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Speaker 1: Nikkil, how do you feel about catching passes from Tom Brady.

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Speaker 1: I'm extremely excited that. I'm just I'm just extatic just

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Speaker 1: to come in, you know, just just work hard. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, just kind of moved and you know, just

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Speaker 1: live up to the expectations. Nikkil, did you have any

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Speaker 1: sort of pre draft contact with the Patriots and if so,

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Speaker 1: what was that like. Yeah, I had a visit with

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Speaker 1: the Patriots and and I felt to went really well. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, I feel like I messed with the coaches

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Speaker 1: very well, and and I just feel like, um, I

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Speaker 1: fit in with the with the team and and everything

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Speaker 1: very well. Also how so what what kind of clicked

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Speaker 1: for you and the Patriots? Um, you know, I I

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Speaker 1: just feel like, um, the way I retained some of

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Speaker 1: the information um as far as um some of the

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Speaker 1: players that was going over with me. Um. So I

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Speaker 1: just felt like, um, you know, just just just coming in,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'd be expected to just know a lot,

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Speaker 1: to be prepared, and I'm ready for that. Nikila, As

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Speaker 1: you feel like it was gonna be there thirty two

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Speaker 1: of the Patriots or thirty three of the Arizona for you, Um,

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Speaker 1: I did going in. I had I just had a

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Speaker 1: feeling obviously trying to know exactly what was going to happen,

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Speaker 1: but you know, I did just kind of have a feeling, Nikkil.

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Speaker 1: Can you lean on Christian Sam at all a college

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Speaker 1: team met to kind of help maybe get your acclimated

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Speaker 1: to what life like in New England? Yeah, most definitely,

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Speaker 1: that'd be one of the guys I talked to right

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Speaker 1: off the bat. Um just just kind of get some advice. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, just just just kind of do well, and

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Speaker 1: you know, just be prepared and and just know the

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Speaker 1: expectations and everything. Nakila, You're the first receiver Bill Belichick

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Speaker 1: has drafted in the first round since he's become coach

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Speaker 1: of the Patriots. What's that mean to you? It meets

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Speaker 1: the world to be for him to have that much

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Speaker 1: faith in me and and to have that much trust

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Speaker 1: in me. Um, it just it just makes me want

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Speaker 1: to work that much harder. UM. So I'm gonna come

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Speaker 1: in um with the workhorse mindset and get better every day, Nikkil.

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Speaker 1: Coach Edwards compared you a little bit to Dez Bryant.

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Speaker 1: Is there a guy who is in the league now

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Speaker 1: or was in the league the last handful of years?

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Speaker 1: Who you model your game after a little bit. Um.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's it's hard to say. You know, I

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Speaker 1: have a lot of respect for um, everybody that that

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Speaker 1: has played at the NFL level. UM. Now I have

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Speaker 1: so much to learn. I have so much, um just

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Speaker 1: to just just to handle coming into the game, coming

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Speaker 1: into the NFL. So, you know, it's hard to really

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Speaker 1: give a comparison. How would you describe your game? UM?

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Speaker 1: I would describe my game as as very passionate. You know,

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Speaker 1: I played with a lot of passions. Um. You know,

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Speaker 1: whenever that balls in the air, off sacrifice anything to

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Speaker 1: go get it. And I'll do whatever it takes to

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Speaker 1: help the team win. Anything coach wants me to do,

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Speaker 1: whether it's on special team offering to anything. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'll do it just to do my part into and

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Speaker 1: to be one piece of the puzzle in helping us win. Nikkil,

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Speaker 1: do you hope to expand your rowntree when you get

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Speaker 1: here in New England? I know you only ran like

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Speaker 1: a handful of rods in there Zona States offense. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know that's not that's not really up to me

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Speaker 1: too much. It's all along what the coaches want for me,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to come in with the mindset

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Speaker 1: of being very coachable. I've always been a very coachable player,

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Speaker 1: you know, just picking up on things very quickly. Um.

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Speaker 1: So whatever they need me to do or want me

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Speaker 1: to do, um, you know, I'll get on it. By

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Speaker 1: the way, Nikkil, you played for her and Edwards, who

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Speaker 1: spent a lot of time in the NFL. Did he

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Speaker 1: discuss NFL life with you? And how do you feel

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Speaker 1: like playing for him kind of got you ready for

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Speaker 1: this next step you're about to take. Yeah, I don't

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Speaker 1: helped me a lot with with some of the conversations

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Speaker 1: he had with me. This passion here. You know, he

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Speaker 1: was just telling me because I just had to had

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Speaker 1: to argue ready, I had to. I had to take

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Speaker 1: everything to a whole new level. Um, the way I studied,

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Speaker 1: the way the way I do everything. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: it's just obviously a new level. And I have to

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Speaker 1: prove myself all over him. Nikio, what do you remember

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Speaker 1: about meeting Bill Belichick? What do I remember? He was?

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Speaker 1: He was a very great man. Um. You know, I

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Speaker 1: feel like a lot of people, UM just just think

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Speaker 1: of him as just an up type person. But you know,

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Speaker 1: he was very relatable. Um, we were in the smile

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Speaker 1: and cracking jokes. So, um, you know, I got a

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Speaker 1: very good box opinion and I'm looking forward to talking

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Speaker 1: to him tomorrow as well. What jokes did he tell you? Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, we were just talking, you know, just conversating.

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Speaker 1: I can't really tell you exactly what we were talking about,

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Speaker 1: but you know, we were just we were just having

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Speaker 1: a good time to conversation. Yeah, the Patriots have a

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Speaker 1: couple of bigger series who have been really good. After

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Speaker 1: the Catch and Josh Byrnon de Marius Thomas. Are those

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Speaker 1: guys you've admired over the years and what do you

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Speaker 1: think you can learn from those two? Yeah, definitely. I

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Speaker 1: I've admired every player that's ever played in the NF so, um,

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Speaker 1: no matter what round they got drafted, no matter how

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Speaker 1: long they played the game, Um, if they played in

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Speaker 1: the NFL, Um, I've admired them. And those are dudes

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Speaker 1: that have that have been in the NFL and have

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Speaker 1: played at a high level. Um, So going in I

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Speaker 1: definitely leaning on them, um, you know, asking them how

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Speaker 1: to get better and just how to improve day by day. Nikkil,

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Speaker 1: what was the moment for you when you got the

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Speaker 1: call and found out You're going to reigning Super Bowl champs.

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Speaker 1: It was it was so surreal, especially for me waiting

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Speaker 1: that long and you know, getting to the to the

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Speaker 1: end of the first round. Um, I was obviously starting

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Speaker 1: to think, Um, you know, maybe I had to start

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Speaker 1: getting ready to day too. Um So when I got

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Speaker 1: that call, Um, I tried not to be emotional, but

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Speaker 1: you know, I couldn't really hold it back at that point.

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Speaker 1: I was just I just felt so blessed. I was

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Speaker 1: so thankful for the Patriots organization. You know, I was

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Speaker 1: just thanking God and and and you know, I'm just

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Speaker 1: I'm just ready to work. Where did you watch, Nikkil.

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Speaker 1: I was with my family. We actually rented out a

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Speaker 1: house in Scottsdale, so a lot of my family was

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Speaker 1: here that they actually got their visas not too long ago. Um,

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Speaker 1: so they flew in last week. A lot of my

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Speaker 1: my my friends were here, you know, people that have

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Speaker 1: just been by my side since day one. So it

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Speaker 1: was it was an extremely special moment for all of us.

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Speaker 1: About how many people, I would say, close to fifty

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Speaker 1: fifty to sixty people. Nikki KOs Where your family's from.

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Speaker 1: My family is from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It's

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Speaker 1: a it's a small island in the Caribbean. UM. So

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Speaker 1: my grandmother and I and one of my aunties, UM

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Speaker 1: have just been by ourselves out in Arizona. And you know,

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Speaker 1: I've I've been extremely blessed with the people that have

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Speaker 1: been around me, with the company that has been around me.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I was blessed with with people that

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Speaker 1: have the same mindset of people I want to improve,

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Speaker 1: people that I want to learn, and people don't want

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Speaker 1: to grow. So, you know, God has really blessed me

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Speaker 1: throughout the years. Any other NFL players from Saint Vincent

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Speaker 1: and the Grenadines, No, I'm the first one. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: Why did you first start playing football? I first started

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Speaker 1: playing football. You know, I was playing flag at a

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Speaker 1: very young age, I like ten years old, and then

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Speaker 1: I played tackle for a year or two when I

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Speaker 1: was telling you about like ten years old, and I

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Speaker 1: had stopped all the way up until my freshman year

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Speaker 1: of high school. And that's kind of when it picked

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Speaker 1: back up. And that's kind of when you know, I

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Speaker 1: really got settled into the sport. Nikkol, Do you have

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Speaker 1: any preference of playing in the slaughter on the outsider.

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Speaker 1: Do you like to move around a lot like you

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Speaker 1: did an a su No, no preference. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: I just want to do my do my part to

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Speaker 1: help win whatever that is, whatever that looks like. I

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Speaker 1: just want to come in and it be one of

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Speaker 1: those players that that coach can rely on no matter what,

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Speaker 1: jey and and you know that's that's what I know,

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Speaker 1: it is expected of me, and that's what I'm ready for.

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Speaker 1: But you do have that, you do have that skill set,

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Speaker 1: that versatility, the ability to play inside outside, Yes, sir, yes, sir,

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Speaker 1: I do so. So whatever coach wants me to do,

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Speaker 1: if you wants me to do one or the other

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Speaker 1: or both, I wouldn't hesitate your someth at it guns

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Speaker 1: right And thanks a Gail, thank you