Speaker 1: It's another edition of Patched from the Past, and we're
Speaker 1: pleased to be joined by the best tight end in
Speaker 1: franchise history. Paul, is it the best tight end in
Speaker 1: NFL history?
Speaker 2: We're going to get to that later. Now, I'm going
Speaker 2: to get that out of here here, Paul Parolo.
Speaker 1: Here, he's number eighty seven on your scorecard, but number
Speaker 1: one in everybody's hearts.
Speaker 3: Rob Gronkowski, what an introduction, guys. I appreciate that love,
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 4: I played the number.
Speaker 3: One organization of all times as well, so it was
Speaker 3: a great matchup to have the number one tight end
Speaker 3: pointing for the number one organization.
Speaker 4: Baby, that's what's up. I tell you what.
Speaker 1: Nobody's seen much of you, Like are you in hiding
Speaker 1: or anything like that. Nobody's seen you at all, Like
Speaker 1: are you a monk or are you like a commercials?
Speaker 4: Are you having fun to Actually? I am in hiding
Speaker 4: this week. It's Thanksgiving week.
Speaker 3: It's a holiday, so I have off, you know, for
Speaker 3: about six days, and you guys actually got me out
Speaker 3: of hibernation to come here. But that's okay because it
Speaker 3: was about three minutes you know, from the house, you know,
Speaker 3: so when it's that close and it's that easy. You know,
Speaker 3: I can always come out of the ground and come
Speaker 3: and say what's up. And you guys, you know, have
Speaker 3: been great and the you know, my career started here
Speaker 3: without without being drafted here, you know, to this organization
Speaker 3: here in this building. You know, I wouldn't be on
Speaker 3: these commercials that you guys see me on all the time.
Speaker 3: So appreciate you guys having me here today.
Speaker 1: Do you like chopping it up with the Fox guys?
Speaker 1: Are you having fun doing that?
Speaker 4: I'm having a lot of fun doing that. I'm having
Speaker 4: a lot of fun doing everything that I'm.
Speaker 3: Doing, especially the commercials. I know that's what you guys
Speaker 3: are talking about.
Speaker 1: Well, Devin Fox, I mean Sam Sheppard is your new bestie.
Speaker 3: Yes, And that's just it's unbelievable over there, and these
Speaker 3: guys are such pros. It's kind of like me entering
Speaker 3: the room with like when I was a rookie, Like
Speaker 3: how I entered the room, you know with Vince Wolfour,
Speaker 3: Tom Brady, all those guys you know, as a rookie.
Speaker 3: It's like when I enter the room at the Fox Room,
Speaker 3: you know, and I got Michael Strahan, I got Jimmy Johnson,
Speaker 3: I got Terry Bradshaw, Kurt Menefee, Howie Long. Like, it's
Speaker 3: kind of like a similar situation. I'm a rookie, but like,
Speaker 3: these guys have been on TV now for twenty five
Speaker 3: thirty years plus. Michael Strahan's the youngest one out of
Speaker 3: the whole group, and he's been I think around fifteen
Speaker 3: years on the show. And then there I am as
Speaker 3: a first year, second year, third year guy now and
Speaker 3: I was just looking up to him every single day,
Speaker 3: Like they're so on point. They're incredible with their knowledge.
Speaker 3: You know, they know when to spit out facts and
Speaker 3: when to joke around. So just learning from them and
Speaker 3: just going under their wing man, it was something special
Speaker 3: and it still is special, and it's so much fun
Speaker 3: just working with them every Sunday that I'm on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good place to start. You talked about being drafted here,
Speaker 2: you talked about being a rookie in TV. What was
Speaker 2: it like go back to Arizona and you're coming out.
Speaker 2: Did you know the Patriots were heavily interested in What
Speaker 2: was that process?
Speaker 4: Like, all right, man, let's go back to this process.
Speaker 3: I like that, And yes, I knew the Patriots were
Speaker 3: definitely heavily interested that's for sure. But I had one
Speaker 3: of the worst draft visits of all time. And coach
Speaker 3: Chuck talked about that before. I mean, Nancy is she's
Speaker 3: still here as well. Yeah, she still talks about it
Speaker 3: that I fell asleep right on her desk right before
Speaker 3: I was gonna go meet all the coaches. But to
Speaker 3: be fair, that was like my seventeenth trip in like
Speaker 3: fifteen days, and I was super tired, and you know,
Speaker 3: I had to get a nap.
Speaker 4: In real quick.
Speaker 3: So I was sharp and on point, which that's what happened,
Speaker 3: but actually that's not what happened because I really wasn't
Speaker 3: that sharp and on point, and then everything else is
Speaker 3: just chaos that trip. So I actually walked out of
Speaker 3: this building after that rookie you know that kind of
Speaker 3: like a job interview.
Speaker 4: It was before you get drafted. You go and see
Speaker 4: all the teams and talk to them.
Speaker 3: I kind of walked out of the building like this
Speaker 3: team is either going to love me and they're gonna
Speaker 3: take me, or they just think I'm a complete fool
Speaker 3: and they already crossed me off their board. But I
Speaker 3: was in the back of my mind, I was like,
Speaker 3: I have a feeling that they loved me. But so
Speaker 3: back to you know, going to Arizona and draft night
Speaker 3: and all that. So I wanted to go to the
Speaker 3: Arizona Cardinals. Actually they were the number twenty six pick
Speaker 3: because the reason was I loved my time at the
Speaker 3: University of Arizona. You know, I was in Tucson, I
Speaker 3: was a Wildcat. They were the Arizona Carnos, were hour
Speaker 3: half away in the Scottsdale Phoenix area, and just to
Speaker 3: stay as a whole. Loved being there, loved that area
Speaker 3: as well. So I wanted to go there just because
Speaker 3: I knew how familiar I was with and how much
Speaker 3: I loved.
Speaker 4: I loved being there. And then in the back of
Speaker 4: my mind, I thought it would be kind.
Speaker 3: Of cool if the Bills drafted me because it was
Speaker 3: my hometown team. But at the same time, I kind
Speaker 3: of didn't want to go to Buffalo too, just because
Speaker 3: they weren't pressure. Yeah the pressure stunk, Yeah they stunk.
Speaker 3: At the time, just saw that I felt like just
Speaker 3: best for my career to just not go back home,
Speaker 3: even though it would be a dream to go play there,
Speaker 3: like when you were growing up, that was the dream.
Speaker 3: And then the other team was the Baltimore Ravens. You know,
Speaker 3: they showed high interest in me throughout the whole process.
Speaker 3: I had plenty of interviews with them. You know, I
Speaker 3: truly believed that they were going to take me, and
Speaker 3: they were about to take me.
Speaker 1: You do you know, like you were having fun in
Speaker 1: New York And we'll get to that in a second.
Speaker 1: You know, it was a scrambled drill of epic proportions
Speaker 1: here for the Patriots to get your card in. Like
Speaker 1: Bill's looking around, going what's going? John Robinson is running
Speaker 1: around the room. Nick's running around the room. The clock's
Speaker 1: ticking down. They were sweating that out. Do you know
Speaker 1: that it was sort of chaotic by their standards here?
Speaker 1: Do you did you know that that was going on?
Speaker 3: Actually, that's something new that I've just learned. Man, I
Speaker 3: didn't know how chaotic it was trying to get that in,
Speaker 3: but I know that's that's that's pretty pretty wild to
Speaker 3: hear that that side of it, because actually thinking about it,
Speaker 3: because at the last second, because the Baltimore Ravens were
Speaker 3: on the clock with the forty second pick, and that's like,
Speaker 3: like I said, they were showing high interest. I thought
Speaker 3: for sure I was going to the Baltimore Ravens, and
Speaker 3: the clock is, you know, counting down, and there's like
Speaker 3: thirty seconds left, and usually if a trade happens, it's usually.
Speaker 4: End by now absolutely, and then.
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, there's like ten seconds left on
Speaker 3: the clock when I then boom, the New England Patriots
Speaker 3: trade up, you know, with no to the forty second pick,
Speaker 3: because the Baltimore Ravens had the forty third pick.
Speaker 4: That's how it was going down.
Speaker 3: They traded up with the I think the Oakland Raiders
Speaker 3: at that time. So the Raiders traded down, the Patriots
Speaker 3: got the forty second pick and took me. And I
Speaker 3: thought the whole time, like, all right, I got Baltimore
Speaker 3: coming up. I'm pretty sure that's where I'm going to go.
Speaker 3: But now that makes sense. They were scrambling and that's
Speaker 3: why I went down there last seconds because they were
Speaker 3: trying to get it in, yeah, and get that you
Speaker 3: know trade in, which they did. And I'm very very
Speaker 3: thankful they got that trade in. So whoever whoever's you know,
Speaker 3: duties that was, and whoever accomplished to get that in,
Speaker 3: whoever hustle, who was it.
Speaker 4: It was all of them.
Speaker 1: It was Bill John Robinson Nick, I mean jimmy 's
Speaker 1: in New York, I think at the time, so they're
Speaker 1: yelling at Jimmy to get the car.
Speaker 3: Did you know, Oh, I just want to thank you,
Speaker 3: Jimmy D for getting that card in on time.
Speaker 4: Man. The rest is history from there.
Speaker 1: Did you think you were risk? Other people thought you
Speaker 1: were a risk. Were you confident that that everything was
Speaker 1: going to be all right? By all accounts, you never
Speaker 1: should have lasted until the second round, but people were
Speaker 1: worried about your back.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that's that's one hundred percent true. I mean
Speaker 3: my back was a little damage coming out of out
Speaker 3: of college, that's for sure. I mean I had some
Speaker 3: serious back problems. I mean they were serious, but they're
Speaker 3: kind of minor at the same time. Actually, but all
Speaker 3: back problems are serious when you got pain shooting down
Speaker 3: your legs and you can't really move that much. But
Speaker 3: it was just a minor procedure where they take the
Speaker 3: hernie disc. They just chop it off a little bit
Speaker 3: and get it off your spinal cord. And a good
Speaker 3: thing was I'm young, so you heal quickly as well.
Speaker 3: And no, there's there's more major back surgeries when you
Speaker 3: fuse to when you fuse little buying together and all that.
Speaker 3: So I've had three Marco disactomies and I've been good
Speaker 3: since I had my last one. Actually, that was my
Speaker 3: last surgery, which was here sixteen, right, yeah, I.
Speaker 4: Think No, I think it was two thousand and eight. Eight, No,
Speaker 4: twenty sixteen, you're right.
Speaker 2: Missed the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4: That's why I missed the Super Bowl boys so Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 3: But I also absolutely got level going up to see
Speaker 3: Earl Thomas, one of the hardest hitting safeties in the
Speaker 3: and I was looking at the ball and Boomy hit
Speaker 3: me going full speed and popped my disc out him.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was a football injury. You can't do
Speaker 3: nothing about it. I actually made a nice play after
Speaker 3: that and caught the ball to the two yard line
Speaker 3: on the fade, even though my back was blowing out
Speaker 3: and I was spitting blood out because I also punctured
Speaker 3: my lung on that hit as well.
Speaker 4: But hey, that's football, and you got to be a
Speaker 4: tough SOB.
Speaker 3: And that's what gets you, you know, the wins and
Speaker 3: gets you fired if you can take the pain.
Speaker 4: And I sure was. But we were going back.
Speaker 3: Was I a risk kind of but in my mind,
Speaker 3: I wasn't because I knew my mindset. I knew I
Speaker 3: was going to overcome the injury you know, that I
Speaker 3: had in college. I knew I wanted to be a
Speaker 3: professional football player as well, so I wasn't gonna let
Speaker 3: anything get in my way. So when I was asked
Speaker 3: that question in the job interviews and everything, I strongly,
Speaker 3: with confidence told them, Hey, I'm not worried about my back.
Speaker 3: I want to be a tight end in the National
Speaker 3: Football League. I I want to be one of the
Speaker 3: best tight ends as well in the National Football League,
Speaker 3: and I'm going to do whatever it takes, you know,
Speaker 3: for my back to be solidified to where I needed
Speaker 3: to be throughout my whole career. Yeah, there's gonna be
Speaker 3: ups and downs with the back, you know, but I
Speaker 3: always knew that if I stayed on top of it
Speaker 3: as well with the rehab, you know, doing the core exercises,
Speaker 3: doing the right back exercises, that you know, my career
Speaker 3: will you know, be a decently long career. So I
Speaker 3: made sure, you know, to some of the teams that
Speaker 3: I wanted to go to, hey I'm ready to play.
Speaker 3: My back is not a problem. But the reason why
Speaker 3: it was kind of a problem is they were saying
Speaker 3: I had scoliosis, and I didn't even know what scoliosis
Speaker 3: was because you get the MRI at the combine so
Speaker 3: all the team doctors can check out your back.
Speaker 4: So whatever I have, I mean, I beat it. So
Speaker 4: scoliosis screw you.
Speaker 2: So you tell the story about the draft visit when
Speaker 2: you fell asleep, you also have a story about right
Speaker 2: after you got drafted. Didn't take you long to sort
Speaker 2: of get called into the principal's office.
Speaker 4: Right, No, it didn't.
Speaker 3: I mean I've always you know, it was a maniac,
Speaker 3: especially when I was a young buck and I like
Speaker 3: to have a good time.
Speaker 4: That's for sure. What a moment that.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you. It was one of the best moments
Speaker 3: my life, guys. And what's what's great about it is
Speaker 3: I was I was pissed I didn't go in the
Speaker 3: first round.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: My Mom's like, I never really seen you pissed before,
Speaker 3: and like my brother made a comment like that I
Speaker 3: didn't go in the first round. I was like, shut up,
Speaker 3: you know, I was just pissed, like and and I
Speaker 3: should have never even said shut up.
Speaker 4: I was just over exaggerating.
Speaker 3: You know when you're mad, that everything's gonna make you
Speaker 3: like you're is gonna make you mad. You know you're
Speaker 3: gonna be pissed off, and right rightfully so, because I
Speaker 3: thought I was a first rounder, you know, I in
Speaker 3: my mind I wanted to be around. Yeah, But in
Speaker 3: the end, let me tell you it truly doesn't matter
Speaker 3: where you're drafted. It matters what you do after you're drafted,
Speaker 3: and once you get the shot, you know, it's all
Speaker 3: about what you do with with the opportunity that you get.
Speaker 4: There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 3: So the second day comes and once I get drafted
Speaker 3: by the Newing Patriots, like, let me tell you, that
Speaker 3: was the best moment and best feeling of my life
Speaker 3: right there and then. And I absolutely gave no cares,
Speaker 3: no shizzle that I didn't go in the first round.
Speaker 3: My dream was accomplished and that's all it mattered. And
Speaker 3: I never thought about being bad ever again in my
Speaker 3: life that I didn't go in the first round.
Speaker 1: But didn't get under your skin when Bears called and said, hey.
Speaker 4: Cut it out.
Speaker 3: Actually he didn't really get under my skin. We kind
Speaker 3: of played it up and we were laughing at it
Speaker 3: because I was always a trouble maker growing up, so
Speaker 3: it was always funny when I got in trouble. It
Speaker 3: eventually became like Rob's in trouble again, you know, because
Speaker 3: it was always for something that was silly, right, Like
Speaker 3: I never was getting in like serious trouble. Like I
Speaker 3: was a guy that just took it to the edge
Speaker 3: and then I would stop, like right before I would
Speaker 3: fall over the cliff, I would catch myself and then
Speaker 3: I would you know, wind back down and it would
Speaker 3: drive people crazy. And it kind of like was that situation,
Speaker 3: you know. I was up on stage putting the helmet
Speaker 3: on on, going one on one versus my brother because
Speaker 3: he was in the NFL at the time. He put
Speaker 3: the Detroit Lions how helmet on. We were jumping up down,
Speaker 3: which we love to do. I mean that's how we party.
Speaker 3: We always were jumping up and down, acting like maniac.
Speaker 3: So we brought the party to the stage and Bears
Speaker 3: gave me that call like hey, get off the stage,
Speaker 3: like this is what we're not about. And then I
Speaker 3: literally put the phone down and I was like, I'm
Speaker 3: already getting in trouble.
Speaker 4: This is great.
Speaker 3: So it just never stopped me because I knew I
Speaker 3: was never doing anything wrong.
Speaker 2: So we used to joke all the time, Matt, you know,
Speaker 2: we were in there all the time. We go in
Speaker 2: and cover these guys, and we used to always talk
Speaker 2: all the media guys, that kid has never had a
Speaker 2: bad day in his life. And I think that obviously
Speaker 2: you're exactly the same. Just how much fun and you
Speaker 2: enjoyed it. You enjoyed everything about football, and it was
Speaker 2: so obvious, like when did you sort of figure out
Speaker 2: this is what you were going to do and that
Speaker 2: you could dominate doing this?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 3: When I was in high school, actually I actually just
Speaker 3: went into the Buffalo Hall of Fame, like I saw
Speaker 3: that thank you guys Rucci, Yeah, with Vick Kruch Vick,
Speaker 3: which actually, all right, there you go, that's a full
Speaker 3: socer moment right there with that question that you just asked.
Speaker 4: And then you just brought up Vic Carucci.
Speaker 3: So in eighth grade, Vic Crucci has a daughter that's
Speaker 3: my age, and all of our friends hung out, and uh,
Speaker 3: she invited us over one day and I walked in
Speaker 3: the and I walked in the front door and there's
Speaker 3: Vic Crucci was right there, staying right in front of me,
Speaker 3: and I knew he was an NFL beat writer or
Speaker 3: senior writer or whatever his title was. At that moment,
Speaker 3: I looked him straight in the eye and I said, hey, Vic,
Speaker 3: you're gonna be writing about me one day.
Speaker 4: I guarantee it.
Speaker 3: And I was in eighth grade and he's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: right kid, you know, and then but away from my daughters,
Speaker 3: like maybe yeah, he's like, you're crazy, and I was like,
Speaker 3: now you're gonna be writing about me. I guarantee it.
Speaker 3: So it kind of started all the way back then. Man,
Speaker 3: I've been manifesting that I was going to go pro
Speaker 3: in the NFL for basically my whole entire life, even
Speaker 3: though I didn't even start playing football until I was
Speaker 3: in seventh grade. Actually, I broke my an my like
Speaker 3: very first play in seventh grade and didn't even really
Speaker 3: start in eighth grade then. So I was telling him
Speaker 3: before I even had a football career, I was gonna
Speaker 3: make it to the NFL, and he'll be writing writing
Speaker 3: about me, so then you know, we'll go back again
Speaker 3: as well. Then then, like sophomore year in high school,
Speaker 3: I really, you know, totally started understanding my size and
Speaker 3: my abilities and where I was in life with my
Speaker 3: athletic career. I love playing all the other sports, but
Speaker 3: that's when I really knew that football was going to
Speaker 3: be my sport. When I was on the varsity team
Speaker 3: and I was absolutely dominating games. And I was just
Speaker 3: a sophomore in high school. So then you know, you're
Speaker 3: in English class, you're in other classes. It's like, hey,
Speaker 3: write about what you want to do in the future,
Speaker 3: and I just always wrote about, Hey, this is what
Speaker 3: I'm gonna do.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna be playing the NFL. This is how I'm
Speaker 4: gonna get there.
Speaker 3: No guarantee, I'm no guarantees that I'm gonna make it,
Speaker 3: but I'm guaranteeing you that I'm gonna make it.
Speaker 4: That's basically what.
Speaker 3: I wrote every single paper about was me getting in there.
Speaker 3: So I manifested the whole entire thing basically since you know,
Speaker 3: since eighth grade, and you know, it's been just a
Speaker 3: dream come true. So I really noticed that I had
Speaker 3: the abilities when I was in high school.
Speaker 1: We were talking earlier and I was Brian Hoyre comes
Speaker 1: here and does some stuff with us, and I was
Speaker 1: asking him. He told me he had you wanted a
Speaker 1: guest the other day, and I said, Brian, let me
Speaker 1: ask you a question. Go back to the Pittsburgh game
Speaker 1: his rookie year was Zach wronkx coming out party. He goes,
Speaker 1: that's a pretty good one. I mean it was Sunday
Speaker 1: night football, right, three touchdowns bounds, and I mean I
Speaker 1: think people saw that. Who covered the team or who
Speaker 1: was around the team, watched the team, knew that there
Speaker 1: was something. Did you feel like that night, like I'm
Speaker 1: sort of putting the league on notice here.
Speaker 4: You're not saying that.
Speaker 1: I'm saying that, but watch out.
Speaker 4: You know, that's a good point.
Speaker 3: It definitely was my coming out party to everyone that
Speaker 3: was a fan of the New Englan Patriots. But I
Speaker 3: can tell you this the game before, which was my
Speaker 3: worst game of my career with the New England Patriots,
Speaker 3: that was my true coming out party. And I'll explain why.
Speaker 3: That was the first game that I truly was in
Speaker 3: the game plan every single play, and I was a
Speaker 3: big part of the game plan, and I absolutely dominated
Speaker 3: in the blocking scheme of that game.
Speaker 4: And I had a lot of great plays as well.
Speaker 4: In the past game.
Speaker 3: I think I had about six catches for about eighty yards.
Speaker 3: It's just a rookie I'm talking. This was a game
Speaker 3: right before the Pittsburgh Steelers game. But here's the thing.
Speaker 3: I had a fumble on our own two yard line.
Speaker 3: I caught a little hook route five yards and then
Speaker 3: I saw the end zone about four more yards ahead
Speaker 3: of me. So I just tried, you know, barreling through
Speaker 3: about four players, and let me tell you, it didn't
Speaker 3: work out, and they hit the ball out of my
Speaker 3: hand and I fumbled it. And then I also had
Speaker 3: had a fumble I on.
Speaker 4: The kickoff return. I was a wingman. I went to
Speaker 4: fair catch it.
Speaker 3: Sammy Morris was in the back and then he thought
Speaker 3: I was gonna fair catch it, so then he let
Speaker 3: it go. I let it go and then it hit
Speaker 3: the ground and the Cleveland Browns, you know, picked up
Speaker 3: that fumble recovery right there on the kickoff return. So
Speaker 3: therefore I was the reason for two turnovers. So when
Speaker 3: you're the reason for two turnovers, nothing else that you
Speaker 3: did in that game mattered, no matter how good you played.
Speaker 3: But let me tell you, besides those two turnovers, having
Speaker 3: that fumble on our on our going into the end
Speaker 3: zone on the two yard line and that fumble on
Speaker 3: the kickoff return, I had one of my best games
Speaker 3: as a rookie, but it was so overshadow.
Speaker 4: So that's why I truly believe that.
Speaker 3: Was my breakout game. And also really I learned a
Speaker 3: lot as well because of those situations and because of
Speaker 3: those two plays, and therefore I had the confidence actually
Speaker 3: going into the Pittsburgh game because I knew I played
Speaker 3: so well. It's just that I had those two mistakes,
Speaker 3: and I swear that's what led to the three touchdowns
Speaker 3: because I knew I could go out there and ball
Speaker 3: because of that Cleveland game, I just had to clean
Speaker 3: it up a little bit.
Speaker 2: Matt Cleveland game, you know what that was us game
Speaker 2: with name right? That was the Peyton Hillis game. Yeah,
Speaker 2: oh right, that was the Peyton Hillis game.
Speaker 3: I mean yeah, I think was a rookie quarterback and it
Speaker 3: was like the first time Tom Astill a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 4: And along absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3: So it was one of our two losses that year. Actually,
Speaker 3: I think we ended up fourteen and two. We lost
Speaker 3: to the Browns.
Speaker 2: Yep, that is exaccurate. I wanted to like getting back
Speaker 2: to that rookie year. You come in, Billy oh is
Speaker 2: there and you know you and Aaron are both a
Speaker 2: huge part right away of the offense. There's two tight
Speaker 2: end stuff and eventually Billy Oh starts that that really
Speaker 2: up temple. I think that was eleven, right, twenty eleven,
Speaker 2: that up tempo, really high powered offense, fast fast temple.
Speaker 2: What was it like to play in that that scheme?
Speaker 2: It looked like you guys just couldn't be stopped.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that scheme was called Nascar NASCAR, and it actually
Speaker 3: makes sense NASCAR because you're going.
Speaker 2: I knew there was a name for it, but I'm getting.
Speaker 3: Older, I know, hey, hey, hey, that happens to me
Speaker 3: all the time. And actually I was talking to Julian
Speaker 3: Edelman and he brought up NASCAR. And that's why I
Speaker 3: know that the turn name is NASCAR, because he just
Speaker 3: brought it up to me a couple of days ago,
Speaker 3: So now it's fresh in my mind, or I would
Speaker 3: have been sitting here like, Ah, what's the what's the uh,
Speaker 3: what's the what's the call? When you go really fast?
Speaker 3: And it's not the turbo two minute drill? But it's
Speaker 3: not the two minute drill because we're ten minutes into
Speaker 3: the second quarter, But it's NASCAR.
Speaker 4: And that makes total sense.
Speaker 3: Why it's called NASCAR, and you had all just one
Speaker 3: word terms to know where you lined up, and you
Speaker 3: hurry up to the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 4: And you go.
Speaker 3: But what made it, you know, what made it work
Speaker 3: is because all the players were on the same page.
Speaker 3: And when you have a guy like Tom Brady who's
Speaker 3: so efficient and so on top of it, he can manage,
Speaker 3: you know, you can manage everyone on the field to
Speaker 3: where they need to be in such a short period
Speaker 3: of time. So then it's a vantage on the offense
Speaker 3: side of the ball because the defense is still trying
Speaker 3: to get lined up and wonder where everyone is and
Speaker 3: who has who, who's covering who. So it kind of,
Speaker 3: you know, dismantled the defense in the way, and then
Speaker 3: you take advantage of that and you just hit the
Speaker 3: open guy really quick. But NASCAR could have definitely not
Speaker 3: happened our rookie year, especially with the players that we
Speaker 3: had myself, you know, Aaron as well, and a couple
Speaker 3: other guys that were young. Because we're still learning.
Speaker 4: The ins and outs of the NFL.
Speaker 3: I was still struggling with the playbook, and that's actually
Speaker 3: why I truly didn't really play all the plays. My
Speaker 3: rookie year, Like the first eight games, I played like
Speaker 3: twenty plays only because those are the only twenty plays
Speaker 3: that they trusted in me that I knew, and all
Speaker 3: the other ones I was, you know, I was kind
Speaker 3: of messing up on. So if you don't have the
Speaker 3: trust of your teammates and coaches, they're not going to
Speaker 3: play you no matter how good you are. So the
Speaker 3: playbook was, you know, a high difficulty skill. There's no
Speaker 3: doubt about that, especially for myself. So going into our
Speaker 3: second year is kind of when NASCAR got introduced, and
Speaker 3: that's when you kind of understand the playbook a lot
Speaker 3: better and then you can handle the you know, the
Speaker 3: terms or just one word means the whole entire play,
Speaker 3: because then you understand the whole entire play already. Now
Speaker 3: you can handle just a one word and you know
Speaker 3: what to do. So when we put that in and
Speaker 3: implemented it, it was such an advantage and we absolutely
Speaker 3: dominated teams because of it.
Speaker 1: You talk about trust, how did you earn Tom's trust?
Speaker 4: Rob?
Speaker 1: Is what eight nine year difference between you guys. He's
Speaker 1: smart enough to go, Holy smokes, this kid catch radius.
Speaker 1: Look at what he can do. This guy's going to
Speaker 1: be able to help me. But the way that you
Speaker 1: earn the trust and your combination together, you're talking about
Speaker 1: one of the best quarterback receiver combinations, whether you're tye
Speaker 1: or whatever in the history of the league. That just
Speaker 1: doesn't happen by chance. What went into that relationship where
Speaker 1: you became such a valued like he knew we were
Speaker 1: going to be all the time, you knew the communication, whatever.
Speaker 1: It was something special that people haven't really seen a
Speaker 1: lot of.
Speaker 3: It was a really really special connection. Might possibly be
Speaker 3: one of the best connections qual time, possibly one of
Speaker 3: the best quarterback tight end connections of all time. And
Speaker 3: not just that just just ball passer to ball receiver,
Speaker 3: you know, just the aspect of the whole entire game,
Speaker 3: not just one position quarterback to a wide receiver, but
Speaker 3: just overall, just as a whole. It could have been
Speaker 3: one of the best connections. It's up there. I believe
Speaker 3: it's up there too. I mean, we've done some incredible things,
Speaker 3: but we had actually you said eight to nine year
Speaker 3: age difference, it's actually a twelve year age difference. I
Speaker 3: was twenty one years old, he was thirty three years old.
Speaker 4: I was still both supposed to be a senior in college.
Speaker 3: He was just married kids. I mean, we had two
Speaker 3: totally different lifestyles. The age gap, you know, was tremendous
Speaker 3: as well, so you know, but the thing is is
Speaker 3: that we both.
Speaker 4: Wanted to be great.
Speaker 3: Obviously, we all knew Tom wanted to be great already,
Speaker 3: but as a rookie, I wanted to be great as well.
Speaker 3: And what got us on the same page, what built
Speaker 3: that chemistry was the work that we put out on
Speaker 3: the practice field. And it wasn't just a practice field either,
Speaker 3: you know, during the practice time, it was after practice
Speaker 3: as well. And I was just reminiscing with Brian Hoyer
Speaker 3: actually about on his podcast the other day, is that
Speaker 3: Brian Hoyer and Tom would say after practice my rookie season,
Speaker 3: it would just be myself and I would be running
Speaker 3: an actra fifteen to twenty different routes every single practice
Speaker 3: after practice, just so I can get on the same
Speaker 3: page as Tom and the quarterbacks because they saw greatness
Speaker 3: in me. And when you see greatness in a player,
Speaker 3: Tom wanted to exploit that greatness and bring it out
Speaker 3: and so that player could be as great as they
Speaker 3: possibly could be. And as a rookie, you know sometimes
Speaker 3: I didn't understand that. It's like I just want to
Speaker 3: go home. I gotta go out, I gotta I gotta
Speaker 3: go to this restaurant, meet meet this girl, meet this friend,
Speaker 3: meet my brother, meet my family or whatever.
Speaker 1: So he's gotta be not busting your balls. But like, dude,
Speaker 1: I know you're twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, you've
Speaker 1: got greatness in you. You better get your ass in
Speaker 1: here tomorrow and get your head straight because I'm counting
Speaker 1: on you and we're counting on you. Those words must
Speaker 1: have like that.
Speaker 3: That's serious, Yes, definitely serious, And that's basically is what happened.
Speaker 3: You know, I was setting those terms, not exactly like that,
Speaker 3: but definitely in those terms. And you know, we built
Speaker 3: that it through throughout time. It wasn't like hey, just
Speaker 3: one night, you know all you know, Brady the Gronk,
Speaker 3: they're on fire. That connection is unstoppable. It was built
Speaker 3: over a year. You know, that trust was built over
Speaker 3: a year of practice and hard work, and it really
Speaker 3: built going into my second year. Yeah, we had some
Speaker 3: great times my my rookie year, those at three touchdown game,
Speaker 3: you know, in the playoffs, I had a couple of
Speaker 3: catches as well. The game that we lost actually versus
Speaker 3: the Jets, which stunk, you know, which stunk. That was
Speaker 3: a bad exit my rookie year out of the.
Speaker 4: Playoffs, But uh, it happens.
Speaker 3: But uh there's a couple other times ID my rookie
Speaker 3: season two where you know, he just didn't trust me
Speaker 3: yet either.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 3: I was on fire the week before, but as a rookie,
Speaker 3: then the next week would show up and I would
Speaker 3: be just totally dismantled and not doing what he wanted
Speaker 3: me to do. And then I didn't see Yeah, the consistency,
Speaker 3: You're right, it was not there. And then going in
Speaker 3: to my second year, everything.
Speaker 4: Was clicking a lot better.
Speaker 3: You know, you get a little break from from the
Speaker 3: game of football because you have the offseason, you come
Speaker 3: back and just everything was firing. I totally understood what
Speaker 3: he wanted out of me. I totally understood what the
Speaker 3: coaches wanted out of me, and I totally understood where
Speaker 3: I wanted to go to and I knew what I
Speaker 3: had to do to get to that level I wanted
Speaker 3: to be at and boom from there on out. Going
Speaker 3: into my second season, all that hard work though that
Speaker 3: we did my rookie year finally paid off and it
Speaker 3: all started clicking. It made so much sense why we
Speaker 3: were running all those extra routes, why he wanted me
Speaker 3: where he wanted me out on the field, because that's
Speaker 3: where he wanted the place to ball, away from the defender.
Speaker 4: All that little detail and all that good stuff. So go.
Speaker 3: It took a good solid year to have that chemistry.
Speaker 3: And then from year on out, you just you just
Speaker 3: you know, just get smart. You just build upon it
Speaker 3: and build upon it. But that chemistry will would always
Speaker 3: be there from there on.
Speaker 2: So a pretty magical season though, that that twenty eleven year.
Speaker 2: You guys, you know you obviously make the run. You
Speaker 2: get all the way to the super Bowl. You talked
Speaker 2: about the Earl Thomas hit. You know that that hurt
Speaker 2: your back. You get a Bernard Pollard hit in that
Speaker 2: Ape Championship game. How much did that? I mean, we
Speaker 2: all know you weren't yourself in the super Bowl. How
Speaker 2: much did that impact you?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: That that actually was rough. That kind of sucked, to
Speaker 3: tell you the truth. It actually gave a bad taste
Speaker 3: in my mouth for what a super Bowl experience should be.
Speaker 4: Like.
Speaker 3: Everyone talks about all what was it like going to
Speaker 3: a Super Bowl. Well, it kind of blew because I
Speaker 3: was dealing with basically a broken ankle, a very high
Speaker 3: sprained ankle.
Speaker 4: Which is.
Speaker 3: Basically it basically is worse than a break. A break
Speaker 3: you can't possibly play on. I don't think you would
Speaker 3: have to get the surgery or fix it right there
Speaker 3: in their sprain actually takes longer to heal, but you
Speaker 3: can actually keep playing on it because you really can't
Speaker 3: damage it more. But you're gonna have to get a fix,
Speaker 3: like right when you're done playing on it. But it
Speaker 3: was just such a tough situation. It was the first
Speaker 3: time I was hurt. I was young, you know, just
Speaker 3: the stress of wanting to be out there and not
Speaker 3: being able to be out there. Just the preparation as
Speaker 3: well going into the game. I couldn't practice at all.
Speaker 3: I mean I had like one little workout and then
Speaker 3: I played in the game as well, and knowing I
Speaker 3: wasn't going to play that many games, and just distress
Speaker 3: as well on the outside as when I was twenty
Speaker 3: two years old, and just all the questions that were
Speaker 3: coming in about my ankle. I didn't really know how
Speaker 3: to handle it, you know, with my friends with my family,
Speaker 3: tickets for the super Bowl and everything.
Speaker 4: So it was not that great experience.
Speaker 3: Because of that ankle injury going into my first super Bowl,
Speaker 3: and it made it tougher. But I can tell you this,
Speaker 3: I learned a lot from it, and I grew from
Speaker 3: it as a player, and I believe it helped me
Speaker 3: out going into the other Super Bowls. So because I
Speaker 3: knew how to handle a Super.
Speaker 1: Bowl situationily friends, Yes, give me this party, give me
Speaker 1: the hear.
Speaker 3: Or there, yes, and yes exactly, and I blew all
Speaker 3: that off. You know, you take care of the people
Speaker 3: that you need to truly take care of that were
Speaker 3: there for your whole entire life.
Speaker 4: When you were growing up.
Speaker 3: And then also, like I said, that stress with the
Speaker 3: ankle injury as well, questions coming from your family, your friends,
Speaker 3: are you going to play? Coming from just fans stepping
Speaker 3: out of the house and going somewhere. It was and
Speaker 3: you just didn't know, you know, and you didn't want
Speaker 3: to give an answer either because if you gave him
Speaker 3: an answer, they could go run to the press with
Speaker 3: it and you'd.
Speaker 4: Be like, oh, what the heck?
Speaker 3: And then you know, we everything was tight left here
Speaker 3: in the new England Patriots organization at that time, especially,
Speaker 3: so that was putting a lot of stresses on you
Speaker 3: as just a twenty two year old kid. So just
Speaker 3: going into the other Super Bowls, knew how to handle
Speaker 3: the demands not being injured, So not dealing with that
Speaker 3: just made those experiences just that much better than.
Speaker 1: Was that the best team that you played on? Rob
Speaker 1: here with that that fourteen team that beats Seattle in
Speaker 1: my career here here here in New England? Was that
Speaker 1: the best?
Speaker 2: I think he might think it was.
Speaker 3: That's why I qualified that that was a very special
Speaker 3: team game at what heck of a game. It was
Speaker 3: one of the best super Bowls Haymake all times, no
Speaker 3: doubt about that. People are like, what was your favorite
Speaker 3: super Bowl? Not I always say the first one, But
Speaker 3: it wasn't because it was just the first one, because
Speaker 3: the first one is always the sweetest, but it was
Speaker 3: also because it was one of the best games in
Speaker 3: Super Bowl history. Seattle was up, we came back, they
Speaker 3: went back up, We took the lead, and you go
Speaker 3: they go back down with you know, final final minute
Speaker 3: on the clock, and then Malcolm Butler has that game
Speaker 3: ceiling interception and then we're kneeling the ball and I'm
Speaker 3: throwing Haymakers out there versus Michael Bennett. You know, while
Speaker 3: just kneeling the ball, there's a huge brawl in the
Speaker 3: end zone. So there was just so much too, and
Speaker 3: it's just such a great, you know, perspective to fans too,
Speaker 3: for a game to watch of what it's all about
Speaker 3: to play, you know, you know, to play the game
Speaker 3: of football. Just that game brought everything to the table.
Speaker 3: And what was great it was such a team win.
Speaker 3: Julian had a touchdown, Brandon LaFell had a touchdown, a
Speaker 3: Mondola had a touchdown, I had a touchdown, and Shane
Speaker 3: Ververen went for about eleven catches right around there for
Speaker 3: like I don't know, one hundred something yards I think.
Speaker 3: But he had a big impact even though he didn't
Speaker 3: score a touchdown too. So just an incredible game overall.
Speaker 3: I was, by fiar, you know, my favorite super Bowl.
Speaker 3: But was that the best team? No, you want to
Speaker 3: believe what the best team was? I truly believe was
Speaker 3: the best one was the year after fifteen. Yeah, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 3: we went undefeated, We went ten to zero, and then
Speaker 3: we lost a couple of games.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, this is a year that really frustrates
Speaker 2: me a little bit as a as a fanboy, because
Speaker 2: there were so many games. I thought that there was
Speaker 2: some questionable things down the stretch. I'm not gonna put
Speaker 2: you on me on that spot. You know the way
Speaker 2: you treated the Miami game at the end, with all
Speaker 2: the runs with Steven Jackson, you know, kicking off in
Speaker 2: overtime against the Jets. All they needed was one win.
Speaker 2: In that AFC Championship game against Denver, was here instead
Speaker 2: of in Denver.
Speaker 3: I do remember that, and going into that Miami game,
Speaker 3: we said we're going to run the ball every single play,
Speaker 3: I think until we get like five first downs in
Speaker 3: a row or like a touchdown or something.
Speaker 4: And we just kept.
Speaker 3: Running the ball and running the ball, and we were
Speaker 3: going nowhere with it.
Speaker 4: It was like third and ten.
Speaker 3: Run the ball, one more yard, punting on fourth and nine.
Speaker 3: But I do remember that game, and we lost like
Speaker 3: three in a row. We started off unbelievably hot, I
Speaker 3: mean ten and no. Everyone was on fire. I got
Speaker 3: hurt actually with a knee in that Denver game.
Speaker 1: Gain the ear of that game.
Speaker 4: You went down bad, I.
Speaker 3: Did, man, But that was just a bone bruise. But
Speaker 3: let me tell you, the bone bruise hurt more than
Speaker 3: actually blowing out your ACL and mcl I was like,
Speaker 3: I was on the field screaming.
Speaker 4: I was like, my career is done.
Speaker 3: Done with again. But good thing was just a bone bruise.
Speaker 3: But also that game, I was in the locker room.
Speaker 3: Right after we won that game, they called a holding penalty.
Speaker 3: I'm Patrick Chung in the end zone. Brock Oswiler was
Speaker 3: their quarterback and he threw a pass to the end zone.
Speaker 3: Let me tell you, I was watching it from the
Speaker 3: locker room. It was not a holding penalty. And that
Speaker 3: call right there, I think it was fourth and ten
Speaker 3: or so, and it gave him the first down, and
Speaker 3: it gave him the first down right on their own
Speaker 3: one yard line to go and score on the next play.
Speaker 3: But the game was over if that holing penalty was
Speaker 3: never called. And I'm telling you to this team, go
Speaker 3: bring up that play. Patrick Chong did not hold. And
Speaker 3: I remember that.
Speaker 4: Play clear as day.
Speaker 3: So we would have been eleven and zero, still hot,
Speaker 3: and then we lost to Philadelphiause you know, once you
Speaker 3: lose one game, you trick it trickles down.
Speaker 4: You lose another and we lost to Philly that year,
Speaker 4: who was terrible as well. I was out that game.
Speaker 3: Then we lost a couple otters at the end fold advantage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, four of the last six.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so I want to get to so Yeah,
Speaker 2: that fifteen AFC Championship game, to me is one of
Speaker 2: the most ridiculous performances by you and Tom, you know,
Speaker 2: just because of how good that defense was, and especially
Speaker 2: that day. You know, von Miller was the best defensive
Speaker 2: player on the planet that day. He dominated up front.
Speaker 2: But you guys just keep hanging around and hanging around.
Speaker 2: It's fourth and ten and you guys, you know connect.
Speaker 2: Tom just says, go down the scene and make a play.
Speaker 2: Do you remember this catch that I'm talking about? Because
Speaker 2: for me, I know you made some circus catches that
Speaker 2: were incredible, But to me, I think it was TJ
Speaker 2: Ward hanging on you, who you had a little history
Speaker 2: with as well. Just take me through that play. That
Speaker 2: catch was amazing.
Speaker 3: I remember that was awesome, wasn't It was amazing? It
Speaker 3: was fourth and ten and our season was on the line.
Speaker 3: After remember that play to the exact t and from
Speaker 3: what I recall, actually.
Speaker 4: What was called in the huddle was.
Speaker 3: A screen pass to the left, and Brady switched to
Speaker 3: play right away, and he called all goes and I
Speaker 3: was like, yeah, that's right, all goes. I'm ready to go, baby,
Speaker 3: I'm on fire right now. I'm not ending the season
Speaker 3: like this. We're gonna get this first down and I'm
Speaker 3: just gonna take off. And when I'm taking off, Brady
Speaker 3: can read that. You know, this guy's got a mind
Speaker 3: of his own, Like he can tell if a player
Speaker 3: is rolling down the field or now he knows when
Speaker 3: a player going full speed, and that's who he always
Speaker 3: goes to. Like he can read the decisiveness of a
Speaker 3: wide receiver or a tight end or a running back
Speaker 3: to the te and that's how he always knew what
Speaker 3: guy to go to. And he always knew who was
Speaker 3: on fire at the moment and who wasn't. And he
Speaker 3: could tell my eyes. Right when we broke that Hud,
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, you better just toss his ball up.
Speaker 3: I was like, I don't care who's in front of me,
Speaker 3: And right when that thing was hike boom, I just
Speaker 3: took off and they had that safety.
Speaker 4: He was all pro. Actually I was double coverage.
Speaker 3: I had a linebacker right to my actually safety to
Speaker 3: my left and the other safety right to my right,
Speaker 3: and I just split him and went right through him,
Speaker 3: right down the middle, right up to see him, and
Speaker 3: Brady just launched that ball up.
Speaker 4: I was like, yeah, that's.
Speaker 3: Right, I'm gonna go grab this thing and We're going
Speaker 3: to continue this drive and our season is not ending
Speaker 3: right now. And I just went up there. Brady put
Speaker 3: the ball right on the money. I just put my
Speaker 3: hands out, brought it in, got hit right both ways
Speaker 3: on my right, in my left right at the same time,
Speaker 3: and brought it in.
Speaker 4: Man. And let me tell you, I was out of breath.
Speaker 4: I was like, whoa. I knew our season wasn't gonna
Speaker 4: and but.
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, help me up because I can't
Speaker 3: breathe right now. And then uh, I kind of took
Speaker 3: off like the next three plays, like like I kind
Speaker 3: of just.
Speaker 4: Chipped the touchdown. Well I was, I was in on
Speaker 4: the plays, but I kind of took off.
Speaker 3: I just kind of lats of days ago through it,
Speaker 3: you know, just because I was so winded from that
Speaker 3: play and being up you know, at the mile high,
Speaker 3: and also I was sick for that game. I swear
Speaker 3: I had food poisoning man.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 3: I was basically throwing up on the sideline. It was brutal,
Speaker 3: but hey, I always come through in the clutch, and
Speaker 3: when the seasons on the line, you always throw that
Speaker 3: ball up to Robbie g Baby. And then I had
Speaker 3: that two point conversion as well. That that I was
Speaker 3: double coverage, double covered on and I kind of jumped
Speaker 3: over the guys and had, you know, control my body
Speaker 3: to go and make the catch, and Tom just threw
Speaker 3: it up there again. It was fourth and two, and
Speaker 3: actually no, it was a two point conversion. No, it
Speaker 3: was a touchdown.
Speaker 2: It was a touchdown.
Speaker 4: It was a touchdown, it was fourth down, it was
Speaker 4: fourth and goal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I wasn't going to bring out two point conversion
Speaker 2: because they didn't throw it.
Speaker 4: We're not talking about the two point conversion. I was
Speaker 4: open though.
Speaker 1: A couple other games, rob uh fourteen, the Jonas Gray game.
Speaker 1: Oh you, I mean you had an unbelievable touchdown where
Speaker 1: it seems like you literally ran through every member of
Speaker 1: the Colts. But we're talking about the play where you
Speaker 1: threw Sergio. You threw Sergio out of the club. That's
Speaker 1: what everybody remembers about that game.
Speaker 4: Yes, they do. I mean that's a real tight end. Like, yeah,
Speaker 4: that's a real time.
Speaker 1: I don't disrespect to some of these other guys with
Speaker 1: pass catchers, but you're a blocking guy too.
Speaker 4: I am a dark and you're gonna.
Speaker 3: Block your ass off, yes, And you blocked your ass
Speaker 3: off on that play, that's for sure.
Speaker 4: I had a lot of a pride in my blocking. Man.
Speaker 4: I love blocking. I truly believe that.
Speaker 3: You know, it helped me, you know, in the passing
Speaker 3: game as well. It helped me get open in the
Speaker 3: play action. And it just you know, I truly I
Speaker 3: just always felt and believed in as a tight end,
Speaker 3: just when I when I started playing the position that
Speaker 3: you had to do both. Man, that's what it's all about,
Speaker 3: you know, doing the dirty work and then also going
Speaker 3: out there and making plays as well in the passing game.
Speaker 4: But on that play, I.
Speaker 3: Mean, Sergio Brown came in with me here with the
Speaker 3: new the papers. He was a free agent that year
Speaker 3: out of Notre Dame, and he was a great player.
Speaker 4: He was a safety here. Uh he was. He was
Speaker 4: a great special teamer.
Speaker 3: And then he went over to the Colts and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, he did great things for us while he
Speaker 3: was here with the pages. But that game, man, he
Speaker 3: just went and stopped talking. Man, he just went to stop,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, trying to get under my skin.
Speaker 3: And let me tell you, he eventually got under my skin.
Speaker 3: When you get under my skin talking garbage, you know,
Speaker 3: it's not gonna be good for you on that defensive
Speaker 3: side of the ball. And that's what happened. And finally
Speaker 3: I just ticked it. I was like a ticking time
Speaker 3: bomb the whole game. He just kept going off and off,
Speaker 3: talking garbage, and then finally he just he hit it.
Speaker 4: He hit that switch, and then I saw.
Speaker 3: I noticed that play like, all right, one on one
Speaker 3: right here, I'm just gonna drive. I'm gonna drive your
Speaker 3: butt all the way until I can't drive you anymore,
Speaker 3: until you get planted, you know, into the ground.
Speaker 4: And that's basically what happened. Man.
Speaker 3: That's why after the game, I was sitting there with
Speaker 3: Chris Collinsworth. I was like, hey, Chris conwer, he was
Speaker 3: just yapping too much. I had to throw him out
Speaker 3: of the club.
Speaker 2: Great line, so a lot of great catches.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: There was another one in a Denver game at home.
Speaker 4: Is there a catch?
Speaker 2: One particular catch that stands out among the rest of them.
Speaker 1: Four It was in fourteen as well. Here against Denver,
Speaker 1: Tom throws that up and he goes, how did you
Speaker 1: eten catch that ball?
Speaker 4: You know, I kind of made Tom's career if you
Speaker 4: really think about it. Same with Julian, same with Moss.
Speaker 3: I mean Tom should be, you know, thanking us by
Speaker 3: selling us a gift every every single year, like a
Speaker 3: four wheeler for Christmas, would be much appreciated for all
Speaker 3: all those you know.
Speaker 2: You're get things.
Speaker 3: I know I'm just messing around, but uh, you know
Speaker 3: I want to be here without Tom and uh but yeah,
Speaker 3: I would say one of my favorite catches was versus
Speaker 3: the Buffalo Bills and and to tell your truth, to
Speaker 3: catch happened because Tom put the ball. He plays the
Speaker 3: ball where only I could go and make the play
Speaker 3: because I was kind of covered.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 3: I was going versus their all pro safety man names. Man,
Speaker 3: we're out of the league for a little bit. You
Speaker 3: got to look back and you can't get the name
Speaker 3: gas right in the spy. I mean, that's not good.
Speaker 3: But there's so many memories and so many players that's hard.
Speaker 3: But I was going all Pro safety. I was spread
Speaker 3: out wide one on one. It was right here in
Speaker 3: Jellette Stadium, this corner right there, the opposite corner, left
Speaker 3: side of the lighthouse, yep. And he threw it up
Speaker 3: there and I was on the two yard line. I
Speaker 3: just reached back like that. It was a one hander yep,
Speaker 3: versus my hometown Buffalo Bills, and vaguely just brought it in,
Speaker 3: didn't even use my second hand, brought it in toe
Speaker 3: tapped into the end zone and then fell.
Speaker 4: So it was a one handed grab. Baby. It was
Speaker 4: a beauty. It was one of my favorite catches.
Speaker 1: We're gonna wrap this up here in a second, but
Speaker 1: I got to ask you this one. You talked about
Speaker 1: Super Bowl fourteen, how much it mentioned everything like that?
Speaker 1: The Kansas City game. It wasn't a super Bowl. It
Speaker 1: got you to the super Bowl. That was your last year.
Speaker 1: How great was that? Kind of like the last call,
Speaker 1: but for Rob Gronkowski's part. You know, in that Kansas
Speaker 1: City game in the cold, you know that that team's
Speaker 1: on the come, here they come and everything like that.
Speaker 4: That was a game. I don't want to put words
Speaker 4: in your mouth. How great was that game?
Speaker 3: That was one of the greatest AFC championship games you
Speaker 3: could ever imagine or ever be out. It was probably
Speaker 3: the greatest AFC Championship game, which was wild. I was
Speaker 3: actually hanging out with I was hanging out with my
Speaker 3: nephews about four weeks ago, and they're starting to get
Speaker 3: to the age where they understand things now. They understand,
Speaker 3: you know that I played in the NFL, that I'm
Speaker 3: on YouTube and everything. And I was just sitting there
Speaker 3: in my little nephew. He goes and puts YouTube body
Speaker 3: and he types in my name and he puts the
Speaker 3: last five minutes on of the AFC Championship game in
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen. It was correct Yep VERSU the Kansas City Chiefs,
Speaker 3: and we watched the last four minutes of the game.
Speaker 4: And that was the first time I've actually seen the game.
Speaker 4: And let me tell you, I.
Speaker 3: Was getting goosebumps again. Man, I was getting excited. I
Speaker 3: couldn't believe what was going on in that game. How
Speaker 3: many touchdowns were scored in the final four minutes. We
Speaker 3: went down, we went down, we scored, they came back,
Speaker 3: they scored. We went back down and scored a touchdown
Speaker 3: to take the lead, and then with thirty seconds left,
Speaker 3: Patrick Mahomes and Patrick Mahomes sing. He threw a big
Speaker 3: deep pass got him in field goal position, and they
Speaker 3: kicked the field goal with the final seconds left and
Speaker 3: regulation to put us into overtime. It was one of
Speaker 3: the most exciting four minutes I've ever watched. And I
Speaker 3: played in the game and I knew what was going
Speaker 3: to happen, and it was still that exciting. And what
Speaker 3: made it so great was that we had so many
Speaker 3: third and tens and fourth and tens. We weren't moving
Speaker 3: the ball on those final drives on the first down
Speaker 3: or second down, but we completed the third down every
Speaker 3: single time.
Speaker 4: And Julian Edelman balled out.
Speaker 3: It was Julian Edelman over the middle third and ten,
Speaker 3: Julian Eddo over the middle third and ten that I'm
Speaker 3: spreading out wide fourth and ten slant for a first
Speaker 3: down and then the fade for a first down, and
Speaker 3: then rex Burg had runs in for the overtime touchdown
Speaker 3: as well. So it was just one of the best
Speaker 3: four minutes of football.
Speaker 4: That you could ever watch. Was that ASC championship game.
Speaker 3: Man, what what an incredible, you know moment, And to
Speaker 3: win on the road for the first time, to get
Speaker 3: to the super Bowl.
Speaker 4: Just made the Patriots dynasty that much greater.
Speaker 1: Man, appreciate you coming in. Thank you so much. Happy
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving to you and your family. You'll be here at
Speaker 1: some point time, sooner rather than later to get a
Speaker 1: red jacket. You're gonna get a gold jacket and canton
Speaker 1: whenever your time comes from there. It was a pleasure
Speaker 1: to watch your career and see how great you were
Speaker 1: and how you made this team great.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Tremendous.
Speaker 4: Yes, I appreciate that, guys. Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker 3: This is this is really cool, man, to be here
Speaker 3: and just to be back in the building and see
Speaker 3: some of the guys. Man, it's bringing back so many
Speaker 3: great memories, man, and it's juicing me back up.
Speaker 4: And I like it. Man, this is really cool.
Speaker 3: So thank you guys for inviting me in and go
Speaker 3: check out the at the Patriots Hall of Fame. If
Speaker 3: you can Grink, spike harder than Gronk can spike, because
Speaker 3: the velosity was tested.
Speaker 4: And there's a mission.
Speaker 3: It gives you the you know, the wavelength of how
Speaker 3: hard you can spike, and if you can compare it,
Speaker 3: you know, you can compare.
Speaker 4: It to my velocity and how hard I can spike.
Speaker 4: So go check it out and just great to feedback. Man,
Speaker 4: this is a pleasure, so if you guys are the best,
Speaker 4: good plucks.
Speaker 2: Thanks Robin, It's no problem.
Speaker 4: Thank you for downloading this podcast.
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