1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,440
Speaker 1: Back before we talk about the Monday night game, the

2
00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,560
Speaker 1: eligible receiver, the crowd. I want to go back to

3
00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,040
Speaker 1: the postgame interview you did after the game, and you

4
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,600
Speaker 1: basically were saying that Pittsburgh feels like home. So why

5
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: does it feel like home? And maybe why did your

6
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,520
Speaker 1: previous stops not feel like home to you? Yeah. I

7
00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,480
Speaker 1: mean I've been wanting to say this for about the

8
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,239
Speaker 1: year and a half that I've been here. Um, obviously,

9
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,480
Speaker 1: I've been taking a break from media just out of

10
00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,040
Speaker 1: respect to not only the older guys, because they like that,

11
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,240
Speaker 1: you know, when a young guy comes in and starts contributing,

12
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:33,440
Speaker 1: I don't want to be woe was me? And then

13
00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,600
Speaker 1: also Pittsburgh is just like that, Like you can just

14
00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,320
Speaker 1: tell the Pittsburgh people are about action more than words,

15
00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,919
Speaker 1: and if you do have actions, then you can have

16
00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,280
Speaker 1: your words. But I meant what I said. You know,

17
00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,000
Speaker 1: I've been here all offseason, through the cold and the heat,

18
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,840
Speaker 1: and I've seen everything Pittsburgh has to offer in terms

19
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:57,440
Speaker 1: of football support is a team but also individual support.

20
00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,200
Speaker 1: This last week, and I know I kind of jumped

21
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:00,720
Speaker 1: the gun on that. I know weren't getting too that,

22
00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,200
Speaker 1: but I just wanted to show my appreciation to the

23
00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,080
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh fans because, like I said, they're so football oriented

24
00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,800
Speaker 1: and so focused on and so die hard black and gold.

25
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,240
Speaker 1: I got that right this time, that it's it means

26
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,280
Speaker 1: a lot to them, and I want them to know

27
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,480
Speaker 1: that not only for me, but other guys on this team,

28
00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,720
Speaker 1: it means a lot to us as well. This offseason,

29
00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:25,560
Speaker 1: I was here, so I saw that you were here

30
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,080
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. You mentioned, you know, roughing through the cold

31
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,120
Speaker 1: and the winters. That are you know, living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

32
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,199
Speaker 1: But why did you stay here this offseason and maybe

33
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,440
Speaker 1: take me through the transformation that you did do to

34
00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,040
Speaker 1: get to two thousand nineteen. Yeah, so, um, going into obviously,

35
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:41,760
Speaker 1: I don't know. It's just a quick summer. I was

36
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,720
Speaker 1: drafted in the fourth round by the Nameless, the faceless

37
00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,480
Speaker 1: team that we're playing this week, and then I was

38
00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,000
Speaker 1: released at the end of camp on waivers, got bidded

39
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,960
Speaker 1: for by four teams. I was with another faceless opponent

40
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,520
Speaker 1: that plays in the North as well. Um, for my

41
00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,760
Speaker 1: whole rookie season oh and sixteen. By the end of

42
00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,280
Speaker 1: that oh in sixteen season, US one twenty pounds. Why

43
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,040
Speaker 1: reported to Steelers camp around three seventy, so I'm already

44
00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,880
Speaker 1: I'm already down fifties something pounds UM going into it,

45
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:09,480
Speaker 1: which is one of the reason why the Steelers brought

46
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,480
Speaker 1: me in because I had that part of fix. But

47
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 1: I was really just a guy just in case guy

48
00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,520
Speaker 1: and um. Coach t asked me, and I remember this

49
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:19,800
Speaker 1: like it was yesterday, he asked me. After I think

50
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,400
Speaker 1: it was week eight that we played the Panthers on

51
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,280
Speaker 1: Thursday night football. You remember that, he said, on Wednesday

52
00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,120
Speaker 1: before the day before the game, he said, after the

53
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,640
Speaker 1: game on Thursday. Meet me in Geese office Friday morning

54
00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:31,520
Speaker 1: after the game. And usually when a coach tells you

55
00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,239
Speaker 1: that you're getting ready to either be traded or released.

56
00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,400
Speaker 1: I knew that from experience. And he brought me in

57
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 1: and he asked me. He said, how do I turn

58
00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,160
Speaker 1: you into a fifty million dollar tackle? And he said,

59
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,720
Speaker 1: he said, with either with this organization or another one,

60
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,200
Speaker 1: because I can see that in you, and that's why

61
00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,480
Speaker 1: you were drafted and that's why things. Yes, you've had

62
00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,640
Speaker 1: your ups and downs, but but how do you think

63
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:49,360
Speaker 1: I turned you into that? And I said, I don't know, Coach,

64
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,160
Speaker 1: you tell me and then he looked at me and said,

65
00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,320
Speaker 1: I think you should get a house out here where

66
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,120
Speaker 1: you're living. I said, in a crappy apartment on the

67
00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,200
Speaker 1: South Side because I don't know when my last day is.

68
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,800
Speaker 1: He said, get a house and stay here in the

69
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,720
Speaker 1: off season, so we gate. I knew that they were

70
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:04,639
Speaker 1: going to give me extension. Obviously I didn't put that

71
00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:06,640
Speaker 1: out there because there was eight more weeks to earn

72
00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,840
Speaker 1: that we can solidify that. But when a team or

73
00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:14,000
Speaker 1: an organization, like when I was at USC sees the

74
00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,320
Speaker 1: work that I put in and shows love back like

75
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,040
Speaker 1: they do here, I will run through a wall for anybody.

76
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,080
Speaker 1: I'll take a bullet for anybody because this is my

77
00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,280
Speaker 1: family and I feel like this is this organization is

78
00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:43,880
Speaker 1: somewhere where I belong and I love it here. We

79
00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,960
Speaker 1: have to go back to Monday night. When did you

80
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,880
Speaker 1: start to notice? When did you start to notice the

81
00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,520
Speaker 1: crowd you did? No one else noticed. Well, here's the thing,

82
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,360
Speaker 1: like I think we're the first time I go in,

83
00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,200
Speaker 1: we're down. We just I think we're down all ready.

84
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,640
Speaker 1: There's no reason that, there's no reason to chair, there's

85
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,440
Speaker 1: no reason to anything. And also it's not a coincidence

86
00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,000
Speaker 1: because I look, I made sure. I just didn't want

87
00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,640
Speaker 1: to be the guy to bring it up. Does that

88
00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,480
Speaker 1: make sense? So I kind of like smile and I

89
00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,760
Speaker 1: keep my helmet down. And when I'm in the huddle too,

90
00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,720
Speaker 1: when it's happening, I'm like looking to where I usually look,

91
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,880
Speaker 1: but I'm making sure I look down so people doesn't

92
00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:23,680
Speaker 1: see me cheese. And because I noticed it from the

93
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,400
Speaker 1: first thing, and they just got louder and louder, and

94
00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,320
Speaker 1: now that it's a thing, it's gonna be a thing.

95
00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,080
Speaker 1: So like my thing now is fans, thank you. Keep

96
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,960
Speaker 1: doing what you're doing. But I promise you, unless we're

97
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,159
Speaker 1: obviously winning by a lot, I'm not going to acknowledge it.

98
00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:42,760
Speaker 1: But I do appreciate it because I have to focus. Man,

99
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,120
Speaker 1: there's an assignment. We can't just be out there thing

100
00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:46,720
Speaker 1: or else. Guess what, I'm gonna lose my job and

101
00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,400
Speaker 1: then you're gonna have another guy reporting. Coach Salmon told

102
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,320
Speaker 1: me he eventually heard it. Mason also heard it. And

103
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,640
Speaker 1: did you see Mason's postgame press conference when you know,

104
00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,160
Speaker 1: seventy two in the game, he's ineligible, And I said,

105
00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 1: now they for you. I think he was like, he's like,

106
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,960
Speaker 1: yeah they are, so he's uh so he was really

107
00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,880
Speaker 1: happy about that. Yeah, okay, First of all, his imitation,

108
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,120
Speaker 1: I mean he was horrible. He's a horrible actor. That

109
00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,480
Speaker 1: conversation did happen where he was like. But first of all,

110
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,520
Speaker 1: that's how focused he is. As a compliment him, right,

111
00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,880
Speaker 1: that's how focused he was. It was fourth quarter. It

112
00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,800
Speaker 1: was like going in trying to finish this game. Uh

113
00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:24,039
Speaker 1: He's like, are they cheering for you? And I was like, yeah,

114
00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:29,920
Speaker 1: good looking guys. He idolizes Tom Cruise people. Uh, give

115
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,599
Speaker 1: me some other ones that little like the thing he

116
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,560
Speaker 1: does with his neck and like, you know, make sure

117
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,320
Speaker 1: his hair is right. I mean, you have no idea,

118
00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,039
Speaker 1: You have no idea. He has more hair gel and

119
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,160
Speaker 1: a bigger comb than anybody I've ever seen. Since we're

120
00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,440
Speaker 1: all calling each other out, Mason, thank you. I appreciate

121
00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,200
Speaker 1: that we should profits that you and Mason are good friends. Yes,

122
00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,880
Speaker 1: very good. George Clooney, that's another person, Brad Pitt, go ahead, alright.

123
00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,480
Speaker 1: Other than that, what don't we know about Mason? Here

124
00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:06,600
Speaker 1: we go, that's safe. Other than that, this is another compliment.

125
00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,279
Speaker 1: I wish I had some dirt on him. But I don't.

126
00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,960
Speaker 1: He takes his job really, really serious. For him, the

127
00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,479
Speaker 1: type of player he is, he needs we need to

128
00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:20,920
Speaker 1: support him through ups and downs because he loves what

129
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,359
Speaker 1: he does and he wants to be great. He's a

130
00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,160
Speaker 1: guy who needs family, and that's okay because in places

131
00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,280
Speaker 1: like this that's what we are. Lastly, for you, going

132
00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,120
Speaker 1: back to, uh, somebody who is an eligible receiver? Are

133
00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:34,680
Speaker 1: we ever going to see you catch a pass? You

134
00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,800
Speaker 1: can't tell things like that. You like that to be

135
00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:38,320
Speaker 1: continued