Latest / The Richard Sherman Podcast / Ernest Jones IV on Hard Knocks, Seahawks’ Super Bowl mindset, and Sam Darnold | Richard Sherman

Transcript

Ernest Jones IV on Hard Knocks, Seahawks’ Super Bowl mindset, and Sam Darnold | Richard Sherman · The Richard Sherman Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: What be careful.
0:01
Speaker 2: You gotta see us. That's what I'm saying. That's the
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Speaker 2: same thing I'm saying. It all looks cool right now
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Speaker 2: on paper, but.
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0:14
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1:18
Speaker 1: We're back. Let's get it.
1:24
Speaker 3: Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast, and I'm excited
1:28
Speaker 3: to start this new season off at the Seahawks training
1:31
Speaker 3: camp today. I got the leader of the dark side
1:34
Speaker 3: sixty six tackle, five interceptions in twenty twenty five, two
1:37
Speaker 3: time Super Bowl champion coming off in all Pro season,
1:41
Speaker 3: Ernest Jones, the fourth.
1:42
Speaker 5: Appreciate it joining it, and I appreciate you. Thank you
1:44
Speaker 5: for having me so first.
1:45
Speaker 3: Off, congratulations on another ring, think how did it feel
1:49
Speaker 3: with the second season? You know, obviously I want to
1:53
Speaker 3: go back to dang nearing your time with the Rams
1:55
Speaker 3: and how that all ended, because from the outside of
1:58
Speaker 3: looking in, not to you know, thro Shade or any
2:00
Speaker 3: but they it sounded like they had some doubts about
2:02
Speaker 3: your need and concerns about this, and then they kind
2:05
Speaker 3: of traded you to Tennessee where it almost was like
2:08
Speaker 3: they were trying to get off for you before they
2:10
Speaker 3: had to pay you. Then in that same season, you
2:13
Speaker 3: get traded to the Seattle Seahawks. What was going through
2:15
Speaker 3: your mind?
2:15
Speaker 5: Man? That year? They was stressful.
2:17
Speaker 2: You know, I just had a little my first son,
2:19
Speaker 2: and little baby boy, he was about a month old
2:22
Speaker 2: before we started that journey and we're traveling back and
2:24
Speaker 2: forth to go back to the Rams side of it.
2:27
Speaker 2: You know, it was it was kind of shocking to
2:28
Speaker 2: me too. You know, I didn't expect it. We were
2:31
Speaker 2: actually coming back from Texas training camp and they told
2:34
Speaker 2: me right when we got off the plane that they
2:36
Speaker 2: were gonna trade me or whatever the case may be.
2:38
Speaker 5: So it's unexpected.
2:39
Speaker 2: And then to go to Tennessee, I felt like you
2:42
Speaker 2: had been left out to die a little bit.
2:44
Speaker 5: So that, you know, that motivated me.
2:46
Speaker 2: You know, I tried to go into Tennessee and do
2:48
Speaker 2: what I do best, go play football league men and
2:50
Speaker 2: the way that I know how. And they came to
2:52
Speaker 2: me about six seven weeks into that and we're like, hey,
2:55
Speaker 2: we're going to trade you to Seattle.
2:57
Speaker 5: And I ran out of the building. I was ready
2:59
Speaker 5: to get to Seattle.
3:00
Speaker 2: I ran out of the building because I knew, you know,
3:03
Speaker 2: Seattle was a good team. It was up and coming,
3:05
Speaker 2: and I knew many they traded a high draft pick for.
3:08
Speaker 5: Me, so I knew they wanted me to come in
3:10
Speaker 5: and work. And it all worked out.
3:12
Speaker 2: Man, these guys they loved up on me at a
3:14
Speaker 2: time where I thought football was gonna be the end.
3:16
Speaker 5: I thought it was gonna be that was gonna be it.
3:18
Speaker 2: They loved up on me, These coaches surrounded me with
3:21
Speaker 2: game plans, great guys that just show love to me.
3:24
Speaker 5: And it worked out.
3:25
Speaker 2: Man, We were able to do something special, you know,
3:27
Speaker 2: a year or so later and it was everything.
3:30
Speaker 3: That was a tough moment, though. No, I can't imagine.
3:32
Speaker 3: I can't imagine. You just had your baby boy, and
3:34
Speaker 3: people don't understand how much of a motivating factor having
3:37
Speaker 3: a kid is. Like, you know, you got to do
3:39
Speaker 3: everything to feed your kid, and it seems like people
3:42
Speaker 3: just through a wrench in that. But you come here,
3:46
Speaker 3: you you personally turn this defense around. I mean you
3:49
Speaker 3: can you can see it statistically how much this defense
3:52
Speaker 3: improved in in the past defense, in the run defense
3:56
Speaker 3: once you got here. What was it about Mike McDonald's
3:59
Speaker 3: scheme that was a hand and glove.
4:01
Speaker 1: Fit with you.
4:02
Speaker 2: I think what it is is he likes me be me, man.
4:05
Speaker 2: Mike wants me to go use my hands, get downhill
4:07
Speaker 2: in the run game. There's really no gap, earn. It's
4:10
Speaker 2: just go find the ball. And that's that's what I
4:12
Speaker 2: love to do. You tell me to go hunt. I
4:14
Speaker 2: can do that. And then when it came to the
4:16
Speaker 2: past game, it was a little different for me. I
4:18
Speaker 2: had to close windows that I wasn't used to closing.
4:21
Speaker 2: And once I was able to get a grasp of
4:23
Speaker 2: the scheme and you know, get what he wanted out
4:25
Speaker 2: of me, it was a match made of heaven. Then
4:27
Speaker 2: he's calling these plays that are put me in perfect
4:30
Speaker 2: perfect position to get interceptions. I'm getting the ball out
4:33
Speaker 2: of you know, out of the opposition's hands. So it
4:36
Speaker 2: just worked and he believed in me. That's the biggest thing, Mike.
4:39
Speaker 2: Mike spoke so much life in me, you know, in
4:41
Speaker 2: that times where I was down, and you know that
4:43
Speaker 2: gave me the motivation and everything that I needed to go,
4:46
Speaker 2: you know, do do my job at the highest level
4:47
Speaker 2: for this team.
4:48
Speaker 3: Now, how many any year three know the scheme? You
4:52
Speaker 3: have a home, you got your contract, security, you know
4:56
Speaker 3: what to expect. What is the relationship and the conversations
5:00
Speaker 3: with Mike now like.
5:01
Speaker 2: That, the conversations we're trying to figure out how can
5:04
Speaker 2: we still plays we always I think we like to say,
5:06
Speaker 2: is you're trying to rob Peter to pay Paul. We're
5:09
Speaker 2: trying to get everything. So if you're supposed to be,
5:12
Speaker 2: you know, a hook guy. Here you can make plays
5:15
Speaker 2: on this other hash on the other opposite side. And
5:18
Speaker 2: that's where we're at.
5:19
Speaker 1: Now.
5:19
Speaker 2: We're getting ahead of players, we're getting ahead of formations
5:22
Speaker 2: and just knowing, Okay, these are where I can I
5:24
Speaker 2: can be in my right spot, but this is where
5:26
Speaker 2: you can truly make those game changing plays. So that's
5:28
Speaker 2: what we're having now. You know, my role is to
5:31
Speaker 2: make sure Mike doesn't have to do too much on Sundays,
5:34
Speaker 2: and I communicate well enough that the guys, you know,
5:37
Speaker 2: they trust in what I'm relaying to them, that it's
5:39
Speaker 2: that I put into work, and that Mike's been you know,
5:41
Speaker 2: right there with me.
5:42
Speaker 3: Okay, now, let's talk about this training camp because it
5:44
Speaker 3: seems like everything's going great. It looks fantastic, But y'all
5:47
Speaker 3: got hard knocks to deal with. Yeah, No, I ain't
5:49
Speaker 3: never in the history of ball heard of hard knocks
5:52
Speaker 3: coming to a Super Bowl champion.
5:54
Speaker 1: Of course, they change the rules.
5:56
Speaker 3: We want, Yeah, but how has that been?
6:00
Speaker 5: Honestly, it's been good. This team. It's a bunch of characters.
6:04
Speaker 2: These guys they want the camera on them, they won't
6:06
Speaker 2: they want that lights, camera action, and we're in Seattle.
6:09
Speaker 2: We don't get as much public as we should, so
6:11
Speaker 2: this is great for us, and I think the guys
6:13
Speaker 2: are taking advantage of it. We're using it to our advantage,
6:16
Speaker 2: so you know, people can get a glimpse of what
6:18
Speaker 2: it's like, not not just on Sunday, is what the
6:20
Speaker 2: work goes into it. And we got a lot of
6:23
Speaker 2: clip farming, a lot of people that want to be
6:25
Speaker 2: in front of that camera. So it's been good, honestly.
6:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's always good man. I'm happy to hear that
6:29
Speaker 3: because when I was here, boy, you talk about characters.
6:32
Speaker 5: I know y'all had them.
6:35
Speaker 1: We had too many of them, like hey, where's the
6:37
Speaker 1: football players? Right?
6:39
Speaker 3: But but it's crazy because you talk about a team
6:44
Speaker 3: that's been totally like locked back in.
6:46
Speaker 1: You know, usually when you're.
6:47
Speaker 3: Coming off with Super Bowl, you even with the most
6:50
Speaker 3: disciplined and the most blue collar teams, you hear a
6:52
Speaker 3: little bit of distraction. A little bit of it is
6:54
Speaker 3: a little bit of people repeating, people getting distracted by money.
6:58
Speaker 3: With this team, it's boy, bring you lunch, pill, your
7:01
Speaker 3: hard hat and going right.
7:02
Speaker 1: Back to work.
7:02
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. That's I think that's credit to our coach.
7:05
Speaker 2: He don't allow us to get complacent at all. He's like,
7:08
Speaker 2: we're gonna come to work here, like you know, being
7:10
Speaker 2: in two different places, being in two different kind of
7:13
Speaker 2: training camp situations, I understand, you know how it's supposed
7:15
Speaker 2: to look, and this is completely different. Everybody comes in and,
7:19
Speaker 2: like you said, head down, go to work. We'll have
7:21
Speaker 2: fun in between, but for the most part, we're here
7:24
Speaker 2: to do a job, and you know, nobody's really it's
7:27
Speaker 2: it's crazy to me because I you know, with this
7:29
Speaker 2: being my second Super Bowl after the first one, coming
7:33
Speaker 2: back into that building with the rams, you could you
7:35
Speaker 2: could tell guys you once you feed a hungry dog,
7:39
Speaker 2: they don't want to eat no more, and you could
7:41
Speaker 2: tell that was a little bit. But these guys, we
7:44
Speaker 2: can't tell him nothing. They just want We just want
7:46
Speaker 2: to work. And you know, we're getting slided in the media.
7:50
Speaker 2: They don't think we're gonna be what it is, so
7:52
Speaker 2: it's just more feud of to fire.
7:53
Speaker 5: Honestly.
7:54
Speaker 1: Look, well, I.
7:54
Speaker 3: Remember coming last year and I came in here and
7:56
Speaker 3: I interviewed some dudes, and I watched training camp. I'm
7:59
Speaker 3: never watch or five practices and as somebody's put spent
8:03
Speaker 3: time on championship teams. I know what it looked like. Well,
8:05
Speaker 3: I said, these dudes like, I don't know how y'all
8:09
Speaker 3: talking about them, but I don't think y'all seen them play.
8:11
Speaker 3: And obviously Sam was coming in, you know, with with
8:15
Speaker 3: the burden of what happened in the year before, Jsen
8:18
Speaker 3: was coming in with hided heightened expectations with DK going
8:21
Speaker 3: and Knowe leaving, and it's just so many unknowns. But
8:26
Speaker 3: on that defensive side of the ball, if you know
8:28
Speaker 3: ball and you watch y'all practice, boy, it looked like something.
8:30
Speaker 3: It definitely did, and y'all and y'all showed it throughout
8:33
Speaker 3: the year and I said it. I said it as soon
8:35
Speaker 3: as I left that practice. I was like, I think
8:37
Speaker 3: they're gonna win this division. I think it's gonna be
8:39
Speaker 3: it's gonna between him and San Francisco that last game,
8:42
Speaker 3: because y'all had San Francisco at the end of the season.
8:44
Speaker 3: I said, the winner of that game is probably gonna
8:46
Speaker 3: win this deal. And that's that's what it came to,
8:47
Speaker 3: one hundred percent. That's how we looked at it too.
8:49
Speaker 2: We looked at it, as you know, we took that
8:51
Speaker 2: loss early on in the same Fran Week one, and
8:53
Speaker 2: we were like, Okay, we see how this is gonna
8:55
Speaker 2: play out. We just got to do our part and
8:57
Speaker 2: make sure at the end of it that we put
8:59
Speaker 2: ourselves in Boziz to have something to fight for in
9:02
Speaker 2: Week eighteen, and we were able to do that and
9:04
Speaker 2: we were able to come out on top, and you
9:06
Speaker 2: kind of know how the story went after that. But
9:08
Speaker 2: it's I think all of that started that year. I
9:11
Speaker 2: came in half the year everything was being built. Mike
9:14
Speaker 2: was already pushing towards us being a champion. We just
9:17
Speaker 2: it wasn't clicking in, but it clicked at the right moment.
9:20
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9:53
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9:56
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10:00
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10:03
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11:43
Speaker 3: seems again you are such a perfect fit. The way
11:46
Speaker 3: you talk to you guys, the way you inspire you guys,
11:49
Speaker 3: even the big fellas up front, the relationship you have
11:52
Speaker 3: with them. I mean, I come in and I see
11:53
Speaker 3: all either playing cards and hanging out.
11:56
Speaker 1: Talk about the relationship with those those dudes.
11:58
Speaker 5: Man, You know I was always talk growing up.
12:00
Speaker 2: You take care of those guys in front of you,
12:02
Speaker 2: because they'll take care of They'll take care of you,
12:04
Speaker 2: and that's what they do. I came into this and
12:07
Speaker 2: they were already a bunch of bad men. But you know,
12:10
Speaker 2: you speak a little life into them. You you keep
12:13
Speaker 2: you know, speaking up on them, they'll take care of you.
12:15
Speaker 2: And that's what they did.
12:16
Speaker 3: Man.
12:16
Speaker 2: I owe those guys a lot because they keep me
12:19
Speaker 2: clean and I'm able to run around and free, you know,
12:21
Speaker 2: play free. And then on third down there's some monsters
12:24
Speaker 2: they gonna get out of the quarterback there. I can't
12:28
Speaker 2: speak enough of those guys because they truly come to
12:31
Speaker 2: work every day. They make this job super fun and
12:34
Speaker 2: anything that I can do for them, like you know,
12:35
Speaker 2: the linebackers. We were just talking like we got to
12:37
Speaker 2: start buying these guys stakes everywhere because they deserve it
12:41
Speaker 2: and they make sure that we can, you know, write
12:44
Speaker 2: these checks at the end of the day.
12:45
Speaker 5: So I owe them a lot, for sure.
12:47
Speaker 1: And it's so much depth.
12:49
Speaker 3: I mean, we're not even gonna get to Riley, but
12:51
Speaker 3: you talk about big Cat Jay Reid, B. Murphy's coming
12:54
Speaker 3: off the bench on it and it's probably an All Pro.
12:58
Speaker 3: And then you got d Law Like that's what I
13:01
Speaker 3: don't think people really appreciate, like they appreciate like how
13:04
Speaker 3: great the defense is playing, but it's it's waves of
13:08
Speaker 3: players and even in the secondary, the rotation you got going, how.
13:12
Speaker 2: That's what we preach, no drop off when you from
13:15
Speaker 2: from one's two to threes, it shouldn't look no different.
13:18
Speaker 2: And of course there's different skill sets, there's talents that
13:20
Speaker 2: you know come in between that. But you put the
13:23
Speaker 2: work in, and these coaches, you know, they put so
13:25
Speaker 2: much into us. They give us the game plan in detail,
13:28
Speaker 2: our assignments. You have no choice but to show up
13:31
Speaker 2: when your numbers card and when your numbers called. And
13:33
Speaker 2: I think that's what I did. With Julian being out
13:36
Speaker 2: a lot of the season. It just shows that man,
13:39
Speaker 2: guys are they're building us up in the right way,
13:41
Speaker 2: and they're getting us trained and ready to go as
13:44
Speaker 2: if you're the starting no matter what. And the depth
13:46
Speaker 2: is it speaks for itself. You Like you said, MERT's
13:49
Speaker 2: coming off the bench, you got Peelee who's also making
13:51
Speaker 2: some great plays, and Rally's becoming a monster of his
13:54
Speaker 2: own right now.
13:55
Speaker 5: So I'm excited about this year too.
13:57
Speaker 3: Now you talk about like kind of flying under the
13:59
Speaker 3: radar again, I played here too. I know that is
14:02
Speaker 3: you know, sometimes I talk loud enough that.
14:03
Speaker 1: They had to.
14:05
Speaker 5: I love that. I love that.
14:06
Speaker 3: But you're honestly, obviously one of the best linebackers in
14:10
Speaker 3: the league. But I don't ever think you get the
14:12
Speaker 3: credit you deserve. And you know, you guys are the
14:15
Speaker 3: best team in the league, and right now that you're
14:17
Speaker 3: not getting the credit you deserve, and it's teams in
14:19
Speaker 3: the division that's a little bit more saying.
14:21
Speaker 1: How does that make you feel?
14:23
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, you know, I definitely I'm one of those guys.
14:25
Speaker 2: I see it. I listened to it, and it fused me.
14:27
Speaker 2: I mean, I've been in this position, being from South Georgia,
14:30
Speaker 2: where I always overlooked, and I've been in this position
14:32
Speaker 2: many times in my life, and I always say I'll
14:35
Speaker 2: die trying to prove people wrong.
14:36
Speaker 5: And that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna come out
14:38
Speaker 5: on a ball.
14:39
Speaker 2: I'm gonna show that I'm one of the best linebackers
14:42
Speaker 2: period that's playing right now and that's going to continue
14:45
Speaker 2: to play. And this is just the start. You know,
14:47
Speaker 2: I'm in a comfortable situation with Mike. I love this team,
14:51
Speaker 2: I love my teammates, so I'm excited. I got a
14:53
Speaker 2: great grasp of the defense. This year, I'm excited to
14:55
Speaker 2: see where I can take it, you know, I mean,
14:57
Speaker 2: you have five picks last year. So you talked about
15:00
Speaker 2: your feel for the past game, and I saw the
15:02
Speaker 2: one in San Francisco.
15:03
Speaker 3: First off, y'all were swarming about from beginning to end,
15:08
Speaker 3: and y'all didn't sell out. We're making a point.
15:11
Speaker 5: We were on the gas that game.
15:14
Speaker 1: I said, they're not gonna rest for the next week.
15:16
Speaker 3: They say, no, No, we got to finish this necking
15:19
Speaker 3: a foot on the gas. What went into that, because
15:23
Speaker 3: by that point it seemed like you were just in
15:25
Speaker 3: a flow state, especially through the playoffs.
15:27
Speaker 2: We just had like you said, we had just got
15:29
Speaker 2: into that flow, like the rhythm the game plans had
15:31
Speaker 2: started to They had just become more than what we
15:34
Speaker 2: were like putting in in a room.
15:36
Speaker 5: We were bringing it to.
15:37
Speaker 2: Life, like the situations we knew, let's get the ball
15:39
Speaker 2: out of party's hand, let's let's let's get out there,
15:42
Speaker 2: let's tackle. We know that's the key to playing San
15:44
Speaker 2: Francisco explosive players. You can't allow them to happen. You
15:47
Speaker 2: can give the ball to Christian McCaffrey. He can go
15:49
Speaker 2: for eighty yards. We just can't allow that. So I
15:52
Speaker 2: think in those in those games, later down the stretch,
15:55
Speaker 2: we started to realize, like, make them play our game.
15:58
Speaker 2: Let's let's make teams come come to us. Let's do it,
16:01
Speaker 2: do what we're supposed to. Let's go tackle, let's cover,
16:04
Speaker 2: Let's see what happens. I know how We're gonna swarm
16:07
Speaker 2: and fly to the ball and just just shoot your shot.
16:09
Speaker 2: Your your man's got your back. That's what we leaned on.
16:12
Speaker 2: And iron sharpen than Iron Hunt.
16:14
Speaker 3: Obviously, you got Sam coming off an unbelievable season Offensive
16:18
Speaker 3: Player of the Year, and Jackson Smith and Chigba. You
16:20
Speaker 3: got a young rookie in the backfield. How has it
16:23
Speaker 3: been going against that offense that was a top top
16:26
Speaker 3: five offense last year, and obviously you guys best defensive football.
16:30
Speaker 5: I'ma be honest, they cooking right now. They are cooking.
16:32
Speaker 2: Like man, we're sitting in defensive meetings and even out
16:35
Speaker 2: there practice, we're like we're in the spots. They're just
16:38
Speaker 2: making the plays. It's been a it's been an offensive
16:42
Speaker 2: training camp thus far. And I think defensively, we're trying
16:44
Speaker 2: to we're chasing that feeling that we had at the
16:47
Speaker 2: end of the year, and I think it's it's took
16:49
Speaker 2: some time, but I say within those last couple of
16:51
Speaker 2: days we've been it's getting back to a scary hours.
16:54
Speaker 2: And in credit to the offense, like when you get
16:57
Speaker 2: a chance to see looks like this during training camp,
16:59
Speaker 2: it makes these games so much easier and we know,
17:01
Speaker 2: like that's what it's gonna be. And offensively they're doing
17:04
Speaker 2: a great job with with in a sense a new scheme,
17:07
Speaker 2: new new OC. But he's back there dialing it up
17:10
Speaker 2: right now. He's he has us frustrated in practice, and
17:13
Speaker 2: that's what you that's what you want. I haven't felt
17:15
Speaker 2: like this in the in the past, you know, and
17:17
Speaker 2: being here, but they're putting stress on us, and I
17:19
Speaker 2: just know when it comes game week against.
17:21
Speaker 5: New England, whoever it may be, we're gonna be ready
17:24
Speaker 5: to go.
17:26
Speaker 3: Both sides gonna be ready to But it's also you know,
17:29
Speaker 3: fans out there, don't don't be stressed. I think the
17:31
Speaker 3: defense is going off like you can't impose your will
17:35
Speaker 3: physically in a practice.
17:36
Speaker 1: Against your own team like you can in the game.
17:38
Speaker 3: You can't, Like there's a big factor that's that's missing
17:40
Speaker 3: in practice that you can't even get into the quarterback
17:43
Speaker 3: like you can't do it in practice in a way
17:45
Speaker 3: you would do it to the game. But it's a
17:47
Speaker 3: it's a good thing to hear that the offense is
17:48
Speaker 3: doing well because rarely hear that, you know, when when
17:52
Speaker 3: teams are when when teams are so defensive minded, defensive
17:56
Speaker 3: head coach. But Sam Donald in here two, you know again,
18:01
Speaker 3: he had such expectations. But it was it was something
18:04
Speaker 3: you said after the Rams game where he struggled a
18:06
Speaker 3: little bit.
18:07
Speaker 1: I mean, Sam's been bothering, right.
18:08
Speaker 2: If we want to try to define Sam by this
18:12
Speaker 2: game or what man, sam'sman had us in every game.
18:15
Speaker 2: So for him to sit there and say, oh, that's
18:18
Speaker 2: my fault, no, it's not. It was plays that defensively,
18:21
Speaker 2: we could have made plays. There were opportunities where we
18:23
Speaker 2: could have got better stops. Yeah, I mean, like it's
18:27
Speaker 2: football man, and he's our quarterback. We got his back,
18:29
Speaker 2: and we got anything to say, quite frankly.
18:34
Speaker 3: And you were like, hey, if you got something bad
18:36
Speaker 3: to say about Sam, you know what I mean, you
18:38
Speaker 3: got some bad to say about me, And I think
18:41
Speaker 3: that meant something to him. I think that meant something
18:42
Speaker 3: to the team. And you, guys, I don't think you
18:44
Speaker 3: lost another game.
18:45
Speaker 5: We haven't lost since, haven't lost since.
18:48
Speaker 3: What what What was it about that that compelled you
18:50
Speaker 3: to to really go out there and speak.
18:52
Speaker 2: For I can remember time to OTAs like just talking
18:56
Speaker 2: to guys and we were we were dreaming about, you know,
18:57
Speaker 2: winning the Super Bowl that year, and I'm saying, like,
19:01
Speaker 2: we need our quarterback, like let's keep uplifting him. And
19:04
Speaker 2: I can remember coming out of that game against the
19:07
Speaker 2: Rams and he was walking back and he had his
19:10
Speaker 2: head down and he was like, I'm sorry, that's on me.
19:12
Speaker 2: And it kind of broke my heart because I kind
19:14
Speaker 2: of knew what Sam had been through and I knew,
19:16
Speaker 2: you know, you could see on the sidelines like what
19:18
Speaker 2: the narrative was gonna be after the game, and I
19:21
Speaker 2: knew right then and there, like my words, you know,
19:23
Speaker 2: I had to say something, and I had to be,
19:24
Speaker 2: you know, the man that I was. I thought, I
19:27
Speaker 2: think I'm put on this earth to be and that's
19:28
Speaker 2: the leader of a defense and just leader of men.
19:31
Speaker 2: And it was easy for me. It's It's something I
19:33
Speaker 2: would have done for him a million times over. And
19:36
Speaker 2: I could tell after that moment he trusted us. He
19:38
Speaker 2: knew then like, okay, let me go, let it rip,
19:41
Speaker 2: like Sam, like, let me go, let it rip because
19:43
Speaker 2: these guys are gonna have my back end.
19:44
Speaker 5: That's what he did.
19:45
Speaker 2: And and to talk about where he's where he's at now,
19:48
Speaker 2: we're seeing a real life dude behind the quarterback. Right now,
19:52
Speaker 2: he's operating at a high level, a level that I
19:55
Speaker 2: haven't seen even last year when we win.
19:57
Speaker 5: And so I'm excited, Man, we got something going from I.
20:00
Speaker 3: Really think that moment like catapulted him more than you know,
20:04
Speaker 3: even you're giving yourself credit because because of the safety net.
20:08
Speaker 3: You know, it's like, hey, these guys really believe in me.
20:10
Speaker 3: It's not like man's people whispering behind my back. The
20:13
Speaker 3: leader of the defense just came out and spoke on
20:15
Speaker 3: my behalf after I struggled mightily in a game that
20:17
Speaker 3: you really only lost because the field goal fell a
20:20
Speaker 3: couple of yards short.
20:21
Speaker 1: Like you played about as bad as you could play
20:23
Speaker 1: and you.
20:23
Speaker 3: Still could have which means and this is something I've said,
20:27
Speaker 3: not a slight as a Sam in any way, but
20:29
Speaker 3: he led the league in turnovers last year, and you
20:31
Speaker 3: guys would have one seed.
20:33
Speaker 1: If he plays like he did in the playoffs where
20:35
Speaker 1: he didn't turn it.
20:35
Speaker 3: Over once with Golden how could like people are gonna
20:39
Speaker 3: have a hard time beating this team. And I know,
20:41
Speaker 3: on paper, people keep saying the rams because of Miles Geared,
20:44
Speaker 3: who's a generational talent and all that. But this game
20:46
Speaker 3: ain't played on paper. It's played on grass. And he's
20:50
Speaker 3: playing like a top five quarterback and he was through
20:52
Speaker 3: off the playoffs.
20:53
Speaker 1: What be careful.
20:54
Speaker 5: You gotta see us. That's what I'm saying. That's that's
20:57
Speaker 5: the same thing I'm saying it.
21:00
Speaker 2: It all looks cool right now on paper, but there's
21:02
Speaker 2: going to come a time where you gotta line up
21:04
Speaker 2: in front of us.
21:05
Speaker 5: You gotta line up in front of our defense.
21:06
Speaker 2: You gotta line up and see Sam and it's not
21:09
Speaker 2: the same team that you've seen last year. We I
21:11
Speaker 2: think we are a better team and we can We
21:14
Speaker 2: cannot wait to show it.
21:16
Speaker 3: I can't wait to see it. I mean, the league
21:18
Speaker 3: got so weird this year. Y'all are playing on literally
21:21
Speaker 3: every day of the week, but Tuesday. Yeah, Like I said, wait,
21:26
Speaker 3: they playing starting the game season on Wednesday.
21:28
Speaker 5: Come on, I have you ever heard of it. I
21:30
Speaker 5: never heard of that, Oh my, but we love it that.
21:33
Speaker 2: We love that break we're gonna get after, you know,
21:35
Speaker 2: we handle business and do what we're supposed to do.
21:36
Speaker 2: We get a couple of days off and can roll
21:39
Speaker 2: right into the next week.
21:40
Speaker 3: So, so last year was your first All Pro season,
21:43
Speaker 3: first and many What are your expectations for yourself personally
21:46
Speaker 3: this year?
21:47
Speaker 5: I'm expecting to skyrocket.
21:49
Speaker 2: I think you know it was it was a year
21:51
Speaker 2: where people were able to find out who I really was,
21:53
Speaker 2: can can put a put a name behind the jersey?
21:56
Speaker 2: And I think for me this year is just taking
21:59
Speaker 2: my game to a to that next all pro level
22:01
Speaker 2: and doing that for the consistency of the year, doing
22:04
Speaker 2: it for all eighteen games in the regular season, seventeen games,
22:07
Speaker 2: and then however long it takes to get to the
22:09
Speaker 2: Super Bowl.
22:09
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, And my last question, top five linebackers are all.
22:13
Speaker 2: Time of all time? Boy you Number one is always
22:17
Speaker 2: going to be Ray Lewis. For me, Ray Lewis is
22:19
Speaker 2: my guy. Number two I would go Patrick Willis. I
22:23
Speaker 2: enjoyed watching Patrick Willis growing up. Three I'll come back in.
22:28
Speaker 2: I'm going Bobby Wagner. That's my goat right there. Honestly,
22:33
Speaker 2: before I throw Fred in there. What he's doing and
22:35
Speaker 2: what he's been doing, you.
22:37
Speaker 5: Can't beat that.
22:39
Speaker 2: And number five, I want to put myself in there,
22:44
Speaker 2: but still I'm gonna put some more work to it.
22:48
Speaker 2: But if I have to go number five, just the
22:49
Speaker 2: guy that I've been watching for a long time and
22:52
Speaker 2: who who speaks lifing to me as well, Leavonte David.
22:56
Speaker 5: That's a guy in mind right there, A Hall of famer,
22:58
Speaker 5: hall of famer they do.
23:00
Speaker 3: Another guy who has never gotten enough credit exactly for
23:03
Speaker 3: what he's done out there in Tampa Bay. An incredible professional,
23:06
Speaker 3: incredible player, longevity like for.
23:09
Speaker 1: Sure, smart, instinctive.
23:11
Speaker 5: You can't beat him. You can't beat him, not.
23:14
Speaker 1: In a mental game.
23:14
Speaker 3: But I appreciate you, brother, big fan of your game,
23:17
Speaker 3: love what you've come in here and done. I look
23:19
Speaker 3: forward to seeing you make many more All pros and
23:22
Speaker 3: and win many more Super Bowls.
23:24
Speaker 1: You ever need anything from me, it's free.
23:26
Speaker 5: I know we got you. I appreciate it.
23:28
Speaker 1: I appreciate you. Thank you,