Speaker 1: He congratulations. Deed, forty have two pretty prominent linebackers and
Speaker 1: Fred Warner and Drake green Law. How familiar are you
Speaker 1: with them and the forty scheme?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I've been watching Fred Warner for about
Speaker 2: two years now, ever since I kind of transitioned from
Speaker 2: you know, the safety to linebacker, just kind of you know,
Speaker 2: find somebody that you know, I feel like my game
Speaker 2: kind of models. Uh, you know, I think, you know,
Speaker 2: Fred Warner is probably one of the top linebackers in
Speaker 2: the league, and that's definitely somebody I look look up to.
Speaker 2: Definitely excited to get to work with him and kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, follow his footsteps. I mean, I've been a
Speaker 2: little bit familiar with the scheme, kind of met with
Speaker 2: San Francisco quite a bit throughout this process, and like
Speaker 2: I said, I'm excited to get to work with Johnny
Speaker 2: Holland and those guys.
Speaker 3: He can he can he kind of take us through
Speaker 3: these these last four years at TSU.
Speaker 1: And how you progress to get to become an NFL linebacker.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think it's just you know, dialing
Speaker 2: in on one aspect of your game, kind of just
Speaker 2: trying to perfect one thing at the time, not necessarily
Speaker 2: everything at once, you know. So I think my freshman
Speaker 2: year was just trying to you know, get a field
Speaker 2: for linebacker. I haven't really played defense at all, just
Speaker 2: trying to find a role. And you know, I think
Speaker 2: coach p did a great job just you know, transitioning
Speaker 2: you know, my position and you know, seeing what's you know,
Speaker 2: my best possibility of you know, getting into the league
Speaker 2: at any position. So you know, I'm definitely grateful for that,
Speaker 2: and not like I mean to answer your question, So
Speaker 2: the I feel like every year, you know, I you know,
Speaker 2: focused on tackling you know, instincts. You know. Next year,
Speaker 2: my junior year, I was focusing on, you know, what
Speaker 2: is the quarterbacks third down progression? What is who's your
Speaker 2: favorite receiver and stuff like that. So I think it
Speaker 2: was you know, the little details, not necessarily you know,
Speaker 2: just focusing on me. But you know the opponent, uh
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Johnny Holland, he's one of the longest tenured
Speaker 1: coaches here with the forty nine ers. What was your
Speaker 1: conversation like with him and how much you know about
Speaker 1: how he is as a coach and as a front player.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's kind of crazy So he's actually from Heimstead, Texas,
Speaker 2: which is about twenty minutes where I'm from Brenham, Texas.
Speaker 2: So I kind of got a conversation started there and
Speaker 2: open up and have a little icebacker there. But you know,
Speaker 2: I think coach Holland is a great guy. He's definitely
Speaker 2: going to be himself and I think he just, you know,
Speaker 2: is a great coach and who's going to put you
Speaker 2: in the best edition to make plays, and that's what
Speaker 2: you want as a you know player.
Speaker 1: You said you had a lot of contact with the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers. How far back did it go and
Speaker 1: how many times did you talk to them?
Speaker 3: I talked to him.
Speaker 2: My first time talking to him was at the Senior
Speaker 2: Bowl when we did the little thirty two visits at
Speaker 2: each podium, and after that the kind of transitioned to,
Speaker 2: you know, right before you know, the combine and it
Speaker 2: just stay consistent. I think that was one of the
Speaker 2: biggest things that, you know, I felt during that process.
Speaker 2: And I'm definitely glad that I'm in San Francisco right
Speaker 2: now and definitely excited to get to work.
Speaker 3: Dave, go ahead, last one. I d David Lombardi here.
Speaker 3: I know, speed is one of your calling cards. Maybe
Speaker 3: you're your biggest calling card. A lot of the you're
Speaker 3: your highlight tape run blitzes, pass blitz is you're getting
Speaker 3: to the quarterback quickly. How excited do you get when
Speaker 3: when a coach or defensive coordinator does dial up a
Speaker 3: blitz for you?
Speaker 2: Man, I think it just you know, opens up you
Speaker 2: know the playmaker and me, and it allows me to
Speaker 2: just go make plays. Man. I think you have one
Speaker 2: task at hand and that's to go get whoever has
Speaker 2: the ball. So anytime a coach puts you in that
Speaker 2: position you kind of is kind of exciting. So I
Speaker 2: think that's one of the biggest stress that I have,
Speaker 2: is just going to make plays and being a dynamic
Speaker 2: blitzerd