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O-Zone Podcast: TE Dan Arnold · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast presented by by Star Credit
0:13
Speaker 1: Union with Jaguars senior writer John Osan. All Right, welcome
0:17
Speaker 1: into this week's Ozone Podcast presented by by Star and Uh.
0:21
Speaker 1: I say this every week, but I'm excited about six
0:23
Speaker 1: week's guests because it's a guy that has a very
0:26
Speaker 1: interesting story and I don't think Jaguars fans maybe have
0:29
Speaker 1: had a chance to get to know that story yet.
0:31
Speaker 1: Could you just arrived here a couple of weeks ago.
0:33
Speaker 1: A lot of times we get to know guys during
0:35
Speaker 1: the off season when they arrived during the season, takes
0:38
Speaker 1: some time to get to know him. But this week's
0:40
Speaker 1: guest is Dan Arnold, a fascinating story we'll get to
0:43
Speaker 1: in a second. First of all, Dan, thanks for doing
0:45
Speaker 1: this today. I know it's a busy week. Yeah, absolutely
0:47
Speaker 1: appreciate being on here. And I know you've told your
0:50
Speaker 1: story quite a bit. But I think Jaguars fans might
0:53
Speaker 1: not realize Fargo, North Dakota in high school, Platteville in college.
1:00
Speaker 1: Can you start further away from the NFL then you started, Um,
1:05
Speaker 1: it would be it would be very difficult. I would
1:07
Speaker 1: I would have to imagine. Um, Yeah, I mean it's
1:11
Speaker 1: I grew up in in a little town in Wisconsin,
1:13
Speaker 1: and then senior year moved up to North Dakota, and
1:16
Speaker 1: then I went back to school in Wisconsin, a little
1:19
Speaker 1: D three place, Um, and I just had a shot
1:22
Speaker 1: and made the best of the opportunity and even distance, why,
1:25
Speaker 1: I mean even more than distance. You went to college
1:28
Speaker 1: as a high hurdler, which is fascinating to me. And
1:30
Speaker 1: it was Division three, so in a school that famously
1:34
Speaker 1: hasn't had a whole lot of NFL guys. How do
1:36
Speaker 1: you maintain the dream or when did the dreams start
1:39
Speaker 1: for you? Obviously probably when you were a senior in
1:41
Speaker 1: high school. You're not thinking about sitting in Jacksonville talking
1:43
Speaker 1: to me in ten years. Yeah. Um, you know it
1:46
Speaker 1: kind of happened after my junior year in college and
1:49
Speaker 1: uh had a had a really good season. Um, we
1:51
Speaker 1: played a really good conference for Division three, so that
1:54
Speaker 1: kind of helps. And we're pretty close to Madison, so
1:57
Speaker 1: a lot of the scouts that would come then look
1:59
Speaker 1: at guys at Wisconsin, they would just kind of swing
2:01
Speaker 1: through platform and come come talk to me. Um. And
2:05
Speaker 1: then from there, you know, I had a really good senior,
2:08
Speaker 1: really good senior year in college and then got invited
2:11
Speaker 1: to go to Kansas City and New Orleans rookie mini camps.
2:15
Speaker 1: Didn't get signed after either of them, but then eventually
2:17
Speaker 1: New Orleans ended up calling me back, and you know
2:20
Speaker 1: that was that was the opportunity that I had and
2:22
Speaker 1: played there for three years. This is a weird shot
2:25
Speaker 1: in the dark. But were you familiar with Ben Bartch
2:28
Speaker 1: at all? There? I mean, it's it's a stupid question,
2:33
Speaker 1: but it's sort of a similar background. Some very good
2:37
Speaker 1: football gets played up there where he played where you played.
2:40
Speaker 1: At my point, it's not that far from the NFL
2:42
Speaker 1: as people think. But did you Were you familiar with
2:45
Speaker 1: him at all? Yes? Um. Unfortunately, when he introduced himself,
2:49
Speaker 1: he said he went to St. John's, which is the
2:51
Speaker 1: team that we lost to my senior year in the playoffs.
2:54
Speaker 1: So I immediately said, it's not nice to meet you,
2:56
Speaker 1: and I hate you. But it's much better football on
3:00
Speaker 1: a Division three level up there that I think people realize. Yes,
3:03
Speaker 1: I would say that the we ACT, the conference that
3:06
Speaker 1: I played in is the is the best Division three conference,
3:10
Speaker 1: and his conference, the MAYAC, is this the second best.
3:13
Speaker 1: I got you high hurdles, Where do you get started
3:16
Speaker 1: in that. Is it a transition from that to the NFL?
3:19
Speaker 1: Did they go along? Uh? Hand in hand? Did it help?
3:23
Speaker 1: You just talk about that as your background a little bit. Yeah,
3:26
Speaker 1: um My my mom was she was a track coach
3:28
Speaker 1: in high school. UM My dad ran track as well
3:30
Speaker 1: and play football. Um, So it was always you know,
3:33
Speaker 1: I had been doing track. We did summer track meets
3:36
Speaker 1: for like the USA t F and all sorts of
3:39
Speaker 1: like Junior Olympics stuff when I was younger. Um. But
3:42
Speaker 1: I actually I actually took my freshman year off when
3:45
Speaker 1: I got to college because I was like, you know what,
3:46
Speaker 1: I just want to focus on football. And after my
3:49
Speaker 1: freshman year I didn't play at all. Um, and I
3:52
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I want to I want to do
3:53
Speaker 1: something again that i'm you know, I can get a
3:55
Speaker 1: little bit of confidence boosts. So my sophomore year I
3:58
Speaker 1: did it. I think it helped from honestly, you know,
4:00
Speaker 1: I was getting all the speed training done and in
4:03
Speaker 1: the off seasons because it was it was hectic for me,
4:06
Speaker 1: to be honest, because I was doing uh, you know,
4:10
Speaker 1: our off season lifts for football in the morning, go
4:13
Speaker 1: to class track practice and then try and get all
4:16
Speaker 1: your studying done and then track meets on Saturdays while
4:20
Speaker 1: you're having like spring practice, like it was nuts. But
4:23
Speaker 1: unfortunately I ended up having to take off. I wanted
4:26
Speaker 1: to focus on football in my senior year because I knew,
4:28
Speaker 1: you know, I was going to get one shot at it,
4:30
Speaker 1: so I wanted to dedicate my my time to it.
4:32
Speaker 1: So I ended up taking my my spring semester off
4:36
Speaker 1: my senior year college, so I didn't get to I
4:39
Speaker 1: didn't get to compete, which kind of it's sorry. It
4:41
Speaker 1: sucks going back. I wish I would have done it
4:43
Speaker 1: um because I had. I had gone to Nationals the
4:46
Speaker 1: year before my junior year and finished second, and I
4:48
Speaker 1: knew I had a chance that going and win in
4:49
Speaker 1: the national championship in the hurdles for D three. But
4:52
Speaker 1: I just I know my track coaches are when when
4:56
Speaker 1: I told him I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna run,
4:59
Speaker 1: it's a foot always your first love. It sounds like,
5:01
Speaker 1: I mean, was always the priority. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And
5:05
Speaker 1: you know that's the thing. When I was younger, we
5:06
Speaker 1: did my parents made me do everything I did, cross
5:08
Speaker 1: country football, you know, I didn't do any like wrestling,
5:12
Speaker 1: but we did basketball guys. I mean I was in
5:15
Speaker 1: school musicals in high school too, Like they just told
5:17
Speaker 1: us do everything. What sounds like parents you resent at
5:22
Speaker 1: the time and appreciate later. Absolutely, Yes, I had one
5:26
Speaker 1: of the um So you're a free agent signing and uh,
5:30
Speaker 1: it's a little hard to tell in your bio. Did
5:32
Speaker 1: you get a try out or did you or or
5:36
Speaker 1: were you signed as a free agent or did you
5:38
Speaker 1: have to go try out? Yeah? Yeah, um it was.
5:41
Speaker 1: It was a try out for both Kansas City and
5:43
Speaker 1: New Orleans. That's a long way away. Yeah, that was
5:46
Speaker 1: like I was the bottom of them, like touching the grass.
5:50
Speaker 1: How do you I mean, how do you maintain confidence?
5:53
Speaker 1: I get maybe somebody who's played in Miami or Florida
5:56
Speaker 1: or somewhere coming into the league undrafted, but you really
6:00
Speaker 1: had no frame of reference that you could actually do
6:01
Speaker 1: it right. Where did your confidence come from? I think
6:04
Speaker 1: the biggest thing was like being so ignorant to it.
6:07
Speaker 1: I think kind of helps. You know. It was just
6:10
Speaker 1: like I'm just gonna go out there and play free
6:12
Speaker 1: and like I'm not gonna understand football that deeply because
6:16
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not used to the depth of what
6:18
Speaker 1: we do. For a game plan in the NFL, you know.
6:21
Speaker 1: So it allowed me to just like go out there
6:22
Speaker 1: and make place like go catch a steam ball, which
6:25
Speaker 1: is what I'm good at, you know, play with length
6:27
Speaker 1: and play with speed. And that was something that I
6:30
Speaker 1: think Sean Peyton in New Orleans saw and he was like, Okay,
6:33
Speaker 1: I can use this, you know, and just gave me
6:35
Speaker 1: the opportunity, you know, and put me in those those
6:39
Speaker 1: places to be successful and to work off of um.
6:43
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, I honestly believe it was
6:46
Speaker 1: just me not knowing what the heck I was doing
6:48
Speaker 1: and just going out there and playing. What did you
6:50
Speaker 1: really I mean, I know you switched from wide receiver
6:52
Speaker 1: to tight end when you get to the league. Was
6:54
Speaker 1: that immediately upon joining New Orleans? No? I actually so,
6:57
Speaker 1: my my rookie year, I I tore my labor him
7:00
Speaker 1: and I was on an injured reserve the entire year,
7:02
Speaker 1: and I was in the receiver room that entire year,
7:05
Speaker 1: spent time as a receiver. And then when we came
7:08
Speaker 1: back for O T a S my second year, that's
7:11
Speaker 1: when Dan Campbell kind of approached me. He's like, hey,
7:14
Speaker 1: if you want a shot at making this team, you know,
7:17
Speaker 1: you're athletic, you're you're got speed, you can you can
7:20
Speaker 1: play ball, but it's gonna be as you know, a
7:23
Speaker 1: pass catching move, tight end kind of kind of position.
7:26
Speaker 1: And at that point, I'm like, you guys still want
7:28
Speaker 1: me in the building. Heck, yeah, I'm gonna do it.
7:30
Speaker 1: You know, Like at that point, like what do you say? No,
7:33
Speaker 1: I'm good, I'm just gonna go home, right yeah, um,
7:39
Speaker 1: but yeah no. I I embraced it um as soon
7:42
Speaker 1: as And it was really that first day when Dan
7:44
Speaker 1: was like he was kind of testing me out, doing
7:46
Speaker 1: somebody work with me and like testing my strength and
7:48
Speaker 1: he's like, you got tremendous core strength and and lower
7:52
Speaker 1: body strength. He's like, this is something I think you
7:54
Speaker 1: can do. And when you have a coach like that,
7:57
Speaker 1: you know, and it's not only that, but in an
8:00
Speaker 1: assistant head coach guy who is now coach. He's a
8:02
Speaker 1: head coach at the Lions. When you have a guy
8:05
Speaker 1: like that telling you, hey, this is something that you
8:07
Speaker 1: can do, You're like, Okay, well I know I can.
8:10
Speaker 1: I know there's guys that believe in me that can
8:13
Speaker 1: do it. Like I just gotta put put forth the
8:15
Speaker 1: effort and work at it. It just shows you how
8:18
Speaker 1: hard the NFL is, especially for a guy who comes
8:20
Speaker 1: in in your spot. You make it. You make a
8:24
Speaker 1: couple of rosters, and then not to bring up more
8:26
Speaker 1: bad stuff, but you're released from New Orleans, which I've
8:28
Speaker 1: read was a difficult time for you. Um at that point,
8:33
Speaker 1: my understanding is that was an emotional time for you
8:35
Speaker 1: and you wondered if that was it? How real was
8:39
Speaker 1: that in terms of just wondering if it was Hey,
8:41
Speaker 1: is this something I can really do? Yeah? Um, I
8:45
Speaker 1: think yeah, you know, it was emotional and that it
8:50
Speaker 1: mirrors a lot of the what I went through, you know,
8:52
Speaker 1: just with this trade that came up and coming here. Um,
8:57
Speaker 1: you know, the biggest thing that that I am as
8:59
Speaker 1: a player or and and the hardest thing for me,
9:02
Speaker 1: I think is is it coming from Division three and
9:06
Speaker 1: you know, you're playing with those guys that that are
9:08
Speaker 1: really there just to play football. They're not there to
9:11
Speaker 1: go out and get some likes on Instagram and and
9:15
Speaker 1: all that, and like they're not pursuing the league, you know,
9:18
Speaker 1: And and so you really become like a team player.
9:21
Speaker 1: You buy into the guys around you, and you you
9:23
Speaker 1: fully love who you go to battle with on the
9:25
Speaker 1: field each and every Sunday. And when I was in
9:29
Speaker 1: New Orleans, there was such a tight knit locker room
9:32
Speaker 1: and you get to know the guys so well. And
9:35
Speaker 1: that was the same thing for me in Carolina's. You know,
9:38
Speaker 1: I got to go I got to know those guys
9:40
Speaker 1: so dang dang well. And and and when you have
9:44
Speaker 1: to say goodbye, when it's not your choice and you're like, okay,
9:46
Speaker 1: you gotta go somewhere else, Like that's that's the toughest
9:49
Speaker 1: part about playing in this league is getting close with
9:51
Speaker 1: those guys. Um. But at the end of the day,
9:55
Speaker 1: I mean you get to look forward. It's like, Okay,
9:57
Speaker 1: I get to know go meet some new guys and
10:00
Speaker 1: and you really get to enjoy the process all over again.
10:04
Speaker 1: And and that's what's exciting, Like you meet all these
10:07
Speaker 1: new people, you meet guys from all different types of backgrounds.
10:11
Speaker 1: But you know that that was that was the most
10:13
Speaker 1: emotional part. You know, where you gotta you literally have
10:16
Speaker 1: to pick up your life and and you're kind of
10:18
Speaker 1: forced to say, hey, you have to go move to
10:20
Speaker 1: this new city and you just have to do it.
10:22
Speaker 1: And you said this kind of merited so I won't
10:25
Speaker 1: ask you your emotions about this, but you signed as
10:29
Speaker 1: a free agent with Carolina and you sort of think
10:31
Speaker 1: that's going to be your home for a couple of years.
10:34
Speaker 1: The Jags traded for you, and I think you've gotten
10:37
Speaker 1: a sense over the last couple of weeks since you've
10:38
Speaker 1: gotten here they wanted you. I mean, this was a
10:42
Speaker 1: place where you were wanted. I assume that has to
10:45
Speaker 1: feel good after all you've been through it. Hey, this
10:47
Speaker 1: franchise believes in me. I've got a real shot here.
10:50
Speaker 1: Did that would make you feel better? But was that
10:54
Speaker 1: a cool thing to hear after so long? Yeah? Absolutely? Um,
10:58
Speaker 1: you know, and that's that's where the comfort lies. Where
11:01
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, I'm going to a place that that
11:03
Speaker 1: is going to utilize me and and really has been
11:06
Speaker 1: looking forward to doing that. Not that that didn't happen
11:09
Speaker 1: in Carolina or anything. Um, but yeah, No, you get
11:13
Speaker 1: you get excited and you're like, Okay, I get to
11:15
Speaker 1: learn kind of a new little offense. See what kind
11:17
Speaker 1: of wrinkles they throw in, see how they use guys
11:19
Speaker 1: like me, um, and and you just get so at
11:23
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you get to keep playing ball. Um.
11:28
Speaker 1: But but like, yeah, I mean, it's just it's it's
11:30
Speaker 1: the process. Um. And especially for a guy like me
11:34
Speaker 1: like I. I you know, I always by into a
11:36
Speaker 1: team and it's almost heartbreaking sometimes and and it gets
11:40
Speaker 1: you in the end when you do have to leave.
11:41
Speaker 1: But it makes it really truly special and enjoyable when
11:45
Speaker 1: you aren't in that when you're with that team and
11:47
Speaker 1: you're there with those guys like it makes it really special.
11:50
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna tell you. I'm not gonna tell you
11:52
Speaker 1: who pointed this out, but panthers three and oh when
11:54
Speaker 1: you left and O and four since you left? Is
11:57
Speaker 1: that the Dan Arnold factor? Um? I mean, probably selfishly
12:02
Speaker 1: i'd like to say that, but you know, there's there's
12:04
Speaker 1: so much that goes into you know, you never know.
12:08
Speaker 1: It's interesting you played with Brees, you played with Murray,
12:11
Speaker 1: now you're playing with Trevor Lawrence. I know you haven't
12:14
Speaker 1: had enough of a sample size of Trevor to compare
12:16
Speaker 1: him to those guys, and it's not a fair comparison anyway,
12:19
Speaker 1: But when I asked you about Trevor in the press
12:20
Speaker 1: conference a couple of weeks ago, it is interesting you're
12:23
Speaker 1: really high on this guy and obviously a high ceiling
12:27
Speaker 1: form is the number one overall pick. But you like
12:29
Speaker 1: what you've seen from him, even even since you've been here. Yeah,
12:32
Speaker 1: I think you know, like I had said earlier, is
12:35
Speaker 1: that he he really does have a good feel for football, um,
12:39
Speaker 1: especially in in those pressure downs where you know you're
12:42
Speaker 1: getting zero checks to zero, you know those one and
12:46
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, how are we gonna set the protection
12:48
Speaker 1: right so that we can get just have a successful play? Um.
12:52
Speaker 1: Those are things that early on I was pretty impressed
12:54
Speaker 1: with how he was talking in the meetings. You know,
12:57
Speaker 1: how he is picking things up in his brain and
12:59
Speaker 1: then going to the actors field and actually doing it. Yes,
13:04
Speaker 1: and that's and that that is is the thing that
13:07
Speaker 1: that that that's hard to grow into as a quarterback
13:09
Speaker 1: in my opinion, not that I have probably a lot
13:12
Speaker 1: of expertise, um, but yeah, no, I think I think
13:15
Speaker 1: he's got a really good feel for football, a really
13:18
Speaker 1: good feel for progression reads, you know. And that's that's
13:21
Speaker 1: what their big thing is here, Um West Coast style offense.
13:24
Speaker 1: You're always gonna have that, um. But yeah, I think
13:28
Speaker 1: he's got he's got a lot of very high ceiling
13:32
Speaker 1: um and and I'm ready to to be honest, I'm
13:35
Speaker 1: ready to help him get there because I know that
13:37
Speaker 1: he wants it, and he's a He's a freaking tough
13:39
Speaker 1: competitor too. I've seen him take some licks and you're like, dude,
13:43
Speaker 1: are you okay? Man, Like you're sitting on the field
13:45
Speaker 1: and and you just and he just gets back up
13:48
Speaker 1: and he's ready to go after him again. And and
13:50
Speaker 1: that's someone that you can rally behind. And a guy
13:53
Speaker 1: that's going to be a franchise quarterback. You know, he's
13:55
Speaker 1: not gonna bend over and just like fall Um and
13:59
Speaker 1: I appreciate that out of him. A couple of final
14:02
Speaker 1: things before we wrap up. I've gotta think you believe
14:04
Speaker 1: your ceiling is pretty high too. I mean, this is
14:06
Speaker 1: a case where you're still relatively young in the NFL
14:10
Speaker 1: in terms of experience. Do you feel that way? Do
14:13
Speaker 1: you feel like it's all out in front of you? Yeah? Um,
14:17
Speaker 1: I think you know, some of the coaches that I've
14:19
Speaker 1: had in the past have kind of mentioned that, like,
14:21
Speaker 1: I'm a young guy, but I also have you know,
14:23
Speaker 1: this is my fifth year in the NFL, which is
14:25
Speaker 1: pretty old. Um. If you look at the statistics Um,
14:29
Speaker 1: so I got that youngness to me. But you know,
14:31
Speaker 1: I've also got I've been around the block a couple
14:34
Speaker 1: of times and and able to pick up things. And
14:36
Speaker 1: I've seen, you know, a decent amount of action in
14:38
Speaker 1: the NFL to be able to recognize things. Um, but yeah,
14:42
Speaker 1: I think you know. I'm I'm ready to just keep
14:45
Speaker 1: playing ball as long as I can and keep making
14:48
Speaker 1: plays for whatever whatever team wants, just wants me to
14:51
Speaker 1: do it for. You know. The final thing we do
14:54
Speaker 1: with this is is that what I call the ozone
14:56
Speaker 1: five five. It's five quick questions. Uh, a chance to
15:03
Speaker 1: have some fun, uh, Dan? Or what was your last
15:07
Speaker 1: binge watch? My last binge watch was yellow Stone with
15:10
Speaker 1: my wife. Yeah, yes, very good. Good. What was the
15:13
Speaker 1: last song you heard on the way end this morning?
15:16
Speaker 1: The last song I heard, I think was Back in
15:19
Speaker 1: Black by A C. D C. I like it. Yeah,
15:23
Speaker 1: it's what my last song, but it was one of them.
15:25
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask this because I've read that basically, you're
15:28
Speaker 1: one of the lucky ones that can eat whatever you
15:30
Speaker 1: want and have to eat whatever you want. What was
15:32
Speaker 1: your biggest meal you've ever had, the most unusual thing
15:35
Speaker 1: you've ever eaten while trying to keep weight on the
15:37
Speaker 1: most unusual meal I've ever had, well, the most I've
15:41
Speaker 1: probably eaten recently is back home in platfll at the
15:44
Speaker 1: Ticket they do dollar burger nights on Wednesdays. And uh,
15:48
Speaker 1: usually you probably get about eight or nine of those
15:50
Speaker 1: things in here before you start feeling pretty sick. But
15:55
Speaker 1: that's something because the transition from receiver to tight end,
15:58
Speaker 1: you still need to try to keep you know, it's
16:00
Speaker 1: that easy for you, right, Oh, it's very very difficult.
16:04
Speaker 1: I'm on the seafood diet, which is if you see food,
16:06
Speaker 1: you pretty much eat it. So I like it, Well,
16:07
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm the So what's your go to breakfast food?
16:12
Speaker 1: My go to biscuits and gravy. So okay, I've been
16:17
Speaker 1: time to Indiana growing up Midwest Big biscuits and gravy,
16:21
Speaker 1: very big. So my cousin could feast on that. Uh.
16:25
Speaker 1: Who's the person or person's most responsible for you being here?
16:28
Speaker 1: Who's your biggest influence? That's a Dan Campbell. Um. He's
16:33
Speaker 1: the guy who gave me a shot, was patient with me,
16:37
Speaker 1: chewed me out many times and rightfully so um, but
16:43
Speaker 1: he you know, he's patient with me, knew I had talent,
16:45
Speaker 1: knew I could do it, and he just kept kept
16:48
Speaker 1: working with me. And I have him to thank for
16:51
Speaker 1: my career in the NFL. Every day got you well, Dan,
16:55
Speaker 1: and I said at the top, I know it's a
16:57
Speaker 1: busy time for me. It's not always easy to sit
16:59
Speaker 1: down after practice and sort of open up on something.
17:01
Speaker 1: I appreciate you doing this. I look forward to meeting
17:03
Speaker 1: you in person, working with you, and thank you for
17:06
Speaker 1: joining the ozone podcast. Appreciate it absolutely. Thank you very
17:09
Speaker 1: much for having me