WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 37: Draft Stories (ft. Darin Gantt) 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:09.400 It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:20.800 Kristen Belboni and Will Brian, presented by Morris Jenkins. That's right, 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:22.319 it's that time of the week. Welcome to the Happy 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.160 Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins and Mr Jenkins 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.400 told me that his plumbers and a c text secretly 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.560 wear Panthers jerseys under their uniforms. When you're plumbing or 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.960 air conditioning is acting up, called Morris Jenkins or visit 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:36.840 Morris Jenkins dot com. Will Matt, it is draft week 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.240 and we have secured. When I talk about an A 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.720 plus guest, it doesn't get much better than this. Am 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:47.200 I right, Well, years of NFL insider experience, there's nothing 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:49.360 like him. You think that, you think that schefter is 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.000 the one breaking news, and I will say hard to 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.120 get a hold of. We share an office sometimes. I 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:59.960 bet I've asked. You know, the digits always got something 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:04.360 going on. We're just kidding. No one is no one 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.280 is friendly, or no one is nicer. But I was 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.280 not kidding about this being an A plus guest. Darren Gant, 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.200 the Panthers writer, I mean, I just saw you a 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:14.880 few minutes ago, but it's good to see you again 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.920 with the headphones on the mic in front of your face. Which, 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.120 it's good to be here. It's good to finally be 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.200 invited to be here. I mean, frankly, my feelings were 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.360 a little hurt that I hadn't been invited until now. 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.200 But now it's good. You're so busy doing all the 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:36.080 other Charlotte media. Yeah, it's it's a real jam pack schedule. No, gosh, No, 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.360 it's good to be here. This is cool. It's it's 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:41.039 this is one of the cool little places in the 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:42.920 stadium that a lot of people don't get to see. 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.360 And it's like it's our neat, little hidy hole where 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.440 we can just come and talk about stuff. It's very 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:52.440 it's a very soothing place the podcast and radio studio. Uh, 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:57.120 it's it's really nice. Yeah, I'll always like coming in here. Um, alright, 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.440 so it's draft week. We're going to talk a lot 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.800 about let's let's football. Indeed, talk a lot about that 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.440 over the course of this episode. But Darren, Look, nobody 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.680 knows more than Darren. Nobody is found in the pavement, 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:13.080 walk in the halls more than Darren. So what are 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.560 you hearing? What are you thinking about? What the Panthers 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.120 are gonna do in the draft on on Thursday, Friday 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:20.320 and Saturday. Well and the one thing. And we'll have 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.200 more about this later this week at Panthers dot com. 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.959 There it is, um. I think it's interesting they went 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.840 through very deliberately this offseason trying to check off as 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.600 many boxes as they could. They probably would have needed 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.080 a pass rusher, except you go sign a Hassan Reddick. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:39.560 You know, you needed some clarity at quarterback, you make 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.160 the Sam Donald deal. You needed to fill in blanks 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.280 on the offensive line. They went at Boom boom Boom. 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.080 Signed three guys pretty early in the process, and they've 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.000 added guys at every layer. They filled in At cornerback, 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.560 I think k J. Booie has the potential to be 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.680 a really good piece of business. Uh, cornerback still something 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:57.640 they're going to be looking at early, I think in 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:02.320 this process this weekend. But if you didn't sign J. Booie, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.880 then it's oh my god, we gotta take you know, 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.440 then you get pinned into that Dave Getlman positional disaster 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.519 thing where you have to take and everybody in the 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.680 world knows you have to take a thing. And I 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.600 think you can make a reasonable case, and we kind 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:19.880 of did this last week on the website. They're about 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.880 four different, five different options that you could say, yeah, 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.040 that makes sense. I mean, obviously, I think they'd like 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.800 to draft an offensive tackle. If a sul's there at eight, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.040 I think he's a run don't walk to the podium guy. 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.120 You just do that without asking any questions or giving 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.560 anybody a chance. And it's like they're on the clock. 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.800 They're off the clock. Yeah, I mean, and that's the 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:43.920 way it was when they drafted Jordan Gross. There was 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.800 a weird thing literally ran. Yeah, there was a weird 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.280 thing where the Vikings actually passed and their time expired 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.600 and Jackie Miles was literally running to the podium. It's like, yep, 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.320 Jordan's our guy. We talked about that on the Draft 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.560 show last year. Jordan was one of the hosts. Yeah, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.320 of those situations, but yeah, they It could also be corner, 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:05.960 it could also be wide receiver, depending on what a 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:07.920 couple of teams do in front of him. I think 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.040 they've got some interesting options depending on what they want 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.880 to do and how it follows in front of them. 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.640 How are you feeling about Scott Fitterer. I mean, I 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.200 think everyone was impressed. Certainly if you look at all 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.640 the Twitter replies, the memes that were coming out of 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.000 free agency were incredible, the memes and the gifts of 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.320 what Fitterer is doing in free agency. But but Darren, 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.839 you and I have gotten to spend some time with him, 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.599 and I just you know, we said this with Rule 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.600 last year too. It's like, you know, the first draft 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.320 and just unfazed. He's ready to go. I mean, he 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.599 succeeded so much in Seattle, um known for trading back, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.280 and it feels like he's he's ready. You know. I 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.000 think Scott's an interesting guy for a lot of reasons. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:51.800 One of the things kind of caught my eye when 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:53.400 he was at the b y U pro day. He 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.360 goes out to look at Zach Wilson, who they're not 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.480 going to have an opportunity because he will go second. 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.400 But while he was out there, they end up signing 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.640 anotherwide receiver. And if you look at the pictures from 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.719 that pro day, when people are running forties, who's sitting 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:08.720 right on the forty yard line with a stop watch 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.039 in his hand. Scott Fitter. Scott Fitter is a he's 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.120 a road guy. He's an old scout at heart. He 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.719 wants to be out there clocking guys himself, making notes 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.400 on his clipboard, you know, doing all the old scout stuff. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.359 I mean, that's how he grew up in the business. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.760 He told and other people told me stories about him 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.960 growing up in the business. When he was with the Giants, 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.400 they used to have this thing called the box. And 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.320 the box was this big, heavy thing that young scouts 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.000 had to carry around and it had instruments and it 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.080 was basically a thing guys had to run back and 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.039 forth and touch these pressure pads to measure lateral quickness 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.400 stuff like that. But it was this huge honking box 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.080 that he had to carry around. Scott Fitter secretly loved 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.560 carrying the box. That's the kind of guy he is. 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.680 He's that road scout. He wants to be out there. 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.600 So that's why this process has been so weird, because 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.279 he can't be everywhere he wants to be because you 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.480 can only send three people to any pro day. So 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.880 they dropped it up amongst him. Scouts position coaches will 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.000 be at certain places, and you know, I think it 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.480 will be interesting to see how Scott grows into that 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.360 role and starts, you know, this is the weekend coming 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.520 up when he's really going to be great at on 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.760 stuff because nail in those first round picks is something 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.279 I think people took for granted for a long time 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.640 around here under Marty hernie Um. Say whatever you want 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.200 about the rest of drafts or whatever, but that's a 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:33.320 lot of pressure on Scott. You know, you've got the 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:35.920 eighth pick, make it count because usually they do around 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.400 here well, and as you said, it's it's not just 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:40.840 that eighth pick, but then you got to nail those 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.200 other ones too down the list. It's yeah, and it's 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.560 going to be important. I think, you know, looking at 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.200 last year's draft, I mean, yes, I think Derrick Brown 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:52.080 is going to be a big time player for a 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.360 long time to come. But then to come back with 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:56.960 Jeremy Chen, it's like, whoa, all of a sudden, this 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.560 is looking like a really good drip and n once 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:01.520 he got it. But you know, he struggled with some 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.400 injuries throughout the season but really had to step up 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:08.200 as that line um was depleted, you know, further and 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:12.000 further down the season. So yeah, last year, last year 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:14.240 was a good draft. We're gonna see what happens this year. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.840 And you know, talking about that less less exposure to 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:19.720 some of these guys, you know, where does that really 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.559 make the impact across the league? Is it with the fourth, fifth, 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.160 sixth round picks, Because it's even harder to get to 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:27.960 some of the smaller schools or guys that maybe you 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.200 don't have more access to, no question, And as a 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:32.360 matter of fact, we just published a story about this 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:38.160 very topic at Panthers dot com. That's sound together. Um yeah, 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.000 they are going to be They will draft someone this 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.000 weekend they've never spoken to in person. I mean, and 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.760 you can say what you want about watching film and 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.760 that's the most important thing. But Matt talked about the 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.840 importance of getting to know what these guys are like 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.600 as people and trying to get inside somebody's head over 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.840 a zoom call. As you guys know, for all the 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.400 you know, teams meetings we have and stuff like that, 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.200 it's kind of hard to figure out, you know, what 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:08.160 you're looking at sometimes much less someone's intent beyond their words. 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.720 So I think it's gonna be tough. And when you 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.320 get down in fourth the sixth round, um yeah, you're 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:18.360 gonna be watching a guy that you basically have maybe 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.200 not even talked to. But you've watched a lot of film, 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:23.520 You've got the measurements on him and that kind of stuff, 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.000 and that's gonna be tricky. I mean this, this year's 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.720 draft is gonna be so dodgy in a sense because 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.200 of so many situations like that. I think there's an 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:38.120 opportunity for people to really miss big because you don't 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.560 know because you've never talked to this guy or have 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:42.560 any kind of relationship. And talking to some of the 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.199 scouts too, it's you know, not only the combine, which 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.440 we didn't touch on so last year, for everything that 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.400 was going on, the combines still happened and they were 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.640 still able to get those those forty times you know, 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.440 we're they're clocking them and and all of that and 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.080 everything that comes along with the combine. But also some 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.199 of the scouts have pointed out that when you're watching film, 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.000 you know, not everyone played complete seasons. Some guys either 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.600 opted out, some teams, a lot of teams did not 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.240 play um full seasons because of everything going on. So 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.040 they're watching tape from two years ago, you know, So 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:16.600 it's all going to be it's all going to be 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.400 very interesting. Um, but I have to ask you, Darren. 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.760 So you've you've done two plugs for the website. Um, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:24.520 we'll set you up on the last one. So what's 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.880 it like working with Will? Oh? Will's the best, the best. 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.760 Wills like the young wizard behind the curtain. Now do 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:33.200 everything does? It's easy to do my part. I just 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.360 talked to people in right words. Will. It's the guy 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:37.880 who has to make them look pretty and make them 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.200 appear on the internet. And that's the part that kind 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.520 of Will's taking so many calls from me, like what 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.120 does that button do? I would not know? How do 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.920 I make this a thing that exists in the world? 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.440 And Will's very patient, very calm. It's like talking to 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.079 your parents, you know, trying to explain the iPhone deep 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.360 Mom and dad. Darren's being overly humble. But Will is 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.600 the best, that Will is really good at what he does. 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:03.920 I couldn't do what I do without him. So I 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:05.840 have a question for you guys. Since we talked about 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.360 how matt Rule likes to get to know these guys 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.240 over zoom, he plays the Desert Island song game or 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.800 band game. If his choices Dave Matthews, who would y'alls 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:21.680 be beatles? You know that already. I'm torn on this 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.080 one because you've got to think about a lot of time. 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.400 Somebody's gonna have to have a lot of material or 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.360 you're gonna get really sick of listening to him. Um, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:32.640 I go back and forth. It would probably be either 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:37.080 led Zeppelin or Johnny Cash and that's just kind of 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.760 I mean, it's it's very different. You've got to have 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:43.280 somebody who can sing rock and roll songs and also 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.960 things you can chill out and listen to. And led 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.160 Zeppelin's like that. M That's what my husband would say. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:50.960 We get into that all the time about the He's like, 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:52.240 he says the same thing. He's like, that's why its 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.240 led Zeppel. I'm like, that's why it's the Beatle. I 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:58.280 don't know what. Well, what's yours? Um, I mean, I'm 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.160 gonna get slamed for this one too. I'd go with 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:04.760 you too, just because you have forty years worth of 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.480 stuff and you can go from like really emotional to 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.040 like just really just you know, a banger. You know, 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:15.080 that's that's just fun. Matt, you got one. Uh, it's 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.360 probably either Young the Giant or twenty one Pilots. I 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:22.200 like those two. Okay, like it. All right, Darren, I 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.400 know you're a busy guy. We're gonna let you out 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:29.400 of here, yes to write your next incredible article. But 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.840 before you do, I want to ask you give us 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.280 give us a Darren story about the draft. So for 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.920 anyone who doesn't know, and I don't know why they 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:40.800 wouldn't know this, but just in case there's one or 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.120 two people out there, how long have you been covering 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:47.480 the Panthers in some capacity? All of them, all of 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.959 the years of recorded time. Um no, I was helping 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.440 out covering in ninety five, I mean the first year. 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.000 Wasn't doing it full time until ninety seven. But been 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.000 around a long time. It's took a little break there 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.600 to go work for a now sational website. But I'm 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.320 back now. And but we'll walk out to the practice 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.680 field and Darren will tell me a story that happened. 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:08.120 You know, He's like, this is when the strength coach 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:15.000 jumped the fence, when the apartments John Fox's first meeting. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:20.840 Just walk anywhere with Darren and he has an incredible story. Well, 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.640 and I mean honestly, two thousand two, John Fox's first 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.040 meeting camp. All the reporters were sitting on the hill 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:30.880 opposite the apartments across Cedar Street, and we see smoke, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.200 and all these people who were trained to observe things 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.040 and then respond to them and describe them, set and 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.120 watch these buildings burned for a good minute, and somebody said, 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.960 you know, we should probably call the fire department, and 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:47.280 so then we all started calling nine one one on 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:49.880 these new things we had then called cell phones. Um, 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:51.800 I think mine was a black berry at that time, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.560 but yeah, I mean Jerry Simmons, who was a strength 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.760 that time, actually jumped to the fence, tore his hand open, 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:01.840 I'm a wire over the top of the fence and 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.560 ended up mule kicking down a door and helping save 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.040 a guy who was asleep in a burning building. How 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.000 cool is that? And so we were out there watching 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:14.520 football practice and that happened. Yeah. Raft that, oh draft weekend, Well, 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.920 I mean it's really covering a draft from inside the 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.440 stadiums one of the most glamorous things you can imagine. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.160 You spend the weekend down in the bunker. They wheel 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.440 catered food in occasionally, and it's you know, the lineup 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:27.640 to traw feat the free food, and then you sit 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.480 and you wait and you talk and back. I remember 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.800 this was back in the nineties. This was very early 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.480 newspaper career for me. Another one of our co workers, 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:38.440 David Monroe, would always come down and there was a 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:40.160 speaker phone in the middle of the press room, and 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:42.199 when they draft a guy, they'd call him on the 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.480 speaker phone, put him on speaker all the reporters talked 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.400 to him. Well, Monroe came down with a phone number 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.600 of this guy they just drafted written on a little card, 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.520 and he'd come down into the room and dial it. 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.840 And so I was an enterprising young reporter and I 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.640 just stood over Monroe's shoulder and watched what he dialed 0:13:57.679 --> 0:13:59.480 and wrote it down in my notebook. Makes all the 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.880 sense to me. That way, I had that guy's phone number, 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.520 and and at a certain point in the day. That 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.120 was back when the draft was rounds one through three 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.120 on the first day and then four through seven on 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.880 the second. At a certain point later in that draft, 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.360 maybe about the third round, another one of our coworkers, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:19.720 Bruce Spit, caught me. He's at PR. Just to give context, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.360 Team PR. Bruce Spait the Hammer caught me and on 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.840 day two of that draft, they started calling guys upstairs 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:28.880 and transferring him down to the speaker phone in the 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:32.800 press room. I ruined it for that. Will not peak 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.880 Darren and Pete Bruce. Oh completely, It's it's protect Bruce, 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.440 protecting Bruce, protecting the new guys, and Darren finding a 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.560 new and different way to get into contact. I love it, Darren. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.160 This is yeah, this is this is this is so 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.520 much fun. I wish you had invited me sooner. No, 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.040 I'm just this is good. I'll come back. Will you 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:58.400 come back? It's happy happy next time like happy, all right, 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.000 We're gonna take you up on that next Okay, all right, 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.840 thanks Darren. Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkins told me. 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.920 Mr Jenkis told me to always make it easy for 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:12.080 the customer. That's you alive person will always be here 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.280 to answer the phone. We're here till midnight, seven days 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.040 a week, so you never have to take off work. 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.000 And it's the same price as in the daytime. We're 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.520 the ones you want to call. We're the ones you 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.200 want to call. We're the ones you want to call. 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.520 You're gonna love these people. I guarantee. Got to Morris 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:34.160 Jenkins dot com, welcome back to the Happy half Hour. 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.320 It is always great to have the incomparable Darren Gant 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.840 with us. Really really enjoyed that. Here on the Happy 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.760 Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins and Will Mr 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.200 Jenkins told me that the Panthers make him proud and 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.760 he's honored to support the team. When you're plumb, her 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:50.880 air conditioning is acting up, called Morris Jenkins or visit 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.560 Morris Jenkins dot com. All right, well it is time 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:56.920 we heard some we heard some draft stories from from Darren. 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:58.800 It's hard to compete with Darren, it is. It's hard 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.000 to compete with Darren. Darren is an and master storyteller. 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.720 But I think if anyone can compete with Darren, it 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:09.000 will be you. Because I have heard little teases, as 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.920 we say in the biz, about some of your past 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:16.400 experiences on draft night, and I need to hear the 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:19.240 whole story in honor of Draft week, I need to 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:24.680 hear about a couple of these past ridiculous stories from 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.040 a few years back. Yeah. So this is I mean, 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:28.920 this really is one of my favorite weeks of the 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.640 year because yeah, there's just so much going on. Um, 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:37.480 this represents my work anniversary I think four years ago, 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.040 five years ago. Now you started the week of the draft. Yes, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.600 that's why this is so incredible. So literally my first weekend, 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.760 we had a meeting of UM at that point, a 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.280 smaller digital team in one where we were trying for 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:53.680 the first time to get actual footage of our draft pick. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:58.640 And it was going to be in Philadelphia. Gonna what year, Piladelphia, Philadelphia. 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.560 The year is two thousand seventeen, and so we're going 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:05.280 down the list of potential prospects. We were picking eighth, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.960 just like this year UM in the first round, and 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:09.280 you know a number of them were going to be 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.760 in Philadelphia, but one prospect that was a potential for 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:14.760 us was going to be watching it from his house 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:19.359 in h Castle Rock, Colorado, right south from Denver UM. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.520 And that was Christian McCaffrey. Never heard of him, never 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.440 heard So at this point, again we had a very 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.320 small team. We were going to send most of our 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.840 our assets to Philly, and they're like, well, what if 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.959 what if we were to take Christian then we wouldn't 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:33.720 have any video, we wouldn't have any pictures. You know, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.439 he's out in Colorado. And everyone kind of looked at me, 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.399 and I was working in the PR team at this point, 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.400 but I had in a previous job, had camera work, 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.119 had done all this stuff, and they're like, well, go 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.640 to Colorado and this is what day two. Yeah, day 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.760 two of the Yeah, I'm like, Okay, that's awesome, this 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.000 is cool. So you know, I had seen like the 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.160 meme of him at Stanford with like the guy yelling 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:56.960 in the back. But I'm like looking him up on 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.399 the plane like out to Colorado to like get to 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.119 know more at um um Okay, but that's he was 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.399 a Heisman finalist, though it's on the West Coast. I 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.080 covered college football during that time, and it's I mean, gosh, 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.960 he was incredible. But yes, the games were very late. 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:14.159 I've lived in l A at that time, and I 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.080 truly feel like, I don't know if I can say this, 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.720 if this is a hot take, truly feel like if 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:21.639 if his games were played on the East Coast, I 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:25.400 think he would have been the Heisman winner. I'm just saying, 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.480 all right, proceed with your story. All right, So I'm 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:32.160 flying out day of the first round the draft Thursday morning. Um, 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.200 the way we set it up, his agent knew that 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.000 there's potential for for someone to be there from the 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.680 digital team. But you know, didn't didn't tell anyone more 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.639 than that, And I just want to be clear just 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.080 in case anyone doesn't know. I love the behind the 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.600 scenes stuff. As you said, the digital team, you don't 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:52.119 know that that it's going to be Christian McCaffrey. As 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.320 you said, everyone is setting up for different eventualities. But 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:58.360 of course you know those conversations were had ahead of time. 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:01.040 The media is talking about it. So he's in play 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.840 as one of the chop picks, and that's why you're there, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:05.639 But you don't know that that he is going to 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.479 be the pants. I just want to any camera in 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.800 Philadelphia ready for potentially Leonard four net if that would 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.639 have happened. Um, So this was just he was He 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.719 wasn't going to be in Philly, so we needed to 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.120 cover this base. And his agent is aware that one 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.000 of the potential teams and maybe some other ones who knows, 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.240 you know, would be around to get footage. So even 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.600 saying that though, it was go to his house and 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.440 sit on the street until we know, you know, don't 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.919 you don't go in there. You were sitting outside. We 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.919 were sitting outside a SBI steak out. Oh yeah. And 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.760 the best part was so I had the address when 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.200 we I pulled up. Of course it's a gated community, 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:44.520 and I'm like, wait a minute, no one knows I'm coming. 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.000 How do I get in? And so thankfully I was 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.760 like wearing a suit, I had like all my gear 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.040 and stuff in the car, and I was thinking, like, 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:55.080 in the moment, I bet like ESPN or some other 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:57.439 camera crews are probably already here, you know, to do 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.200 like remote stuff with him. So I'm sure that they're 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:02.600