WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 68: Keep Pounding 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:11.760 It's time for a happy half hour with your friends, 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:22.400 Chris stud BALBONI, Will Brian and Darren gab Welcome to 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:26.560 the Happy half Hour. I'm back, I promised. Though. I 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.120 have plenty of years of football experience, maybe not ten 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.360 in the NFL. I have been to a super Bowl. 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.600 But this is Will Brian back again. I'm replacing Brad Hoover. 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.640 All of y'all are very upset. It's a younger model. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.920 It's a it's a younger, more athletic Brad Hoover. Because 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.320 I'm hoping Brad's not listening right now and coming up 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.920 here to pummel me. But yeah, Brad Field in force 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.640 last week, it wasn't quite the same it was. It 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:54.520 was less happy, uh more half hour, but less happy 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.360 without Brad. I mean I went to a soak on 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:00.440 school too, you know I wanna Yeah, it's not Jackson 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.320 County Tech like Brad went to. But I was waiting 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.880 for all the ways you could describe Western Carolina and 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.160 it was cracking me up just a little bit. Brad. 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.640 Brad's a good sport I like Brad a lot there. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.520 He was good to fill in for us last week 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.959 while you were out on special assignment. I know it was. 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:18.280 It was a fun special assignment. I'm still trying to 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.560 recover from all the soreness of going down the mountain. Now, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.080 let me ask you, when you ski, are you just 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:28.119 a start at the top of the hill and survive 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.840 until you get to the bottom or are you actually 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.480 a skier and do you do tricks? No, I'm but 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.880 I'm now unfortunately, I'm now in some weird purgatory of 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:44.840 skiing where the greens that I've been doing are kind 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:48.760 of boring. They're no longer life threatening like they were 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.760 two years ago, but the blues still seem overwhelming. Are 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:56.360 the blues the middle? Yeah, and the blues and snowshoe 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:58.600 are more like the blues in Colorado than they are 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.840 like sugar and beech. So there you look at them, 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.040 and that seems like a lot. So but I go 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.320 down the greens and yeah, no, I'm not hanging on 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.720 for dear life. You know, my my coats on buttoned. 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:14.120 I'm just kind of going back and forth, you know exactly, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.679 You're You're just you know, you're stopping for pictures, You're 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:18.600 you know, every once in a while, there'll be some 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.560 kid that goes into the forest. There's like these little 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:23.679 forest things and they just like come out over a 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:25.840 jump over, like just some little hill and you're like, 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.240 what what, No, Now I'm not doing that. Yeah, it's 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.440 probably best. I mean this, this body is getting older. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.239 These bones don't do those things. Somebody asked me about 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.440 skiing recently, and and I actually skied when I was 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.920 at Appalachian State. I did a reasonable amount of skiing 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.600 because it was cheap for students and you would go 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:49.840 a lot. But I quickly realized the price of overconfidence. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.240 And when I was not quite a blue, a steady 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.519 blue skier, I said, let's see how bad the black 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.919 one can be. Yeah, And it was bad. Ad. Yeah, 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:02.960 I came out of a I came out of a 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.519 cloud the snow. The wind was blowing so hard one day, 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:08.880 it was blowing everything that came out of a snow 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.040 gun back up the hill. So I sort of came 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.079 through a cloud one day and there was a guy 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:19.120 stopped in the middle of the hill, and yeah, I 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:21.840 just can't do anything about that. It was a yard sale. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.280 There was stuff all over the place. Um. The thing 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:27.440 I remember the most about that, after I kind of 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.480 came to my senses and I'm laying there on the 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.440 side of Sugar Mountain and it's like, what just happened 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.920 to me? And Appalachin State had a big seven foot 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.040 center at the time named Tim Powers who was from Nebraska. 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.960 And I remember Tim Power's going over the top on 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.840 the ski lift and he was like pointing and laughing 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.839 and I'm like, what are you laughing at? You can't 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:53.640 even dribble. And that's my skiing story. That's fantastic. Uh, Darren, 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.080 there's a quote unquote a big game that happened a 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.920 couple of days ago. Yeah, the football happened. That the 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:04.240 football big game happen. What are your initial thoughts takeaways? 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:06.520 Give me one thing that stood out to you. I mean, 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:09.800 the team that had the best player in the building one, 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.520 you know, Aaron Donald should have been the Super Bowl 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.880 m V p uh By, you know. I mean, Cooper 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.120 Cup was a nice story all year. He had a 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.839 great season. He certainly had an impact on that game. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.000 But Aaron Donald's the reason the Rams one and all 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.520 week leading into that game, anytime anybody would ask me, 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.000 I would say, well, I kind of hope the Bengals win. 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.080 The Bengals are fun and Joe Burrow is fun and 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.960 they don't get to enjoy stuff like this all the time. Uh, 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.160 But the Rams are gonna win, aren't they because they 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.839 got all the good players. And that's kind of the 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:44.520 way it worked out. I mean, it got to a 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.200 point where, if not for that disgraceful uncalled O p 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.080 I at the beginning of the first half, the Rams 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:52.960 just kind of shut him down on defense. And there's 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.520 too much Fon Miller, too much Jalen Ramsey, and way 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.440 way too much Aaron Donald for that offensive line. Two 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.480 little bits about the m v P part you tweeted, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:06.000 and not everyone knows this the way that gets done. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.000 Our votes from the press box, from the media that 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.919 largely get picked up by the two minute warning. Correct, correct, 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.119 So things that happened in the height of the game, 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.960 the climax, the final drive often aren't factored in right, right, 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.200 And and I distinctly recall, I mean, I remember a 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.599 couple of things about Super Bowl thirty eight. Number one 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.400 being asked to vote for the m v P of 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.160 the Super Bowl was kind of neat for a young 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.880 reporter at the time. I mean that was two thousand three, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.839 so I was still I was stealing my twenties. And 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.640 I remember distinctly Lee Remmel, the former Packers pr director 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.839 who had the voice of God. When Lee Remmel would 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.640 introduce things in the press box, he would say, Brett 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:49.560 Farve touched. You know. He just had that big, basso 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.440 profundo voice that was fantastic to hear. And Lee rem 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.240 Will call me on the phone one day and he said, Darren, 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:59.760 this is Lee, I know who this is, Yes of 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.800 wars Um. But when they asked you to vote, they 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.360 do want them by the two minute warning because they 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:09.000 want to be able to present while confetti is still 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.920 falling and all that fun stuff, which is a logistical nightmare. 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.200 And I remember in Super Bowl thirty eight, I handed 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.919 him a ballot and I had written on it Tom 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.719 Brady if New England wins, Jake Dilome if Carolina wins. 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:23.919 I mean, because the game was going back and forth 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:25.880 and it was going to be one of those two 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.080 guys at that point. But you you know, you're just 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:32.400 in that spot. I believe that they are able to 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.960 harvest some of those votes electronically now, which speeds it 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:39.080 up a little, but they still try to get this 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.400 thing in before the gun and that's you know, tough 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.440 because you know the pressure Aaron Donald put on late 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.000 when Bengals had that last chance that decided that the 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.880 run stop the sack. Yeah. Absolutely, And another part of this, 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.600 I'll ask, do you think was there any you know, 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.520 I mean, no one, no one wants to admit it, 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.440 but do you think there is any kind of mindful 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.360 influence the fact that maybe people felt like Cooper Cup, 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.599 that's screwed out of m v P for the league year, 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.240 you know, because he's a wide receiver because of you know, 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.240 all that conversation coming out of NFL Honors and then 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:15.160 you know, let's give it a Cooper possibly, I guess maybe. Uh, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:16.800 it's kind of hard to tell on a lot of 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.160 that stuff because without knowing who's doing the voting, I 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:22.960 mean it's usually a cast of characters doing the voting. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.080 Who is who have been around, who covered the teams involved, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:30.120 and or you know the longtime national writers who you 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.840 know aren't as easily swayed on some of that stuff. 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.240 I mean, there's no shame in Cooper Cup. I mean, 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:40.560 if you look back, I mean, he's a perfectly deserving recipient. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.800 I just wouldn't have voted for him. I would have 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.160 gone the other direction and voted freer and Donald. I 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:48.480 think buying large defensive players get jammed out of a 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.680 lot of those things anyway. Um, and it's hard, but 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.600 he was the guy I mean, and it's he's the 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.840 one everything's built around. Everything is going to you know, 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.400 the parts for were the rams in the future. You know, 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.240 who knows what von Miller's future in l A is, 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.120 how long he's going to be there. Who knows how 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.720 long Odell Beckham if he's ever going to show up 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.400 there again after the unfortunate knee injury, and he's going 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.760 to be a free agent. You know who knows all 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.200 these corollary parts. But Matt Stafford is gonna be there, 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.080 and Aaron Donald is going to be there. And I 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.560 think when you're putting together a defense, as long as 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.440 you got Aaron Donald in them and love it, you're 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.120 gonna have you got a chance to be really, really good. 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:31.600 Because that guy is is crazy talented. He's matchup nightmare, 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:35.080 especially for a Bengals offensive line that can't block anybody anyway. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:36.880 I mean, they only gave up seven sacks in the 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.320 Super Bowl, which is a lot by any measure, but 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.079 it's too fewer than they gave up against Tennessee earlier 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.520 in the playoffs. So God bless Joe Burrow for surviving. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.520 I hope he's I hope he's in the cold tub 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.040 and then the hot tub and just relaxing, probably with 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.800 a scar somewhere. So speaking of Los Angeles, speaking of 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.960 the Super Bowl, you yourself were out there for something 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:02.280 entirely different and much more important honestly, for for those 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:06.559 here in the Carolinas. On Thursday night, Sam Mills selected 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:08.599 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Yeah, that was 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.720 pretty neat and uh, it was quite a moment, and 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:14.880 you could tell, Uh, we had the opportunity while we 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.720 were out there, uh to visit with his widow, Melodie Mills, 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.959 his son Sam Mills, the third longtime Panthers assistant coach, 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.280 And you could tell they had been in this process 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.640 for a long time and they had never you know, 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:32.199 I've known people, you know, from being involved in the 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.160 voting process forever ten years. You know, people get frustrated 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.679 at times and wonder why not me? And this has 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:43.040 taken too long? They never really expressed the frustration, So, 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.240 I mean, it was just an overwhelming sense of gratitude 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.640 from them that a guy whose legacy means so much 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.800 to so many people was finally being recognized. And the 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.840 family is fantastic. They're so humbled, they're so gracious, they're 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:01.000 so you know, overwhelmed by the reaction, and and you know, 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.920 it was kind of interesting when you get Usually this 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.400 is a room full of large people, and especially this year. 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.360 I love, as somebody voted on it, I love this 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:15.800 year's class because it's not full of quarterbacks and it's 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:19.400 not full of fantasy football guys. It's an offensive lineman. 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.800 And Tony Boselli, who was the great left tackle of 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.839 his generation, you know, who didn't get to play as 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.440 long as other people did or would have wanted to 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.360 because of a surgeon jacked up his shoulder, made a 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.120 mistake during a surgery kept him from ever being the 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:38.000 same guy again. Um, but was the dominant player. And 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.360 then you come back with all defense with Sam Mills, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:44.800 with Bryant Young, a defensive tackle who was kind of 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.480 not necessarily the Aaron Donald of his generation, but had 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.040 a similar kind of impact. You can build a defense 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:53.679 around that guy. In the forty Niners did well. Roy 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.720 Butler the great Packers safety who invented the lamb boat 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:01.800 leap um Richard Seymour, who played every position along the 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.440 defensive line for those Belichick defenses in New England before 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:07.560 he was traded to Oakland. I mean, he's just just 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.120 a phenomenal class of guys who made impacts in ways 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.439 it's hard to count. I mean, as a Hall of fame. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.120 I I think they get hung up sometimes all on 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:22.400 on pass rushers because sacks are easy to count. You know, quarterbacks, 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.320 big touchdown numbers, big uh passing yard numbers are easy 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:28.760 to count. Receivers are a little bit of a quagmire 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.079 right now because there are guys hung up in line 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.200 because it's hard to separate between you know, three guys 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.600 who once got more in this category, one's got more 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.000 in this category. But the class as a whole, I 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.559 mean it kind of it's full of character guys and 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.240 grind guys. I mean, Tony Boselli burned brightly for a while, 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.640 but the rest of these guys had long careers and 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.200 were excellent over the long haul. And and that was 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:56.840 Sam Mills. I mean I could and you know, because 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.440 you've heard most of it, but I could jump up 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.640 on this table and talk about Sam Mills for hours 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:05.800 and hours. I mean, it's just to me the story 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:10.160 of Sam Mills, I think overshadows sometimes how great he 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:14.360 was at football. I mean, let's just start at the top. 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.440 A five ft nine shop teacher from New Jersey who 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.840 was a twenty seven year old NFL rookie is not 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.600 supposed to go to a place in New Orleans where 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.480 they've never ever won and create one of the great 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.400 defenses in the NFL in his era at that time. 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.480 And then at thirty six, he's especially not supposed to 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.480 come to an expansion team and create one of the 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.719 top defenses in the NFL right off the bat. You'll 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.240 go to the NFC Championship game in their second year, 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.319 and all these things that were never supposed to happen 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:52.240 kept happening around Sam Mills. And when it happens for 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.840 fifteen years, when you include the three seasons in the 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.800 USFL where they created a thing out of whole cloth 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:00.880 and he was the best if into player in a 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.240 league that included Reggie White, all these things kept happening 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.480 around Sam Mills. And after fifteen years, you realize it's 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.880 because Sam Mills and so that's why it was. It 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.040 was gratifying for me to be a small part of it, 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:18.120 to you know, be there to see that family enjoy 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.720 that moment. Because when Melanie is surrounded by all these 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.199 giant people on stage, it's like, Okay, who is this 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.200 small person? But from talking to those guys behind the scenes, 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.800 talking to her and Sam after the fact, I mean 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.960 those guys in the class, Young and Seymour and all 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.520 of them and Sally, they really embraced her and they 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.280 talked about what Sam meant to the game to her 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.679 and Sam and they were just the emotion was clear, 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.000 and talking to them after the fact, just being embraced 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.760 by those guys really made a huge difference for the family. 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:53.320 And you got to, you know, as you said, you 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.320 got to speak to Sam the Third and Melanie um 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.760 that the next day, and let's take a quick listen 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.400 to just some of the emotions in their voice and 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:02.800 and some of the things they had to say about 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.400 that night. We're in Los Angeles with a crowd that 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:08.920 could maybe use a little more sleep, but a very 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:13.680 happy and proud family. Welcome to the Mills family, Melanie Mills, 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.920 Samuel's the Third, Thanks for taking a minute to join us. 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.440 Just tell me what the last twenty four hours have 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.920 been like hearing the words Hall of Famer Sam Mills. 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.960 Absolutely well, it's been phenomenal for our family to experience 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.960 this great accolade for our beloved Sam. Great to see 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.640 the game acknowledge him and for all he's put into it. Um. 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:35.320 He loved this game, and it's good to see the 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.040 game give back to him and him being with that 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.120 elite class. Now, when you hear the other players talk 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.680 about him, what are the messages you're hearing from the 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.120 other guys in the hall? You know, kind of his 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.080 peers now when they when they talk about him, they 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:52.640 talk a lot about his leadership and its toughness. And 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.600 then when they talk about the Hall, they're talking about 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.640 a brotherhood, you know, a fellowship that they're gonna have 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.360 that's gonna last forever. And you'll ask some more guys, 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.680 but it's a very you know, unique and elite group. 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.240 The reaction back in Charlotte, it's been phenomenal. I mean, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.640 he touched so many people across the Carolinas. When you 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.400 realize that impact he had in Charlotte, what does it 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:14.760 make you think of now? While we were there from 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.080 the beginning, to see the team advanced this far, to 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.840 just see that the fans still love Sam, that that 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.440 statue is still there, that we can go visit him 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.320 when we miss them. Uh, it's great and I look 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.560 forward to experiences in their happiness as well. If you 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.560 had to just pick one word or one memory, what 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.360 stands out to you the most about Sam, That's a 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.800 tough one, but honorable. Yeah, I'd go with that. And um, 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:45.240 I also think you know pator Nation in the Carolinas, 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.680 both the Carolinas, I think that keep pounding mantra. You know, 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.600 it really embodies the spirit of him, and um, the 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.480 town is taking it on and they believe it in 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.320 and it's in their blood. And so are you. People 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.480 that your family is in a lot of hearts across 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.040 the Carolina and it and a lot of people are 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.360 very happy for you this week and dare in our 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.400 hearts as well. That video is on Panthers dot com. 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.440 You you know the story kind of about the way 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.160 that they described it. One of the things that I 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.720 think I took out of it was that Sam the 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:16.720 third his first thing which he came back to sit down, 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.440 was that video where's the Panthers stuff? You know, you know, 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.040 and and God bless him. I mean, NFL networks trying 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.960 to put together a show and how do you encapsulate 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.800 a Hall of Fame career in fifteen seconds of video clips? 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.680 And I think probably because Ricky Jackson, his old Saints teammate, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.520 was the one UM introduced him, and because Sam played 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.800 nine years in UM New Orleans before he played three 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:45.080 years here and then another six coaching UM. I think 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:46.800 it was kind of it just kind of got lost, 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.600 and I'm sure some junior staff at NFL Network was 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:52.000 just throwing together highlights into like this looks good, this 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:54.720 looks good. Boom boom boom, and that's it. It's fifteen 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.400 seconds of video. But it was all Saints highlights. And 0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:59.120 there were a lot of people in that room who 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.160 were like, wait, something's missing. And Sam the third was 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.959 he was he was so funny about that. He is UM. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.240 You know, obviously they're very protective over their father's legacy. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.199 The New Orleans are meant a lot to them, but 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.480 you could tell, I mean, Charlotte's got a special place 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:18.919 in their heart. And Sam was an assistant here, you know, 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.879 he was on staff here for so long, right, and Sam, 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.879 you know, it's always awkward when someone is someplace for 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:26.879 a long time and then he isn't. But Sam just 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:28.760 kind of he was like, listen, I get it. There's 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:30.760 no hard feelings. I was part of the staff that 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.440 was here for a long time. Staff's change when head 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:37.080 coaches leave, their assistants leave, and so he gets it 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.360 and they understand it. But they've still got a lot 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:42.280 of ties to this area and they are always going 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:45.320 to be tied to this area, I think for a 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:48.520 lot of reasons. But it, uh, it was a neat deal. 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.680 And Sam kind of laughed, but he was like, where 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.920 the Panthers highlights? And you know, I know, and I've 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.199 already heard from some fans. One of the things I 0:17:56.240 --> 0:18:01.040 wrote Thursday night, right after the announcement, while was really 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.920 for the Panthers. This is kind of the first of hours, 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:06.880 so to speak. I mean, one of us is finally 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.399 in the Hall of Fame. You know, there were guys 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:12.240 who have passed through. Kevin Green played three seasons here, 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.680 but he also played seven for the Rams and three 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.119 for the Steelers and a season for the forty niners 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.040 and was kind of all over the map and Bill 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.639 Polian was here and put together that first team, but 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:25.520 he was also the guy drafted Peyton Manning and put 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.840 the Bills together. Um, Mike McCormick, the very first team president, 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:31.960 was a Hall of Famer when he was hired. So 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.719 there have been guys. You know, Donnie Shell worked here 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.240 in a support role, but Donny shells a Steelers guys, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:41.479 so there there wasn't really a Panthers guy and a 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:46.679 lot of and a lot of Saints fan like, listen, y'all, 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.719 there's listen y'all. There's enough of Sam Mills for us 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.680 to share. And I thought Jim Porter, the Hall President, 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.040 said it best. He was like, listen to somebody with 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.639 a heart as big as Sam Mills. There's enough of 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.760 that to go around. And I think Saints fans can 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.399 celebrate it. I think Panthers fans can should and will 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.920 celebrate it. And it's gonna be really cool. It's gonna 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.320 be a neat five months leading up to August. Yeah, 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.720 so some of the details about that I think I 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.560 saw on NFL dot com is in August five six 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.440 is around there. First weekend in August is going to 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.080 be the entrinement there'll be an announcement later on Hall 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:24.560 of Fame game which teams are involved. Don't know any 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.439 of the details on that yet, but it's gonna be 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.199 a it's gonna be a cool deal. There's not you know, 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:33.640 sam not being there takes away some of kind of 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.200 there's not that speech and so many of those Hall 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.280 of Fame speech has become a legendary, And God, could 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.560 you imagine what Sam Ells would say if he was 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:45.920 on that stage. I mean, this guy, you know, created 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.560 this emotional wave for an entire football team, which became 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.680 a mantra for an entire city, in an entire region 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.520 before a football game. Could you imagine what he would 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.520 say is he was going into the Hall of Fame. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.399 I think it would be fantas aastic for football, for 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:04.720 the hall um. But I think the words he left 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.440 behind and and the family and what they'll be able 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.000 to put together to kind of honor his memory is 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:12.399 going to be super neat. And as they put together 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.240 their stories, we wanted to kind of prime the pump 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.560 a little bit. We've already received just off Twitter, on 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.399 the on the website, things that you've heard already, you know, 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.040 fans around this region fans that have been here for 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:27.240 a while, you know, the stories they have that personally 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.400 touched them about Sam. And as we get going into 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:33.240 the spring, that's something we're going to try to build around. 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.480 From your perspective, you're the listener, we want you to 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.160 think of your stories. You know, what, what moment did 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:43.000 you have at a driving range that you know, Sam 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.959 rolls up and asked for some help on his slice. 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:47.600 You know that we've already heard that. You know, like, 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.000 what are the things that you had with Sam Mills 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.600 that impacted you? You know, maybe just something about key 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.520