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Leonard Williams: "Everyone Is Locked In On A Different Level" · Seahawks Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: Ladies. Good, are you where you think? I mean, honestly
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  Speaker 1: didn't know. I think I was just being open minded
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to the process. Being the older VET in the league,
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  Speaker 1: I felt like at the same time, I think I
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  Speaker 1: put enough good film of myself in those eight weeks
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  Speaker 1: of my time I had here to put myself in
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  Speaker 1: good position wherever I ended up. I think I had
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  Speaker 1: a good enough resume to at least feel comfortable in
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  Speaker 1: that process of where I might end up. I'm excited
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  Speaker 1: that it was here. Why did I choose here? I
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  Speaker 1: think I built relationships here. You know, I was obviously
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  Speaker 1: sad about Pete leaving. He was a great coach, a
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  Speaker 1: big part of the reason why I, you know, made
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  Speaker 1: the transition to come to Seattle. He was a big
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  Speaker 1: part of me coming here, and we had that USC connection.
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  Speaker 1: He was a fun coach to play for. But even
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  Speaker 1: outside of the coaching staff, I built relationships in the
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  Speaker 1: locker room as well, and you know, I kind of
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  Speaker 1: wanted to continue to continue with that. What you tell
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  Speaker 1: us about the process of agree to the deal, you
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  Speaker 1: were out of the tent that, yeah, we were in.
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  Speaker 1: I was in Japan at the time, and it was
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  Speaker 1: interesting because I'm obviously like trying to enjoy my vacation
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  Speaker 1: and things like that, but I was also in free agency,
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  Speaker 1: so it was almost like I was almost it was
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  Speaker 1: almost hard to enjoy my vacation because I'm like so
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  Speaker 1: involved in like what's going on in free agency, like
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  Speaker 1: what's going to happen, Like where am I going to
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  Speaker 1: end up? All those things, And then you know, I'm
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  Speaker 1: getting a call from my agents. At one point they're
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  Speaker 1: thinking that it's not going to be Seattle, and then
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  Speaker 1: they called me back, you know, the next morning or
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  Speaker 1: even the same day, and they're like, Okay, it might
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  Speaker 1: be Seattle. So it's like kind of like it was
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  Speaker 1: like a funny limbo thing going on. But then when
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  Speaker 1: I finally found out that it was going to be
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  Speaker 1: Seattle and we all agreed to terms and things like that,
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  Speaker 1: I was excited. I found out that like ten am
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  Speaker 1: while I was in Japan, and then I got on
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  Speaker 1: a flight at four point thirty from Japan and landed
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  Speaker 1: here the next morning at like ten am, and then
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  Speaker 1: I like signed the contract, shook hands, took pictures, and
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  Speaker 1: then I got on a flight back to Japan at
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  Speaker 1: like seven pm that same day. So it was it
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  Speaker 1: was a lot of flying, but it was worth it
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  Speaker 1: to come back. Yeah, I knew that was a possibility,
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  Speaker 1: so I think I was like prepared for it mentally,
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  Speaker 1: you know. In Japan. Yeah, it was just for a vacation. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: my girlfriend had a trip in Bali. She's like a
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  Speaker 1: meditation yoga instructor, so we were already going to Bali
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  Speaker 1: for her work, and then you know, Japan wasn't too
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  Speaker 1: far away and I've always wanted to go, so we
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  Speaker 1: decided to go to Japan. We were there for three weeks.
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  Speaker 1: So that's the reason why I decided to like go
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  Speaker 1: back after I came here, because I was like, I
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  Speaker 1: still had two more weeks of my trip in Japan.
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  Speaker 1: So you know, if it was close to like the
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  Speaker 1: end of the vacation, I probably would have just like
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  Speaker 1: canceled those last few days. But I still had like
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  Speaker 1: two weeks left. Yeah, they flew me back. Yeah, not
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  Speaker 1: on a private jet though, I think that's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of miles on the PJ. Yeah. Exactly what did you
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  Speaker 1: learn about Mike McDonald? I guess the process and that
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  Speaker 1: maybe he wanted to want to stay forever. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I just love that he's a defensive minded coach. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he clearly had one of the he had the top
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  Speaker 1: defense in the NFL last year, and you know, some
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  Speaker 1: playing for a defensive head coach really excites me. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I'm playing for a guy that knows that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: games are one on the defensive side of the ball,
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  Speaker 1: and that's how I think. You know, I think we
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  Speaker 1: have a great offense. I think we have explosive playmakers,
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  Speaker 1: and I trust that side of the ball. But from
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  Speaker 1: any defensive player, you know, I want them to think
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  Speaker 1: that we're we're going to be the ones that's gonna
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  Speaker 1: win the game. And I think, uh, you know, Mike
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  Speaker 1: kind of shares that same mindset. My impressions with the
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  Speaker 1: team and with the coaches and with Mike as an
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  Speaker 1: overall feeling, it just you can just tell there's a
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  Speaker 1: sense of urgency right now, and in a way that's
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  Speaker 1: kind of bringing everyone closer together. That's making everyone, you know,
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  Speaker 1: be so locked in and like in meetings, in the
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  Speaker 1: in the weight room, on the field, it's like you
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  Speaker 1: could just tell there's a different sense of like everyone's
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  Speaker 1: like locked in on a different level. And I remember
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  Speaker 1: the first day we came into the team, meeting, Mike
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  Speaker 1: pointed out that you know, there's empty walls in the
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  Speaker 1: in the hallways and things like that, and you know,
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  Speaker 1: for a person like me, I think that made me
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  Speaker 1: really excited, and I hope I made the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the guys excited, because you know, we're obviously going to
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  Speaker 1: respect tradition and the history of the Seahawks, but I
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  Speaker 1: think it's given us like a clean foundation to like
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  Speaker 1: create whatever we want to be. We're not chasing to
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  Speaker 1: like be like any other team that's been here before.
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  Speaker 1: We want to create our own identity, like the pictures
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  Speaker 1: of the guys that plays. Yeah, like just the walls
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  Speaker 1: in the in the building, in the facility, things like that.
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  Speaker 1: He kind of wants to, you know, create our own slogans,
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  Speaker 1: create our own mantras and and things like that. A
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  Speaker 1: long time. I mean, it definitely feels different. Any coaching
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  Speaker 1: staff is going to feel different, even if it's the
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  Speaker 1: same coach, and even if it's the same head coach,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes even the staff underneath them can can make a
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  Speaker 1: big difference. But you know, I was obviously really excited
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  Speaker 1: coming here playing for Pete. He's a head coach that
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  Speaker 1: you know, his type of energy, and in his mindset
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  Speaker 1: that he brought to the game was something that I
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  Speaker 1: wasn't used to in my career. And you know, I'll
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  Speaker 1: forever be grateful towards h Pete for bringing me here.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, I was getting closer to you know,
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  Speaker 1: I'm getting older in my career. I'm about to be
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  Speaker 1: year ten now, and I always reminded Pete that, like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, him bringing me here kind of like brought
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  Speaker 1: back that like college like feeling to me, like where
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  Speaker 1: it was like new and exciting again, and it like
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  Speaker 1: kind of like ReLit the fire in me. It didn't
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  Speaker 1: just feel like I was going to work every day.
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  Speaker 1: It felt like I was like having fun with my
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  Speaker 1: guys again, and that kind of felt like college ball.
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  Speaker 1: And it made me like play hard for him, you
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  Speaker 1: know what I mean. So you know, I was obviously
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  Speaker 1: sad that to see him go, But at the same time,
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  Speaker 1: I understand this business, like I said, I've been in
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  Speaker 1: it long enough and wish him the best and all
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  Speaker 1: those things. What are you learning about Mike's personality and stuff?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're still learning each other. We've
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  Speaker 1: only been together for like six seven days now, so
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  Speaker 1: I think there's still a lot of learning between the
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  Speaker 1: players and coaches. You know, we even still have new
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  Speaker 1: players that you know, player, the player is still gonna
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  Speaker 1: have a lot of learning and things like that. But
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  Speaker 1: like I said, I think Mike is he's serious about
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  Speaker 1: being being something different and creating our own identity. And
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  Speaker 1: and like I said, I love that he's a defensive
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  Speaker 1: minded guy. Have you got problem he would use you?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, would that different use? I mean, honestly, I
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  Speaker 1: don't even think we've gotten that deep into the playbook yet.
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  Speaker 1: We haven't even started to get on the field or
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  Speaker 1: anything like that. So I think that would be something
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  Speaker 1: I would be, you know, able to answer better in
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  Speaker 1: the future, maybe in a month or two from now.
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  Speaker 1: But right now, I think we're more learning each other,
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  Speaker 1: trying to create a mindset on what type of team
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  Speaker 1: we want to be before we get into where we're
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  Speaker 1: going to be. That wast Baltimore. I do remember that game,
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  Speaker 1: and I have been I've been watching a combination of
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  Speaker 1: like the Cowboys film because A d was over there,
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  Speaker 1: and I've been watching a combination of the of the
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  Speaker 1: Ravens film. So I'm trying to like see like where
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to play into those styles, but at the
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  Speaker 1: same time that, like I said, I'll probably be able
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  Speaker 1: to answer that question better in the future. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I think he's a really stout guy. I think he
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  Speaker 1: brings something good to the d line where we kind of,
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  Speaker 1: you know, have been wanting a big anchor like that
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the defense. He's an older VET,
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  Speaker 1: has a lot of wisdom and knowledge, and he's a
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  Speaker 1: good leader. And I think also just rotationally, it's gonna
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  Speaker 1: help as well. I mm hmm. Rights year. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I think there was still an urgency when I first
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  Speaker 1: got here because at the time they were leading the division,
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  Speaker 1: so there was definitely an urgency when I first got here.
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  Speaker 1: Closer to the end of the season, I think we
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  Speaker 1: needed like the I think we needed to beat Arizona
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  Speaker 1: and like kind of like it was like some other
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  Speaker 1: things going yeah, something like that. So I think, like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we did what we could do, which was
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  Speaker 1: like win the game. But at the same time, you
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  Speaker 1: never want to finish the season where you know your
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  Speaker 1: future is in someone else's hands. So I mean, I
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  Speaker 1: think we definitely still had an urgency when I first
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  Speaker 1: got here. Like I said, with ear leading division division,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, there was a definitely like a downslope
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  Speaker 1: of like those losing games that we had in a row,
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  Speaker 1: but we still you know, did what we had to
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  Speaker 1: do and win the game. But I think what I'm
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  Speaker 1: saying is the sense of urgency is just when you
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  Speaker 1: have a new coaching staff, you know, there's a sense
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  Speaker 1: of urgency to like get to know each other and
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  Speaker 1: get this thing rolling before the season starts. Because there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of other teams out there right now that
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  Speaker 1: have already been under the same coaching staff, under the
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  Speaker 1: same system, and they're kind of like know what to
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  Speaker 1: expect going into the season, whereas like right now, we
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: don't know what to expect from the coaches. We don't
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: know what to expect going into the season and things
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  Speaker 1: like that, so we're trying to like really get the
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  Speaker 1: ball rolling so we know you have I mean, I
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  Speaker 1: don't think the staff is making me feel that way.
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  Speaker 1: I think just from being in the league and know
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  Speaker 1: in the league, I think I feel that way every year.
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  Speaker 1: I think every year you have to prove yourself. I think,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: you know, the team obviously wants to bring in like
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  Speaker 1: younger players to play every single year, so it's like
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  Speaker 1: every year, I have to think that someone's trying to
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  Speaker 1: take my spot, you know what I mean. And I
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  Speaker 1: think in a way healthily we can, Like we've talked
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  Speaker 1: about it as a defense, like I want you to
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  Speaker 1: try to take my spot because that's going to push me.
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  Speaker 1: And we we think that way with each other, you know,
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  Speaker 1: like push me. I'm gonna help the guy under me
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  Speaker 1: as much as I can. And I also want him
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  Speaker 1: to take my spot just because it's gonna create more competition,
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  Speaker 1: which is going to push the team. Yeah, for sure.
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  Speaker 1: I mean also getting here in the middle of the
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  Speaker 1: season last year, I was like the new guy, so
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  Speaker 1: I didn't want to like step on too many toes.
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  Speaker 1: I obviously was like still feeling people out and feeling out,
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  Speaker 1: you know, things like that. So I think going into
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  Speaker 1: this year, I feel a lot more comfortable with my
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  Speaker 1: position on the team, being an older guy and stepping
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  Speaker 1: into that leadership role. And I think we also brought
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  Speaker 1: in some vets, like we just talked about with Hank
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  Speaker 1: to also step up into that leadership role. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: every year, like I said, it's going to be a
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: new team, regardless if you're going back to the same
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: team or now it's going to be a new team
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  Speaker 1: every year, so you know, you look forward to like
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  Speaker 1: seeing who the leaders of the team are going to
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  Speaker 1: be every year. What was the highlight of the I
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: think the contract was the highlight. But uh hmm, that's tough.
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  Speaker 1: That's a good question. I think for me, it was
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  Speaker 1: like seeing the culture and history. It was a lot
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  Speaker 1: different from America obviously, but it was one of the
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  Speaker 1: places I've been. I've traveled a lot, and I was
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  Speaker 1: like one of the places I've been that has like
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  Speaker 1: the most history and like respect. You know. Do you
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  Speaker 1: do anything to celebrate Uh? Not quite. I appreciate that though,
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  Speaker 1: because I might I have to go do that. Uh
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  Speaker 1: started off in Tokyo, went to Kyoto and Osaka, and
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  Speaker 1: then I finished the trip back in Tokyo too, that's
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  Speaker 1: where the main airport is. No, not unfortunately. So how
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: long were you back here? Just like five six hours?
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  Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, yeah, flew back the same day. You
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  Speaker 1: still get excited at the draft times or your mind
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: that comes to this time. You're, yeah, I'm definitely excited
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: about the draft. I'm looking forward to see like who
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: we bring in here, looking forward to see what type
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  Speaker 1: of talent we're going to bring in on on both
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: sides of the ball, and uh, you know, I definitely
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: do my research and see you know, after we draft
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  Speaker 1: a guy, like I want to see, like what type
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  Speaker 1: of guy they are. I obviously look at them as
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: a player, but to me, sometimes I really try to
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: see what type of guy they are off the field,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: you know. Uh, just to create our own identity. Like
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I said, like that's something that I loved about coming
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: into the building and with the new coaches, it just
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  Speaker 1: feels like a clean slate. It doesn't feel like we
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  Speaker 1: need to have pressure of like trying to chase anything.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost like just put one foot in front of
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  Speaker 1: the other and create our own identity, create our own
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  Speaker 1: team and something that we can be proud of and
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  Speaker 1: something that like when these rookies that are about to
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  Speaker 1: get drafted, they come in and they they know the
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: standard when they get here, you know what I mean,
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  Speaker 1: we don't have to teach them it. They're going to
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  Speaker 1: see from how we carry ourselves and how we react
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  Speaker 1: with each other. You know, these rookies are going to
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  Speaker 1: know the standard when they come in. I'm excited. I mean,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: you know, we already brought in another player, another veteran player,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Like I said, it's going to help in the rotation.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, our camaraderie is growing. We're actually
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: about to go to top golf right now. You guys
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: are holding me up. But you know, I'm excited to
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: keep building that camaraderie because as a D line like
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: communication is a huge thing. Like there's a lot of
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: times where you know, I may see run, somebody else
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: may see past. We kind of have to communicate that
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: thing to get us playing faster. And then also like
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: we run games and things like that a lot. So
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: being on the same page knowing each other off the
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: field and how each other communicates is a big deal.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: What was the feeling like in that locker at the
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: end of the season, of the opportunity kind of where
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: you guys were at the changes and everything. I mean,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: it was it was tough for me. I'm not gonna
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: lie just cause going through the trade mid season, I
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: was like really excited. I'm like, oh, I'm about to
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: go to a playoff team, you know what I mean
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: things like that. You know, I obviously know things change,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: and I think we still fought to the end. Like
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I said, we still you know, one when we had to,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: but it was still hard because we put our future
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: in someone else's hands. But at the same time, I
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: think guys, you know, they still held their head up high.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: It wasn't too many like sad faces or anything like that.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: But I think even at the end of that, there
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: was a little bit of sense of urgency in each
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: other's eyes and the way we talk to each other
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: about coming back for this year. Ye, thank ye, thank you.