WEBVTT - Ep. 6: Kevin Carter on helping transform the Rams into Super Bowl Champs 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome everybody to Ram's iconic the show where I get 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.320 to reunite with the greats of the past and visit 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.520 with some of the greatest players ever to wear horns 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.120 on the helmet. I'm your host to Marco farre former 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.000 defensive tackle. Folks, I have seen it all. I'll be 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.400 your to a guy. If you wiel we can look 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.840 back on the stellar careers and slowly pull it forward 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.000 to current day topics. We're gonna talk ball. Of course, 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:31.040 it's a football show. There is no life without ball. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.159 I'm a lifer. I love it. I love being around it. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:34.800 Can't play it, So I'm going to talk about it. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:36.680 And on this show, I get to chop it up 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.680 with some of the greats and you get to listen. 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.560 So my next guest, who I believe and I don't 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.480 give a damn what people say, belongs in the group 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.920 of greatest to ever play the game. Fourteen seasons in 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.159 the National Football League and the nineties and the Outs 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.480 played college football at the University of Florida. Was an 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.600 All American. Their first round pick in nineteen ninety five 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.040 of your Saint Louis Ram went on to play for 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.680 the Titans. Still hit him because of that. The Miami 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.199 Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers one hundred and four 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.160 and a half quarterback sacks. That's twenty eight all time, 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.039 twenty eighth all time, sixty two and a half for 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.240 the Rams, fourth most in team history. A couple of 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.240 guys named Leonard Little, Kevin Green, and some dude named 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.000 Aaron Donald. Only guys that have more in a Rams uniform. 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:23.840 Two time pro bowler should have been way more. One 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.520 time All pro should have been more. The man who 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:29.760 literally had a bust of Superman in his locker, and 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.280 only I know of one guy that ever messed with it, 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.520 just one. The man who could run full speed literally 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.480 without moving his arms. The man who almost ripped down 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.399 the backboard and the team recreation area because we laughed 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.040 at him because of his handles on the basketball court. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:46.520 And the man who could give you a spot on 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.200 cover of you spend me right round by dead or alive? 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:57.160 The one and only number ninety three Kevin Carter, what's up? Man? Hey? 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.680 You know what I think some of that information, like 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.200 you know, shouldn't be allowundered readily. You know my rendition 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.480 of you know, these family right round my better alive, 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.600 like that's between us, like like that can only come 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.920 out under certain situations. I didn't say how or what 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:18.680 I saw. I just said, you can do a spot 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:24.799 on cover. Gotcha? What is up man? How are you? Man? 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:32.600 I'm doing great. Just um just life after football is fortunately, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.320 it's been good. It's you know, the transition is never easy. 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.040 And we we looked if we discover ourselves and whatever 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.760 we can find, however, we can you know, give ourselves 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.280 relevance in our own lives and that of our families. 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.239 And really lucky, man, I've got a twenty year old 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:53.639 son who's a sophomore tight end at Dartmouth. Um plan 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:58.160 for Buddy teevens Ivy League football. They had their schedule, 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.799 they had their season canceled this which is a bummer. 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:03.639 I'm up here, and I'm up here in up state 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:08.120 New York. I'm working for CBS Sports doing studio for 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:13.560 college football every weekend CBS Sports Network, and I love 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:17.760 my love my job, and love my life right now. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.639 So I'm really blessed and doing well. We're gonna get 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.919 into all that. Your son, I keep telling you every 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:25.880 time I talk to you or text you when I 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.520 see him your son. He's a good looking kid. Don't 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.280 get me wrong. You and Shema, your wife, have done great. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.200 He is he's a he was a gorgeous baby turned 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:38.000 into a handsome young man. But he is an absolute monster. Kevin. 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.440 That kid is huge. How tall is he now? He 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.800 is six seven, he's two hundred and fifty five pounds. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:51.880 Turned twenty. He just twenty? So what size shoe? Uh? Sixteen? 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:57.080 Oh Kevin? Good lord? And he's playing tight end? Yeah, 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.440 he's a tight end, man. I kept him off of 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:03.880 the off the defensive line. How dare you look? Man? 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.240 Don't you remember what we went through? Don't you remember 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:13.240 the Yeah, the hell we went through with Wesley Walls, 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.960 with OJ Sides, with Brent Jones and all these tight 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.360 ends that used to drive us nuts. And you raise one? 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:25.080 How dare you exactly exactly? I'd like, you know what, 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.720 we were doing things the hard way for all these years, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:29.720 and these tight ends all they had to do is 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:32.680 help block and they taunt us and then they go 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.680 out and catch passes. And I, man, I was tormented 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.240 by Brent Jones, like my first couple of years in 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.400 the league. You know, he was probably that forty nine 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.599 ers group. That just that just made me want to 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:48.680 finally have my day and laugh and beat them, like 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:50.760 that was my goal, Like that was our goal, like 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:53.680 super Bowl year ninety nine, Like it was great that 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:56.440 we won the division and did everything else, But if 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.039 we didn't take care of those forty nine ers twice 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:01.960 during the year and embarrass them when we did it, 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.880 then the season wasn't complete. I'll tell you the whole group. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.400 I keep telling people that Ray Brown, who else was 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:12.040 out there? Derek des couldn't stand him. I mean, I 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:13.960 love him when I see him now, it's all love 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.920 and respect. But back then and you said like you 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.559 wanted to beat the fort Brent Jones made. He almost 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.880 turned me into a serial killer. He drove me nuts. 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.480 You know. It wasn't even fair, you know, like good lord, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.160 in a room just being you, I would take your 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:29.800 head off. But on the field, when you don't know 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:31.640 if he's going out for a pass or blocking, and 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.839 they were good at it. He was absolutely dangerous. Yeah, man, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.400 I totally feel you, and I can't believe you have 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.120 a tight end. Kevin. That's not fair to tell him 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.520 to take it easy on the down, lineman, do what 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.919 you want with the safeties and linebackers. Just with the 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.119 guys with the hand in the ground. They're all good people. 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:52.560 Just tell him to take it easy on those guys. Definitely. Yeah. 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.520 And when you told me he was a basketball player 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.919 at until his senior year, right, and then he decided 0:05:59.920 --> 0:06:02.120 to go out for the football team and duck to water. Right, 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.800 that's the story. Duck to water. Came out of senior 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.040 year the spring before the spring wet, after basketball season ended, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.000 going into the fall, and he came out for spring 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.480 football is just to try it out, and next thing 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.320 you know, duck to water. The rest is history. He 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.600 got like thirty Division one offers, got offered by six 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.400 of the eight Ivy League schools, UCLA, Michigan State, Sarahcuse, 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.520 A bunch of people came after him, and he decided 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:33.840 on Dartmouth. Wow, smart kid. Well I'm not shocked. Smart family, 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.080 smart kid. And look that that position is like a 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.800 luxe in the NFL. If you can do both, if 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:41.640 you can block, and if you're an athlete, I mean 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.839 you can make millions, good jillions of dollars. So this 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.800 will be something to watch him. But that career arc 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.400 in football sounds awfully familiar, and I said that to 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:55.760 you yesterday. You didn't play football in high school until 0:06:55.800 --> 0:07:01.240 your junior year. Correct, correct, Before that, you were in 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.279 the band playing saxophone. And I've never seen a picture 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.040 of you with a saxophone in the band. I still 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:10.520 want to see that. But from that point junior year 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.920 never played ball. To All American at Florida, you have 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.960 got to tell me about that arc. How did you 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.880 get from the band to I'm an All American for 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:26.160 Steve Spurrier at Florida. Just a late bloomer, that's all, 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.080 you know, I think some kids, you know, it's all 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.760 depending on when we hit our peak, both I guess 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:37.320 athletically and psychologically when we come into our own. I 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.200 was a little late, you know. I was the big 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:42.840 kid who was a little chubby and had big feat in, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.000 big hands, and you know, didn't get any taller for 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:50.320 a while, but really just struggled with coordination and you know, 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.960 trying to get my athleticism. And then one day when 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:57.200 I woke up after a summer of thinking that I 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:00.440 had mono because I slept the entire summer way, I 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.560 felt my body hurt in ways that I didn't think possible, 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.200 and I thought something was seriously wrong with me. We 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.760 went to our family general practitioner and he said that 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.000 nothing was wrong. I was just having growing pains and wow, 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.960 I'm like okay. So for the entire summer I was 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.440 under the weather feeling like crap. Between my sophomore junior 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.600 year and then when I started school, I was six 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:31.760 inches taller. And the rest is as they say history. 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.800 I came out in the football field and they said, 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.280 do this, you'll get stronger. I did it. I got stronger. 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:40.280 They said do this, you'll get faster, and I did it, 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.640 and I got faster. And the rest is, like I said, 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.480 as they say history. Wait, Kevin, Kevin. So so I'm 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.040 your classmate, I'm a software I'm in the band with you. 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:52.760 I don't see you all summer, and the next time 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.040 I see you, you're you're a half a foot tall 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.079 taller than you were when you left. I mean, what 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.320 what what height? To what height? What are we talking 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:07.000 about here? We're talking like to like sixty three five 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.640 nine five nine to sixty three over a over one summer. 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:12.920 They must have thought you were an impostor. When you 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:17.560 came back, it was it was weird. I walked into 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.040 a room. I remember walking in to get my physical 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:21.679 because back then, you know, you had to do the 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.240 county physicals with everybody, your whole team went. And when 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.720 I got there, you know, it was I thought it 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.880 would kind of be a joke that I was coming 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:31.960 out for football yet again, because I went to a 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.400 big public high school in the in the in the 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.560 mighty football playing state of Florida, and I didn't make 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.040 the team my freshman year. You know, I didn't make 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.880 my JV basketball or football team. And I was distraught 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:45.839 and said, I said, well, screw it, I'll just be 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:47.600 in the band and be the best I can be there, 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:51.040 you know. And I enjoyed it, um, but you know 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:53.240 I had I'd always had this love, this dream of 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:57.320 playing football. And so when I finally came back out 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.520 and you know, no one laughed at me anymore. I 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.040 wasn't a joke. I wasn't the guy that, you know, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:05.000 why are you out here? Why don't you just stick to, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.280 you know, doing your band thing. It was like, who 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.439 the heck are you? And uh, yeah, come on out here, 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.680 and why haven't you been out here before? It was? 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.040 It was weird. It was another night transformation though. So 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.559 that's the thing I mean, did it just come naturally 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:22.000 for you? Because I'm thinking we met for the first 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.720 time in nineteen ninety five, right, so you were a 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:30.560 junior in high school in what year and I guess 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:36.480 eighty or like ninety, like ninety, okay, so within so 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.760 the guy I saw and that's the thing that struck 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:41.559 me when I first met you, because you know, you've 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.520 seen guys come in draft picks. Actually you were the 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:45.600 first first rounder because I was in my second year. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.200 But I've seen other players before, and then to see 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.160 you come in and be so polished, I was impressed. 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.880 It made me respect Florida because that's the way we worked. 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:57.880 You could do some of the same things I could do. 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.800 I was always shocked on that first rainy camp together. 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.679 What what some other defensive linemen couldn't do? Like how 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.080 were you guys trained? Didn't you guys practice in college? 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.920 But you were so polished day one, and then you've 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.720 only been doing this for five years. I mean it 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.240 must have been duck to water man, like, wow, this 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.360 is what I've been called to do. I think the 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.800 good thing about starting late, and which is why you know, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.360 you get to the NFL and you realize that it's 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.959 most one of the most eclectic groups of people that 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.160 you will ever find on the face of the planet. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.120 An occupation you you will never find fifty three more 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.160 different individuals than you will in a football locker room. Um, 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.120 it's you know, that's one of the things that all 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.800 of us, you know, every player you talked to, every coach, 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:45.280 is you know, what do you miss? You missed the 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.840 guys and that eclectic mix, you know, comes from so 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.920 many different people in so many different schools, so many 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.959 different situations. There are guys that you know, played rugby 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.560 overseas that become football players. There are guys that were 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:01.080 lacrosse players that didn't discover football until in life. And 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.120 there's people like me that you know, I didn't play 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.600 until later on. But the good thing about that is 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:12.840 I didn't have any bad habits. I didn't know, you know, what, 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.360 what what not to do. I only know I only 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.560 knew what to do. And I was really lucky because 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:20.920 I got recruited out of high school, you know, by 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.440 the likes of I visited you know, Notre Dame. You know, 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.720 Lou Holtz was there, and they had Chris Stellurch and 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.760 Bryant Young and Michael Stonebreaker and all these you know, 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.160 Todd Light and all these great players. And you know 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:35.880 that these were the institutions that I was looking at. 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:40.360 I visited Nebraska with Tom Osborne's I visited Florida, and 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:42.360 you know, there were a lot of great coaches and 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.880 great you know situations for me to go in further 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.600 my education and play football. And ended up going to 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:52.199 Florida where my position coach was a guy named Charlie Strong. 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:56.640 And that's you know what people realizes the power of 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:01.680 coaching trees and and that's that's why football people, scouts, 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.840 coaches and players alike. They want to know who'd you 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.920 play for? You know, who taught you this? Who how'd 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:10.200 you learn this scheme? You know? And you and I 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.040 talked about it yesterday. If um, I was talking to 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.320 a buddy of mine. Actually, UM, you'll appreciate this. You 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.360 know he played ball at Penn State, and um, he 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.280 was a defensive back, you know, played Um played for 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:24.600 the Carolina Panthers for a little while. Actually ended up 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.160 becoming a producer for ESPN when I was there. And 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:30.400 I mean he and I would always talk and he's like, man, 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:32.960 if you're a young defensive lineman right now, how could 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:36.320 you not want to go play for the Ohio State 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.880 University and played for Larry Johnson And no doubt? Yeah, 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.880 I mean, the man's got a streak, you know of 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:46.320 the Bosa brothers and Chase Young and all these defensive 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.120 linemen that are coming out. I mean, he's he's got 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.880 to have like, you know, three or four number one 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.040 picks like in a in a row, in the in 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.640 the in the in the NFL draft for the last 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.480 four or five years. And then that's the thing. The 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:02.600 power of coaching tree, the power of instructions, how your 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:07.240 game is formed, how you see the game, how you process. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.559 For me, I was a kid that you know, from 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.080 a natural ability standpoint, you know, I was you know, 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.480 we joke about it, but sometimes some people are born 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.640 to play football, or they're they're they're really lucky and 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.600 they're blessed and they're they're fortunate that you know, they 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:28.040 come into something at the exact right time in their 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.840 personal history. You know, that's that was me. It was, 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.360 it was the timing of everything couldn't have been better. 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.000 I had no bad habits, I had nowhere and tear 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.120 of my body, and and on the eve of me 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:46.120 making my greatest growth physically was also where I made 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.280 where I learned the game of football, where I learned 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.800 it from from the ground up. I learned it from 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.360 playing inside linebacker in high school. And then I went 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.480 to the defensive line. And when I got to Florida, 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:01.240 the instruction from Charlie Strong. He was all ways reaching forward, 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:05.520 getting me tapes of you know, Robert Porche, Reggie White, 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.320 all these different defensive linemen that he would say, this 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:10.920 is what you got to play like, this is this 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.560 is how you have to play, This is how you 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.240 have to see the game. You got to play this fast, 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.600 you got to use your hands, and you know, was 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.520 always seeking that instruction, and within four years at Florida, 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.080 you know, three SEC titles. You know, playing for an 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:28.800 organization that you know, was such a competitive environment because 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.960 there were so many great players around me pushing me, 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.400 you know the entire time. That's why I was what 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.000 I was. I mean, there's power and how you are 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.360 developed as a player. I mean, you know, that's why 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:45.480 everyone's seeking to get every you know, added training and 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.800 or instructional advantage that they can get in this time 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.360 because it's it's all about that. A lot of people, 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.000 you know, and you know this, you know, you go 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.600 to combine or you stand up in training camps and 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.480 everybody looks the same, whether they're from a big school 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.880 or no named state, right, and it's like, and you 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:08.320 know what separates you is your adherents, your craft, how 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:12.040 much you look to get better, how how how much 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.800 you are a student of the game. And man, when 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.200 I came to the Rams, like I didn't know nothing, 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.200 but but but what I had had a group of 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.480 great guys in the room. I mean you and Brad Oddis, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.280 you know, we were immediately you know, kind of my 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.400 you know, new you know peers and you know slightly 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.800 older big brothers who took me under their wing. But 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.280 we had guys like Fred Stokes and Sean Gilbert, yes sir, 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:43.560 and Robert Young and I mean, you know, Jimmy Jones, 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.320 and you know, we had all those guys who had 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:50.360 so much experience. And you know, I'll and I'll give 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.200 Dean Pollard, you know, my first desensive line coach and 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.640 the in the NFL. I'll give him credit. Man that 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.320 that little old man knew his craft. He knew how 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.840 to make people better and and you just had to 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.800 humble yourself and be coached. And I think for me 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:09.400 starting later in life and having and having no bad habits, 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.600 being very coachable, having a thirst for wanting to be 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.480 the best, and and when I got to the Rams, 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.719 my greatest sphere DeMarco was was being considered a bust. 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.440 You know, that was my greatest sphere. I didn't want 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.800 to walk in as the sixth pick overall, the first 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.080 defensive player taking in the ninety five draft, and not 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.880 be anything less than a Pro Bowl caliber player. I thought, 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.800 if I didn't do that, if I couldn't find a 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:39.200 way to be great, then I would be it would 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.280 be a failed experiment. And so that's I had the thirst, 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:46.720 you know, to to want to get better. And you 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.359 know that process of being coaching, humble yourself and deconstructing 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:54.320 and reconstructing your game. You know that happens over and 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.040 over and you know when you see people like Aaron 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.800 Donald who play the game, yeah, it just to pitom 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:06.320 It just epitomizes the maximization of your talent and also 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.760 your football like Q, you know, and no doubt, I 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.679 love to watch Aaron play, because he's just processing like 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.679 like he reminds me, and I'm and I'm gonna, I'm 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:20.040 gonna blow some smokes at you, like he reminds me 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.680 of you. How he comes off the ball how quickly, 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.960 because you were always so much quicker and processing and 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.040 seeing what the defense was, was what the offense was 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.720 trying to do to us, and your get off was crazy, 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.600 and I thought, well, he's just getting off like that 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.159 because you know, or maybe he's not as big, or 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.240 maybe he needs to be quick. And it wasn't that 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:46.720 you processed quicker. You saw things. You there were certain 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.000 formations where you knew what the play was gonna be, 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:50.719 and if you could get in that get in that 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:52.720 crack in the beac app if you could you know, 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:55.919 establish that leverage, then it meant you one on a 0:18:55.920 --> 0:18:59.240 particular down. And I always admired that I always wanted 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.479 to play that fat no no, no, I had to 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.360 do it because I wasn't I wasn't built like Gattica, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.600 I didn't have a body like Thanos, So I had 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.399 to play that way. So yeah, I mean, you know, 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.320 that's I'm glad you said that we have run out 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:19.600 of things to say about Aaron Donald, about how great 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:21.280 he is. And I'm glad you said that because I 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.040 think the guy is special. And but I'm gonna use 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.120 what you just said. He has no bad habits, um, 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.920 and that that is you when I saw you. That's 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.040 a great way to describe you. You didn't have any 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.919 bad habits. Uh. When the play came to you, you 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.240 played it with proper leverage. When the play went away, 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:43.000 you pursued it with proper speed, uh and great angles. 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.639 You could rush two on one, one on one. You 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:49.720 just no bad habits and uh not not bad body language. 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.080 The thing I used to warn the other guys about, 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.080 and I don't know if you know this, um the 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.360 other offensive players is don't take his demeanor for weakness, 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:00.520 you know, because he saw spoken or the way he speaks. 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:05.560 I mean, if you make him mad, I'm just I'm 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.439 being serious. If he if you make him mad, you know, 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.640 bad things are gonna happen, and not to me, to you. Um, 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:14.480 And I've seen it, so yeah, I mean that's that's 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.440 great stuff. And you you you won the sec what 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:22.439 ninety three and ninety four? No, I think this is funny. 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:25.280 I think you did. You play Auburn when you were 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.000 in school. I did. I think you played against Less 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:33.200 Need the Rams general manager. I think you guys were 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:35.520 in college around the same time because we're almost the 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:40.360 same age. Yeah, I think you're right. That's that's crazy. 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:43.879 That that's nuts. He was probably on one of those teams, 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:46.160 one of those Auburn teams in ninety three or ninety 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:51.480 four that actually handed us our lone SEC loss. While 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.320 we still won the SEC championship that year, we had 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:56.439 to get a thorn in our side and it was 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.680 and it was my junior year. It was Wayne Gandy 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:05.800 and James Bostic, that whole group that beat us at 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.680 Jordan Hair and we we went on to still win 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.560 the SEC title, but they were a thorn in our side. 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:14.800 So yeah, I need to look that up and see 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:18.879 if less was on that team the shoulders said he 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.920 was on. He was on an undefeated Auburn club that 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.440 was on probation, So I think was that the team 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.399 that was the team. What was the other thing I 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:33.520 wanted to ask you? You played for Charlie Strong, dude, 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:38.199 that's awesome. Wow. What were those meetings like? Um, you 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:41.920 know Charlie Strong, you know the thing that. Um, I'll 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.600 tell any young person yeah is looking for is looking 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:49.400 for an organization to join, whether it's you know, college 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:51.480