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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, I'm Hayley Ellwood and today we've got

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Speaker 1: a special Playmakers episode recapping the twenty twenty NFL Draft. Well,

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Speaker 1: we're focusing on new Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with ESPN's

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Speaker 1: Molly McGrath. Molly has worked for ESPN since twenty sixteen

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Speaker 1: as a college sports reporter and host for the network.

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Speaker 1: She serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN Thursday Night

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Speaker 1: Games and ESPN ABC Saturday College Games, and also contributes

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Speaker 1: to other content on the network as well. But Molly's

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Speaker 1: had a front row seat to Justin Herbert's career at Oregon,

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Speaker 1: and in this conversation, she provides a ton of insight

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Speaker 1: as to the type of player and person the Chargers

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Speaker 1: selected sixth overall. So now let's welcome in Molly McGrath.

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Speaker 1: All right, I'm joined by ESPN's Molly McGrath. Molly, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for joining me. How are you. I'm

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Speaker 1: doing well, hanging in there doing what we're all doing,

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Speaker 1: trying to keep busy and having get creative with how

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Speaker 1: we're covering things, especially in the sports world, as you

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Speaker 1: and I are doing right now on a zoom call.

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Speaker 1: So definitely weird times. But as we saw with the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty NFL Draft, some of the adaptability leads to creativity,

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Speaker 1: and we saw a different draft than we've ever seen.

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Speaker 1: For me, I thought it was one of the more

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Speaker 1: entertaining NFL drafts. As you're able to see into people's

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Speaker 1: living rooms, You're able to see coaches and gms with

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Speaker 1: their kids on their laps as they're making picks. I

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Speaker 1: think it was a really good thing for the league.

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Speaker 1: It really personalized a lot of these coaches and people

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Speaker 1: who we see who are super serious as you have,

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Speaker 1: like Bill Belichick with his dogging. So I think humans

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Speaker 1: are adaptable and we're making the best of these strange times.

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Speaker 1: For sure. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. So

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Speaker 1: we are talking a little NFL draft today. We're talking

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Speaker 1: Justin Herbert, who the Chargers took six. Overall, you're really

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Speaker 1: such a perfect person to talk to about Herbert because

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Speaker 1: you covered him in college. You were at his pro day,

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Speaker 1: which was very unique. We'll kind of tie it up

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Speaker 1: that way and we will get to that. But overall, Molly,

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Speaker 1: what are the Chargers getting in Justin Herbert? Well, when

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Speaker 1: I looked at all of the people that the Chargers drafted,

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Speaker 1: from Justin Herbert to Kenneth Murray to kJ Hill and

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Speaker 1: Joe Reid, And you know, the main thing that I

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Speaker 1: saw is that they got a lot of really great

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Speaker 1: leaders and high character players, which I think is great

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Speaker 1: for the franchise moving forward. And Justin Herbert is definitely

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Speaker 1: one of those guys. He is extremely intelligent, extremely cerebral,

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Speaker 1: cerebral with four point one gpa William V. Campbell Trophy,

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Speaker 1: which is essentially the academic Heisman, And he told me

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Speaker 1: I was there for the awards ceremony, he told me,

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Speaker 1: that's one of the proudest moments that he's been able

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Speaker 1: to have. He was able to win that in front

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Speaker 1: of his family. So he is extremely intelligent. In the past,

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Speaker 1: maybe some of that overthinking hurt him, as he was

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Speaker 1: someone who had a hard time rebounding from negative plays.

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Speaker 1: He would get nervous or the moments seemed too big

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Speaker 1: for him early in his career. But I was able

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Speaker 1: to watch him progress and grow into a really confident leader.

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Speaker 1: And you saw it in games like the knock on

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Speaker 1: Justin Herbert in college was he's not able to win

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Speaker 1: big games, but we saw in the Pac twelve Championship

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Speaker 1: game against Utah, he had a different swag to him.

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Speaker 1: He had a well, we have nothing to lose type attitude,

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Speaker 1: and he completely took over that game. And so you

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Speaker 1: saw that confidence from him. And then in the Rose

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Speaker 1: Bowl against Wisconsin, he took it to another level. So

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Speaker 1: he was able to take all of the like the

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Speaker 1: negative question marks that some people may have had, and

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Speaker 1: he was able to show and prove himself that he

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Speaker 1: really has progressed, not only as a player with his

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Speaker 1: footwork in the pocket, with his accuracy on deep throw,

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Speaker 1: but also as a leader. We're able to see him

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Speaker 1: lead his team to really big wins, and I think

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Speaker 1: that's where the combine and you know, some of the

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Speaker 1: things like the Senior Bowl really showed that he has

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Speaker 1: progressed a lot. I mean, he was one of the

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Speaker 1: best leaders during that Senior Bowl game. He won the

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Speaker 1: Senior Bowl MVP, and he was lighter, joking with teammates,

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Speaker 1: having fun. So we're able to see all the different

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Speaker 1: sides of Justin Herbert, and it's been amazing for me

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Speaker 1: to see how much he truly has grown as a

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Speaker 1: player and as a person throughout his college career. To

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Speaker 1: this point. Now, Yeah, to kind of piggyback off of that,

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Speaker 1: he had said at the combine that the kid who

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Speaker 1: showed up first at Oregon is not the same kid

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Speaker 1: who's leaving that school. So what do you think really

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Speaker 1: clicked in terms of how he was able to sort

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Speaker 1: of grow, develop and come into his own as a senior.

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Speaker 1: Well early in his career in college, he admitted to me,

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Speaker 1: I'm an introvert. I'm not an extroverted, raw raw getting

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Speaker 1: your face a kind of leader. That just wasn't who

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Speaker 1: he was. So people would see a quarterback sitting by

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Speaker 1: himself if they're down or he's not getting in teammates faces,

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Speaker 1: and they thought of that as a negative. But I

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Speaker 1: think he really empowered himself and his coaches really worked

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Speaker 1: with him on his body language, on leading by example,

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Speaker 1: and I think he really became more comfortable with himself

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Speaker 1: as a leader. And we saw that with his teammates

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Speaker 1: as he was able to progress in his career with Oregon.

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Speaker 1: But we also saw that transfer to the Senior Bowl,

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Speaker 1: something where he was with a bunch of players that

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Speaker 1: he hadn't played with, had spent a lot of time with,

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Speaker 1: and notably a lot of people said he was the

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Speaker 1: leader of the weekend. So the fact that he was

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Speaker 1: able to do that speaks volumes about his growth as

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Speaker 1: a person. I mean, you and I aren't the same

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Speaker 1: people that we were when we were eighteen year bolts,

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Speaker 1: you know. So he's he's had that journey, and I

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Speaker 1: think the fact that he's been so honest about who

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Speaker 1: he is really really refreshing. He's a high character, and

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Speaker 1: I have no doubt that he has the kind of

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Speaker 1: personality where he can lead an NFL team full of

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Speaker 1: men and a lot of people who are older than him.

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Speaker 1: I think he will earn the respect of his teammates

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Speaker 1: with how hard he works, how intelligent he is, and

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Speaker 1: he's going to kind of outwork people to prove that

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Speaker 1: he is the right guy for the job. So you

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Speaker 1: mentioned his acumen, his smarts. He's taken biology classes that

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Speaker 1: are I can't even think of taking a class like

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Speaker 1: that right now. We're and on my college repertoire at all.

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Speaker 1: How do you think maybe some of those study habits

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Speaker 1: can help him now at the NFL level? Well, especially

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Speaker 1: now this is a weird, unprecedented time where rookies aren't

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Speaker 1: able to go be with NFL teams, and that's something

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Speaker 1: that I talked to some scouts and they were most

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Speaker 1: concerned about young players going in with the franchise and

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Speaker 1: they're not able to spend extra time with the coaches

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Speaker 1: and the court leaders. They're not able to He can't

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Speaker 1: spend that extra time with his receivers throwing balls, learning

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Speaker 1: where they want the ball, and attended sees of those guys.

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Speaker 1: So I think the fact that he is very cerebral,

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Speaker 1: and he's the kind of guy that's going to study

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Speaker 1: his butt off and he's going to be watching film,

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Speaker 1: and there's no doubt in my mind that Justin Herbert

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Speaker 1: is It's like he's studying for a test. That's how

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Speaker 1: he approaches football. And I have no doubt that he's

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Speaker 1: going to take very seriously, especially during this time of

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Speaker 1: quarantine and isolation, and he's going to be a guy

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Speaker 1: who shows up the first day of practice where your

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Speaker 1: players are actually able to meet in person. Hopefully you

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Speaker 1: know that's sooner than later, health and safety and all

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Speaker 1: of those things in mind. But he's someone who's going

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Speaker 1: to show up ready to go. And the fact that

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Speaker 1: you do have a veteran quarterback in there that he's

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Speaker 1: going to be competing with. I think is another really

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Speaker 1: positive thing for him because it's someone that he can

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Speaker 1: learn from and lean on, and it's going to motivate

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Speaker 1: him to try to outwork and to try to get

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Speaker 1: back get up to that mental level as an NFL

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Speaker 1: starting quarterback one hundred percent. And I was going to say,

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Speaker 1: you brought up such a good point with this environment

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Speaker 1: that we're all in, because it's almost like you're taking

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Speaker 1: an online class in college. You have to be yourself.

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Speaker 1: You're holding yourself accountable for what you have to learn.

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Speaker 1: So to that point of him and his study habits

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Speaker 1: and all of that, that's basically a huge benefit in

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Speaker 1: this new environment. Yeah, it absolutely is. He's the kind

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Speaker 1: of guy who's going to make sure that he's ready.

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Speaker 1: And maybe we'll see some of the rookies who may

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Speaker 1: slip through the cracks because of the fact that they're

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Speaker 1: with their family and friends instead of you in training

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Speaker 1: Camper in person meetings, But he's not the kind of

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Speaker 1: player that would false subject to that. He's the kind

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Speaker 1: of person who he's taking this time right now to

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Speaker 1: work really hard. And I think he has a really

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Speaker 1: big chip on his shoulder because he's heard the criticisms.

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Speaker 1: He's heard that. You know, people say he's not a

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Speaker 1: good leader and that he needs to work on his

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Speaker 1: deep throws, and I think he beads off of that.

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Speaker 1: And you know, talking to some NFL scouts, they said

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Speaker 1: that there are people around the league who thought that

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Speaker 1: Herbert was a better prospect than Joe Burrow because of

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Speaker 1: his athleticism, because of his big body, because of the

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Speaker 1: things that he's able to do with his feet. Joe

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Speaker 1: Burrow is just more of an animatic leader, and he's

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Speaker 1: the kind of guy who has that swagger that a

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Speaker 1: team wants behind them. So you know that justin Herbert

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Speaker 1: sees that in years all that and says, I can't

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Speaker 1: be that too. So I think he has a ton

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Speaker 1: of upside in the sky's the limit for him, and

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Speaker 1: it starts with his intelligence and the fact that he

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Speaker 1: is going to work extremely hard during this downtime before

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Speaker 1: the season. So I was talking to Kellen Clemens yesterday,

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Speaker 1: former Duck, former Charters quarterback, a lot of connections there

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Speaker 1: with Herbert, and I was talking to him about the

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Speaker 1: games that he played in December and January. So when

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Speaker 1: you look at the PAC twelve Championship, the Rose Bowl,

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Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl, and Clements told me that Herbert showed

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Speaker 1: a lot of grit in those games. Why don't you

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Speaker 1: see from him in twenty nineteen, so I covered I

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Speaker 1: covered the Pac twelve championship game, and we went into

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Speaker 1: that game thinking, well, it's Oregon against Utah, and Utah

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Speaker 1: is playing to get into the college Football Playoff. And

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Speaker 1: this was a team that had a huge chip on

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Speaker 1: their shoulder, and you know, they're the kind of team

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Speaker 1: that prides themselves on running the ball. And also their

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Speaker 1: defensive line was full of these big, nasty, physical guys.

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Speaker 1: So I went into it truly not knowing how Justin

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Speaker 1: Herbert would fare and how then would fare because Utah

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Speaker 1: seemed like such a formidable opponent from the beginning of

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Speaker 1: the game. Justin Herbert had this looseness, this swagger, this

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Speaker 1: confidence to him where he played with kind of reckless

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Speaker 1: abandon where you could tell he felt like he had

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Speaker 1: nothing to lose. You know, they're not playing for the

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Speaker 1: College Football Playoff, They're going to get into the Rose

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Speaker 1: Bowl no matter what. And he took over that game,

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Speaker 1: I think in big moments, especially with his legs, and

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Speaker 1: he showed his mobility, his ability to extend plays to

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Speaker 1: you know, evade pass rushers, and he was able to

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Speaker 1: get it done. And I mean on the sidelines, the

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Speaker 1: entire team was rallying around Justin Herbert and his play,

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Speaker 1: and so I think they were. They're so dominant in

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Speaker 1: that game because of him and because of the confidence.

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Speaker 1: And then I interview him after the game and he

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Speaker 1: is cool as a cucumber, so unphased, you know, and

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Speaker 1: his coach is nearly in tears, he's so excited. But

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Speaker 1: Justin Herbert's right here. Yeah. One of the things that

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Speaker 1: scouts say is that he's extremely humble. He never gets

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Speaker 1: too high or too low. You know, He's always right there,

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Speaker 1: and he's consistent, and he's someone that you can depend upon,

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Speaker 1: and we're seeing more and more you can depend upon

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Speaker 1: them in those big moments. So then looking ahead to

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Speaker 1: the Rose Bowl, I mean, that was a game where

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Speaker 1: he absolutely took over with his legs for three touchdowns,

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Speaker 1: and that was something that people wondered, does does he

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Speaker 1: have that versatility in his athleticism And sometimes he held

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Speaker 1: onto the ball too long and his feet were a

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Speaker 1: little too dancy in the pocket, if you will he

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Speaker 1: showed so much poise in those two games, and his

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Speaker 1: ability to make plays with his legs I think quieted

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Speaker 1: a lot of the questions that doubters had. So honestly,

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Speaker 1: he did everything that he could to up his draft

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Speaker 1: stock in the month of December and January, and then

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Speaker 1: looking at a combine what he was able to do

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Speaker 1: there to show his athleticism, how quick he was, you know,

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Speaker 1: his vertical like things like that, You're like, Okay, this

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Speaker 1: guy is a specimen. He is unlike most quarterbacks. And

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Speaker 1: then you mentioned I was at Organ's Pro day, and

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Speaker 1: Herbert had a fantastic showing at Organ's pro day as well.

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Speaker 1: So he took every single opportunity that he could up

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Speaker 1: his draft stock and he took advantage of it, and

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Speaker 1: he I think really helped himself improved that he's the

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Speaker 1: kind of guy that a franchise can get behind and

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Speaker 1: have for the future. So let's talk about that pro

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Speaker 1: day for a minute, because as we set up top

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Speaker 1: very unique experience. I remember watching sitting in my cube,

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Speaker 1: watching like is this going to happen? Is it not

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Speaker 1: going to happen? And it really was one of the

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Speaker 1: last pro days that college football had before everything got canceled.

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Speaker 1: You were there, Like we said, what was that experience life?

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Speaker 1: I mean, just with it being so different from any

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Speaker 1: other pro day that you've really covered in the past,

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Speaker 1: it was really eerie. So I was there in Eugene

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Speaker 1: on a Thursday, I think it was March twelfth, maybe

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Speaker 1: even that time. I was there on a Thursday. The

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Speaker 1: day before was Wednesday, and that was the night that

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Speaker 1: the NBA announced that they were suspending games. So that

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Speaker 1: was the first domino to fall. The NBA says we're

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Speaker 1: suspending games. It comes out that a couple of their

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Speaker 1: players have tested positive for the coronavirus. So this kind

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Speaker 1: of worldwide panic in the sports world starts to come

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Speaker 1: to a head. And then that morning, I'm flying I

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Speaker 1: live in Seattle. I'm flying from Seattle to Eugene on

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Speaker 1: an empty plane. No one's traveling because everyone's scared at

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Speaker 1: what's going to happen. And I'm sitting in my hotel

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Speaker 1: room watching Sports Center and I'm seeing that all the

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Speaker 1: conference championship games are being canceled, that March Madness is

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Speaker 1: being canceled, and I'm saying, well, I'm here to and

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Speaker 1: cover justin Herbert Pro day. But the big story is

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Speaker 1: this pandemic that's taking out of the world. And Oregon

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Speaker 1: got really lucky with the timing of their pro day.

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Speaker 1: Their pro day was on a Thursday. If it had

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Speaker 1: been Friday or Monday, it would have been canceled. Everything

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Speaker 1: was canceled from that point on. So when I got

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Speaker 1: to their practice facility, I asked their sports information director,

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Speaker 1: is this still gonna happen? Yeah, the guys going to

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Speaker 1: probably doing it here. Yeah, is this real? And he said,

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Speaker 1: you know, the players came to me this morning and

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Speaker 1: they said, as the still on, and they begged, they said,

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Speaker 1: can we please go forward with our workouts? They wanted

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Speaker 1: that opportunity to show scouts what they could do, and

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Speaker 1: there were a good amount of scouts already in town

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Speaker 1: because they'd flown in the night before before everything started

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Speaker 1: to get really crazy. So it gave a good opportunity

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Speaker 1: for the Oregon players and for Justin Herbert to be

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Speaker 1: able to show what they could do and to show

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Speaker 1: off their athleticism in a comfortable environment, you know, And

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Speaker 1: you saw Justin Herbert. One of the big questions about

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Speaker 1: him was can he be accurate in with deep throws?

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Speaker 1: And he threw the ball sixty two yards flat footed

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Speaker 1: and showed, hey, I have a really strong arm and

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Speaker 1: I can throw it well. And he was working with

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Speaker 1: receivers whom he was comfortable with. But I think that

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Speaker 1: he was really able to take advantage of that opportunity

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Speaker 1: that a lot of players didn't get and just watching

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Speaker 1: his body language because a lot of people say, oh,

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Speaker 1: well he's too quiet, maybe he's not a leader. He

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Speaker 1: was leading guys. He was cheering people on. He wanted

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Speaker 1: that pro day not for himself but for his teammates.

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Speaker 1: You know, he showed that he's a true team guy

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Speaker 1: and he was very lighthearted and laughing and having fun.

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Speaker 1: So I think scouts were able to see a really

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Speaker 1: good side to Justin Herbert, and that was a huge

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Speaker 1: advantage that Oregon players and that he had, because after

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Speaker 1: that everything else was canceled right and other players weren't

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Speaker 1: able to have workouts in person. So it was definitely

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Speaker 1: a really weird, eerie experience. And that was the last

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Speaker 1: assignment that I was on until you know, now with

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Speaker 1: quarantine and isolation, everything I'm doing is over zoom, just

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Speaker 1: like this. So the last event that I flew to

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Speaker 1: was Justin Herbert's pro day, so hopefully we'll be traveling

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Speaker 1: and working against Sue. It is interesting that that was

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Speaker 1: the last event I was able to work. When you

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Speaker 1: talk about how those players begged to still go on

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Speaker 1: with it, what does it really say about them in

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Speaker 1: that program that they were able to compartmentalize what was

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Speaker 1: happening in the outside world but still rally and perform

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Speaker 1: at high levels during that pro day. Yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: they have one of the best athletics programs. I love

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Speaker 1: Oregon Athletics, and they did a really good job of

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Speaker 1: making it feel safe and isolated, and there were sanotation

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Speaker 1: stations and you know, purell areas all throughout, So they

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Speaker 1: were very mindful and sensitive to what was going on

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Speaker 1: in the world. But the players just wanted this opportunity,

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Speaker 1: and this is something that they had worked so hard for.

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Speaker 1: Like I feel heartbroken for the guy get that last opportunity,

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Speaker 1: and maybe it hurt them in the draft for maybe

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Speaker 1: they weren't drafted, because that's a lot of the kind

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Speaker 1: of underrated players get noticed because everyone's there to watch

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Speaker 1: justin Herbert, but what about that third wide receiver on

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Speaker 1: the depth chart, who's going to be really great for

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Speaker 1: you and special teams, you know, and you're able to

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Speaker 1: create those connections. So I mean, they're an incredible program

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Speaker 1: and I'm glad that they let those players go forward

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Speaker 1: with that. And they're very safe about it from everything

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Speaker 1: that I could tell, So they went about everything the

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Speaker 1: right way. But this is what athletes are. Athletes want

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Speaker 1: to compete, you know, they want to be able to

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Speaker 1: show their stuff, and it just it's too bad a

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Speaker 1: lot of the athletes were affected by this and weren't

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Speaker 1: able to show their stuff because of you know, the

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Speaker 1: pandemic and bigger things going on in the world, of course,

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Speaker 1: but I think it did hurt some athletes. And then lastly, Molly,

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Speaker 1: just getting back to Herbert, he went from four and

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Speaker 1: eight as a freshman to twelve and two as a

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Speaker 1: senior conference championship Rose Bowl win. Ultimately, just what makes

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Speaker 1: you confident that he'll be able to excel in the NFL. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that was one of the questions I asked

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Speaker 1: him after the PAC twelve championship game. You know, four

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Speaker 1: wins your freshman season and then now you're a PACT

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Speaker 1: twelve champion, You're going to the Rose Bowl. And he's

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Speaker 1: the kind of guy where he said, yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is what I planned for. This is why I

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Speaker 1: wanted to spend this extra time at Oregon, and why

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Speaker 1: he stayed was to be able to accomplish something like that.

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Speaker 1: And you know, you don't have franchise quarterbacks in college football,

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Speaker 1: but he essentially was their franchise guy after Marcus Mariota left, right,

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Speaker 1: And so that shows that he can take the weight

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Speaker 1: of a program and he can help move it forward

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Speaker 1: and have the patience to work really hard towards a goal.

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Speaker 1: But he also proved in this last year that he's

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Speaker 1: the kind of guy who could win right now and

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Speaker 1: could win right away because of his athleticism, the development

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Speaker 1: that he's made personally and as a leader. And looking

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Speaker 1: at who the Chargers drafted, I mean with guys like

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Speaker 1: Kenneth Murray, I don't know if anyone saw them taking

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Speaker 1: a defensive player. Yeah, and Joshua Kelly, another guy gets

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Speaker 1: to stay in LA who, by the way, is going

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Speaker 1: to be your favorite interview if you ever need a

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Speaker 1: really good quote, go to Joshua Kelly because he is

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Speaker 1: the nicest guy who always has a smile on his face.

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Speaker 1: He was one of my favorite athletes to cover in

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Speaker 1: college football, and then you know you have a return

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Speaker 1: guy like Joe Reid kJ Hill who fell in the

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Speaker 1: draft that was an absolute steal. So I think the

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Speaker 1: Chargers have proven that they really are ready to win

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Speaker 1: right now, and I think Justin Herbert is a good

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Speaker 1: guy for that because he's done his time, He's worked

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Speaker 1: really hard. He's so intelligent, and I think he's the

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Speaker 1: kind of guy that he may need some time to

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Speaker 1: develop and he can be behind a veteran quarterback and

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Speaker 1: learn a little bit, but you know he's going to

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Speaker 1: be competing for that starting job and he's going to

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Speaker 1: be working really hard to get on the field. So

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Speaker 1: if it's not right away, think in the first season

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Speaker 1: we will see him on the field for a good

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Speaker 1: amount of time, and I think he'll find nothing but success,

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Speaker 1: especially with the pieces around him that you have in

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Like he didn't have all of those pieces

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Speaker 1: all the time at Oregon, but he still was able

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Speaker 1: to grind out wins and they won a lot of

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Speaker 1: the time because of him putting the team on his back.

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Speaker 1: Fact he has these this NFL caliber talent around him,

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Speaker 1: there's no doubt that he will find success and it

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Speaker 1: will maybe be a little bit easier for him as well.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely well, we are so excited to have him. We're

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Speaker 1: excited for all those other guys, to all those new

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Speaker 1: draft picks. We can't wait until this virtual setting is

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Speaker 1: officially over with so we can go in and meet

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Speaker 1: them and interact with them. And thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for your time, Molly. We really appreciate it, all right,

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Speaker 1: thank you appreciate it.