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Speaker 1: Hey, Vikings fans, Ben Lever here. I'm so excited to

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Speaker 1: be a new Lifetime member, and so are my kids.

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Speaker 1: They love the tennis, the pick a ball, the basketball,

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Speaker 1: and of course the yummy cafe. Check them out at

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Speaker 1: Lifetime dot life to find a club nearest you.

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Speaker 2: You're not listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast. Football finally

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Speaker 2: back in the Twin Cities after almost a month since

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Speaker 2: the last home game. The Vikings face the four and

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Speaker 2: one Lions, their second divisional matchup of the season, and

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Speaker 2: we're so lucky to be joined by Vikings veteran safety

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Speaker 2: Harrison Smith, still out there proving he's the hit man

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Speaker 2: each and every game. And I wanted to ask you

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Speaker 2: first off the top, how much fun are you having

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Speaker 2: right now?

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Speaker 3: Playing in year thirteen.

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Speaker 4: It's just a group of guys. We got the whole

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Speaker 4: staff feeling in the building. It's a lot of fun,

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Speaker 4: especially what we're doing on defense. You know, from my

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Speaker 4: role individually, it's a lot of fun. So I've been

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Speaker 4: around long enough to know that these kind of situations

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Speaker 4: don't always come up every year, So definitely take advantage

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Speaker 4: of the opportunity for sure.

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Speaker 3: And I mean, you're surrounded a bunch of guys who

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Speaker 3: you know.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure you had the early bye week, but it

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Speaker 2: was easy to walk back into the building. What was

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Speaker 2: it like to be reunited after, you know, a week off.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's the early buye.

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Speaker 4: But I was talking to Jonathan Bullard and he was like, man,

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Speaker 4: I was kind of ready for the buye to be

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Speaker 4: over with.

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Speaker 5: So I think that is that goes along with the kind.

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Speaker 4: Of the joy that we're having, like we want to

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Speaker 4: get back to work, we want to get back to it.

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Speaker 5: So that's a good sign.

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Speaker 2: Recently in the Jets game, you were you joined an

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Speaker 2: elite group of people, a Hall of Fame style if

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Speaker 2: you want to say that, you're only the seventh dB

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Speaker 2: in NFL history to have twenty plus sacks thirty plus interceptions.

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Speaker 2: And on the sideline in London, I heard a lot

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Speaker 2: of the guys being like twenty piece, like you got

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Speaker 2: this side they did? They know, like what numbers you're at?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, just because last year I got to nineteen and

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Speaker 4: a half early in the year and kind of know

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Speaker 4: that that's like I wrote down like twenty twenty, twenty picks,

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Speaker 4: twenty sacks in like probably twenty fourteen.

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Speaker 5: I probably wrote that down, So I've been waiting for

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Speaker 5: it for a while.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, but it was it was cool and you know,

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Speaker 4: all the guys being excited for me, that's that's fun.

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Speaker 4: That's part of football. So it's a yeah, it's pretty

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Speaker 4: cool club to be a part of.

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Speaker 2: So now that it's twenty twenty four and you've hit

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Speaker 2: that mark, do you make new marks? Is there like

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Speaker 2: a new number you have in your mind you like

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Speaker 2: want to end on.

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Speaker 4: I've always got some things written down, but it's always

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Speaker 4: team goals and then it kind of trickles down from there.

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Speaker 4: So whatever we can do to keep winning is all

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Speaker 4: that matters for sure.

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Speaker 2: For what it's worth, though, as a defensive back, how

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Speaker 2: hard is it, like putting it into a perspective for

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Speaker 2: fans to be able to reach that thirty twenty mark.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you're only the seventh to do it. Just

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Speaker 3: how difficult is it?

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Speaker 4: I mean, you definitely have to be a multiple type player,

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Speaker 4: a guy that can be trusted playing and coverage in

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Speaker 4: getting after the passer. It also has a lot to

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Speaker 4: do with the schemes that you play in. You know,

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Speaker 4: we know that flow Flow likes to be aggressive in

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Speaker 4: certain spots so it's it's not just an individual thing.

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Speaker 4: It's it's this games I've played in. It's the players

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Speaker 4: I've played around, and then when the opportunities arise, take

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Speaker 4: advantage of them.

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Speaker 2: One of those players that you're playing around who's having

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Speaker 2: a really great start to the season is Andrew van Ginkoll,

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Speaker 2: with his second pick six of the season. I have

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Speaker 2: a trivia question for you, and I see a s mark.

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Speaker 2: I feel like you probably know where this is. My

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Speaker 2: idea is, do you know who the last Vikings defender

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Speaker 2: was who had two pick sixes in a season?

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Speaker 5: It's probably me in twenty twelve.

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Speaker 3: Ingo.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, There's only been ten of you guys in

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Speaker 2: Viking's history to be able to do that.

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Speaker 3: If he beats you, I mean, yeah, that's okay. That's

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Speaker 3: okay though.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I told him I think I'm I think I'm like

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Speaker 4: the franchise leader and pick sixes as a Viking with four,

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Speaker 4: and I was like, gink you're going to beat me

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Speaker 4: in one season, man, Let's.

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Speaker 3: Keep it going.

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Speaker 2: Let's keep it going at this rate for sure. What

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Speaker 2: do you think Van ginkle has added to this defense?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, he's you know.

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Speaker 4: Kind of like I was saying with the interceptions and

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Speaker 4: sacks and stuff like, he's a he's a multiple type

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Speaker 4: player that can rest the passer, you know, beat tackles, beatbacks,

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Speaker 4: He's really good in games. He can play off the ball.

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Speaker 4: He has a really great feel for coverage and dropping

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Speaker 4: and finding where the ball is.

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Speaker 5: Going to go. He's just to me, he's just he's

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Speaker 5: just a football player.

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Speaker 4: Like if you played him on offense, he'd figure out

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Speaker 4: how to help the team. And if you got you

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Speaker 4: got a few guys like that, you can do something

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Speaker 4: with it.

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Speaker 2: It feels like there are several players like that on

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Speaker 2: the team who positional flexibility is so important in what

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Speaker 2: Brian Flores is running. So how can you explain to

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Speaker 2: those who maybe don't know the ins and outs of

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Speaker 2: what you guys are doing how critical it is to

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Speaker 2: have players like that who can be flexible in their positions.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you can't do it without not just one

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Speaker 4: guy like that, but a handful or more. And you

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Speaker 4: got to have depth because just the reality of the

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Speaker 4: NFL season, guys are going to miss some games here

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Speaker 4: and there, and that's that's like the physical requirements, but

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Speaker 4: then there's mental requirements too, as far as being able

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Speaker 4: to like be flexible and recognize things and play at.

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Speaker 5: A high IQ level.

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Speaker 4: You know, when you watch it unfold, it doesn't always

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Speaker 4: look that complicated, but to get to that point is

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Speaker 4: normally a few steps, and to be able to do

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Speaker 4: it collectively is another thing. So we're always practicing and

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Speaker 4: trying to get it right, and luckily we have a

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Speaker 4: coaching staff that trusts us and players that can get

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Speaker 4: it done.

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Speaker 2: So before week six, this defense ranked first and hurries

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Speaker 2: knockdowns and pressures second in sacks. However, you guys are

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Speaker 2: blitzing at a little rate than you were last season

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Speaker 2: under Flores.

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Speaker 3: How are you able to blitz a little bit less

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Speaker 3: but still get.

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Speaker 2: Enough pressure on the quarterback to affect them more this year?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: I think that's it's, you know, credit to the guys

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Speaker 4: up front, different ways that we're doing. It's not always

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Speaker 4: just sending more than they can block. And then obviously

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Speaker 4: being in the right calls that stresses what offenses are doing.

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Speaker 4: You know, that starts with Flow and Deronte and Swerve

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Speaker 4: and the coaching staff and we just try to try

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Speaker 4: to execute there their plan. You know, we're just the

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Speaker 4: pieces on the board and every now and then we can,

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Speaker 4: you know, kind of go outside of our of our

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Speaker 4: movement pattern. But if we execute the plan collectively, it's

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Speaker 4: normally going to give us a good shot.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I have the analogy written in my notes that

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Speaker 2: it just feels like Brian Flores is playing chess out

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Speaker 2: there and everybody else is playing checkers.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you've made a bunch of.

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Speaker 2: Quarterbacks look like rookies out there, or at least as

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Speaker 2: much as you can. For a second and third, your

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Speaker 2: players look looking to be back to their rookie seasons.

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Speaker 2: As you're watching the defense affect the way that their

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Speaker 2: game is going. How does that feed you guys as

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Speaker 2: a unit? You know, because you're seeing them go through

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Speaker 2: their mind, They're like, I can't.

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Speaker 3: Figure this out.

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Speaker 2: Then you see a guy like Aaron Rodgers and he

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Speaker 2: has the same problems.

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Speaker 4: We definitely take into account who the quarterback is an

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Speaker 4: experience level, and what they're going to recognize and what

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Speaker 4: we can maybe make harder on them. It's really just

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Speaker 4: about trying to make it harder on them. They're going

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Speaker 4: to make their plays here and there, but if we

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Speaker 4: can if we can add anything to their thought process

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Speaker 4: pre snap, post snap, and just make it a little

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Speaker 4: a little harder to tell exactly what's going on. That's, uh,

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Speaker 4: that's what we're looking to do.

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Speaker 3: How do you do that to Jared Goff on Sunday?

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Speaker 4: Same plan as far as you know the ideas of

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Speaker 4: what we're trying to get done. He's obviously a veteran

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Speaker 4: guy with a lot of success, a very good, very

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Speaker 4: good player, can make a lot of big throws, and

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Speaker 4: has a lot of a lot of good players, a

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Speaker 4: lot of offensive skilled players, good o line, good running backs,

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Speaker 4: so they they do a really good job over there,

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Speaker 4: and and and Goff is a huge piece of that.

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Speaker 5: So just trying to make it hard on him like

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Speaker 5: we do on everybody.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And Brian was really funny this week saying that

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Speaker 2: he likes to fight fire with fire when asked about

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Speaker 2: the Lion's aggressive play, calling, in your eyes, what's fire

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Speaker 2: going to look like?

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Speaker 5: I mean, it's not it's not far off from what

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Speaker 5: you've seen before.

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Speaker 3: But they it doesn't seem like they can figure it

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Speaker 3: out though.

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Speaker 5: Well.

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Speaker 4: I mean, you know, normally in the NFL, there's enough

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Speaker 4: good coaches and players out there that people are going

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Speaker 4: to figure some stuff out. And you got to adjust

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Speaker 4: and Ben Johnson their offensive coordinator. He's fantastic and he's

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Speaker 4: you know, kind of like you mentioned fire with fire

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Speaker 4: like it's similar they do. They do some things that

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Speaker 4: are aggressive and can be tricky for defenses, so it

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Speaker 4: should be a good matchup.

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Speaker 2: Recently, you were in tell Us with Mattelus with Josh

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Speaker 2: and we notice that you're not really a phone guy.

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Speaker 2: You got the blank background screen. It's just for communication.

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Speaker 2: So just to let you know. On social media right now,

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Speaker 2: everyone's talking about, you know, the Vikings and they're one

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Speaker 2: of two undefeated teams left in the league. There's other

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Speaker 2: guys on the team that are looking at their phone,

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Speaker 2: especially the younger guys. How do you make sure that

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Speaker 2: they don't buy into all these narratives that they're seeing.

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Speaker 3: As a leader and a veteran on this team, it's

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Speaker 3: human nature.

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Speaker 4: You'll hear good things about you and react a certain way,

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Speaker 4: or negative things about you and get caught up in that,

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Speaker 4: and everyone operates a little differently. Like some guys can

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Speaker 4: handle seeing it, some guys should probably just stay away

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Speaker 4: from it. So just kind of figuring out how you

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Speaker 4: operate and keeping your eye on like the things that

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Speaker 4: really matter, and those things are typically the things in

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Speaker 4: the building, you know, your family at home. But there's

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Speaker 4: no reason to be affected by it at this point.

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Speaker 4: You know, we kind of knew who we were before

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Speaker 4: the season started. Most people didn't. Some people are coming

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Speaker 4: around to it, and it doesn't really change anything for us.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of family at home, you've got two little ones

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Speaker 2: on a the age of three.

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Speaker 3: If I'm not mistaken, you were.

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Speaker 2: What I've noticed though, that one of you and your

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Speaker 2: wife's favorite months is October. It feels like you've got

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Speaker 2: some pretty epic Halloween costumes over the years. Has it

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Speaker 2: been fun to include the kids? Like, are you guys

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Speaker 2: family brainstorming on what to do each year?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 4: Now it's it's become you know, my wife kind of

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Speaker 4: kind of runs the show with the costumes, but now

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Speaker 4: like the focal point is the kids, and then we

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Speaker 4: we kind of fill in where we need to. So

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Speaker 4: we've got a few different ideas.

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Speaker 3: I like that.

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Speaker 2: So, I mean the holidays, I think having children probably

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Speaker 2: changes that a little bit. What's been the best part about,

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Speaker 2: you know, seeing them experience Halloween or Christmas time?

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Speaker 4: Well, this is kind of the first year that our

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Speaker 4: daughter will like really get into it.

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Speaker 5: She's just getting old enough.

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Speaker 4: She was just kind of a prop last year, and

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Speaker 4: our son will be still kind of a prop. But

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Speaker 4: it's fun to it's it's definitely fun to see our

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Speaker 4: daughter get into it. She likes she likes us stuff too.

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Speaker 4: She's like her mom, so we'll definitely have fun.

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Speaker 2: She cracked me up the other day when I was

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Speaker 2: on the field she before one of the games.

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Speaker 3: She was just flat out laying on the turf and the.

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Speaker 2: Grass, like totally comfortable being there and being herself.

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Speaker 3: Which is so awesome to see.

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Speaker 2: What's it like as a father to be able to

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Speaker 2: give these unique experiences to your children, who are, you know,

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Speaker 2: growing up around such a different world.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it was.

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Speaker 4: Something I didn't think about for the majority of my career,

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Speaker 4: but seeing my teammates who had kids kind of old

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Speaker 4: enough to enjoy the experience of the NFL and the

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Speaker 4: team and everything. So now that now that I get

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Speaker 4: to do it with my kids, it's I realize how

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Speaker 4: special that is. And hopefully they'll remember some of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you might be playing a little bit

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Speaker 2: longer they'll be able to remember. I'm sure they will

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Speaker 2: be in attendance on Sunday, the noon kick against the Lions.

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Speaker 2: The crowd there is always something that is really special.

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Speaker 2: It's been almost a month since we've had a home game,

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Speaker 2: and last time we were there it was the Texans

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Speaker 2: game and it really affected what the Texans were able

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Speaker 2: to do on offense. How much does that crowd noise

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Speaker 2: actually play into what you guys are able to do defensively?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a big deal.

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Speaker 4: It's a legitimate home field advantage, which I don't think

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Speaker 4: is the case everywhere in the NFL, but it's a.

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Speaker 5: Big advantage for us.

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Speaker 4: It also you normally don't think about it from a

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Speaker 4: defensive standpoint, but it kind of makes it harder for

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Speaker 4: us too. But we're okay with that, like we've done

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Speaker 4: it enough. We'll figure it out. And then the road

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Speaker 4: games on the flip side are like completely silent when

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Speaker 4: we're out there, so it does.

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Speaker 5: It's normally not how fans.

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Speaker 4: Think of it from a home field away a standpoint,

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Speaker 4: but we preferred as loud as possible.

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Speaker 3: I love it. Well, thank you so much for joining us.

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Speaker 3: We appreciate your time.

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Speaker 2: Best of luck this season, and uh let's go six

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Speaker 2: and oh right, that's the point.

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Speaker 5: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Another big thank you to Harrison Smith for joining the

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Speaker 2: first half of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. We still have

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Speaker 2: another half to go and we will be joined by

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Speaker 2: Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho with his take on why the

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Speaker 2: Vikings are one of the best teams in the league.

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Speaker 2: Unveil is back with their limited edition Vikings drop head

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Speaker 2: to unurl dot com for more details. Welcome back into

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Speaker 2: the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. My name is Tatum Everett and

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Speaker 2: there's a big old game looming. On Sunday, the undefeated

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Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings take on the four and one Lions at

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Speaker 2: US Bank Stadium. To help us preview this matchup, I

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Speaker 2: had a chance to catch up with Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho,

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Speaker 2: and while he had some great insight on what's to

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Speaker 2: come in that game, I also asked him why he

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Speaker 2: believed in this Minnesota Vikings team early on. We're very

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Speaker 2: excited to be joined by Fox Sports's Emmanuel Acho right now,

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Speaker 2: the former college linebacker, former NFL linebacker now on the

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Speaker 2: facility on FS one mornings at nine am our Central

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Speaker 2: time zone. Manuel, thank you so much for being here.

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Speaker 2: It looks like you guys are having so much fun.

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Speaker 2: Lashawn McCoy, James Jones, Chase Daniel. It's a great combo

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Speaker 2: you've got going on, man.

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Speaker 6: We appreciate it. It's a television experience.

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Speaker 7: I try to tell people, not just the TV show,

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Speaker 7: but it's the only show on daily television that's all athletes,

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Speaker 7: and so we really want fans, We want viewers to

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Speaker 7: experience TV differently. We don't just want to debate, we

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Speaker 7: want to discuss. We think that debating has been played out.

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Speaker 7: I think the fans are educated enough to understand the game.

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Speaker 7: And so when you got all athletes thirty nine years

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Speaker 7: of NFL experience, four Super Bowls sitting at one desk,

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Speaker 7: there's nothing like it.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: No, I love that discussion versus debate that we could

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Speaker 2: have a whole other side conversation about that.

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Speaker 3: But we're here to talk about the Minnesota Vikings.

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Speaker 2: And in your Monday morning pressers, you've alerted fans NFL

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Speaker 2: fans for weeks now that you got to believe in

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Speaker 2: this Vikings team. Why did you feel so passionately about

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Speaker 2: that from the jump?

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Speaker 7: Really, I believe the Vikings have a top three coaching

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Speaker 7: staff in football. I spent a few days with Kevin

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Speaker 7: O'Connell last year at Mark Sanchez, a close friend of

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Speaker 7: mine's wedding. We were in Mexico. I got some time

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Speaker 7: to just pick his brain. But even more than picking

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Speaker 7: Koc's brain, I got some time to get to know

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Speaker 7: him the man, him, the human.

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Speaker 6: Incredible leader of men.

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Speaker 7: He can get along with and galvanize any group. So

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Speaker 7: realizing that he is the leader at the Helm. But

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Speaker 7: then obviously Brian floor As being a defensive wizard outside

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Speaker 7: of Andy Reid and Steve Spagnola, I don't think there

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Speaker 7: is a greater offensive defensive mind currently combination in the

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Speaker 7: game of football. So when you look at those minds

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Speaker 7: and then you look at what they're putting on tape,

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Speaker 7: it's breathtaking. You got two savants out there, two wizards

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Speaker 7: out there calling the game. But because of the trust

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Speaker 7: the players have in the coaching scheme, it's just brilliant.

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Speaker 7: And so for that reason, I'm really all in on

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Speaker 7: the Vikings this year. As long as Sam Donald continues

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Speaker 7: to play at.

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Speaker 6: A high level.

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Speaker 2: Well, you mentioned Sam Donald and your conversations with Kevin O'Connell.

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Speaker 2: What do you think he's been able to elevate in

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Speaker 2: Sam's game? Or really, I mean, I'm sure he's had

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Speaker 2: it all along, but what has he made it work?

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Speaker 2: For Sam to be so confident this early on in

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Speaker 2: this system.

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Speaker 7: The first and foremost he's believed in an individual. Oftentimes

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Speaker 7: you just need somebody to believe in you. Sam Donald

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Speaker 7: has always been talented, and I was a college analyst

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Speaker 7: before an NFL analyst at USC.

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Speaker 6: Sam Donald was incredibly talented.

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Speaker 7: But when you don't have offensive coaches around you, and

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Speaker 7: you don't have that belief in you will never be

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Speaker 7: able to see your talent. So the first thing is

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Speaker 7: he believed in Sam Donald, which is an unherlded coaching trait.

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Speaker 7: We only talk about exes and o's, forget x's and o's.

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Speaker 7: Do I believe in you as a player, because if

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Speaker 7: I believe in you, you'll begin to believe in you.

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Speaker 7: That's the first thing. The second thing we have to

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Speaker 7: remember success begets success and failure begets failure. The more

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Speaker 7: you succeed as a player, the more you'll continue to

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Speaker 7: succeed as a player. So I think Sam Donald has

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Speaker 7: tasted success, He's tasted winning, and now you kind of start.

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Speaker 6: Liking that tastes of success.

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Speaker 7: And beyond that, I think schematically, Kevin O'Connell does a

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Speaker 7: really good job with pre snap motions, does a really

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Speaker 7: good job with pre snap shifts.

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Speaker 6: He does a really good job telling.

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Speaker 7: Sam Donald where to throw the football formationally, so he

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Speaker 7: doesn't have to tell him in the headset.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's also very helpful for Sam Donald to have such.

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Speaker 3: An amazing defense on the other side of the ball.

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Speaker 2: And you've mentioned Brian Flores and his wizardry so far,

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Speaker 2: I think it was this week that you recently said

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Speaker 2: the Vikings defense could be a generational defense at taking.

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Speaker 3: The ball away.

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Speaker 2: Why do you think this group is executing that at

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Speaker 2: such a high level.

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Speaker 7: Well, I think it's what you got to go back

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Speaker 7: to nineteen eighty eight to find a Vikings defense allowing

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Speaker 7: this few points per game plus eleven I think eleven

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Speaker 7: interceptions something along those lines. Eleven interceptions, maybe twenty takeaways. Truly,

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Speaker 7: it is the trust and the scheme married together. What

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Speaker 7: I mean by that is you have defensive backs that

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Speaker 7: are playing zero coverage. I will talk as though people

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Speaker 7: have no idea what I'm talking about. Obviously they do,

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Speaker 7: but you have defensive backs playing zero coverage, meaning they

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Speaker 7: have no help. They have to trust that the rush

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Speaker 7: is going to get there. If you're playing zero coverage

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Speaker 7: with no help, one of the rushers will be unblocked.

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Speaker 7: But the defensive backs have to trust that the rusher

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Speaker 7: is going to be unblocked and that the rusher is

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Speaker 7: going to get home, and the rusher has to get home.

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Speaker 7: When you marry the trust and the execution together, the

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Speaker 7: play will win. If the defensive back does not trust

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Speaker 7: that the rusher will get home and as a result,

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Speaker 7: the defensive back he plays a little more aggressive, he'll

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Speaker 7: get beat. If the rusher doesn't get home, then you'll

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Speaker 7: never land. But I do I challenge the viewers go back.

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Speaker 7: Rewatch the Van Ginkle interception for a touchdown versus the Jets,

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Speaker 7: and rewatch the Harrison Smith sack. It's on third and six.

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Speaker 7: Both of those plays. What you'll see is trust. You'll

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Speaker 7: see the defensive backs trusting the rush and you'll see

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Speaker 7: the rust trusting the defensive back. And it's the trust

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Speaker 7: that makes it all work. Everybody runs zero coverage. Everybody

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Speaker 7: runs it like the Vikings running.

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Speaker 2: You know, they put five games on tape by now

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Speaker 2: how sustainable is this way of play as you go

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Speaker 2: into now what is going to be a twelve plus

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Speaker 2: game stretch.

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Speaker 7: There are weaknesses to Brian floor as a scheme. I

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Speaker 7: know some of the weaknesses to the scheme, but I

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Speaker 7: think it would take Andy Reid to expose it. Like

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Speaker 7: not everybody like I'm waiting for one coach to simply

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Speaker 7: do what I'm like, Dude, this is all you have

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Speaker 7: to do.

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Speaker 3: Well, don't tell us.

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Speaker 7: I'm like, I'm like, I'm not saying what I'm and

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Speaker 7: it'll get But I think it would take Andy Reid. Okay,

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Speaker 7: I don't know that many coaches who can expose it.

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00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,439
Speaker 6: Maybe Sean McVay, maybe Kyle Shanahan.

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00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 7: But you need a coach, and you need the players,

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00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,840
Speaker 7: and then you need the execution again, just to nerd

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00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,880
Speaker 7: out real quick. Those that are listening and watching, go

448
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 7: back and look at the Mike Williams drop. I think

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00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,160
Speaker 7: it was the twelve minute fit fifty four second mark

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00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,919
Speaker 7: of the Jets versus the Bills game most recently. The

451
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,240
Speaker 7: Bills ran the exact same defense as the Vikings, and

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00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,040
Speaker 7: the reason they did so was because the Vikings had

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00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,480
Speaker 7: so much success with it against the Jets.

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Speaker 6: It's a copycat league.

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00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,960
Speaker 7: So just because you know what the Vikings are doing,

456
00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,560
Speaker 7: and just because you practice against what the Vikings are doing,

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00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 7: can you execute it?

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00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:19,920
Speaker 6: I think it would take Andy Reid to do it.

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Speaker 2: All right, Well, now that we know that you're officially

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00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,879
Speaker 2: an encyclopedia of football, I do not know how you

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00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:25,520
Speaker 2: keep it all in.

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00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:26,120
Speaker 3: Your brain enough.

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00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:27,080
Speaker 7: So.

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Speaker 2: The Lions will be playing in Viking at the US

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00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,240
Speaker 2: Bank Stadium against the Vikings this weekend, and obviously they

466
00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,960
Speaker 2: have an offense that even Brian Flores said, it's hard

467
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,439
Speaker 2: to find a weakness on.

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Speaker 3: So what do the Vikings need to.

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00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,439
Speaker 2: Do to I guess disrupt what the Lions do.

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00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,199
Speaker 7: Keep them behind the sticks. The Vikings' best attribute is

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00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 7: when they get a team in third and six or longer.

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00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 7: If you get a team in third and six or longer,

473
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,199
Speaker 7: you can zero pressure. And that's really what makes the

474
00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,960
Speaker 7: Vikings defense great. The Vikings defense is cool, but it's

475
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,040
Speaker 7: the zero pressure scheme that makes them next level. But

476
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 7: you can zero pressure on third and two or third

477
00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:06,400
Speaker 7: and three, or third and four or third and one.

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00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 6: You got to play straight. Simply put, you just kind

479
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:09,760
Speaker 6: of kind.

480
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:13,160
Speaker 7: Of call basic man the man, you know, even cover ones,

481
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,800
Speaker 7: even jet cover ones, even one robbers.

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00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 6: I'm just giving all different play calls.

483
00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 7: But if you get them in third and six or

484
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,200
Speaker 7: third and seven, or third and eight or third and nine,

485
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,159
Speaker 7: that's when you get to have fun. That's when you

486
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,199
Speaker 7: get to bring out your prowler package, or you get

487
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,159
Speaker 7: to bring out your fun package. You can do the

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00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 7: stuff that the Vikings did where you got nine players

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00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 7: standing up and only two players' hands in the ground.

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00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,800
Speaker 7: The problem is the Lion's gonna run that football. They

491
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,880
Speaker 7: gonna run, they're gonna get in third and two, third

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00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,359
Speaker 7: and three. So whoever wins this game will be whoever

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00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,920
Speaker 7: won on first down. Don't look at the final score,

494
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 7: just look at who won on first down. Whoever wins

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00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,960
Speaker 7: on first down will win the game if it goes

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00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 7: to second and eight advantage Vikings. If it goes to

497
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,080
Speaker 7: second and six, second and five advantage.

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00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,360
Speaker 2: Lines, well, thank you so much, Manuel for sharing your

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00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 2: time today.

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00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 3: We really appreciate it.

501
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 2: If you're not following him on x or Twitter or

502
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,880
Speaker 2: whatever it's called these, you definitely should. He is a

503
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 2: wonderful follow You can also catch him on the facility

504
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,560
Speaker 2: on FS one every morning or weekday morning at nine

505
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 2: am Central time. And if college football is your jam,

506
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:11,680
Speaker 2: you're still doing that too.

507
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 3: Again, I don't know how you do it all, Tatum,

508
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 3: thanks so much, no, thank you, appreciate you.

509
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:19,680
Speaker 2: Thank you again so much to Emmanuel Acho and our

510
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:23,199
Speaker 2: first interview this Minnesota Vikings podcast, Harrison Smith. If you

511
00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,560
Speaker 2: miss that one, be sure to go to our podcast

512
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,680
Speaker 2: channel or check out Vikings dot com for our conversation

513
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:29,880
Speaker 2: with the hit Man.

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00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,359
Speaker 3: There is a game on Sunday. It's gonna be a

515
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 3: big one at US Bank Stadium. Kickoff is set.

516
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 2: For noon against the Lions. You can catch that on Fox.

517
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,200
Speaker 2: You can also hear it right here on kfan. Thank

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00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,280
Speaker 2: you again so much for listening to MVP. I'm Tatum

519
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,119
Speaker 2: Everett and let's watch these vikings go six and