Speaker 1: Welcome to the Command Center Podcast. I'm Julie Donaldson. The
Speaker 1: NFL Draft turned dreams into reality for the Commander's twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two draft class. Upon their arrival to Ashburn, notable
Speaker 1: Washington alumni sat down with the rookies to discuss life
Speaker 1: on and off the field. Second round draft pick Federian
Speaker 1: Mathis posted nine sacks and fifty three total tackles this
Speaker 1: past season at Alabama. Matthis says he's looking forward to
Speaker 1: joining his big brothers from the Crimson Tide into Ron
Speaker 1: Payne and Jonathan Allen. Matthis joined former Washington linebacker Rocky
Speaker 1: McIntosh to talk about the draft, his motivations, and what
Speaker 1: heap brings to this Washington team. Rocky McIntosh here, I'm
Speaker 1: with Fidarian Mathis. We're gonna talk a little football man,
Speaker 1: try to get to know you. Let's get it. Let's
Speaker 1: get it all right. All right, you got a nickname
Speaker 1: Mans because I'm from the South Nate they called Rocky.
Speaker 1: Everybody called me big Field. Big Field. Who gave you that?
Speaker 1: My grandmother game in line, so you know it's crazy though.
Speaker 1: My dad name feel, my grandfather name Field. So as
Speaker 1: a young game running around, I was just a little field. Yeah. Uh,
Speaker 1: and then I just became big field. So that's how
Speaker 1: I got the name field, I feel, I feel. So
Speaker 1: how was it like getting that call? Man? Man, it
Speaker 1: was crazy. Uh. I really couldn't. I couldn't get my
Speaker 1: words out of and know what to say. All I
Speaker 1: could say it was you know, yes, sir, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: So I mean it was it was very very like
Speaker 1: I don't know, I can't describe it. Man, it was.
Speaker 1: I feel like it was already life changing because I
Speaker 1: waited so long for it. Oh man, was it a dream?
Speaker 1: Since being little? Did you play Little League? Girl? Thinking
Speaker 1: about this most definitely? Uh. I really never thought, you know,
Speaker 1: how far football could take me until I got to
Speaker 1: high school and I found out about what college can do.
Speaker 1: So when once I say once I got in college,
Speaker 1: that's when they hit me yep. And that's when I
Speaker 1: started taking it more serious. In this drive, I can
Speaker 1: see like we had a lot of different guys. We
Speaker 1: got wide receivers that were basketball players. We got some
Speaker 1: of your old linement over there, you know, showing verbs
Speaker 1: and splits and all the other good stuff. Man, what
Speaker 1: are the things that you'd like to do sports wise?
Speaker 1: And those sports wise, No, I'm really just a football guy. Man.
Speaker 1: I played basketball, cardio, but I ain't like I ain't this.
Speaker 1: Football has always been my thing. You know. I tried
Speaker 1: a lot of sports, baseball and basketball and a little
Speaker 1: bit a track, but you know, football was always the
Speaker 1: one that stood out to me. So that's what I
Speaker 1: stuck with. All Right, you're d linement for life. Where
Speaker 1: you're playing D line. I always been a D line
Speaker 1: been on the other side. You didn't want to took
Speaker 1: that being man, Nah, I'm so big. I was so
Speaker 1: big so game days like you gotta find some inspiration
Speaker 1: out there, right besides Nick setting the tone beside some
Speaker 1: of those older guys setting the tone until you or
Speaker 1: older guy, what are you going out there and playing for?
Speaker 1: My daughter? I got a one year two year old
Speaker 1: daughter now, she's just turned two years old in February.
Speaker 1: So you know that's my why I see the reason
Speaker 1: why I do this. She's a reason why I go hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, also just a love for football. You know,
Speaker 1: I love football, so h I really don't need a
Speaker 1: motivation because I love the game. But yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: she's she's the one I do it for. Also, O man,
Speaker 1: that gets me intense. Family plays a real big, strong
Speaker 1: part of who I am and my character and what
Speaker 1: you know. I tried to you know, come here and
Speaker 1: bring and really stay in touch with the community that way.
Speaker 1: Also before I had kids, that was my uh, that
Speaker 1: was my wife, just going out there and helping the
Speaker 1: community being where I'm from, where I'm from the South,
Speaker 1: and you get seeing little kids look at it to
Speaker 1: me and things like that. Do you have, um some
Speaker 1: charitable things that you want to get out there and
Speaker 1: start doing? Oh yeah, most definitely. You know, throughout my
Speaker 1: freshman year in college, I already started, you know, get
Speaker 1: even back. Sure, I started, um you know book back drives, yeah, way,
Speaker 1: school supplies before the school you'll start. So now I
Speaker 1: just want to you know that I'm on a bigger level.
Speaker 1: I just want to expand that, you know, and just
Speaker 1: be able to get more back now, you know. So
Speaker 1: that's that's one of my goals though. All right, all right,
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit of football. Man. So when
Speaker 1: when I was playing, you know, I would see everybody
Speaker 1: getting the signals from the sideline, Say you see the
Speaker 1: d lineman, they're getting that signals that come in and
Speaker 1: one of the signals are a little shimmy right here.
Speaker 1: That mean games? What kind of games? If coach says
Speaker 1: go out there and running, you know, a particular game,
Speaker 1: it's up to you, guys, make that call. What game
Speaker 1: are you calling? I mean it depends on what I'm
Speaker 1: lined up and yeah, from the d tackle order, you
Speaker 1: know what I want to be the end. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: it depends on you know what what what what are
Speaker 1: you're running? You know? My favorite game is you know,
Speaker 1: one of the tim games. Yeah, well you know I'm
Speaker 1: probably picking the center and the other tackle coming around. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's one of the biggest games I'd like to run.
Speaker 1: That's cool, man, because I watched a little bit of
Speaker 1: your tape and I what I see throughout your career
Speaker 1: is just the use of hands. Like I'm surprised you
Speaker 1: probably a good boxer too, because the way you use
Speaker 1: your hands, man, it is awesome. I mean you can
Speaker 1: go from inside the outside, swipe, fake, swipe up and
Speaker 1: under whatever it is. I feel like you have the
Speaker 1: ability to make those moves and not only make those
Speaker 1: moves and progression to the quarterback where get there and
Speaker 1: causing damage also by swiping at the ball, getting the
Speaker 1: ball out. Really, you definitely a verse it out in
Speaker 1: that area, man, for sure. You know that. I think
Speaker 1: that's just piggyback off of them just being an Alabama player. Sure,
Speaker 1: you know day one that's what we that's what we
Speaker 1: started at. You started working to run and hand use
Speaker 1: it at Alabama. So you know that's day one stuff
Speaker 1: for me. And that's something that I grew on, you know,
Speaker 1: over the five years I was at Alabama. So, Man,
Speaker 1: the more I look at your story, I see it
Speaker 1: kind of resembles mine because I was around drop pick here,
Speaker 1: um higher up. I was the guy who they wanted.
Speaker 1: You're the guy who they wanted. And you know it
Speaker 1: was kind of surprise to you, right because you thought
Speaker 1: your agent that you guys are gonna go later, but bam,
Speaker 1: who you are the second pick? Yeah, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I really it just was expectations
Speaker 1: for me. She was sitting up the expection expectations for me.
Speaker 1: You know, she wanted me to prepare for the worst.
Speaker 1: So you know, she kind of always knew that I
Speaker 1: go second h you know, somewhere between there, but she
Speaker 1: she wanted to put it in my head, you know,
Speaker 1: just to make sure that you know, I expected at worst.
Speaker 1: So yeah, but throughout the process, man, you know, throughout
Speaker 1: the process, all you hear is, you know, I feel
Speaker 1: like I was slept on. You know that they talked
Speaker 1: about me being a seven D tackle. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I was a third fourth rounder. So that's what I believe.
Speaker 1: You know, That's why I told everybody that I felt
Speaker 1: like I was slept on. So you know, but I'm
Speaker 1: here now, So good man, I see Sears repent the
Speaker 1: CEO as a Cathain. Um, you're last year Alabama or
Speaker 1: maybe before then? What did that mean to you and
Speaker 1: what can you bring to this group of guys? Because
Speaker 1: there was a funny thing that I saw. I saw
Speaker 1: that it was kind of buzzing on the internet that
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill said that you know, he's not a he
Speaker 1: doesn't have time to mentor some of these young guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like at that point, or being a veteran,
Speaker 1: it's your job to go help others so you can
Speaker 1: be more collectively grow and be great as a team.
Speaker 1: So how do you feel like you bring that experience
Speaker 1: for what you learned in Alabama here? You know, in
Speaker 1: my situation, the guy that played Alabama. They already here
Speaker 1: playing and Jonathan Allen, so you know they've been my
Speaker 1: big brothers already. So you know, with me bringing in
Speaker 1: leadership is I don't think I have to do it
Speaker 1: just yet because I'm gonna be looking up to those
Speaker 1: guys as big brothers and hopefully them leading me. So
Speaker 1: but you know, with me being a leader at Alabama,
Speaker 1: you know that just you know, just you know, separate
Speaker 1: me from a lot of guys and you know, and
Speaker 1: add more value to my background that I say. So,
Speaker 1: but you know, I don't think, you know, I got
Speaker 1: to just be a big leader. My role is to
Speaker 1: come in here. I don't know I figure out for
Speaker 1: you before when I came here as a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of great guys, a bunch of you guys who were
Speaker 1: dipping right in Florida, just plucking them, plucking them. But
Speaker 1: now it's all Bama man here at the commander, So
Speaker 1: I hear you. Everybody a little Bama around here. So
Speaker 1: you know, sam'ma Brainer, Bama energy here, Brainer, Bama fly here.
Speaker 1: You know, just I'm gonna feed right in with the guys.
Speaker 1: So all right, man, well I appreciate your time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for talking to a free r for all your commander's
Speaker 1: news and analysis. Be sure to tune into Command Center
Speaker 1: weeknights at five ten pm on NBC Sports Washington. And
Speaker 1: while you're at it, follow at Commanders on all social
Speaker 1: media platforms for the latest on the team. Hail to
Speaker 1: the Commanders.