Latest / Inside the Charge / Inside the Charge: Dawson Knox Talks Mr. Brightside, Leadership, And More!
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome into this week's episode of Inside the Charge. I'm
- 0:02Speaker 1: Maddi Glab. This week we have tight end Dawson Knox
- 0:06Speaker 1: joining us. It's a really fun episode if you can
- 0:08Speaker 1: believe it. Dawson is in his seventh NFL season. He
- 0:12Speaker 1: talks about how being in year seven has changed his
- 0:15Speaker 1: approach to the game and how he's really taken on
- 0:18Speaker 1: a bigger leadership role, what that looks like to him,
- 0:21Speaker 1: and why he loves helping out the younger tight ends
- 0:23Speaker 1: and younger players on this roster. We also dive into
- 0:26Speaker 1: the personalities in the tight end room, because there are
- 0:29Speaker 1: some great ones. Dunkin Kaid is the funniest guy, and
- 0:33Speaker 1: we hear all about why Kincaid is so funny. Dawson
- 0:37Speaker 1: also gives us a lesson on the art of spiking
- 0:41Speaker 1: of football. It's something we've seen a lot in the
- 0:43Speaker 1: end zone when the Bills score touchdowns, so we get
- 0:46Speaker 1: to hear who's the best at it and maybe who
- 0:48Speaker 1: needs a little bit of help. Dawson also dives into
- 0:53Speaker 1: the tight end room in terms of their blocking ability,
- 0:56Speaker 1: why they've been so good at it this season, what
- 0:59Speaker 1: Jackson Hawk has done for the room, and why he
- 1:02Speaker 1: is such a good blocker. Dawson also gets into how
- 1:06Speaker 1: his family is growing this year and a lot more
- 1:09Speaker 1: enjoyed the episode. Dawson, thanks for coming on to hang
- 1:20Speaker 1: out with me a little bit, talk a little football talk,
- 1:23Speaker 1: a little bit a tight end room and talk about you.
- 1:25Speaker 2: Of course, Well thanks for having me.
- 1:27Speaker 1: Yes, you're in your seventh season. When I say that,
- 1:31Speaker 1: what comes to mind?
- 1:33Speaker 3: How time flies? Feels like rookie year was just a
- 1:38Speaker 3: matter of months ago. But the saying's true. Time flies
- 1:42Speaker 3: when you're having fun and looking back on all the memories.
- 1:45Speaker 3: It's crazy just how much time I have spent here.
- 1:49Speaker 3: But I hope it's just, you know, not even close
- 1:53Speaker 3: to the end yet. I want it to keep going.
- 1:55Speaker 1: I love that time flies when you're having fun. What's
- 1:57Speaker 1: been the most fun?
- 2:01Speaker 2: I mean you're talking about on the field.
- 2:03Speaker 1: Any anywhere you want to take it.
- 2:06Speaker 3: Man, Just all the memories in that stadium, scoring touchdowns,
- 2:12Speaker 3: winning games, shout song, mister Brightside. I mean, it's hard
- 2:17Speaker 3: to pinpoint one memory. One that'll always stand out is
- 2:21Speaker 3: my first touchdown rookie season, blacked out, don't even remember
- 2:27Speaker 3: much of what happened, But and then big playoff wins
- 2:31Speaker 3: at home, and there's just nothing like our fans. So
- 2:35Speaker 3: I think big wins at home, especially under the lights,
- 2:39Speaker 3: memories I'll cherish forever.
- 2:41Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. How are you
- 2:44Speaker 1: changing your focus now that you're in your seventh NFL season.
- 2:49Speaker 3: I think now that I feel comfortable with the playbook
- 2:53Speaker 3: and kind of just how a routine works on a
- 2:56Speaker 3: week to week basis, I think it's easier for me
- 2:58Speaker 3: to help some of the younger guys because now that
- 3:04Speaker 3: it's kind of second nature for me to have my routine,
- 3:07Speaker 3: I know where I need to be when I need
- 3:09Speaker 3: to be there, and things will work for me, and
- 3:12Speaker 3: whether it's the training room, weight room, or my rest
- 3:16Speaker 3: habits at home. I think being able to pour into
- 3:19Speaker 3: some of the younger guys and check up on them
- 3:22Speaker 3: because I know the rookie walls happening and it'll keep happening.
- 3:27Speaker 3: We just kind of being able to give that energy
- 3:30Speaker 3: out to, especially the younger guys on the team, has
- 3:33Speaker 3: been where I kind of feel a little bit of
- 3:35Speaker 3: my focus shifting.
- 3:36Speaker 2: A little bit.
- 3:37Speaker 1: Josh Allen has given you shout outs before for your
- 3:40Speaker 1: leadership inside that locker room. You spoke about leading some
- 3:43Speaker 1: of the younger players. Where does that leadership come from
- 3:46Speaker 1: for you?
- 3:49Speaker 3: I think I know the effect that had on me
- 3:51Speaker 3: when I was a rookie and second third year player
- 3:54Speaker 3: from guys like Lee Smith, Tyler Croft and the tight
- 3:57Speaker 3: end room and some of those vets that had such
- 4:01Speaker 3: an incredible just feel for the locker room and knowing
- 4:05Speaker 3: how to help guys out like I mean, Jordan Ployer
- 4:09Speaker 3: still here, Micah Hyde. Guys like that that kind of
- 4:12Speaker 3: brought me along with them and kind of showed me
- 4:15Speaker 3: the way to do things. Those are things that I'll
- 4:18Speaker 3: remember forever, and I think it's important to remember that
- 4:22Speaker 3: you didn't get here by yourself.
- 4:24Speaker 2: People helped you along the way.
- 4:25Speaker 3: So now it's it's kind of fun to be able
- 4:27Speaker 3: to do some of that helping instead of needing the help.
- 4:31Speaker 1: At this point, when it comes to doing that helping,
- 4:34Speaker 1: what is the way that you lead most is that
- 4:37Speaker 1: by using your voice?
- 4:39Speaker 4: Is that by example.
- 4:42Speaker 3: I think by example is a big thing for me,
- 4:45Speaker 3: just doing the right thing, being here early, even late,
- 4:49Speaker 3: doing the little things right. But I also love being
- 4:52Speaker 3: able to, you know, get a one on one conversation
- 4:55Speaker 3: with somebody that you know, whether they might be struggling
- 4:58Speaker 3: or whether everything's great and I know they might be
- 5:01Speaker 3: going through something on the side, or a guy that
- 5:04Speaker 3: just hand injury. I enjoy those personal one to wine conversations,
- 5:09Speaker 3: just checking in, not even necessarily about football or the playbook,
- 5:12Speaker 3: but just making sure guys are in the right headspace,
- 5:17Speaker 3: making sure they're doing all right. That went a long
- 5:22Speaker 3: way for me when I was younger, so I think
- 5:25Speaker 3: it comes a little more natural for me to be
- 5:27Speaker 3: able to do that for other people.
- 5:28Speaker 1: You mentioned all the special memories in your seven seasons
- 5:32Speaker 1: here so far. One of those is mister Brightside. What's
- 5:36Speaker 1: the best part When that song blasts through high Mark
- 5:40Speaker 1: Stadium and fans lose their ever loving minds.
- 5:44Speaker 3: It just gives me chills every time, And I hope
- 5:48Speaker 3: it's a tradition that goes on forever when I'm long
- 5:51Speaker 3: gone from the team, I hope it keeps going. But
- 5:55Speaker 3: when you hear those first few notes and you hear
- 5:58Speaker 3: the roar of the crowd get hyped up and everyone
- 6:02Speaker 3: starts singing the words at the same time, just electric energy,
- 6:06Speaker 3: and that'll be stuff that I Those will be memories,
- 6:10Speaker 3: side chairshed forever.
- 6:11Speaker 1: Is there something you have to do every time that
- 6:13Speaker 1: song begins.
- 6:16Speaker 3: Gotta be standing hot. Yeah, I mean it's impossible to
- 6:19Speaker 3: sit down while you're hearing that going. But I just
- 6:23Speaker 3: I gotta sing the words. I don't know, I kind
- 6:27Speaker 3: of gotta walk around. Not much of a dancer, but
- 6:32Speaker 3: sometimes it comes out of you. Sometimes you know, you
- 6:34Speaker 3: never know, you never know. I gotta keep them on
- 6:36Speaker 3: their does.
- 6:37Speaker 1: Sean McDermott praised the tight ends, the wide receivers and
- 6:41Speaker 1: Reggie Gillium for the ability in terms of blocking against
- 6:46Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers. You guys, collecting two hundred and forty
- 6:49Speaker 1: five rushing yards is not possible without the blocking ability
- 6:52Speaker 1: of this team. Who are some of the toughest blockers
- 6:56Speaker 1: on the Buffalo Bills.
- 6:57Speaker 3: Who comes to mind as Halls and Reggie Gilliam. Those
- 7:02Speaker 3: guys are relentless, physical, strong. They know how to block,
- 7:09Speaker 3: they know where to be, They know the little fundamentals
- 7:13Speaker 3: that don't come natural to people. But especially Jackson as
- 7:17Speaker 3: a rookie, to be able to be this polish in
- 7:19Speaker 3: the run game already is just a huge testament to
- 7:22Speaker 3: him and our coach Rob Boris for getting us on
- 7:25Speaker 3: the same page. But those two guys, I know, the
- 7:28Speaker 3: old line obviously gets the worst. But those two guys
- 7:31Speaker 3: man there, you can put them anywhere, whether it's in
- 7:34Speaker 3: the backfield, on the line, off the line, spread out
- 7:37Speaker 3: blocking DB's, they're going to get the job done.
- 7:39Speaker 4: I mean, Dawson, you've seen a lot.
- 7:40Speaker 1: You're seven years in. Why does a rookies blocking ability
- 7:45Speaker 1: in Jackson Hawes make you somewhat speechless?
- 7:49Speaker 3: Yeah, because you just don't see it that often, because
- 7:51Speaker 3: the college game is so much different than the NFL game,
- 7:54Speaker 3: and it's very rare to have a tight end that
- 7:58Speaker 3: comes out of college being able the block that well.
- 8:01Speaker 3: And I think, I mean, based on what I've seen,
- 8:06Speaker 3: he's the best blocking rookie that I've ever seen come
- 8:09Speaker 3: in an NFL. So and it's not like he's, you know,
- 8:12Speaker 3: two hundred and ninety five pounds, right, It's not like
- 8:14Speaker 3: he's almost a left tackle. You know, He's a two
- 8:18Speaker 3: hundred and fifty pound tight end that can also run
- 8:20Speaker 3: rounds and catch the ball. So that dynamic ability to
- 8:24Speaker 3: be able to do both is something that's really awesome.
- 8:28Speaker 2: It's really fun to watch him.
- 8:29Speaker 1: Where does Jackson Hawes's strength lie most?
- 8:33Speaker 4: Where is his strongest oh Man.
- 8:35Speaker 2: That's a great question.
- 8:36Speaker 3: I mean when they do all their rookie lifts, we're
- 8:38Speaker 3: not even in there, so I don't know if it's
- 8:39Speaker 3: his bench press or a squad or what it is.
- 8:42Speaker 4: But how you've see him holding blocks.
- 8:45Speaker 3: Man, It's just he's got great feet, he's got great
- 8:48Speaker 3: steps off the ball, strong toes, he stays grounded, very strong,
- 8:53Speaker 3: big toes. Yeah, yeah, for sure, but he just he's
- 8:57Speaker 3: very grounded and his footwork is really good.
- 8:59Speaker 1: Reggie had a couple incredible blocks against the Panthers that
- 9:05Speaker 1: opened up holes for James Cook to rush for a
- 9:08Speaker 1: sixty four yard touchdown and then do some more. What
- 9:12Speaker 1: is it about Reggie Gilliam that allows him to be
- 9:17Speaker 1: so good at laying those like stick blocks.
- 9:22Speaker 3: I mean, that's why we call him sledge He's a sledgehammer.
- 9:25Speaker 3: When he gets a full head of steam, there's I
- 9:27Speaker 3: feel bad for whoever's on the receiving end of that.
- 9:30Speaker 3: I wouldn't want to play defense against that guy. But
- 9:35Speaker 3: he's just a technician. Like there's so many blocks that
- 9:39Speaker 3: he has that weren't drawn up that way that he
- 9:42Speaker 3: just has to react based on what the defense is
- 9:44Speaker 3: given him and to make a split second decision to
- 9:48Speaker 3: be able to flip around a pulling guard and then
- 9:51Speaker 3: block a guy that was never supposed to be your guy,
- 9:54Speaker 3: and that turns into fifty yard touchdowns. I mean, that's
- 9:57Speaker 3: just Reggie man. He's we believe he's the best full
- 10:00Speaker 3: back in the league. And the way he gets those
- 10:02Speaker 3: blocks none and it's just special. And sometimes when I'm
- 10:07Speaker 3: right in front of one of those blocks, I can
- 10:09Speaker 3: feel it the collision. Yeah, just right behind me, and
- 10:14Speaker 3: I know it's Reggie, and I'm just like, I feel
- 10:16Speaker 3: bad for that poor defender.
- 10:19Speaker 1: When you lay a hard block, what's the immediate reaction.
- 10:24Speaker 3: It's just as satisfying as having a big catch. I mean,
- 10:27Speaker 3: especially when it springs a big run. When he can
- 10:29Speaker 3: put a defender on the ground and spring our running
- 10:33Speaker 3: backs or spring the receiver on a screen, it's just
- 10:38Speaker 3: it's a great feeling. It's just satisfying to be able
- 10:42Speaker 3: to search your dominance. Yeah, it's a great feeling.
- 10:46Speaker 1: Yeah, you spoke about Hawes being such a good blocker.
- 10:51Speaker 4: He's an interesting character. You know.
- 10:54Speaker 1: In his rookie season, an ivy leaguer comes in and
- 10:57Speaker 1: speaks about how the violence of foot all really excites him.
- 11:01Speaker 4: How does Jackson Hawes make you laugh?
- 11:05Speaker 3: He's just he's still kind of in his shell too,
- 11:08Speaker 3: because as a rookie, I think that he understands that
- 11:12Speaker 3: you're not supposed to come in as the super loud, like,
- 11:16Speaker 3: oh look at me, all this all that you kind
- 11:20Speaker 3: of have to come in and absorb.
- 11:22Speaker 2: You know.
- 11:22Speaker 3: We people always say rookies are supposed to be seen
- 11:26Speaker 3: not heard. We don't say that around here. We want
- 11:29Speaker 3: him to be more of a bigger personality, but I
- 11:33Speaker 3: think he's kind of adopting that, like just be a
- 11:35Speaker 3: sponge for right now, kind of sit back and figure
- 11:38Speaker 3: it all out before he lets out that personality, but
- 11:42Speaker 3: you do get glimpses of that, just like Goofy.
- 11:46Speaker 2: He's just awesome man.
- 11:47Speaker 3: We always call him me Block because he's an Ivy
- 11:50Speaker 3: League meathead. You know, he's super smart but loves the
- 11:56Speaker 3: violence of football at the same time, and that's just
- 11:58Speaker 3: not a combination very often. But I mean we just
- 12:03Speaker 3: it's in the best way possible.
- 12:04Speaker 4: Yeah, you're like, make it make sense? How do these
- 12:07Speaker 4: things happen at the same time?
- 12:09Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense.
- 12:10Speaker 1: It is just Jackson Hawes, which we're so happy to
- 12:12Speaker 1: have him on this question. Okay, who else is making
- 12:16Speaker 1: you laugh in the tight ends room?
- 12:17Speaker 3: Dawson dom Kincaid. I mean I was trying not to
- 12:21Speaker 3: laugh earlier. He was right behind me.
- 12:22Speaker 1: I figured somebody was behind me as you were looking over.
- 12:26Speaker 3: I'm not going to recreate what was happening, but yeah,
- 12:30Speaker 3: it's just he is a goofy person and he has fun.
- 12:33Speaker 4: You had a good job staying serious.
- 12:35Speaker 3: Well, thank you, I'm used to say if you needed to.
- 12:40Speaker 3: But he's he's just so funny. He's obviously a heck
- 12:44Speaker 3: of a football player, but his personality and humor keeps
- 12:47Speaker 3: things light and he's just a great guy to have
- 12:51Speaker 3: in our own one of my best friends on the team,
- 12:53Speaker 3: probably my best friend on the team, and we sit
- 12:55Speaker 3: right next to each other meetings. He's got his own
- 12:58Speaker 3: little cubicle setup like, he's got all the picture frame
- 13:01Speaker 3: and he's got a couple like fidgets, he's got a
- 13:05Speaker 3: bucket of candy. I mean, he's he's one of a
- 13:08Speaker 3: kind and awesome human.
- 13:11Speaker 4: So dalk kid.
- 13:12Speaker 1: When he comes into work, he's got his own office,
- 13:15Speaker 1: his setting set up in the tight ends room.
- 13:17Speaker 2: We call it his cubicle.
- 13:19Speaker 4: Yeah, all right, I.
- 13:21Speaker 1: Wonder if some people are gonna, you know, start taking
- 13:23Speaker 1: meetings with him. Can I can I meet with a
- 13:25Speaker 1: dunk today? I got some questions, some things done.
- 13:30Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly what you're talking about.
- 13:32Speaker 1: How is your relationship with dal Kinkaid helped your game?
- 13:37Speaker 3: I think being able to have both of us on
- 13:41Speaker 3: the field at the same time it's really fun because
- 13:44Speaker 3: you don't know if we're gonna be able to block,
- 13:45Speaker 3: you don't know if we're gonna go run a deep route.
- 13:50Speaker 3: And being able to watch some of the stuff that
- 13:51Speaker 3: he does helps me as well, like whether it's a
- 13:54Speaker 3: type of release he takes on a certain type of
- 13:57Speaker 3: pressman coverage, or what he sees in different route combinations.
- 14:02Speaker 3: Kind of just being able to pick his brain as well.
- 14:04Speaker 3: They get a different perspective on because he thinks some
- 14:07Speaker 3: ways that I might not think on certain routes or
- 14:10Speaker 3: certain concepts. So just to have that extra perspective of
- 14:15Speaker 3: someone who's obviously extremely talented running routes and catching the ball,
- 14:20Speaker 3: I think it definitely makes me a better player, just
- 14:22Speaker 3: being able to see what he thinks on certain things.
- 14:25Speaker 1: Offensive coordinator Joe Brady loves when you guys celebrate together
- 14:30Speaker 1: when you score touchdowns. We've seen a lot of spikes
- 14:33Speaker 1: this year. Everybody likes to take their shot out of spike.
- 14:36Speaker 1: What is the art of a spike?
- 14:40Speaker 4: Dawson. It's got a football to help us out with this.
- 14:42Speaker 2: Look at that. You came ready, I came ready.
- 14:45Speaker 3: You got to grab the end of it. Okay, It's
- 14:47Speaker 3: really simple. A lot of guys try to spike. I mean,
- 14:51Speaker 3: you probably make sure the fat part hits the ground
- 14:55Speaker 3: first right there, and that's.
- 14:57Speaker 2: How you get it to go high. That's about it.
- 15:00Speaker 4: Who's the best on the team at the.
- 15:01Speaker 3: Spencer's had some great spikes, especially last game against the Panthers.
- 15:07Speaker 3: He's had some great experience at it. I was trying
- 15:10Speaker 3: to coach Cybo up you were, but I think he's
- 15:14Speaker 3: got it now.
- 15:14Speaker 2: We worked on it, but it was so sweet.
- 15:17Speaker 4: He went to the sideline and he was like.
- 15:19Speaker 2: I know he likes you.
- 15:20Speaker 4: Even gave me the coaching and I couldn't do it.
- 15:23Speaker 3: Because we always say it has to leave the frame
- 15:26Speaker 3: of the camera. So whatever film angle is watching the spike,
- 15:30Speaker 3: the ball has to go out of the frame and
- 15:32Speaker 3: that's how we judge whether or not it's a good spike.
- 15:35Speaker 1: Who haven't you seen spike the football yet that you
- 15:37Speaker 1: want to see do it in a game?
- 15:39Speaker 3: Reggie's are great. I haven't seen a Dulton spike yet.
- 15:42Speaker 3: He tends to just throw it into the stands as
- 15:44Speaker 3: far as he can come, which isn't cheap, by the way.
- 15:47Speaker 3: I think that'll cost several dollars if you do that.
- 15:50Speaker 3: But I'd love to see a Dulton spike.
- 15:54Speaker 1: Dawson, you have such a big heart for the community.
- 15:57Speaker 1: You help a lot with punt who is an organization
- 16:00Speaker 1: that helps with children and families experiencing childhood cancer. How
- 16:06Speaker 1: has that organization changed you as a human being.
- 16:10Speaker 2: Yeah, but.
- 16:13Speaker 3: The Pediatric Cancer Collaborative I got involved within my rookie
- 16:17Speaker 3: year and Gwynn Maisiak her whole team. The work that
- 16:23Speaker 3: they do day in day out helping families that have
- 16:26Speaker 3: kids with cancer, whether it's paying for meals or a
- 16:30Speaker 3: parking ticket or being able to park at the hospital
- 16:34Speaker 3: electric bills. Like being able to help these families that
- 16:37Speaker 3: are dealing with one of life's hardest challenges, to be
- 16:40Speaker 3: able to take something off their plate is something that
- 16:44Speaker 3: I just admire so much because it's you know, I
- 16:47Speaker 3: can come in, you know, maybe once every now and
- 16:49Speaker 3: then and go to the hospital see the kids and
- 16:52Speaker 3: help out with the fundraiser. But they're doing the work
- 16:55Speaker 3: every single day. So to be able to see their
- 17:00Speaker 3: generosity and their diligence and how they just go to
- 17:04Speaker 3: work every day for these families, it's really inspiring. So
- 17:07Speaker 3: I think being able to work for something that's bigger
- 17:10Speaker 3: than yourself is something that I've always believed in because
- 17:15Speaker 3: I believe that God has blessed me to be able
- 17:17Speaker 3: to bless other people, and so I think whatever you're
- 17:20Speaker 3: blessed with in life, you should look for ways to
- 17:24Speaker 3: bless other people. So I'm very thankful for the Punt
- 17:27Speaker 3: Foundation and the work that they've done and allowing me
- 17:30Speaker 3: to be a part of it.
- 17:31Speaker 1: You've done an incredible job with them, and is so
- 17:33Speaker 1: cool to see you always show up in different ways
- 17:35Speaker 1: for them. You have a baby on the way. I'm
- 17:39Speaker 1: so excited for you and your wife. What's the best
- 17:41Speaker 1: advice you've gotten so far?
- 17:43Speaker 3: Oh, best advice I've gotten so far. I actually got
- 17:46Speaker 3: some good advice today and said, I always remember small baby,
- 17:52Speaker 3: small problems, big baby, big problems. So I think it's
- 17:57Speaker 3: like when keep it in perspective, like when it's when
- 18:00Speaker 3: you have a newborn and a baby, like the problems
- 18:02Speaker 3: really aren't that big, like you'll figure it out. But
- 18:05Speaker 3: as they keep growing up, the problems keep getting bigger
- 18:08Speaker 3: and bigger. So enjoy the time that you're at amazing making.
- 18:14Speaker 1: Bird noises in the background. I don't know if we
- 18:16Speaker 1: can pick that up. Well we can, you know, dub
- 18:18Speaker 1: it in. But Dawson, thanks so much for coming on
- 18:21Speaker 1: and hanging out with us. Appreciate the time. And it's
- 18:24Speaker 1: so excited for your family to grow.
- 18:26Speaker 2: I am so excited.
- 18:27Speaker 3: I've never been more excited for anything in my title dad,
- 18:30Speaker 3: Like my wife will help me become a great dad.
- 18:34Speaker 4: And your wife's going to be a great mom, you guys.
- 18:36Speaker 2: Are she will be. Yes, there's no doubt.
- 18:39Speaker 4: Thanks Dawson.
- 18:40Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much. Mag Glad see y'all.
- 18:43Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Inside the Charge.
- 18:46Speaker 1: Make sure you like and subscribe if you haven't yet,
- 18:49Speaker 1: and stay tuned for more podcasts in your future.