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O-Zone Podcast: DE Dawuane Smoot · 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: to this week's Ozone Podcast pretended by by Star and uh.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I was joking with our our guest today right before
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: we went on. This is his third time on. I
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: think that's a record for the Ozone Podcast. But it's
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: a player who continues to be to me, an unbelievable story.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: A guy who at the start of his career had
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: trouble breaking into the lineup, had a journey that a
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: lot of people know about, and now he has turned
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: into what I think is a core player on this defense,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: a big reason this team is improving. Dawn Smooth, welcome
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: in again to the Ozone Podcast, and again I appreciate
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: you joining us. It's good to be back and thank
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: you for having me again. It's uh. I guess I
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: keep on having you on because your story is so fascinating.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: You were a guy that a lot of people I
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: think had understandably written off a few years back and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: just kept working at it. Has that been the key?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I know you're not surprised with it, but are you
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: aware of how unusual your journey is in this league.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I'm definitely aware of it. I know I really didn't
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: come on until later on in my career. You know,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't have their career expected as well either,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: But I just kept kept my head down, just kept
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: working as hard as I could in the offseason, just
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: thinking that one of these times and won't I have
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: a chance. And it opened up for me in these
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: past couple of years, and I've been able to take
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: advantage of my opportunities. Do you appreciate it more you think? Um? Yeah, definitely.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I mean I worked literally from being forth string, working
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: my way all the way up through scout team for
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: about three years, So I mean I definitely appreciate and
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: like once I'm here, like I don't. I don't look
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: myself as losing it, like losing it anytime soon, for sure?
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Are you still it certainly seems this way. Are you
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: still ascending? Do you still feel like you're getting better
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: each week? I mean your results are showing it up,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: but are you feel on that? Oh? Definitely, definitely. I'm
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: getting stronger each week. My hand placement is bad getting
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: better each week, my eyes are better. I just feel
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  Speaker 1: like I'm I'm I'm becoming a better player each week,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: for sure. Take me through that a little bit. One
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: of the things that was fascinating to me when I
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: first started covering this league a long time ago talking
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: to defensive ends. I had always assumed the defensive end
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: was about talent, and I get that it is. You
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: can't do your job without talent, but it's much more
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: about your technique. Your hands. Uh, that's something that you're
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: not born with. Most great pass rushers aren't born right
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: right right, I mean that most of most of them
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: kind of you know, they work, you know, they they
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: you kind of mold yourself into it. And like that.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I thought I was going to be like a natural
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: pass rusher coming out of college. I was faster than everybody.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: But when I got into the league, everybody's fast. So
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: you kind of gott to just take a step back
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and find out the things that you know are not
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: as good, uh, in your game, and kind of perfect
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: those things. And that's what I did. Found a signature
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: move which is the cross tip for me, and being
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: able to find different counters to work off of that
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  Speaker 1: and be able to you know, just just hone in
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: on my technique and it's been working for me for sure,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: without giving away any secrets. What can you tell me
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  Speaker 1: about your move? Um, I would say, Um, I mean
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: it's it's very similar to what yan Yan taught me,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: just attacking the outside shoulder, really not giving them a um,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: a place like where they really know, like where you're going,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Like you're more like on the set line, kind of
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: down the middle of them. You don't know, They don't
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: they don't know if you're gonna go inside, outside, we're
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: gonna go through them or anything. So I mean that's
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: just what I'm trying to do. Just stay on that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: set line. Might jump to the outside, might jump to
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the inside. I don't know. It's kind of silly to ask,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: I guess, but how much fun are you guys having
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: right now? When you look at you, when you look
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: at josh Uh, watching you play last Sunday and even
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: overall watching you guys play this season, Um, it seems
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: like it's fun. And I get football is supposed to
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: be fun, But am I reading that right? Oh? Definitely,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: we're having a bunch of fun out there, Like we're
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: jumping around, running, running from end zone end zone, slapping hands,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: going crazy. I feel like it's been fun, and it's
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: it's always fun when you're making plays, you know, especially
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: when you win. So we're just trying to stack that,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: trying to just you know, come out there every week
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: and just have fun. She seemed from from listening to
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: you on the podium, from knowing you for a while,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: obviously you're a guy who enjoys your circumstance. I mean,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: you enjoy people. You seem like you're in a good place. Uh.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: I assume that's a lot because of your family right now,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: everybody knows what happened a few weeks ago, an amazing story.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Tell me about that. Uh. Is this a good time
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: to be to want smooth? Oh? Definitely. Um. I feel like,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I've I've been loved over the last like
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a week or two, you know, with with the new
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: new birth of my daughter and you know, um just
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: having that time in that connective time with my family
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  Speaker 1: and my wife and me, it's it's beautiful. Man. I
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: love my life honestly. And I assume mother daughter continue
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: to be fine and everything's good. Oh yeah, every everyone's healthy.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Everyone's good. Just just not sleeping of course that comes
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: with the infant. But I mean we're we're all good.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Everything is great, the smooth house. So for sure, what
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: did the outpouring from people in Jackson more people nationally
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: mean to you? It meant a lot. I mean, it
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: meant it meant more to um. Just know that they're
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: they're looking at like, you know, seeing my daughter, you know,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: more than anything in my knowing that her birth was
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: something unbelievable. And she'll be able to honestly just be
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: at a Google her name and it's gonna pop up
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and her story will be there forever. So that's what.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: That's what, That's what I'm happy about more than anything.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: She'll always have those newscasts exactly tell me about this
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: defense right now? It's uh, what we're seeing the last
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: six quarters such a contrast to what we saw before it.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: What's been the difference? What's going right? Um? I feel
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: like we're all just working together now. We're we're commuting,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: communicating on like an unbelievable level, like every every single level.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Like for Shot, he's like, whenever I'm dropping, he's like, hey,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you got this, you got this. He's like He's like,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: we're really like meshing, you know, more than I feel
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: like we have in past weeks, and you know, we're
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: just finding things that kind of work work for us.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: You know, the back end, they're locking up there, they're
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: doing what they have to do. You know. I'm just
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I'm just seeing like just great things coming each week.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: For sure. Something I've noticed about watching you play the
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: last few weeks. Maybe it's it's always been there, but
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: both you and Josh to me have really good football awareness.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: You're obviously good players, you obviously have the ability to
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: do this, but you make plays through awareness and being
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: or what I call old school football players. Um, does
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: that come naturally? Is that something you study? Have you
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: always been that way? I mean for me, I don't
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: know about how it is for Josh because he's like
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: six five to forty and fast and everything. I mean
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: for me, I, um, I play my keys more than anything, um,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and I'm trying to. I'm trying to just get my
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: hand placement. I'm trying to working on my technique more
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: than anything. So for me, like that full ball wearing
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: it is that football. I Q like, I take that seriously,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Like I watched film like a Dog and I'm just
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: like I'll see it before it even comes you know
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  Speaker 1: that Like that that's what gives me a leg up.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going I'm only six three. You know, is getting
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: the ball out of focus? I mean, now you did
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: it twice last week. You didn't get credit for one
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: of them. Uh. Is that something that you are working
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: on at this stage in your career? Is that a
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: or is that a thing you can work on in
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: your spot? Um, it's definitely more of an emphasis you
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: know now now that we're not worried about like how
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: to get there, just it's all about, like you know,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: you're finishing and Joe he's created emphasis around like the
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: whole defense about us getting the ball out. We want
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: to lead the league and effort first, you know, and
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: then lead the league and turnover. So that's where we're
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: that's where we're working on, just getting to the ball
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: and then when you get there, take a shot. You
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: might you never know someth might that might happen. How
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: I know you're probably tired of talking about him. I
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: know you guys are also tight. What's been the difference
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: this year for Josh? I know you guys trained together.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I know you guys have a lot of conversations. Did
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: you feel this coming and why is he being so
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: affected right now. I feel like for Josh now he's
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: he's just not thinking, you know, he's he's just going
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: out there and playing. He's just just just um relying
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: back on all that training that we have done, you know,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: all that, all the preparation, and just believing it at
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: the end of the day and believing that he is great.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: I mean he went to the pro bo's first year,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: you know, just just getting back to that and just
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: knowing that how great he is. I feel like his
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: mind sets a lot better. He's you know, he's taking
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: strides every single week. So definitely like he's one of
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: these guys he held the players over the years, you know,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: obviously blessed by the gods in his ability. Are there
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: are things he does on the field on tape where
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you're like, man, that's just something that's a gift. Yeah, definitely.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I mean even the way he finishes in sacks, like
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: things that I would miss. I think it was a
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago where every single one of his
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: tackles TfL sex is like one arm. He's like grabbing people, spinning,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: throwing them down, Like that's something I know for me,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I could never do. I gotta get my body on him.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: But just seeing how strong he is and you know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: in his length, it's crazy. You're proud for Tavin the
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: other day. I know you guys have played together a
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: long time. He's he's taking a lot of heat. Um,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I assume that was good to see. Oh yeah, it was.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: It was unbelievable. And I'm I'm happy for Taven. I mean,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: I mean I me and him. I mean you could
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: kind of say we have similar stories. I mean his
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: his has been like about four years where now you know,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: he's starting to come on now, you know, and uh,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: I'm happy for him. And he's been working. He's working
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: his ass off for you know, as long as I've
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: known him, and it's finally coming, you know, coming together,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: coming together for him. And you know now he's rushing
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: with us more. You know, he got two sex now.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: I'm definitely looking forward to him getting a lot more
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: coming into the season for sure. Kind of go philosophical
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: on you a little bit here. What would Smoot tell Smoot?
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: I would say, um, find a move, stick to it
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: and just working, just keep working and keep working instead
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: of you know, thinking so much, just go you know,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: That's what I would tell players don't know what they
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: don't know? Did it right there? Yeah, they definitely don't know.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I didn't know anything, man, I got you, as you
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: may know. The final thing we do here is is
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: that what I called the ozone five five five about
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: quick fun questions. I asked you this last time you're
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: on which now, what is your latest pinge? Watch? My
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: latest pingewatch? Uh? Well, I did watch squid Game, of course,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: and a guilty pleasure with me and my wife married
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: at first sight. We've been loving it. That's something you
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: would have done in college if you do now, Yes,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: definitely Now I got you the last song in the
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: car this morning too easy by gonna in uh future.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Got you you're Jacksonville guy. We've talked about that in
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: the past. Your go to restaurant. Now if you even
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: have time or two kids, it's either calfort or or
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: say still still say. I think I always said that
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: last time I got you. You You get a chance to
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: do that now the kids not as much, not as much.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: We haven't been there, and then a couple of months
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping to get there. So okay, we're going to
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: kind of veer from some past questions what's the worst
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: job you ever had? Growing up? Where's job I ever had?
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: It was working for my dad. He owns his own
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: toe truck business. So all he used to have to do,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: I mean all used to make me do is I
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: used to have to skip trace for him. So we
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: used always have to look at like license plates and
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: figure out where people lived and like try to find everything.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: And I used to be sitting in the computer for hours,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: just in his truck for hours and hours and hours
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: on end. And I mean that was one of the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: worst worst jobs, probably the worst boss. Either you already
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: know how he is, working for your dad. He nothing's
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: ever good enough, right or not? Oh? No, I got
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I got paid two fifty dollars a month. You got
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: to go home, right, got to go home. Hey. He
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: put a roof over my hand, and I have food
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: my belly. He was like, here, you can go shopping
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: and at the mall or something like that with this.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: What's the best gift you've ever got? Best gift I've
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: ever gotten? Um, I would say, I mean just recently,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: my wife she bought me these like new gaming headphones,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I would say, And that was very thoughtful because my
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: son broke him, So it's like I got I got you,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: bat if I got you, I like I like it, Dwan.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I always enjoy this. I know the tell people. I
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: can't thank you enough for taking time during the week.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I know how busy it is, so I appreciate you
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: taking the time. I appreciate you giving some thought to
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the answers, and I look forward to talking to you soon.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: All right, look forward to talking to you too, and
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: thank you for having me on for sure.