Latest / AFR Saints / EXCLUSIVE: Saints Rookie Safety Jonas Sanker | Is He the Perfect Fit for Brandon Staley’s Defense?

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EXCLUSIVE: Saints Rookie Safety Jonas Sanker | Is He the Perfect Fit for Brandon Staley’s Defense? · AFR Saints

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  Speaker 1: dot org. Golf dot Breck dot org. The New Orleans
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  Speaker 1: Saints used nine draft picks in last month's draft, the
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  Speaker 1: most since twenty fifteen. They had nine. They used them all,
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  Speaker 1: didn't make a deal. Part of it was at number
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  Speaker 1: ninety three overall. When they went dB.
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  Speaker 2: With the ninety third pick in the twenty twenty five
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  Speaker 2: NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints select Yonas Sanker defensive
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  Speaker 2: back Virginia.
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  Speaker 1: And Yonahs Sanker good enough to join us here for
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  Speaker 1: a couple of minutes on AFAR. Yonas, thank you for
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  Speaker 1: the time.
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  Speaker 3: How are you doing great? How are you doing?
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  Speaker 1: And I'm doing awesome. We appreciate you for making it work. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: Fresh off of rookie mini camp, what were your biggest takeaways.
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  Speaker 3: Really just being able to spend some time with the
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  Speaker 3: coaches and being able to just kind of learn the
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  Speaker 3: scheme and just start early getting to know some of
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  Speaker 3: the other rookies, kind of building that chemistry, just kind
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  Speaker 3: of soaking up everything and just yeah, really just making
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  Speaker 3: the most of the.
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  Speaker 1: Time to you know, I think you spend when you're
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  Speaker 1: a guy like like you are and you get to
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  Speaker 1: go play major college football. I mean, everybody's dream is
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  Speaker 1: to play in the NFL. And I'm sure in your
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  Speaker 1: brain and your mind's eye, you had a way that
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  Speaker 1: it would look or feel in what ways was that
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  Speaker 1: first experience like what you thought it was and what
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  Speaker 1: ways was it different?
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  Speaker 3: Honestly, it was kind of what I expected. And you
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  Speaker 3: know that kind of goes with just you know, knowing
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  Speaker 3: some people who kind of been through this process, you know,
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  Speaker 3: being able to speak with them a little bit, so
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  Speaker 3: kind of having a head start on what to expect
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  Speaker 3: coming in. But uh, yeah, overall it's been uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: they've done a great job of just making the transition
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  Speaker 3: smooth and easy.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, let's talk a little bit about about that
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  Speaker 1: whole draft process. So you're coming out of UVA, were
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  Speaker 1: were the Saints a big part of your pre draft process.
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  Speaker 3: They actually they did come visit me in Charlottsville, and uh,
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  Speaker 3: they worked me out and we spoke a lot in
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  Speaker 3: Washington film so you know we were in contact.
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  Speaker 1: What, by the way, who came? What Saints coaches came?
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  Speaker 1: Do you remember Corners coach?
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  Speaker 3: So?
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  Speaker 1: Was that Terry Joseph? No? Okay, so, but you got
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  Speaker 1: to meet Terry Joseph this weekend whenever you were there
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  Speaker 1: for rookie Minicamp?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 1: What was your impression of the staff there this.
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  Speaker 3: Week it was sorry, it was coach Brown who came
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  Speaker 3: and met with me.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, uh, but this weekend at at rookie Minicamp, what
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  Speaker 1: were your impressions of the staff that you got to
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  Speaker 1: meet and work with.
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  Speaker 3: Just you know, super intense, super focused and just really
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  Speaker 3: passionate about what they do. And you know that's just
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  Speaker 3: is super easy to see, just in the way they coach,
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  Speaker 3: the way they communicate, and just you know the style
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  Speaker 3: of their meetings and all that. So you know, getting
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  Speaker 3: to know them, you know the first thing, you know,
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  Speaker 3: they kind of wanted to connect on a personal level,
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  Speaker 3: tell a little bit about themselves and you know here
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  Speaker 3: here a little bit about you know, me and some
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  Speaker 3: of the other rookies.
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  Speaker 1: So Jonah Sanker is our guest, our guest Saints draft
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  Speaker 1: pick out of the University of Virginia there in round three.
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  Speaker 1: What about Brandon Staley? What do you know about the
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  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator and stylistically what he wants to do with
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  Speaker 1: you all at the safety spot?
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  Speaker 3: Just being able to play fast and stay square, being
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  Speaker 3: able to get off blocks, be violent, but just really
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  Speaker 3: just be the communicators of the defense. And uh, but
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  Speaker 3: that's also just the case for every position, is being
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  Speaker 3: able to communicate at a high level and just being
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  Speaker 3: able to, you know, be responsible for doing your job.
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  Speaker 1: When when draft day came around and uh and your
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  Speaker 1: phone rang and it was New Orleans? What was that?
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  Speaker 1: Can you like walk us through that memory that you
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  Speaker 1: and your family will have forever. What was that like
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  Speaker 1: for you when the phone rang?
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  Speaker 3: No, it was it was super special and uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: having so many people there to support me just you know,
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  Speaker 3: made it even more you know, heartwarming. Being able to
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  Speaker 3: go to a place like New Orleans, someone I've never been,
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  Speaker 3: never really spent much time, don't know much about just
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'm super open just to exploring and just
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  Speaker 3: you know, learning more about the city. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: from what I've heard for the most part, just from
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  Speaker 3: the outside, just that you know, it's a super welcomed
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  Speaker 3: in community and you know that people really love and
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  Speaker 3: care for you know, their football players, their stints. So
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'm excited to you know, get to learn
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  Speaker 3: more about New Orleans and you know the community here
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  Speaker 3: and uh yeah, just bring bring whatever I can to
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  Speaker 3: this community in this football team.
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  Speaker 1: Did you get to go eat when you were here
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  Speaker 1: for rookie minute camp?
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  Speaker 3: Uh yeah, I've been at the facility for the most part,
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  Speaker 3: but uh honestly that already has just been off the charts.
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  Speaker 3: You know, their their food and facility are you know amazing.
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  Speaker 1: Uh yeah. Once you get to town and around around
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  Speaker 1: camp and you get to uh experience some of the
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  Speaker 1: fair I think you'll enjoy it, uh even more. It's
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  Speaker 1: one of the one of the best food cities in
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  Speaker 1: the world. If your food, you'll really enjoy it. Man.
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  Speaker 1: I know those that mini campus such a compressed thing
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  Speaker 1: where you know, you got a lot to accomplish on
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  Speaker 1: the field. It's a short amount of time. Jonas Sanco's
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  Speaker 1: with us here for uh, for just a couple of
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  Speaker 1: more minutes. What but by the way, are you more
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  Speaker 1: strong safety or free safety?
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  Speaker 3: Uh? I really played both in college. I played you know,
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  Speaker 3: high safety, box safety, nickel, I played everything. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: I like to part myself on being able to play
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  Speaker 3: wherever and have the same success, you know, wherever you
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  Speaker 3: put me.
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  Speaker 1: Now you use the word a minute ago about about
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  Speaker 1: when I was asked about describing brand Staley about being violent,
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  Speaker 1: would you describe yourself as a as a violent safety?
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  Speaker 3: For sure? I think just being able to play violent
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  Speaker 3: and play fast are things that stayed out about me
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  Speaker 3: and I think ultimately what made me, you know, a
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  Speaker 3: good fit for what he's trying to bring to this defense.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. You know one other thing, Yonice, that was so
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  Speaker 1: interesting when we looked at the Saints' draft class and totality,
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  Speaker 1: they drafted a lot of guys that were captains, that
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  Speaker 1: were veteran players, that were durable, didn't miss time. And
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  Speaker 1: I think a lot of that. You exemplify a lot
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  Speaker 1: of that in your time. But was so interesting, especially
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  Speaker 1: in this era in college football with the portal is
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  Speaker 1: a lot of guys jump and leave and bounce, and
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  Speaker 1: you stayed at UVA, especially through some pretty lean years
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  Speaker 1: there at times. Did why why did you choose to
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  Speaker 1: stay at UVA for your whole career when so many
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  Speaker 1: guys transfer.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I definitely had opportunities to leave, but
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  Speaker 3: for me, a lot of it was just loyalty to
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  Speaker 3: where I kind of had started out my journey. And also,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I built a lot of good relationships there.
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  Speaker 3: I really felt like I had something good. But the
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  Speaker 3: main reason for me was, you know, family related and
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  Speaker 3: just being able to stay home, help my mom out,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, be a part of my younger siblings' lives.
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  Speaker 1: You you're from Virginia. I think some people, if they
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  Speaker 1: don't know they from Virginia with high school Virginia, so
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  Speaker 1: you were close to home. By the way, I also
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  Speaker 1: saw this side by side of you and Jalen Hurts.
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  Speaker 1: Have you seen that going around the internet?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: Well, what do you You sound like a little displeased
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  Speaker 1: with that? What do you think?
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  Speaker 3: Nah? I mean, you know, I've seen it, and uh,
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  Speaker 3: you know, it's people's opinion, and yeah, I don't really
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  Speaker 3: have much to say about.
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  Speaker 1: It, dude, I get that. Dude, I'm a bald headed
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  Speaker 1: guy with a beard. People like anybody who's ball with
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  Speaker 1: a beard. They're like, oh, you look like a ball
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  Speaker 1: a guy with a beer. I'm like, yeah, I do.
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  Speaker 1: I look like a thumb. I'm sorry, that's just what
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  Speaker 1: I look like.
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  Speaker 3: Uh.
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  Speaker 1: Anyway, hey man, I appreciate a couple of minutes from you. Man,
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  Speaker 1: good luck here on your journey, good health and all
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  Speaker 1: that stuff, and we'll catch up down the road.
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  Speaker 3: Man. Thank you, Yeah, no problem, thank you.