WEBVTT - The Dave Pasch Podcast - Adrian Wilson 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:07.040 Hey, everybody, Welcome to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast. 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.960 This week's guest is Cardinal's Ring of Honor safety Adrian 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.800 Wilson A dub is currently the vice president of Pro 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.360 Scouting for the Arizona Cardinals, and he has a big 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.799 role in the front office. Most Cardinal fans, though, know 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:26.040 of Adrian as a great player. Five times in the 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:30.479 Pro Bowl, three time All Pro, twelve total years with 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:35.599 the Arizona Cardinals, twenty seven interceptions, more than twenty five sacks, 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:39.920 and four defensive touchdowns. Part of the two eighteen that 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.080 went to the Super Bowl, part of the team the 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:44.560 following year that went back to the playoffs and beat 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.840 the Green Bay Packers. Inducted into the Ring of Honor. 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.960 As we mentioned in part of the Personnel Department since 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.520 twenty fifty. We talked with Adrian about how he got 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.920 started in this business, what his role is now with 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:01.640 the organization. We also live some of his favorite moments 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.560 playing for the Arizona Cardinals, including when he played with 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.959 the late Pat Tillman and the late Quam Lasseter. We'll 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.240 also talk about this year's Arizona Cardinals and how they 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.640 compare to that twenty eighteen that went to Super Bowl 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:16.920 forty three. I think we have a lot of the 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.640 same characteristics in terms of young guys that got drafted 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.160 here that are, you know, kind of coming into our 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.679 own now. To me, we have a franchise quarterback and 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.959 Carlin Murray looking back on those championship years that we 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.560 had No. Eight, No nine, we want a division. I 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:35.040 think that you know, it's very similar. We are presented 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.480 by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner or at the 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.600 Arizona Cardinals, and by Hila River Hotels and Casinos. Sign 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.840 up for BETMGM today using code cards one thousand and 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.560 get your first bet risk free up to one thousand dollars. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:50.920 New customer offer paid in free bets. Visit betmgm dot 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.480 com for terms and conditions. Twenty one and over Arizona only, 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.360 Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:05.600 step time out for our conversation with Adrian Wilson. So 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:07.320 I get a ton of stuff I want to cover 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:09.959 with you, man, but let's start with talking about this team. 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.680 After the wins Sunday in Dallas, how do you feel 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:18.200 Do you feel confident that this team is back to 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.240 what we saw in September and October or do you 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.480 still need to see more? That's a loaded question. I'm 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.880 relieved to get back, you know, to winning, getting back 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:30.880 to kind of how we knew we could play football, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.240 you know, the past three weeks half being tough, just 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.720 you know, going through a losing streak, you know, knowing 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:38.760 that we were better than than what we were putting 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.680 on the field, you know, just just really going out 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:43.320 there and doubling down on some of the things they 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.240 needed to do in terms of, you know, not turning 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.560 the ball over, the penalties and just making clutch plays. 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:51.079 You know, I think that, you know, that game Sunday 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.400 really put everything in perspective in terms of what we 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.440 were doing in the first part of the season. Let's 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.360 go back to that. Because the Cardinals get off to 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.320 a seven and those start and a lot of people 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.720 nationally that still weren't believing, they still didn't buy in. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.440 And maybe that's because a lot of people didn't really 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:10.799 see a lot of the games until the Thursday night 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:12.880 game against Green Bay. What were some of the things 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.239 early on that you look at and point to and say, 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:17.880 you know, that's because you've been on great teams. That's 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.600 what a championship team looks like. Well, I think, you know, 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.400 the consistency of of going on the road and winning 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.400 on the road, you know, and the style of how 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.799 we were winning. I think that you know, when teams 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.680 look at us, you know, they look at Kyler, they 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.200 look at you know, Cliff, they look at you know, 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.600 the air raid kind of persona behind the offense, and 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.680 that's not really you know, how our team has built. 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.800 Our team is built to be a physical team. And really, 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.080 you know, that's kind of what we've always hung our 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.880 hat on. Was was that element of our game. I 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:52.840 like how you said that because I think a lot 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.520 of people would not assume that when you say built 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.000 to be a physical team. I know James Connor has 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.200 missed the last couple of games. Hopefully it's back this week, 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.120 if not for the playoffs. When you guys decided to 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:06.880 bring him in, how much of what you said before 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.760 about being a physical team, how much were you thinking 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.360 about James Connor? It was it was all we thought about. Um. 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:15.840 I think going into the off season when me and 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:18.600 Steve sat down, we really you know, sat down and 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.440 really wanted to talk about the guys that we were 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:23.480 bringing in, you know, what type of people were wanted 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.560 to bring into the building, and whether it was you know, 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.719 Rodney Hudson, whether it was J. J. Watt Um, whether 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:33.159 it was being able to add Zavian Collins to the 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.640 Mets throughout the draft Um, the defensive line rotation that 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.360 we've had over the past two years, was being able 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:41.960 to add that defensive line. You know, we wanted to 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.960 be stronger down the middle, and James into that equation 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.200 and then getting Rodney, I think it gave us a 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.919 pretty solid foundation in terms of what we wanted to 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.280 be offensively, in terms of just being the physical football team. 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.840 I want to get back to this team in the season. 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.520 But you talked about sitting down with Steve. You're you're 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.479 heavily in involved in all the decisions here with the 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.320 Cardinals as the vice president of Pro Personnel. And I'm 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.760 curious because there are a lot of players, maybe more 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.200 so in the NBA than the NFL, of your stature, 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.840 guys that are borderline Hall of famers. I mean, you 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.480 are in the Cardinals Ring of Honor. They're only I 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.040 want to get into the Hall of Fame because it's 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.120 only I think six or seven true safeties in the 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.799 Hall of Fame. I've always felt, maybe a little biased 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:24.000 that you should be in, and I want to talk 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.640 about that a little bit later. But you were a 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.080 great player who made a lot of money, and a 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:30.840 lot of guys at your stature they want to go 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:32.479 right to be in a GM or right to be 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.240 in a head coach. They're not willing to be an assistant, 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:39.159 sent on a bench or get into scouting and travel 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.240 and scout. But you were willing to do that seven 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.120 years ago. Why I don't know. You know, I think 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.680 I love new challenges. I think that, you know, whenever 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.640 I got done planning, I did kind of take a 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.240 step back, and you know, I wanted to kind of 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.000 figure out what I wanted to do. At first, I 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.039 thought it was going to be coaching. I was over 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.560 at the high school up my sons high school a 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.200 little bit, you know, just kind of going through the 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.400 process of, you know, what I wanted to do next, 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.080 and m BA and Steve kind of gave me the 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.360 opportunity to come over here that summer and go through 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.440 both sides of it in terms of the coaching side 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.440 and the personnel side. So I ended up, you know, 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.320 falling in love more with the personnel side of it 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.479 all because I had just had my last daughter and 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.039 she was home and I wanted to kind of be 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:28.360 home and I wanted to be around that whole process 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:30.640 because really, you know, throughout my whole playing career, we 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:33.039 had kids and I was never there. So, um, I 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.359 wanted to be home, and you know, I wanted to 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.640 have a set you know, a set schedule where I 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:41.120 can kind of be there for them. And my first 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.880 year in personnel, I didn't. I didn't put one report 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.040 into the system, not one report. I you know, I 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.200 was picking guys up from the airport, getting their bags 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.280 and stuff from baggage claim, you know, and dropping them 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.680 off at physical runs. You know, I did all the 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.320 grunting work, you know, in terms of, you know, kind 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.440 of what our scouting assistants do now, and you know, 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.160 I think it kind of gave me a foundation of 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.120 how inglorious the job is. You know what I'm saying, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.840 it's not. It's not a job where you get a 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.680 lot of fanfare and people don't really understand, you know, 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.200 behind the scenes, how much it takes to you know, 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.120 the day to day operations of kind of what we 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.760 do here. I love that story, and I'm not surprised 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.040 knowing you. Look, you've always I'm known you for almost 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.440 two decades. You've always been a confident guy, but you've 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:30.960 always been humble and you're always very respectful of other 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.320 people's positions in the organization. I know you developed when 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.400 you're playing a really good friendship with Chris Melbourne as 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.840 part of the public relations staff, and you're always great 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:41.520 in taking care of him because of how he took 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.800 care of you. You always respectful of my job. I 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.480 got him married twice, by the way, you twice you 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.480 were the best man twice. No, I got him married twice. 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.920 So you introduced him, Zach, I got him. Know that, 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.480 all right, put that, let's put that on the ballot. 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:58.720 But I said that in the Hall of Fame. It's 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:03.720 part of the resume. But so the fact that you're 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.720 humble enough to accept that position, well, why do you 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:08.480 think that is? Do you think part of that is? Because? 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:11.240 I mean, you weren't the highest recruited guy coming out 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.000 of high school. You were a third round pick. You 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.080 weren't a top ten pick. I mean, people look back, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.040 I'm sure and look at the draft and say, yeah, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:18.880 Adrean Wilson should have been a top ten pick, but 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:20.239 you weren't. Do you think that's one of the reasons 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.920 why it was easy for you to accept that role 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.680 of picking guys up from the airport when you've been 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:28.920 you know, had the career that you had. Yeah, I 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.800 mean I didn't. You know, I'm just throughout my whole life, 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.760 you know, I kind of just been dedicated and loyal 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.360 to whatever process I'm gonna be a part of. You know, 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.240 I'm not I'm not the type of guy that is 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.560 willing to, you know, skip a step to get ahead 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.400 of somebody else, regardless of you know, kind of who 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.120 I am and what I did on the football field. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.800 I've always throughout my whole life, I've always especially when 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.120 I was done planning, I wanted that part of my 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.040 career to be over with in terms of my playing career, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.000 and then once I kind of get into my second career, 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.120 I didn't want my football life to have any impact 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.200 on the move that I was going to make going forward, 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.080 and I wanted to learn every single step along the way. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.080 You know, It's kind of been my whole process, you know, 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.480 kind of stay dedicated and loyal to the process. You know, 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.199 don't don't skip a step to try to get ahead 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.640 of somebody else who may deserve it more than you 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.679 do at that time. So take me from that first 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.040 year when basically you're a runner what we call in 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:26.720 our business, where you go and you pick people up 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.839 or you go get coffee for people, that's what you're doing. 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.800 What was the next step for you in the process 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:33.959 of getting to where you are now? The next up, 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.800 you know, my second between my second and third year, 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:41.040 probably you know, more into that third year, I ended 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.000 up getting around twenty to twenty five schools around the country, 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:47.559 going and you know, getting background on certain college guys, 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:49.120 of some of the guys some of the schools that 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.800 we had, whether it's the Southeast, you know, out west, 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:53.560 you know, in the East. So I was basically as 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.600 a quasi national scout for US, just picking up some 0:09:57.600 --> 0:09:59.800 schools that either drew or some of the guys couldn't 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.400 get tom and alone. That way, I was doing pro 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:05.720 work as well, so I was doing advanced work at 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.720 the same time while I was doing my college job, 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:10.720 and you know, just kind of been on the road 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:15.000 a lot, getting an experience of being out there getting 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.200 get in the background, just just being able to kind of, 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.120 you know, spare my network of people that I can 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.000 go and get information for. And I did that for 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.600 probably about a year and a half before they ended 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:30.120 up moving me in house. So as the vice president 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.080 of Pro Scouting, I know that's your title, but you're 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.760 doing so much more. So give the fans listening a 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.760 sense of your daily duties, or maybe not just your 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:41.520 daily duties. What do you do over the course of 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.800 a year in terms of trying to help the organization 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.200 to get better. Yeah, you know, it really starts, you know, 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.520 for me and you know July in terms of, you know, 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.760 just being able to see what our roster kind of 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.880 looks like overall based off of what last year was. 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:58.840 So going into this offseason going into July, you know, 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.720 fredencies over with the draft is over. I'm already ahead 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.520 to the next year in terms of guys that are 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.480 going to be coming up in the draft next year 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.360 and then free agents that are coming up next year 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:14.560 that are already playing in the league. So my job 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.320 description is a year long kind of process. M Steve 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:21.079 basically will you know he'll call me in June July, 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.080 you know, when everybody's in, you know, on vacation and stuff, 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:25.920 and he'll ask me to look at guys. I always 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.199 have to be ready to you know, have a report 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:32.040 ready for him, regardless of you know, the time to place. 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:34.800 UM and just kind of stay one step ahead of 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.880 Steve in terms of our roster makeup and just kind 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.920 of where we are overall in the building in terms 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.240 of the college side and the pro side. So you 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:48.200 talked a bunch about Steve. Come. You two go way back. 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.880 Obviously you both played at NC State. Do you remember 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.559 the first time that you met Steve. Yeah, it was 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.880 it was ninety seven when we first met. That was 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.920 he was an assistant coach in NC State. Once I 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.160 first got there, I got there and I got there 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:06.040 in ninety eight. My first year was in ninety eight, 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.840 but I went in ninety seven to to visit. Um 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.880 I was graduating high school early. UM. So I enrolled 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.199 at NC State in the spring of ninety eight. UM 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.760 So I ended up you know, going down there, you know, 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:20.800 training really and going to you know, some of my 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.560 classes as a freshman. UM. We ended up you know, 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.040 really having a great relationship throughout that throughout that three 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.480 to four month time and frame before he ended up 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:33.400 you know, leaving and coming here and being a scout here. Um, 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:35.559 and we just kind of kept in touch and um, 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:37.640 you know, it kind of started off with you know, 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:39.560 just weight room stuff, a little bit of you know, 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.760 bands are going back and forth, and the relationship just 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.800 kind of grew, you know, throughout time. Um, I would 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.120 ask him just you know, just simple things just about 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:50.840 the campus because I didn't know, you know, I didn't 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.720 know anything about the Rolly area and he was there 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.199 for a long time. Um, so places to eat and 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:59.480 things like that. And again, the relationship just grew over time. 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:02.360 He drafts you, he's part of the scouting staff that 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:06.440 drafts you here, and twenty years later, you guys are 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:10.640 still working together. Do you think the relationship works at 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.120 this level for him being the GM and the role 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.560 that you're in because you'll shoot him straight? I mean, 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.440 do you think that that's one of the reasons why? 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.360 Because you guys know each other so well that if 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.199 he asks you about a certain player or what you 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.120 think the team should do, you're not gonna just tell 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.760 him what he wants to hear. Yeah, I'm definitely not 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.400 gonna bush him like, that's not I don't know if 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.199 I can say that. It's our podcast, Okay, all right, 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.000 So I don't like like, I don't like, I'm not 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.440 I'm not gonna do that to him because I know 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.360 how important a job is to him. But at the 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.560 same time, like I want, like I want us to 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:45.760 be successful too, Like I don't want to. I don't 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.040 want to be a part of a team where I'm 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.719 not giving everything at all in terms of my evaluation, 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.559 you know, me being able to give Steve the right 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.040 information Steve or Michael. You know, if Michael asked me 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:58.599 a question, like I'm gonna be honest with him and 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.520 I'm I'm not gonna, you know, cut the corner and 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:03.880 try to tell him something that I think that he 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:06.040 wants to hear, Like I'm not, I'm not here for that. 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.960 What's been one of the toughest conversations that you and 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.680 Steve have had about a particular player or a decision 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.360 that's been made here that you had a big impact 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.440 on this organization because either a you decided to go 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.800 ahead and make a particular move or because you didn't 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.120 go ahead and pull the trigger on a move. Well, 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.240 I think it's been it's been a year after year 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.320 after year. I think the past three years, whether it 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.280 was us, you know, acquiring DeAndre Hopkins and being able 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:39.040 to you know, end up giving up a pick um 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.400 to get DeAndre, whether it was you know, last year 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:43.680 at Rodney Hudson. I remember me and VJ was at 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:47.280 George's protae and um, they ended up putting out that 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.240 you know, Rodney was going to get released. And the 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:55.520 whole dynamics of being able to go acquire Rodney and 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.480 what it took to go acquire Rodney was it the 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.640 right move? And I think, you know, any time you 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.160 you know, are in a position where you can get 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.920 the team better, regardless of you know, the assets that 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:09.840 you have to give up, I think you have to 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.360 be able to take a chance on that, on that player. 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.320 But if I didn't have the evaluation, and if I 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:17.840 didn't look at the guy way ahead of time, and 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.400 Steve would have asked me that, then I would have 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.200 man just telling him something that I didn't know. And 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.960 that was That's That's the type of relationship that we 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:28.040 have is he knows that I'm gonna do the work, 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.440 and he knows that I'm gonna be prepared with whatever 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:32.640 question that you asked me, because nine times out of 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.000 tend I've already seen the tape. So I think that 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.320 he trusts me with my opinion when it comes to 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.480 us making those types of decisions on players. The decision 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.440 to draft Kyler Murray, I think ten years from now 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.040 people are talking about it now, but ten years from now, 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.480 twenty years from now, it's probably going to be commonplace. 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.680 But you guys were the first to draft a quarterback 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:57.600 in the first round the year after you draft a 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.840 quarterback in the first round. Take me through that. What 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:05.080 you recall about making that decision to draft Kyler Murray 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.360 after you had drafted Josh Rosen the previous year. Yeah, 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.880 I think that was a total organization move in terms 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:16.520 of Michael and Steve sitting down and realizing that A, 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:23.360 we need to make a change. B it's this quarterback 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.480 the right one. He is he the right fit for 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:28.760 us moving forward in terms of what our what our 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.680 future holds for the organization. And you know, both those 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.560 answers were, yes, we didn't need to make a change, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.200 and yes, Kyler murb was going to be the guy. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.040 But you know, I think you have to be willing 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.480 to admit that you made a mistake. And I think 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:45.560 that once once we ended up realizing that we did 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.360 do that, then you know, we were all out full 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.320 goal to try to make sure that we can correct 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.520 that mistake. He's one rookie of the year. He's going 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:55.440 to the Pro Bowl for the second time. He's led 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:57.640 a team to the playoffs here in year three. He 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.680 obviously has room to grow. We've talked about, you know, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:04.040 at age twenty four, still needing to mature. What are 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.440 some of the steps though, that are tangible that you've 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:10.920 seen him make on the field, in the locker room, 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:14.800 off the field, that gives you confidence that he's headed 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.960 in the right direction to lead this team to the championship. Yeah. 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:20.719 I think people really have to understand, Like I mean, 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.359 he's twenty four years old. You know, I can remember 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.800 when I was twenty four years old and coming here. 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:27.639 When I got here, I was twenty years old, So 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.439 I can understand kind of the maturation that it takes, 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.199 you know, to become a leader, to be able to 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.280 you know, to double down on your preparation, you know, 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.080 just some of the small things that it takes to 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.879 be a good player. Kyler probably did those things in 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:42.960 high school the way that you know, the way that 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.280 high schools played now as opposed to when I was playing. 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:51.560 I think now with him, the leadership on the practice 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:55.760 field been able to hold guys accountable and guys don't 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.560 get pissed that he's yelling at him because of the 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.120 way that he leads, you know, he he probably doesn't 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.120 lead like you know, Aaron Rodgers or you know somebody 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.680 else that everybody sees on tv UM. He leads differently. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.400 You know, he's a he's a different type of quarterback. 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.520 And I think that you know, everybody in this locker 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:15.199 room has embraced, you know, kind of who he is 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.240 as a person collectively. You know, he's not a guy 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:20.439 that's gonna be walking around here smiling. You know. I 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:22.760 was like that, you know, so you know, it's just 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:24.720 one of those things where you know, the team has to, 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.159 you know, understand the type of leader that he is. 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.560 I think everybody rallies behind him and he's going to 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.240 continue to mature and he's gonna continue to grow for 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.560 us and win football games for us. You still don't 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:37.479 have a smile on your face me sometimes, I mean 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.080 I'm more happier now than what I was when I 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.000 was playing. I can say that. But see, man, I 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:44.800 was never afraid of you because I knew you had 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:46.760 a big heart. But there are a lot of guys 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.760 like you're you have a presence, You're an intimidating guy. 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:54.200 I'm curious how much interaction do you have with players 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.560 and like how do they when they see you, and 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.159 do you challenge guys talk to them about, hey, you 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:02.920 need to do this better, or hey you need to 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.639 change this, you need to do this here if you 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:07.200 really want to be great, or you're not going to 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:08.960 be here. I'm don't mean to put words in you, 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:10.800 Like what do you say, what kind of conversations you 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:12.680 have with players? Yeah, this is my this is my 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.479 you know, seventh year in the front office, but this 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.600 is my twenty second, twenty third year you know, kind 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:21.520