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Speaker 1: Lifetime, the official athletic country club of the Minnesota Vikings,

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Speaker 1: has something for every member of your family.

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Speaker 2: Get your family going.

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Speaker 1: Today at Lifetime, dot Life Forward, slash Kits.

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Speaker 3: I had a friend call me and said, hey, I

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Speaker 3: heard that Dennis legend in the industry was retiring and

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Speaker 3: that maybe you should give him a call and let

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Speaker 3: him know if you're interested or not. And every time

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Speaker 3: it never failed. Every game when I'm going to put

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Speaker 3: the jerseys on because it's so tight, he always steps

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Speaker 3: back three hundred pounds onto my foot with.

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Speaker 4: And it hurts.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast. We are now

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Speaker 1: finally in the training Camp edition or version of our podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Tatum Everett Gabe Henderson back from paternity leave.

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Speaker 2: How is your time off?

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Speaker 4: I didn't want to come back now.

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Speaker 2: Story of everyone's life, tax breaks.

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Speaker 4: It was good.

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Speaker 5: I had a lot of on just been a dad

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Speaker 5: for like two weeks. And then when I got back,

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Speaker 5: I'm like, oh wow, like she still stays home and

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Speaker 5: then I got to come to work. So it's just

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Speaker 5: tough not being home, but like at the same time,

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Speaker 5: it's like the best time of the year, so I'm

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Speaker 5: excited to be back with you guys.

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Speaker 2: Forever, came back just in time for the action.

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Speaker 4: I can't wait.

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Speaker 5: Being in the building yesterday or released the past couple

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Speaker 5: of days. You just feel that energy of just the

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Speaker 5: players being back. They're wanting to get going, and I

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Speaker 5: can't wait. This is what I mean. We've all been

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Speaker 5: in the NFL working in the NFL for at least

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Speaker 5: five years now, so we kind of understand that the

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Speaker 5: zero two one hundred kind of mentality of players not

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Speaker 5: being in and then they're being back, and it's just

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Speaker 5: so much fun.

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Speaker 4: It's so much juice.

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Speaker 5: So I'm excited just to tap into that and hopefully

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Speaker 5: a successful season.

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Speaker 6: I kind of joked with my wife after day one

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Speaker 6: of knowing that everyone was back in the building and

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Speaker 6: camp and it was a later night and then got

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Speaker 6: home and I'm sitting there and she's like, what's going

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Speaker 6: on with you? And I just said, it's only day

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Speaker 6: one and I already feel this way, just tired wise,

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Speaker 6: and I just know it's just a beg of everything.

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Speaker 6: So it's the fun nervous energy for the beginning of

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Speaker 6: what we hope is going to be a successful season.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Jay, It's one of those things where we've been

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Speaker 1: talking about this. I feel like for weeks and weeks

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Speaker 1: and weeks, and now that we're here, it's like I

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Speaker 1: don't believe it is here.

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Speaker 2: I feel like I'm in an alternate universe.

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Speaker 6: Well, it was different, and see, like back in the past,

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Speaker 6: prior to having camp here at TCO Performance Center, when

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Speaker 6: it was down to Mankato, there was a chunk of

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Speaker 6: people that would have to move their lives down to

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Speaker 6: Mankato for the entire time. But then there was another

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Speaker 6: chunk of people who would stay back trying to get

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Speaker 6: everything else ready. So like I would Jordan Strock would

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Speaker 6: go down to man Cato and cover everything every single day,

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Speaker 6: and then I stayed back so that I could deal

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Speaker 6: with things at the stadium and those kind of pieces.

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Speaker 6: So there was always kind of this break, a little

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Speaker 6: bit of like I can just concentrate on this stuff.

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Speaker 6: I'll get a phone caller or an email or something

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Speaker 6: saying hey, can you send this down digitally or whatever

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Speaker 6: or physically bring it down. But there was always kind

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Speaker 6: of a separation break knowing that it's about to ramp

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Speaker 6: up and get going now when everyone's here every single

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Speaker 6: day and and you're surrounded by it completely there. There

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Speaker 6: is no escape from it. It's just like everyone's going

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Speaker 6: to have what they need to get done on a

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Speaker 6: daily basis with the anticipation of preseason games, regular season coming,

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Speaker 6: all that kind of a thing, and you just you're

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Speaker 6: completely immersed in it every single day when when you

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Speaker 6: wake up and when you get here. So it's just

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Speaker 6: a different vibe and it's a fun vibe and everything.

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Speaker 6: And so when you're in the middle of camp, you

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Speaker 6: just know like, yeah, season is absolutely here right now.

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Speaker 1: Well, I mean it just feels like the first day

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Speaker 1: of school. You saw some really funny Actually, one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite parts is so I will follow a lot

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Speaker 1: of the wives on Twitter or Instagram because it is

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Speaker 1: kind of neat to see like their perspective of seasons.

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Speaker 1: And they're posting like, oh, ye're number seven, send them

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Speaker 1: off to camp, And I'm like, this is just like

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Speaker 1: it's like a kind of like a celebratory time for everyone.

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Speaker 1: They're like, we enjoyed the time together, but now it's

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Speaker 1: like seeing like six months.

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Speaker 6: As I said, it's kind like mothers sending their kids

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Speaker 6: off to school. They're like, yeah, summer was fun, it

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Speaker 6: was great being around, you know, get out the door.

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Speaker 4: Yeah right. I think it was funny listening to Kirk.

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Speaker 5: Cousin was on nine to Noon earlier this week and

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Speaker 5: he was saying his wife they were on a boat

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Speaker 5: in Lake Michigan. It was like July fourth, and his

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Speaker 5: wife was like, oh my gosh, I'm so ready for

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Speaker 5: training camp.

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Speaker 4: Kirk's like, wait, like, we still have a few more weeks.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. There are those wives that are just like, man,

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Speaker 5: you've been home a little bit, like giving a little.

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Speaker 1: So she's like like, I think you've been around too much. Man,

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Speaker 1: Like I need you to leave a little bit more.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, you gotta get out of here. I love you,

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Speaker 6: but but to go right Wow.

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Speaker 5: So I mean, I mean it's a it's a commitment.

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Speaker 5: I feel like when you're in the league and you

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Speaker 5: have a significant other, they have they have to understand

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Speaker 5: the commitment that you have to put yourself through. So

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Speaker 5: just hearing Kirk say that, I was like, wow, Like

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Speaker 5: she's she's tapped in already too.

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Speaker 1: So Kirk has been on one ever since quarterback. I'm

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Speaker 1: telling you, so my goal.

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Speaker 5: Kirk is like one of those guys now where if

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Speaker 5: he doesn't win a super Bowl, he probably would turn

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Speaker 5: into like the Pat Mahomes energy, like that version of

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Speaker 5: him on the field. I feel like that's what Kirk

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Speaker 5: is going to be like the next five years of

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Speaker 5: his career if he never went So I'm hoping Kirk

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Speaker 5: just stays the same. He wins the Super Bowl, Minnesota

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Speaker 5: accepts him forever, and we're I guess parading downtown Minneapolis

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Speaker 5: with Jay.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that'd be fun.

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Speaker 6: The thing with him that last year, you know, you

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Speaker 6: saw the kirkle chains and all that kind of stuff happen.

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Speaker 6: You saw more of the personality, and you always kind

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Speaker 6: of heard from guys like listen, he's a little different

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Speaker 6: behind the scenes, but people started to see that. Then

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Speaker 6: with quarterback, you really got to behind the scenes look

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Speaker 6: as to what it is not only here and in

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Speaker 6: the stadium and what it's like on game day, but

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Speaker 6: behind the scenes with the family and everything that way too.

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Speaker 6: I don't anticipate that going away anytime soon at this point,

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Speaker 6: and especially now, just feels like he's a lot more,

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Speaker 6: especially publicly, just open and confident with that kind of stuff,

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Speaker 6: and so I am curious to see just what it's

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Speaker 6: going to be like going into this year where I

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Speaker 6: think we can't downplay it, and it gets talked all

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Speaker 6: the time, but I don't think we can really downplay

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Speaker 6: it just knowing that it's year two of the same system,

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Speaker 6: working with a coach that is helping and supporting him.

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Speaker 6: So I am very curious just to see what that

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Speaker 6: looks like with him knowing what the numbers he's been

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Speaker 6: putting up. What's it going to be like now that

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Speaker 6: he doesn't have to walk in the door and get

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Speaker 6: a brand new playbook and have to figure stuff out again.

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Speaker 6: Hopefully going into this season, he's just gonna be able

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Speaker 6: to build off of what he did last year.

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Speaker 1: I do think the comfortability level has been a common

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Speaker 1: thread when you talk about heading a new year or

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Speaker 1: two with Kirk and this coaching staff, but even more so,

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Speaker 1: like as a person showing a little bit of another

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Speaker 1: side of yourself to the world, but also knowing that

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Speaker 1: this coaching staff and front office and everything about this

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Speaker 1: organization is also leaning back into him.

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Speaker 2: I feel like that is almost like a sense of freedom.

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Speaker 1: Sure, like maybe it'll help you play more loose, make

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Speaker 1: you feel more comfortable, press conferences, to say say things,

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Speaker 1: to step up to be vocal, and I think that

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Speaker 1: only good things can come from him feeling comfortable with

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Speaker 1: not just the playbook and Kevin O'Connell things like that,

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Speaker 1: but just feeling more like supported supported. Yeah, like from

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Speaker 1: a mental side of things.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, when when Kevin O'Connell came here, when he got

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Speaker 5: hired to the Minnesota Vikings, the first thing he said

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Speaker 5: is he wants Kirk to take leadership. He wants him

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Speaker 5: to take ownership in this offense. And when you do that,

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Speaker 5: pretty much the team takes on the identity of the quarterback.

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Speaker 5: So if you're the quarterback, you understand that. You say, Okay,

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Speaker 5: I'm just going to be myself. Hopefully the guys will

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Speaker 5: rally around it, which they did. You want thirteen games,

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Speaker 5: So there's a there's some some proof in the putting

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Speaker 5: that if I be myself, we can win games and

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Speaker 5: I can get you, hopefully get you to the promised Land.

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Speaker 5: So to see Kirk kind of have another year in

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Speaker 5: the same system, same offensive line, same receiver saans Adam Thielen,

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Speaker 5: that only makes that progression for him that much more.

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Speaker 5: I'm not going to use the word elaits because I

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Speaker 5: don't want to, don't don't tegle it. But it gets

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Speaker 5: them to that that upper ECHE line of quarterbacks. I mean,

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Speaker 5: you heard Patrick Mahomes talking about him being the most

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Speaker 5: underrated quarterback. So maybe the year two in the same

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Speaker 5: offense helps him take this team over that hum. So

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Speaker 5: I'm excited that this team is that he only has

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Speaker 5: a team that takes on the identity of who he

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Speaker 5: is as a person.

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Speaker 6: I think one of the more interesting things when Occonno

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Speaker 6: came into was he was openly saying publicly that he

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Speaker 6: wanted him to be more aggressive and be willing to

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Speaker 6: take more mistakes, Like you want to minimize those mistakes.

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Speaker 6: But He's like, listen, if you're being aggressive and somebody

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Speaker 6: jumps a route and that's how it goes. Like I'm

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Speaker 6: not going to be breathing down your neck on that.

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Speaker 6: I'm just going to say, like, what did you see

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Speaker 6: And if you made the right read and the guy

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Speaker 6: just made a play, that's a thing that is a

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Speaker 6: very freeing thing I think for him, where in the

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Speaker 6: past it's always been canny step up.

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Speaker 4: Can he make the play? Can he be there in

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Speaker 4: big spots.

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Speaker 6: I Mean, we saw last year when he was playing

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Speaker 6: more free all of the games that we needed to

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Speaker 6: have a drive and then we got one. So I

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Speaker 6: just think having that mentality with a coach supporting him

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Speaker 6: that way, I think is going to open him up

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Speaker 6: for new things and hopefully we just continue to see

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Speaker 6: more growth on what we saw last year with that comfort.

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Speaker 1: So what you're saying is when Kevin O'Connell said it

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Speaker 1: should take on the identity of the quarterback, we should

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Speaker 1: be like a Dad Coles billionaire type of club.

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Speaker 5: Some people say that billionaires with you with your money,

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Speaker 5: but also I don't.

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Speaker 2: Know, no, I'm just kidding.

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Speaker 1: The first thing that pops in my head when you like,

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Speaker 1: take on the identity of the quarterback, I was like

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Speaker 1: a bunch of dads.

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Speaker 4: Well, if that's what it takes. Yeah, some say a

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Speaker 4: bunch of dads.

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Speaker 6: Other people say cool, cool, calm and collected, just calculated.

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Speaker 4: When he when he needed to be. And so I.

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Speaker 6: Think I think we got a ton of flash on

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Speaker 6: this team in that, But then you get the steady

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Speaker 6: Eddy at quarterback at this point, and I think that

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Speaker 6: is something that a lot of quarterbacks are looking for,

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Speaker 6: is to try to figure out like who am I

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Speaker 6: and how do I fit here? And how do I

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Speaker 6: fit into this culture? And I think if there's so

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Speaker 6: many times I think we kind of look and say,

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Speaker 6: is that really who they are? Are they trying to

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Speaker 6: be something that they're not. He's not doing that. He

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Speaker 6: is he is as of now, at this many years

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Speaker 6: into the league. He is definitely himself and comfortable with that.

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Speaker 1: So, speaking of getting into like the identity of this

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Speaker 1: team and whatnot, there's obviously ninety guys reporting to camp,

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Speaker 1: one of them being daniel Hunter, which is great. Good

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Speaker 1: to see him in the building. Unsure when he starts practicing.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure the contract negotiations are still rattling on. But

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Speaker 1: is there a favorite battle that position wise that you

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Speaker 1: guys are really keeping your eye on when the players

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Speaker 1: hit the practice field today.

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Speaker 6: Well, speaking of the defensive end, that was actually one

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Speaker 6: of my groups that I was looking at. And we

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Speaker 6: all know what Danielle can do when he's out on

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Speaker 6: that field, comfortable with just what his role is and

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Speaker 6: what he's supposed to do.

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Speaker 4: He's a leader.

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Speaker 6: We've talked about it repeatedly, fastest to fifty sacks in

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Speaker 6: NFL history, et cetera, et cetera. But there's another group

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Speaker 6: of guys there that are kind of trying to figure

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Speaker 6: out you know, where do they fit. There's been a

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Speaker 6: lot of promise. You've seen a lot of guys in

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Speaker 6: DJ Wantam and Pat Jones get a lot of playing

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Speaker 6: time and try to figure out what their role is

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Speaker 6: going to be there. Luigi Vulaine as somebody who was

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Speaker 6: you know here.

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Speaker 4: Last year as well.

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Speaker 6: But then you see a guy like Dean Lowry on

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Speaker 6: this team, and you know, people have slated different sites

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Speaker 6: and everything as far as the starter at that left

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Speaker 6: defensive end position. But Sese Tomowo and James Lynch are

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Speaker 6: both all guys. All of these guys are people that

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Speaker 6: everyone says, if they do take that next level jump,

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Speaker 6: should be and could be a starter in this league.

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Speaker 6: And I think as a team that in the past

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Speaker 6: at least has liked to rotate through defensive ends to

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Speaker 6: try to keep them fresh and to keep them aggressive

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Speaker 6: out there, we all know that last year one of

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Speaker 6: the weaknesses was pass rush, and so I think you

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Speaker 6: need to see more of a push from everybody within

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Speaker 6: that group, both on the left and the right side,

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Speaker 6: just hoping that they step up and can be defensive contributors,

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Speaker 6: especially with this new what we assume aggressive Brian Florence's defense.

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Speaker 6: So I'm curious to see just kind of how this

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Speaker 6: entire group handles going into this new defensive scheme.

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Speaker 1: When you list those names off, like guys that we

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Speaker 1: are recognizable names if you follow the team closely, the

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Speaker 1: guys we either drafted or brought on recently and as

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Speaker 1: free agents, and in so many of them, I feel

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Speaker 1: like there's there's like one that's just about to break off, right,

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Speaker 1: Like there's one that's just about to have a breakout

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Speaker 1: season this year. It's it's it's a lot of guys.

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Speaker 1: I think they see a ton of potential in sure,

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Speaker 1: and so this is going to be such a super

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Speaker 1: crucial time for them, especially during their joint practices, to

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Speaker 1: try and like figure out who's the top of that rotation.

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Speaker 2: Because when you say.

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Speaker 1: DJ Wantam, James Lynch, Patrick Jones, like you see these

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Speaker 1: names that we've heard for for some odd time, it would.

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Speaker 2: Be I feel like they're like right at the cusp,

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Speaker 2: right like.

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Speaker 5: DJ Wantum, this has to be a big perform, Like

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Speaker 5: he's in the contract year, he's been the guy that

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Speaker 5: has supposed to he was the sneaky pick of the

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Speaker 5: twenty twenty Yeah, twenty twenty NFL draft and you've seen

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Speaker 5: some some surprise, You've seen him not be you know,

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Speaker 5: visible on the field. So it's like, okay, what do

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Speaker 5: what do you want your career to look like? And

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Speaker 5: this is another opportunity for him if Daniel Hunter you know,

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Speaker 5: does not play in Purple this upcoming season, is DJ

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Speaker 5: can you be that guy? This is I mean, same

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Speaker 5: thing in twenty twenty Daniel was hurt, he wasn't here.

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Speaker 5: You got that opportunity. Now you're in your contract year.

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Speaker 5: Can you show this Minnesota Vikings team that you can

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Speaker 5: be someone that we can depend on to rush the

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Speaker 5: quarterback in the future. So I don't know, it's kind

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Speaker 5: of do or die at this point. And yeah, Patrick Jones,

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Speaker 5: I'm so excited about him. I think just his his motor.

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Speaker 5: You can't teach that. I mean, the guy probably said

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Speaker 5: ten words his first year in the and then this

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Speaker 5: offseason he's what talking to everybody. He's in a different mood.

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Speaker 5: He's like that energy you feel that. So hopefully one

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Speaker 5: of those two guys can step up even if Daniel

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Speaker 5: does play this year.

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Speaker 6: Well, and even you know, technically looking at this, one

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Speaker 6: of the one of the thoughts last season was saying

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Speaker 6: now that we went from four to three to three

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Speaker 6: four as far as the defensive scheme is that what

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Speaker 6: affected these guys, Like are they playing out of position?

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Speaker 6: Are they not necessarily built for that kind of scheme.

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Speaker 6: We're gonna find out, especially now with a second coach

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Speaker 6: coming in, because if any of these guys really don't

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Speaker 6: fit that scheme, like, I don't necessarily think that scheme's

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Speaker 6: going away anytime soon, that all of a sudden they're

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Speaker 6: gonna be like, it didn't work for two years, We're

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Speaker 6: gonna go back to four three. I think like the

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Speaker 6: way that they've been drafting and that they've been looking

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Speaker 6: at all the other positions defensively, I feel like we're

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Speaker 6: going to be in this kind of three four look

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Speaker 6: for a bit unless there's some sort of huge philosophical

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Speaker 6: change with somebody else. So any of these guys that

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Speaker 6: are technically playing weak side linebacker and then the left

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Speaker 6: defensive end positions, like all of those different players are,

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Speaker 6: whether you're comfortable or not, this is the position that

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Speaker 6: we're asking you to play in. So hopefully they can

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Speaker 6: step up this season and make it their own.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, So I'm gonna go cornerbacks CBS. That's the obvious

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Speaker 5: choice right now. With Cameron Danshell not being here and

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Speaker 5: Patrick Peterson not being here, you just want to see

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Speaker 5: what guy's going to step up. I was just looking

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Speaker 5: at those two guys that I just named and just

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Speaker 5: some of the games they played in last year. They

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Speaker 5: played in all but three games last year. So on

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Speaker 5: our current roster, there are only two players that have

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Speaker 5: played in Purple since they I guess that are on

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Speaker 5: this here and roster right now. So when you look

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Speaker 5: at that, it's like, who's going to step up? Like

349
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Speaker 5: there's we know there's going to be a lot of blitzing,

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Speaker 5: we know there's going to be a lot of man

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Speaker 5: to man, So a Caleb Evans Andrew Proof Junior Byron

352
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Speaker 5: Murphy Jr. Like which one of those guys are going

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Speaker 5: to take this group by the horns and say, Okay,

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Speaker 5: I'm going to be the guy. We're going to be

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Speaker 5: the group that's going to pick this team up, no

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Speaker 5: matter if we have a pass rush or not. So

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Speaker 5: that's the biggest position battle, especially when you have those

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Speaker 5: guys going in one on ones versus Justin Jefferson and

359
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Speaker 5: Jordan Addison every day. So they're going to get the

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Speaker 5: work they're They're not going to see too many better,

361
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Speaker 5: better receivers weekend and week out than the ones that

362
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Speaker 5: are on this Vikings roster right now. So yeah, the

363
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Speaker 5: oldest guy in the room is twenty five years old,

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Speaker 5: so they're young.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they're so interesting. There's speed, exactly.

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Speaker 4: They got better fresh legs, fresh legs, fresh legs.

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Speaker 5: You don't you don't start, you know, filling the cinder

368
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Speaker 5: blocks in you on your legs until about twenty eight,

369
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Speaker 5: twenty nine. So I'm excited to see, you know, what

370
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Speaker 5: Andrew Booth Junior can do, just in his second year

371
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Speaker 5: in the league, you know, having a few welcome to

372
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Speaker 5: the NFL moments last year. I'm just speaking of that

373
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Speaker 5: Buffalo Bills game in particular against Stefan Digs. He had

374
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Speaker 5: him in a blender literally the entire game. But you

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Speaker 5: learn from those moments. So I'm excited to see what

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Speaker 5: he can do under Byron Murphy Junior, who we all

377
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Speaker 5: know is played some really really good football in Arizona

378
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Speaker 5: the past couple of years. So if you're not watching

379
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Speaker 5: that group, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: Oh, I think there are a lot of people here

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Speaker 2: in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: Watching that group, especially the history of the Vikings have

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Speaker 1: had of drafting cornerbacks and really the unsuccessful.

384
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Speaker 2: Nature of the of the ones. Yeah, from previous regime.

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Speaker 1: You kind of look at the track record and it's

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Speaker 1: not great in recent years. These guys are young, and

387
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Speaker 1: I always think back to like the number one mantra

388
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Speaker 1: when it comes to like like success as a player,

389
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Speaker 1: your best ability is your availability. And I think that's

390
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Speaker 1: going to be such a cruise, crucial point for this

391
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Speaker 1: group in particular, because they have had their bout of

392
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Speaker 1: injuries and with the youth and the inexperience, someone's going

393
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Speaker 1: to have to step up. And I think like the

394
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Speaker 1: healthiest man is going to get those those reps in

395
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Speaker 1: those starts, and so staying healthy and being very conscious

396
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Speaker 1: of what's going on with your body, I think is

397
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Speaker 1: going to be so crucial.

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Speaker 6: I think that group in particular is so important, just

399
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Speaker 6: the chemistry on the back end. They have to have

400
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Speaker 6: a shorthand just to be able to work with each other,

401
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:30,760
Speaker 6: Like you've got to be able to give a guy

402
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Speaker 6: a look and be like you got this, or you know,

403
00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,360
Speaker 6: or handing people off. You've got to be on your

404
00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:39,040
Speaker 6: p's and q's and especially if what we've talked about

405
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Speaker 6: all sumhere long, the idea of Harrison Smith being able

406
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Speaker 6: to roam free, like some of these guys gonna be

407
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Speaker 6: in an island and you're not gonna be able to

408
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Speaker 6: hide yourself out there when you're one on one against

409
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Speaker 6: the guys, So like, you better know what you're doing.

410
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Speaker 6: And they're gonna need these reps, especially in camp, to

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Speaker 6: make sure that they're they're they're they're developing that shorthand

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Speaker 6: that they can all work together in sync and knowing

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Speaker 6: that you know they're there's no question everyone knows their role.

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Speaker 4: Now you just got to perform. Yeah, that's the main thing.

415
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Speaker 5: Of course, OTA's and Mini Camp, you had so many

416
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Speaker 5: different guys getting rotations. But the funnest part of camp

417
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Speaker 5: for me is when the pads come on, because that's

418
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Speaker 5: when you really see who the ballers are. So yeah,

419
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Speaker 5: you know, get the mental aspect done. But still like,

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Speaker 5: I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of live practices

421
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Speaker 5: this year because they want to see which cornerbacks can

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Speaker 5: come up and tackle without you know, hopefully getting injured.

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Speaker 5: But at the same time, you just, man, I just

424
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Speaker 5: can't wait for I think is what July thirty, first.

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Speaker 2: First day of padded practice, Yeah, Monday.

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Speaker 5: So that that'll be the day when we start to

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Speaker 5: see which cornerbacks start to separate themselves from the rest.

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Speaker 1: And I think the exciting part too is when you

429
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Speaker 1: look at the depth there there are some names that

430
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Speaker 1: you know are guys that are fighting for.

431
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Speaker 2: Roster spots, but you're going to see a lot of these.

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Speaker 1: Guys play in the preseason games whether you like it

433
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Speaker 1: or not, like health health aside, they're gonna they want

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Speaker 1: to see them in live games, as you said games,

435
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Speaker 1: So I think that it would be kind of an

436
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Speaker 1: exciting time for the pressure.

437
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Speaker 5: Really good point because I mean, probably ninety percent of

438
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,760
Speaker 5: our defense is going to play in the preseason, like

439
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,280
Speaker 5: ninety percent of our starting starter as on offense probably

440
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:07,760
Speaker 5: won't play.

441
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,280
Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah, that's I didn't think about that.

442
00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:13,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, especially now when you do the mass cut

443
00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:15,399
Speaker 6: down to fifty three from ninety, you know you keep

444
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,360
Speaker 6: your entire ninety roster where you know, ten guys here,

445
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,920
Speaker 6: fifteen guys there kind of a thing what happen during.

446
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,960
Speaker 4: Camp, they're going all the way in exactly.

447
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,840
Speaker 6: So that's the thing, like you're going to have a

448
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,080
Speaker 6: full roster, and we all know as camp goes on,

449
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,520
Speaker 6: you know, things happen, whether they not to speaking existence,

450
00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,240
Speaker 6: but injuries and that kind of thing happen. They're also

451
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,359
Speaker 6: watching waiver wires from all these other teams trying to

452
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,720
Speaker 6: figure out who's out there and even the other leagues,

453
00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:40,159
Speaker 6: and just try to figure out what can we do

454
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,120
Speaker 6: to best fit this roster. So all these guys are

455
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,480
Speaker 6: literally on a daily basis, you know, trying to secure

456
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,960
Speaker 6: their spot on this roster. And so you're Makai Blackman's

457
00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,480
Speaker 6: and A Caleb Evans, Juwan Williams and Tay Allen's, all

458
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,360
Speaker 6: these different guys, they're all going to have to every

459
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,680
Speaker 6: time they get on the field put their best foot

460
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,720
Speaker 6: forward and be able to show them like I belong

461
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,600
Speaker 6: on this team, because it just is the nature of

462
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,200
Speaker 6: the way the NFL works at this point.

463
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,879
Speaker 5: John, know, you and I bro were looking at a

464
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,480
Speaker 5: ESPN's Viking step chart. Yeah, we have eight cornerbacks on

465
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:10,920
Speaker 5: our roster.

466
00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:12,800
Speaker 4: Yeah I don't. I don't think I've ever seen it

467
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,280
Speaker 4: since I've been hired. It's a lot eight. Well think

468
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,160
Speaker 4: about it. So, yeah, and of course he's training camp,

469
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,920
Speaker 4: but like and then he got six safeties.

470
00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,040
Speaker 6: Yeah, so I mean there's there's fourteen guys right in

471
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 6: that secondary.

472
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,600
Speaker 2: There that earlier trying out, right, that's just it.

473
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,200
Speaker 6: And so then you know how important is the idea

474
00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:31,960
Speaker 6: of Nickel, you know, like who's going to step up

475
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 6: and take that Nickel roll? We invested in a guy

476
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,120
Speaker 6: like Jay Ward at safety as well, guy like Josh

477
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,280
Speaker 6: Mntellis doesn't want to give anything like that up Lewis

478
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,400
Speaker 6: scene coming back from Madrid, like that entire back end

479
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,640
Speaker 6: of the defense. There are so many questions going into

480
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,399
Speaker 6: this year, and so yeah, I think it's going to

481
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,520
Speaker 6: be one of the most interesting things to watch the

482
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,400
Speaker 6: entire chunk of camp in preseason.

483
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,640
Speaker 2: I'm really interested watching the running backs as well.

484
00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,520
Speaker 1: I feel like this may be like one of the

485
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,679
Speaker 1: like this segment probably should have been recalled, like renamed

486
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 1: what are the most obvious position battles that we're watching,

487
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 1: because you know, I feel like we have talked a

488
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,080
Speaker 1: lot about them quarter Yeah right, oh yeah, that would

489
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,200
Speaker 1: be the most obvious. But but you know, with the

490
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,919
Speaker 1: news that Dalvin Cook has is no longer with the

491
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,920
Speaker 1: team and then Alex Madison stepping up, I don't think

492
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,440
Speaker 1: it's like one hundred, Like.

493
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:20,439
Speaker 2: I think it's his job to lose.

494
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: But I do think the way that this system is

495
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,879
Speaker 1: going to run and there's going to be so much

496
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 1: room for others to get involved. Who picks up the

497
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,919
Speaker 1: pass catching opportunities that Dalvin Cook kind of leaves behind.

498
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 2: Who will fill that void?

499
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,400
Speaker 1: And there's just some really exciting names in that room,

500
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,080
Speaker 1: Like what type of leap can Knae wang Wu take?

501
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: Ty Chandler after a great preseason, how is he going

502
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,200
Speaker 1: to bounce back this year? And Willy have the same

503
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 1: pop he did last year, And then you've got Dwayne

504
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 1: McBride who was a standout at UAB. We talked about

505
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,880
Speaker 1: how many fourteen guys in the secondary. There's only four

506
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 1: running backs in the roster. That's and these are guys

507
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,760
Speaker 1: that have all been drafted, which is also pretty interesting

508
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,159
Speaker 1: when you look at it as well. And this is

509
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:05,720
Speaker 1: obviously excluding CJ. Like obviously he's in the room, but

510
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,320
Speaker 1: there are two fullbacks on the roster. So but there's

511
00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:12,240
Speaker 1: four pure running backs and I'm excited to watch that

512
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 1: unfold see who kind of fills in what spots and

513
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,439
Speaker 1: and how you know, I do think on Week one

514
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,399
Speaker 1: like it's alex Madison starting, but but where where is it?

515
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 2: Where is this going to go?

516
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 5: I think I think this is probably the toughest position

517
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 5: to like evaluate during training camp simply because like there's

518
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,800
Speaker 5: nobody getting tackled and Alexander Madison is probably not going

519
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:33,720
Speaker 5: to play in the preseason.

520
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:34,200
Speaker 2: Yeah.

521
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,040
Speaker 5: And the reason why I say that is because the

522
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 5: biggest thing that you missed with Dalvin Cook is play

523
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 5: making ability. Like yeah, he you know, there were some

524
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 5: you know, minus yards or you know, tackles for loss.

525
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 5: I think there was like a stat that for every

526
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 5: two positive runs that he had, there was a negative

527
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 5: run there. But those two positive runs, who was like

528
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 5: making plays? And Alexander Madison I think that's my biggest

529
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 5: question mark for him is like, Okay, we know you

530
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 5: can fall forward, we know you can if the hole

531
00:22:58,600 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 5: is there, you can hit it, but like can you

532
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,920
Speaker 5: actually make a play out of nothing? And That's what

533
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:07,240
Speaker 5: Dalvin Cook pretty much did And I'm interested to see how,

534
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,160
Speaker 5: you know, Kevin O'Connell addresses that, like how he looks

535
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,800
Speaker 5: at that, how he I guess how he grades playmaking

536
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,160
Speaker 5: during training camp with no tackling or no preseason game

537
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 5: so that that is a really good point when it

538
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 5: comes to position battles, because we really don't know, like

539
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:25,879
Speaker 5: Alex could be starting week one and week two, and

540
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:29,160
Speaker 5: let's say ty Chandler comes in week one when when

541
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 5: Alex needs a break and then goes for thirty yard game.

542
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 5: Now the whole conversation reopens of like, hey, we finally

543
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 5: got a playmaker at this position, So that'll be interesting.

544
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 5: I'm excited to see, you know, how they evaluate that

545
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 5: this year.

546
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 1: Furthermore, it's interesting because of the fact that the run

547
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 1: game needs was kind of it didn't hold the offense

548
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 1: back last year, but it definitely has the most to improvement,

549
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: I would say, out of the position groups in the offense.

550
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,320
Speaker 1: And obviously that starts with the line, but I really

551
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,640
Speaker 1: want to see where Curtis Modkins, the run game coordinator

552
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 1: or former offensive coordinator the league. He's got so much experience,

553
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 1: Like how much creativity is he given, how he works

554
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 1: with Wes, how he works with Josh Oliver, the new

555
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,160
Speaker 1: tight end, who's really good at run blocking, Like, how

556
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 1: are they going to shore that up?

557
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:18,600
Speaker 2: Because I know, you.

558
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 1: Know, I think they were like twenty something and running

559
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,159
Speaker 1: and rushing and so I'm interested to.

560
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,560
Speaker 2: See how that would also play as a factor into this.

561
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,680
Speaker 6: Sure In a couple of weeks ago, we had charts

562
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,440
Speaker 6: on and he was pounding his hand on the table saying,

563
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 6: Ty Chandler's.

564
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:32,480
Speaker 4: My guy this.

565
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:34,400
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh, he's a big Ty Chandler fan.

566
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 4: Yep, And so part of it for him too.

567
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 6: And we kind of talked about this chart similar to Tony Pollard,

568
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 6: just thinking of his use the way it was down

569
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 6: in Dallas, and you know, his whole point was just saying,

570
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,480
Speaker 6: I think ty is going to be so important given

571
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:48,760
Speaker 6: if he takes on the pass catching duties and being

572
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 6: more shifty in open field, that he's going to be undeniable.

573
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,920
Speaker 6: Like you got to got to put them, swap them

574
00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 6: in and out as games go on, you know. And

575
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,560
Speaker 6: I think back to when we've had in the past

576
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 6: kind of a thunder and lightning backfields on this team

577
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 6: with Jerck McKinnon and Olatavious Murray and those guys, where

578
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,680
Speaker 6: they would kind of take on different duties. But if

579
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,919
Speaker 6: you get to a point where you know, maybe you

580
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,919
Speaker 6: are sharing some of that, I think a guy like

581
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 6: Alexander is going to say, you know, kind of over

582
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 6: my dead body to start. But I think it that

583
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 6: this whole position group, I mean, they also are crucial

584
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,359
Speaker 6: on special teams. You know, there's there's a discussion of

585
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,879
Speaker 6: saying like, how does can they fit in? It's just

586
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 6: it's going to be really weird just to look at

587
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:35,479
Speaker 6: this new running back position to say, yeah, we have

588
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 6: some of these guys that we recognize, but it's going

589
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 6: to be a completely revamped idea because of what Delwyn

590
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 6: was able to do. I just think if they're going

591
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 6: to be more intentional, they go, oh, Madison's in here

592
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,679
Speaker 6: is going to be a run Chandler's in the backfield,

593
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 6: it's going to be a pass and.

594
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,720
Speaker 4: Defenses try to run like that. They're going to have

595
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 4: to be more versatile.

596
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 6: Otherwise you're going to be looking at your offensive line

597
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,760
Speaker 6: saying you just everyone knows what you're doing. You have

598
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 6: to be as aggressed of as possible and make this

599
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 6: happen Otherwise. The thing that you would worry about in

600
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 6: those situations when they do start to guess on that

601
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 6: if they start to guess correctly, that means that in

602
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 6: passing situations, you know, Kirk's going to take more pressure

603
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 6: and uh in running situations, they're just going to be

604
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 6: more stout on that offensive line. So something's got to give,

605
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,200
Speaker 6: and uh, you know, hopefully for all of these guys

606
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 6: within the running back room, they're able to step up

607
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,439
Speaker 6: and make sure that you know, they don't skip a

608
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 6: beat and that we can be more versatile than predictable.

609
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 6: And if that's the case, then that just opens up

610
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 6: in a completely other lane for your offense going into

611
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 6: the season.

612
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, Charge is picking up ty Chandler and a lot

613
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 1: of his late rounds and a lot of his yoteene leaks.

614
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 4: Yeah that doesn't surprise me. No, that doesn't surprise me.

615
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 4: Charge would do something like that.

616
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, late rounds, trying to look for him. Well then

617
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 1: and then you know, yeah, who knows.

618
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:50,119
Speaker 2: I don't know how.

619
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,159
Speaker 1: I wonder what the probability of his win is, Like,

620
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 1: what's his winning percentage?

621
00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 4: I was going to say, when you're in thirty leagues,

622
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 4: you can take some swings. Yeah right, right? Was running

623
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,679
Speaker 4: back are you going with? Because clearly you win your

624
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 4: fantasy league.

625
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,720
Speaker 2: I don't I place I have you had to win?

626
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 2: She well, I did do well.

627
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,879
Speaker 1: If I had to pick one from from our running

628
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,080
Speaker 1: back room. See that's what's tough. I don't think if

629
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,199
Speaker 1: I were to take this as a non you know,

630
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: employee of the NFL picking my fantasy, I don't know

631
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 1: if I would pick a Viking's running back right now.

632
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: It would be really difficult to make that call because

633
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,520
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of like well and then enough. Obviously it

634
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,639
Speaker 1: depends on like what kind of a league you're in?

635
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:28,920
Speaker 1: Is it PPR?

636
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,480
Speaker 2: Thank you? Yeah? See, this is how good I am

637
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,800
Speaker 2: a fantasy. I can't even recall PPR. Is I just

638
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 2: get lucky? I guess?

639
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 4: Yeah.

640
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:40,640
Speaker 1: So I think I think I would choose Madison for now,

641
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 1: but I don't think I would take him super high.

642
00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:44,960
Speaker 1: I don't know what his reps are going to look like,

643
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,120
Speaker 1: but I want someone who's gonna score touchdowns. But it's

644
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,399
Speaker 1: the it's the running backs that do both that you

645
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,359
Speaker 1: want to get, right, Like you like Tony Pollard great, uh,

646
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,160
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb, Like you want someone that can like they're

647
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: able to Kareem Hunt was fantastic, like Eckler. Eckler's Yeah,

648
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 1: you want someone that can like score passing and rushing

649
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,199
Speaker 1: touchdowns and contributable. That's why you draft a quarterback that

650
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 1: can do both too, Like, that's why not just because

651
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,399
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes is the most successful quarterback you win super Bowls,

652
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 1: but you want the running as well as the path.

653
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 1: That's why justin fields, he might not win games, but

654
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: he'll win your fantasies to go nice.

655
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 6: And nerdy for fantasy football. This is the ultimate handcuff

656
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 6: situation where if you draft Madison, you need to pick

657
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,200
Speaker 6: up Tyl in the draft.

658
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 2: So yeah, true's yeah, that's always good. Gosh, I got

659
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,960
Speaker 2: start thinking about that, don't You're welcome? Oh man, so much.

660
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 4: No way I can do that.

661
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it does make It does make watching

662
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,600
Speaker 1: football and like paying attention a little bit more fun,

663
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: just a little bit.

664
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 6: Yeah, because you're paying attention to other games and other

665
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 6: players that you might not necessarily pay attention to. I

666
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,520
Speaker 6: think it's why the the entire enjoyment of it and

667
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 6: just the industry of it has exploded the way it has,

668
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 6: including things like red zone. You know the idea of

669
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 6: red zone before you it'd be fun if you're a

670
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 6: transplant some or else saying I just want to see

671
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,440
Speaker 6: my team. Now there's so many people you can literally

672
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 6: go into some of those red zone pieces and put

673
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 6: your fantasy players in it.

674
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:08,920
Speaker 4: And it'll show you no way.

675
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 6: Yeah, there's there's it gets really crazy on some of

676
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 6: them that you could put in like your roster, and

677
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 6: then it'll give you notifications as things are happening and

678
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:17,000
Speaker 6: stuff too.

679
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 1: So I should probably do that so I don't just

680
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: like sit on my app the entire Sunday, just like you.

681
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 6: Really you really want to be getting ding ding ding

682
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 6: from you know, twelve different players as somebody catches a

683
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 6: six hord pass and it's like, I'm.

684
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,600
Speaker 2: Sure I do, jay, I really do. I want. I

685
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 2: want that.

686
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: I'm I am the target market you're missing out. I know,

687
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,960
Speaker 1: as someone who loves it, I can only handle one team.

688
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 1: I can't do more than that. I just really can't.

689
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,880
Speaker 4: But I get it. I get it.

690
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:45,680
Speaker 2: I think this.

691
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: I think that would lead to us bringing in our

692
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,479
Speaker 1: guests for the day. I should have said this at

693
00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: the top of the show, but we're really excited to

694
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: bring in our director of Equipment Services, Mike Parson.

695
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 2: He's new to the Vikings.

696
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 1: He's been here about three months or so, taking over

697
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: for Dennis Ryan, who was with our organization for so long.

698
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:06,120
Speaker 1: But I think that if you guys are massive Vikings fans,

699
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 1: this is a great interview because Mike is just as

700
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 1: experienced and qualified of a person as he is a

701
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: director of equipment Services. His background is extensive and he

702
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: just does things the right way. You can just tell.

703
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: And it was really awesome. I know, Jay and I

704
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 1: really enjoyed this conversation that we had, so we hope

705
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 1: that you enjoy our guest to MVP this week, Mike

706
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: Parson and now joining us on the Minnesota Vikings podcast.

707
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: Someone we're so excited to be in the building and

708
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 1: to have in our podcast studio. It's the director of

709
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: Equipment Services, Mike Parson, New to Minnesota. You've walked in here,

710
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 1: You're like, it's almost three months. Actually by the time

711
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: this comes on, I think it'll.

712
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 2: Be three months.

713
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 4: Yeah'll be three months.

714
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 2: Man, time flies and go slow at the same time.

715
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 4: That's right.

716
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 3: And I'm enjoying his weather up here. So but everybody

717
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 3: tell me bracelet of winners.

718
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 2: And you've spent most of your career in the South, all.

719
00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 4: In the South, So New Orleans, Houston, Mississippi, South.

720
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:02,800
Speaker 1: Carolina sounds like a lot of humidity, a lot of humidity.

721
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,680
Speaker 3: So I visited there last week to it's around the

722
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,640
Speaker 3: fourth yeah, and I had to get back because it

723
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 3: was brutal.

724
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:09,640
Speaker 4: Yeah.

725
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,320
Speaker 1: I tell you what, the longer that you've been around it,

726
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 1: or the longer that you're in this like nice summer,

727
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: then like you get the really cool other you become

728
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 1: such a ninny when you come to humidity.

729
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,800
Speaker 2: I now go home and I'm like, what is this staff?

730
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 4: It's not good?

731
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't get used to it, but no, I mean, yeah,

732
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: so you kind of mentioned it. You spent thirteen seasons

733
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,280
Speaker 1: with the Texans, You've made stops in New Orleans, and

734
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 1: you also are Missippi State alone. You made the college rounds,

735
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: So yeah, tell us a little about like what attracted

736
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,160
Speaker 1: you because of all this stuff that you've done in

737
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 1: the South and that's kind of like a comfort area.

738
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 2: What attracted you up here to Minnesota?

739
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 4: The Minnesota Vikings.

740
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,000
Speaker 3: I know how great of an organization it is, And

741
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 3: really and truly I wasn't planning on getting back in

742
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 3: the NFL. I was got my mortgage brokes license, and

743
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 3: for some reason I was following the Minnesota Vikings all

744
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 3: last year. Have a lot of friends on the staff already,

745
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,120
Speaker 3: you know your yah, their keys. So I followed the

746
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 3: Vikings on TV that way, watched a lot of the

747
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,680
Speaker 3: videos on your website and grew of funness to what

748
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,440
Speaker 3: Kevin o'coll and Quasi are doing here.

749
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 2: That's awesome. So when did they list the job online?

750
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 4: Like?

751
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 2: Was it that easy?

752
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 3: So I had a friend call me and said, hey,

753
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 3: I heard that Dennis, the legend in the industry, was retiring,

754
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,120
Speaker 3: and that maybe you should.

755
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 4: Give them a call and let them know if you're

756
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 4: interested or not.

757
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,640
Speaker 3: And I really wasn't going to get back in it,

758
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,719
Speaker 3: but this was the only organization that I had interested

759
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 3: in because of one of the top facilities here and

760
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,320
Speaker 3: the report card that the players put out about how

761
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 3: you know they were treated, and then you know, talking

762
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,280
Speaker 3: to you Ryan, those guys they really enjoy working here.

763
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 3: So if I wanted to get back in it, I

764
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 3: wanted to be a good situation. I thought this was

765
00:32:58,120 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 3: a great situation.

766
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 6: That's great word of my mouth to have that go

767
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 6: back in the way, way back machine. And how did

768
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:05,640
Speaker 6: you get started in this in the first place? Because

769
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,280
Speaker 6: I know there's certain people that just they love doing it.

770
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 6: There's other people that kind of fall into its, Like

771
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 6: for you, how did you get started in this industry?

772
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 4: In the first place.

773
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,320
Speaker 3: It's funny because I wanted to play football, but I

774
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 3: was like a buck fifteen and my high school coach,

775
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 3: Robert Morgan, he come up to me and he told me, said, Mike,

776
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 3: He said, why don't you think about being a manager.

777
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 3: You can get a full scholarship in college. And when

778
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 3: I heard full scholarship, I was all ears. Interesting enough,

779
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 3: my high school mascot is the Vikings, and so I

780
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,719
Speaker 3: thought that was pretty ironic that, you know, I started

781
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,960
Speaker 3: my career as a Viking, and hopefully I am my

782
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,960
Speaker 3: career as a Viking. But then I went off to

783
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,239
Speaker 3: college a Mississippi state. You got a full scholarship doing it.

784
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 3: And I was actually going to school to be a

785
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,400
Speaker 3: journal in journalism because I wrote for my local newspaper

786
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 3: as a sports writer in Visburg, Mississippi, called the Visburg Post.

787
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 4: I did. I started that when I was fifteen on

788
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 4: a dare for my older brothers. He said, they're not

789
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:04,640
Speaker 4: going to hire you, and I said, I watch it,

790
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:05,080
Speaker 4: They're hire me.

791
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 2: Wow.

792
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 3: I did that all throughout college, and then I realized

793
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,160
Speaker 3: that I enjoyed doing equipment. And then I did a

794
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 3: summer internship with the New Orleans Saints, and I worked

795
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 3: for Dan Simmons.

796
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:16,480
Speaker 4: He worked for the Saints.

797
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 3: I think it was forty three years wow, and he's

798
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:21,680
Speaker 3: in there the Saints Hall of Fame. So I worked

799
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,399
Speaker 3: for some pretty big legends in the equipment industry because

800
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,360
Speaker 3: my boss Atsissippi State Field Silver, he worked there for

801
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 3: like thirty years, and just I just took nuggets from

802
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,600
Speaker 3: each of those guys and kind of molded myself into

803
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 3: what I think is the perfect equipment guy. You know,

804
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,160
Speaker 3: collaborate with everybody in the building. Try to be positive

805
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:43,080
Speaker 3: because you're run the players all the time. So it's

806
00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,239
Speaker 3: for me, it's we love to win, but whether we

807
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 3: win or lose, I have to do the same job.

808
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 3: So I try to have the best attitude when the

809
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:51,319
Speaker 3: guys come in.

810
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny that you mentioned like collaborations. I think

811
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 1: one of the first questions I really put in here

812
00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,880
Speaker 1: was like, if you had an average strew walking down

813
00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 1: the street, how would you describe what you do? Because

814
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,439
Speaker 1: I think it's more than just like, oh, here's a cleave,

815
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:07,120
Speaker 1: here's a helmet, any of that, you know, like the

816
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:08,919
Speaker 1: surface level things.

817
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,799
Speaker 3: So the equipment manager position has really been involving over

818
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 3: the last I would say ten years. Especially when you

819
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,760
Speaker 3: look at the health and safety aspect of it, the

820
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:23,399
Speaker 3: equipment industry has really grown. We test pretty much every

821
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 3: protective equipment that the players wear, helmets, show to pass cleats.

822
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 4: That's a big thing for us because.

823
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 3: Properly fitted, I mean, you can't You're not going to

824
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,279
Speaker 3: prevent every injury, but you can minimize some risk.

825
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 4: So great.

826
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:44,239
Speaker 3: The great thing about this organization is we collaborate. So

827
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,680
Speaker 3: I'm under the Player Performance Group, so you know, meet

828
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 3: with the athletic trainers, strength of conditions staff, nutritions. We

829
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,320
Speaker 3: all meet and we all collaborate and we try to

830
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,000
Speaker 3: figure out ways to make it better for our players,

831
00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 3: to try to get them optimize their performance just a

832
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,359
Speaker 3: little bit better. So that to me, when I meet

833
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 3: someone on the street and they ask me what I

834
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:06,799
Speaker 3: do the first thing they asked me and this is

835
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,360
Speaker 3: no allowed to ask me do you get to go

836
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 3: to the games? Because they really don't understand. And you know,

837
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,279
Speaker 3: back in the day, the equipment guy was seeing as

838
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,319
Speaker 3: oh he's a guy that you go get socks from

839
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 3: and washed the clothes.

840
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:19,080
Speaker 4: Stuff like that.

841
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:23,479
Speaker 3: But in the organization, especially now, when you have great

842
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 3: players that have a lot of marketing opportunities. You know,

843
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 3: I'm in charge of making sure that you know, our

844
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:33,799
Speaker 3: guys uniforms and stuff and present the organization in those

845
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 3: commercials this paramount.

846
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,440
Speaker 4: So that's one thing we do.

847
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 3: But as far as logistics, making sure that we collaborate

848
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 3: with every department, making sure they have everything that they

849
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,880
Speaker 3: need on the truck so that we can get it

850
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,960
Speaker 3: to the plane or get it to US Bank Stadium.

851
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 3: But I really enjoyed that part of it because there's

852
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 3: nothing better than sitting on a plane out there win

853
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 3: and everything went right, yeah, and you can just kind

854
00:36:59,560 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 3: of take.

855
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 6: A bro So I get my rise off of that.

856
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,400
Speaker 6: That's the thing like your department. The grind that you

857
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,279
Speaker 6: guys have on an annual basis is unbelievable, especially during

858
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 6: the season. I mean it's more than six days a week,

859
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:14,240
Speaker 6: it's typically seven days a week.

860
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 4: All hours we get back.

861
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 6: You know, people get back from the plane, they want

862
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 6: to just go home and go to bed. You guys

863
00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 6: are going back to the office and start doing laundry,

864
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 6: getting everything ready for the next day for practice and stuff.

865
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,600
Speaker 6: Like the grind that you guys have to do. You

866
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:29,400
Speaker 6: really have to love your job. In order to be

867
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:32,480
Speaker 6: doing that correct, Yes, you have to you have to

868
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 6: be self motivated.

869
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 3: But one thing we as a staff, we thrive to

870
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 3: do is to support the players and coaches so that

871
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 3: when they come in every day they don't really have

872
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,160
Speaker 3: to worry about much. But you have to take a

873
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 3: lot of pride. That's something My guys, they take a

874
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,879
Speaker 3: lot of pride in the work that they do making

875
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 3: sure that the players look really good on the field.

876
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 3: But they also have to be physically fit because, like

877
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 3: you say, it is a grind. If you watch to

878
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 3: rail out it the ski is running his butt off

879
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 3: and you know, Adam and all those guys they having

880
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 3: to pick up all these heavy pads and all that stuff.

881
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,560
Speaker 3: So we we have to keep ourselves physically fit because

882
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,640
Speaker 3: we're on our feet all day long. But we we

883
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,000
Speaker 3: love the grind of it. We love like you say,

884
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,719
Speaker 3: after game, we're resetting, we're getting ready for the next one.

885
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:22,919
Speaker 4: Whether it's you know, after week one.

886
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,400
Speaker 3: We you know, I think we announced it already, so

887
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,440
Speaker 3: we got to throw back and we got to change

888
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,160
Speaker 3: all the face mask and everything back to the normal

889
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 3: and then get ready for a Thursday game. So that's

890
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 3: something that's going to be a turnaround. It's tough, but

891
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:38,640
Speaker 3: we that's when we get to show our talents off.

892
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,719
Speaker 3: You know, you know, everybody think that anybody can do

893
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,759
Speaker 3: our jobs, but it's yeah, it's it's a lot to us.

894
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 3: So we get to plan ahead. And you know, we

895
00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,640
Speaker 3: hadn't even started camp yet and I'm already thinking about Seattle. Sure,

896
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 3: so sometimes I have to slow myself down and realize,

897
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:56,759
Speaker 3: wait a minute, we didn't even started practicing yet.

898
00:38:57,920 --> 00:38:58,640
Speaker 4: But that's just it too.

899
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:00,319
Speaker 6: Like Eve and you were talking about, you know, having

900
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,120
Speaker 6: to get ready for that Thursday game. I'm sure with

901
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 6: the new rule change potentially of that flex Thursday game

902
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 6: at some point, that's just kind of the looming you know,

903
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:09,399
Speaker 6: elephant in the room that you guys are kind of going,

904
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:10,240
Speaker 6: are we gonna.

905
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 4: Have to deal with this or not?

906
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,560
Speaker 6: Exact like, because you are as regimented as you are

907
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,440
Speaker 6: at times when you're doing that, but you still have

908
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,920
Speaker 6: to be reactive. How do you kind of work through

909
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:20,879
Speaker 6: and anticipate stuff like that as far as your department goes?

910
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we really and truly I used to always

911
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,760
Speaker 3: tell my friends that I always think of doomsday scenario.

912
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,240
Speaker 4: Sure, and you really, it's.

913
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:34,319
Speaker 3: Like a coach, you know, coach has to think of

914
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 3: what would happen, What are we going to do if

915
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:37,000
Speaker 3: this happens.

916
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 4: So it's the same thing with us.

917
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 3: We don't know what the weather's going to be right now,

918
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 3: We don't know what the weather's going to be in

919
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:44,960
Speaker 3: Cincinnati down the.

920
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:46,480
Speaker 4: Road, but we have to plan for everything.

921
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,320
Speaker 3: We have to bring everything just in case something turns

922
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,680
Speaker 3: and we need to be ready for that. So we

923
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,240
Speaker 3: just sit down as a staff and we think about

924
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:56,480
Speaker 3: certain scenarios that can come up, what are we going

925
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:59,840
Speaker 3: to do, how we're going to react, Because when something

926
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,480
Speaker 3: you pop up, you know the players are looking at us,

927
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,000
Speaker 3: coaches are looking a us, my staff is looking at

928
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 3: me for the answers, and you have to be cool

929
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:10,640
Speaker 3: and calm and kind of get everybody's heart rate down.

930
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,640
Speaker 1: So yeah, what comes to mind for me is when

931
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,879
Speaker 1: you know, when turf becomes a factor or natural grass, sorry,

932
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:18,160
Speaker 1: becomes a factor, and.

933
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 2: You've got to pick which cleats to wear.

934
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 1: And that became such an issue for one of our

935
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,000
Speaker 1: games this past season, and I'm like completely blanking on

936
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:28,800
Speaker 1: which one, but there was a game. There's an outdoor

937
00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 1: game this season where I know you had to have

938
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,319
Speaker 1: both both pairs of cleats and you weren't sure which

939
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:36,600
Speaker 1: ones to wear for which ground, and it became an

940
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 1: issue which was really interesting.

941
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:38,680
Speaker 4: Yeah.

942
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:41,920
Speaker 3: So you you have all the options available to the players,

943
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:43,640
Speaker 3: and then you want them to at least try it

944
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,960
Speaker 3: out and pre you know, before we start pregame, and

945
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:46,479
Speaker 3: then you make.

946
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 4: Adjustments from there.

947
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,480
Speaker 3: A lot of guys they like what they like and

948
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 3: they don't want to change it, so you know, ultimately

949
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,439
Speaker 3: it's the player's decision, but we try to educate them

950
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,279
Speaker 3: and steer them in the right way.

951
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: What's the pickiest like in your career? Is there a

952
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,160
Speaker 1: player who's been like so picky that you're like, Okay,

953
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 1: I cannot mess this up for them.

954
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I would say that. I wouldn't say picky,

955
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:11,879
Speaker 3: but superstitious.

956
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's a good one.

957
00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:16,120
Speaker 3: Uh jj Watt. I worked with him and throughout his

958
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,080
Speaker 3: career in Houston. I was with him the whole time,

959
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 3: and he certain times he I have to put his

960
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 3: jersey on, put his pad on them, and only me.

961
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:30,440
Speaker 3: I can't have any help, and every time it never fail.

962
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,000
Speaker 3: Every game when I'm going to put the jersey on

963
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,680
Speaker 3: because it's so tight. He always steps back three hundred

964
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:37,080
Speaker 3: pounds onto my foot.

965
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:39,560
Speaker 4: And it hurts.

966
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 3: But you know, we know the quirks that the players,

967
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 3: and that's the one thing I'm excited about getting to

968
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 3: know here, getting to.

969
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 4: Know the players.

970
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 3: Like I said, luckily, I got a staff that was

971
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,400
Speaker 3: here before, and they know a lot of what the

972
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,279
Speaker 3: guy's like. But I'm interested to see what are some

973
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:56,399
Speaker 3: of the quirks and some of the guys.

974
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:58,479
Speaker 2: Oh, they use quirks. That's such a great word for.

975
00:41:58,400 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 4: It, yep.

976
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 3: And it's interesting because we know what every individual person wants,

977
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:08,680
Speaker 3: how they want it. That's coach, player, staff member. But

978
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:11,239
Speaker 3: then I have a hard time remembering people's name when

979
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:14,000
Speaker 3: they introduce excepting I can remember all that stuff.

980
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 2: Well, because I mean, look at all the stuff you

981
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:16,120
Speaker 2: have to keep in your brain.

982
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,480
Speaker 4: Yes, that's a lot going on up there.

983
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:20,560
Speaker 6: And that's the thing too, like the fact you said,

984
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 6: you know, you've been here now for a few months

985
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,799
Speaker 6: and you're trying to get everything acclimated and ready and

986
00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:27,160
Speaker 6: camps about to start and everything, Like how much of

987
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:29,160
Speaker 6: it was you know, drinking from a fire hose, just

988
00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:30,719
Speaker 6: trying to get up to speed and get ready for

989
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 6: what's about to happen.

990
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,400
Speaker 3: So a lot of it, I really leaned on Terrell

991
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 3: and Adam and Blake because, like I said, they've been

992
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,400
Speaker 3: here and they've done such a good job with Dennis

993
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,839
Speaker 3: in the past. So a lot of the things what

994
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,880
Speaker 3: they what's saying about, you can't eat the whole elephant,

995
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:49,120
Speaker 3: you can only do it. Yeah, So it's like that,

996
00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 3: It's like, keep the main thing the main thing, and

997
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,399
Speaker 3: when you have time, let's think about down the road.

998
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 3: But really and truly, Dennis assembles such a good staff

999
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,320
Speaker 3: of people that game day and all that stuff, and

1000
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 3: I met with all of them and let them know, hey,

1001
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:05,680
Speaker 3: whatever you were doing, let's continue to do that.

1002
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:06,480
Speaker 4: We'll evaluate it.

1003
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 3: If there's a more efficient way to do it, we'll

1004
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:10,919
Speaker 3: look at changing it. But right now we're not making

1005
00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 3: any drastic changes.

1006
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:14,520
Speaker 4: And that's the thing.

1007
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:16,440
Speaker 6: That group has been together for a very long time,

1008
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:19,160
Speaker 6: and they almost have a shorthand too, So the same

1009
00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 6: kind of thing for like just walking in even in

1010
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:23,200
Speaker 6: that office and working with those different people trying to

1011
00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 6: figure out their shorthand exactly.

1012
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:25,439
Speaker 4: They're trying to figure out.

1013
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:27,040
Speaker 6: You know, how do you work and everything as well,

1014
00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:29,040
Speaker 6: and so it'll be probably a little bit of a

1015
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:31,640
Speaker 6: learning curve, but I think the group that you're with

1016
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:32,480
Speaker 6: is so great.

1017
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,920
Speaker 3: And that's the biggest thing is with the players, coaches

1018
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,640
Speaker 3: and even my staff and all the other staff members,

1019
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:43,120
Speaker 3: is I had to gain their trust sure, because you

1020
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,000
Speaker 3: know a lot of people do depend on this position

1021
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 3: that everything is going to be there when it needs

1022
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:49,759
Speaker 3: to be there. So that was one thing that I

1023
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:54,160
Speaker 3: was very appreciative that everyone opened me with open arms,

1024
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,360
Speaker 3: all the players. It's been really cool getting to know

1025
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:58,319
Speaker 3: them and count how they like things.

1026
00:43:58,440 --> 00:43:59,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a really good group.

1027
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,080
Speaker 1: And I know you mentioned Dennis Ryan, who retired after

1028
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 1: nearly fifty years in the organization, a legend in this industry,

1029
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,600
Speaker 1: and you're only the third I know in Viking's history

1030
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,320
Speaker 1: to be in charge of equipment services.

1031
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:16,799
Speaker 2: So when you.

1032
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 1: When I say all that to you, like, what does

1033
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,200
Speaker 1: it mean to you to be able to take over

1034
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:21,239
Speaker 1: for someone like him?

1035
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 3: It's a complete, unflattered one and it's an honor. I've

1036
00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:27,480
Speaker 3: gotten to know Dennis when I was in Houston. We

1037
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,239
Speaker 3: would meet at the equipment managers meetings and Dennis is

1038
00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:34,239
Speaker 3: a very humble, quiet guy. But for some reason I

1039
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:36,680
Speaker 3: would always get him to talk to me, and we

1040
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:38,160
Speaker 3: became really good friends that way.

1041
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:39,720
Speaker 4: As a matter of fact, about three weeks.

1042
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,319
Speaker 3: Ago we had dinner, and you know, I just wanted

1043
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,640
Speaker 3: him to know that, don't feel like you stepping on

1044
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:46,399
Speaker 3: my toes if you want to come back around, because

1045
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 3: as far as I'm concerned, you are this organization. Yeah,

1046
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:53,360
Speaker 3: And so, like I said, I was really flattered whenever

1047
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,480
Speaker 3: he called me and see if I'd be interested in

1048
00:44:56,520 --> 00:45:00,680
Speaker 3: the opening and just everything that he it's done throughout

1049
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:03,640
Speaker 3: his career. I mean, he was innovative in some like

1050
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:05,279
Speaker 3: I'm learning a lot about him.

1051
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:09,040
Speaker 4: I'm learning a lot about Stumpy, I think Stubby Yeah, yeah,

1052
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:11,719
Speaker 4: And it to me it's.

1053
00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:15,440
Speaker 3: An honor to carry on a tradition that those guys

1054
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 3: has set forward with his organization because I was only

1055
00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:21,359
Speaker 3: his second in Houston, but Houston was such a young

1056
00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,720
Speaker 3: organization and it's cool for me to learn the history

1057
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:30,000
Speaker 3: of the Vikings and just you know, try to continue

1058
00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:30,959
Speaker 3: those traditions.

1059
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,680
Speaker 6: My favorite story dentists ever told about being an equipment

1060
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:36,040
Speaker 6: manager was when he was with Stubby and it was

1061
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:40,160
Speaker 6: prior to them moving from Matt Stadium and when they're

1062
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:45,759
Speaker 6: moving to the other facility, and his boss decided he

1063
00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:47,799
Speaker 6: didn't want to have to move all the equipment, so

1064
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:49,480
Speaker 6: he took all the equipment out in the parking lot

1065
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:51,560
Speaker 6: and just put kerosing on it and lit it on fire.

1066
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 6: And so the deal was they lit it on fire,

1067
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 6: and then the neighbors that were around the stadium at

1068
00:45:58,160 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 6: the time started calling the fire department saying, the state

1069
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,400
Speaker 6: mediums on fire. So all of a sudden, all the

1070
00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:04,799
Speaker 6: all the fire trucks and everybody come flying around the

1071
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,359
Speaker 6: corner and they're like, oh no, and then they pulled

1072
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:09,400
Speaker 6: up and he's just like no, we're just we're not

1073
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:10,960
Speaker 6: going to move this stuff, so we're just you know,

1074
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:13,560
Speaker 6: getting rid of it. And the fire department just looked

1075
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 6: at him and said, next time you do something like this,

1076
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,800
Speaker 6: at least give us a heads up, so we don't except.

1077
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,640
Speaker 6: But that was the thing, and that's that's why when

1078
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:24,279
Speaker 6: Dennis was one of the guys that when someone would

1079
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:26,440
Speaker 6: would try to sell something that was an authentic helmet

1080
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,799
Speaker 6: or a jersey or something along those lines, they would

1081
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 6: call him to say is this real or not? Because

1082
00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:34,520
Speaker 6: he knew a giant chunk of the historical artifacts that

1083
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,600
Speaker 6: we would have from before were burned in that little

1084
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:40,680
Speaker 6: bonfire that they had, and so Dennis would tell this

1085
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:43,359
Speaker 6: this story about how you know that happened. It's like, yeah,

1086
00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:44,800
Speaker 6: I don't think we can get away with that anymore.

1087
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,160
Speaker 1: No, no, no, And I think you can probably sell

1088
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:48,400
Speaker 1: him for a pretty penny nowadays.

1089
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,319
Speaker 4: Huh Yeah, I imagine you can.

1090
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:53,440
Speaker 3: It's a pretty big industry to memorabilia market for sure.

1091
00:46:53,600 --> 00:46:56,640
Speaker 3: I I don't mess with that, So I just let

1092
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,439
Speaker 3: the players that they they want, they stuff, they keep

1093
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:00,399
Speaker 3: it in past.

1094
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 6: Yeah, sure, Yeah. It's just it's crazy to think about

1095
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:04,800
Speaker 6: how it's all evolved.

1096
00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:06,000
Speaker 4: Oh it's a lot bid time.

1097
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:07,640
Speaker 6: I mean you look at the old helmets and stuff

1098
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:09,560
Speaker 6: you had, the you know, the shelves with kind of

1099
00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:13,120
Speaker 6: the almost like elastic with some leather and stuff in it,

1100
00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:18,239
Speaker 6: And nowadays equipment is so incredibly sophisticated, Like how do

1101
00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:20,640
Speaker 6: you go through vetting that kind of stuff and how

1102
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:23,440
Speaker 6: do you guys go through evaluating what you recommend and

1103
00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:24,080
Speaker 6: what you don't.

1104
00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:24,480
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1105
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:26,799
Speaker 3: So the good thing is I was on I was

1106
00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:28,520
Speaker 3: when I was in Houston. I was on a lot

1107
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:34,040
Speaker 3: of advisory boards in particularly with Rydale and I work

1108
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:37,920
Speaker 3: with the league Biocoreps a lot, and I'm excited to

1109
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:39,240
Speaker 3: start doing that again.

1110
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,279
Speaker 4: But the great thing about all of.

1111
00:47:41,239 --> 00:47:44,719
Speaker 3: Our equipment now is more customized. Sure, so you like

1112
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 3: you said, you went from the letter straps to the

1113
00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:52,359
Speaker 3: air technology to now everything's three D scanned and it's fit,

1114
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:56,000
Speaker 3: custom molded and custom moded to that player, and it

1115
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:59,319
Speaker 3: tests better. So it gives me peace of mind to

1116
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:03,520
Speaker 3: know that we're not sparing any expense to protect our players.

1117
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:08,359
Speaker 3: And we have great support from the will family here,

1118
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:10,640
Speaker 3: and you know, they give.

1119
00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:12,040
Speaker 4: Us the resources due what we need to do to

1120
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:12,760
Speaker 4: protect the players.

1121
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,480
Speaker 3: But like I said, it's also a collaboration with myself

1122
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:20,160
Speaker 3: and the whole Sports Performance group with Tyler Williams and

1123
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:24,840
Speaker 3: Uriah and Josh, so we all work together and we

1124
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:27,280
Speaker 3: try to do what is best.

1125
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:27,600
Speaker 4: For the player.

1126
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:29,400
Speaker 6: I remember the first time I ever picked up a

1127
00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:32,760
Speaker 6: pair of Percy Harvin's cleats that were custom molded carbon

1128
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:36,440
Speaker 6: fiber flywires, and how light those things were, and I went,

1129
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:38,399
Speaker 6: it's a completely different game.

1130
00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:39,720
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's completely different.

1131
00:48:39,719 --> 00:48:43,120
Speaker 3: We test cleat patterns on turf and all that stuff,

1132
00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:46,719
Speaker 3: and we three D scan their feets to make their

1133
00:48:46,719 --> 00:48:49,080
Speaker 3: feet just to make sure that they're in the right

1134
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:52,000
Speaker 3: size and all that, and we try to educate the

1135
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:54,759
Speaker 3: player and they've been really receptive of it.

1136
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:58,319
Speaker 1: Here sounds like it so knowing that you have to

1137
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:00,920
Speaker 1: pack for these games and like all the stuff you

1138
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:05,839
Speaker 1: have to bring and all the personalization and customization. How

1139
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,319
Speaker 1: would you rate your organization scales like one out of ten?

1140
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:11,200
Speaker 3: If you go in my office and looks really organized,

1141
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:14,960
Speaker 3: you go to my house, it's organized now. But I'm

1142
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:18,759
Speaker 3: pretty I'm pretty OCD. You have to be, Yeah, you

1143
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:22,480
Speaker 3: have to be. We have our superstitions as well, our

1144
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:27,319
Speaker 3: processes that we do, checklists upon checklists and more than

1145
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,640
Speaker 3: one set of eyes on it, on everything, because you

1146
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:32,799
Speaker 3: don't want to get complacent and think, oh I got

1147
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:36,239
Speaker 3: this and you mess up and misspell a name on

1148
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:39,720
Speaker 3: the back of a jersey or something else. Oh yeah,

1149
00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:42,400
Speaker 3: like I said, I enjoy it. It's something I really

1150
00:49:43,239 --> 00:49:47,440
Speaker 3: I enjoyed the pressure of getting it done each week

1151
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:50,160
Speaker 3: for the team. I love being dependent on so uh

1152
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:54,000
Speaker 3: for me, I enjoy it. But I also love the

1153
00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:57,359
Speaker 3: camaraderie that me and my staff have and you know,

1154
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:00,600
Speaker 3: we're building to get to know each other and kind of,

1155
00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:02,480
Speaker 3: like I said, our quirks and things like that.

1156
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:04,440
Speaker 4: And it's been.

1157
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:07,120
Speaker 1: Fun though, Yeah, because no no one man can get

1158
00:50:07,160 --> 00:50:09,280
Speaker 1: it all done, which is why it's such a cool

1159
00:50:09,360 --> 00:50:09,920
Speaker 1: team effort.

1160
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:12,040
Speaker 3: Like I tell those guys, I give them all the

1161
00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:13,400
Speaker 3: credit and I take all the bullets.

1162
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:14,520
Speaker 4: That's my job.

1163
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:17,359
Speaker 6: So but that's the thing too, like thinking about even

1164
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,719
Speaker 6: on game day, one of the things that's always impressed me,

1165
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,680
Speaker 6: especially on the road, is just how everyone knows their role,

1166
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:26,200
Speaker 6: Everyone knows their duties, and everyone just kind of handles

1167
00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:28,560
Speaker 6: their business even if they have to react in a

1168
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:32,840
Speaker 6: pressure situation. So you see like yourself and your immediate

1169
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,000
Speaker 6: crew on the sideline, but then there's a whole host

1170
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,760
Speaker 6: of people that are also handling everything else in the background,

1171
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:40,960
Speaker 6: and as the game is going on, you know, you

1172
00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:43,120
Speaker 6: might not need something anymore, and you're packing that kind

1173
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:44,719
Speaker 6: of stuff up and sending it to the truck, so

1174
00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:47,440
Speaker 6: that within half an hour to an hour after the game,

1175
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:49,680
Speaker 6: everyone's on the bus and heading to the airport. And

1176
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:51,759
Speaker 6: kind of thing like your crew has to almost be

1177
00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:54,719
Speaker 6: militaristic and how they handle all their business.

1178
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:59,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, and always I used analogy, you know, I watch

1179
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:04,040
Speaker 3: a lot of videos, educational videos about like Air Force

1180
00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:06,440
Speaker 3: one and stuff like that, and you hear all the

1181
00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:08,600
Speaker 3: former captains of the Air Force one they always say

1182
00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:12,200
Speaker 3: we have zero fail missions, and that's what we try

1183
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,120
Speaker 3: to do. We try to make sure that every little

1184
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:18,400
Speaker 3: minute really counts when you think about it, because you

1185
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:21,400
Speaker 3: got players, you got coaches, they're all up there on

1186
00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:22,719
Speaker 3: sitting up on the plane.

1187
00:51:22,719 --> 00:51:25,600
Speaker 4: The players just got through plan for three hours, and we.

1188
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:27,919
Speaker 3: Want to get in the air so they can start

1189
00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:32,480
Speaker 3: the recovery process. So we try to figure out how

1190
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:35,640
Speaker 3: do we shave some of those minutes down. So at halftime,

1191
00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:37,759
Speaker 3: you know, a lot of the things that we don't need,

1192
00:51:37,800 --> 00:51:40,080
Speaker 3: we go already, get that packed up, some of the

1193
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:41,640
Speaker 3: stuff come out the field. We send one truck to

1194
00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:44,080
Speaker 3: the airport and that stuff is being loaded up, and

1195
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:46,279
Speaker 3: then we come with the last truck, so we don't

1196
00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:49,200
Speaker 3: have that much of a wait time. For me, that's

1197
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 3: just stuff that I really enjoy is sitting down on

1198
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,600
Speaker 3: the plane and by the time everybody is settled in.

1199
00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:00,600
Speaker 4: We're closing doors and we're getting ready to go relax,

1200
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:01,560
Speaker 4: get the relax.

1201
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:05,399
Speaker 1: So do you ever watch any of the game, were

1202
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:07,840
Speaker 1: you so focused on like what you gotta get done?

1203
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:09,799
Speaker 3: I do watch the game, but we watch it in

1204
00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:13,640
Speaker 3: a different way. Okay, we're looking for any equipment malfunctions.

1205
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:18,360
Speaker 3: We're listening to the coach to quarterback system just in case,

1206
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:21,200
Speaker 3: you know, Kirk is not getting it or you know,

1207
00:52:21,480 --> 00:52:23,960
Speaker 3: just we we really have to look at it a

1208
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:27,319
Speaker 3: different way and then we can react to anything. But

1209
00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:29,719
Speaker 3: we do so much prep work throughout the week that

1210
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 3: you really it's a lot of watching watching the game.

1211
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,920
Speaker 3: Like me, I'll be in the locker room after halftime

1212
00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:39,560
Speaker 3: from all just to make sure that everything is getting

1213
00:52:39,560 --> 00:52:41,080
Speaker 3: loaded up and we're ready to go and we're ready

1214
00:52:41,120 --> 00:52:44,200
Speaker 3: to go after the game. So uh, that's when the

1215
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:46,359
Speaker 3: trust of my crew, which I do, I trust them

1216
00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:50,320
Speaker 3: a lot, they'll handle all that all on the sideline.

1217
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then you don't know what the outcheme is.

1218
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:58,520
Speaker 3: Oh, I know that because I'm checking that score. You know.

1219
00:52:58,640 --> 00:52:59,360
Speaker 2: That's funny.

1220
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,760
Speaker 3: And there's nothing greater than seeing the players and coaches

1221
00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:04,719
Speaker 3: walk in the locker room at they'll win, seeing a

1222
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:07,960
Speaker 3: shild jewel on their face. Everybody in the organization they

1223
00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:10,520
Speaker 3: take a part in and in this knowing that we

1224
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,919
Speaker 3: are kind of like the tour management of the group,

1225
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:16,919
Speaker 3: but we're still work and we get to enjoy it too.

1226
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:19,279
Speaker 3: But I don't really get the enjoy and to sit

1227
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:21,960
Speaker 3: down on that plane and it was the clothes and

1228
00:53:21,960 --> 00:53:22,720
Speaker 3: we getting ready.

1229
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:24,759
Speaker 2: To which and you guys are always the last time.

1230
00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:26,480
Speaker 2: It's amazing what you do.

1231
00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:28,600
Speaker 1: I have to it would be remiss if I didn't

1232
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:29,960
Speaker 1: shout out to my bestie Brayson.

1233
00:53:30,040 --> 00:53:31,840
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, my road best friend.

1234
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:34,360
Speaker 1: We sat next to each other every every on the

1235
00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:35,719
Speaker 1: bus every time because he was always the.

1236
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:37,840
Speaker 2: Last in and I was like, sure, it comes in

1237
00:53:37,880 --> 00:53:38,160
Speaker 2: next to me.

1238
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:40,439
Speaker 1: And then there was a tradition and became superstition, which

1239
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:41,879
Speaker 1: I guess is part of.

1240
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:42,400
Speaker 2: The whole thing.

1241
00:53:42,719 --> 00:53:46,640
Speaker 1: Sports, sports, which is part of it. The classics you

1242
00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:49,160
Speaker 1: mentioned a little bit ago. Yes, what do you think

1243
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:49,480
Speaker 1: of them?

1244
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:50,680
Speaker 4: I went, they're gorgeous.

1245
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:53,319
Speaker 2: It's pretty cool to like, what does it take to like.

1246
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:58,160
Speaker 1: Incorporate like a brand new uniform into the system as well.

1247
00:53:58,719 --> 00:54:00,520
Speaker 4: I would have to be completely honest. I was not

1248
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:01,279
Speaker 4: involved in this is.

1249
00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:06,279
Speaker 3: It takes years in the making, but it's it's one

1250
00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:09,759
Speaker 3: of those things where everyone in an organization, uh, from

1251
00:54:09,840 --> 00:54:14,600
Speaker 3: ownership to Aaron Swartz and her group, Uh, everyone gets

1252
00:54:14,640 --> 00:54:17,840
Speaker 3: involved in it. And you know they take the the

1253
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:21,400
Speaker 3: input of the equipment manager, but you know, I like

1254
00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:24,080
Speaker 3: to let them in. In the past, I like to

1255
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,800
Speaker 3: let them handle it. I just getting on my advice

1256
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:30,960
Speaker 3: on certain little things. But it's fun, I said, I

1257
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:33,919
Speaker 3: used to wear gorgeous but I think the players say

1258
00:54:34,239 --> 00:54:35,800
Speaker 3: their little fire or something.

1259
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:36,480
Speaker 4: Like that like that.

1260
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:39,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, and uh something.

1261
00:54:40,080 --> 00:54:40,360
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1262
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:43,520
Speaker 3: So no, it was cool, you know, my first day

1263
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:46,440
Speaker 3: on the job to walk into the office and they

1264
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:47,920
Speaker 3: hand me a box and say you need to keep

1265
00:54:47,960 --> 00:54:49,040
Speaker 3: these under lock and key.

1266
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:49,640
Speaker 6: Oh wow.

1267
00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:52,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a little bit pressure sitting on a secret.

1268
00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:56,279
Speaker 4: I was sitting on that a while, and you were.

1269
00:54:56,360 --> 00:54:57,960
Speaker 6: You even talked about it like right away at the

1270
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:00,279
Speaker 6: beginning of the interview too, just the idea of you're

1271
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,000
Speaker 6: going to use these week one, but then you got

1272
00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:04,440
Speaker 6: to go back to kind of the current book and everything.

1273
00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:06,879
Speaker 6: So the turnaround and that on a short week as well.

1274
00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:09,239
Speaker 6: I mean, that's gonna be a lot of decals and and.

1275
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:11,200
Speaker 4: Face masks and everything else. You gotta get ready.

1276
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know the great thing is, like I said,

1277
00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:16,800
Speaker 3: these guys, they we've already discussed.

1278
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,720
Speaker 4: A plan on how we're going to get that turned around.

1279
00:55:18,719 --> 00:55:19,400
Speaker 4: What we're going to do.

1280
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:22,600
Speaker 3: You know, after the third preseason game, we got to

1281
00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:27,160
Speaker 3: switch it to the classic helmet look and we have

1282
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:28,400
Speaker 3: a great partnership with Nike.

1283
00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:29,320
Speaker 4: Uh.

1284
00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:31,839
Speaker 3: It was funny because you know, I knew that we

1285
00:55:31,840 --> 00:55:33,439
Speaker 3: were going to wear in week one, but nobody else

1286
00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:34,120
Speaker 3: couldn't know it.

1287
00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:37,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure, like even on your staff. I did kind

1288
00:55:37,520 --> 00:55:40,400
Speaker 1: of mention it to Okay, I mean secret.

1289
00:55:40,760 --> 00:55:41,800
Speaker 4: The Nike guy reached.

1290
00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:43,040
Speaker 3: Out to me and he's like, hey, Mike, have y'all

1291
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:45,560
Speaker 3: decided when y'all going to wear those classic jerseys? And

1292
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 3: I asked him, I said, Dustin, know you're sitting down.

1293
00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:48,560
Speaker 4: Here's I know.

1294
00:55:48,600 --> 00:55:50,120
Speaker 3: I said, I think I need you to sit down

1295
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:53,800
Speaker 3: when I said week one, and then he just started

1296
00:55:53,800 --> 00:55:54,440
Speaker 3: breathing heavy.

1297
00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:57,680
Speaker 4: He was like, but I was told we was gonna

1298
00:55:57,680 --> 00:55:58,640
Speaker 4: wear him later in the year.

1299
00:55:58,680 --> 00:56:02,000
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, that's a lot of factories on why

1300
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:04,800
Speaker 3: this is happening, and we got to make it happen.

1301
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:08,239
Speaker 3: So I told him, I said, take a week, let's

1302
00:56:08,239 --> 00:56:10,359
Speaker 3: think you get in touch with the factories. I'll come

1303
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:13,640
Speaker 3: over the plan here and we'll execute it. So now

1304
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:15,480
Speaker 3: the pressure is on because we announced it.

1305
00:56:16,080 --> 00:56:18,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, we announced it in there for sale, So the

1306
00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:23,480
Speaker 1: production of them is happening. You mentioned a little bit earlier.

1307
00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 1: I think actually, I think before we've got on the podcast,

1308
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:28,920
Speaker 1: because packing makes me think of like taking trips, and

1309
00:56:28,960 --> 00:56:32,120
Speaker 1: I'm like, you're probably like an expert packer because you

1310
00:56:32,200 --> 00:56:34,680
Speaker 1: also love to travel. Oh, I love to travel, and

1311
00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:36,600
Speaker 1: so I wanted to ask you, like, what's your favorite

1312
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:37,799
Speaker 1: trip you've taken.

1313
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,279
Speaker 3: So over the last two years. As a matter of fact,

1314
00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:42,880
Speaker 3: it's about a year ago. I took a trip to

1315
00:56:43,120 --> 00:56:46,480
Speaker 3: Croatia and I was it was funny. I was in Croatia.

1316
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:49,200
Speaker 3: I was on a yacht for ten days and I

1317
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:52,080
Speaker 3: ended up standing Croatia for fourteen days. But I was

1318
00:56:52,080 --> 00:56:54,440
Speaker 3: only supposed to be there ten days. But my buddy

1319
00:56:54,480 --> 00:56:55,960
Speaker 3: was like, what you got going on at the time

1320
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,080
Speaker 3: I was on the floord. I was like nothing. He said,

1321
00:56:58,120 --> 00:57:01,319
Speaker 3: counseling trip back home, and I did it and we

1322
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:04,520
Speaker 3: ended up staying in Croatia for two weeks and then

1323
00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:06,759
Speaker 3: we ended up going to Monaco afterwards.

1324
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:07,200
Speaker 4: Amazing.

1325
00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:10,920
Speaker 3: So I was in Monaco and for my birthday we

1326
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:13,759
Speaker 3: ended up he ended up we got a helicopter and

1327
00:57:13,840 --> 00:57:15,759
Speaker 3: we flew to.

1328
00:57:15,719 --> 00:57:17,120
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, lunch.

1329
00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:19,600
Speaker 4: Yeah. So I did Brazil.

1330
00:57:19,960 --> 00:57:24,360
Speaker 3: I did South Paolo and Floridapolis in Brazil, and I

1331
00:57:24,360 --> 00:57:27,920
Speaker 3: also did a mission trip back in twenty nineteen to

1332
00:57:28,200 --> 00:57:31,640
Speaker 3: Israel and Jerusalem. I was there for three weeks and uh,

1333
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:35,080
Speaker 3: interesting enough to the group that I'm an ambassador for

1334
00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:39,560
Speaker 3: Headquarters is in Minneapolis. So back in twenty nineteen, I

1335
00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:43,400
Speaker 3: did some homeless ministries here in Minneapolis. And now that

1336
00:57:43,400 --> 00:57:46,520
Speaker 3: I think about it, looking back on it, all the

1337
00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:48,720
Speaker 3: signs of pointing that I was going to end up

1338
00:57:48,720 --> 00:57:49,080
Speaker 3: being here.

1339
00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:50,760
Speaker 2: Oh wow, Yeah, that's crazy.

1340
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:53,880
Speaker 1: Every time I hear Croatia, obviously it's so beautiful, but

1341
00:57:53,960 --> 00:57:55,440
Speaker 1: also I'm like, I would need to go on a

1342
00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:56,200
Speaker 1: game of throw.

1343
00:57:57,040 --> 00:57:58,480
Speaker 4: I actually went toward Yeah.

1344
00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:00,800
Speaker 2: Because you want to see what King landing I think

1345
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:01,400
Speaker 2: for sure.

1346
00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:01,840
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1347
00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:05,600
Speaker 3: And the food there's phenomenal, and the people that are

1348
00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:06,360
Speaker 3: just great people.

1349
00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:08,840
Speaker 2: So well, you said you were you were unemployed. I

1350
00:58:08,920 --> 00:58:09,640
Speaker 2: know you joke about it.

1351
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:12,280
Speaker 1: Now you're unemployed for those two years after the Texans

1352
00:58:12,440 --> 00:58:15,280
Speaker 1: And I saw when you tweeted out that you were

1353
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:15,880
Speaker 1: coming here.

1354
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:17,120
Speaker 2: I love what you said here.

1355
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:20,960
Speaker 1: You said, Uh, for every stumble in my life, I've

1356
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:22,439
Speaker 1: always upgraded, that's right.

1357
00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:24,320
Speaker 2: What what you know?

1358
00:58:24,360 --> 00:58:26,600
Speaker 1: Obviously you didn't know if you were coming back here,

1359
00:58:26,600 --> 00:58:28,240
Speaker 1: But what was that time like and what did you

1360
00:58:28,400 --> 00:58:30,840
Speaker 1: learn about from that experience to now.

1361
00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:34,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, so the greatest thing, you know, I'm I'm obviously

1362
00:58:34,400 --> 00:58:39,000
Speaker 3: a huge Christian. I'm a big faith guy, and I

1363
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:41,360
Speaker 3: always believe that when things happening you, that happen for

1364
00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:44,000
Speaker 3: a reason. And at the time when I got to

1365
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:47,200
Speaker 3: let go, I was devastated because I've given thirteen years

1366
00:58:47,480 --> 00:58:51,760
Speaker 3: of everything to an organization and it's like, hey, we

1367
00:58:51,800 --> 00:58:53,360
Speaker 3: appreciate everything you've done, but we're going to go in

1368
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:56,080
Speaker 3: different directions. So it's like, okay, and I just said

1369
00:58:56,080 --> 00:58:58,160
Speaker 3: a predic God. I was like, you know what, Lower,

1370
00:58:58,360 --> 00:59:00,880
Speaker 3: I said, you know what you have in store for me,

1371
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:03,640
Speaker 3: I'm going to sit back, I'm going to be patient,

1372
00:59:04,200 --> 00:59:05,360
Speaker 3: and I'm going to go along.

1373
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:05,760
Speaker 4: For the ride.

1374
00:59:06,200 --> 00:59:08,320
Speaker 3: So for those two years, I got to spend a

1375
00:59:08,360 --> 00:59:10,600
Speaker 3: lot of time going home to Mississippi to visit my

1376
00:59:10,680 --> 00:59:13,320
Speaker 3: mom and was able to be with her for.

1377
00:59:14,040 --> 00:59:15,400
Speaker 4: What at the time we didn't know it was our

1378
00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:16,200
Speaker 4: final birthday.

1379
00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:19,640
Speaker 3: I you know, was able to spend all the holidays

1380
00:59:19,640 --> 00:59:22,760
Speaker 3: with her and then the last and I might champion

1381
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:24,760
Speaker 3: last six days of my life I got to spend

1382
00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:26,720
Speaker 3: with her, so amazing.

1383
00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:29,200
Speaker 1: Everything happens for a reason. They fully believe in that

1384
00:59:29,320 --> 00:59:31,640
Speaker 1: and now you get to start this amazing chapter here.

1385
00:59:31,760 --> 00:59:35,680
Speaker 4: The blessings are flowing right now. I really am. I

1386
00:59:35,760 --> 00:59:38,320
Speaker 4: tell all my compadres in the industry that I hit

1387
00:59:38,360 --> 00:59:38,880
Speaker 4: the jackpot.

1388
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:44,560
Speaker 3: This is a great organization, great facilities both practice and game.

1389
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:47,640
Speaker 3: But the people in the building are what makes it

1390
00:59:47,800 --> 00:59:49,720
Speaker 3: what it is. Phenomenal people here.

1391
00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:52,040
Speaker 2: We're glad to have you, man, so glad to have you.

1392
00:59:52,120 --> 00:59:55,520
Speaker 1: It's yeah. I think everyone is really excited that you're here.

1393
00:59:55,920 --> 00:59:59,240
Speaker 1: And it's hard to replace Dennis, but I mean, I

1394
00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:00,960
Speaker 1: think you're the guy that I hope.

1395
01:00:01,240 --> 01:00:05,439
Speaker 3: I told Mark with this that I cannot replace Dennis Ryan,

1396
01:00:05,800 --> 01:00:07,960
Speaker 3: so I'm not going to try. All I can do

1397
01:00:08,040 --> 01:00:09,880
Speaker 3: is try to be the best version of myself. But

1398
01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:12,440
Speaker 3: Dennis is a like I say, he's a titan in

1399
01:00:12,440 --> 01:00:15,800
Speaker 3: this industry, and I'm honored to carry on what he's

1400
01:00:15,800 --> 01:00:16,560
Speaker 3: already started.

1401
01:00:16,600 --> 01:00:18,280
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to

1402
01:00:18,280 --> 01:00:19,680
Speaker 1: talk to us today. I really appreciate it.

1403
01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:20,560
Speaker 2: I know you guys are.

1404
01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:24,040
Speaker 1: So busy preparing for training camp, and that's what's crazy.

1405
01:00:24,040 --> 01:00:26,400
Speaker 1: He goes in ninety and getting ready for ninety guys,

1406
01:00:26,440 --> 01:00:30,000
Speaker 1: and then well it will be here in well this week,

1407
01:00:30,080 --> 01:00:31,760
Speaker 1: he'll be here this week, so you've already got a

1408
01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:32,320
Speaker 1: lot on your plate.

1409
01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:33,440
Speaker 2: So thank you for doing.

1410
01:00:33,240 --> 01:00:34,960
Speaker 4: This absolutely, thanks for having me.

1411
01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:39,240
Speaker 1: Thanks again to our director of Equipment Services, Mike Person

1412
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:41,800
Speaker 1: for being on the podcast, because I know he's a

1413
01:00:41,920 --> 01:00:45,440
Speaker 1: very busy man right now planning for Camp. I just

1414
01:00:45,480 --> 01:00:48,880
Speaker 1: thinks it must be so such a relief to him.

1415
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:50,800
Speaker 1: I mean, as sad as it is to cut down

1416
01:00:50,800 --> 01:00:53,160
Speaker 1: on a roster and like guys losing jobs like that's

1417
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:56,360
Speaker 1: not what I want obviously, but when it goes down

1418
01:00:56,360 --> 01:00:59,040
Speaker 1: to fifty three, his life just gets a little bit more.

1419
01:01:00,840 --> 01:01:03,120
Speaker 6: Yeah, well it's you lose forty percent of your roster

1420
01:01:03,200 --> 01:01:06,000
Speaker 6: basically at that moment. But I think for all those guys,

1421
01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:09,280
Speaker 6: like they have essentially their protocols, and as he said

1422
01:01:09,280 --> 01:01:11,640
Speaker 6: in the interview, the staff that he has is so

1423
01:01:11,720 --> 01:01:13,200
Speaker 6: good at what they do, they just kind of have

1424
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:15,640
Speaker 6: a second hand to how this is going to get handled.

1425
01:01:16,080 --> 01:01:19,040
Speaker 6: So for a guy like Mike, who is, as he

1426
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:23,400
Speaker 6: describes as diligent a planner as possible for all scenarios,

1427
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:27,080
Speaker 6: I think you know, they look at it as once

1428
01:01:27,320 --> 01:01:29,320
Speaker 6: kind of the edict comes down and who's staying and

1429
01:01:29,320 --> 01:01:31,760
Speaker 6: who's going, they still know there's going to be fluctuation

1430
01:01:31,880 --> 01:01:33,760
Speaker 6: there with trying to pick up other players, et cetera.

1431
01:01:34,120 --> 01:01:35,720
Speaker 6: But a guy like Mike, it just feels like he's

1432
01:01:35,760 --> 01:01:37,360
Speaker 6: got his head on his shoulders and he's kind of

1433
01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:39,919
Speaker 6: trying to look not only, you know, two days ahead,

1434
01:01:39,920 --> 01:01:42,960
Speaker 6: he's looking two months ahead to figure out exactly how

1435
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:46,040
Speaker 6: they're going to function within not only training camp, but

1436
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:49,160
Speaker 6: then start a preseason in the regular season.

1437
01:01:49,200 --> 01:01:51,520
Speaker 1: It's yeah, I mean, the collaboration factor means a lot

1438
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:53,440
Speaker 1: to him, and I know that's probably what really resonated

1439
01:01:53,480 --> 01:01:56,880
Speaker 1: when they were looking for Dennis Fran's replacement, and honestly,

1440
01:01:57,000 --> 01:01:58,840
Speaker 1: like he's just been really awesome getting to know him,

1441
01:01:58,880 --> 01:02:03,000
Speaker 1: and I'm sure that we will we will obviously miss Dennis,

1442
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:05,680
Speaker 1: but Mike is a great, a great person to fill

1443
01:02:05,720 --> 01:02:06,280
Speaker 1: those shoes.

1444
01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:09,360
Speaker 4: So it's crazy, I think, only third in team history.

1445
01:02:09,520 --> 01:02:10,000
Speaker 2: Insane.

1446
01:02:10,120 --> 01:02:11,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I saw the script.

1447
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:13,520
Speaker 5: I was looking at the previous scripts when I got

1448
01:02:13,560 --> 01:02:15,360
Speaker 5: back and saw one of your questions, like how do

1449
01:02:15,400 --> 01:02:18,560
Speaker 5: you replace Dennis? Ryan's just like the third equipment or

1450
01:02:18,600 --> 01:02:22,520
Speaker 5: equipment manager team, Like that's that's like elite level. Yeah,

1451
01:02:22,600 --> 01:02:25,520
Speaker 5: that's like like Kevin Warren being the big tank commissioner.

1452
01:02:25,600 --> 01:02:28,320
Speaker 5: There's like five and big like big san history. So

1453
01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:31,160
Speaker 5: like when you get to that level of you know,

1454
01:02:31,520 --> 01:02:34,920
Speaker 5: job competence, like you're you're I don't know if competence

1455
01:02:34,960 --> 01:02:40,479
Speaker 5: is the word to Yeah.

1456
01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:41,480
Speaker 4: Elite would be a great word to use there. He's elite.

1457
01:02:41,520 --> 01:02:43,160
Speaker 6: So and I think that's part of the reason why

1458
01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:45,360
Speaker 6: Mike got the job too, is I think his experience

1459
01:02:45,400 --> 01:02:49,160
Speaker 6: and everything he'd been through college and pro and then

1460
01:02:49,400 --> 01:02:51,640
Speaker 6: just kind of knowing his reputation, and it felt like,

1461
01:02:52,040 --> 01:02:53,680
Speaker 6: you know, if a guy like Dennis is one of

1462
01:02:53,720 --> 01:02:55,680
Speaker 6: the people that's kind of, you know, giving you the

1463
01:02:55,720 --> 01:02:57,880
Speaker 6: tip of the cap as far as you're going to

1464
01:02:57,920 --> 01:03:00,600
Speaker 6: be the guy taking over in this position, there's a

1465
01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:03,360
Speaker 6: lot of respect there, I think both ways. And so

1466
01:03:03,560 --> 01:03:06,360
Speaker 6: I think given you know who he is, what he's

1467
01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:08,000
Speaker 6: done with his track record is, and just kind of

1468
01:03:08,040 --> 01:03:10,840
Speaker 6: the way that his demeanor is, it feels like they've

1469
01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:12,800
Speaker 6: got the right person here to help take over and

1470
01:03:12,840 --> 01:03:15,480
Speaker 6: succeed what's happened for the last almost fifty years.

1471
01:03:16,800 --> 01:03:19,680
Speaker 1: Uh, he's got his hands full. As we begin training

1472
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:23,280
Speaker 1: camp today, the players reported yesterday they hit the field

1473
01:03:23,400 --> 01:03:27,240
Speaker 1: today as we record this on Wednesday, Fans, you are

1474
01:03:27,920 --> 01:03:32,760
Speaker 1: welcome back for back together weekend starting Saturday, and uh,

1475
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:35,520
Speaker 1: we're I know that there have been several plans and

1476
01:03:35,600 --> 01:03:39,120
Speaker 1: meetings and things in motion for you guys and to

1477
01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:43,000
Speaker 1: create an exciting training camp experience for everyone, and so

1478
01:03:43,040 --> 01:03:46,200
Speaker 1: we look forward to seeing you guys for the next month.

1479
01:03:46,320 --> 01:03:49,440
Speaker 1: Really here of course, don't forget their two night practices

1480
01:03:49,480 --> 01:03:53,920
Speaker 1: to joint practices plus back together weekend this weekend, uh

1481
01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:56,680
Speaker 1: for for training camp. So you can go to Vikings

1482
01:03:56,720 --> 01:03:59,200
Speaker 1: dot com Backslash Training Camp. We highly encourage you to

1483
01:03:59,200 --> 01:04:02,200
Speaker 1: get your tickets. Also on the website, there are a

1484
01:04:02,200 --> 01:04:04,720
Speaker 1: limited number of single game tickets for the twenty twenty

1485
01:04:04,760 --> 01:04:08,520
Speaker 1: three season that are go on sale ten am Thursday,

1486
01:04:08,680 --> 01:04:12,040
Speaker 1: July twenty seventh, So whenever you're listening to this, they

1487
01:04:12,120 --> 01:04:14,840
Speaker 1: might already be on sale or they depending on when you.

1488
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:15,600
Speaker 2: Personally listen to this.

1489
01:04:15,640 --> 01:04:17,880
Speaker 1: But as we record, they're going on sale in about

1490
01:04:17,920 --> 01:04:20,880
Speaker 1: a day, so that should be exciting single game tickets.

1491
01:04:21,400 --> 01:04:23,840
Speaker 1: And Gabe kind of alluded to this a second ago,

1492
01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:26,880
Speaker 1: but pats go on on Monday. Fans are allowed to

1493
01:04:26,880 --> 01:04:29,000
Speaker 1: be out there, but if you can't make it, you

1494
01:04:29,040 --> 01:04:30,840
Speaker 1: can watch the practice on TV.

1495
01:04:31,480 --> 01:04:32,640
Speaker 4: We find time.

1496
01:04:33,440 --> 01:04:37,680
Speaker 1: That's right, we're doing our live broadcast from practice on Monday,

1497
01:04:37,800 --> 01:04:42,320
Speaker 1: so be sure to stay tuned for those details. And yeah,

1498
01:04:42,880 --> 01:04:44,720
Speaker 1: I think that, Oh go ahead, Jay.

1499
01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:45,800
Speaker 6: I was gonna say it is one of the most

1500
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:49,200
Speaker 6: popular things at camp is the autograph sessions, so make

1501
01:04:49,240 --> 01:04:51,640
Speaker 6: sure to yep, go to the site, check out the

1502
01:04:52,280 --> 01:04:53,800
Speaker 6: listing of days and when they're going to be there.

1503
01:04:53,800 --> 01:04:56,360
Speaker 6: It's a little different this year compared to previous years,

1504
01:04:56,680 --> 01:04:58,480
Speaker 6: so make sure you read up on kind of the

1505
01:04:58,480 --> 01:05:01,840
Speaker 6: protocol of how that's going to work. I know last

1506
01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:04,200
Speaker 6: year especially, they had gone through and made it more

1507
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:07,680
Speaker 6: kid centric as far as who's got access, but even

1508
01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:10,280
Speaker 6: how you get access this year is a little bit different,

1509
01:05:10,280 --> 01:05:12,320
Speaker 6: So make sure to go to bikings dot com or

1510
01:05:12,360 --> 01:05:15,800
Speaker 6: the app and just read up before you come to camp,

1511
01:05:15,920 --> 01:05:18,600
Speaker 6: just to figure out, you know, how best to navigate

1512
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,560
Speaker 6: those waters and what days different groups.

1513
01:05:21,280 --> 01:05:22,200
Speaker 4: Are going to be available.

1514
01:05:22,400 --> 01:05:25,560
Speaker 6: And I just it's such a huge thing at camp.

1515
01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:27,600
Speaker 6: Kids love it, adults love it when you know the

1516
01:05:27,720 --> 01:05:30,600
Speaker 6: kids get that chance to have that interaction, and so

1517
01:05:30,760 --> 01:05:32,880
Speaker 6: just make sure that you are informed as to how

1518
01:05:32,880 --> 01:05:33,800
Speaker 6: it's going to work this year.

1519
01:05:33,880 --> 01:05:34,280
Speaker 2: I love that.

1520
01:05:34,320 --> 01:05:37,080
Speaker 1: Thanks for oding that in there for sure. All right, game,

1521
01:05:37,200 --> 01:05:39,400
Speaker 1: any of the last thoughts before we sign off today.

1522
01:05:40,200 --> 01:05:40,760
Speaker 1: Welcome back.

1523
01:05:40,880 --> 01:05:44,000
Speaker 5: I don't know how Justin Herbert is ranked over Terry mclauren,

1524
01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:46,280
Speaker 5: DeAndre Hopkins, Trevor Lauren.

1525
01:05:46,680 --> 01:05:49,120
Speaker 4: No, I can't. That was like really on my mind.

1526
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:51,280
Speaker 2: All morning was the Justin Herbert contract.

1527
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:53,640
Speaker 5: No, not Justin, I mean Justin Phils. I'm sorry, Justin

1528
01:05:53,640 --> 01:05:57,000
Speaker 5: phil top one. Sorry, guys, The NFL Top one hundred

1529
01:05:57,320 --> 01:06:00,240
Speaker 5: rank Justin Filds as the eighty fifth overall player and

1530
01:06:00,280 --> 01:06:03,840
Speaker 5: he's like over DeAndre Hopkins, Like, oh my, Dalvin Cook,

1531
01:06:03,920 --> 01:06:08,080
Speaker 5: Harrison Smith, Harrison Smith and Eric. Yeah, he hasn't even

1532
01:06:08,160 --> 01:06:09,880
Speaker 5: thrown for twenty five hundred passing yards.

1533
01:06:09,760 --> 01:06:11,400
Speaker 4: But he's done for four thousand this year, so you

1534
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:13,680
Speaker 4: know that's the way it's going to be. Yeah, but yeah,

1535
01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:15,560
Speaker 4: Justin Herbert though, yeah, yeah.

1536
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:16,680
Speaker 2: Oh yeah yeah.

1537
01:06:17,240 --> 01:06:20,840
Speaker 1: Setting continuing to set the ceiling to the quarterback. I

1538
01:06:20,880 --> 01:06:24,440
Speaker 1: saw a list it was like what quarterbacks in this

1539
01:06:24,520 --> 01:06:26,400
Speaker 1: league get paid yearly? And Kirk's like not even in

1540
01:06:26,440 --> 01:06:28,120
Speaker 1: the top ten anymore. And that was like such a

1541
01:06:28,120 --> 01:06:30,640
Speaker 1: big deal when he had signed his contract in twenty eighteen.

1542
01:06:31,080 --> 01:06:33,640
Speaker 4: Well, he's the reason why these quarterbacks are getting paid.

1543
01:06:33,680 --> 01:06:36,000
Speaker 1: The market is inflating, which only makes it so much

1544
01:06:36,040 --> 01:06:39,960
Speaker 1: more fun for this front office as we move forward.

1545
01:06:40,360 --> 01:06:44,480
Speaker 4: For sure. Man, hope those TV deals continue to inflate.

1546
01:06:45,160 --> 01:06:47,080
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's the thing, the TV deals, the web deals,

1547
01:06:47,120 --> 01:06:49,320
Speaker 6: everything else. I mean, that's the way it goes. It

1548
01:06:49,480 --> 01:06:53,000
Speaker 6: just everybody anticipates it keeps growing every year after year.

1549
01:06:53,040 --> 01:06:55,520
Speaker 6: In these contracts are getting crazy and crazier, so I.

1550
01:06:55,480 --> 01:06:58,520
Speaker 2: Don't see the consuming getting any less. So I'm all for.

1551
01:06:58,920 --> 01:07:01,400
Speaker 2: I just also realized that you guys are matching today.

1552
01:07:01,600 --> 01:07:02,840
Speaker 4: I figured this was going to happen.

1553
01:07:03,080 --> 01:07:05,320
Speaker 2: And by you guys mean Eric, producer, our producer on

1554
01:07:05,360 --> 01:07:05,640
Speaker 2: the show.

1555
01:07:05,720 --> 01:07:06,960
Speaker 6: To here, I want to put the shirt on, and

1556
01:07:06,960 --> 01:07:09,960
Speaker 6: I said, there's about a sixty Eric and I wear the.

1557
01:07:09,960 --> 01:07:11,919
Speaker 2: Same shirt today, so sixty percent chance.

1558
01:07:12,000 --> 01:07:13,360
Speaker 4: Well we're in the same office too.

1559
01:07:13,600 --> 01:07:15,120
Speaker 2: Oh cute, cute, cute.

1560
01:07:15,280 --> 01:07:16,440
Speaker 4: So you guys really did plan this.

1561
01:07:16,560 --> 01:07:18,439
Speaker 1: You guys need to take like a Stepbrothers photo least

1562
01:07:18,440 --> 01:07:19,040
Speaker 1: to get the memo.

1563
01:07:19,280 --> 01:07:20,240
Speaker 4: At least you get the memo.

1564
01:07:20,400 --> 01:07:21,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, y'all texted each other.

1565
01:07:22,400 --> 01:07:23,280
Speaker 4: That's a gast thing I.

1566
01:07:23,200 --> 01:07:26,760
Speaker 6: Do wake up think about Eric, text him, text to him, Yeah,

1567
01:07:27,080 --> 01:07:27,680
Speaker 6: how's it going?

1568
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:29,120
Speaker 4: Hopefully your morning's going good.

1569
01:07:29,280 --> 01:07:32,720
Speaker 2: And the shirt I'm wearing podcast, See you soon, See

1570
01:07:32,760 --> 01:07:34,560
Speaker 2: you soon, all right, you guys.

1571
01:07:34,800 --> 01:07:37,520
Speaker 1: Next podcast, we will hopefully have another exciting guest for you,

1572
01:07:37,600 --> 01:07:39,800
Speaker 1: as well as the latest from training camp.

1573
01:07:39,840 --> 01:07:40,840
Speaker 2: We appreciate you

1574
01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:43,800
Speaker 1: Listening to the Minnesota Baking's podcast and we'll talk soon.