Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / O-Zone Podcast: WR Jamal Agnew
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast, presented by by Star Credit Union.
- 0:14Speaker 1: All Right, welcome to this week's Ozone podcast is done
- 0:17Speaker 1: by by Star. I gotta say I'm excited about this
- 0:20Speaker 1: week's guest. I always say that, but I really am
- 0:22Speaker 1: this week because we're joined by a guy who is Frankly,
- 0:25Speaker 1: I didn't know much about when he signed. Uh he
- 0:28Speaker 1: signed recently, did some research, talk to some people and said, hey,
- 0:32Speaker 1: this guy is special guy, and it's different when you
- 0:36Speaker 1: get the ball in his hand. That's true. I realized
- 0:39Speaker 1: how different until this beef and started. Thanky War's fans
- 0:42Speaker 1: know by now I'm talking about kick returner, but probably
- 0:46Speaker 1: more important right now, wide receiver Jamal Agnes Jamal, thanks
- 0:50Speaker 1: for joining us. First of all, thanks for having me.
- 0:52Speaker 1: Happy to be here. Man. All right, John, tell me
- 0:55Speaker 1: about life in the week after the hundred nine yard
- 1:00Speaker 1: for you? What changed? I know people close to you
- 1:02Speaker 1: weren't surprised, but that was pretty lights out. Yeah. It was.
- 1:06Speaker 1: It was special. Um, just just to be a part
- 1:08Speaker 1: of something like that. I mean, you know, as a
- 1:11Speaker 1: whole we made NFL history. You know that wasn't just
- 1:13Speaker 1: me out there. Um, you know, there was ten other guys,
- 1:15Speaker 1: you know, grinding out there. Um, you know that everybody
- 1:18Speaker 1: did their job, and you know we made NFL history
- 1:21Speaker 1: or you know, tied NFL history. So um, it was
- 1:23Speaker 1: just special. And I had a lot of people hitting
- 1:25Speaker 1: me up, um, sending me the video telling me how
- 1:28Speaker 1: proud they are of me. And you know that's what
- 1:30Speaker 1: I love to do. I love to make plays like that.
- 1:32Speaker 1: I love to you know, make those energy plays or
- 1:35Speaker 1: spark plays. And you know that's what I said I
- 1:37Speaker 1: was gonna do when you know, Urban and Trent brought
- 1:39Speaker 1: me here. You know, I plan to just keep up
- 1:41Speaker 1: with that. Now, things like this are different. Now I'm
- 1:45Speaker 1: an old man, Jamal and fifty five and coming the
- 1:47Speaker 1: league for a while. Maybe when I first started, this
- 1:50Speaker 1: kind of thing wouldn't have much life for you to
- 1:52Speaker 1: see it on Sports Center once in a while. But
- 1:54Speaker 1: with social media, I think one of the positives of
- 1:57Speaker 1: social media, it's something like this lives. Have you heard
- 2:01Speaker 1: the Gus Johnson call on social media? And if so,
- 2:04Speaker 1: how much have you listened to it? How cool was that?
- 2:06Speaker 1: I guess? Oh man, I probably watched it like over
- 2:10Speaker 1: a hundred times, just just for just for Gus Johnson's reactions. Um,
- 2:15Speaker 1: obviously I kind of grew up watching. I mean just
- 2:17Speaker 1: like I used to hear him broadcasting in the college
- 2:19Speaker 1: football games all the time on and you know, he's
- 2:22Speaker 1: always been electric like that. But for him to just
- 2:25Speaker 1: to be able to cover that play was just like
- 2:27Speaker 1: a matchmate in heaven because he was honestly, you know,
- 2:30Speaker 1: the perfect guy for that, for that play call right there.
- 2:33Speaker 1: But you know, I've watched it so many times, and
- 2:36Speaker 1: I actually tweeted, I actually tweeted out. I was like,
- 2:39Speaker 1: I want I want Gus Johnson to to to narrate
- 2:42Speaker 1: my basic life, just like my everyday life. You know,
- 2:44Speaker 1: that would it would make all the most basic stuff
- 2:47Speaker 1: is exciting his heck, life would be a better place
- 2:50Speaker 1: if that was true. And and I haven't got any
- 2:54Speaker 1: chance to get to know you because the COVID there's
- 2:56Speaker 1: a lot of things separate. Um, but he listened to
- 2:59Speaker 1: you after press count, I mean after the play at
- 3:01Speaker 1: the press conference. Listening to you, now you have an
- 3:04Speaker 1: appreciation for this maybe that some players don't. Meaning you
- 3:08Speaker 1: know other returners, you've watched them. If I threw out
- 3:12Speaker 1: great returners names, I'm sure you could list them off,
- 3:15Speaker 1: all right, is that important to you, sort of fitting
- 3:18Speaker 1: into history. You've got seven of these things now, that's
- 3:21Speaker 1: getting into a pretty big number. Does that matter to you?
- 3:24Speaker 1: I mean, you know the deep down, that definitely does. Um.
- 3:27Speaker 1: You know, like I said, I grew up watching those guys. Um,
- 3:31Speaker 1: you know, Devin Hester, Dante Halls, even the you know,
- 3:34Speaker 1: the Brian Mitchell's. I actually hear a lot about mel
- 3:37Speaker 1: Gray in Detroit. Um, you know, just being in Detroit,
- 3:40Speaker 1: and yeah, just just to be creeping up in the
- 3:44Speaker 1: numbers with them is is honestly an honor. But you know,
- 3:47Speaker 1: I feel like we got I got a long way
- 3:48Speaker 1: to go, and there's a lot of plays out there
- 3:50Speaker 1: to be made. And you know, I'm just out there,
- 3:52Speaker 1: you know, me and my other ten guys, and we're
- 3:54Speaker 1: waiting for that perfect opportunity to go out there and
- 3:57Speaker 1: continue to make spart plays like that. Tell me about
- 4:00Speaker 1: returning a little bit. Can you pattern your game after
- 4:04Speaker 1: a guy or does it just have to be something
- 4:06Speaker 1: you do? I mean, it seems like an instinct thing
- 4:08Speaker 1: to either you do it your way or you don't. Yeah,
- 4:11Speaker 1: I feel like it's all everybody is different. Um. Obviously
- 4:15Speaker 1: you can see like similarities and you know, different people's games.
- 4:18Speaker 1: But I like to think everybody has their own little
- 4:21Speaker 1: style to it. Um. You know, I'd like, I'd like
- 4:24Speaker 1: to be like the Dante Halls, but you know, I
- 4:26Speaker 1: don't like to, you know, make all the cuts like that.
- 4:29Speaker 1: You know, I don't. You know, he was obviously like
- 4:30Speaker 1: the human joystick, so he can he can stop out
- 4:33Speaker 1: of dime. I'm not saying I can't do any of that,
- 4:35Speaker 1: but just you know, I just have a different running style. Um.
- 4:38Speaker 1: So everybody has their unique styles and that's what makes
- 4:41Speaker 1: everybody different and special. It's honestly just like interesting to
- 4:44Speaker 1: to see that just every how everybody is different and
- 4:46Speaker 1: how unique everybody is. When's the first time you took
- 4:49Speaker 1: one back? Do you remember to stand out? Yeah, I
- 4:52Speaker 1: didn't start returning kicks until my senior year of high school. Um,
- 4:56Speaker 1: then my coach let me return Clinton kicks. I think
- 4:59Speaker 1: I had a kickoff in a punt return that year.
- 5:02Speaker 1: And then again I didn't start. I didn't return kicks
- 5:05Speaker 1: until my senior year of college. Um, and then they
- 5:08Speaker 1: had a pump return. So my first one was in
- 5:09Speaker 1: high school, my senior high school. Okay, it's gotta be
- 5:12Speaker 1: a rush like, I can't even imagine because you've got
- 5:15Speaker 1: eleven guys on the other team focus on you from
- 5:18Speaker 1: the very start of the play. It's really the only
- 5:20Speaker 1: play like this. Any other kind of return into the
- 5:23Speaker 1: play there's five options, or there's ten options. But when
- 5:27Speaker 1: they kicked the ball, they're saying, hey, we've got to
- 5:29Speaker 1: stop this guy. And they're all fast except for the
- 5:32Speaker 1: obvious gonna kickoff. For me, the field return was an exception.
- 5:35Speaker 1: But when you return a punt, you know, most of
- 5:38Speaker 1: those guys were designed to stop you, especially on a kickoff,
- 5:41Speaker 1: and yet you win that. It's got to be pretty
- 5:44Speaker 1: cool when you're standing in the ends up. Oh, it's
- 5:46Speaker 1: definitely a good feeling at the end of the day. Um.
- 5:50Speaker 1: I I would like to say pumpy turns a lot
- 5:52Speaker 1: easier than kick return in my opinion, just because, um
- 5:55Speaker 1: kick return, you know they have they have literally like
- 5:59Speaker 1: forty yard had start. You know, they're coming down with
- 6:01Speaker 1: a full head of steam. And yeah, exactly. And I
- 6:04Speaker 1: got a lot of respect for you know, the guy
- 6:06Speaker 1: the other ten guys who are blocking them, just because
- 6:08Speaker 1: those are those are really tough blocks. Um. You know,
- 6:11Speaker 1: you gotta stop somebody's momentum from you know, them being
- 6:14Speaker 1: at top end speed and you're you know, flat footed. So, UM,
- 6:17Speaker 1: I got a lot of respect for for what those
- 6:19Speaker 1: guys doing. You know, That's why I just try to
- 6:21Speaker 1: try to do my best to you know, make place
- 6:23Speaker 1: for them, because you know they're working their butts off
- 6:24Speaker 1: to you know, try to block those guys from me.
- 6:28Speaker 1: What did it mean when your shoes went to the hall?
- 6:31Speaker 1: It was? It was it was, it was an honor.
- 6:33Speaker 1: I mean I never would have anticipated that. I mean, obviously,
- 6:36Speaker 1: that's that's what everybody wants at the end of the day.
- 6:38Speaker 1: You know, you play in the NFL, you want to
- 6:40Speaker 1: go to Hall of Fame one day, you want, um,
- 6:43Speaker 1: you know, to break records and stuff, and you know,
- 6:45Speaker 1: just for that too, you know, actually happened. It's honestly
- 6:48Speaker 1: still surreal to me. Um, I still can't believe it sometimes, Um,
- 6:52Speaker 1: and I hope one day I can go out there
- 6:54Speaker 1: and they go go see him in the in the
- 6:56Speaker 1: little display myself out there and I can't know how.
- 6:59Speaker 1: Give me the top three in order fastest Jaguars players,
- 7:04Speaker 1: I'll say me at the top, um Tylan Johnson's up there.
- 7:09Speaker 1: He's pretty fast. And I'm gonna say, I'd say, Devin Smith,
- 7:16Speaker 1: I'm gonna stick with my receivers. Now with those guys
- 7:19Speaker 1: give it to you. Are you acknowledged that the fastest guy?
- 7:22Speaker 1: Or is this a competition? Because then in my experience,
- 7:25Speaker 1: every time you're go in to an NFL locker room,
- 7:26Speaker 1: if you start this conversation, it's a debate. Even the
- 7:30Speaker 1: guys think they're fast. Yeah, exactly, it's always a competition.
- 7:33Speaker 1: You know, we're we're intense elite competitors, so you know
- 7:36Speaker 1: we're always competing. But you know, I'm I'm gonna go
- 7:39Speaker 1: around telling everybody I'm the fastest, and you know I'll
- 7:42Speaker 1: go out there and prove it all race any day.
- 7:45Speaker 1: I guess until somebody else takes that nine, you can
- 7:49Speaker 1: kind of say it right exactly. That's uh. Um, what
- 7:55Speaker 1: was cooler to you the toe drag for the return
- 7:59Speaker 1: because I'm as because I know you take wide receiver
- 8:02Speaker 1: seriously and that was a catch that maybe people didn't
- 8:04Speaker 1: know you could make. Yeah, I would say personally, the
- 8:08Speaker 1: catch just because I really got the showcase my playmaking ability.
- 8:12Speaker 1: And that's just like that's how I see myself. I'm
- 8:14Speaker 1: an athlete out there. You know, I could play dB,
- 8:16Speaker 1: I could play receiver, I can wind up in the backfield.
- 8:18Speaker 1: But at the end of that, I just want to
- 8:20Speaker 1: make some plays. And you know, that's what I've been
- 8:22Speaker 1: doing since I was a kid playing in the you know,
- 8:24Speaker 1: in the street, Like I just go out there and play.
- 8:26Speaker 1: Throw the ball, catch the ball, run with the ball.
- 8:29Speaker 1: I just want to go out there and make plays.
- 8:31Speaker 1: And and I'm just grace grateful I got that opportunity
- 8:34Speaker 1: to go out there and showcase to the world I'm
- 8:36Speaker 1: prime time, like what I can really do, and you know,
- 8:39Speaker 1: kind of just like the potential I could really have
- 8:42Speaker 1: on offensive side of the ball. It seems like you're
- 8:44Speaker 1: starting to get a role offensively, uh, and things like
- 8:47Speaker 1: that may grow. Yeah, I'm hoping. I'm hoping that. Um.
- 8:51Speaker 1: I mean honestly, like you know, I play, I'm obviously
- 8:54Speaker 1: the returner and I'll play my role, but um I'm
- 8:57Speaker 1: just gonna take advantage of whatever opportunities that's thrown at me.
- 9:00Speaker 1: Um you know, whether that's going you know, I'll running
- 9:02Speaker 1: routes and making players down field. Um, you know, doing
- 9:05Speaker 1: what I do and returning kicks, shooting they need me
- 9:08Speaker 1: on defense, you know, I'm just gonna go out there
- 9:11Speaker 1: and you know, take advantage of the opportunities that you know,
- 9:13Speaker 1: they give me. Tell me about the process. UM, I'm
- 9:18Speaker 1: not sure exactly the history on this, but you're a
- 9:19Speaker 1: cornerback until what year, and then you've been transitioning. Uh
- 9:24Speaker 1: take me through that timeline and how difficult is it
- 9:27Speaker 1: to switch positions at the elite level? Um? So I
- 9:32Speaker 1: started to slowly transition. Um. Towards the mid season of
- 9:36Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, we had a bunch of receivers go down.
- 9:41Speaker 1: And they had already been using me sporadically on offense,
- 9:45Speaker 1: like I would go in there for gadget plays, so
- 9:47Speaker 1: I know a little bit of the offense. Um, you know,
- 9:49Speaker 1: just some formations and stuff. Um. Then we had those
- 9:51Speaker 1: receivers go down, so they just started throwing me in there.
- 9:53Speaker 1: You know. Every week I was getting a little bit
- 9:56Speaker 1: more reps. And then in the off season they were
- 9:57Speaker 1: just like, hey, let's just let's just keep you on
- 9:59Speaker 1: that side of the ball. And you know, I had
- 10:01Speaker 1: always told I had always told them since my rookie
- 10:04Speaker 1: season in seen that and I could play offense like
- 10:07Speaker 1: I haven't played receiver in my life. But I played
- 10:09Speaker 1: running back in high school, but you know I could
- 10:11Speaker 1: play offense. Um, I would say the toughest part of
- 10:14Speaker 1: the transition was, you know, learning the playbook at the
- 10:17Speaker 1: NFL level because you know how how complex everything is
- 10:20Speaker 1: with the formations and concepts and everything. You know, then
- 10:24Speaker 1: we got hot routes and adjustments, so that was the
- 10:27Speaker 1: toughest part. And then obviously we had the covid um
- 10:31Speaker 1: in the middle of the off season. We're not just transitioned,
- 10:33Speaker 1: so I was really you know, teaching myself a lot
- 10:36Speaker 1: just because we were limited with the with the time
- 10:39Speaker 1: we can give it our coaches and everything. So I
- 10:42Speaker 1: would definitely say that the transition was most difficult just learning.
- 10:45Speaker 1: But um, that's part of the reason why I chose
- 10:47Speaker 1: Jacksonville just because coach Bebel. I knew Coach Bebel was
- 10:50Speaker 1: out here, and you know, I had the opportunity to
- 10:52Speaker 1: just pick up where I left off, like I didn't
- 10:54Speaker 1: have to learn a whole new offertive playbook and everything.
- 10:57Speaker 1: And you know, it's worked out for me personally. And
- 10:59Speaker 1: I assume it's a lot of time spent on task
- 11:02Speaker 1: in the off season me. I soon, I'm assuming you
- 11:05Speaker 1: go to fields and they're just working on the techniques
- 11:07Speaker 1: of route running because it's not like you can just
- 11:09Speaker 1: go out there and run. No. That that was one
- 11:12Speaker 1: of the toughest parts that I didn't mention, was, you know,
- 11:15Speaker 1: teaching myself how to run rounts. You know, I didn't
- 11:17Speaker 1: really get obviously, we had to COVID, like I mentioned,
- 11:20Speaker 1: and I didn't get a lot of one on one
- 11:21Speaker 1: time with with the receiver's coach in Detroit. So I
- 11:24Speaker 1: was really trying to just like watch stuff on YouTube,
- 11:27Speaker 1: watch film from guys like Marvin who I played with
- 11:30Speaker 1: in Detroit, and then other guys and you know, try
- 11:33Speaker 1: to watch what they do and apply it to my game. Um.
- 11:37Speaker 1: So it was, it was, it was. It was a
- 11:38Speaker 1: it was a difficult transition at first. Um, just like
- 11:41Speaker 1: teaching myself and learning how to run routes, getting out
- 11:44Speaker 1: of breaks and everything. Um, but I feel like I'm
- 11:47Speaker 1: I'm getting better and better, and you know, my my
- 11:50Speaker 1: ceiling is pretty high, and I feel like I'm not
- 11:52Speaker 1: even statching the service yet. Um, I feel like I
- 11:54Speaker 1: got a long way to go still, but I just
- 11:56Speaker 1: feel myself getting better and better. And one of the
- 12:00Speaker 1: questions I asked people sometimes is that what would you
- 12:02Speaker 1: be doing if you weren't playing football? And I'm told
- 12:04Speaker 1: acting is in your interests? Correct? Yeah, I used to love.
- 12:08Speaker 1: I took a couple of acting courses in college just
- 12:11Speaker 1: just for the fun of it, but I actually fell
- 12:13Speaker 1: in love with it. Um. You know, we got to
- 12:16Speaker 1: act out, um, some of our favorite movie scenes and
- 12:19Speaker 1: stuff like that. We did a lot of a lot
- 12:21Speaker 1: of improv games and everything. UM. So I can I
- 12:24Speaker 1: can definitely see me, see me out there acting one day,
- 12:27Speaker 1: but we'll see. I really want to coach and mentor, um,
- 12:30Speaker 1: you know, at the high school level. That's just something
- 12:32Speaker 1: I've always had a passion for. Um. I don't know
- 12:35Speaker 1: about coaching in college here and then if that's a
- 12:37Speaker 1: lot too much traveling and everything. So is that something
- 12:41Speaker 1: when you go back home to San Diego to do
- 12:42Speaker 1: it or would Yeah? I would love that. I would
- 12:44Speaker 1: love to go back home. Yeah, maybe coach at my
- 12:47Speaker 1: hometown school. You know, that's obviously a dream, but any
- 12:50Speaker 1: anywhere anywhere I'm needed. Honestly, I just like the mentor
- 12:53Speaker 1: and you know, show show the young as the rope
- 12:55Speaker 1: and you know, kind of giving that that confidence and
- 12:58Speaker 1: believe that anything anybody can make it. Honest, I got
- 13:01Speaker 1: your final thought before we start wrapping up talking about
- 13:04Speaker 1: this team right now improving clearly in the last four
- 13:07Speaker 1: weeks and now and on Sunday amazingly a chance to
- 13:10Speaker 1: sort of get back into this thing. Is that the
- 13:13Speaker 1: way you guys are approaching that is there some confidence
- 13:15Speaker 1: going forward right now? Yeah, that's that's definitely how we
- 13:17Speaker 1: see it. Um, you know, obviously didn't start the season
- 13:19Speaker 1: the way we wanted to, but just the fact that
- 13:22Speaker 1: every week by week we've been getting better and better,
- 13:25Speaker 1: you know, on in all three phases, UM, offense, defense,
- 13:28Speaker 1: special teams. From week one to this past Thursday, we've
- 13:31Speaker 1: been getting better and better. And that's just that's probably
- 13:34Speaker 1: the most encouraging part about it. Obviously we gotta be
- 13:38Speaker 1: consistent throughout the four quarters of the game and obviously
- 13:41Speaker 1: finishing the fourth quarter, but it's definitely encouraging seeing that
- 13:45Speaker 1: we're getting better and better, and um, you know, we're
- 13:47Speaker 1: we're pretty close to turn this thing around. And obviously
- 13:50Speaker 1: we gotta we got a big matchup this week Sunday
- 13:52Speaker 1: against you know, division rival, and you know, we gotta
- 13:55Speaker 1: go out here and we gotta execute, and we gotta
- 13:57Speaker 1: we gotta be consistent and finishing, you know, of four quarters.
- 14:01Speaker 1: All right, we closed this thing with something we call
- 14:03Speaker 1: the ozone five. This is five quick questions. Time to
- 14:10Speaker 1: have a little fun, h the actor and you might
- 14:13Speaker 1: like this question. What's your last binge? Watch? Uh squid Game?
- 14:18Speaker 1: It's it's really good. It's it's it's it's honestly kind
- 14:21Speaker 1: of crazy. Um, it's really glory, but it's got a
- 14:25Speaker 1: it's got a cool little concept to it in a
- 14:27Speaker 1: flat twist. I guess you'll tell my twenty five year old.
- 14:30Speaker 1: So like that last song you listened to this morning
- 14:33Speaker 1: on your way in the last song, um, is there
- 14:36Speaker 1: more by Drake? Your go to breakfast food? Um Belgian waffle?
- 14:42Speaker 1: Pretty solid. Who's the person most responsible for you being
- 14:46Speaker 1: here in your life? Guy? For first, uh, first and foremost.
- 14:50Speaker 1: But I'll say my father. Okay, why uh he sacrificed
- 14:55Speaker 1: so much to you know, put me in you know
- 14:58Speaker 1: feewee football, Um, you travel baseball, travel basketball. You just
- 15:02Speaker 1: just to do what I love to do as a kid,
- 15:05Speaker 1: and you know, really find my passion. And you know
- 15:08Speaker 1: you never really forced me to do anything. Um, he
- 15:10Speaker 1: kind of just pushed me to, you know, work at
- 15:12Speaker 1: what I was doing, and you know, I'm really thankful
- 15:14Speaker 1: for him. I got y'all break the last one up
- 15:17Speaker 1: into two because it's a special question just for you.
- 15:20Speaker 1: Your best actor, your favorite actor being the actors uh
- 15:24Speaker 1: Denzel Washingston for sure, and your favorite actress. I really
- 15:29Speaker 1: like Angelina Joe Lee love her. And then final one
- 15:32Speaker 1: on these lines, what actor do you respect that maybe
- 15:35Speaker 1: people wouldn't expect you to, Maybe an old guy and
- 15:37Speaker 1: maybe somebody just off the wall, Tom Cruise, Tom Cruiser,
- 15:42Speaker 1: Matt Damon. I feel like any movie with him and
- 15:45Speaker 1: is pretty good, like all the Born, The Born trilogies,
- 15:49Speaker 1: The Mission Impossible, even Jerry McGuire with Tom Cruise, that's
- 15:52Speaker 1: a great movie. He was also in one of the
- 15:54Speaker 1: kid about football called All the Right Moves, which is
- 15:57Speaker 1: pretty classic for my generation. Okay, maybe a little it
- 16:00Speaker 1: for you. Well, I can date you. So Hey, Jamal Agnes,
- 16:06Speaker 1: I appreciate you joining the ozone podcast. I know how
- 16:09Speaker 1: bigy things are during the week. I enjoyed it. I
- 16:11Speaker 1: think fans will get to know you a little better.
- 16:13Speaker 1: Thank you very much for being here. I wish I
- 16:15Speaker 1: had just had the zone ye