Speaker 1: It's time now for another episode of Pats from the
Speaker 1: Past podcast. Matsmith alongside Paul Babrillo pleased to be joined
Speaker 1: by number seventy on your scorecard, but number one in
Speaker 1: our hearts at least today, Paul, right next, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you better be careful.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And that's Logan Mankins. Logan, thanks for coming in. How
Speaker 1: you doing, man, I'm doing great.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I really appreciate it, all right, Logan when we
Speaker 1: start these with everybody, because I don't you mean, like
Speaker 1: maybe people know what some ex patriots are doing, but
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of people that go, Logan, Mac,
Speaker 1: it's where is he these days? What are you up to?
Speaker 1: I think fans would love to know that.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm still here in New England. We live in
Speaker 2: North attle Borough, still just down the road from Foxborough,
Speaker 2: and we have a little farm and we raised beef, cattle, hay, firewood,
Speaker 2: all that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 1: Why is a California Northern California kid? What is it
Speaker 1: about New England? Because I think, and I'm being very
Speaker 1: stereotypically stereotypical, I think people would be surprised. Patriot fans
Speaker 1: will go Okay, his career is over, finish it in Tampa.
Speaker 1: He's going to go back to northern California at some
Speaker 1: point in time. Why still New England? I mean, and
Speaker 1: this is somebody who loves New England, has lived here
Speaker 1: his entire life.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, we had lived here for nine years before
Speaker 2: I got traded, and then the timing of the trade
Speaker 2: was school was about to start, so my wife and
Speaker 2: kids stayed here and I went there just for the
Speaker 2: season at Tampa, and then we did that. Then I
Speaker 2: came back after the season and my daughter was in
Speaker 2: high school, so we didn't want to make her move
Speaker 2: while she was in high school, so I went to
Speaker 2: Tampa for the season again and they stayed here. And
Speaker 2: then by the time I retired, we just made the
Speaker 2: decision that our oldest is in high school, let's let
Speaker 2: her finish high school. And then she was graduating in
Speaker 2: high school, our next one was coming into high school.
Speaker 2: So we just made the decision to stay here and
Speaker 2: make this our forever place.
Speaker 1: So that's great.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I was one of those that I would
Speaker 3: have said, you know, Logan Mankins, be back on the
Speaker 3: ranch out and it was a Kathy's Valley.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kathy's valley.
Speaker 3: I figured you'd be long gone and hot to find,
Speaker 3: and then I show up at Bishop Fian. Matt, Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, so one of those classic Bishop Fenwick, Bishop
Speaker 3: fee In tilts right in the Catholic Central League Mankins.
Speaker 1: So Logan Paul's office is now next to mine, and
Speaker 1: I'm regaled weekly with you know how great Fenwick is.
Speaker 1: Fenwick kicked his team's ass, blah blah blah. And he
Speaker 1: tells me, he goes, oh, you wouldn't believe this. I
Speaker 1: read into Logan Mankins other than Bruski, who he knows
Speaker 1: obnoxious on the sidelines, is all the most obnoxious parrot
Speaker 1: of a kid that you've run into a high school game.
Speaker 1: And he's got to be right.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know. I don't get to see him
Speaker 2: during the game, but he's always very gracious in defeats.
Speaker 3: So well, see he's he's being kind. I usually bitch
Speaker 3: about the referees for about a half hour. But it
Speaker 3: was funny. This is this is a kind of a
Speaker 3: funny story. So last year when Logan sun Case Mankins
Speaker 3: is a trumendous two way player for Bishop Fiann and
Speaker 3: my oldest son Will, they're the same same age, not
Speaker 3: as tremendous a two way player for Fenwick, but he
Speaker 3: does well. So we're at Fenwick two years ago and
Speaker 3: it was one of those games where I was, you know,
Speaker 3: held bent for a leather, like if I could have
Speaker 3: found an official in the parking lot, things could have
Speaker 3: been bad. And I see Logan at the I go,
Speaker 3: did you see that whole day? Missing that touchdown?
Speaker 4: And Logan goes and then holding if they don't.
Speaker 1: Call it so, but he was spoken like a true
Speaker 1: offensive line right.
Speaker 3: But what was great was my friends are constantly, as
Speaker 3: you probably get a lot of this, they're constantly busting
Speaker 3: my balls. Oh, oh, big tough Paul like, oh, he
Speaker 3: talks to Tom Brady, he talks to Toty Brusky.
Speaker 4: Oh why don't you where's all you boys? Where's makings?
Speaker 2: Where's all you?
Speaker 1: Bud?
Speaker 3: So don't you know Logan comes over at the end
Speaker 3: of the game. You talk about being gracious in defeat,
Speaker 3: gracious in victory. He comes over after the game, says
Speaker 3: goodbye to my wife and I and I get the
Speaker 3: bro hug. I got a little bro hug. And there
Speaker 3: what you like to make fun of me about? For
Speaker 3: people fraud. So all my friends now looking like, wow,
Speaker 3: you really do know those guys that go what do
Speaker 3: you think I worked there for twenty years. I never
Speaker 3: met anybody, so it was it's been kind of nice.
Speaker 3: Case played some basketball last last winter, so I bumped
Speaker 3: into Logan a few times, and he was here in
Speaker 3: Foxboro at the draft party too, So he's been around.
Speaker 1: And Logan and I'm I can verify Paul, because Paul
Speaker 1: was saying this to me when he came back. He goes,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna believe it, And I'm not surprised, he goes,
Speaker 1: I think Patriots fans would not be surprised as well.
Speaker 1: Regular guy, nice guy parent who isn't screaming and yelling
Speaker 1: and swearing at the referees like most of the other
Speaker 1: parents are fie and hoodie.
Speaker 4: Right with his hat probably just like that was it
Speaker 4: Draper Farms.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, a heart, you would not have any
Speaker 3: idea that this is a you know, decade long NFL player,
Speaker 3: well ten plus years NFL player, with the amount of
Speaker 3: Pro Bowls and All pros, and you would have no
Speaker 3: idea just sitting in the stands watching his kids just
Speaker 3: like everybody else, right.
Speaker 1: And I hope this doesn't come across in a way.
Speaker 1: It's sort as I'm saying, think about in my mind
Speaker 1: that somebody could take it as an insult, and I
Speaker 1: hope it would never be that way. But Logan as
Speaker 1: the second greatest guard in franchise history, You are you
Speaker 1: okay being behind John Hannah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1: Who by the way I spent.
Speaker 2: But they wouldn't change my life, and I get it,
Speaker 2: I'd still be the same.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if you ever had a chance
Speaker 1: to really, you know, watch Hannah or anything like that.
Speaker 2: During little days.
Speaker 1: And I spent some time with John a couple of
Speaker 1: summers ago down on his cattle farm down in Alabama. Crusty,
Speaker 1: great patriot and great guy. I think you guys would connect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got him a few times. Yeah, we uh
Speaker 2: would swap stories and it was it was great meeting
Speaker 2: them and hearing all the great things he had to
Speaker 2: talk about.
Speaker 3: And he just started yelling at you about not running
Speaker 3: the ball enough.
Speaker 2: Well, he said he liked running the ball because he
Speaker 2: didn't like the pass block, and that pass blocking is
Speaker 2: pretty tough, so especially against the talent they have nowadays.
Speaker 1: He loved watching you play. He loved watching you play.
Speaker 1: And I would say, as an outsider, for somebody to
Speaker 1: get a stamp of approval from somebody like John Hannah,
Speaker 1: that means a lot more than Paul Pirillo or Matt
Speaker 1: Smith or any other Tom Dick and Harry because here's
Speaker 1: a legit guy. Well, he loved watching you play.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and John, he was respected by everyone, his teammates,
Speaker 2: his opponents, other coaches. So that's always what I wanted
Speaker 2: to If they wrote I was good in the paper,
Speaker 2: that was great. But I wanted my teammates. I wanted
Speaker 2: to earn their respect, and I wanted opponents not to
Speaker 2: want to play me. So that's how it was.
Speaker 1: Did you think when you were coming out, did you
Speaker 1: think you were going to be a first round pick?
Speaker 2: I didn't know. I everyone told me probably the second rounder.
Speaker 2: And it was funny. The day of the draft, I was.
Speaker 2: We had me and my wife had a little apartment
Speaker 2: in Fresno and we had a little draft party and
Speaker 2: just people kept showing up more and more. Like my dad,
Speaker 2: he's a he likes to have a good time, so
Speaker 2: he was inviting everyone he saw, whether he knew there
Speaker 2: were not, So that was always great.
Speaker 1: Does it make him a bad guy.
Speaker 2: No. But we're sitting there and my offensive coordinator from
Speaker 2: Fresno was one of his best friends was with the
Speaker 2: forty nine ers and he calls me. He goes that
Speaker 2: I just talked to my best friend. They're taking you
Speaker 2: with the thirty third pick. I was like, oh sweet,
Speaker 2: right down the road from here. And then I was like,
Speaker 2: hold on, someone else is calling me and I click
Speaker 2: the phone over and it was Scott Pioli. He's like,
Speaker 2: we're taking you right now. I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 2: So it was great. I was. I think I was
Speaker 2: very fortunate to come here. I'm it worked out the
Speaker 2: best to come here. I'm glad that the nine Ers
Speaker 2: weren't picking thirty two and the Patriots were.
Speaker 3: So you obviously it did work out. You were part
Speaker 3: of a lot of wins here and you had a
Speaker 3: great career. Did you think it at the time, You know, like,
Speaker 3: you were so close to being close to home and
Speaker 3: now you have to go to New England, which I
Speaker 3: can't tell you how many players will tell you. I
Speaker 3: didn't really even know where New England was because they
Speaker 3: think it's a state, not a region. And what were
Speaker 3: you thinking about the culture, you know, the both the
Speaker 3: culture with the team and the culture shock of going
Speaker 3: from West coast to East coast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't, like you said, totally aware of they
Speaker 2: said in New England. I was like, Okay, that's on
Speaker 2: the East Coast, but I didn't know it was like
Speaker 2: right outside of Boston. I didn't know where the stadium
Speaker 2: was or Foxborough or any of that stuff. And guys
Speaker 2: are like, oh, You're gonna go play with Tom Brady
Speaker 2: and I'm like, I'm not even sure who Tom Brady
Speaker 2: really is. Right, I didn't watch that much in NFL football.
Speaker 2: I didn't Up until my senior year of high school.
Speaker 2: I loved watching NFL football, and then once I got
Speaker 2: to college, I kind of stopped paying attention and had
Speaker 2: many other things going on.
Speaker 1: So is that because you Is it because it was
Speaker 1: so much for you to play? It took so much physically,
Speaker 1: mentally and everything like that that when the time came
Speaker 1: that you had quote your own time or downtime or
Speaker 1: however you want to call it. I got other things
Speaker 1: I need, I want to do that interest me rather
Speaker 1: than sit and watch this. Because I'm living and know
Speaker 1: in a division in school, you're working. It's a job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and uh, and the schedule kind of makes it
Speaker 2: that way. So in college, you play on Saturday. Sunday,
Speaker 2: you go in for lifting, you watch the game, and
Speaker 2: you have your conditioning, so that's most of your Sunday
Speaker 2: while NFL football is on, so you could watch games
Speaker 2: on Monday night and Sunday night, but other than that,
Speaker 2: during the day, you were usually busy, so we didn't
Speaker 2: watch a lot of it. And as I got older
Speaker 2: in college, I already had my first daughter and everything
Speaker 2: like that. So the longer I was in college, the
Speaker 2: more responsible I had to start becoming, and we had
Speaker 2: a lot of other things to do to support her
Speaker 2: and my future wife.
Speaker 3: So so when you were drafted, it was you know,
Speaker 3: tackle out of first No State, and then you got
Speaker 3: here and almost immediately it was guard. Yeah, did you
Speaker 3: know that that you would be a guard or is
Speaker 3: that something that Bill had talked to you about beforehand?
Speaker 2: I assumed it was going to happen. So my coach
Speaker 2: at Fresno was Pat Hill, and I got invited to
Speaker 2: the East West and the Senior Bowl and he goes
Speaker 2: He was an O line coach for for Eveland or
Speaker 2: Baltimore one of those Bill, and he goes, I think
Speaker 2: the best thing for you to do is go to
Speaker 2: these two all star games, go to both of them,
Speaker 2: and just play guard at both of them. Tell them
Speaker 2: you don't want to play tackle. I was like, all right,
Speaker 2: So I took his advice, and when I got there,
Speaker 2: I said, I'm playing guard, not tackle. And then because
Speaker 2: he said I was going to get moved to guard,
Speaker 2: that's what his opinion was. So when I got here,
Speaker 2: I just assumed I was going to Garden. That's where
Speaker 2: they told me to go.
Speaker 4: So then it was day one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was uh yeah, the first day always Guarden.
Speaker 2: What I did play tackle a couple of games.
Speaker 4: We're going to get.
Speaker 2: About that athletic.
Speaker 1: I mean, the transition, the transition from college chapro is
Speaker 1: obviously a big transition transition position wise. Did you think
Speaker 1: that that was a big deal guard to tackle.
Speaker 2: I didn't think it was until I did it. Okay,
Speaker 2: it's uh so a guard, everything is way faster, Like
Speaker 2: everyone is lined up closer to you. Everything happens faster.
Speaker 2: The guys aren't as fast as you're going against that tackle,
Speaker 2: but you have more time before they get to you
Speaker 2: to set everything up and the guys inside are way bigger,
Speaker 2: way stronger. I thought guard was a lot more physical.
Speaker 2: The few games I played at tackle, I felt awesome
Speaker 2: after the game, whereas guard, you feel it's like, guys
Speaker 2: right here, it he's too eighty to three point fifty
Speaker 2: every time, just bam, bam bam.
Speaker 1: So I think and Paul helped me on this, if
Speaker 1: you agree with me or not. I think fans look
Speaker 1: at offensive line and maybe other than center, where there's
Speaker 1: an alleged you know, the center quarterback exchange that needs
Speaker 1: to happen, and it's got to be consistent. But I
Speaker 1: think fans will get offensive linemen and maybe other than
Speaker 1: left tackle. I think they think they're all the same. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and when you see there's current players on this team
Speaker 1: and around the league, Hey, you know, we recognize you've
Speaker 1: got position versatility. Oh, we like the fact that you
Speaker 1: can play guard and play tackle. And I think fians
Speaker 1: think that it's just interchangeable and can get on a guy. Geezh,
Speaker 1: why is he You know, it's not as interchangeable as
Speaker 1: maybe us dummy fians like to think. Is that a
Speaker 1: fair statement?
Speaker 2: Oh? Definitely. It takes uh for a guy to be
Speaker 2: able to do multiple positions well, between guard and tackle
Speaker 2: and not so much center and guard. But for a
Speaker 2: person to be able to do guard en tackle, they
Speaker 2: got to understand the game very well and have a
Speaker 2: lot of athletic ability, which they already do. But I mean,
Speaker 2: like position, I don't know how to really pronounce it
Speaker 2: or say it, but they've got to be able to
Speaker 2: flip all that in their mind all the time. You've
Speaker 2: got to be smart. Definitely got to be smart to
Speaker 2: be able to do both of them, because it's different
Speaker 2: ways and techniques to do both those spots.
Speaker 4: Now, did you have to move sides?
Speaker 2: No, thankfully side, which was nice because I was always
Speaker 2: right handed, and then once I got the I always
Speaker 2: played on the left side. And once you get stuck, well,
Speaker 2: for me personally, once I got in that left handed stance,
Speaker 2: that was the only one I was ever gonna be
Speaker 2: able to do again, I get in a right hand
Speaker 2: stance and I feel funky.
Speaker 1: When you got here, Logan, you know, rookie first rounder.
Speaker 1: So you come with that kind of baggage, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, oh, here's a guy I gotta guarantee blah
Speaker 1: blah blah. Who is there somebody that you can think
Speaker 1: of that helped you the most to help make that
Speaker 1: transition to NFL offensive lineman from college. How do you
Speaker 1: recall that rookie year and who helped you along? And
Speaker 1: because I think what people say now they consider they
Speaker 1: they don't remember it, but they should remember it. We're
Speaker 1: talking about a plug and play guy started just like that.
Speaker 1: And then again another thing, I think, Oh, anybody can
Speaker 1: do it, No, nobody, not everybody can do it. You
Speaker 1: have to be a Logan Magans kind of person to
Speaker 1: do it well.
Speaker 2: There was a lot of bumps in the road. It
Speaker 2: wasn't always beautiful. I remember getting yelled at plenty of
Speaker 2: times and nothing Scar Scar Bill whoever you didn't think
Speaker 2: of in there, but let Tom get hit plenty of times.
Speaker 2: But you learned as you go, and by the halfway
Speaker 2: part point of the season, I felt pretty comfortable and
Speaker 2: what I was doing and it wasn't as bad as
Speaker 2: those first few games. But there was lots of guys
Speaker 2: that helped. First of all, I had an awesome O
Speaker 2: line coach that was I'm so lucky and fortunate to
Speaker 2: play for him. I wouldn't have wanted to play for
Speaker 2: anyone else. So I had that going for me. I
Speaker 2: had a lot of older guys in our room that
Speaker 2: they were here to win, like Matt, like Cop and Neil,
Speaker 2: those guys, that's all they wanted to do was win.
Speaker 2: And they just because you were a rookie didn't mean anything.
Speaker 2: They would help you. You were their teammate. So that
Speaker 2: was awesome. There was like we didn't have rookie Hazy
Speaker 2: and the craft like that. We were all there for
Speaker 2: one purpose. Matt was awesome. I remember we got here
Speaker 2: and was that rookie camp for OTAs or something, and
Speaker 2: he invited my wife and our children over to meet
Speaker 2: his wife and children, just to make the whole transition easier.
Speaker 2: So having guys like that in your locker room makes
Speaker 2: life a lot easier when you're already dealing with stuff
Speaker 2: you have no idea. You're learning every day as you
Speaker 2: go as a rookie, so having older guys that are
Speaker 2: willing to help you is great.
Speaker 3: So I found it interesting when you said, you know,
Speaker 3: you got drafted by the Patriots, and oh, you're going
Speaker 3: to go and block for Tom Brady and you're like,
Speaker 3: I'm not really even sure who Tom Brady is. How
Speaker 3: long did it take you to sort of realize that
Speaker 3: he was a little different than just the other teams
Speaker 3: starting quarterbacks. And what was it like sort of getting
Speaker 3: indoctrinated into that.
Speaker 2: Well, it was great Tom. He's a special player, as
Speaker 2: everyone already knows, but he's also a special leader and
Speaker 2: a special guy. He was a great teammate to have.
Speaker 2: You wanted a block for the guy. The coaches wanted
Speaker 2: you to make every block for him, and just that
Speaker 2: makes it so much better when you really respect and
Speaker 2: you like the guy, and you know he cares about
Speaker 2: you and you care about him. And that's why we
Speaker 2: wanted to make the blocks for him. We didn't do
Speaker 2: it just because it was our job. We actually liked
Speaker 2: and respected him and wanted him to do good. So,
Speaker 2: but there was lots of guys on this team I
Speaker 2: didn't know anything about. I remember my rookie year, Richard
Speaker 2: Seymour was here and he was holding out and I
Speaker 2: was like, who's this guy everyone's talking about. I found
Speaker 2: out the first day he came back. He was a handful.
Speaker 2: So I got a lot of welcome to New England moments.
Speaker 1: Was what was that like lining up against Richard Seymour
Speaker 1: when he comes back.
Speaker 2: Oh it was. I still didn't know who he was
Speaker 2: but I or what he did, but I was like, damn,
Speaker 2: this guy is big. What the heck? And then of
Speaker 2: course where he lines up every day for practices right
Speaker 2: over me, and the first one I want he ran
Speaker 2: me over. I was like, holy shit, I better better
Speaker 2: figure out how to block guys like this. And then
Speaker 2: we went to the first game and I was like,
Speaker 2: oh man, everyone's not like I was like, thankfully not
Speaker 2: everyone's like this guy does it?
Speaker 1: Did it not surprise you? Logan? I mean it took
Speaker 1: him probably a little longer than I think, maybe he
Speaker 1: wanted or some of the people a little closest to him.
Speaker 1: But is it no surprise? Do you have to get
Speaker 1: knocked on your asp by Richard Seymore that he's in
Speaker 1: the Professional Football Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he should have been there. There was no
Speaker 2: question he was special talent. Not everyone has got his
Speaker 2: a bilit He's so tall and long, and he's strong
Speaker 2: and athletic, and he had the right mentality and he
Speaker 2: was just a very good player. He was smart too,
Speaker 2: So maybe playing here is first. I don't know. However,
Speaker 2: many years when he was asked to take on double
Speaker 2: teams and not get the sack numbers. That probably slowed
Speaker 2: him down, But as far as impacting the game, he
Speaker 2: made a big impact. And I know he helped me too,
Speaker 2: because I practiced against him every day for like four
Speaker 2: or five six years something like that, and we had
Speaker 2: lots of fights and all kinds of stuff, But when
Speaker 2: we got to the locker room, we always talked about
Speaker 2: how to. I would ask him what he looked at sometimes,
Speaker 2: and he would ask me, like, how do you get
Speaker 2: the hands off? And this kind of thing and that
Speaker 2: thing just from guys that a different point of view
Speaker 2: than a coach's point of view, like the guy that's
Speaker 2: actually doing it. So I always had a lot of
Speaker 2: respect for him.
Speaker 3: You talked about being, you know, selfless and you know,
Speaker 3: like Richard was, but you obviously displayed that you talked about.
Speaker 3: Don't forget that you played tackle a little bit, Matt Scott.
Speaker 3: You know that the anecdote from Dante about the day
Speaker 3: that you had to play tackle like on a moment's notice.
Speaker 1: So we were this was your first year. Both Paul
Speaker 1: and I are kind of embarrassed about it. To be
Speaker 1: perfectly honest with you, I don't want to put words
Speaker 1: in Paul's mouth. But we're part of the Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame committee to select people to get on the ballot,
Speaker 1: and then legitimately when the people get on the ballot,
Speaker 1: it's a fan vote, you know, and as you can
Speaker 1: imagine skill position, guys, you know we're gonna get the
Speaker 1: fan vote. But this is the first year that you
Speaker 1: were on that ballot. And so it's part of one
Speaker 1: of the things that I do here is, hey, who
Speaker 1: can who's a great person as an ambassador for Richard's,
Speaker 1: for Ty Law, for Teddy Bruski, for Logan Mankins, that
Speaker 1: can really speak to who that person was as a
Speaker 1: player and why they deserve to be why did they
Speaker 1: think they would be a great Patriot Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: And of course we went to Dante, and so we're
Speaker 1: talking to Dante and he's giving you all the platitudes
Speaker 1: that you could think of that Dante would give you
Speaker 1: nobody tougher comparing you as somebody who did coach. He
Speaker 1: wasn't maybe an offensive line coach, but he was on
Speaker 1: the team when Hannah was here, So it's not blasphemy
Speaker 1: for him to mention your name and to me that
Speaker 1: that's an awful lot of credibility, but we stopped after
Speaker 1: one point. All right, Dante, that was great. He goes,
Speaker 1: I'd like to say one more thing. This is really
Speaker 1: important to me. And he talked about again how selfless
Speaker 1: you were and the fact that I don't know, I
Speaker 1: guess it was light probably who got hurt. And you're
Speaker 1: playing the Ravens and you're, hey, guess what, Logan, you're
Speaker 1: playing tackle this week? And that's the Ravens with Terrell
Speaker 1: Suggs and somebody like that. And he talked about how
Speaker 1: you nearly pitched a shutout that game, but you were
Speaker 1: pissed on one particular play that maybe Suggs got a
Speaker 1: hand up or maybe like sort of swept and knocked
Speaker 1: Tom down. And he talked about how pissed you were
Speaker 1: about that, and he goes, you know, it's okay for
Speaker 1: the quarterback to get rid of the ball too, Logan,
Speaker 1: don't blame that one on you. But that's how he thought.
Speaker 1: That's how he felt about you. Do you remember that
Speaker 1: game in that week having to kick out?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I still remember. I shouldn't got beat on that one.
Speaker 2: I just went sit a little too far. I got
Speaker 2: feeling too comfortable and he got me on it up
Speaker 2: and under. But yeah, those games we uh. I actually
Speaker 2: liked going out to tackle every now and then, just
Speaker 2: I don't know. It was fun just to change it
Speaker 2: up every now and then. But that was the second time.
Speaker 2: The first time I played tackle, I didn't find out
Speaker 2: untill like twenty minutes before the game, So that one
Speaker 2: was a little tougher. But the one against the Ravens
Speaker 2: was nice because I actually got to practice all week
Speaker 2: at tackle, so that was a lot better. But it
Speaker 2: was I like tackle, It was fun.
Speaker 4: What was the other one?
Speaker 2: Miami am home? And then one time I had to
Speaker 2: play the second half I think against the Texans or something.
Speaker 2: So how was the backup tackle?
Speaker 3: It amazes me, Like what does he say? Like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I got I set to what I got. I got
Speaker 3: up and under it like it was probably twenty years
Speaker 3: ago at this point, Like exactly.
Speaker 2: You remember your bad places, remember the good ones.
Speaker 3: Oh, I can tell you about the Tate measure home
Speaker 3: runs I allowed in college, but I don't want to
Speaker 3: have to get to that's another podcast for a different time, right,
Speaker 3: Just you know, again, I want to stay with the
Speaker 3: teammate and the selflessness and the season you played on
Speaker 3: a twenty ACL. Well, you know, Philip Rivers played a quarterback,
Speaker 3: you know, in the AOC Championship game against you guys
Speaker 3: on a twenty ACL, and I think it was one
Speaker 3: of the more heroic performances I've seen.
Speaker 4: You played a whole season like that, Like, how do
Speaker 4: you how do you do that?
Speaker 2: I don't know. They said maybe always loose, used to
Speaker 2: having a loose knee or something. I don't know, but
Speaker 2: I had to wear one of those weird braces for
Speaker 2: most of the year, and uh, it hurt for the
Speaker 2: first couple of games and then it just kind of
Speaker 2: went away. So and then after the season we went
Speaker 2: and saw the doctor and he's like, this thing's been
Speaker 2: torn a long time.
Speaker 3: Oh so you didn't realize it until.
Speaker 2: We didn't know it was fully torn.
Speaker 4: It's one of those don't ask doctors just kind.
Speaker 2: Of shook it around and said, well, what do you think.
Speaker 2: And I was like, well, let me give it a
Speaker 2: shot this week at practice and he's like all right.
Speaker 2: And then I got through drills, I was like, we'll
Speaker 2: just go with it. He's like, all right, well we
Speaker 2: need to get it checked out later.
Speaker 3: So see, people think that sometimes you overstate just how
Speaker 3: matter of fact people are about things. This is logan, Manking,
Speaker 3: this is how he was in the locker room after games.
Speaker 3: He would talk about, you know, the game plan and
Speaker 3: what they did well, and it was the same level
Speaker 3: of intensity and just.
Speaker 4: Matter of fact everything. Yeah, well you know what do
Speaker 4: you think? Yeah, well I can give it a shot
Speaker 4: a practice. I can see if I can play.
Speaker 3: He had a twenty cl right, and it's like it's
Speaker 3: his job. It's no big deal. I'm just going to
Speaker 3: go out and get the job done.
Speaker 1: Do you get embarras when you hear that logan? Like
Speaker 1: people like Paul and I want to keep praise on
Speaker 1: you for that. You're an offensive lineman. You probably don't
Speaker 1: give a sugar about like, yeah, that's what I was supposed.
Speaker 2: To do well. Everyone loves to be praised, but I
Speaker 2: do get embarrassed when it's in front of me. I'd rather.
Speaker 3: I don't want to embarrass you believe me, and I'm
Speaker 3: not like you know, I've been. I've been Matt and
Speaker 3: I have been here for over twenty years. So it's like,
Speaker 3: you know, it's not like the wide eyed Chris Farley
Speaker 3: on Saday Night Live, like that was awesome. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm not in awe, you know, but but that's an
Speaker 3: awesome and are inspiring.
Speaker 4: That's season.
Speaker 1: Most people sadly today at work have the sniffles and
Speaker 1: they're down for three days, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: And so when somebody says, no, it's important to go
Speaker 1: to work, and I might not be feeling one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: but I still think I can do my job. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's that's different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's well. I think people used to ask me
Speaker 2: why I did it, and I was like, well, my
Speaker 2: dad always said, if you can go to work, you
Speaker 2: go to work. And he always joked to just tape
Speaker 2: an aspirinto it and you'll be all right.
Speaker 1: Did you try it?
Speaker 2: No? But it was it was fine. It hurt for
Speaker 2: a while and then it went away, and then it
Speaker 2: just uh. I really noticed it. As the season went on,
Speaker 2: there was no more squatting in the weight room, like
Speaker 2: that stuff was not happening anymore. Or if you like
Speaker 2: tried to walk down an incline, you could feel your
Speaker 2: knee sliding. But so thankfully the football fields aren't inclined.
Speaker 3: I think you know, your league is filled with really
Speaker 3: really tough players and like, yeah, I mean, I see
Speaker 3: what you guys go through. I remember the other Algae
Speaker 3: Crumpler was here. I don't know if you guys crossed.
Speaker 3: I forget the timeline, but what he went through to
Speaker 3: play every week was ridiculous and you could see the toughness.
Speaker 3: But I think a lot of people in your situation
Speaker 3: Logan would have said, this is my career. I have
Speaker 3: a finite amount of time to earn money, and if
Speaker 3: I play in a torn a c oh it might
Speaker 3: affect my performance. It could affect my salary down the
Speaker 3: look they're gonna probably look to, you know, makee me
Speaker 3: take a haircut next year, or if I'm going to
Speaker 3: be a free agent. But yet you put all that
Speaker 3: aside and just said, no, I have a job to
Speaker 3: do and I'm going to go out and do it.
Speaker 2: Well. I was fortunate. I just signed a big contract
Speaker 2: and then all that I say fun of the guys
Speaker 2: around the league that would get this big deal, and
Speaker 2: then they would get hurt, and I was.
Speaker 4: Like, this is what people do, and dis guys are
Speaker 4: tough too.
Speaker 2: Like in our locker room. I would make fun of
Speaker 2: guys like that, and so then I'm possibly hurt, not
Speaker 2: one hundred percent knowing if I'm hurt or not. And
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, I don't want to be that guy
Speaker 2: that I've been ragging on for my.
Speaker 1: Whole career already, right, you don't want to be a fraud.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And up until that point, I what was that
Speaker 2: my sixth year. I'd never missed a practice or game.
Speaker 2: So I was like, I can't I can't start getting
Speaker 2: hurt now. Then I did get a few practices off
Speaker 2: that year.
Speaker 1: So then logan is is that all part of maybe
Speaker 1: your principle and your values, because I do think Patriot
Speaker 1: fans remember that you wanted to take a stand. You
Speaker 1: felt like that Paul helped me out in the language
Speaker 1: of it, you know, with a rookie contract or something
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 3: Right, you got I mean, you got screwed. I mean,
Speaker 3: let's say like you're going to be a free agent.
Speaker 3: And then that uncapped year came in, I think in
Speaker 3: ten something like that, right after night, and they changed
Speaker 3: the minimum years for you know, went up to six years.
Speaker 3: And that's what led to your.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hold led to an argument in a holdout.
Speaker 1: So but in that case, you're you're not doing anything
Speaker 1: different than playing on a torn acl it's I'm here
Speaker 1: to do a job. Wait a minute, I'm here to
Speaker 1: do a job. But why are the rules changing on him?
Speaker 1: This isn't fair and I need to take a Stanford.
Speaker 1: Is that all part of the principles that make up
Speaker 1: logan makings?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, definitely. And technically we called a hold out,
Speaker 2: But it wasn't a holdout because I wasn't.
Speaker 4: Right, right, you weren't. Yeah, really absolutely.
Speaker 2: I didn't refuse to come to work. I just chose
Speaker 2: not to be on a team yet, right, And it
Speaker 2: was all about money and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: But was that hard for you Logan to do that?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah it was. It was hard at first until
Speaker 2: I made up my mind. And then once my mind
Speaker 2: was made up, it was easy because I'm very stubborn
Speaker 2: when it comes to stuff like that. So I didn't
Speaker 2: want to do it, Like I hated it came to
Speaker 2: that situation. I did not wanted to do that, but
Speaker 2: I felt that to me personally, I felt that was
Speaker 2: the right thing to do. So maybe it was. Maybe
Speaker 2: it wasn't, but to me it was, So that's why
Speaker 2: I did it.
Speaker 3: You'll be glad to know that your buddy, Andy Hart
Speaker 3: and I never called it a holdout just for that
Speaker 3: exact reason that you just said. We were very much
Speaker 3: pro pro player in that and.
Speaker 1: The fact that that changed. Do you feel like, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that you know you were the impetus behind
Speaker 1: it or anything like that, But are you happy now
Speaker 1: for the future players that maybe that's something that they,
Speaker 1: you know, in the negotiation that helped work to their favor.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 2: Possibly the money right now is I thought it was
Speaker 2: crazy when I played. It's out of control. Now it's
Speaker 2: awesome for the players. But that's why every other older
Speaker 2: player says, guys ten years before me thought I was
Speaker 2: getting paid crazy money, but got it. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Each guy has to do what they feel is right
Speaker 2: for them personally, and everyone's different and some guys are
Speaker 2: stronger minded than other people. So it just all depends
Speaker 2: on who you are, all right.
Speaker 1: You talk about the old man status. Then, I don't
Speaker 1: know how much football you watch today. I think to
Speaker 1: the lay person, and I would consider Paul and I
Speaker 1: both the late kind of person. You look at offensive
Speaker 1: line player around the league, it just doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: it's as good as it was maybe in years gone by.
Speaker 1: Do you agree with that.
Speaker 2: I haven't watched it close enough to say that, but
Speaker 2: I do watch some of it, and I don't feel
Speaker 2: it's as physical I see. I've talked to people they're
Speaker 2: still playing coaches, and they're like, a lot of the
Speaker 2: things you guys used to do you would get ejected
Speaker 2: for now. So like we used to blindside everyone like
Speaker 2: I was. I did watch the game where David Andrews
Speaker 2: got uh yeah, and that was legal when I played, right, Like,
Speaker 2: we ran down the field looking on interceptions for d
Speaker 2: linemen because we knew they were coming because we did
Speaker 2: it to them a few plays before, right, But those
Speaker 2: kind of players are out lowed now, and we used
Speaker 2: to do that on a consistent basis, or diving into
Speaker 2: people's knees and all that stuff. So it's a lot
Speaker 2: different now.
Speaker 4: When you look back.
Speaker 3: The seven season obviously bittersweet for everybody. Do you feel
Speaker 3: like the team sort of ran out of gas? Just
Speaker 3: the sort of the pressure of being unbeaten kind of
Speaker 3: caught up to you.
Speaker 2: Possibly. I was still so young, only my third year.
Speaker 2: I was just happy to be playing football and just
Speaker 2: don't but we had so many older guys that really
Speaker 2: knew and understood football. At that time, and maybe they
Speaker 2: they did. I know it was a very uh, I
Speaker 2: guess you call it stressful season. Well, as the year
Speaker 2: went on, it got more stressful and more pressure on you,
Speaker 2: not just from not to lose, but like Bill that
Speaker 2: year had his foot on the gas pedal. Every game
Speaker 2: felt like when we'd watch film, like we lost the
Speaker 2: game and we would be someone by forty or twenty
Speaker 2: year and then you'd come in and feel like you
Speaker 2: lost the game. But I didn't feel burned out by
Speaker 2: the end of the year. We just didn't play well.
Speaker 2: I know, me and the offensive line we didn't play
Speaker 2: good enough that game. And usually if the old line
Speaker 2: doesn't play good, you don't win. So that's how it
Speaker 2: goes a lot of times.
Speaker 1: When you look back at that logan in you say,
Speaker 1: you know, it felt like a loss even though you're
Speaker 1: trashing teams. Yeah, how did that manifest Like in the
Speaker 1: film room when you're looking at it and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: Does that motivate you or do you have to have
Speaker 1: a special kind of mentality to like, look at I
Speaker 1: know what he's trying to do here, He's looking for
Speaker 1: almost literally perfection on these plays. Does that help drive
Speaker 1: you to be a better player.
Speaker 2: Oh, definitely. And our offensive line coach Dante, he said,
Speaker 2: we're not gonna be perfect, but we're going to strive
Speaker 2: for it every game and every practice. So he preached
Speaker 2: that already. And as an old Lignman, you could have
Speaker 2: eighty great blocks. On the eighty first play, you give
Speaker 2: up a sack and that's all everyone talks about. And
Speaker 2: you had a horrible game, right, So it's uh, we're
Speaker 2: used to that as oligneman. That one bad play ruins
Speaker 2: it all. So you've got to be perfect on all
Speaker 2: of them, unless it was always best when you had
Speaker 2: to play and you got beat by someone and fortunately
Speaker 2: you were running the ball the other way or something
Speaker 2: and it didn't effect aim play at all.
Speaker 1: Do you think, and this is another great fan debate,
Speaker 1: it would have been better for them to lose, you know,
Speaker 1: and then you get that monkey off your back. Did
Speaker 1: you enjoy the pursuit of perfection?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I loved it. When we squeaked out the win
Speaker 2: was that week seventeen in New York when we win
Speaker 2: by three or something, Yeah, I was so happy. We
Speaker 2: want that to keep it alive. So because then after that,
Speaker 2: you only have what three more games to win. I
Speaker 2: wouldn't change it. I'd change that we lost the last game,
Speaker 2: but the rest of the season, I wouldn't change. People
Speaker 2: are like I have a lot of people say, don't
Speaker 2: you wish you just lost the Chief Championship and didn't
Speaker 2: get there? And no, I'll take the shot if we lose,
Speaker 2: we lose, but I'll take the shot of winning.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, I tell this all the time, being on
Speaker 3: all those plane rides back and forth, you'd be hard pressed, Matt,
Speaker 3: you and I talk about this all the time. You'd
Speaker 3: be hard pressed to ever know based on the mentality
Speaker 3: of the players, the interaction on a way home, if
Speaker 3: you guys won, are lost. You guys were just businesslike.
Speaker 3: There's one huge exception, and that was the Indianapolis game
Speaker 3: that year in seven. We came I think right ten
Speaker 3: down in the fourth are two touchdowns to beat the
Speaker 3: undefeated Colts, and you guys went crazy on on that
Speaker 3: flight home another one bites. The dust was going and
Speaker 3: I think Glonnie might have had that cranked up. It
Speaker 3: was amazing to me how business like you were otherwise,
Speaker 3: and then to see that like, oh this really was
Speaker 3: a big game. It wasn't just like the next thing.
Speaker 3: You know, well, you know, maybe on to Cincinnati. It
Speaker 3: wasn't like that. You could see it with the mentality
Speaker 3: of the team, and then I felt like that kind
Speaker 3: of carried you through the rest of that regular season.
Speaker 3: To your point, it did mean a lot to go unbeaten.
Speaker 2: Oh it did. And like you said, that game against
Speaker 2: Manning and the Colts, we had such a big rivalry
Speaker 2: and for both of us to be undefeated that late
Speaker 2: in the season and to get that win was big.
Speaker 1: Did you enjoy that rivalry Logan, I mean you were
Speaker 1: talking about you know, we were only a young player there,
Speaker 1: still in your third year or something. But did you
Speaker 1: get a sense of, oh, this is its year, every day,
Speaker 1: ordinary NFL game when you're playing those guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially well I first came in, we started, we
Speaker 2: were playing them every year because we're both division winners, right,
Speaker 2: and then my second year we had to go lose
Speaker 2: to them in the AFC Championship game, which we would
Speaker 2: have won that Super Bowl for sure, but absolutely that
Speaker 2: was a heartbreaker losing that game. I was a second
Speaker 2: year guy sitting on the sideline going, holy crap, I
Speaker 2: don't know where we went it By twenty one or something.
Speaker 2: I was like, We're going to go to the super Bowl,
Speaker 2: and then we craft the bed the second half. Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, I can't believe we lost that game.
Speaker 3: Those in particular, so they had one three in a
Speaker 3: row and then one not three in a row, they
Speaker 3: had one three and then they went three after you like,
Speaker 3: is that the hole in the resume?
Speaker 4: Is that do you have?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, you look back. People ask me all the
Speaker 2: time and I'm like, yeah, I wish I would have
Speaker 2: won a super Bowl. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: I try to tell like my family members, would that
Speaker 2: make me a better dad or husband? Or now I
Speaker 2: want to be a farmer? Would it changed my life
Speaker 2: at all? No? Did I want to win one. I
Speaker 2: tried my absolutely hardest to win one, but it just
Speaker 2: didn't work out.
Speaker 3: And then, as you said, you know in six you're
Speaker 3: gonna beat Chicago If you don't play that league, oh seven,
Speaker 3: you're thirty seconds away from perfection. So it's not like
Speaker 3: you weren't on teams. You know, some guys play their
Speaker 3: whole career. You know, Joe Thomas, another tremendous offensive lineman,
Speaker 3: plays his whole career in Cleveland.
Speaker 4: He never had a sniff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, sure, I'm sure he would have liked
Speaker 3: to win a super Bowl. He never came close it.
Speaker 3: You know, you were on teams that had a lot
Speaker 3: of success.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I came close a lot bunch of times, a
Speaker 2: bunch of AFC championship games and lost to super Bowls.
Speaker 2: So I would give up I don't know, some accolades.
Speaker 2: I give up all my accolades to win a super Bowl.
Speaker 2: But I only got those because I was a decent player.
Speaker 2: But other than that, I I don't know. It wouldn't
Speaker 2: change anything for me now. So I'm okay, I'm content
Speaker 2: without winning the Super.
Speaker 1: Bowl, isn't it? You know you talked about things that
Speaker 1: you tell your family members. Okay, in life, you're gonna
Speaker 1: get knocked down.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's.
Speaker 1: How you get up or don't get up that really
Speaker 1: defines you. You know. So if you're gonna sit there
Speaker 1: in your room and suck your thumb because you lost,
Speaker 1: you know, to the giants, what you know? What kind
Speaker 1: of person are you? Does that help you as a
Speaker 1: as a parent? You know? As to say I live this?
Speaker 1: You know, now, what do you do about it?
Speaker 2: It's so true? And if that's the worst thing that
Speaker 2: happens during my life. That'd be awesome. Like, there's so
Speaker 2: many things that people go through way worse on a
Speaker 2: daily basis than losing. It's your livelihood and your career
Speaker 2: and what you're striving for. But at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, it's it's still a game, and so many
Speaker 2: people are going through way worse things. So you just
Speaker 2: got to remember those kind of things.
Speaker 1: Perspective, Yeah, perspective, right.
Speaker 4: So we talked a little bit about the Colts Ravens.
Speaker 3: I think we brought up with you know, any team
Speaker 3: in particular that you were like, that was the rival,
Speaker 3: that was the one that.
Speaker 2: I always god to Pittsburgh. I hated the Jets and
Speaker 2: the Ravens, and that's because we played him every year
Speaker 2: and they had good players on defense.
Speaker 1: So what about Channing Crowder?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we didn't like him either.
Speaker 4: I was going to get to my individuals.
Speaker 3: One of my all time great Logan Mankins postgame meetings
Speaker 3: in the locker room. I believe Matt Light had his
Speaker 3: way a little bit with Channing Crowder. Yeah, and I
Speaker 3: was asking you, so what happened because I don't know.
Speaker 3: I just looked up and I saw Matt pounded him
Speaker 3: on the head, So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: It was midlight. Always had an understanding there was The
Speaker 2: only words spoken were be ready. And he wasn't usually
Speaker 2: next to me on field goal and I look and
Speaker 2: he that year he wasn't because that was the year
Speaker 2: he had like a broken hand or something, so he
Speaker 2: had this cast on his hand to begain with and
Speaker 2: he's lined up next to me, and I'm like, what
Speaker 2: the heck's Matt doing. He's like ready, sounded like long? Did?
Speaker 2: I look over and Matt's like holding his helmet off
Speaker 2: and then try to hit him on the head with
Speaker 2: his cast. And then it turned into a whole melee.
Speaker 3: So yet you see that smirk on his face. That's
Speaker 3: how he told the story. It's like, yeah, you just
Speaker 3: pounded on him on his head.
Speaker 2: Yeah it was great. But Crowder he had been he'd
Speaker 2: been antagonizing Matt the whole game, and we were beating
Speaker 2: him pretty good by then, so Matt just lost lit
Speaker 2: the fuse a little bit and lost it. And Matt
Speaker 2: was always he was a great teammate too. I remember
Speaker 2: we played Detroit one year. I don't know if it
Speaker 2: was on Thanksgiving or not. But me and Sue had
Speaker 2: been fighting the whole game and it came time for
Speaker 2: field goal, and I just that year Matt was next
Speaker 2: to me on field goal. I just said get ready,
Speaker 2: and I knew I jumped. Sue came low on the
Speaker 2: field goal. I jumped back and I was pulling his
Speaker 2: helmet off, and I looked to my side and Matt's
Speaker 2: just punching him in the ribs as hard as he
Speaker 2: can and as fast as they can. Those are kind
Speaker 2: of teammates you.
Speaker 1: Want, right, absolutely absolutely, and that.
Speaker 2: Was even better because the referees only threw a penalty
Speaker 2: on Sue, no one else.
Speaker 1: I mean this with no disrespect to a guy like
Speaker 1: Chinning Crowder and Sue. She was still playing today, which amazed.
Speaker 2: And I have no problems with Sue. He's awesome player.
Speaker 2: That's just how I played football, and he played it,
Speaker 2: so he would have done the same thing to me.
Speaker 2: So I'm not worried about.
Speaker 1: Who were the people Logan, when you think about it,
Speaker 1: when you knew that you were going to play them
Speaker 1: that week, that you said, I better put more time in,
Speaker 1: I better study more, I better get my body even
Speaker 1: more right? Who are the guys that gave you the
Speaker 1: most difficult times.
Speaker 2: There was Sue's number one at that you had to
Speaker 2: be ready. It was always a long, hard day, and
Speaker 2: he played hard and he was he was a special
Speaker 2: strong guy, and you had to be ready for that game.
Speaker 2: There was numerous other guys. When I played against Richard
Speaker 2: in Oakland, he was he was still a very good
Speaker 2: player then, and of course that was the game the
Speaker 2: first time played in New England, so he was going
Speaker 2: like a five million miles an hour. He was wanting
Speaker 2: to kill us for trade. Of who else. Albert Hainsworth
Speaker 2: in his early career was so good and then he
Speaker 2: just I don't know, he got paid and just quit.
Speaker 2: But his first like five years he was special. I
Speaker 2: got to play Aaron Donald his first two years in
Speaker 2: the league, and just his athletic ability is phenomenal for
Speaker 2: someone inside it a three technique. He's special, special talent. But
Speaker 2: I watched now and I see some of these guys there.
Speaker 2: There's just so many good athletes that are so big
Speaker 2: now it's it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 3: So I wanted to get back to that Tom Brady
Speaker 3: thing that you mentioned, you know, just kind of getting
Speaker 3: to know him when you got here He certainly knew
Speaker 3: who you were, because when you got dealt to Tampa.
Speaker 3: And I don't know how much of this you know.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you talk to him privately. It was basically
Speaker 3: a wildcat strike. Tom Brady grew a beard like yours,
Speaker 3: and he was not happy for.
Speaker 4: A long time. Right, How could did that make you feel? Like?
Speaker 4: To know that you had that kind of respect from
Speaker 4: a guy like that.
Speaker 2: Oh great, Tom Sola respected, So to be respected by
Speaker 2: him was always great. And he knew how much the
Speaker 2: team in football meant to me. And I wasn't just
Speaker 2: here collected a check that I actually was doing all
Speaker 2: I could to make the team better, make myself better
Speaker 2: to win football games. And I knew i'd be missed
Speaker 2: the day got traded. There ended up being a big
Speaker 2: party at my house that night, and I didn't throw it,
Speaker 2: just a lot of guys came over and we tore
Speaker 2: it up pretty good that night, and so it was good.
Speaker 2: Didn't know that I meant something to most of those guys.
Speaker 1: That I mean, when you get kicked in the in
Speaker 1: the in the privates like that, but to know that
Speaker 1: you have the support of the people that you were
Speaker 1: going to battle with every single day. Yeah, it probably
Speaker 1: doesn't take the sting away, but it makes you feel
Speaker 1: like maybe you would doing the right thing if you had.
Speaker 1: Because you were saying earlier, you know, all you asked
Speaker 1: for was the respect out of your teammates. That's what
Speaker 1: you're playing for, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, and your teammates and your coaches. I always
Speaker 2: wanted to make my coaches happy and earn their respect.
Speaker 2: So but I knew there was a possibility I could
Speaker 2: get traded. There's there always is, and we'd had discussions
Speaker 2: on things and we just couldn't come to a mutual agreement,
Speaker 2: and then that was one of the possibilities. So I
Speaker 2: have no hard feelings on it. It's a business, right right.
Speaker 1: You know you mentioned you know still seeing Sue play,
Speaker 1: You can still watch Tom play. Are you surprised? Did
Speaker 1: you think when you were here that something like that
Speaker 1: was he talking about it? Then? Did you think that
Speaker 1: could you even entertain the fact that this guy would
Speaker 1: be playing into his mid forties.
Speaker 2: I didn't think he'd be playing that long. But before
Speaker 2: I left, he was definitely in his taking care of
Speaker 2: his body trend and his new those new workout regimens
Speaker 2: and all that stuff. So but the amazing thing is
Speaker 2: he's still going and he still plays very well, and
Speaker 2: it's I couldn't go that long. I was done mentally.
Speaker 2: I think I retired at thirty three, and my body
Speaker 2: was fine. I could have kept playing, but mentally I
Speaker 2: just wanted to do something else.
Speaker 3: Was part of that Tampa just sort of not being
Speaker 3: in the mix anymore, or was it just that you
Speaker 3: had you'd had.
Speaker 2: Enough well that that did play into it. That's probably
Speaker 2: what wore me out mentally.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I went to Tampa my first year and it
Speaker 2: was just a shit show. They had a new coach,
Speaker 2: a new GM, and they were trying to rebuild, and
Speaker 2: there was just so many people in that building that
Speaker 2: not building but locker room that just didn't care. They
Speaker 2: were just on a team to be on the team.
Speaker 2: So the second year they got rid of at least
Speaker 2: a third of those or third of the team, and
Speaker 2: brought in guys that they found, guys that cared, And
Speaker 2: the second year was so much better. I think we
Speaker 2: only won six games, but just the effort and the
Speaker 2: the change of people caring and getting guys that wanted
Speaker 2: to play football. They might not have been as talented,
Speaker 2: but they did the right things. They worked hard, they studied,
Speaker 2: they were where they were supposed to be. They might
Speaker 2: not have been able to make the ninety nine yard touchdown,
Speaker 2: but they'd get you down there in five or six plays.
Speaker 2: So it's not all about being the best athlete. It's
Speaker 2: you got to be able to put in. You got
Speaker 2: to be smart study because everyone's good, So you got
Speaker 2: to be where your teammates expect you to be.
Speaker 1: Do you think that that's why you clicked here? Logan?
Speaker 1: Is because the things that maybe people can't put their
Speaker 1: finger on, the study time, the caring, the doing, the
Speaker 1: little things and the extra things, the details, the fundamentals,
Speaker 1: that's what this program. Those are kind of the tenets
Speaker 1: that this program's built on. And that's what you believe.
Speaker 2: I've fed in perfect I loved it here. I laugh
Speaker 2: when those guys say new eng no fun team or something.
Speaker 2: We had a blast.
Speaker 1: We see Bill, you had a pretty good group though,
Speaker 1: don't you think IOUs group?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Fun guys. We worked hard, and we played hard.
Speaker 2: We had fun together and we but we worked hard together.
Speaker 2: And I always said, Bill doesn't care if you joke
Speaker 2: around and have fun, but you better be doing what
Speaker 2: you're supposed to be doing. You better not be screwing
Speaker 2: up at practice, screwing up in the games, late to anything.
Speaker 2: If you do everything you're supposed to do, then you're
Speaker 2: allowed to have fun and joke around and do dumb
Speaker 2: things at practice and in the locker room. But then
Speaker 2: when you're number plays called, you better not screw up
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 1: So and you knew that seventy two had your back
Speaker 1: or sixty seven had your back, or sixty one had
Speaker 1: your back. You guys were close and you held each
Speaker 1: other accountable, didn't you.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, definitely. We worked out together. We ran together.
Speaker 2: We uh, we did stick together. There was one year.
Speaker 2: Uh so when we would run the we would always
Speaker 2: stick together on the sprints. And we were all pretty good,
Speaker 2: uh guys at running. We could run pretty good. And uh,
Speaker 2: when you're dirt OTAs Bill starts yelling at us because
Speaker 2: we're all in a line just running. He's like, you, guys,
Speaker 2: I know, Neil, you're faster than so and so, and Maggie,
Speaker 2: you're faster than him. You guys should be ahead of him. Light,
Speaker 2: you should be up there passing everyone. And Light just
Speaker 2: keeps saying, don't break, don't break. We stick together band
Speaker 2: of brothers. So the next one we run Light, we
Speaker 2: stayed in the same line, and Bill's getting pissed, and
Speaker 2: then pretty soon Bill tells everyone else to stop running.
Speaker 2: Now it's just the old line. We have to run
Speaker 2: and stick and stayed and we stayed together the whole time.
Speaker 2: I don't know how many extra ones we had to run,
Speaker 2: but the whole time Light's going hold, hold, and no
Speaker 2: one broke though. We stuck together. So finally Bill gave up.
Speaker 4: Let the team leaves.
Speaker 2: Again, right right, But that was just like he loved
Speaker 2: to do stuff like that. He's like, we got to
Speaker 2: stick together, no one break you.
Speaker 3: Still it sounds like you're still in touch with with Matt. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you see any any other teammates.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Copan's still he lives right down on Rhode Island.
Speaker 2: Russ Holkestein lives in the same town as I do.
Speaker 2: Lights in Foxborough still, so I see those guys that
Speaker 2: are around the area and still talk to a few others.
Speaker 4: Still get together for barbecues.
Speaker 2: Not as much anymore. So My kids are older now,
Speaker 2: and Light's kids are older, but the other guys, their
Speaker 2: kids are still young and they're running around like crazy.
Speaker 2: So not as much as we used to.
Speaker 1: Everybody's busy, right, And I mean I don't mean. I
Speaker 1: don't mean that everybody's busy, busy with life right.
Speaker 2: It's crazy how busy you can get. And now it
Speaker 2: seems like I don't remember this when I was a kid.
Speaker 2: But my kids sign up for every sport that's available.
Speaker 2: I'm like, we had to sign up for everything, Like,
Speaker 2: can't we take a season off on something? But no,
Speaker 2: you're just year round sports. It feels like driving kids everywhere.
Speaker 1: You know. We started this off and I was busted
Speaker 1: Paul's balls about you know, being that parent in the stands.
Speaker 1: Do you like being in the stands? Do you enjoy
Speaker 1: watching your kid and watching him play? It's such a
Speaker 1: great feeling, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah? I do. Uh So I coached my boys of
Speaker 2: football sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and then when they
Speaker 2: get to high school, I stop. But I was offered
Speaker 2: to coach at the high school and I told him
Speaker 2: I just want to be a fan and sit and
Speaker 2: watch and enjoy watching them. And then I told him
Speaker 2: I could complain about his coaching, so but no, I
Speaker 2: just like watching them. We talk about stuff after the game,
Speaker 2: on what they should have done, just like every other day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Logan, thanks for stopping by. Man all right,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of fun. For a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: Nothing else.
Speaker 1: That's it easy one say.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we aim to put out your gut. We're still
Speaker 4: we can still roll.
Speaker 2: What do you got?
Speaker 4: What do you want to share?
Speaker 2: You guys have the questions.
Speaker 4: No, I think we touched on everything we wanted.
Speaker 1: Logan, thanks for coming in.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: Our guest was Logan Mankins on this episode of pat
Speaker 1: From the Past. Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe
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