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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Titans Amy at Coach Mac Podcast, presented

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Speaker 1: by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Look to the folks at

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Speaker 1: Farm Bureau Health Plans when you need someone who understands

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Speaker 1: the exes and oh's of healthcare coverage. They've been protecting

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Speaker 1: Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven. I'm Amy Wells. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for joining us today. Coach Mac is

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Speaker 1: of course here, Mac. How are you you great? Just

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Speaker 1: got back from practice. Nice weather, a little brisk in

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Speaker 1: the air, but the sun's out. It was very good.

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Speaker 1: Sun makes all the difference in the world. Wednesday it

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Speaker 1: was cloudy and cold. Thursday it was sunny and cold.

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Speaker 1: The sun was a game changer. Sun was a game

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Speaker 1: changer and I enjoyed being out there and now I'm

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Speaker 1: enjoying being here for the Titans Amy Coach Podcast. Well, Mac,

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Speaker 1: I don't even know how to say it. This has

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Speaker 1: been a week, you know, this has really been just

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Speaker 1: a lot of activity in a short amount of time.

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Speaker 1: The Titans are six and two, which is great news.

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Speaker 1: We're very excited about that. They're number one in the division.

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Speaker 1: As of today, they are number one in the AFC overall.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic news. For the Tennessee Titans. They're in a great place.

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Speaker 1: But Mac, I think the only way to qualify this

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Speaker 1: week is a roller coaster ride. Well, I think you're right.

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Speaker 1: I mean that that game up there Indianapolis was really

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Speaker 1: a bizarre game. It was exhausting. It it was exhausting,

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Speaker 1: and it was a bizarre game because the magnitude of

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Speaker 1: the game for both teams was evident all week. You know,

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Speaker 1: we both sides knew exactly what was going to go

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Speaker 1: on in that game. First of all, it was going

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Speaker 1: to be a heavyweight fight right in the middle of

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Speaker 1: the ring for the entire for the entire goal. And

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Speaker 1: then to come out and go fourteen to zero down

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Speaker 1: immediately would be like getting knocked down twice in the

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Speaker 1: first two rounds. But you had to get back up

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Speaker 1: off the mat and had to keep fighting. And as

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Speaker 1: the back and forth of that game went on, it

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Speaker 1: got more tense and more tense and more tense. And

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Speaker 1: then to take it up the tense meter clear out

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Speaker 1: the top. It goes to overtime. It goes to overtime.

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Speaker 1: And you know, when you think with a minute and

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Speaker 1: twenty eight seconds left, after you've made a great play

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Speaker 1: on a failed screen down there in the gold line,

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Speaker 1: and Elijah Molin picks one off very alert, you know,

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Speaker 1: with great effort by you know, Bud Dupree, you know,

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Speaker 1: playing like Spider Man, rolling on the ground and jumping up,

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Speaker 1: and and Denico Autry and the front putting pressure. And

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Speaker 1: you were feeling really good, and then all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: you throw a combat catch down the middle of the

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Speaker 1: field and Michael Pittman Junior goes up among about eight

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Speaker 1: hands and pulls it down and then here we go.

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Speaker 1: And so it was exhausting, and it was it was

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Speaker 1: a thrilling ball game if you were a spectator, but

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Speaker 1: it was also a very physical game and it ended

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Speaker 1: up you know, the win was big for the Titans.

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Speaker 1: You know, this last month has been really huge for

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Speaker 1: the Titans, for AFC wins in a row, for legitimate

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Speaker 1: AFC wins in a row that have put this team

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Speaker 1: in great shape. And we had that, we had the

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Speaker 1: one black cloud that came over that game, you know,

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Speaker 1: after we all got the news Monday about you know,

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Speaker 1: Derrick Henry, I'll tell you what the last what three

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Speaker 1: or four minutes that you've been talking described Sunday, and

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Speaker 1: then we have Monday, where we find out about Derrick

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Speaker 1: Henry and there's all the concern about what does this mean,

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Speaker 1: how is this going to look in the Titans offense.

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Speaker 1: Then we have Tuesday when we find out the Tennessee

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Speaker 1: Titans have signed Adrian Peterson. We don't even get people

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Speaker 1: back on the field until Wednesday, because that is the

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Speaker 1: typical first day of practice. Coach Mac, it is Thursday

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Speaker 1: and I need a nap. Well, can we say this though,

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Speaker 1: this h this job that we have. I've been in

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Speaker 1: this league longer than you've been alive, but this job

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Speaker 1: that we have is never dull, no, never, never dull,

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Speaker 1: never dull. And you know, let's go. Let's go back

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Speaker 1: to the to the Derrick Henry thing. First of all,

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Speaker 1: how many times have we said We say it on

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Speaker 1: this podcast and I say it on every broadcast I'm on.

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Speaker 1: I've heard you said before the chances of getting hurt

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Speaker 1: in this league or one hundred percent. You just hope

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Speaker 1: that you're able to dodge that, you know, and especially

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Speaker 1: dodge that from your premier players. Well we didn't dodge

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Speaker 1: this one. So what has to happen is is and

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Speaker 1: you're right, all of a sudden now Adrian Peterson is

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Speaker 1: in here, who isn't an immediate Hall of Famer. He's

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Speaker 1: in here now, and so and really Amy, the Titans

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Speaker 1: were a little bit of an anomaly in the National

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Speaker 1: Football League to begin with. Most teams right now don't

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Speaker 1: have one lead horse as a back. We had an

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Speaker 1: extreme war horse, you know, in Derrick Henry. He was

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Speaker 1: he was different than everybody else. Everybody else does it

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Speaker 1: by a committee. Well, that's what we are going to

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Speaker 1: do now, is by a committee. And the question was

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Speaker 1: asked and you said it very well, what are we

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Speaker 1: going to do now? Offensively, We're going to do the

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Speaker 1: same thing. We're just going to do it with differ

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Speaker 1: people in the run aspect of it. And we're going

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Speaker 1: to do it with multiple people because there is no

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Speaker 1: one singular Derrek Henry out there anymore. Their name may

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Speaker 1: not be another one for another ten years. But and

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Speaker 1: so we'll do it with a group of people. But

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Speaker 1: the design of the offense won't change. And schematically, defensively,

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Speaker 1: what will change maybe and I'm interested to watch this

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Speaker 1: and you are too when we go to LA how

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Speaker 1: are they going to deploy people now against our run game?

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Speaker 1: On conflict downs? Which are first and second downs with

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Speaker 1: the people we have now with the potential to carry

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Speaker 1: the ball. Mac you're a head coach, former head coach,

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Speaker 1: and Mike Vrabel has had a lot of emotional hides

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Speaker 1: and lows over the last three or four days to

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Speaker 1: manage within himself, within his coaching staff, within this team,

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Speaker 1: within the fan base. There has been a lot of

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Speaker 1: conversation about the Tennessee Titans in full swings from this

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Speaker 1: team is unstoppable, They're going to win the Super Bowl

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Speaker 1: to this team can't do anything without Derrick Henry. There's

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Speaker 1: a wide range of emotions happening right now. As a

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Speaker 1: head coach, how do you manage that? How do you

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Speaker 1: deal with that within your team? None of that outside

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Speaker 1: noise makes any difference at all, first of all, to

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Speaker 1: begin with, I mean, all of that outside noise is

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Speaker 1: like elevator music. You know, It's like when you step

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Speaker 1: on the elevator, you hear it, and then when you

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Speaker 1: step off you don't hear it. And it has nothing

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Speaker 1: to do with the elevator going up and down. Well,

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Speaker 1: that's the way all of this conversation is, and the

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Speaker 1: conversation is just that. I mean, but it's what keeps

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Speaker 1: the National Football League in such an interest, you know,

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Speaker 1: to people out and around, But inside the confines you

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Speaker 1: know of St. Thomas Sports Park and inside the confines

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Speaker 1: of those meeting rooms, that's not the message at all.

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Speaker 1: The message is, you know, Derek's gone for a little while.

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Speaker 1: We've got to bring everybody, colless everybody together and move forward.

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Speaker 1: And here's how we're going to do it. That's the

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Speaker 1: only message. And Mike Vrabel has done and his staff

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Speaker 1: and these players, let's just acknowledge what a great job

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Speaker 1: they have done to this point in the season. Because

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Speaker 1: we're talking about one injury that happened on Sunday. This

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Speaker 1: team has had multiple injuries all year, all year, multiple

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Speaker 1: injuries to multiple personnel groups, multiple injuries to multiple individual groups.

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Speaker 1: And so Mike Vrabel and his staff and these players

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Speaker 1: have been juggling this the whole time. This is just

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Speaker 1: another one in a series of many. So their thought process,

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Speaker 1: their line of thinking, their mindset is the same that

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Speaker 1: it's been throughout all of this process, and that will

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Speaker 1: continue to be. In some respects, this team is very

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Speaker 1: well suited to handle this sort of a disruption, I

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Speaker 1: guess you could say, because they have been dealing with

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Speaker 1: injuries since training camp. That's correct, No, And and it

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Speaker 1: has to start at the top, and it starts with

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Speaker 1: the with the with the vibe in the mindset that

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Speaker 1: John Robinson and Mike Vrabel portray, and then it's carried

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Speaker 1: into the locker room. And so it's this team is

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Speaker 1: very There are two things that you can say about

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Speaker 1: this football team, and you can say it because you've

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Speaker 1: got physical evidence of it. They are very mentally and

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Speaker 1: physically tough. And that is what's carrying them through this

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Speaker 1: right now, and it's going to continue to carry them.

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Speaker 1: And you know the for the rest of this for

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Speaker 1: the rest of this season, they're still going to be

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Speaker 1: obstacles to overcome. But because of the especially the four

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Speaker 1: AFC wins that they have stacked in the last month,

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Speaker 1: they're in good shape. They're in good shape. So you

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Speaker 1: need to start thinking about AFC now. Because you start

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Speaker 1: thinking about AFC, you're talking about what it takes to

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Speaker 1: get into the tournament. That's what the long range plan is.

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Speaker 1: The short range plan is getting getting a group together

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Speaker 1: and going in and seeing what we can do against

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Speaker 1: the Rams. So let's talk about the Rams. Let's do

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Speaker 1: it here they come. We're heading to sunny Los Angeles

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Speaker 1: to play the Los Angeles Rams this Sunday on Sunday

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Speaker 1: Night Football. Let's talk about Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford is

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Speaker 1: living his best life in twenty twenty one. He's so happy.

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Speaker 1: This guy went from losing a lot in Detroit two

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Speaker 1: being seven and one in LA surrounded by a variety

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Speaker 1: of offensive weapons. Why is Matthew Stafford thriving so much

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Speaker 1: in LA? Well, first of all, he's an elite talent.

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Speaker 1: He has been since he was chosen in the first round,

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Speaker 1: when when he when he when he came out in

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Speaker 1: the draft. He's an elite talent. He was just with

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Speaker 1: bad people. I mean, that's just that's just you know sometimes,

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Speaker 1: and that's what happens sometimes elite quarterbacks that are taken early,

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Speaker 1: you go early to a team that's not good. Well,

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Speaker 1: the team never got good while he was there, through

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Speaker 1: a multiple multiplicity of factors and through multiple head coaches.

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Speaker 1: They just never got good, you know. And he's always

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Speaker 1: been a talented quarterback, and he's always been a very

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Speaker 1: physically tough quarterback and a good quarterback. It's just that

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Speaker 1: when you're losing ball games, and you're always at the

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Speaker 1: bottom of your your division or is it the bottom

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Speaker 1: of your conference. You know, you're not gonna garner not

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Speaker 1: only any any attention, but people are just gonna say,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's really sad that he's that good on

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Speaker 1: a bad team. Well, all of a sudden he lands

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Speaker 1: in California and this and the sun shine in and

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Speaker 1: I mean he's living his best life. I mean he's

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Speaker 1: I know, when he landed in lax he thought this

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Speaker 1: is heaven because it is for him. Now, first of all,

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Speaker 1: you know, with Sean McVay, with with the Rams that

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Speaker 1: have put together a really good football team. He's got

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Speaker 1: a great weather, he's got an offensive coach that is

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Speaker 1: that that thinks the same way he does, and he's

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Speaker 1: operating this offense at a very high level. I mean,

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Speaker 1: there's no reason he should not be happy. And he's

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Speaker 1: not in Detroit anymore. Well, I've been like, I don't

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Speaker 1: I'm not bagging on Detroit, but it's have to think

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Speaker 1: about the weather alone. Well, I've lived in la and

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Speaker 1: I mean Detroit has water around it too, but it's

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Speaker 1: not the Pacific Ocean. It's cold water, very cold. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So anyway, but yeah, I mean he's he's got a

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Speaker 1: good football team, he's got a great head coach for

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Speaker 1: what he wants to do, and why wouldn't he be happy.

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Speaker 1: Cooper cup is one of the best receivers in football

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Speaker 1: right now, and he's not even the only reason that

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Speaker 1: the Rams are having so much success. Who are some

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Speaker 1: of the other weapons that are helping that offense be

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Speaker 1: so successfull. The offensive line is good. Andrew Whitworth, you know,

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Speaker 1: the left tackle has been playing for thirty seven years

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Speaker 1: in the league. I mean he, I mean he is.

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Speaker 1: I mean he's amazing. You know, he's since he came

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Speaker 1: out of LSU, you know, went to Cincinnati's the number

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Speaker 1: one pick and he's I mean, he's amazing, he really is.

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Speaker 1: Their offensive line is good. Tyler Higbee, they're tight end.

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Speaker 1: You know, we drafted him on the staff I was

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Speaker 1: on when I was at the Ram, So he's out there.

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Speaker 1: He's a really good player. He's from Western Kentucky. He's

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Speaker 1: a really, really good player. Robert Woods is an excellent,

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Speaker 1: excellent receiver. And then plus the offense that they run,

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Speaker 1: I mean, the offense that they run is so conducive

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Speaker 1: to receivers being able to be successful. And plus you

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Speaker 1: have a quarterback amy that does something that is that

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Speaker 1: is that is very very that does something that is

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Speaker 1: very very essential in this offense. You throw the receivers open.

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Speaker 1: You don't wait to throw when they're open, You throw

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Speaker 1: them open. That's why their run after catch is so

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Speaker 1: high up there in the league. Defensively, Aaron Donald, who

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Speaker 1: comes screaming off the page. Every time you look at

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Speaker 1: any sort of RAMS roster depth chart you see Aaron

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Speaker 1: Donald's name. First, I think, how is it possible that

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Speaker 1: he is so good after so many years? Well, we

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Speaker 1: drafted him when I was there, and you know, and

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Speaker 1: our defensive line coach at the time was a guy

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Speaker 1: named Mike Mike Waffle, who's a very accomplished defensive line

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Speaker 1: coach in this league. You know, multiple Super Bowl winner. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, he loved him. And the thing about Aaron

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Speaker 1: Donald coming out of Pittsburgh, it was a really great player,

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Speaker 1: but you know, he's short, and people were saying, well,

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Speaker 1: will we be able to So when he was there

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Speaker 1: the thirteenth pick, we jumped on him in that draft.

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Speaker 1: And he's phenomenal. And when you watch him prepare and

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Speaker 1: you watch him work, his work ethic is second to none,

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Speaker 1: and his attention to detail. But and plus he is

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Speaker 1: just he is physically a freak because he is so

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Speaker 1: strong and so quick, and then that he's so violent.

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Speaker 1: H great player, He's really a great player. And uh,

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Speaker 1: I mean he's a walk into the Hall of Fame

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Speaker 1: five years after he retires because his game has done

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Speaker 1: nothing but accelerate since he's gotten into the league. He

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Speaker 1: gets all the attention now he still is he's still

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Speaker 1: he's still is able to fight through people. He's still

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Speaker 1: able to do some things that are very very unique,

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Speaker 1: and he draws your attention very quick. And so they

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Speaker 1: weren't getting enough attention with a great player, so they

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Speaker 1: went out and traded for von Miller. You know, they

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Speaker 1: bring him in off the edge. They've got h They've

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Speaker 1: got some good players put together on this team. Believe me. Defensively,

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Speaker 1: they are really fast. They're fast, and they're a disruptive defense.

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Speaker 1: They really are. They've got the best cover corner in

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Speaker 1: the league. And Jalen Ramsey he is the absolute best.

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Speaker 1: He's a true lockdown corner in this league. That that

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Speaker 1: monica gets thrown around a lot, and it gets thrown

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Speaker 1: around a lot in this league. Inappropriately, I've had a

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Speaker 1: lockdown a corner in my career in Enius Williams. He's

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Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame because of that. This guy

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Speaker 1: is the same way. This guy can shut down the

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Speaker 1: best receiver on any team. He will match with the

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Speaker 1: best receivers. He plays inside, outside, extremely talented. So they've

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Speaker 1: got I mean, they've got top flight people at all

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Speaker 1: three levels and that's what makes your defense good and

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Speaker 1: sometimes great. A good punter, well, yeah, they do. Johnny

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Speaker 1: Heckers is one of the best and one of my

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Speaker 1: favorite people. We brought him in as a free agent

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Speaker 1: when I was there, and you know, he had gragged

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Speaker 1: the leg. Were two rookie kickers that we used immediately

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Speaker 1: and they've both had long, long careers in this league.

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Speaker 1: Johnny Hecker, Johnny Hecker and Brett Kern are the two

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Speaker 1: best directional punters in the league and they will be

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Speaker 1: going against each other at so far on Sunday Night,

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Speaker 1: you want to talk about another one of your most

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Speaker 1: favorite people, I think James laurna absolutely absolutely one. And

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Speaker 1: we're talking about the Rams. And so for four years

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Speaker 1: at the Rams, UH was with James. I was the

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Speaker 1: assistant head coach. He was our leader. He and Chris Long,

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Speaker 1: uh you know, were and Roger Saffold and then Stephen

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Speaker 1: Jackson were the four guys that we kind of leaned

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Speaker 1: on when we first went in there. Uh, James Laurnaias

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Speaker 1: is the absolute best. He's a he's he was a

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Speaker 1: really good football player, one of the smartest linebackers I've

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Speaker 1: ever been around in my life. And I've been around

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Speaker 1: a lot of smart ones, but I mean, he's got

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Speaker 1: such a unique story and and you know, such a

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Speaker 1: unique upbringing. I mean, you know, he's the son of

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Speaker 1: the most famous tag team wrestler, you know, the animal

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Speaker 1: you know in in you know, Joe Laurnitas, uh, the

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Speaker 1: Road Warriors in the history of wrestling. And I would

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Speaker 1: I've met his dad, God rest his soul, you know,

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Speaker 1: before he passed away. He was always there at all

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Speaker 1: of our practices. And James Laurnius is a unique individual.

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Speaker 1: And being able to visit with him, to have you

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Speaker 1: visit with him and just to listen to him, you'll

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Speaker 1: find out why he is so special right now. So

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Speaker 1: James threw me for a loop immediately as we started

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Speaker 1: this conversation. So I'm just gonna let you guys here

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Speaker 1: for yourself. Check it out our conversation with James Laurnitas. Mac,

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Speaker 1: This is gonna be awesome. James Laurnitas is our guests

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Speaker 1: right now. You know, he was drafted by the Saint

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Speaker 1: Louis Rams in two thousand and nine, spent seven seasons there.

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Speaker 1: Then he finished his career in New Orleans with the Saints.

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Speaker 1: He retired in twenty seventeen and now he starves as

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Speaker 1: an analyst on Big ten Network. But he's so much

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Speaker 1: more than that. Mac so excited to have him on

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Speaker 1: the show. You know. I mean it goes without saying that.

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Speaker 1: You know, in my career, I've really been fortunate. You know,

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Speaker 1: I started out as a linebacker coach, and so I've

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Speaker 1: got an affinity for those guys, but I really have

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Speaker 1: a real place in my heart for good, great linebackers

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Speaker 1: that are really good people. James Laornitis fits all of

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Speaker 1: those bills. You know. When we went in there, and

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Speaker 1: we went into into Saint Louis and they'd had a

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Speaker 1: rough patch before Jeff Fisher came in there to take over.

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Speaker 1: But James Lorenias, he was such a stand up dude

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Speaker 1: when we went in there and everywhere he's ever ever

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Speaker 1: been as a player, he's been a captain, he's been

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Speaker 1: a signal caller on defense. And as I said, I

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Speaker 1: started out in my career with the Hall of Famer

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Speaker 1: in Mike Singletary, and James Laurnias fits all of that

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Speaker 1: bill with me. And he's one of my all time favorites,

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Speaker 1: not only because of the player he was, but just

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Speaker 1: what he meant to the locker room. And then you

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Speaker 1: talk about a wonderful human being in the in the community,

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Speaker 1: none better than James Laurnias. I appreciate that, Mac. Dad.

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Speaker 1: It's always good to be with you, man. You know,

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Speaker 1: you know what I missed the most about the Saint

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Speaker 1: Louis days, to be honest with you, I miss I

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Speaker 1: missed going up to upstairs to where the coach's wing was,

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Speaker 1: and I missed smelling your office because you always had

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Speaker 1: the best burning candles. Man, you had the best burning

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Speaker 1: woodwick candles. And I missed popping in there and just

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Speaker 1: talking ball and um man, we had fun, didn't we,

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Speaker 1: You know what, James, We had so much fun. And

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Speaker 1: now I've got I've got my two compatriots here. They're

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Speaker 1: raising their hand on the hey the Woodwicks. How cool

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Speaker 1: were they? And I started I was I was like

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Speaker 1: a drug dealer with the Woodwicks. I finally had them, James,

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Speaker 1: you brought this up. That's why this podcast is so great. Look,

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Speaker 1: I had those Woodwicks and they were so good, and

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Speaker 1: people would come from all over the building. Coach Mike,

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Speaker 1: that's wonderful. I said, okay, because I had to hook

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Speaker 1: up with Woodwick and I said okay, So I said, okay,

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Speaker 1: here's what we'll do. I used to have him, James.

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Speaker 1: Remember when I'd get that. When I would get the deliveries,

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Speaker 1: I'd have him stacked up on a shelf. It looked

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Speaker 1: like a bed bath and beyond and people people would

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Speaker 1: come in there and say, Mike, how about this? When

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Speaker 1: I said take it, they said how about this one?

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Speaker 1: I said, take it. The woodwicks were solid, weren't they.

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Speaker 1: Oh they're incredible. They're incredible. And I tell you what.

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Speaker 1: The amount of woodwicks I ordered in your office was incredible.

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Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, that smells good. See And that's

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Speaker 1: what That's what people never expected to hear on this

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Speaker 1: Titan's Amy Coach Mike podcast with a tremendous national football

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Speaker 1: League player. He's got so much history, and of course

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Speaker 1: me a lifetime coach, and we're talking about Woodwick candles.

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Speaker 1: That's what you get when you tune into this. I

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Speaker 1: have so much stuff prepared, but now that I have

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Speaker 1: learned that Mac is a candle dealer on the side,

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Speaker 1: this entire thing he's changed, I don't even know how

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Speaker 1: to behave right now. I'm losing my mind. I really

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Speaker 1: was going to ask you, James, about playing for coach

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Speaker 1: Mac and what that experience was like, what he's like

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Speaker 1: as a coach, because we never get to see him

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Speaker 1: in full on coach mode. We just get, you know,

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Speaker 1: analyst Mac so beyond I mean just slinging candles and

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Speaker 1: taking names. Like, what was it like working with Matt consistently? Well,

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Speaker 1: it was awesome because, as he mentioned, his history in

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Speaker 1: the National Football League goes so far back. And when

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Speaker 1: you're talking about a guy who was working around one

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Speaker 1: of the greatest defenses, if not the greatest defense in

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Speaker 1: National Football League history, and then you're able to pull

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Speaker 1: that same wisdom when he was with the Rams, you know,

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Speaker 1: being assistant head coach. I mean, whoever we had a

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Speaker 1: linebacker coach. I mean, whether it was Blake Williams one year,

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Speaker 1: and then we have Frank Bush. You get so many

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Speaker 1: ideas bouncing around that I always treat a coach Mac

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Speaker 1: as like some kind of godfather, you know what. I think,

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Speaker 1: a guy that you could go and just if you

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Speaker 1: had frustrations, you could vent to him, if you had

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Speaker 1: a way about hey, how do you see it? You

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Speaker 1: really valued his opinion because he's just been around so

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Speaker 1: much football. And as Mac knows, I was a guy

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Speaker 1: that I was never going to be the fastest on

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Speaker 1: the field. I was never going to be the most athletic.

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Speaker 1: So I had to try to hang on to my

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Speaker 1: career by the preparation and being in the right places

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Speaker 1: at the right time, being dependable, being able to be

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Speaker 1: a coach on the field. And Mac was just a

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Speaker 1: just a whole bunch of wisdom sitting there ready to

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Speaker 1: be tapped into, and so just knowledgeable and always willing

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Speaker 1: to help in any way possible. He hadn't be careful

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Speaker 1: because he'll he'll hit you with the prank and every

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Speaker 1: now and again, and he's always good for whenever you

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Speaker 1: were in, whenever you were in the kind of like

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Speaker 1: a little rut right when you were losing some games.

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Speaker 1: If you needed to pick me up, you just go

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Speaker 1: to coach Max's office and he's story for you that

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Speaker 1: will make you laugh and you'll be well on your way.

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Speaker 1: So he did a head. We wore many hats for us,

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Speaker 1: but I always enjoyed our conversations just about linebacker playing ball. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I can second that just because when I look,

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Speaker 1: I've been in this long enough, I know when someone's

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Speaker 1: real or not. And and and I gravitated to you

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Speaker 1: immediately talk to us a little bit about the about

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Speaker 1: the rams and it's your career. And again, as I said,

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Speaker 1: usually when you're when you're when you're a high pick,

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Speaker 1: you know you're going to go to a team that

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Speaker 1: is just that's just the way the National Football League

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Speaker 1: draft is aligned, is that you're going to go to

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Speaker 1: a team that has not had much success early on.

427
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 1: The thing that impressed me, James, not only about you,

428
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:40,560
Speaker 1: but about you know, some of the guys that you

429
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,879
Speaker 1: were there with that that were the cornerstones. Talk to

430
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,920
Speaker 1: me a little bit just about your mindset and what

431
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,960
Speaker 1: and what kept you as far as just on on

432
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 1: point even when the game's early on, when you were young,

433
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 1: were not as successful as you want, and and and

434
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna tie this in and and God,

435
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,880
Speaker 1: you know, and God rest his soul in your father, Joe,

436
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:04,879
Speaker 1: talk to me about a little bit of what he

437
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 1: instilled with you with a work ethic that really came

438
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: through to me. Yeah, man, I tell you what my dad,

439
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,359
Speaker 1: and this probably started. My dad was old school in

440
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,280
Speaker 1: the sense he didn't believe in training lifting weights until

441
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,920
Speaker 1: you were in high school. It's funny because everyone assumes

442
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: that because my dad was a pro wrestler and he

443
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,400
Speaker 1: was three hundred and twenty pounds at his biggest time.

444
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,879
Speaker 1: But dad was only six one, three twenty back in

445
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: the eighties. You know what that is, right, that's a

446
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: lot of it's a lot it's hard work. But it's

447
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,440
Speaker 1: also the eighties rights. That's a lot of help. There's

448
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:35,160
Speaker 1: a lot of help. So, but he was I remember

449
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 1: him just crushing the gym, and everyone assumes, oh, I'm

450
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,239
Speaker 1: sure your dad had you in the weight room, you know,

451
00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,399
Speaker 1: from from the time of being like an infant. I'm like, no,

452
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,399
Speaker 1: my dad never wanted me. He believed that if he

453
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,919
Speaker 1: worked out too soon, he would stunt your growth. And

454
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:47,800
Speaker 1: he wanted us all, you know, all three of us,

455
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,639
Speaker 1: all three kids to fully develop. And so I remember

456
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: going in and there'll be days my freshman year I

457
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:55,720
Speaker 1: still remember it mac where I would not feel like

458
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,880
Speaker 1: going to the gym with him because when you're first

459
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,879
Speaker 1: starting to work out, like it's defeating, Like especially his

460
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: gym that he was training at, and he had a

461
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: bunch of meatballs and I'm in here trying to just

462
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,480
Speaker 1: get like, you know, I got a forty five pound bar.

463
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,400
Speaker 1: Maybe put some tens on it, you know, I'm trying

464
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 1: to lift, and like I felt so defeated. And my dad,

465
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 1: but remember I wouldn't want to work out. He'd always

466
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 1: say to me, Okay, that's fine. You keep telling me

467
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,680
Speaker 1: you want to get a scholarship to play at Minnesota,

468
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 1: which at that time that was my only dream. I

469
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,439
Speaker 1: was a Minnesota kid. I just want to play for

470
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 1: the Gophers, right, that was it, Like there was nothing,

471
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,680
Speaker 1: like Ohio State was so far fetched. Like I didn't

472
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: even know to get us at that point in my life.

473
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 1: I didn't know Ohio State in Michigan rivals, to be honest,

474
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: like I just I was so I could name you

475
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: every rival with the Gophers. I could name you all

476
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:40,000
Speaker 1: the trophy games. And so I was just like anyway,

477
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:41,760
Speaker 1: whenever I want to see at my dad always like, Okay,

478
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 1: there's a kid at Minnetonka who's working out right now.

479
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,199
Speaker 1: You want to see here and play video games. Or

480
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 1: there's a kid at Armstrong working out right now. And

481
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,400
Speaker 1: then I'd get up and go work out. And then

482
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,879
Speaker 1: I found this quote when I was in high school

483
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: that I never I printed it out and our school

484
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,640
Speaker 1: colors put it on the wall and it was today's

485
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,680
Speaker 1: preparation determines tomorrow's success. And I kept I kept that

486
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 1: in my bedroom because there were kids in my high

487
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 1: school team way more athletic, way more talented. But I

488
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,720
Speaker 1: just felt like I didn't want the things that didn't require,

489
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 1: you know, talent. I wanted to excel at So what's

490
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,919
Speaker 1: your attitude? What is your work ethic? Do you just

491
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 1: you just hustle to the ball? You know? Are you

492
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: infectious to be around? You know? Little things like that

493
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 1: film study. And then I was fortunate to have a

494
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,399
Speaker 1: really good defensive coordinator growing up Matt Lombardi, who's not

495
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 1: a head coach at Maple, grow up up in Minnesota,

496
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,680
Speaker 1: who helped me learn how to watch tape and then

497
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,400
Speaker 1: and then once Ohio State came around, I was just like, sure,

498
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:36,919
Speaker 1: I'll be a buck guy. You know, I had to

499
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:38,760
Speaker 1: figure out. It was at a nut off a tree,

500
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,240
Speaker 1: and I just saw that tradition. I saw that tradition.

501
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 1: I got there and I was like, man, like, this

502
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: place is special. There's just a feeling about it. Coach

503
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: Trussell was great. And then getting drafted, I mean, you're

504
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,400
Speaker 1: living your dream and I, honestly I was. I look

505
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 1: back and I'm like, dude, I was so naive, like

506
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,159
Speaker 1: I had no plan b mac, Like I wasn't one

507
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 1: of these five star kids who like a lot of

508
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: five stars going to college thinking I'll be in the

509
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,360
Speaker 1: league in three years. For me, I was like, I hope,

510
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,399
Speaker 1: I hope I get on the field at ohiose saying, Oh,

511
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,600
Speaker 1: I'm starting cool, great, awesome, this is fun. Oh got

512
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 1: all American? Great? Oh. I mean it didn't even occur

513
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 1: to me until oh seven, my second year being All American.

514
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: I was gonna have actually get a chance to play

515
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,400
Speaker 1: in the league. When they asked me if I wanted

516
00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,719
Speaker 1: to declare, I'm like, oh, my goodness, So you get

517
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 1: to the NFL. You're living your dream and you just

518
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,440
Speaker 1: keep the same, the same work ethic man today's preparation

519
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,320
Speaker 1: to terminus tomorrow's success. I was a little fired up

520
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,199
Speaker 1: when I first got drafted to the RAMS, because I

521
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 1: know they wanted I still remember one of the papers

522
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 1: basically questioning whether I was the right pick or if

523
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 1: they should have taken Raymond, Luga and Rays from USC.

524
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 1: And just so when you're a competitor, you're like, oh man,

525
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: come on now, like I can have my home beat

526
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 1: writers already questioned the pick. So you always find little

527
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,840
Speaker 1: edges to motivate yourself right, to keep it going. And

528
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 1: that's how I tried to do it for as long

529
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,920
Speaker 1: as I could. You know what that that to me?

530
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:55,919
Speaker 1: I mean, that's just the essence of what you are.

531
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: And can I just say this, I mean, this is

532
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 1: you're our guest, this is our podcast. But because of

533
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 1: my history, you know who you know who has told

534
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: me the similar story and this is God's honest truth

535
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,879
Speaker 1: is Mike Singletary. He's a second round pip. He was

536
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,399
Speaker 1: too short, right, he was too short, he was to this,

537
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 1: he was too that. And when I set across from

538
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: him and he told me that story to my face.

539
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,639
Speaker 1: I went, now, I get it. But see that's and again.

540
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 1: And I'm so glad that you brought that up because

541
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: I think people don't understand sometimes what the National Football

542
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 1: League is about. They think it's all about physical ability

543
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: and physical ability you have to be physically able when

544
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 1: you come into this league. But there's so much more

545
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 1: to it. And that's why I say when I gravitated

546
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: to you immediately because I knew I've been around enough

547
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: and I saw, let me ask you this playing at

548
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,640
Speaker 1: Ohio State. I mean, and you you're you're now you

549
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,159
Speaker 1: you are one of the legends at Ohio State. I mean,

550
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 1: that's that's just the way it is. And you know,

551
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 1: even though you thought it was a nut on a tree,

552
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: you know, all of a sudden, now you're you know,

553
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,639
Speaker 1: you're you. You're a guy that is always going to

554
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: be associated with that. When did it start to lip

555
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 1: for you that? And you've already said it's some I've

556
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,199
Speaker 1: been involved in a pretty big deal here. Why did

557
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,919
Speaker 1: that start to flip for you? Oh man? So I

558
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 1: didn't really feel like I could, you know, I wasn't

559
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 1: confident in my ability to play at the D one

560
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,680
Speaker 1: level until we played Texas in two thousand and six,

561
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 1: so like an oh five is my freshman year. That's

562
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: when we have you know, Ajhawk, Bobby Carpenter, Anthony Schlegel,

563
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 1: and I knew about those guys coming in. What you

564
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: don't know about when you're going through recruiting is like

565
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,879
Speaker 1: the backups who are like a couple of classes ahead

566
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 1: of you that were four or five stars like like

567
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: this because they never played college ball, they hadn't started yet.

568
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:37,880
Speaker 1: I didn't know about them and I didn't follow recruiting

569
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,439
Speaker 1: back then, so I don't really care. But I'm like

570
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 1: third on the depth chart my freshman year, just running

571
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 1: down on kickoff, trying not to be the last one

572
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 1: down the field. And then my buddy, who's now de

573
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,160
Speaker 1: coordinator for Notre Dame, Marcus Spreeman, tears his meniscus and

574
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,520
Speaker 1: so he has the red shirt, and so now I'm backup.

575
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: I'm thinking I'm red shirting. Nope, you're backup now, and

576
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: so I'm back up the Bobby Carpenter. Bobby gets hurt

577
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 1: first play at Michigan, so I go and play too.

578
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,120
Speaker 1: Now I'm in the big house looking around like dang

579
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 1: man's my first time really playing meaningful snaps, and I'm

580
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,720
Speaker 1: just thinking, you know what, though, I'm prepared, do what

581
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: you're supposed to do and let the other ten like

582
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:14,919
Speaker 1: do your one eleventh, right is do your one eleventh.

583
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,359
Speaker 1: Don't be the reason, focus in and go out there

584
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: and try to execut I ended up starting the Fiesta Bowl.

585
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,640
Speaker 1: But even then, Mac, it was like fifteen plays, We're

586
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 1: playing Brady Quinn and Order Dame. We're in nickel the

587
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,200
Speaker 1: whole time, so I'm off the field. So it wasn't

588
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 1: you know. It's funny how Buckeye fans remember, like, oh man,

589
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 1: you bawled out. I'm like, dude, I got like two

590
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,320
Speaker 1: tackles you're talking about, you know, like, but then the

591
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: next year, I'm thinking, okay, here's my time to start.

592
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: It's oh six, my sophomore year, I got moved to Mike.

593
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: We go out, we play Northern Illinois week one, and

594
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: I'm like, all right, here we go like finally, my

595
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 1: you know it's our time, right And so Garrett Wolf

596
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 1: I don't even remember that name from Illinois. Garrett ran

597
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: for like two twenty on us and I'll never forget

598
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 1: what Luke Fickle said to me. Like he acted the game.

599
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,800
Speaker 1: He was like he said, James, I think we're gonna

600
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 1: rotate you and Larry Grant. And Larry played for San

601
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 1: Francisco for forty nine ers in with the Rams for

602
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: a few and so Larry because you and Larry gonna

603
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: rotate against Texas. And I'm thinking, man, if I couldn't

604
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 1: stop running back from Rothern Illinois, what am I gonna

605
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 1: do against I think they had seven young and Jamal

606
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: Charles at Texas. And so we go down to Austin

607
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 1: one verse two, and we're supposed to rotate. I play

608
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: the first series and I go out there for the

609
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: second series and I forced a fumble right on the

610
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 1: two yard line. And after that game, I think I

611
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 1: ended up with I think it was like twelve tackles,

612
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: two forced fumbles in the interception, and we won the game.

613
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,040
Speaker 1: And I remember at that moment kind of being like,

614
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:41,719
Speaker 1: you finally made some plays. You know, like you had

615
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 1: played on the field, but you finally made some plays.

616
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: And it gave me the confidence to be like, no,

617
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 1: I don't expect that stat line every week, but if

618
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: you can make tackles against Texas, you can make tackles

619
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 1: against anybody, and so it just really it gave me

620
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: the confidence that I needed. And I think that's a

621
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 1: part of you know, sports that doesn't get talked about,

622
00:29:58,280 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: even in the college level, but even in the NF

623
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: felt like these rookies come in with so much hype

624
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 1: and all that, but until you watch yourself making plays

625
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 1: at that next level, it's hard to believe it. Right, Like,

626
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 1: you can tell yourself you can go out there, you

627
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 1: gotta be mentally tough, but once you see it happen,

628
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 1: then you can start taking chances, start messing with your

629
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,160
Speaker 1: game a little bit. But it wasn't until six at

630
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,200
Speaker 1: Texas where I thought, Okay, I can play at this

631
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: level as far as the NFL. That didn't happen until

632
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: I was seven and I got All American the second time.

633
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,720
Speaker 1: I was like, oh man, and then you start looking

634
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 1: at mock drafts or not me. I'll put it this way.

635
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 1: Your father, my dad started sending me mock drafts and say, hey,

636
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 1: should we think about leaving. That's when I was like,

637
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this is actually a reality kind of thing.

638
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: So you have the mental toughness, you have the preparation,

639
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 1: you have the physical abilities, but you're also a man

640
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 1: of strong faith. How did that kind of color your

641
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: experiences throughout playing football, both at the collegiate level and professionally. Gosh,

642
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,040
Speaker 1: it first came to faith in a follower Jesus my

643
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,719
Speaker 1: freshman year in high school with my father. We all

644
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 1: got baptized at the same time. And like any young kid, right,

645
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 1: you're you're trying to figure out, Okay, what's that mean?

646
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,680
Speaker 1: And to be honest, when we first came to faith,

647
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 1: it felt like almost a get out of health freak card.

648
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: I think that was my theology at that time. And

649
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 1: you know, and so you live your life a certain

650
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 1: way through high school and when I got to college,

651
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 1: I want to say my junior year, senior year, and

652
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: I really leaned on it senior year because it was

653
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: the first year that I had in school where we

654
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: had three losses. My senior year, I mean, we lost

655
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 1: to a really good USC team on the road, we

656
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 1: lost to Penn date at home, we lost to Texas

657
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: and the festival, And when you're going through that, it

658
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: was the first time that I actually like, we had

659
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,120
Speaker 1: lost to Florida before that, right, No. Six, We lost

660
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 1: the LSU in O seven. But but those are a

661
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:44,719
Speaker 1: national championships. There's part of you that say, hey, at

662
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: least we got to the national title game, like it

663
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 1: stinks not to win it, But there's one hundred other

664
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,640
Speaker 1: teams that were watching that game, right, So, But when

665
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,120
Speaker 1: you were going through that moment of senior year and

666
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: the letdowns and then the draft process stripped you down

667
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 1: so much, and you start to one, Okay, you've reached

668
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: a lot of your goals. You're going to play in

669
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: the NFL, Like is this all there is? The life?

670
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: And you start really digging deep into the real like

671
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,920
Speaker 1: the real issues, the things that really matter. That goes

672
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,000
Speaker 1: even deeper when you have children. I mean when I

673
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: had London and then you have Hayden and then you

674
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 1: know remy, Like, when I had London, it was the

675
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: first time I thought about a post football kind of life.

676
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: I have never thought about like how physical the game was.

677
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: You just go out there and play ball. But when

678
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: I had London, it was the first time where you like,

679
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,280
Speaker 1: you look at her for the first time, You're like, man,

680
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:34,400
Speaker 1: I better be able to walk her down the aisle,

681
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 1: you know, And that was the first time any of

682
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 1: those thoughts crept in my mind. My faith has carried

683
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,400
Speaker 1: me through just to know it. No matter what happened

684
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,440
Speaker 1: on football, the accomplishments or the downfalls like that, that

685
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 1: was not my identity. It doesn't mean you don't go

686
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: out there and compete your butt off. You absolutely do.

687
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 1: You could beat harder. You could beat harder because I

688
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,440
Speaker 1: think you have a freedom. There's a freedom in that,

689
00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: you know, so it's carried with me. I would like

690
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 1: to think it's like a an improving stock. You know,

691
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 1: you start at a certain point you have you have

692
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:05,920
Speaker 1: growth and then setbacks, and then growth and then setbacks.

693
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,920
Speaker 1: But I can promise you I am. I am a

694
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,000
Speaker 1: much better man today than I was five years ago

695
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 1: and ten years ago, and I hope to be even better,

696
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:16,960
Speaker 1: you know, five years from now. I think that we're

697
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 1: always changing, and I hope I'm going in the right trajectory. James.

698
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 1: You know, when we first I was approached about doing

699
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: this with Amy Willis and with Ashley Farrell, our producer.

700
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:27,760
Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna get some people that are going

701
00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: to be special that we're gonna put on this, and

702
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 1: you did not disappoint. You're one of the best. You

703
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,800
Speaker 1: know how much I care about you. You know what,

704
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 1: I've come across some really really great players, but even

705
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,320
Speaker 1: more some great people and you're right there. Thank you

706
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 1: so much for this. This was outstanding. James, coolutely man.

707
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,200
Speaker 1: Anything for you, Mack. You know that man, Well you

708
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: know it bounces right back to your brother. Hey, I

709
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: can't wait to be able to see your girls. I'm

710
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,840
Speaker 1: not gonna give anything away, but hopefully if you're gonna

711
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 1: you know, you've been here in Nashville before, and hopefully

712
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,880
Speaker 1: if you come back, you are one of the best. Brother.

713
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,920
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Oh anytime, man, Nashville, I mean,

714
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: Nashville's got a big luck. That's a spot that I

715
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:18,080
Speaker 1: can never forget. It's we got friends there still special place.

716
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,400
Speaker 1: Woodwick Candles just really gone me. I had three shells

717
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,480
Speaker 1: full of it really just got me. That was not

718
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,400
Speaker 1: the direction. I don't think I've ever started any conversation

719
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:41,239
Speaker 1: with I misssmelling your office. Well, it's just a lot.

720
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,320
Speaker 1: It was throughout, it was throughout the office. It was

721
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,799
Speaker 1: a gathering place up there, you know, at the at

722
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,759
Speaker 1: the RAMS facility, because I had had a big, nice

723
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,359
Speaker 1: corner office and so I had three shells I'll put

724
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,319
Speaker 1: up and just filled them with woodwick candles and would

725
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,879
Speaker 1: start would light them every every morning and people would

726
00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,480
Speaker 1: come down and see what was going on, and they said,

727
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 1: what is that. I said, this are these? They said, well,

728
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:02,319
Speaker 1: why do you have so many? I said, so you

729
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,120
Speaker 1: can take one, so take it. Pretty soon it was

730
00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,880
Speaker 1: burning all throughout the building and James Laurens, he would

731
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:10,800
Speaker 1: come up. He would come up every morning just a

732
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:16,439
Speaker 1: smell which candall was burning. It was great. Oh man, Mac,

733
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: we could to talk about this a little bit because

734
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:23,560
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated by the whole process of moving a team,

735
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:30,840
Speaker 1: and moving a team between two starkly different cities. We

736
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 1: are about to go to Los Angeles, and I have

737
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 1: said a million times I don't think I'm a La

738
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 1: kind of girl. I don't think I'm very Hollywood. And

739
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 1: so for you to take a team from Saint Louis, Missouri,

740
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 1: a place I've been spent a lot of time in

741
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 1: the Missouri area, and move them to Los Angeles, California,

742
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,120
Speaker 1: I'm assuming there were some cultural differences between the two places.

743
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 1: There's a culture shock for a lot of our players.

744
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,279
Speaker 1: You know, of course, I've been in the league a

745
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,200
Speaker 1: long time, I've been out there, you know, so I was,

746
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,240
Speaker 1: I mean, I was fine. I liked it a lot.

747
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,879
Speaker 1: But the first meeting we had at the Manhattan Beach

748
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 1: Marriott where we brought all of our players, all their

749
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,919
Speaker 1: significant others or wives, you know, and you know, just

750
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,799
Speaker 1: because and we had we had the league in there,

751
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 1: we had the NFLPA there, we had a three day

752
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,680
Speaker 1: meetings and putting up big PowerPoint presentations about you know,

753
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:26,400
Speaker 1: you're coming up your your Los Angeles rams, but you're

754
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 1: not going to live in LA, you know, because our

755
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,640
Speaker 1: facilities are going to be in Thousand Oaks. And here's

756
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,200
Speaker 1: what it is, and here's the distance. But distance and

757
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,200
Speaker 1: drivetime are completely different in LA. And here's where you

758
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,560
Speaker 1: can live, here's where you can't live. Here's what's going

759
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 1: to have to happen. I mean, all of that stuff,

760
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,360
Speaker 1: and then you know, when you get down to the

761
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 1: minutia of it, you know, when we're having the meetings

762
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: and oh, by the way, there's a thirteen and a

763
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 1: half percent state tax out of every one of your checks.

764
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 1: I mean, that got everybody's attention, you know, really big.

765
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,680
Speaker 1: It's a different world out there, it really is. But

766
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,279
Speaker 1: I really liked it. But Jeff Fisher, you know that

767
00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,600
Speaker 1: we will have on one of these podcasts pretty soon. Yeah,

768
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 1: Jeff Fisher, who's you know, who's going to go into

769
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 1: the Ring of Honor rightfully? So here he's moved two franchises. Yeah,

770
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:08,880
Speaker 1: he moved two franchise, the only coach in the history

771
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 1: of the National Football League to have done that. But

772
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: it was a grind, I can tell you, because we

773
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,520
Speaker 1: were in four different places in eight months. We moved

774
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,839
Speaker 1: the entire football operation four different spots and set up

775
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,359
Speaker 1: in eight months four different spots. It was grueling. It

776
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,720
Speaker 1: was grueling, it really was, and really set the table

777
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 1: for what they have there now. I mean logistically alone,

778
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 1: just moving that many bodies and all the different pieces

779
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 1: parts that you need just to do any sort of

780
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,319
Speaker 1: job would be a lot. Let alone a football team

781
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:46,920
Speaker 1: with equipment and medical supplies and just all of the

782
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 1: tools that are required to have a successful team. Well, Amy,

783
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:53,440
Speaker 1: we didn't have a facility and so we had to

784
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,919
Speaker 1: you know, we didn't have a facility when we first

785
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 1: went out there. So when we first went out there,

786
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,319
Speaker 1: we were Knox Nord and went to the facility that

787
00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 1: the Cowboys used for training camp, and we were there

788
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,160
Speaker 1: for four and a half months and then we go

789
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:06,440
Speaker 1: down to we go down to cal Irvine, and then

790
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,919
Speaker 1: and then we we come from we come from training camp.

791
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 1: We stayed, had to stay the whole six weeks, and

792
00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 1: then we had to move up to a temporary facility

793
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,279
Speaker 1: in uh, you know, in Thousand Oaks, and you're moving

794
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,200
Speaker 1: everybody and everything, and plus players have to get places

795
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 1: to live and you got to bring I mean, it

796
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,799
Speaker 1: was amazing. I mean it was. It was like a

797
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:30,439
Speaker 1: military operation, it really was. And uh, as I say

798
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 1: it was, it was a grind for that first year.

799
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,040
Speaker 1: It took a lot out of the players, took a

800
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 1: lot out of the coaches. But but the things that

801
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 1: we did to set them up is why they're so

802
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,560
Speaker 1: successful right now, because we brought some good players in there.

803
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things about Hollywood and LA and

804
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,600
Speaker 1: when you think about that area, one of the things

805
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,920
Speaker 1: that comes to mind right away as celebrities. You know,

806
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,200
Speaker 1: there's a lot of celebrities out there. Name me some

807
00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:57,920
Speaker 1: of the names of people who were rolling around the

808
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,400
Speaker 1: RAMS organization. Names people know, well, I mean, who do

809
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,520
Speaker 1: you who? Do you want to know? You were there?

810
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: I wasn't there. One of the best ones. I really

811
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:11,640
Speaker 1: loved was Danny Trejoe. You know what when Machete came up,

812
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:13,919
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, he's a big La Rams fan.

813
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,840
Speaker 1: The first time I met him at practice, I was like, Okay, Machete,

814
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,359
Speaker 1: here we go. Plus he has he has a big

815
00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,359
Speaker 1: he has a big taco truck franchise out there, Trey

816
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,400
Speaker 1: Host Tacos. They're absolutely they're great. One of the greatest

817
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:29,000
Speaker 1: dudes ever. I mean. And then you know you had

818
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 1: Lebron James, you know, was out there. The rock was

819
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 1: out there. You know, we had uh, Britney Spears was

820
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:37,920
Speaker 1: at practice with her two boys. I mean, just name them.

821
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,880
Speaker 1: I mean, they're all out there. That's that's what it is.

822
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 1: It's La It's crazy. It was great. Oh my gosh,

823
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,239
Speaker 1: I loved it. That's it's just like the most California thing,

824
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,000
Speaker 1: like and they just come through practice like coming to watch.

825
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,200
Speaker 1: Sure I had. I had a big condo up on

826
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:54,800
Speaker 1: the hill about eight tenths of a mile from the

827
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,640
Speaker 1: facility there in Thousand Oaks, and all I did. I

828
00:39:57,680 --> 00:39:59,759
Speaker 1: had a beach comber bike. I rolled my beach comber

829
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 1: bike in my UFOs to practice and back every day.

830
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:06,239
Speaker 1: That's how I got to practice, Mac La, that's so

831
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 1: La La. I love it. I did too. Yeah, it

832
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,319
Speaker 1: was fun. I normally like everywhere I am though, So,

833
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:14,919
Speaker 1: what's the most Hollywood thing you were ever a part

834
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 1: of out there? Did you go to like events we had?

835
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 1: We had the drafted LA Live. We went to LA

836
00:40:19,239 --> 00:40:21,799
Speaker 1: Live for a week. We had the draft at LA

837
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,320
Speaker 1: Live for a week. When we traded, you know, to

838
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,120
Speaker 1: to to get a quarterback with the number one traded

839
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 1: with the Titans number one pick, and and uh, you know,

840
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,880
Speaker 1: we held off in announcing that. Uh oh my gosh,

841
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 1: I forgot about this. Yeah, because of Kobe Bryant's last game.

842
00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant's last game. Inspect No, No, we did. And

843
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 1: when we said, okay, look we're not going to announce,

844
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,839
Speaker 1: and John Robinson agreed, he said, I understand that. So

845
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,280
Speaker 1: we all agreed that we would hold off until Kobe

846
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:52,560
Speaker 1: had played his last game and in his retirement. Mac

847
00:40:52,680 --> 00:40:55,879
Speaker 1: I forgot that you were on the other side of that.

848
00:40:56,160 --> 00:41:01,239
Speaker 1: Because here in Nashville, I'm dying in side because I

849
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,200
Speaker 1: know this trade is going to happen. I have been

850
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:07,880
Speaker 1: brought into the inner circle, which never happens for me.

851
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 1: But John Robinson was so great about making sure that

852
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 1: we were prepared for what was going to happen, and

853
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,800
Speaker 1: we could get all of our interviews and different things

854
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:21,279
Speaker 1: put together. Becol because John Robinson is great, and we

855
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 1: were able to know that this was coming about twelve

856
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,440
Speaker 1: hours before it actually happened, so we do everything we

857
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,400
Speaker 1: need to do. Mac I was so afraid that someone

858
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 1: was going to find out and it was going to

859
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 1: leak before both teams had agreed to announce it. Mac

860
00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:40,919
Speaker 1: I wouldn't send an email about anything. I turned off

861
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,880
Speaker 1: my cell phone. I went in my house and weirdly

862
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 1: like closed all my shutters like someone was going to

863
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,520
Speaker 1: look in and like read my mind. I was so

864
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,880
Speaker 1: terrified that I would somehow be the one that broke

865
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,040
Speaker 1: the code and ruined it. I love that you were

866
00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,880
Speaker 1: on the other side, was on the side of it.

867
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:01,879
Speaker 1: We went to dinner at Nobu and Malibu, and I'm

868
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:04,920
Speaker 1: just chilling, so I'm losing my mind. Yeah, you're eating

869
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,959
Speaker 1: delicious sush. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was eating

870
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,000
Speaker 1: sushi at Nobu and Malibu while you were having a

871
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:12,759
Speaker 1: lot of angst and pulling your shades in your house.

872
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,839
Speaker 1: I was locked in my house like someone was coming

873
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:18,759
Speaker 1: to get me. Oh my gosh, I forgot. That's the

874
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,920
Speaker 1: yang and the yang in the National Football League. Oh

875
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:22,560
Speaker 1: my gosh, that's the yang and the yang of you

876
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:26,360
Speaker 1: and me. You're right. It seems to me that people

877
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,440
Speaker 1: in California love Nashville. Why is that, Well, this is

878
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 1: a great place to live. I mean, seriously, First of all,

879
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,920
Speaker 1: I was still thirteen and a half percent. That's true

880
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:38,680
Speaker 1: state tax on top of what you do. But I

881
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: mean you could La. La has a lot of pluses

882
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 1: to it, but there's a lot of minuses to it too,

883
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: and overcrowding and traffic and real, real small problems and

884
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,239
Speaker 1: real problems. You know, when it rains out there and

885
00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:57,080
Speaker 1: you've had the fires, and then you have the mud

886
00:42:57,120 --> 00:42:59,920
Speaker 1: slides and you get the Santa Ana winds in the spring,

887
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,600
Speaker 1: and there's a lot to it. And plus I mean,

888
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:04,520
Speaker 1: when you want to go twelve miles it takes you

889
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,480
Speaker 1: two and a half hours. There's a lot to it

890
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 1: that is also on the negative side. Nashville, nas Vegas.

891
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,040
Speaker 1: I mean, of all the places I've lived in this league,

892
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,200
Speaker 1: I've lived in some cool cities, had some cool places

893
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:19,560
Speaker 1: all over this country. Nashville is the best place to

894
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 1: live that I've been in. I agree with that. But

895
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:25,000
Speaker 1: are you excited to go back to California? Uh? Not really.

896
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,160
Speaker 1: I mean I've been out there a lot. I mean,

897
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 1: all I want to do is going there and win

898
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,400
Speaker 1: a ball game, come home. Yeah. It's a it's a

899
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,160
Speaker 1: you know. I mean, it's not like I'm going to Disneyland.

900
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:40,680
Speaker 1: I'm going out there to calling it good. Disneyland is

901
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:42,560
Speaker 1: out there. Well, I know right where it is. I

902
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:44,680
Speaker 1: got a cousin that works at Disneyland. I want to.

903
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,320
Speaker 1: I want to. I want to just go win a

904
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:49,320
Speaker 1: ball game. Oh my gosh, you guys, you write a

905
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,840
Speaker 1: whole script, You have a whole theme for a show.

906
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: Max returned to Los Angeles. Yeah, and he doesn't care.

907
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,640
Speaker 1: I just want to win the game. Well, Mac, don't

908
00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 1: get sacked by the high cost of hell care. I

909
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,560
Speaker 1: can't even transition into it. Make Farm Bureau Health Plans

910
00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 1: your first line of protection. They've been protecting Tennessee and

911
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:10,440
Speaker 1: since nineteen forty seven. That's another reason I like Nashville

912
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 1: because Farm Bureau Health Plans is in Columbia, Tennessee. Now

913
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:14,839
Speaker 1: I can go down there. I've got Farm Bureau Health

914
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 1: plans covering me in every which way they can cover

915
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,960
Speaker 1: a human being. And plus, I just I love the

916
00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,759
Speaker 1: people down there. That's another reason I like Nashville and

917
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,360
Speaker 1: Tennessee well. And I'm glad you know. I'm really happy

918
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,800
Speaker 1: that you like it here because we like having you here. Okay,

919
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 1: thank you, that's a plus. I'd feel bad if you

920
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:32,719
Speaker 1: didn't know. You wouldn't do you have anything else to

921
00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,600
Speaker 1: add about this game? Mac? How you feeling. Well, let's

922
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,319
Speaker 1: just go out there and roll it out there and

923
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 1: see what happens. It's just kind of like we have been.

924
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,000
Speaker 1: We've kind of just been rolling the ball out and say,

925
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,759
Speaker 1: let's play this year. So that's what we'll do Sunday night.

926
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,719
Speaker 1: I like it. Thank you. Thank you for listening to

927
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,719
Speaker 1: this edition of the Titans Amy and Coach Mac Podcast.

928
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:54,480
Speaker 1: We're going to Hollywood. Max's not excited. I'm gonna try

929
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 1: to assimilate with the people there and we'll let you

930
00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: know how it goes on the other side. Dirtiesome Coach Mac.

931
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,640
Speaker 1: I'm Titans Amy. Thank you for listening to The Titans

932
00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:05,000
Speaker 1: Amien Coach Mac podcast.