Latest / The Vikings Tailgate / Vikings Tailgate: Andrew Sendejo Was a Human Missile and Relives The Minneapolis Miracle - INDY - Ep 76

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Vikings Tailgate: Andrew Sendejo Was a Human Missile and Relives The Minneapolis Miracle - INDY - Ep 76 · The Vikings Tailgate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As the official ticket marketplace of the Minnesota Vikings and
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  Speaker 1: to score fully verified Viking tickets. Get those touchdown celebrations
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  Speaker 1: Join Paul Allen and Alec Lewis this Friday, October 23rd
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  Speaker 1: at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Plymouth for Friday Football
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  Speaker 1: Feast presented by Coors Light. Visit vikings.com slash BWW for
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  Speaker 1: full schedule and details. Before kickoff, there's one sign that
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  Speaker 1: it's game time and that's when the mountains turn blue.
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  Speaker 1: Be sure to get your Mountain Cold Coors Light at U.S.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Bank Stadium. Hey, everybody. Thanks for tuning into the podcast
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  Speaker 1: feed and another episode of the Vikings tailgate. Really fun
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: episode again. As always, I say it every week, but
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  Speaker 1: it's true. We keep getting great guests. Andrew Sandejo comes on,
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  Speaker 1: talks about his time on the Zimmer defense, talked about,
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  Speaker 1: you know, one of his favorite Harrison Smith stories, his
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  Speaker 1: Minnesota miracle story, his crazy backstory growing up. playing high
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  Speaker 1: school football and then his unique journey to the NFL. Really,
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  Speaker 1: really a cool interview. Chad and I loved it. Enjoy
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  Speaker 1: the show, everybody.
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  Speaker 2: Boom!
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  Speaker 3: I'm hot today. Wreck it, wreck it.
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  Speaker 1: That's a bad man.
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  Speaker 3: Come on, baby.
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  Speaker 1: Turn me up. Yeah!
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Touchdown!
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  Speaker 1: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Vikings Tailgate,
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  Speaker 1: brought to you by Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
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  Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings. I'm Cy Amundsen, joined by the great
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  Speaker 1: Chad Daniels. We are through the bye, Chaddy Daddy. We are.
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  Speaker 3: 5-0.
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  Speaker 1: We have the Colts on the docket. They're coming to town.
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  Speaker 1: We have a great guest, former Viking, who did spend
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  Speaker 1: one season with the Colts, coming up here shortly, Andrew Sandejo.
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  Speaker 1: But before we get there, just a couple of top-line
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  Speaker 1: thoughts here. I am fascinated by the psychological response to
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  Speaker 1: the 5-0 start. Yeah. Because I think, you know, I've
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  Speaker 1: heard other people say this, so this isn't a super
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  Speaker 1: original take, but it's just one I love. If we
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  Speaker 1: had the number one offense in the league, by the
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  Speaker 1: same margin we have a defense, and the defense was
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  Speaker 1: busy trying to catch up and make their way, I
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  Speaker 1: think you would be pretty universally, you know, you'd have
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  Speaker 1: everybody behind you. But because this looks so different to everybody,
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  Speaker 1: I think You know, the fan base, everybody's excited at 5-0,
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  Speaker 1: but I don't know if they've quite jumped on board
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  Speaker 1: with the potential of this group. And obviously, we're about
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  Speaker 1: to find out. The next five games are going to
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  Speaker 1: get really real. But I think this is a somehow,
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  Speaker 1: even though there's a lot of national poking at us, like,
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  Speaker 1: are they real? Are they real? I think this is
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  Speaker 1: somehow a very underrated 5-0 football team. Well, I think so, too.
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  Speaker 2: It's like everyone in the country has forgotten the phrase
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  Speaker 2: defense wins championships.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, basically, we're just– the defense is holding everybody up.
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  Speaker 2: The special teams is holding people up until they can
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  Speaker 2: figure it out. And, you know, the game before the break,
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  Speaker 2: it looked like they're figuring some things out. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I guess I don't know if catching a touchdown in
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  Speaker 2: triple coverage is figuring things out, but it looks like
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  Speaker 2: it to me. Looks like it to me. Yeah, we
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  Speaker 2: have our quarterback that's not– he's breaking outside the pocket
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  Speaker 2: to see downfield. He's running. We have– Running game is great.
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  Speaker 2: The offensive line, come on. There's a lot of time
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  Speaker 2: for decisions to be made.
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  Speaker 1: I'm telling you. Even with those injuries. Even with those injuries.
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  Speaker 3: Joe Huber.
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  Speaker 2: Hawkinson goes out almost immediately. Bartholomew comes in. It really
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  Speaker 2: is an incredible situation.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's, if you're looking for a reason
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  Speaker 1: to have a bunch of hope, you know, Justin Jefferson...
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  Speaker 1: was only the first little bit with Kyler when he
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  Speaker 1: came back from injury. Then he went out himself. And
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  Speaker 1: I think what was so apparent in that Saints game
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  Speaker 1: is that he is the center of football gravity. He works.
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  Speaker 1: And he and Kyler clearly work well together. And I
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  Speaker 1: think you've got Hawkinson, who's a security blanket coming back.
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  Speaker 1: You've got Jordan Mason, who I could have, I could
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  Speaker 1: spend an episode on how underrated I believe he is
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  Speaker 1: in the fan base's mind. You know, if Joe Huber
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  Speaker 1: really gets solid there at the left guard spot and
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  Speaker 1: you get Christian Derusaw back, Jordan Addison comes back. There's
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  Speaker 1: who knows how these next five games go. Like I said,
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  Speaker 1: a big test. But I think there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: reason to buy into the potential. And that's the universe
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  Speaker 1: that I prefer to live in, as opposed to the negativities.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, something I'm getting a little tired of is they're
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  Speaker 2: not playing anybody. They haven't played anybody.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: But when you play a divisional matchup in this division,
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  Speaker 2: all bets are off, man. It is. If you don't
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  Speaker 2: believe me, look at what happened in the Packer Bears game.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it was just a butt whooping. And on paper,
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  Speaker 2: there's nobody had that going down. So we had to
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  Speaker 2: play the Packers first game. We had to play the
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  Speaker 2: Bears second game in horrible weather. after they put up
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  Speaker 2: a zillion points the first week. And so this whole
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  Speaker 2: you haven't played anybody thing doesn't really stick with me.
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  Speaker 2: It's like, OK, maybe we just played the Saints the
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  Speaker 2: last game before the break. And you're saying they're not anybody,
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  Speaker 2: but we have played and we have survived.
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  Speaker 1: You can only play who's on your schedule. But I
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  Speaker 1: also say that. How you play, who you play is
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  Speaker 1: a part of that conversation. Dude, 96 yards to Tyler Schuch?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Not 96. That's a dude who... I believe I saw
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  Speaker 1: something like over the last eight games for this year,
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  Speaker 1: for last season, 300 yards a game. Chris Olave is
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  Speaker 1: a beast. Yeah. 96 back to now. I understand the
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Dolphins offense isn't elite, especially without their running back, but
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  Speaker 1: back to back weeks under a hundred yards receiving. That's absurd.
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  Speaker 1: So it's, it's not just who you're playing. I'm with you.
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  Speaker 1: I think it just felt like stuff started to click
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  Speaker 1: more universally.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: And, And the hope is that that continues into the future.
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  Speaker 1: Before we talk about that immediate future of the game,
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  Speaker 1: let's get our guest in here. Yeah, we got him
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  Speaker 1: on here. Joining the podcast now, former Viking safety running
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  Speaker 1: mate of Harrison Smith, played on one of the greatest
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  Speaker 1: defenses in Vikings history, 12-year NFL veteran. Ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: Andrew Sandejo. Hey, Andrew, thank you for joining us.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, what's up, everybody? Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, man, it's it's I'm curious. You carved out
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  Speaker 1: such a long career in the league. And at that point,
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  Speaker 1: you must just be so deep in the NFL life
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  Speaker 1: and the understanding of how it works. But but now
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  Speaker 1: that you've left, are you one of these guys? Do
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  Speaker 1: you stay in it? Are you watching closely? Have you
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  Speaker 1: had to step back? What what is your life look
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: like post 12 years in the league? Look.
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  Speaker 3: I love football. Okay.
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  Speaker 4: I can watch football all day. I can talk about
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  Speaker 4: football all day. I never had any issues with, with
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  Speaker 4: watching the game.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously you just still analyze it the way that you
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  Speaker 3: would as a player.
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  Speaker 4: And like most guys that are retired, you kind of
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  Speaker 4: just talk trash about guys that are still playing. You're like, Oh,
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  Speaker 4: that was a terrible play. Like, Oh, you should have
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  Speaker 4: done that. You know, I'm trying to brag to my
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  Speaker 4: wife on, you know, how good I was and things
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  Speaker 4: like that. So the classic, the classic, like retire guy.
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  Speaker 3: Like, Oh, you got to do this right here.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: What is he doing? These kids these days, they don't
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  Speaker 3: know what they're doing.
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  Speaker 1: It's crazy how much that, it's all walks of life,
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  Speaker 1: but I've been lucky to, even off this show, be
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  Speaker 1: around a bunch of former guys, and every one of
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  Speaker 1: them is an old man on a porch talking about
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  Speaker 1: how the young kids have it easier, which monetarily in
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  Speaker 1: some other ways, they for sure do, but that seems
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  Speaker 1: like it is the one truism in former NFL guys,
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  Speaker 1: is the mountain you walked was uphill both ways, right?
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  Speaker 4: 100%, and then you start looking at what their base
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: salary is. And it sounds a lot like when I
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  Speaker 4: got in the league, all the old heads were like,
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  Speaker 4: what's the rookie salary, like base salary now?
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  Speaker 3: Like, are you kidding me?
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  Speaker 4: Like I was making this much back then. So it's
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  Speaker 4: a tale as old as time.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it's you to jump into that. You came from
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  Speaker 1: a place where football is more discussed and more criticized
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  Speaker 1: than almost anywhere on the planet earth. I mean, you,
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  Speaker 1: you grew up in Texas, right? You play Texas high
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  Speaker 1: school football. This is my favorite question to ask guys,
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  Speaker 1: because being removed up in Minnesota, even though Friday Night
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  Speaker 1: Lights was a thing and all this stuff, I just
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  Speaker 1: don't think people get it. Can you contextualize what it
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  Speaker 1: was to not just be a high school football player
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  Speaker 1: in Texas, but one of the level and of the
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  Speaker 1: pressure that ended up going to the NFL? What was
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  Speaker 1: that whole environment like?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so I always tell people that when Friday Night Lights,
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  Speaker 4: the movie came out, I was in high school. And
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  Speaker 4: we had just lost in the state championship game. So, like,
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  Speaker 4: I was watching Friday Night Lights thinking, I'm literally doing
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  Speaker 4: this right now. It was like a, you know, a
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  Speaker 4: semi version of kind of being like a local kind
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  Speaker 4: of rock star, you know, to any of the kids,
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  Speaker 4: people in the community, the parents that were probably, you know,
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  Speaker 4: doing little side bets in the stands and things.
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  Speaker 3: Like that. But, you know, I think it was just,
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  Speaker 3: you got immersed in this.
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  Speaker 4: High pressure, a lot of people have to perform in
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  Speaker 4: front of a lot of people, the community, your teachers, school, everyone's.
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  Speaker 3: Kind of depending on you.
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  Speaker 4: And then, you know, coming from a school of, great tradition.
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  Speaker 4: You're just trying to uphold that and kind of set
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  Speaker 4: the standard and keep it there for the next generation.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, it was a real thing.
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  Speaker 4: I think when I went to college, I had more
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  Speaker 4: people at my high school games than some of my
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  Speaker 4: college games at Rice. So I was already kind of
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: used to playing all the way through December, all the
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: way to like the.
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  Speaker 3: State championship game.
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  Speaker 4: And my freshman year at Rice, like going to a
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: bowl game for the first time in 50 years, none
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: of those guys were used to playing in December. And
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: I was like, hell I've been doing this since high school.
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  Speaker 4: Like this is how it is. So, um, it was
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  Speaker 4: almost like a, a junior varsity college experience. Um, like
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  Speaker 4: a prep school almost, uh, playing Texas high school football,
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: but it's still, in my opinion, high school football is
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  Speaker 4: just the, the best version of football. It's the most pure,
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  Speaker 4: nobody's getting paid. There's no contracts. There's no BS. Like
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  Speaker 4: you're just out there with your boys having fun. Um,
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: you know, once money gets involved, obviously college is a
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: complete show right now. Um, NFL obviously is at the
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: professional level. So, you know, you're dealing with contracts and
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: it's a business, but like high school is just, it's
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  Speaker 4: just the most pure, like for the love of the
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  Speaker 4: game and to like, try to make it to the
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  Speaker 4: next level.
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  Speaker 2: You play Texas high school, you go to rice, then
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  Speaker 2: you end up, I think I read this right. You
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: end up playing UFL and it's, um, cardboard lockers and
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: yellow school buses to games.
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  Speaker 1: Is this true?
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: This is true. So the United Football League had just started.
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  Speaker 4: I didn't even know what it was. And they're like, hey,
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  Speaker 4: this team from Sacramento wants to sign you.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm like, what the hell is the UFL?
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: Like, they're like, look, it's all in America.
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  Speaker 3: It's all former NFL coaches. Dennis Green was the head
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: coach there. Had a lot of minutes on his side.
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  Speaker 4: But, you know, obviously as a new league on a budget,
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  Speaker 4: I had to share a hotel room with like another
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: grown man.
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  Speaker 3: And if they got cut, they just swap them out.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: You get a new roommate. So the guy sleeping in
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: the queen bed next to you is just a new
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: guy like every couple of weeks on a tight budget.
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  Speaker 3: So we started taking the yellow school bus to the
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  Speaker 3: local high school to practice.
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  Speaker 4: But I'm very thankful for that league because it gave
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  Speaker 4: me a chance to play in America with, you know,
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  Speaker 4: NFL style schemes and get a chance to go play
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  Speaker 4: in the NFL.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: It reminds me of kind of like the movie Bull Durham,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: except the football version of it, because you're riding on
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: the buses and then all of a sudden you get
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  Speaker 2: the call to the bigs. How does that how does
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  Speaker 2: that feel once, you know, again, huge Texas high school,
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  Speaker 2: Rice University, cardboard lockers.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Now you get the call.
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  Speaker 4: I think it was just pretty surreal to kind of
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: be in that moment and be like, holy, like I'm
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: actually going to go play in an NFL game, like
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: a real NFL game. And obviously being from Texas, I
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: got called, you know, by the Cowboys and I got
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: called by the Vikings. At the time, the Cowboys was
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: kind of the best chance for me to make the
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: team due to the depth of the roster.
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  Speaker 3: But also like, hell, I'm from Texas. Like you're going
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: to go play for the Cowboys, you know?
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  Speaker 4: Um, funny enough, I ended up finding my way back
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: to Minnesota and that became my home. But I think
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: it was just one of the things that I was like,
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: holy cow, like this is, this is really happening.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: And I think my very first snap ever, this.
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: Is how little I knew and how naive I was
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: to just like everything that was going on. My first
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: ever NFL game was Sunday night football, Cowboys Eagles in, uh,
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: AT & T stadium.
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  Speaker 3: I ran down on a kickoff. I missed a tackle.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: And it all happened in like a blink of an eye.
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  Speaker 4: But the play probably lasted about 10 seconds, but it
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: felt like it happened like that.
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  Speaker 3: And I remember thinking, I don't know if I belong
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: in this league.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow. Yeah.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: It was just, it was so fast. It was another level.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: And I was just like, wow, this is the big boys.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: This is like, this is legit NFL. This is why
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: these guys make so much money.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Did you, the funny thing is though, the NFL is
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: filled with, The moment you walk into your first training camp,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: draft status really doesn't matter anymore unless people are shouting
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: you're a bust. It's what did you do for me yesterday?
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: What can you do for me tomorrow? Like, was there
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: a moment with the Vikings where you kind of were
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: able to look around and go, OK, I can stick
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: with these dudes. I can exist in a defense like
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: this and I can make a space for myself in
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the league.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: For a while.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think a lot of players probably experience this
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: when you're not on the field and you're watching the
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: guys in front of you. And, you know, if they're
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: making a mistake here and there that you would have
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: known that that you would have made the right play
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: or whatnot, you're kind of like, OK, like I would
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: have done that correctly. I would have done that correctly.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: And really just kind of just waiting for your shot, really,
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: to like get a chance to go on the field
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: and show that you can play. You know, I was a.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Special teams guy.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: I was. more than satisfied with being a special teams guy,
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: just being on the team. I was like, this is,
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: you know, this is about as far as I thought
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I was going to make it anyways. But to kind
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: of have that chance to now elevate into a starter.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: And then you got to, you got to prove that
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: you're like no longer a special team or in that
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: you're like a legitimate starter. So you kind of had
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: to get over that hump. And that happens a lot
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: in the NFL where guys are really good special teams players.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: They want to be starters and, And their special teams
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: coach kind of keeps dragging them along to all the
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: special teams meetings and putting them in on special teams plays.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: And you've got to have to get over that and
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: show them that you can make plays like a legitimate
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: starter would. But, you know, I was just very thankful
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: that even the schemes that I had, they fit my
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: style of play. They were complicated enough that it actually
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: eliminated some of my competition. You know, with Zim, his
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: defense was very complex. Um, any, any guy that was
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: out there was, was a smart guy. And so there
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: were times where guys were coming in that were way
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: better athletes, uh, bigger, faster, stronger, taller, all the things.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: And I'm sitting there thinking like, this guy should be
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: on the field in front of me, but Zim didn't,
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: didn't mess around. Like if he messed up one time, uh, schematically,
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: like he basically would just pull you out. So that
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: actually kind of saved my career a little bit as
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: far as they knew they could depend on me to
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: call the right play, be in the right check. And
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: they knew I was just going to do what I
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: was supposed to do and I was going to play hard.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: That's one thing I don't think people think enough about
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: with the safety position. And I would bet even with you,
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: because you were kind of a human missile out there.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: But I don't think people understand the intellectual aspect of
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: playing safety. Especially you hit on it in the Zimmer defense.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: We're now seeing this, even though the Flores defense is
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: supposedly simple, it's just complex in its choreography. When you
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: have a really skilled defensive coordinator who wants to create chaos,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: how much is lumped on to the safety position? Because
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: you're at the very back. You see everything in front
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: of you. You kind of have to be pretty bright
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: to run those positions, don't you?
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's why Harrison does so well in this
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: defense because he's just so freaking smart. And he is
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: up on the line, so he can check to all
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: the front seven. A lot of times I was in
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: the middle of the field, whereas I could kind of
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: communicate to you know, the corners and kind of just
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: like see the big picture and call out plays.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: A lot of times.
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: But you get, the more you have guys that can
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: get you in and out of checks that you trust
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: and depend on, and they are seeing eye to eye
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: with what the coordinator wants, the more the coordinator can
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: put on those players because they know that they're going
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: to be able to deliver and they're going to execute it.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: So it kind of goes both ways.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: Like the coordinators and the play callers can be limited
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: by the intellect of the guys on the field.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: They could be hell of athletes, but if they can't
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: get it in and out of checks, it don't, it
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: don't matter.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: So yeah, the safety is position kind of becomes like
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: this quarterback of the defense at times in the backend,
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: you know, the linebackers to me have like an unbelievably
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: tough job because they have to know everything in front
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: of them and everything behind them as far as coverage.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: And a lot of times at safety, you know, a
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: lot of the coverages, you know, a lot of the gas,
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: but you're not really paying attention to some of the,
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: stunts up front and whatnot. You're just like, okay, if,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: if it gets through all these guys, I'll clean it up.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: But linebackers to me are, are some of the brightest
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: guys out there for sure. But if you can have
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: a guy like Harrison, like down the line that has
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: seen pretty much everything you can see in football.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a dream as a coordinator.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: So I called you a human missile and I, I,
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: you have an insane amount of tackles. I would love,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: you know how they have niche stats these days about,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: you know, the, this and that and the other. I
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: would love to hear your stats on how many tackles
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: created another grown man to have a guttural noise like,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: or something like that.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I was probably making the most noise, but.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think that was kind of, I just
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: realized I was like, okay, I'm not really like a
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: man to man cover guy. I'm not necessarily like a
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: ball hawk. Like if they throw it to me, I'll
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: probably catch it. But like, I was fully aware of
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: like what my role was of like, okay, Harrison is
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: going to like be this dog blitzing, intercepting, kind of
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: like can do it all right.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: And then I'm going to be in the middle.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: And if they come across the middle, I'm going to
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: take your head off. And like, that'll be my, that'll
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: be my niche of like, okay. Like if they're breaking,
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: breaking down the players on defense, it's like, okay, this
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: guy can do this.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: This guy can do this. And 34, uh, just know
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: that if you get the ball, like.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: He's going to run into you full speed and he's
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: not going to care if anybody gets up after the play,
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: including himself. So, I mean, that was just something that
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: I just knew that like, that was what I had
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: to bring to the table. Other than that, if you
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: don't have anything kind of special you're bringing to the table,
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: like you're just easily replaceable.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: There were times where you could hear your hits on
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: the TV and it like made everyone on the couch cringe.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: So you had, you had four hits, fumble recoveries, three
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: caused fumbles, two interceptions and a knocked out teammate in
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: a pear tree. Any chance you'd share the Xavier road story?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: Which one?
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, I know, I know you're talking, I know
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: what you're talking about. They threw a, they threw a
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: nine ball fade to Keenan Allen. He like caught it.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: And as soon as he caught it, he put his
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: foot in the ground and I just smoked Xavier right.
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: In the face. He did like a full scorpion.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: He like fold his spine folded in half and, Oh, man.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: And I think it was kind of a running joke.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: If it was going to be a physical game, all
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: the front seven would say, like, hey, make sure you're
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: wearing your back pads this week because Sandeo's going to
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: come down and, like, might run into you. You know,
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: things are just moving so fast out there. Like, if
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: there's just a pile of bodies, like, if it's moving,
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: I'm going to go hit it. So that was kind
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: of my mentality.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: When you watch Flores and what this group is doing
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and how, like I said, it's not– crazy innovative in
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: its schematics, but more in its choreography and confusion. Would
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: that have been something you would have loved to have
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: played in?
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: A hundred percent.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: Also, because if you're, if you're getting a lot of pressure,
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: you know, not a lot of times the quarterback's holding
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: onto the ball, which is going to make me have
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: to cover, which was probably my worst skillset.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: So that was, that was another reason why.
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: You know, I think I, I did okay in Zim's
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: defense is because they were so good at scheming up
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: the front that I didn't even have to do stuff
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: a lot of times.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: Like it would be like 1001, 1002 sack.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: And I think having, you know, some, you know, high
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: IQ players back there that can call things out would
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: have been fun for sure to kind of be in
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: a defense where they let you call it on the
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: field because you're on there, you have a lot more
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: feel and instincts for the, for what's about to happen
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: than a coordinator that's maybe on the sidelines. So I
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: think anytime you can kind of, let the players in
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: some regard have a little bit of control of checking
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: and doing things and trying to play the chess match
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: is always just way more fun.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like parenting. The more responsibility you give
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: a kid, the better they probably are at minding their business.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that's how it works in any phase of authority.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I have to ask you this because you keep describing
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: your skill set and how you made your way in
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: the league. I have heard from several people that as
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: you were building and making your way and trying to
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: stay on, you were the sort of guy that, uh,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: you were very smart, uh, financially to the point that
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: you were like crashing on couches in Texas of teammates,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: you know, years into the league, making sure you were
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: doing stuff right and setting yourself up. Is that true?
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: I think my first off season, I slept on my
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: dad's couch, my second off season. Um, I think I
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: had to like stay for some, um, like rehab on
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: an injury. And so I was only back in Texas
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: for like a month and I didn't even have an
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: apartment back there. So I just slept on another buddy's couch,
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: but I, I'm a couch sleeper, man. Like I'll like,
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: I don't care if you have a nice couch, I'll
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: sleep on it.
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: I sleep on my own couch, like almost every night. Like,
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: I don't care. So.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a, it's, I also a couch sleeper, so
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: no complaints here. I just think it's funny. It's funny.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: The different mentalities you can get in a profession as
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: broad as the NFL is where some guys come in
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: and get the world and they're off to the races
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: and other guys, you know, who played in the UFL and,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: you know, came up the way they came up, go,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: you know what? I'm going to take it a little easy.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: We're going to see if this thing, if this thing sticks.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Look, the only reason I.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: Even ever had to buy a new car was because
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: my 1998 Ford F two 50 diesel wouldn't start in Minnesota.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: Cause it was too cold.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: So I was, I was literally forced to go buy
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: a car and, Um, that I like, I didn't even
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: necessarily need, need a new car, but it, my truck
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: wouldn't start. So I'd have to, I'd have to park
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: in the back of the parking lot where the rookies
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: parked and I'd have to plug it into the engine
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: block to keep it warm so that I could just
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: start it after practice, you know?
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: Everyone was like, is that an electric truck?
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: And I'm like, dude, this is a 1998 Ford F-250.
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: This is not an electric car. Like, it's a diesel truck.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, I think just the way, you know, being
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: an undrafted guy, being on the bubble every year, bottom
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: of the depth chart, like, I just assumed every year
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: would probably be my last year.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: So I was like, well, this is the last paycheck
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: I'm going to get. So I might as well hold
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: on to this thing.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you one question before we get you
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: out of here. One of my favorite questions to ask.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: What is a moment, an on-field moment or a team
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: moment that means the most to you from your time
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: with the Vikings that fans might not know about? If
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: you got to sit a bunch of fans down and go,
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: let me tell you about something you probably don't think
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: a lot about but was great. Do you have one
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: of those that runs to the front of your brain?
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Oh, man. That's such a good question and tough question.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, don't say that to him. We're never going to
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: hear the end of that.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: Okay. You know, a moment like.
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: I think about a time there's probably a better story,
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: but this is the first thing I think about of like,
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: that kind of shows you the, the dynamics, like within
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: the defensive huddle that you probably like, don't think about
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: is like, there was one play and it was like
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: 2016 or so we were playing the Texans. And for
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: whatever reason, Harrison Smith dropped this wide open pick six and.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: Like never happens.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: And like, you know, in football, it's like, all right,
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: next play, like just move on, move on.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: And then like, it had been like a.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: Whole series and I could just tell that he was like,
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: still like in his head or whatever. And I was like,
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: I was like, bro, like, Hey, like move on. Like
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: it's time to move on. And he just looked at
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: me and he said, shut the up. And, and like,
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: it was like such a like good representation of like,
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: you can literally tell like, your, like, best friend, teammate, like,
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: guys in the heat of the moment to, like, shut
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: the F up and, like, nobody has any hard feelings. And, like,
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: you can just kind of keep on playing. But, like,
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: it was almost making him mad that I was, like,
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: telling him to, like, move on. And he just, like,
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: looked me square in the face and was like, shut
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: the F up. And I was like, all right, cool.
• 27:04
  Speaker 4: I'll let you do your thing then. And I bring
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: up that story, obviously, only because, like, Harrison has so
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: many great plays that, like, you know, talking about one
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: random play that, um where he dropped a pick i've
• 27:16
  Speaker 4: dropped plenty of picks but.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: Um i just think it was just such.
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: A a great like story of you know showing someone
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: like how those dynamics are in the huddle where you're
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: like cussing at each other yelling at each other but
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: you're all like you all love each other because you're
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: teammates and then we all understand it's just like part
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: of the game and like in the heat of the
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: moment you know sometimes you gotta like tell your teammates
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: to like shut up or like they're yelling at you
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: and you're like all right calm down so It gets
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: a little crazy in the defensive huddle for sure.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: I love that. I think that's one of my favorite
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: things when you cameras catch a guy having a blow
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: up on the field or something and it gets spread
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: throughout social media and sports media and a big deal
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: is made. I think if people knew like how different,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: so if you've got 11 guys on defense, how different
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: all those guys are, how they all react to different
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: sort of coaching and different moments, you'd be like, oh,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: there's 50 of those moments a game. You just don't
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: see them. And we're all, we all move through it
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: as a process. And once the game's over, the game's over.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: It's just when you're that competitive at that high a level,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: I just, I think those moments are more often than
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: people think.
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: I mean, I could tell you on multiple occasions, Xavier Rhodes,
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: has cussed me out for not giving him the call
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: because he.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: Was so good.
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't even tell him the defense because I knew
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: he just had that guy, man. And it was just like,
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: let Xavier do his thing and cover that guy. And
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: then he would come back to me and be like,
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: I mean, dog cussing me to give him the call.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: And I'm like, Hey man, I'm sorry. I'll give you
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: the call. But like, that just happens all the time
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: in the game. It's just like part of it. You
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: don't even think about it.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: Well, as a fan, you could really just tell how
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: much you guys gelled and enjoyed being out there as
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: a group. And I've got to believe that that makes
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: the big moments and the fun moments even bigger and
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: more fun. Obviously, 2017 was a magical year that ended
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: with the Minnesota Miracle, right? Everybody has their Miracle game story.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Where were you and what were you thinking in that moment?
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: During the Miracle... I had gotten a concussion.
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: And so I was actually in the locker room with
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: like the catering staff, the independent neurologist, all those people.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: And we're all watching the game on the screen in
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: the locker room. And we're all like, damn, like season's over, blah, blah, blah.
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: And then to hear the crowd erupt like over you.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: in the stadium and you're not even in the stadium.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: So I'm sitting there jumping up and down with the
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: catering staff. Like we're all high-fiving, throwing food and water
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: and all types of all over the place. I don't
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: even know these people, but we're all just going absolutely crazy. Well,
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: if you're concussed, you're not allowed to be on the field.
• 29:59
  Speaker 4: but the game had technically ended. So I looked at
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: the independent neurologist and I was like, Hey, I'm, I'm
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: allowed to go out there now. Like the game's over.
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: He kind of just put his hands up like, sure, man.
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: So I just like sprinted out the tunnel and kind
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: of met everybody.
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: On the way in.
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: I have some good pictures of me and my street clothes,
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: like celebrating with all the guys in that tunnel where
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: all the fans are probably have those frames somewhere in
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: my house one day, but some special like memories and
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: special moments there of.
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: Like, It looks like we're crying, but I don't think
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: we're crying.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: I think we're just like screaming so loud in disbelief
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: that it looks like we're crying and like I'm hugging Harrison.
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: And then Lyndall Joseph grabs both me and Harrison and
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: picks us both up.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: In the air at the same time. So I have
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: a picture of that.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Absolutely incredible. That's incredible. Yeah. Well, it's I mean, you
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: played obviously for one of it's what's kind of lost
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: in that miracle year. is that was for a franchise
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: that has one of the most, you know, a list
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: of some of the most iconic defenses in NFL history
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: with the Purple People Eaters. I think sometimes the miracle
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: overshadows how special that defense was, like how truly special
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: they were. So it was really fun to have you
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: as a part of it. And it's really fun to
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: have you join the show. So thank you for doing it, man.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: We appreciate it.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, man. It was great talking to you guys.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: That was a lot of fun. That was so fun.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Those stories are great. I know every week we go,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: when are they going to not let us talk to
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: these guys anymore? But I don't know. I think they
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: should keep letting us. I'm having a good time. I
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: think they should, too.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: I think that Andrew and I would probably really be
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: good at pranking other people as a team.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: He has that energy.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: You two have a very, very similar energy. I will
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: be honest. I'm not the energy of you two. I
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: enjoy it. Yeah.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: You like to sit back and watch? I enjoy it.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I like to sit back and watch. Chatty Daddy.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: The Vikings taking on the Colts.
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: The the history with this team. Normally we don't go
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: into history, but it is interesting. The greatest comeback in
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: NFL history. I got tickets and field passes for. Well,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't say I. The team was nice enough. Yeah,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: but I helped my brother in law, my two nephews
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: and my nephew's son, his oldest son, go to the game. Yeah.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: And it was my nephew's son. It was his first
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: ever Viking game. So his first Viking game. of all time,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: was the greatest comeback in NFL history. So a lot
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: of positivity when I see the Colts logo, as opposed
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: to some other logos where I just get enraged.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, tell that kid, enjoy any other game that
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: you go to now.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Good luck. Yeah, it's very ruined for him. Yeah, no kidding.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: I had just moved into a place in North Loop.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: We didn't even have furniture there. And I was there
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: watching the game with a TV on the floor. And
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: my daughter had flown in from school. It was her
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: freshman year. I was showing her the play. She was
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: there with her boyfriend.
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: And now I'm screaming.
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: I'm up on the kitchen island doing dance moves in
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: my socks. And absolutely having a ball. And my daughter goes,
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: I think your neighbors are going to hate you. Because
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you, I was at full volume. And so
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: I went to both doors on side of me, knocked
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: on the door, and I'm like, hey, just so you know,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: I'm watching.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: The Vikings game. And they're like, so are we. It
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: was just like everybody was going crazy. Just a ton
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: of fun. I don't expect something like that. I would
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: prefer not to be down that much. this Sunday when
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: we take on the Colts. I'm very, very much looking
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: forward to having all the pieces back that are coming back.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: We don't even know for sure. Like, we haven't seen
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: the final, you know, injury report, but we feel like
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: a lot of our important pieces are going to be back.
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: And.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: I think this is a really, really good chance to
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: see what was built over the bye week and what
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: has continued to be built, especially on the offensive side
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: of the ball. When you had that great second half
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: and specifically fourth quarter for Kyler in the offense against
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the Dolphins, you built a little bit more on top
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: of it in the Saints. Locker rooms are weird places.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: If you could stack another block on top of that
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: where they move more forward and Not only could it
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: be working from a schematic standpoint, but you could really
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: see the team start heading the right direction as a unit.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we have Aaron Jones Sr. who's just killing it.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: He gets a game ball after the Saints game. And
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: KOC says, and I have good news for you, your
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: running mate will be back after the bye. So hopefully
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: we see him in the backfield. And we just get
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: some more pieces because I think that opens up You know,
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: we have a quarterback that can run. Clearly, he's proven
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: that he's got boxers feet. He's like moving in the
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: pocket and finding the holes when he needs to. And
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: you add another top tier, in my opinion, running back
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: to the game.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: And it's just it's going to open up so many options.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: You know, and we talk about kind of a little
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: bit of the haters out there, the naysayers about what's
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: coming up in the next five games. Even if there
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: is some fear or some concern what the defense and
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: offense are going to look like when they get against
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: some of the best teams in the league, I look
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: at that more as a fun opportunity. If you'd have
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: told me at the beginning of the season, hey, you'll
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: be 5-0 and figuring some stuff out, and then you're
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: going to get the real test, I would go, well,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: bring it.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: On.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I'm not sitting here expecting this defense to hold you know,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: the bills of the world and the elite teams of
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the world offensively to 12 points or nine points or
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: three points. Right. But I'm really looking forward to these
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: games after the bye, these next five games, seeing the
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: team tested in different ways by a group of teams
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: that everybody else says should be better suited to test them.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: And then let's see where we stand and have the conversation.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Then you and I can get really insufferable if it
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: goes the way we think it's going to go. No kidding.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: Brene Brown, who is famous for her TED Talks, she
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: said that no relationship is ever 50-50, right? Like someday
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: you're having a good day. So the partner picks up
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: the slack and it goes 60-40, maybe 75-25. I think
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: that's what we're seeing here. The defense has held up
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: the offense for so many games. And now the offense
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: has a chance when we get into the thick of
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: the schedule to To show the defense like, yeah, all right,
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: now if you hold them to this many points, we
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: will take care of the rest.
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't wait. Let's do predictions. And I would
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: be remiss if I did not mention that once again,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: your prediction, it wasn't even eerily close this time. It
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: was just accurate. You said, I believe, going into the
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Saints game that they would kick two extra points.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I said, well, I set it up like I
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: was going for the easy one where I said, Will
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Reichert will kick. And then I said two extra points.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Because it's been a touchdown drought. And so I think that,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: you know, that was a bigger prediction than maybe people
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: would give you credit for. So, you know, you're on
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: a little streak here. What are you taking into this game?
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: I have, I'm going to go with Price.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: An offensive touchdown.
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: Not special teams.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Offensive touchdown.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: And I'm going to double down and I'm going to
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: say zero delay of game penalties. Because I think this
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: is just a situation where it's just going to, like
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: I said, the offense, they're coming into their own. It's
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: just taking a little bit to understand all the cogs
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: that are moving.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: And I think now.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: It's becoming a well-oiled machine, and I think those things
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: are in our past.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: Okay. I think I'm going to stick with the pattern
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: on my end. No prediction.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: Great idea.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I think we should keep doing that. I think we've
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: had success with that, and you and I aren't one
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: to walk away from something that works.
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: Uh-uh.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Thanks again to Andrew Sandejo for joining the show. And Chad,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: thank you as always for being a part of the show.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: And thank you to all of you for listening to
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: our podcast feed. We really appreciate it. While you're here, hey,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: maybe give us a good review. It sure would help
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: us out a lot. Hit those stars, write the words,
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: do whatever you need to do. Finally, a huge shout
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: out to Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of the Minnesota Vikings,
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: for helping make this show happen. Enjoy the game, everybody.