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Cooper Kupp On Preparing To Face The Rams For The First Time As A Seahawk · Seahawks Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: So great.
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  Speaker 2: You're always thoughtful in your approach. If you have the
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  Speaker 2: opportunity to be on the field this week, what are
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  Speaker 2: you reminding yourself of going into this game against a
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  Speaker 2: former team?
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  Speaker 1: Like, what am I reminding myself of? Now?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, I mean I think it's just it's the
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  Speaker 3: same thing that I've preached. Just been up here, I said,
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  Speaker 3: preach just bad. I've been talking too much. It's another
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  Speaker 3: football game, you know, get out there, player game. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I love these guys. I love love so
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  Speaker 3: many of the guys over there. And by the end
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  Speaker 3: of the day, gotta go go, gotta go play football game.
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  Speaker 3: So that's that's gonna be what it is. Trying to
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  Speaker 3: treat this the same as any other game. And yeah,
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  Speaker 3: go out there and just you know, Bill, lock in
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  Speaker 3: your job one play after the next and take that,
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  Speaker 3: take that play by playing mindset and yeah, same, same
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  Speaker 3: as same as usual.
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  Speaker 2: Where it is that they're gonna do something to sort
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  Speaker 2: of tribute to you there, And you know, how do
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  Speaker 2: you acknowledg that by and I also stay locked in
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  Speaker 2: like you're talking about.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know. I didn't know that. I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I didn't die you know I'm here, so like, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I appreciate it. It's obviously so thankful for my time there,
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  Speaker 3: incredible experience built so much with just the fans, with
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  Speaker 3: the guys that also play with and just great experiences
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  Speaker 3: and nothing but love.
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  Speaker 1: For that city.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, but I mean, like I said, you gotta
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  Speaker 3: be able to gotta be a lock in for the
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  Speaker 3: game and what's what's ahead of you. So I think
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  Speaker 3: it'll be It'll be fun. I'm excited to go out there.
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  Speaker 3: It's a really good football team, really good football team
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  Speaker 3: and present some great challenges for us, and excited to
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  Speaker 3: go out there and compete in bill ways.
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  Speaker 2: Is talking football with Mike McDonald made you a better player?
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  Speaker 3: M m Yeah, I mean, uh, eight years of meeting
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  Speaker 3: with the head coach and talking offensive ball and and
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  Speaker 3: now I get to see the other side of that,
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  Speaker 3: and I think that's that's been really cool of just
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  Speaker 3: being able to dive into maybe some details and things
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  Speaker 3: that I didn't get to before just that naturally come
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  Speaker 3: up in conversation. And I mean, like, uh, some of
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  Speaker 3: the coaches here is you know, Mike's a virus. He
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  Speaker 3: wants to adapt, he wants to be ahead of the curve.
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  Speaker 1: He wants to be.
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  Speaker 3: He wants to be you know, yeah, he wants to
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  Speaker 3: be adapting to what's happening and be ahead of you
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  Speaker 3: before you get.
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  Speaker 1: On the field. That's uh, your beaters, it's too late.
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  Speaker 3: And so it's been fun kind of talking to him
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  Speaker 3: and learning the nuances and some of that stuff defensively,
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  Speaker 3: and it definitely helps in terms of offensively what man
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  Speaker 3: some of the some of the things that are being
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  Speaker 3: presented defensively across the league, because when you're playing good defense,
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  Speaker 3: you're gonna start seeing those things kind of permeate throughout
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  Speaker 3: throughout the league.
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  Speaker 1: So it's nice to be a part of that.
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  Speaker 2: Mike's gonna downplay anything that's about him and you know
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  Speaker 2: him baying all that. But as someone who's played for
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  Speaker 2: both of them, does it kind of excite you to
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  Speaker 2: see how these two kind of try to out smart
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  Speaker 2: each other.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, because it is. It is kind of in the
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  Speaker 3: same way. They they definitely want to be ahead of things,
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  Speaker 3: like you said, like they want to be the they
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  Speaker 3: want to be on the forefront. They don't want to
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  Speaker 3: be they aren't gonna be stealing a bunch of plays
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  Speaker 3: and things from other people. They want to be the
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  Speaker 3: one that people are coming to and trying to steal
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  Speaker 3: their stuff, and and yeah, I think.
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  Speaker 1: That's I think it's great.
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  Speaker 3: I think a really cool thing that you've got, you know,
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  Speaker 3: defenses and offenses that are acting that same way, just
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  Speaker 3: like we like to do here offensively, want to be
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  Speaker 3: ahead of the curve and be able to adapt and move.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, it makes it fun, makes that that that
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  Speaker 3: chess game really comes alive, and it's gonna be it's
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  Speaker 3: be fun to see that happen.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of people, though, are still gonna want to
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  Speaker 2: the natural game reactions to think you want to go
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  Speaker 2: down there and prove something to those guys or whatever.
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  Speaker 2: But do you not feel that way at all?
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  Speaker 3: Or no, I know it's like, uh, you can't make
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  Speaker 3: this game about yourself.
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  Speaker 1: It just doesn't. It doesn't work that way. You know.
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  Speaker 1: It's just it's too much of a team game.
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  Speaker 3: There's just too many guys on the field doing doing
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  Speaker 3: too many things, working at such a high level. It's
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  Speaker 3: just about controlling what you can control, being a positive
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  Speaker 3: part of whatever it's called, and executing at that at
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  Speaker 3: a high level and coming back and doing it over
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  Speaker 3: and over again. And I mean it would be it
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  Speaker 3: would just be a shame just say I want this
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  Speaker 3: game more than any other game.
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  Speaker 1: That's not doing it.
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  Speaker 3: That's doing a disservice to the guys that sit in
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  Speaker 3: this room with me, that you know that would hold
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  Speaker 3: back anything from them because of my own ambitions or
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  Speaker 3: wantsters are. You know, I'm coming in here every week
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  Speaker 3: and given my all in my preparation and what I'm
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  Speaker 3: doing and my step on the field. You know you're
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  Speaker 3: gonna get the best, the best that I can offer
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  Speaker 3: you because that's what the guys here deserve. And so
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  Speaker 3: that doesn't change based on, you know, any outsetting circumstances.
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  Speaker 3: For myself, what's your favorite experience with the of all?
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  Speaker 3: My favorite experience, I guess the easy answers, like, you know,
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  Speaker 3: winning a super Bowl, But it's not so much just
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  Speaker 3: the super Bowl as much as it was just the
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  Speaker 3: the build of what that whole season was.
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  Speaker 1: The journal I've tked about all the time. The journey
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  Speaker 1: was just so much fun.
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  Speaker 3: The adversity that we went through back in twenty one
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  Speaker 3: and being able to overcome it, being able to get
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  Speaker 3: to know the guys and finding ways week after week two,
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  Speaker 3: you know, excute game plans to come out with with winds,
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  Speaker 3: and that's that's what it is. I mean, we talked
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  Speaker 3: about the same thing here. It's the process is how
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  Speaker 3: are we gonna handle our process? How do we continue
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  Speaker 3: to refine that and not being in a place where
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  Speaker 3: just because there's a few wins or things going right
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  Speaker 3: doesn't mean that you're doing everything perfect, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And so I enjoyed that. I really enjoyed being a part.
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  Speaker 3: Of that down there in La And I'm really enjoying
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  Speaker 3: being a part of it right now. When you reach
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  Speaker 3: that the pinnacle and you got the contract and you
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  Speaker 3: got the notoriety, how did you keep the mental edge?
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  Speaker 1: What was the challenge there? Yeah, so well, it's like.
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  Speaker 3: It's like like climbing a mountain, right, Like people talk
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  Speaker 3: about climbing a mountain all times journey, But the thing
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  Speaker 3: that people stop talking about it is like what happens
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  Speaker 3: when you get to the top of the mountain, Like
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  Speaker 3: you just see another mountain out there. You're like, ah,
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  Speaker 3: there's another one, And if your whole goal was just
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  Speaker 3: to get to the mountain, you feel pretty let down
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  Speaker 3: looking and seeing like, oh, there's just another mountain out there.
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  Speaker 3: But if your whole thing was like, Man, I enjoyed
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  Speaker 3: every peak and valley of this thing. I enjoyed every
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  Speaker 3: every ice patch that we had to scale across everything.
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  Speaker 3: Every time I fell down, like I got back up
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  Speaker 3: and was able to push through. Like I enjoyed that
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  Speaker 3: so much. You get to the top, you're not you aren't.
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  Speaker 3: You aren't, You aren't upset. There's another mountain. You're excited.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you're excited because it's like, man, I get
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  Speaker 3: there's more out there, There's more of those experiences, there's
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  Speaker 3: more journeys that have there's more adventure to have and
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  Speaker 3: and I love that. So that was my mindset, And uh,
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  Speaker 3: it's been fun.
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  Speaker 2: The coaches are gonna always talk about staying with the process,
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  Speaker 2: folks in every game one and O every week. You
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  Speaker 2: guys have a lot of young players, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: rookies on this team, and there'd be a lot of
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  Speaker 2: talk about this game. Do you know, talk to any
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  Speaker 2: of those guys and just help them stay locked in
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  Speaker 2: in a situation like this.
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  Speaker 3: Uh yeah, I mean, I think we do such a
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  Speaker 3: good job of hear them. The coaches do a great
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  Speaker 3: job and just in terms of the preparation that's what
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  Speaker 3: it is at the end of the day, right, if
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  Speaker 3: you're stepping on the field and you feel like a
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  Speaker 3: moment's too big, what you just didn't prepare yourself.
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  Speaker 1: You do your preparation and you're good.
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  Speaker 3: You've played this game, and all all the other stuff,
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  Speaker 3: all the other factors, everything that happens outside of the
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  Speaker 3: things in this building.
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  Speaker 1: That stuff real quickly and goes away.
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  Speaker 3: If you do your preparation the right way, and and
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  Speaker 3: we do a good job that we harp on it
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  Speaker 3: all the time, and there's enough vets that you know,
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  Speaker 3: are placed in rooms throughout this team that can model
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  Speaker 3: that and and show guys, this is what it's supposed
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  Speaker 3: to look like, and this is how we operate, and
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  Speaker 3: not allowing moments to be too big, and for each
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  Speaker 3: and every one of us, and and you've got guys
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  Speaker 3: alongside you. It's like, man, you aren't gonna be doing
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  Speaker 3: this by yourself. We're all gonna be going through this together.
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  Speaker 3: And it helps when you've got that that mindset and
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  Speaker 3: that that high mind all working towards that one goal,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and the rookies have done a great job
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  Speaker 3: throughout the year. We have some big games and guys
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  Speaker 3: have stepped up and played played real good football for us.
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  Speaker 1: How you feeling physically come out of a game? Good? Yeah? Good?
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  Speaker 1: It was a yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I'm glad I was able to be a part of
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  Speaker 3: it last week, but I'm feeling good sad to go
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  Speaker 3: this week.
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  Speaker 2: It's kind of more clear or what makes a receiver
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  Speaker 2: able to beat man coverage and what skills are required,
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  Speaker 2: what makes a receiver tough to cover.
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  Speaker 3: Against his own Yeah, I think there's just a feel
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  Speaker 3: and understanding of what where guys are going to be
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  Speaker 3: at a lot of times you're running. You know you're
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  Speaker 3: running past the zone you're in past guys, and you've
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  Speaker 3: got understandable where where a guy's dropping when you're backs
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  Speaker 3: to them. So there's a good guys have a good
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  Speaker 3: feel for that. But also just as soon as you
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  Speaker 3: get yours, as soon as you do break having a
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  Speaker 3: great feel for temping through zones and being able to
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  Speaker 3: adjust your route where you're not just a you're not
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  Speaker 3: a line off piece of paper, You're a human being
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  Speaker 3: trying to find space to get open and understanding the
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  Speaker 3: confines of you know, where where is your space? Where
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  Speaker 3: are you allowed to deviate from that line? Without taking away,
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  Speaker 3: you know, other parts of the offense on any given play.
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  Speaker 3: So there's that understanding and then just that that feel,
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  Speaker 3: I think is another part of it. When you talked
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  Speaker 3: this in the spring, I think you mentioned that getting
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  Speaker 3: like clarity as to why the rams really So did
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  Speaker 3: you ever get to a point where that didn't matter
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  Speaker 3: to you more getting clarity or closure.
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  Speaker 1: So to speak.
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  Speaker 3: No, Yeah, I mean I think the you know, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: so that that is important, you know, And I was
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  Speaker 3: able to have some conversations, you know, in private with
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  Speaker 3: with people in that organization and and you know, try
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  Speaker 3: to get to that point, you know, and so, uh,
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  Speaker 3: it was important. It was important enough for me to
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  Speaker 3: you know, reach out and try to get that. So
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  Speaker 3: I'm glad to be at that place. I'm looking forward
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  Speaker 3: to being able to see some of the people there, pregame,
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  Speaker 3: you know, give them a hug and uh.
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  Speaker 1: But then you know, when when it's time to go,
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  Speaker 1: it's time to go. Important to you.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I said that that was a it was a
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  Speaker 3: meaningful place for me. I enjoyed stepping on that field
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  Speaker 3: for eight years and representing the city of Los Angeles.
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  Speaker 3: I tried to do it to the best of my ability,
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  Speaker 3: and it was important to me. It's important to me
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  Speaker 3: for the for the guys in the organization and the
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  Speaker 3: guys that I was preparing with, and it was important
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  Speaker 3: for me for the yeah, for the fans and like
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  Speaker 3: what we wanted to build there and the relationships are
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  Speaker 3: just too important to feel like that was a broken
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  Speaker 3: I feel like that was broken. So I wanted to
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  Speaker 3: get that that right and uh yeah, and then feel
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  Speaker 3: better about being able to come here and being will
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  Speaker 3: represent you know, the state of Washington here every time
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  Speaker 3: I step on the field and have that same mentality
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  Speaker 3: and not hold any you know, anything back because of
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  Speaker 3: a bad experience somewhere else or anything like that. And
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  Speaker 3: I'm enjoying every time I step on the field being
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  Speaker 3: able to be a part of that. And the fans
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  Speaker 3: here have been incredible, embraced my family, and man, I'm
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  Speaker 3: just I'm loving it.
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  Speaker 1: Was that this summer else awesome thing. You guys