WEBVTT - Drive Time: Zach Thomas Fish Tank Crossover 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.160 You were listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. This 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.600 is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to a 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:15.840 looking us at Falca wide dolphan touchdown, cleric kill, unbelievable, 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:19.160 just blue fire for a second time. Don't know where 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:21.800 he was going right away ahead of that, the man 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:24.160 I want to help you soon up on his band 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:28.320 away waddle, waddle to a shotgut back to throw looking 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:33.479 ups up fires touchdock again. It's waddle, It's six touchdown 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:38.960 pad out of the tea. Drivetime with Travis Wingfield begins. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.720 Now let me check your pulse. If not fart of 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.880 what is up? Dolphins And welcome to the Drivetime podcast, 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.200 part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.520 your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody? I am your host, 0:00:55.600 --> 0:01:00.360 Travis Wingfield And on today's episode, the entire Dolphins podcast Network, 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.080 at least the originals are here, myself, Seth Levitt, o 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.520 J mcduffey. We're welcoming and the boys from the Fish 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.160 Tank Podcast to talk about their episode dropping tomorrow with 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.840 Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas. We're gonna talk to 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.520 the guys about their episode about mister Canton himself number 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.959 fifty four stories of their time together here in the organization. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.399 What makes Zach a Hall of Famer in our eyes? 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:25.680 And a heck of a lot more from the Baptist 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.280 Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:36.440 the Drivetime Podcast, May Gaffe Fish. Let's not waste any 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.679 more time and go ahead and play my interview with 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.240 Seth Levitt, Oh Jim mcduffe from The Fish Tank talking 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:44.600 about their episode tomorrow with Zach Thomas. And for the 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.160 first time in a long time, it seems like the 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.400 dynamic is back, the Tripod, the Trio, the Truth, the Consigliari, 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.880 Seth Levitt from the Fish Tank, my man O, j 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.200 Juice McDuffie. They're back in here, diving in to Drive Time, 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.360 and I'm kind of telling them free podcast recording. This 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.200 is like an episode of the Fish Tank takes over 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.880 Drive Time. They take the wheel if you will. And 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.280 so the reason we have you guys on today, Seth 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.359 and oj welcome in, by the way, is to talk 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:15.160 about your episode dropping tomorrow here on the Fish Tank 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.519 with the great Hall of Fame linebackers. It just feels 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.079 great to say that it has such a ring to 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.440 it doesn't. And that's it really does the gold jacket 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:25.520 swapping out the aqua jacket for the gold jacket, at 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:35.399 least for you wold WOA. There's no swapping bro topic topic. Yeah, 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.120 well sure if you want to. But it's in the 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:42.400 distion too. So Zach will now have maybe he'll be 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.080 like the parent that comes to watch, like you know, 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:46.520 like read Ferguson's parents when they go to a Bills 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.240 and Dolphins game and they were like the half read 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:52.480 half uh Blake Ferguson jersey, and maybe him do the 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.560 same thing with the golden It's interesting that that he 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:59.240 said they're read Ferguson's parents and not Blake Ferguson. Correctly, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.440 there's something there, juice. We got to figure out what's 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.720 going on with that. We gotta dig in, dive in. 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.960 There's something going on. But yes, absolutely he has access 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.720 to both. Now we're starting off at cruising altitude here 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:16.240 on this. You handed us the keys saying, hey, put 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.400 on whatever song about the radio right and like it right, Yeah, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:23.280 I got it. The entire reason we have the fish 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.560 tank here today is talking about this upcoming episode. Was 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.600 Zach Thomas you guys killed the Rashaw Jones episode last 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.000 week two weeks ago, was it? Yeah? Being about two 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.440 weeks now, great episode with him, and you guys are 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:35.800 just kind of killing it right now. So I wanted 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.200 to get you on here to talk about this episode, 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.560 and um, I guess I want to go here first, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.240 and I'll throw it to you first because you played 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:46.560 with him, Juice, And then I want to get Zach. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.560 I want to get sets perspective after that, because the 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:52.360 whole idea behind this is the three of us offer 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.640 unique perspectives and the way we cover the team always, 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.040 but with this player in particular, with Zach Thomas in particular, 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.760 I think the perspectives could not be more different but 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.480 also better when they come together. So the players perspective 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.800 a teammate's perspective, Juice, when you think about Zach Thomas, 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.600 what comes to mind for you? I'll tell you what. Man. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:18.279 Zach and My relationship goes way back before he became 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.719 a dolphin. You know. I saw Zach dominate my Penn 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.920 State Nitney Lions and you know, and a close lost 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.520 you know, up in Happy Valley. But then of course 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:30.919 I got a chance to meet him personally when he 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.440 made Walter Camp All American and um, you know, and 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.120 that was that was special. I think the fact that 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:41.720 this humble linebacker, you know, who's always been considered undersized 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.480 and didn't have the speed as maybe Walter Camp All American, 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.720 which is you know, the top eschelon of college All American, 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.760 you know, honors, and he still was at the humility 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:55.880 that he still came in that room with. When you 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.400 considering all the guys that were there, it's only like 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.400 like one and eath each position. He was one of 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.400 those guys. And so that that relationship right there, that's 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.160 when it really started. Man. He and me and KEJOHNA. Carter, 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.039 we spent a whole weekend together. We had a really 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.920 you had a really good time. And sure enough, man, 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:15.279 it was just amazing. When he was drafted by the 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.880 Miami Dolphins, he was coming to South Florida and being 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:20.919 one of my teammates, I knew what kind of player 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:22.600 he was. And I'm gonna tell you what, how else, 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.800 So I knew what type of player was when I 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:26.800 talked about Zack a couple of weeks ago when he 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:28.920 made the Hall of probably months ago. Now I think 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.479 it is when he made the Hall of Fame. I 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.839 had some teammates or guys that played at Penn State 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.920 like hit me up on the side, and they were like, oh, man, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.360 I remember Zack like it was yesterday. You know. He 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.160 beat up on a couple of guards of ours that 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.239 were first round draft picks. You know, he had twenty 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.000 some tackles and they were like, yo, man, about time 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:49.039 they got him in. You know, so I already knew 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.320 what type of player he was. Then I got a 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.159 chance to know what type of person he was. And 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.320 those a couple of other encounters, you know, when we 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:56.920 got a chance to go out and hang out. Man. 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.880 So what really sticks out to me is now how 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.800 good he was, but how home we was and being 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.240 so great. That's That's one of the things that is 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.960 consistent that you hear about Zach is the way that 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:10.760 the people that played with him or worked around him 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.840 spoke about him in the way you just did. Oj 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:15.479 who was the guy you had on the fish tank. Recently, 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:18.880 seth who talked about the process of voting him in 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.880 and Patrick Willis's comments that really pushed that over the 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:26.760 goal line. What episode was? Jason Cole shared that story Jason, 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.360 you know, who covered Zach both from Miami Harold perspective 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:32.599 and the Sun Sentinel perspective. But he's one of the 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:37.039 selectors that is part of that process and certainly advocated 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.320 for Zach, and he shared that story. Joe Horrigan was 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:42.720 also on from the Hall of Fame recently, but he 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.359 didn't want to share any details from the room, but 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.560 did feel that his time was coming as well. It's 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.599 I mean the Kevin Mawi speech, the Peyton Manning. I 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.000 wrote an article about, you know, Zach Thomas makes the 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.200 Hall of Fame like five years ago that I wound 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.400 up repurposing over the years because I thought he would 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.440 be getting in each year. It just kind of just happened. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.719 But you get those testimonies that are they're just like 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.280 uniform across the board. Everyone has the exact same thing 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.799 to say about him in different ways, but the ultimate 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.840 goal or the ultimate I guess arriving point is is 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.240 all the same. So the same question to you, Big 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.600 Seth is someone that worked closely with Zach and you 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.000 know the PR department and obviously you know coach him 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.880 through media and just was were around him so often. 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:24.200 What do you think about when when you think about 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.880 Zach Thomas, oh Man, there's so much to think about. 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:32.000 I'm juice is right. The humility for sure, um and 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.160 all the on field stuff that I imagine we'll talk 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.880 about here in this podcast, but just you know Zach's character, 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.080 he was he was such a unique individual because it's 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.760 like he the more you dug into it, he actually 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.800 came from a family that that was successful. You know, 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.920 mister Thomas is very successful, but Zach never carried himself 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.760 as someone that was a loofer, came from you know, 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.760 the country club living or what have you. Um. So 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:00.320 he really did seem like someone that was from humble beginnings, 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:02.760 even though in a lot of ways that wasn't the case. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.960 Certainly that he is Texas through and through, you know, 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.560 there's no two ways about that. Um. But the thing 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:14.400 that stands out the most to me was, you know, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.280 you'll you'll hear throughout the episode Tomorrow preparation. He talks 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.280 about his prep, his prep, and that extends far beyond 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.000 the football field. It didn't matter what he was doing 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:25.920 in life. He never wanted to be unprepared. He never 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.920 wanted to be embarrassed. You know, it was important to 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.480 him that he was, that he gave respect, that he 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.640 that he got respect, and he wanted to make sure 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:36.839 that no matter what he's doing in life, whether he's 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.000 sitting down with the fish tank, whether he's, uh, you know, 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.280 gonna well there's a lot of fun stories, whether he's 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.839 gonna show up for a charity event, or certainly whether 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:47.920 he was on Sundays in front of the whole world 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.320 and doing the thing that he loved to do the most. 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:52.840 He wanted to make sure that he was prepared and 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:54.880 that you got the best version of Zach Thomas you 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.640 could possibly get. And I think that stands out to 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.800 me more than anything else. I that's why fans appreciate 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:02.320 him so much, and again to provide that fans perspective 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.080 and you guys were too as well, but just you know, 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.600 from someone that didn't know him and just only knew 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:10.160 him as the player. Like, you can't control your talent level, right, 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:11.839 but you can't control the way you prepare and the 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:14.560 way you get yourself ready for games. And that's I 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.960 appreciate that because you maximize what you can control. What 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:19.959 more can you do? That's literally putting your best foot 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.400 forward and juice, you know, I keep hearing that again. 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.640 I talked about my why I talked about Peyton Manning. 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:28.000 You guys both mentioned the preparation, also the humility. But 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.600 I'm curious, Juice, if you can like remember back to 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.200 practicing against this dude, because you know, we just signed 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.160 David Long and I'm watching clips of David Long call 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.480 out plays like that. That's like, that's what Zach did. 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.079 That was that's what made great middle linebacker play for 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.360 Zach for so long. I'm curious how tough it was 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.720 to practice against this dude because I have to imagine 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.280 he's doing the same stuff in the practice field. Yeah, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:49.960 you know what, He'll tell you a story. Man. I 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.120 turnt him up a little bit at the beginning, you know, 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.440 I mean, because it's easy at the beginning to get 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.240 these aggressive young linebacker that want to make a play 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:00.240 every time, you know what I mean. So when I'm 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.400 running a little sluggo or you know, a stutter crosser, 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:06.240 things like that, I can get him at the beginning, 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:08.520 but you can you're not gonna full him more than twice, 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.719 you know what I mean? You know fully one thing 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.160 about him fully twice, you know. So it's like, you know, 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.520 how it is man, So I got him a couple 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:18.600 of times. He actually talked about that a little bit, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.959 But after that it was impossible because honestly, once you 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.240 beat him like that, once he sees somebody else get 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.400 beat like that, that's when he goes back into the 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.679 lab and figure out, okay, when when he did this, 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.199 it's about alignment and assignment and then how you know, 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.080 how he aligns. He knows what's coming a lot of time, 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:37.319 you know. And that's one thing about Zach that I 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.040 learned right away. So being the guy that I was 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.160 at that position, you know, a little higher on the 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.360 food chain when it came to Miami Dolphins at that point, 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:48.840 he wasn't gonna knock my head off, but he'll let 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.599 me know that. Oh I got him here, juice, you 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.600 know what I mean. And you started seeing that come 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.120 around or as you know, no matter what we ran 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:58.199 and a lot of times as harder as an offense 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.800 going against your own defense too to be successful. He 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.160 started to realize what we were running and he knew that, 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.160 you know, I have a way of stopping this guy. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.200 But you also saw that, you know, every single time 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.800 his will's returning, he was learning and then you weren't 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:15.280 going to beat him on the same thing again because 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.360 that's how they that's the adjustments that Zach made, and 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:20.959 that's where you know, you look at now. You talk 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.880 about where he's at now, and Stef talked about being prepared, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:26.719 I mean his film prep. I mean that was part 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:28.640 of it in practice way back then as a rookie, 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.600 and then you can continued on through his whole illustrious career. 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:33.800 That's I mean, that's the number one thing to teach rookie. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.439 He's right, don't make the same mistake twice. And for 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.040 a guy that was drafted in the fifth round, like 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.640 it's it's tough to win Rookie of the Year in general, 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:44.120 but to do it as a fifth round draft picks, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.719 it's almost seems impossible because you have the fanfare for 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.319 those early round draft picks and you mentioned, you know, 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.360 the preparation and kind of being a guy that would 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:53.800 you know, juice, you ran some many routes over the middle, 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:55.640 and you had to contend with the Ray Lewis's and 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.160 the Brian Urlockers, and luckily not Zach Thomas because you 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.240 were on his team. But we saw him have that 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.400 impact earlier. Was it was his first career game against 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.640 the Patriots when he had a big knockout shot to 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.679 force a fumble. Was it was that game one of 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.480 his career. He gets what I'm talking about. Absolutely, Yeah, 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:12.560 we did. We talk about that in the podcast, and it's, uh, yeah, 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.120 it was definitely that. It was, you know, welcome to 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.439 the NFL moment for Zach, but also like, damn, I'm 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.920 in the NFL for the Sun Jefferson, you know what 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.160 I mean. Yeah. So, but you know that's the thing 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.600 about it, man. I mean, you talked about Zach being 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.040 a fifth round pick, but he was a first round 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.800 talent in my opinion. You know, his fifth round status 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.439 was only because you know, they were talking about the 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.480 size and his speed and things like that, but his 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.280 talent was definitely first round talent. It's it's funny because 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.440 one of the debates I find myself and on Twitter, 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:44.280 maybe even in my own head, because I don't really 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:46.760 put it much on Twitter anymore, at least in terms 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.079 of arguing, is about like this modern idea of like 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:52.079 the only way you can be great at football is 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.160 to be huge, fast and strong, But like being good 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.320 at football goes a long way to being good at 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.360 football as well. And I think Zach really exemple as that. 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.600 You know, I'd love to hear more about. You guys 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.160 talked about this, uh that big hit on the podcast 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:09.760 here seth Well, we did so we Uh. One of 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:11.959 the things we wanted to talk to Zach about was 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.280 moments on field, moments that stood out to us like 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:20.079 our quintessential defining Zach Thomas moments. And one of the 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.920 two of us identified that, which is it's fascinating in 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.240 a lot of ways because it is one of the 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.240 first memories people have of Zach Thomas, at least once 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.520 the regular season started. It was his birthday, you know, 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.120 September first, that game took place. That was his birthday. 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:36.880 It was his first NFL start, his first NFL game, 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:40.240 and uh, and it really kind of set the tone 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.720 for what the next thirteen fourteen years of his career 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.959 would be an ultimately a Hall of Fame career. Absolutely, 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.440 you got me thinking about the moments that I did 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:50.400 s down at the most in my mind. So one 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.040 of you guys picked that one. You're not going to 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.400 reveal it right now. We got to leave something for that. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:00.000 That's what, right right. The two came to mind right away. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.360 Number one, I've talked about it before is that two 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.120 thousand and five season opened against the Broncos, he made 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:06.839 like three out of four plays in a row on 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:08.800 the goal line to get a goal line stand, and 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:10.800 JT actually had the other one. So it's like that 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.600 was you know, I told we talked about all the time, Seth. 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:15.880 You mentioned Rashad Jones episode of my Golden Era of 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.080 watching Dolphins football, Like, those two guys making an entire 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.400 goal line stop was awesome for me. But they also 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.840 had a game the following year in two thousand and 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.120 six against the Jets on Christmas, and he had another 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.920 big hit on Lavernius Coals that got the defense off 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.240 the field too, So it's those would be it because 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.320 he had big hits in both of those And again 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:34.880 for a guy that was what did he play at? 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.720 Like like five ten, like two twenty what do you 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:39.600 know what he said? I think he would want five eleven. 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:43.680 I think Zach were here, disrespectful, but yeah, he would 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.520 probably want five eleven. Yeah, probably two twenty five, two 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:48.800 thirty right, Shoosh sent you. If you go back and 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:50.960 look at pictures of Zach from when he arrived here 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.720 as a rookie to by the end of his career, 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:57.160 just the way his body changed and you know, he 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.480 leaned out. And I think what the expectation and was 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.680 of a linebacker playing at Texas Tech, you know, in 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.160 nineteen ninety five, was compared to someone who learned how 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.000 to take care of himself, which is also something he 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.440 talked about that his prep wasn't just film prep, but 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.640 it was what could he do to make his body um, 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.320 you know, you know, to last longer, to heal quicker, 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.080 to be as efficient as he possibly could be. We 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.400 love to joke with him about his flexibility. We didn't 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:26.120 talk about his flexibility, but yeah, he like he couldn't 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.200 touch his toes when he got Now I'm saying that 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:36.840 I can't. Yeah, God, I wish jokes aren't his fun 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:38.080 when he isn't here. But we're gonna have to make 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:39.640 sure we send this to him. I wouldn't say that 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.920 in space, Oh I would. I would definitely, But that's 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:44.720 the relationship. So that's another side of the act that 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.280 I think people don't know unless you know him, right. 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.440 If you know, you know, as they say, But he 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.520 is the ultimate jokester man. He he loves cracking on 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.600 people and being cracked on, and he you know everything 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:58.400 about him, which I think is part of why he 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.680 was so popular within the low room. You know, if 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.160 you if you say, okay, here's a guy who comes 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.760 from a successful family, and you know, and and and 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.160 became an immediate starter and a venteran got cut and 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:12.760 if he was kind of aloof and just thought about 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.160 himself and he just disappears after practice and goes and 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.640 hides in his hyperbarick chamber, and he wouldn't have been 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:19.920 the team leader. He would have been a great player regardless, 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:21.680 but he wouldn't have been the team leader. But I 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.520 think the reason part of the reason why he was 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:29.280 so beloved by his teammates above and beyond his talent, 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.480 because all the guys love people who could play, because 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.280 you're you know, everybody's in it. You know, you want 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.280 to win, and you're helping everybody win and make money 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.160 and achieve their goals. But as as Juice has set 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.160 off on the fish tank, he loved to be able 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:44.000 to hang out with the defensive guys and fit in 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:45.960 with the defensive guys just as much as he could 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.640 with the quarterbacks and receivers, and Zach was that guy. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.440 Everybody loves Zach no matter where you were in that 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.120 locker room, from special teams to the linebacker sitting next 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:59.840 to him and everything in between. And he's just constant jokes, 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.440 good times, loves a good party. I can only imagine 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.399 what his post in Shriman's speech celebration is going to be, 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.680 Like Juice us, he's warned us a little bit because 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.600 the crypt walk will come out. Yeah, So he he 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.359 is just a fun loving guy in addition to somebody 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.160 that took his craft very, very seriously. That's the best 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:22.800 of both worlds. I mean, it reminds me of like 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.160 Coach McDaniel in the way that he has this persona 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.080 that's so, you know, so approachable, but when you get 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.040 down to it, the dude's a xes and no savant. 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:32.520 It's it's a good company to be in. I'm curious 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.320 because the way you talk about it sounds like it 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.440 was immediate in terms of him kind of making the 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:39.760 defense his and so I guess I would pose the 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.080 question to Juice, how long did it take for the 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.520 team to kind of realize this is the captain of 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.960 the defense. Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I'm 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.360 gonna tell you it started early. You know, it really 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.000 started around that. You know, training camp was part of it, 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.280 first preseason game with another part of it. But you know, 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.480 if you look back at what we talked about with 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.520 like Sean Wood and those guys when we did a 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.720 little tribute, they knew it pretty pretty much right away, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:07.920 you know, and they started hearing him making signal calls 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.439 and sharl was making them in the secondary, and at 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.320 that point they realized this guy is a great leader. 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.320 You know, he leads by example, but he also leads 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:18.680 by his work ethic and everything else. Man. But I 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.919 think you know, for us, especially on the offensive side, man, 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.080 we just saw this guy making plays and we knew 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:25.800 the rest of the guys around him were pretty damn 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:27.960 special as well. You know. So if you got a 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.240 guy in the middle making the calls and making the plays, 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:33.000 you know, the rest was history with him. So I 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.920 mean right away, Zach's work ethic is humility that we 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.000 talked about before. You know, you you you buy in 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.600 with him, then you go out and you make plays. 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.720 On top of that, some guys work hard as hell. 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.680 Travis and they're not playmakers. And some guys that you know, 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:49.720 they can run well, they can live well, they can 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.000 do all this stuff stuff well, and they're great workers. 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.119 They don't make plays that did all that, you know, 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:57.160 I mean when you see all that, as well as 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:59.639 the ability to lead grown in because you're dealing with 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.720 guy had been in league for eight nineteen years as 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:04.760 a rookie, so you got to get them to buy 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:06.960 him before you get anybody to buy in, you know. 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.400