Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's Audible. I'm John kim Jimmy No
Speaker 1: Kimbo Camper. He is out recovering a little bit, had
Speaker 1: a little ailment, so he took the week off, and
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be joined by former Dolphins tight end
Speaker 1: Troy Drayton. Big Troy. Great to see again. Man. We
Speaker 1: haven't done this in a long long time. Huh. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it brings back a lot of memories. You how about
Speaker 1: this room, just being in this room, uh, being able
Speaker 1: to were the finsiders and we were talking about Dolphins
Speaker 1: football three d and sixty five days. It seemed like
Speaker 1: that was I don't know, a career ago. I know
Speaker 1: it seemed like a long time ago. But let me
Speaker 1: tell you what we we have. We forward to some
Speaker 1: great friendships and a lot of a lot of memories,
Speaker 1: a lot of laughs, and uh, you know, so I'm
Speaker 1: happy to be here. Man. Yeah, that was fun. That
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun. Now we turned it into
Speaker 1: a podcast and we've got the audible going, and uh,
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins had it going early last week at
Speaker 1: MetLife Stadium. They were ten seven and a halftime, did
Speaker 1: not get it done, didn't finish in the football game.
Speaker 1: Much like the Jets game the week before up in
Speaker 1: New York, but they end up losing thirty six to twenty. Uh.
Speaker 1: It was disappointing to the point where you know, early
Speaker 1: in that game, you get some turnovers, you get some sacks,
Speaker 1: you're in scoring position, you miss a field goal. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of things Troy that kind of you know,
Speaker 1: built up to the Dolphins not winning. But yet when
Speaker 1: you go to halftime, you're up by three, you feel like, okay,
Speaker 1: we'll come out and get a stop and maybe you
Speaker 1: get a score and you extend that lead. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: I mean when you look at when you look at
Speaker 1: it from that perspective, I mean, it's real simple. But
Speaker 1: you know the thing that I think that went against
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, like you have to do. You know, you
Speaker 1: turn the ball, all the balls turned over three times,
Speaker 1: you win the turnover battle, and you lose the football.
Speaker 1: There's many, not many games that end up like that
Speaker 1: right when you win it. So so you know, when
Speaker 1: you when you win the turnover battle, normally it goes
Speaker 1: the other way. If you're winning to turnover battle, you're
Speaker 1: winning the football game. But this went against him to
Speaker 1: me Dolphins this time and so that means there there's
Speaker 1: other little issues that you that you have to make
Speaker 1: and you have to make those adjustments. And the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins just they didn't make those adjustments. Yeah, they didn't
Speaker 1: make the adjustments. And you know what, se Kuan kind
Speaker 1: of turned it on in the second half. That guy,
Speaker 1: you know at field level and I'm standing there, it's
Speaker 1: a cold, raw, windy day. This guy's jump cutting his
Speaker 1: his first three steps are so explosive that he gets
Speaker 1: separation because he's so strong with his running style and
Speaker 1: his legs. It's just incredible to watch him in person.
Speaker 1: You know, he has such a low center of gravity
Speaker 1: and spending the time in Pennsylvania and those type of
Speaker 1: weather provisions and now in New York, like you know,
Speaker 1: I think he's he's just now starting to get back
Speaker 1: to a percent. You know, the high ankle sprains are
Speaker 1: really tough injuries to come back from it. He came
Speaker 1: back early ankle sprain. But I think now he's in
Speaker 1: his element. You know, he's getting his strength back. He's
Speaker 1: able to now have confidence cutting on on the on
Speaker 1: those services but pretty much cutting on those ankles, and man,
Speaker 1: he's a low because he has a low center of
Speaker 1: gravity and he's able to make a cut on a dime.
Speaker 1: But I think what people underestimates his power and they
Speaker 1: estimated underestimated speed. You know what. And I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: talk much more about the Giants, you know, because I
Speaker 1: just don't care to because you feel still feel like
Speaker 1: it was a game you should have won. But I
Speaker 1: have to pay respect, uh to Eli Manning and the
Speaker 1: way he played and the way that the New York
Speaker 1: crowd serenaded him, much like a Derek Jeter chant at
Speaker 1: a Yankee game. When they were where they were chanting
Speaker 1: Eli Manning. That I felt like, you know what, God,
Speaker 1: that was good. That was good to see because that
Speaker 1: fan base can be brutal at times, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: that Eli has felt the wrath the other way. But
Speaker 1: just to give him props in his career. It might
Speaker 1: have been his final home game in front of the
Speaker 1: hometown fans, with Daniel Jones maybe coming back off of
Speaker 1: an ankle injury himself, but I thought that was great.
Speaker 1: I don't know how it looked or felt the way
Speaker 1: you saw it on TV, but I thought that was
Speaker 1: pretty special. I mean, New York is a brutal place
Speaker 1: to play and he understood that going in. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of athletes have had a love
Speaker 1: hate relationship with New York. But you know, with their
Speaker 1: greatest athletes, there's always there's always that love, like there's
Speaker 1: he will always be in the minds and the hearts
Speaker 1: of the people in New York. And you know, that's
Speaker 1: a classy thing. And and when you talk about New Yorkers,
Speaker 1: they're they're rough and tough when it comes to their sports.
Speaker 1: But you know, if there's people that they idolize and
Speaker 1: they have a lot of respect for, it's a guy
Speaker 1: like Eli and and and you've seen that reverber rate
Speaker 1: through the stadium. So great job by them. I mean
Speaker 1: it's a classy, classy move by the organization and by
Speaker 1: the by the fans of New Yeah, I thought that
Speaker 1: was really cool. I mean they tried to do it
Speaker 1: a few times and Eli is trying to quiet the
Speaker 1: crowd because the game was still at hand. But at
Speaker 1: the end, I think you let him go and and
Speaker 1: it was great. It was great to hear. Let's talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about uh some Dolphins and we we
Speaker 1: talked about a former Penn stater in Sae Kwon Barkley.
Speaker 1: You obviously a proud Penn Stater. Let's talk about the
Speaker 1: way Mike Kasicki has really turned the corner. You played
Speaker 1: the position. The position kind of morphs itself every ten
Speaker 1: years and kind of changes into, you know, blocking more
Speaker 1: receiving a little bit of both. But I thought Mike
Speaker 1: this season and it was good to see him come
Speaker 1: back and catch a few balls. But I just thought
Speaker 1: that his quickness, his strength, his awareness of where he
Speaker 1: is and in the routes and all those things have
Speaker 1: really come uh to light in his second season, and
Speaker 1: I just wanted to get your opinion on what you've seen.
Speaker 1: The difference is maybe in why he is maybe turned
Speaker 1: the corner in terms of there's only one way to
Speaker 1: go now and that's continued to get better. I think
Speaker 1: I like his maturation, and you know, see him from
Speaker 1: last year to this year. I think it's confidence is
Speaker 1: just knowing where you are on the football field, making
Speaker 1: sure you you understand your surroundings, making sure you understand
Speaker 1: your role within the offense um. But if there's anything
Speaker 1: that I see is he's so confident now. I think
Speaker 1: before he was a little hesitant, so he was a
Speaker 1: half a step behind because he was still thinking. But
Speaker 1: now I think he understands his role in his offense.
Speaker 1: He understands where he's out on the field, and the
Speaker 1: coaching staff has done a great job at preparing the
Speaker 1: tight ends and and and you know, one of I
Speaker 1: think one of his weaknesses was was his blocking. And
Speaker 1: it's coming around. I mean he's a big, tall guy.
Speaker 1: I mean that was not part of his you know,
Speaker 1: list of priorities in college. And that's what people don't
Speaker 1: understand is that he's learning while he's in the league.
Speaker 1: He's learning in the NFL level. That's not the place
Speaker 1: that if you don't do anything else, well you know what.
Speaker 1: To be honest, I had that same transition, So I
Speaker 1: do understand it. I do understand it as a young
Speaker 1: l a Rams tight end. I made my transition blocking
Speaker 1: in the NFL as well, So I do understand the
Speaker 1: growing pains that you have to go through. And and
Speaker 1: you know, I wasn't asked to block. I mean block
Speaker 1: a lot of Penn State. So me coming into the
Speaker 1: National Football League and blocking for a guy like Jerome
Speaker 1: bettis like you gotta you gotta bet Q. So I
Speaker 1: think he's understanding where he fits in he understands his strengths.
Speaker 1: And when you understand your strength and where you fit
Speaker 1: in in the offense and you have a true role,
Speaker 1: now you're starting to see that confidence flourish. And that's
Speaker 1: what you're saying in Mica Seki right now. You know,
Speaker 1: it's really cool also to see a guy at thirty
Speaker 1: seven years old in a veteran quarterback and Ryan Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: kind of laying it on the line every single week.
Speaker 1: And and that hit that he took from Ogletree in
Speaker 1: the game last week against the Giants, it was right
Speaker 1: in front of me and I'm going, man, get down,
Speaker 1: find some get down. And I knew. I knew Ryan
Speaker 1: was as soon as he's tried to stick that foot
Speaker 1: in the ground and go towards him, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is gonna end back. And it did, you know.
Speaker 1: But but you have to you have to respect the
Speaker 1: way that he has played. You know, he had the
Speaker 1: first two starts, he gets, you know, out of the lineup.
Speaker 1: He comes back in the fourth quarter against Washington and
Speaker 1: from that point on, I really only think there's been
Speaker 1: one non competitive game for the offense that you know,
Speaker 1: you didn't feel like, hey, this guy can find a
Speaker 1: way to get you back into the game or keep
Speaker 1: the lead, or you know, stay competitive so that you're
Speaker 1: a couple of plays away from winning or losing. You
Speaker 1: know what, I think he is the he's the tone
Speaker 1: setter for the team. I agree with you, um and
Speaker 1: and most of the time you're talking about your tone
Speaker 1: set as the offensive line. But I think his moxie,
Speaker 1: all the things that he brings to this Miami Dolphin offense,
Speaker 1: that's that's defines who we are and it all goes
Speaker 1: through Fitzpatrick. I mean, he's a guy who's gonna take
Speaker 1: some risk, but you know though, some of those risks
Speaker 1: are gonna pay off. And at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: when you when you see the risk that he takes,
Speaker 1: their calculated risks and those are those are risks at
Speaker 1: any other quarterback with a and you know quarterbacks who
Speaker 1: who have strong confidence in themselves there they're they're always
Speaker 1: gonna they're always gonna do what is necessary to get
Speaker 1: their teams to win. If Fitzpatrick has been and he
Speaker 1: has been an epitome of what this football team is.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do whatever it takes to win. And the
Speaker 1: tone center on the offense is Ryan fitz back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and a couple of guys that's staying on the offensive side.
Speaker 1: I really thought it was nice to see two guys
Speaker 1: that were in concussion protocol play such a big role
Speaker 1: in the game and and really be a viable targets
Speaker 1: all day. Devonte Parker had two big touchdowns. He only
Speaker 1: had four catches, but he had seventy two yards and
Speaker 1: two touchdowns. And then, uh, you know, what can you
Speaker 1: say about Albert Wilson. The guy's been struggling all year
Speaker 1: to try to feel like, hey, am I a hundred
Speaker 1: percent or not? You know, you're coming back off of
Speaker 1: offseason injury, And that was the first time I think
Speaker 1: all year I've seen Albert kind of catch of football,
Speaker 1: and I feel like he's explosive enough to run away
Speaker 1: from people in traffic. I saw that quick burst that
Speaker 1: you haven't seen. You saw last year, but you haven't
Speaker 1: really seen a lot of it this year. He had
Speaker 1: five Just just your take on on those two guys
Speaker 1: in the way they played. Let me say, I am
Speaker 1: so happy for DeVante Parker. Um. You know, it's taking
Speaker 1: him a while to get to the point of where
Speaker 1: he is, and I'm glad that it's it's on our
Speaker 1: watch because he's on the up and up. I mean,
Speaker 1: was watching him being injury prone up until this point.
Speaker 1: This is the healthiest time that he's had with the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphin organization. So um, and now you're starting to
Speaker 1: see the potential that we saw when we drafted him.
Speaker 1: So I'm so happy for him and an extension that
Speaker 1: he got because he's worked hard for it. Um. When
Speaker 1: you're talking about Albert Wilson, I mean, he's a guy
Speaker 1: that you know last year he was so explosive. Anytime
Speaker 1: he got the ball in in his hands, he was
Speaker 1: a touchdown waiting to happen. And he wasn't one of
Speaker 1: those receivers that you're just gonna hit up top and
Speaker 1: you think you're gonna knock this guy down. He's very
Speaker 1: strong and he's got a lot of speed. So just
Speaker 1: to see him coming back and getting back to where
Speaker 1: he needs to be. I know, those injuries are are
Speaker 1: and those surgeries are of to come by, but the
Speaker 1: main thing about it is that you have to be
Speaker 1: able to gain that confidence. And now you're starting that confidence.
Speaker 1: See that confidence come back, Um physically, I mean, and ultimately,
Speaker 1: when you're talking about athletes, you know, it's mental. It's
Speaker 1: the mental part of the injury that you have to
Speaker 1: get over. And right now you're seeing Albert Wilson starting
Speaker 1: to get over that those injuries that he's had, those surgeries,
Speaker 1: and he's coming back to a d percent. You know,
Speaker 1: speaking of injuries the Miami Dolphins this season, the defense
Speaker 1: has been decimated with injuries in terms of defensive backs.
Speaker 1: We there's guys on the roster. I'm going who is
Speaker 1: that what? What number is that guy? And how do
Speaker 1: you pronounce his name? And there's been a lot of change,
Speaker 1: you know, but but the one constant, or actually there's
Speaker 1: been a couple of constants, but the one in the
Speaker 1: middle has been Jerome Baker. I mean, this guy every week,
Speaker 1: much like Fitzpatrick does for the offense, I think he's
Speaker 1: the tone setter on the defense, just purely by his
Speaker 1: example and the effort that he gives weekend and week out.
Speaker 1: I love our long young linebackers. I mean, those guys
Speaker 1: are really playing top quality football. And when you look
Speaker 1: at Jerome and and all the things that he means
Speaker 1: to this defense, you're absolutely right he is the tone
Speaker 1: setter for the defense. Uh. And you know, we've we
Speaker 1: talked a lot about our linebackers in the past, but
Speaker 1: we've we've as we have some great linebackers. Kwan the
Speaker 1: way he's been punning around you, and they're young linebackers
Speaker 1: that can stay together for a long time. And that's
Speaker 1: what you want. You want that core. And we have
Speaker 1: a great core linebackers that are no longer our weaknesses.
Speaker 1: These guys are our strength. So hats off to Jerome
Speaker 1: and Rey Kwan and and that whole linebacking corps. Man,
Speaker 1: they're doing a phenomenal job and um, you know they're
Speaker 1: the reason why, uh, this defense is the way that
Speaker 1: it is. Yeah, I think so. And then up front,
Speaker 1: you've got Christian Wilkins, You've got d Von god Chow,
Speaker 1: who's the Miami representative for the absolutely Man of the Year.
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got, uh, some big time talent that's
Speaker 1: gonna stay with this nucleus of a football team that's
Speaker 1: gonna get better and mature together. And you know, I
Speaker 1: had a chance to earlier in the week to sit
Speaker 1: down with Davon Gotchaw. We mentioned he's the NFL Man
Speaker 1: of the Year in terms of the Miami Dolphins representative
Speaker 1: and he does so many great things in the community,
Speaker 1: and I had a chance to sit down with him
Speaker 1: and talk a little bit about on the field, off
Speaker 1: the field and what it means to him. Always great
Speaker 1: to see a member of the l s U Tigers
Speaker 1: coming in the door. Number one in the country, number
Speaker 1: one in your heart, Davon got Chaw. I know that
Speaker 1: I see you every probably three times a week, and
Speaker 1: anytime sports centers on during lunch, I know where to
Speaker 1: find you, and that's checking out the TV, just just
Speaker 1: getting the latest news on your Tigers. How are you doing, buddy,
Speaker 1: I'm doing great. I'm doing great. You know, it's always good.
Speaker 1: You know, once you got to you know, your on
Speaker 1: them out of school. You know, number one in the country.
Speaker 1: You know, that's always good, you know what. And it's
Speaker 1: always nice to kind of kind of get the needle
Speaker 1: in your teammates a little bit, especially when you're going
Speaker 1: up against uh an Oklahoma team and then you may
Speaker 1: have one of one of the other two teams on
Speaker 1: the horizon, Clemson or Ohio State that you I'm sure
Speaker 1: you have guys in the locker room that you've already
Speaker 1: uh forecasted what may happen, right, Yes, Yes, I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. You know, it's face Oklahoma. You know, very
Speaker 1: explosive offense. You know, uh, Jayla Harrison doing a great job.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a very solid defense. So I'm very
Speaker 1: excited for that matchup. You know, December twenty eight, you
Speaker 1: haven't said anything to Stephen uh to Parker in the
Speaker 1: in the back, have you? You know, we had some hers.
Speaker 1: You know, if he has some brds, I think he
Speaker 1: I think he's a little scared. But let me just
Speaker 1: say that, Okay, you had some more that you had
Speaker 1: some you had some action up on the field up
Speaker 1: at Medlife Stadium. You know, you come out on the
Speaker 1: on the losing end, thirty six to twenty. But that
Speaker 1: was a game. Really I've felt devon a tale of
Speaker 1: two half. So I thought you guys defensively early in
Speaker 1: that football game, you came out kind of kind of
Speaker 1: slowed down in his explosiveness, really shut down Eli early
Speaker 1: in the game, and you end up getting three interceptions. Uh,
Speaker 1: you had some tackles for loss. I know that was
Speaker 1: your fifth consecutive game with at least five tackles or more.
Speaker 1: What did you feel like going into the locker room
Speaker 1: you had a ten seven lead. What did you feel
Speaker 1: like the confidence level and what you guys were doing defensively.
Speaker 1: I thought the confidence level was very high. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I just feel like as
Speaker 1: a defense, we just didn't close it out. You know.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like having that snake, you know, you
Speaker 1: kind of want to stomp on his head to finish it.
Speaker 1: You know, I think it's a defense. We didn't do it,
Speaker 1: you know, no matter what the offense too. That gave
Speaker 1: us enough points to win the game, you know, they
Speaker 1: put you know, having any points on the board. I
Speaker 1: think it's a defense. You gotta stop the other team
Speaker 1: from scoring, you know, like that's the that's the main goal.
Speaker 1: So I think at the end of the day, in
Speaker 1: the second half, we didn't play our best defense. But
Speaker 1: the first half we played very explosive. You know, uh
Speaker 1: contains se Kwan Buckley for the most part, could contain
Speaker 1: Eli Manning. So I just think the second half, you know,
Speaker 1: we just just didn't do a good job as a defense.
Speaker 1: How how are you messing with Christian Wilkins. I see
Speaker 1: you guys talking on the sidelines a lot, communicating a
Speaker 1: lot about what to expect or maybe what happened in
Speaker 1: the previous series, or maybe a technique somebody's using. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's got forty nine total tackles on the year.
Speaker 1: That's the most by any rookie defensive lineman in the league.
Speaker 1: How are you guys messing number one? And how how's
Speaker 1: that communication as it grown since the season has started? Oh?
Speaker 1: Very you know he's grown. You know, coming in, you know,
Speaker 1: he was a clips and tiger. I was the LSU tiger.
Speaker 1: You know, so it's kind of different different things there.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a great guy man. He's a humble kid. You know,
Speaker 1: He's want to get better each and every day. You know,
Speaker 1: that's the thing you gotta love about him and his
Speaker 1: work at that. You know, he comes to work each
Speaker 1: and every day. You don't want to get better. But
Speaker 1: I think at the end of the day, he's just
Speaker 1: gotta keep going and keep getting better, you know. And
Speaker 1: so it's me as myself, just keep getting better and
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, Scott limmit,
Speaker 1: have you've been encouraged by um? You know, there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of change on the defensive side, you know,
Speaker 1: it seems like weekend and week out there's some new faces,
Speaker 1: but guys are kind of stepping up to the challenge.
Speaker 1: Guys especially along the defensive line. You've had some different
Speaker 1: guys on on the edge, you know next to you.
Speaker 1: Is that is that kind of refreshing you just kind of, Hey,
Speaker 1: let's just go and play. Let's just you know, go
Speaker 1: throw a fit for sixty minutes and see where we
Speaker 1: are at the end of the day. You know, because
Speaker 1: floor always talk about the biggest thing, you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's trust, you know. So I think you know, you know,
Speaker 1: having a hard times in practice. You know what what
Speaker 1: the coach pg hobby. You know, they're throwing your different
Speaker 1: fits at you, you you know, throwing different schemes that you know,
Speaker 1: trying to see how you're gonna adjust, you know, whether
Speaker 1: this coach flow you know and practice going temple on
Speaker 1: the defense, you know, trying to get us to jump outside,
Speaker 1: trying to get us, you know, not have the right
Speaker 1: play call. You know, I think things like that. You know,
Speaker 1: it's big, you know, when once you bring new guys in.
Speaker 1: So I mean I can agree with coach flow, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, the biggest thing is having trust.
Speaker 1: You know, if I don't trust the guy next to me,
Speaker 1: then I might be self, which I might try to
Speaker 1: get out my gat to make a play that he's
Speaker 1: supposed to make, you know. So I think the biggest
Speaker 1: thing there is having trusting that guy. You know that
Speaker 1: he's going to make the play, that he's gonna set
Speaker 1: that edge. And I think, you know, once we have that,
Speaker 1: no matter who we bring in, I think it'll be
Speaker 1: all It'll be all good. You know, you mentioned tempo,
Speaker 1: and that's something you guys practice as a defense, and
Speaker 1: it was really good that you do, because the Giants
Speaker 1: came out first series in the third quarter, they went
Speaker 1: tempo a little bit. They rushed the line of scrimmage, lineman,
Speaker 1: break the huddle. They're down, and you guys kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, withstood it. You got on your heels a
Speaker 1: little bit, but then you kind of came back. Is
Speaker 1: that something that you could remember from a Wednesday or
Speaker 1: a Thursday when you get tempo at practice, that you
Speaker 1: can apply during a real game, because at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, I mean, New York is thirty degrees
Speaker 1: warted degrees down here is still like seventy eight degrees.
Speaker 1: So a hundred percent. I mean, you know when Coach
Speaker 1: Flow doing that in the sun, you know, on the outside,
Speaker 1: I feel, you know, when we get in Temple, he's
Speaker 1: trying to hurt yourself, trying to make us, you know,
Speaker 1: make a bad adjustment, get out our gaps and things
Speaker 1: like that, bad coverage. You know. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's probably the best thing, you know, going
Speaker 1: into the environment, because you know, we saw the giants,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of what's going some Temple places, you know,
Speaker 1: like theirselves. So I think, you know, when you hit
Speaker 1: it with Coach Flow, you know, each and every day
Speaker 1: and practice and I think we got on the film Sunday,
Speaker 1: it's pretty much easy. I I realized, you know, football
Speaker 1: is a team sport and and whatever the result as
Speaker 1: a team is number one. That's paramount. Your ultimate goal
Speaker 1: is to win a Super Bowl and win games along
Speaker 1: there to get to there. But you know, you have
Speaker 1: to be kind of feeling pretty good or proud of
Speaker 1: what you've accomplished, not only as a player in the
Speaker 1: National Football League, as a young player in the National
Speaker 1: Football League, but to be the Dolphins representative, you know,
Speaker 1: NFL Man of the Year. It just take me through
Speaker 1: when you heard the news and how you felt and
Speaker 1: how you reflected on your community stuff and what you
Speaker 1: are as a person and what that meant to you.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think a lot of people to get
Speaker 1: you know, hit on that being a young player. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm still a young plenty to leave. I've been a
Speaker 1: right here for three years. A lot of people come
Speaker 1: look at me like an older guy. But I mean
Speaker 1: to take your point to the Warts paid Man of
Speaker 1: the Year, I mean, I think you know, it's big,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it speaks volumes, you know. I mean,
Speaker 1: just on and off the field, you know, doing for
Speaker 1: the community, you know, doing back home, you know. I
Speaker 1: mean it just speaks big for me, you know, like
Speaker 1: I said, growing up, my mom my mentor always talking
Speaker 1: not to never forget where you come from. I mean,
Speaker 1: so I mean to me to get to this point
Speaker 1: to you know, have having the money in my pocket
Speaker 1: to be able to get back to the community, I
Speaker 1: think is it's big, you know because growing up, like
Speaker 1: I said, I never had no one do this for me,
Speaker 1: come back in the community. Did I get back you know,
Speaker 1: like things like that, you know, so I think when
Speaker 1: I got to this point, it was a no brainer
Speaker 1: to get back to the community and to do it
Speaker 1: from and to do it from my heart, devon. What's
Speaker 1: the what's the feeling you get when you touch families
Speaker 1: that are maybe not as fortunate as others and you
Speaker 1: relate and you kind of go back in your mind
Speaker 1: to your family and and and doing things like that.
Speaker 1: How does it? It's got to make you kind of
Speaker 1: swell up a little bit in your heart to say,
Speaker 1: you know what, you know, you're only here for a
Speaker 1: short time. I want to do what I can while
Speaker 1: I can and take advantage of those opportunities. I just
Speaker 1: want to see the smile. I mean, me just saying
Speaker 1: a smile on the kid's faces. It's always you know,
Speaker 1: it's big time, you know because because the smile says
Speaker 1: it off of me. And like you said, you're dealing
Speaker 1: with kids just to change you know, if a kid
Speaker 1: you know not doing so well and if I could
Speaker 1: just to change them a little bit, you know, like
Speaker 1: that's so impactful. I did something. I did my job,
Speaker 1: you know, so I think you know, doing that, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing a change, saying that smile, it speaks volumes from
Speaker 1: from children to families, you know, like giving away three
Speaker 1: hundred turkeys back home, you know what I mean. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, three hundred thanks giving meals back home. And
Speaker 1: I think that was so so big to see people
Speaker 1: coming there and just smile on the face, people who
Speaker 1: didn't have things giving dinners, who didn't have to go
Speaker 1: buy things giving dinners. I think that was big. I mean,
Speaker 1: that was so impactful to me. You know. You you
Speaker 1: talk about giving back and maybe cutting back in your
Speaker 1: end this year, about the way you've changed what you
Speaker 1: do in the off season, the way you change your
Speaker 1: eating habits, the way you change different things. How has
Speaker 1: that improved you, maybe mentally physically as a football player,
Speaker 1: to keep you healthy all those things. Do you do
Speaker 1: you think that those changes put you in a spot where, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm on the right track to where I want to be. Yes,
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, I think it's gotta deal with
Speaker 1: you know, just playing fast, you know, I mean limited,
Speaker 1: you know, putting wise things in your body. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be injured, you know injuries. You know.
Speaker 1: I think you know, it's all let's play a major factor.
Speaker 1: So I think anytime I get a chance to do
Speaker 1: the right thing, eat the right things, and the thing
Speaker 1: is always a key factor, not saying all the time
Speaker 1: when I go to everybody has a breakdown. It's always
Speaker 1: it's always kind of hard, you know, getting them on
Speaker 1: the craw frees and corn, the potatoes. You know, So
Speaker 1: I think I think, you know, I just you know,
Speaker 1: just kind of you know, staying in the South Florida
Speaker 1: area is probably what's best for me, you know, going
Speaker 1: back home to the Wizana, you know, it's be kind
Speaker 1: of hecty down. Man, that's right. And you talked earlier
Speaker 1: about putting smiles on children's faces and families faces. This
Speaker 1: is your last home game in a hard rock stadium
Speaker 1: against the Cincinnati Bengals. Man, it would be nice to
Speaker 1: smile Sunday about I don't know, four thirty forty five
Speaker 1: and in that locker room and celebrating. What does it
Speaker 1: mean for you guys as a team, As a player
Speaker 1: of the Miami Dolphins, knowing it's your last opportunity in
Speaker 1: front the home fans. Hasn't been a season that you
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, you you want to be able
Speaker 1: to get through and get onto you know, being zero
Speaker 1: and zero again and having another shot at it. What
Speaker 1: would it mean for you guys? To close out with
Speaker 1: a w at home. How many means everything, you know,
Speaker 1: this twenty nineteen season, it means everything to get a win.
Speaker 1: You know, someday in Cincinnati Bengals, you know they're gonna
Speaker 1: be coming in looking for a win, you know. So
Speaker 1: I mean, like like coach PG said, you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta go take it, you know, Like I said, like
Speaker 1: like Sunday, I didn't think we took the game. I
Speaker 1: thought we gave them the game. You know, no discredit
Speaker 1: to the New York Giants, but I thought we gave
Speaker 1: him the game in a second half though, So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we gotta go take it, take it in
Speaker 1: all four quarters, you know, sixty minutes. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we have that mindset, you know, starting to morrow,
Speaker 1: getting in the building and getting that practice. You know,
Speaker 1: I think we have to go take the game, you know,
Speaker 1: because no, no team in the NFL is just gonna
Speaker 1: give us a game. So it would mean everything to
Speaker 1: get a home win. Well, Devon, I really appreciate the
Speaker 1: time that you spent with us, and and and honestly,
Speaker 1: Gota is from you know what you guys doing the
Speaker 1: community is second to none, and and more respect about
Speaker 1: that you know, you're a great player and you're doing
Speaker 1: great things in the community. And I think it's a
Speaker 1: great example for young teammates younger than you that are
Speaker 1: gonna be joining, you know, the Miami Dolphins in the
Speaker 1: next couple of seasons, and I think you should be
Speaker 1: you know, well commented, and I know you are for
Speaker 1: what you do in the community. Thanks for joining us
Speaker 1: again and we can't wait to see you with a
Speaker 1: w on Sunday. Yes, sir, thank you appreciate it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Devon gotchau he's proud to be from l s U
Speaker 1: number one Troy, and you're gonna hear him before you
Speaker 1: see him, because if you're talking college football, he's got
Speaker 1: the needle and he's he's got it out everywhere in
Speaker 1: the locker room. Oh man. He is so passionate about
Speaker 1: the Tigers and and I definitely understand where he's where
Speaker 1: he's coming from, being a poud, proud Penn State alumni
Speaker 1: and your team is number one team in the country.
Speaker 1: But just just seeing all the things that you know
Speaker 1: his team is doing right now, he is If you
Speaker 1: ever talk to that man you start talking about college,
Speaker 1: bo're gonna you can you will see those odds light
Speaker 1: up and and and you know he might start perspiring
Speaker 1: a little bit, but you no, he I have to
Speaker 1: give him a big town to bring that out, right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's sixty degrees. I'm sweating like crazy, you know what.
Speaker 1: You know what's cool to Troy. And you can comment
Speaker 1: about this because you're out in the community so much
Speaker 1: and doing your part, you know, representing yourself, representing the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins and all the stuff that you do. But
Speaker 1: de Von taking it to a huge level, another level.
Speaker 1: And he's only you know, he's only a couple of
Speaker 1: years into his career. You know what that that's somebody
Speaker 1: who truly truly cares and somebody who understands what it
Speaker 1: is to connect to the community. And you know, when
Speaker 1: you start your foundations, you started that young. You know,
Speaker 1: he plans on being here a long time and you know,
Speaker 1: I understand how much how much this community means to
Speaker 1: got y'all and and uh his family and um into
Speaker 1: this Miami Dolphin organization. I mean, he's a guy that
Speaker 1: you put him out front, he is going to lead
Speaker 1: and uh, I can't say enough good things about him.
Speaker 1: I'm watched this guy, you know, play alongside and Dominican
Speaker 1: sue and and play alongside some great talent and and
Speaker 1: now he's he's coming into his own as as as
Speaker 1: that big defensive guy in the middle, controlling in the
Speaker 1: middle of the defense for the Miami Dolphins. You mentioned,
Speaker 1: you know, there's so many young guys on the roster
Speaker 1: in terms of defense when you talk about god Chow
Speaker 1: and Wilkins and Baker and McMillan and Iguavin, And you've
Speaker 1: got Row with a little bit of experience that's playing
Speaker 1: a new position. You know you're gonna get X back.
Speaker 1: You've got Parker at safety. It looks like he's coming
Speaker 1: into his own a little bit. You know. You you
Speaker 1: add with a little edge pressure in the off season,
Speaker 1: and you might you might have a nucleus of feeling
Speaker 1: pretty good about where the direction of that side of
Speaker 1: the football is going. Absolutely. I mean, when you look
Speaker 1: at coach Flores, I'm he's a defensive mind and he
Speaker 1: understands exactly what he wants and um he has his
Speaker 1: team playing the way that he wants them to play. Now,
Speaker 1: when you look at the talent, you don't see a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of a lot of names that
Speaker 1: stand out to you. But it really doesn't matter about
Speaker 1: those eleven names. What matters is is the fact that
Speaker 1: they're representing the defense, they're representing the football team. So
Speaker 1: and and that's that's that's how you want it, and
Speaker 1: that's how coach wants it. And those guys are playing
Speaker 1: sixty minutes of football, their their effort. Guys are not
Speaker 1: making economistakes that we've seen him making the past. And
Speaker 1: you know that comes from great coaching, great attention to detail.
Speaker 1: And this team is gonna be a great football team.
Speaker 1: And and uh, I believe in and and the direction
Speaker 1: of coach Flores is going. Uh. He's a man that's proud.
Speaker 1: He's a guy that stands by his word, and he
Speaker 1: has not wavered and the most impressive that's what That's
Speaker 1: what I love about it because he knows, Hey, this
Speaker 1: how we're gonna build this team. I'm not wavering from it.
Speaker 1: It may not look pretty now, but ultimately down the road,
Speaker 1: you're gonna thank me and and you're gonna thank me.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna thank you by having that trust in me,
Speaker 1: by going out and winning football game. Yeah, there's definitely
Speaker 1: been you have to find a way to struggle through
Speaker 1: the pain this year to kind of get where you
Speaker 1: want to be. But you know who knows pain a
Speaker 1: lot worse than the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals. It's capital
Speaker 1: P A I and okay, because it's a one win
Speaker 1: team that's coming to hard Rock Stadium. Uh. They have
Speaker 1: their own version of a first year head coach, a
Speaker 1: guy that used to coach quarterbacks here in Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1: Another guy with the first year defensive coordinator, lou Anna
Speaker 1: Rumoh is on the defensive side. So you've got guys
Speaker 1: that are familiar with the Miami Dolphins. You've got a
Speaker 1: guy that's a nine year veteran, and any Dalton that
Speaker 1: has won his job back. Um, what do you what
Speaker 1: have you seen in terms of Dalton over maybe the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, the last h three or four
Speaker 1: weeks that he's back in the lineup. It looks like
Speaker 1: he's still anticipates wells. Looks like he still throws the football. Well. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's got you know, Geoe Bernard to hand it too.
Speaker 1: He's got a lot of weapons on the offense. But
Speaker 1: they haven't had any success this year, and you know
Speaker 1: it's gotta be wearing on guys. That have been in
Speaker 1: the league that have had some sort of success, like Dalton,
Speaker 1: to come through a season like this where he's playing,
Speaker 1: much like Fitzpatrick, he's going to the bench and now
Speaker 1: he's back playing again. I think it's very humbling for
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton because when you when you're the you've been
Speaker 1: the guy in the franchise, and now you're on the
Speaker 1: bench and you're watching, that's a that's a point of
Speaker 1: view that you're not comfortable with. So I think for him,
Speaker 1: it was just going back to the basics, continue to work,
Speaker 1: getting your confidence back, making sure that you know you
Speaker 1: haven't lost your edge. Um. And I think sometimes when
Speaker 1: you when you have when you're looking at it from
Speaker 1: a perspective that you've never seen before, you're you're humble.
Speaker 1: So it makes you go back and you start working harder. Um.
Speaker 1: They're really talented on offense. I mean despite their record.
Speaker 1: I mean you've got Jio Bernard, you have you know,
Speaker 1: guys like Joe Mixon who was a running back. Uh,
Speaker 1: and you know that that one to punch, So you
Speaker 1: you have some talent. I think it's just coming together.
Speaker 1: It's just part of their growing pains and and and
Speaker 1: they're going through a different type of growing pain. Um. There,
Speaker 1: you know, you have a first year head coach in
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor, who's a very brilliant guy. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: brilliant when it comes to um the offensive side, and
Speaker 1: he's an offensive mind, but he's also a quarterback whisper
Speaker 1: as well. So UM and then Lou out of Rumo,
Speaker 1: you already know where he brings. He's intense, he's pressure,
Speaker 1: I mean, and uh, you know he's a guy that
Speaker 1: he is going to make sure that his team plays
Speaker 1: sixties sixty minutes of football. I think when you look
Speaker 1: at different teams and you look at the Bengals, Wolves,
Speaker 1: and then you look at a lot of other teams woes,
Speaker 1: every team is going through similar situations. UM, but I
Speaker 1: think some teams deal with it differently. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, with the first year head coach UM and
Speaker 1: the organization not being comfortable with losing the way that
Speaker 1: they're losing. Um, it's just a transition that they're going
Speaker 1: through and and they have to figure their way out
Speaker 1: of it. And you've got two guys coming back home
Speaker 1: to South Florida, and you mentioned one in Geo Bernard
Speaker 1: and Geno Atkins. Who's very destructive as a defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: He can line up on the nose, he can line
Speaker 1: up at the three technique between the garden and tackle
Speaker 1: and and just wreak havoc. So he is he is,
Speaker 1: he is. He is a special guy in the middle,
Speaker 1: and he's a he's a guy has been to a
Speaker 1: few Pro Bowls. As you know, you know who else
Speaker 1: wreaked havoc. In terms of when the Miami Dolphins in
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals get together, our old friend O J. Mcdufflin,
Speaker 1: juice was loose and and and it was fun because
Speaker 1: he he was able to catch a damn Reno pass
Speaker 1: kind of put the game away. And you know, earlier
Speaker 1: in the week, Kim Bokan per and I had a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to O J about that particular game,
Speaker 1: about his career, about the Miami Dolphins, and his passion.
Speaker 1: So here's that conversation between Bo and I with O
Speaker 1: J McDuffie. All right, Dad, your big day for us?
Speaker 1: Big Day's not that often you get to know O
Speaker 1: J McDuffie. No, this is awesome. Usually these guys that
Speaker 1: do this and they all call into the phone. Did
Speaker 1: you send J is a stand up. Got no, he
Speaker 1: got that Nissan Maxima from back in nine. That's right, oh,
Speaker 1: j great to have you man, Man, thank you guys
Speaker 1: for having honestly, Hey, so what are you doing with
Speaker 1: yourself these days? Well, you know, doing a lot of things,
Speaker 1: you know, raising teenage boys seventeen eleven and my eleven
Speaker 1: year old thinks he's over older than my seventeen year old,
Speaker 1: you know, running the Foundation to Catch you One foundation,
Speaker 1: trying to be a part of the Miami Dolphins Alumni
Speaker 1: Advisory Board, and doing real estate with the wife. So
Speaker 1: we're just trying to stay busy. Man, cut your hands full.
Speaker 1: And I know you were. You got a podcast going yourself. Yeah,
Speaker 1: The Fish Tank Man's Dolphin Tails and like from the Deep.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of guys you've been on getting Jimmy
Speaker 1: on at some point wink wink um, you know, to
Speaker 1: just talk about you know, the fun times. Yeah. We
Speaker 1: we had someone coming out recently coming out with Jim Kick,
Speaker 1: you know, and Jim Kick he has some great day Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So we've had some really
Speaker 1: good guys on. You told some great stories bow and
Speaker 1: you know a lot of people don't don't realize that
Speaker 1: goes on behind the scenes. You only see the Sundays
Speaker 1: in the Mondays, but the fish tank gives you a
Speaker 1: little a little, very little bit, a little bit the
Speaker 1: guys that are willing that don't go too far. That's right,
Speaker 1: that's right. Ju. You've had some uh, some some great
Speaker 1: games during your career with the Dolphins and uh and
Speaker 1: what a great career was opportunity to play with with
Speaker 1: Dan Marino and then I always caused you one of
Speaker 1: his favorite players because you one of the toughest guys
Speaker 1: out there, and I agree with that. But we're gonna
Speaker 1: we're talking about we're gonna go back to uh October one,
Speaker 1: dophe win over the Bengals at that point, and you're
Speaker 1: an Ohio guy, so as you're playing the Bengals up
Speaker 1: there like almost in your in your backyard, what was it?
Speaker 1: How special was it to be able to play with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins and go up and play in uh close
Speaker 1: to home. Yeah, it's always always good getting back home,
Speaker 1: it really is. Man. A lot of these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you you grew up somewhere, but you usually
Speaker 1: played professionally somewhere else, you know, and me personally, you know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to go back to high I really you know,
Speaker 1: the state of Ohio was divided. You got the Browns
Speaker 1: up north, you got the Bengals down south. So and
Speaker 1: they're in the same division, so you hate the Bengals
Speaker 1: if you're a Browns fan, which I was a Browns fan,
Speaker 1: so it was it was great to be back home. Um,
Speaker 1: I've been there before. We played the Browns my my
Speaker 1: rookie year in Cleveland, which was nice to be back home,
Speaker 1: but to be in Cincinnati against the nasty Nati we
Speaker 1: called him back, you know, it was It was a
Speaker 1: lot of fun and more importantly, but both Johanna Carter, Yeah,
Speaker 1: just gotten drafted by those guys, played against those guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a nice I didn't know about that, right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: speaking about you know, come growing up up there, have
Speaker 1: a lot of family friends at that showed him for
Speaker 1: the game. Absolutely, man in my high school teammates and coach,
Speaker 1: they all showed up. Of course, my mom. You know,
Speaker 1: one thing I did when I played for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: was every um time we played Indianapolis, which is once
Speaker 1: a year because they're in our division. You know, I'd
Speaker 1: rent a bus and everybody from Ohio will get on
Speaker 1: the bus. About forty or fifty people get on the
Speaker 1: bus and they go to Indianapolis for that game. So
Speaker 1: with it being in Cincinnati, I didn't have to rent
Speaker 1: the bus that time. Everybody just drove in. So we
Speaker 1: probably had quite a few more at that game because
Speaker 1: they have to get on the spring for all the
Speaker 1: ticket I do, I did, I did? You know, And
Speaker 1: it's gonna cost me, It cost me later. It's always
Speaker 1: good to have a family around and juice going back
Speaker 1: to Ohio. There was another guy going back to Ohio
Speaker 1: and that was Don Shula, and he's gonna face his son,
Speaker 1: David Schuler for the second year in a row. Do
Speaker 1: you ever remember coach during that week and preparing to
Speaker 1: go up against his son, you know, did he say anything?
Speaker 1: Was it? Was it special? What do you remember if
Speaker 1: anything about that? Well, you know, coach he tried to
Speaker 1: keep it business as usual. You know it it's just
Speaker 1: a just another game. But you know it wasn't just
Speaker 1: another game for a couple of reasons. I mean, for one,
Speaker 1: you know, he doesn't want to obviously embarrass his son,
Speaker 1: but he still has to win games, you know, so
Speaker 1: it was a different like a business approach to the
Speaker 1: whole situation. That's how I think coach took that that week,
Speaker 1: and that's how we handled as well. You know, we
Speaker 1: didn't we didn't care about the Shola versus Shooler Bowl,
Speaker 1: whatever it was. We cared about winning the game. You know,
Speaker 1: a team that was playing pretty well at that point,
Speaker 1: and we thought we were really good at that point,
Speaker 1: and so we're just trying to go on the road
Speaker 1: and win a game within the within the conference. And
Speaker 1: you know, I know that coach had a little special
Speaker 1: thing for his son at that point, but as players,
Speaker 1: you know, we just want to get in there and
Speaker 1: get a dub. But uh, you know, of course he
Speaker 1: didn't want to go into embarrassing. If we could have
Speaker 1: put fifty spot on, I'm sure we would have. But
Speaker 1: they played. They played the hell of a game that Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a tight game, and you guys were a
Speaker 1: very good team. As you mentioned, the Dolphins are three.
Speaker 1: You know going into that game, how how good was
Speaker 1: that team at that point? Did you know how good
Speaker 1: that team was? I thought that team was very good.
Speaker 1: I really did. You know. When I came to the
Speaker 1: Dolphins in nine after they just came from the an
Speaker 1: f C Championship game and they lost at home against Buffalo.
Speaker 1: I mean that team was already stacked, you know, and
Speaker 1: and a lot of times in the first round. You
Speaker 1: know that I was blessed to be drafted in. If
Speaker 1: you get drafted late in the first round, you know
Speaker 1: you're going to a good team. And I went to
Speaker 1: a very good team, and we were still a very
Speaker 1: good team. We had a lot of offensive weapons, our
Speaker 1: defense was stacked. Uh so we felt really good about
Speaker 1: the type of team we were. You know that that
Speaker 1: game was a little back and forth game. You take
Speaker 1: it down to three thirty lefs again, Bengal score a touchdown,
Speaker 1: they take a twenty nineteen lead, and and it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's down the business at that point. Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: man And that's you know, that was a fun time
Speaker 1: of playing with the great Damn Marino. You know, there
Speaker 1: were there were very few games that we felt we
Speaker 1: couldn't come back and win. And now, you know, any
Speaker 1: game we get into we got the ball late. We
Speaker 1: got a great opportunity to go down there and put
Speaker 1: a drive together and win a and win a football game.
Speaker 1: And and that was one. The confidence level was amazing
Speaker 1: Danny's um you know, commanded the huddle in the situation
Speaker 1: was amazing, and we we never won. You know, we
Speaker 1: couldn't even use a kicker in this situation, which is
Speaker 1: even a better situation because sometimes you know you have
Speaker 1: a kicker to come in and win a game for
Speaker 1: you're tied. For you we knew we want to go
Speaker 1: down and put it put in the end zone, and
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's ready to go because that's that's go time.
Speaker 1: And that's when thirteen thrives a lot of times. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned, you know how you felt confident going into
Speaker 1: those types of situations. Crowds probably going crazy, the Bengals
Speaker 1: just score, But tell us about the ease and maybe
Speaker 1: the calm you guys went about it because of the
Speaker 1: confidence you had not only in Dan, but the guy
Speaker 1: next to you, and and and the way you would
Speaker 1: look in the mirror and say, hey, it may come
Speaker 1: down to me. I'm gonna be ready for my opportunity.
Speaker 1: You think about our team was stacked. I mean we
Speaker 1: were stacked, you know, having Danny's your quarterback, you know,
Speaker 1: having myself and Urban Fryer and guys like that. You know,
Speaker 1: our our offensive lines where Richmond Webb and Keith Sims
Speaker 1: and me. I think that team had four pro bowlers
Speaker 1: on it as a whole, you know, and I think
Speaker 1: that you know, we we had confidence that they've they've
Speaker 1: been there and done that before. And when you got
Speaker 1: one train in the in the huddle, you know, he
Speaker 1: has that calm about him, but he also has that
Speaker 1: fire body and that's gonna make sure that you know,
Speaker 1: we're ready to go. And we always wanted to go
Speaker 1: down and you know, we we practiced so much on
Speaker 1: two minute drill and you when you when you get
Speaker 1: those opportunities to actually you go down there and win
Speaker 1: games and that two minute drill, that's special. And when
Speaker 1: you got that type of leader, you know, you got
Speaker 1: that type of leader, man, it makes it a lot easier.
Speaker 1: And that calming factors there. You want to go out there,
Speaker 1: You want to be the guy that makes that play.
Speaker 1: You want to be the guy counseling in the in
Speaker 1: the in the clutch, and that goes to you, you know,
Speaker 1: in those situations and uh and Danny spread it around.
Speaker 1: He was great about sharing the wealth and that was
Speaker 1: that was the fun part about it. You know, you
Speaker 1: you you finally get the ball, you have to drive,
Speaker 1: you're moving down the field. You got a third down situation,
Speaker 1: you catch a pass from Danny converted. Um, what what?
Speaker 1: What made you such an effective receiver on third down?
Speaker 1: There's some guys that that they want they thrive ins
Speaker 1: third downs. The other guys that we are on the
Speaker 1: vine on third down, Well, you know what, I wasn't
Speaker 1: going deep bo, you know, so you know those intermediate conversions.
Speaker 1: That was that was my that was my gig right there.
Speaker 1: And the whole thing about you know, third down is
Speaker 1: like knowing the situation. You know, preparation third down in
Speaker 1: certain situations, they play certain things and they do certain things,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's like everybody talks about it now.
Speaker 1: It's like analytics are so popular now. We they were
Speaker 1: there when we played as well. You know, so I
Speaker 1: knew or Danny would know where. We knew that chance
Speaker 1: and we're playing a certain coverage. But to think about
Speaker 1: with Danny, you know, be where you're supposed to be,
Speaker 1: be there own time and make a play. And that's
Speaker 1: what it was all about. And you know, and that
Speaker 1: and it took a little time for me, you know,
Speaker 1: with that was my second third year. You know, it
Speaker 1: took a little time, you know, for me to even
Speaker 1: develop that rapport with Danny. And once you have that,
Speaker 1: no matter what the coverage is, you know, I could
Speaker 1: be double covered. Danny's gonna find a way to fit
Speaker 1: in and my job isn't make a play and that
Speaker 1: So you made a number of plays throughout your career,
Speaker 1: and your number was called again in this game on
Speaker 1: the road against the Bengals. You catch the game winner,
Speaker 1: a sixteen yarder from Dan. What do you remember about
Speaker 1: the play, the route, the play call that went into it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's funny because, um, you know,
Speaker 1: you think about it. It had to be some combination
Speaker 1: of forty one or forty seven. So I was on
Speaker 1: the left side, so those are all slant. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a slant flat route combination. But I know Danny
Speaker 1: gave me a slant you know, not not a slanting goal,
Speaker 1: but he gave me a flat routing up signed giving
Speaker 1: a little hand signal, you know, because you know they've
Speaker 1: been biting on that slant in that combo the whole time.
Speaker 1: I'll been running old games a flat route, but he
Speaker 1: gave me, you know, the flat routing up you know
Speaker 1: sign and the dB didn't bite, he didn't bite at all.
Speaker 1: But you know, I still ran the route and Danny
Speaker 1: has made a perfect throw and it's about me. Like
Speaker 1: I talked about going up making a play. You know,
Speaker 1: back shoulder. They do that a lot now, but back
Speaker 1: shoulder back then was not even a thing. You know,
Speaker 1: you throw it away or you you know, you throw
Speaker 1: it high. Threw me a light stole back, back shoulder
Speaker 1: throw and I was able to make a play. Man.
Speaker 1: It was it was just I mean, it was exhilarating.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, no know the magnitude game for
Speaker 1: one to shoe list, but you also know that your
Speaker 1: family and friends and you know, an opportunity for you.
Speaker 1: You know, how often do you get a chance to,
Speaker 1: you know, to make a potential game winning touchdown one
Speaker 1: of them in front of your family and friends, everybody,
Speaker 1: everyone's here. But you know there's still time left. Cincinnati
Speaker 1: gets the ball left, men and three, much like the
Speaker 1: Jets came with the Dogs, reminiscent of the Dolfins game.
Speaker 1: This is a better outcome. Yeah, yeah, you're a three
Speaker 1: left and regulation. You're on twenty seven year. They're on
Speaker 1: their twenty seven yard line. Well, what are you thinking
Speaker 1: of the sideline? You got any superstitions or you're looking,
Speaker 1: you're not looking. They try to game time field goal,
Speaker 1: they missed it, so and you're thinking the ball here.
Speaker 1: What's going through your mind is this is gonna be
Speaker 1: You're either gonna win it or these guys arena come
Speaker 1: back and and and put it through the upright. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I had a lot of trust in our
Speaker 1: defense back then, man, but I was a little worried
Speaker 1: about him. I definitely was, man, And I think that
Speaker 1: you know the fact that we thought we were a
Speaker 1: much better team in Cincinnati at that point, the fact
Speaker 1: they were still in the game, And that's what happens
Speaker 1: when you encourage teams that aren't as good as you,
Speaker 1: You're gonna be in a dog fight the whole game.
Speaker 1: And we were in a dog fight the whole game.
Speaker 1: And I think the fact that you know, defense was
Speaker 1: giving up yards, bending but not breaking, and actually, you know,
Speaker 1: held him to a field goal. I'm always nervous, but
Speaker 1: no matter what, they helped to a field goal. I figured,
Speaker 1: we get the ball back seconds, you got seconds, you
Speaker 1: gotta shot with him and alund that that's what that's
Speaker 1: what the fielding was. Yeah, it's a nice coming. It's
Speaker 1: always nice come with the big win. That's right. That's right. Hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: well we got you here. Let's talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about about about the Dolphins this year, uh and what's
Speaker 1: going on with his football team and and what you
Speaker 1: see from this team uh as they're growing as a
Speaker 1: season gets on and and Brian Flores and I think
Speaker 1: he's done a great job with his football team. And
Speaker 1: I know you're a big fan. Uh. I just want
Speaker 1: to get your thoughts on on this team. Is it's is,
Speaker 1: it's moving forward. You know what. I love where we're headed.
Speaker 1: I really do. Man. I love the fight and and
Speaker 1: he's dog man. I love that, you know, the rhetoric
Speaker 1: that I heard in the beginning season about this team
Speaker 1: and not being a professional team and all the ways
Speaker 1: they try to dog this program and organization out, you know.
Speaker 1: And I love what coach Flow is done. I really do. Man.
Speaker 1: He's got the guys here that want to be here,
Speaker 1: you know, and they've they've going on and they fought hard,
Speaker 1: um and you know, they're all professionals about it. Everybody says,
Speaker 1: you know, we we got a bunch of young guys.
Speaker 1: But we got a lot of hungry and eager and
Speaker 1: and fighting young guys out there, man. And so I
Speaker 1: sit there and I watched every game. You know, we
Speaker 1: have so many people that have made their mind of
Speaker 1: what they wanted to They wanted to win. They want
Speaker 1: us to lose. You're not gonna teach these guys to
Speaker 1: go out there and find a way to lose. They're
Speaker 1: gonna go out there and play hard. And Coach Flow
Speaker 1: hasn't playing hard, man. And I love his fire in
Speaker 1: that last game, man, you know, I love his fire
Speaker 1: that he's had all season long. And I love the
Speaker 1: fire and a lot of these guys bring to the table.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a you know you said, but I'm a
Speaker 1: huge fan. I'll continue to be a fan. And we've
Speaker 1: got the right guy at the head of these young men.
Speaker 1: And I can't imagine what the future gonna look like, man,
Speaker 1: because being a Dolphin since you know, since April, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's just growing with this guy right here as
Speaker 1: the headman. There's the only way to one way to go, Juice,
Speaker 1: because you're gonna add some talent to a coaching staff
Speaker 1: that coaches him every day and and that a guy
Speaker 1: that knows where he wants to get to and I
Speaker 1: think he's got a good plan for it. So it's
Speaker 1: encouraging for everybody in South Florida that are passionate about
Speaker 1: the Dolphins that look for him to make strides that
Speaker 1: even though on a team that's lacking some some quality
Speaker 1: talent in in terms of depth, in terms of starters,
Speaker 1: and they're getting the most out of this roster and
Speaker 1: they're getting the most out of this team, and it's
Speaker 1: it has to be encouraging for a guy that has
Speaker 1: done it wearing the uniform to see where they're trying
Speaker 1: to get to, knowing that they're gonna have to work
Speaker 1: a little bit harder than the rest this year to
Speaker 1: get where they want to be and maybe two or
Speaker 1: three years with with an influx of talent. Absolutely, man,
Speaker 1: you know what real quick man. I love Fits Man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a huge Fits fan. You couldn't have asked
Speaker 1: for a better person to manage this young group of guys.
Speaker 1: Man with the heart and you know, and the way
Speaker 1: he battles out there. Man, he does. Man, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think that that contagious man, because you think
Speaker 1: about these young guys. You know, see a guy you
Speaker 1: know up in age in the game, they got to
Speaker 1: realize that you gotta make some fun out of his
Speaker 1: game in order to make it work. And now fits
Speaker 1: does a great job of that man, And I think
Speaker 1: they they vibe with they do. You know, I see
Speaker 1: him every week. I'm there. I'm there early for every game.
Speaker 1: And you know, Joe Rose and I, you know, we
Speaker 1: both get it early. And you know, I call him
Speaker 1: the pied Piper now because everywhere he goes, there's four
Speaker 1: or five guys. They all want to be around him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he sits down on the bench before a game,
Speaker 1: there's there's eight guys. Yeah, they all want to talk.
Speaker 1: They all want to be around him. And you know,
Speaker 1: and they may not be talking about football. He may
Speaker 1: talk about other stuff, but but he feel feeds that
Speaker 1: in and and and these players just just how can
Speaker 1: you not like playing for a guy that that just
Speaker 1: lays it on the line ere we get and gets
Speaker 1: gets a snot knocked out, him gets up smiling and saying, hey,
Speaker 1: come on, guys, let's go do it again, you know,
Speaker 1: exactly right. And then you know, and I saw his
Speaker 1: interview last week, and you know, he is talking about that,
Speaker 1: you know, but when he gets in the hell he
Speaker 1: can't let him know he got he got hit. You
Speaker 1: can't him. And as the leader, you know, and John
Speaker 1: you did as a quarterback, as a quarterback, you can't,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta let him know that you're okay.
Speaker 1: You know, may We're gonna keep battling up in here.
Speaker 1: And that's that's fits all the time. But we've seen
Speaker 1: some other quarterbacks that don't let you know it's fine,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's why I love about him. You know.
Speaker 1: The other thing, Juice, when when I look at it,
Speaker 1: um is, you know, because I've been looking at the
Speaker 1: coaching staff, you know, because you knew, you kind of
Speaker 1: knew going in it was gonna be a rough season.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to see how the coaching staff handled
Speaker 1: these guys. And and and the one thing that I've seen,
Speaker 1: and I want to kind of touch on this with
Speaker 1: you too, the one thing I've seen, you know, my
Speaker 1: college programs guy comes in as a freshman, does he
Speaker 1: get better that by the time he's a senior junior
Speaker 1: or does he stay on the level on the level field.
Speaker 1: And this is in college, but I've watched through this year.
Speaker 1: Not only the whole team get better and more competitive
Speaker 1: as a season goes on, but you've seen guys out
Speaker 1: there like the Nick need Hums and some of these
Speaker 1: guys that that you're going around, what's that guy? Who
Speaker 1: is that guy? You know what? That guy's not even
Speaker 1: you shouldn't even be on the But they've gotten better.
Speaker 1: They've gotten good. They've gotten a lot of snaps, meaningful snaps,
Speaker 1: but they've gotten better along the way from the from
Speaker 1: the from the guys that are you know, the fifty second, third,
Speaker 1: fourth guys on the roster, to two guys like DeVante
Speaker 1: Parker Mike Gasecki. You know, here's two guys you know.
Speaker 1: To me, Parker has been here for this is fifth year.
Speaker 1: It was, you know, disappointed for four years, but all
Speaker 1: of a sudden they found a way to get the
Speaker 1: best out of him, right, and he's grown with them.
Speaker 1: Gasecki came in last year, wasn't the kind of guy
Speaker 1: that that that you thought he was gonna be. But
Speaker 1: look at what he's doing now, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of that comes from this staff and the way
Speaker 1: they've treated him, coached him and and got got everyone
Speaker 1: better from the from the fifty third guy on the
Speaker 1: roster to the number one guy on the roster. I
Speaker 1: think they've made him get better to me. That that,
Speaker 1: to me is a sign of of a good coaching staff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think you're right. But when I think one
Speaker 1: of things that you you have to do as a
Speaker 1: coaching staff is you gotta put guys in position to
Speaker 1: be successful. You know, don't ask guys to do things.
Speaker 1: They don't ask me to go deep. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: get open deep, you know what I mean, So work
Speaker 1: me intermediately, you know. And I think they found that,
Speaker 1: you know, with DeVante Parker now is more like ball,
Speaker 1: you know, so giving that opportunity. Same thing with Mike
Speaker 1: Mike Nicky, he's like I mean, he was, I think
Speaker 1: a two time state championship player in volleyball over for
Speaker 1: d vertical. You know, don't ask him to run certain rounds,
Speaker 1: throw it up, give an opportunity and give him a chance,
Speaker 1: you know. And I think that's part of coaching. We
Speaker 1: put guys in position to be successful, and you coach
Speaker 1: it up. Coaching up, coaching up and build that confidence.
Speaker 1: And going back to what we're talking about exactly, it's
Speaker 1: giving that opportunity. Man Fitz is going to give him
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make a play for him, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's not gonna chew their butts when they don't
Speaker 1: make a play. You know, he's going to encourage them.
Speaker 1: Let him know, I'm coming back to you, and he's
Speaker 1: going down. He's going down giving those guys their best off.
Speaker 1: You know that that that's his options and that that's
Speaker 1: what's made him so good, I think is because he's
Speaker 1: putting guys in position to thrive and and they're making
Speaker 1: him look good. And he's got the savvy to throw
Speaker 1: a guy open, not wait till he gets open. Right,
Speaker 1: you can't. Those two guys throw it up. You got either.
Speaker 1: They're taller than any of the dbs they've got, they
Speaker 1: can jump higher, throw it up and let them go
Speaker 1: get it. And that's what they've done it. So I
Speaker 1: love it. Yeah, I just love I love We're aheaded man,
Speaker 1: and you know, everybody's talking about different things, but you know,
Speaker 1: play to play the season out when the games you
Speaker 1: you win, and then then go from whatever happens happen.
Speaker 1: And look, I'm you know, for for what I've seen
Speaker 1: of them putting this getting this team to where they are.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see what they're gonna get. What's gonna
Speaker 1: happen when they've got a roster full of up Now,
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not down. I'm not saying anything disrespectful
Speaker 1: about these guys because I think a lot of these
Speaker 1: guys that are getting snaps now are going to provide
Speaker 1: the depth that you need next year. Correct, they'll have
Speaker 1: they will have played a lot of games, played a
Speaker 1: lot of snaps. They're they're economically you know, they fit
Speaker 1: into that that that bottom portion of your roster. Now,
Speaker 1: they may not be starting and maybe there are now,
Speaker 1: but they may not be starting next year. But boy,
Speaker 1: the depth that you've gotten some of these positions is
Speaker 1: gonna it's gonna pay dividends as you move along to
Speaker 1: next year in the year after. Well, you know, that
Speaker 1: mix is important. You have to have that mix of
Speaker 1: the guys that you know that are not the highest
Speaker 1: paide guys along with the guys that you're gonna pay
Speaker 1: a lot of money to in order for just salary
Speaker 1: cap reasons, but also let you talked about boy creates
Speaker 1: that depth and depth is important because a lot of teams,
Speaker 1: you know, when you get past the first level. They're
Speaker 1: in trouble. We gotta make sure we're not in trouble.
Speaker 1: And guys are getting valuable snaps are a lot of experience.
Speaker 1: It really is valuable snaps, man, And it won't be
Speaker 1: a new day out there for a lot of guys
Speaker 1: when they when they numbers called, because guaranteed the number
Speaker 1: is gonna be and then they're gonna know how to
Speaker 1: how to be coached and how things are gonna want
Speaker 1: to be done in a certain way. And I think
Speaker 1: that can be passed along to the new guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's exactly right. You're gonna be to teach the new guys.
Speaker 1: But they're gonna they're gonna know what it goes, what
Speaker 1: it's all about. You know how it is you're walking ahead,
Speaker 1: what's this guy shot all about? What I'm gonna tell
Speaker 1: you what? Hey, do it this way, don't do it that.
Speaker 1: If you get the same thing exactly right, exactly Juice, Man,
Speaker 1: is always your pleasure away coming on to be on
Speaker 1: the on the program and talking about the game and
Speaker 1: just just wear at right now and man, and I
Speaker 1: always love seeing you and keep waiting be coming right
Speaker 1: in the pride that they always got you,