always like every time we run
Speaker 6: each other, it'll be like I think Chad said it yesterday,
Speaker 6: like every time we was here, just like we just
Speaker 6: like seen each other yesterday, like all what's up, man,
Speaker 6: It's just like, ain't nothing changed. And I think that's
Speaker 6: the that's the competition that we had. But like when
Speaker 6: you get drafted in a big loop like that, you
Speaker 6: want to be the best one out of that thing.
Speaker 6: It's just being four first round picks. You want to
Speaker 6: be like, I gotta be up there. I got at
Speaker 6: least match one of these guys. There'll be better.
Speaker 1: You walked into that locker room in two thousand, there
Speaker 1: was a guy playing cornerback who ended up playing fifteen
Speaker 1: years in the National Football League. It was the first
Speaker 1: round pick of the Jets in nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 3: His name was Aaron Glenn. What was it like to
Speaker 3: share a room with him then?
Speaker 1: And now twenty five years later, it's all come full
Speaker 1: circle because AG's the head coach of the team that
Speaker 1: drafted both of you.
Speaker 6: I tell everybody this the first when I first saw it,
Speaker 6: the first thing I felt was mvy. And it wasn't jealousy,
Speaker 6: it was envy. It was like, man, I know that's
Speaker 6: gotta feel good, but also I know our hard AG work.
Speaker 6: AG was nothing like me. Ag was nothing like Sean.
Speaker 6: He was nothing like Chad, not like Anthony. He was
Speaker 6: nothing like the Verneys. He was nothing like the five
Speaker 6: people that came in there. He had his ownly. He
Speaker 6: was a business wide. When you saw Ag, I always
Speaker 6: just remember Ag with a briefcase. My mind just always
Speaker 6: takes it back to him having a briefcase whenever we
Speaker 6: do travel trips or somebody that you have a brief
Speaker 6: place for himself Like this dude was always business and
Speaker 6: the way he prepared, like you knew he was gonna
Speaker 6: hear nobody. We won't worrying about that. But when it
Speaker 6: came to if he had to hit somebody, he would,
Speaker 6: But like when it came to covering and come to
Speaker 6: knowing people and come to like always manning up when
Speaker 6: it came to the best receiver, like he always wanted
Speaker 6: the best received. You always wanted the man the man coverage.
Speaker 6: And if you talk to Ag, because if you see
Speaker 6: him as a man, his stature is not that big,
Speaker 6: So the first thing you see is oh, and you
Speaker 6: try to talk to him like anything else you're gonna see.
Speaker 6: He's about ten feet talk like he has he has
Speaker 6: a presence about him. Like I had a coach called
Speaker 6: Lou Hols. If you saw Lou hoas Lou Holst was
Speaker 6: probably a small guy. You know, he's real frail looking,
Speaker 6: but you had so much respect his aura would just
Speaker 6: walk in and you knew, like, I can't mess with
Speaker 6: this guy. And that's how Ag is. And like I said,
Speaker 6: like I said yesterday, and I keep saying, if he
Speaker 6: has enough time to develop his team like he wanted,
Speaker 6: I can see him being just one of the best
Speaker 6: ever to come through the Jets.
Speaker 1: Would it mean that much more for you as far
Speaker 1: as not just the Jets winning, but also because you
Speaker 1: speak in terms of family often, where you say, hey,
Speaker 1: Sean Allison, consider him a brother, and you talk about
Speaker 1: the organization in such high regard, would it be extra
Speaker 1: significant for you to say, Hey, Aaron was a teammate,
Speaker 1: a guy who I played with and now is going
Speaker 1: to lead the Jets to potentially to promise Land down
Speaker 1: the line.
Speaker 6: You know. The funny thing is I say that about
Speaker 6: everyone I played with, no matter what part of life,
Speaker 6: even Quincy Carter. Quincy Carter has totally changed his life,
Speaker 6: and I tell it about it. I was so I
Speaker 6: played with Plinceton, New York. You know that. So people
Speaker 6: don't understand, like the biggest thing, the reason why I
Speaker 6: think I was always a little mixed up when I
Speaker 6: played football. I was a bigger fan than I was
Speaker 6: a player, So like it would be hard for me
Speaker 6: to talk to Curtis Mark because it's freaking Curtis Martin
Speaker 6: if people don't understand that, like they let John y'all
Speaker 6: in the same league, or I'll see the white friendI
Speaker 6: even though we got to say, oh, this is the
Speaker 6: white Friendian, and I still feel that way to day.
Speaker 6: I was just a big fan of the game. Like
Speaker 6: I always said, I was gonna go to the NFL
Speaker 6: when I was a kid, you know, when I played
Speaker 6: one year high school football, But it was like when
Speaker 6: I got there, it was still like like I got,
Speaker 6: I got the pleasures to be around Brian Cox, Marvin Jones.
Speaker 6: You know what I mean, I got kidim why to
Speaker 6: knock me on my ass a couple of times. This
Speaker 6: stuff that people in life could never say. So when
Speaker 6: I give gratitude, now I give gratitude of being in
Speaker 6: the same space with all these men that I grew
Speaker 6: up watching and even afterwards I got to play with
Speaker 6: Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, Like this is one being got
Speaker 6: to be around all these people, and this is stuff
Speaker 6: when I talk to people, and like I used to
Speaker 6: be like, you know, man, just the locker room, But
Speaker 6: now I see how amazing my life has been. And
Speaker 6: AG is gonna just take it to another level. And
Speaker 6: I think of the passion that he brings as a person,
Speaker 6: just just this much can get in that defense and
Speaker 6: the offense just follows. Because I believe in Justin Fields, man,
Speaker 6: I think Justin will be comfortable. I think he'll have
Speaker 6: somebody that AG can talk to him more like a dad,
Speaker 6: a brother, a friend. And AG liked to be clean
Speaker 6: and fresh, so he understand these young guys.
Speaker 2: So let's let's be real.
Speaker 6: Now you understands, understanding
Speaker 3: M.