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The Art of the Punt Return · NFL explained.

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: NFL Explained is a production of the NFL in partnership
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Alright, Happy New Year, Here we go,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Here we go. It is a brand new edition of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the NFL Explained podcast on Yam as always, joined by
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  Speaker 1: my Super Bowl champ Michael Robinson. Are you big new
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Year's resolution guy? No, I'm not, Yams because oftentimes we
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: don't get our resolutions, and I have a theory behind it,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: but that might be a whole another podcast. You know this,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: This is the Gregorian New Year. Okay, this isn't the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: earthly new year. There are only new years in March
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: during the equinox. Are you just making up stuff? I
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: don't even heard of this. No, it's not, it's not.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: It's literally for real that the new year for the
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: earth starts during the equalnox when life springs back up
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: into existence. You know, when the vegetables grow. Come on, yam,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the vegetables are always growing. I am I am not
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  Speaker 1: the person to dive into this topic with here here
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  Speaker 1: it was, and look we're gonna be. We got a
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  Speaker 1: lot of actual football stuff to discuss. In fact, it
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  Speaker 1: is the art of the punt return. Little did I
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  Speaker 1: know that I was gonna get like a lesson. I
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  Speaker 1: just thought you were gonna tell me like, oh, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna fast, or you know, you do work out.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe I'm not gonna work out as much. No,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna work out and I'm gonna keep working out,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and yes, I do fast. But again, I'm telling you,
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  Speaker 1: that's why people's New Year's resolutions, don't know, always come
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  Speaker 1: to fruition because you're doing it done the wrong part
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  Speaker 1: of the year. Man. You gotta do it when life
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  Speaker 1: is coming up, not when things are getting cold and
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  Speaker 1: it's desolate and it's cold and there's no vegetables. Come on, yams,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: all right, I'm I'm on it, and I will try
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  Speaker 1: to do some Google searching when we finish up this record.
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  Speaker 1: But I think when people are like the punt return,
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  Speaker 1: take me through this here. I actually was pretty excited.
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  Speaker 1: I got the text. I was told, hey, this is
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  Speaker 1: gonna be the topic on this week's episode, and that
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  Speaker 1: sometimes I think people are like well, special teams. I
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: don't think they get enough love. I don't think special
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  Speaker 1: teamers get nearly enough love. No, we don't, And I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna say we because that was my job for almost
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  Speaker 1: nine years in the National footb You know what I'm saying, right, Like,
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  Speaker 1: it's it can make or break a game, and when
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: it goes well, it can go great, and if it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't go well, it's like another situation, you know what
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  Speaker 1: I mean. Yeah, Usually, you know, when you look at highlights,
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  Speaker 1: when you're a special teamer or core special teamer as
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  Speaker 1: I was with the San Francisco forty nine is in
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  Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks, oftentimes we are plays don't get on
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  Speaker 1: the highlight packages of these you know shows, right unless
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  Speaker 1: it's something really really bad or really really good. If
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  Speaker 1: you're just doing your job normal, you don't get any recognition.
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  Speaker 1: There are certain players that keep you watching no matter
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  Speaker 1: what you know, if it's an offensive player, if it's
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  Speaker 1: a defensive player. Very rarely are there the special performers,
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  Speaker 1: the return guys where you go, you know what, this
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  Speaker 1: dude might be able to take it to the house,
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  Speaker 1: Like I'm not gonna this is not the time for
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  Speaker 1: the bathroom break, because I want to see this guy
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  Speaker 1: and see what he can do. Devon Hester, for me,
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  Speaker 1: is one of those players. But I think we should
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  Speaker 1: start with a little bit of the history around the
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: punt return. This is actually something that's been a part
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  Speaker 1: of the game. The first punt return for a touchdown
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  Speaker 1: Week two of the nineteen twenty season, that was the
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  Speaker 1: first punt return. Yes, it was when Frank Bacon recorded
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  Speaker 1: the first punt return for a touchdown, his sixty yard
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  Speaker 1: or that helped the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles
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  Speaker 1: fourteen to nothing. You heard me right, the Dayton Triangles.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, if you're into team names, I'm just saying,
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  Speaker 1: if you want to go back to last season's NFL
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Explain podcast, you will be able to go through the
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  Speaker 1: history of a lot of the names for NFL teams.
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  Speaker 1: I don't really remember the Columbus Panhandles. But nonetheless, there
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  Speaker 1: were five punt return touchdowns in the first ever season
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty. More than one hundred years later, they've
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  Speaker 1: only been three punt return touchdowns in two so far.
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  Speaker 1: So explain to me, m Rob, why are there fewer
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  Speaker 1: punt returns that you think we're seeing in the game. Well,
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  Speaker 1: first and foremost, the development of offenses and you know
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  Speaker 1: the game, and these quarterbacks just moving the ball up
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  Speaker 1: and down the field. The opportunity for punt returns are
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  Speaker 1: just getting less because the offense and defensive groups are
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  Speaker 1: taking up some of the players a little bit more.
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  Speaker 1: But I think it's because when you look at the
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  Speaker 1: punt return play in particular, because that's what we're talking about,
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  Speaker 1: it encompasses both offensive philosophy and defensive philosophy. Right, when
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: you're on punt return, when you're rushing the punter to
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  Speaker 1: try to block the punt, that's more of a defensive thing. Right,
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  Speaker 1: you're rushing, Right, you're rushing, you're trying to take the
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  Speaker 1: ball away from the opposing offense because when they're punning,
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  Speaker 1: they still have the ball, they still have possession that
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  Speaker 1: steer their ball. So you're still trying to create good
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  Speaker 1: opportunities for your team. And then when the ball is kicked,
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  Speaker 1: that gets transitioned and now you're playing offense again. Punt
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  Speaker 1: and punt return are the only two fastest of the
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  Speaker 1: game that are like this way. One part of it
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  Speaker 1: is offense, the next part of it is defense. And
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  Speaker 1: so punt return, Yeah, now I gotta worry about holding.
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  Speaker 1: Now I gotta worry about my relation to the punt
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  Speaker 1: return or the guy with the football afterward, about all
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  Speaker 1: the offensive principles to make the play a positive thing.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I think that's why it's so hard to
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  Speaker 1: get a punt return is because it's just an encompasses
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  Speaker 1: so many different aspects of our game. A little bit
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  Speaker 1: later in this podcast, we're gonna go through some of
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  Speaker 1: the best punt returners that the game has ever seen
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  Speaker 1: and some of the best ones that we have seen
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  Speaker 1: in the actual game. You kind of touched on it
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  Speaker 1: a little bit, but let's go a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: in depth on some of the philosophies around how you
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  Speaker 1: execute successfully a punt return for a touchdown. Take me
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  Speaker 1: through schematically what is actually happening on the field, because well,
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  Speaker 1: I think for a casual fan, you're like, yo, it's
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  Speaker 1: like kill the man with the football. I've been as
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  Speaker 1: crazy am I've been the returner, Like I've actually had
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity have to catch the football. Here my spotter
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  Speaker 1: from the sideline telling me where everybody is catching it.
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  Speaker 1: Have to figure out where I am in relation to
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  Speaker 1: what the return is. I've been a guy blocking for
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  Speaker 1: the return, I've been a guy rushing the return. I've
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  Speaker 1: I've done it all from the punt return standpoints. So
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  Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a of a just a
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  Speaker 1: unique position. But yes, we have plays. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: times there's sideline returns or middle returns or ali returns.
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  Speaker 1: And when I say ali, that means there's a part. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to the right, there's a right return for
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  Speaker 1: the returner. But from a blocking unit, part of that
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  Speaker 1: blocking unit will be blocking guys out, and part of
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: the blocking unit will be trying to seal guys. So
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: you're trying to get like an alley down the numbers
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  Speaker 1: part of the football field. Those are really, from a
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  Speaker 1: schematic standpoint, the real plays of pump return. Yeah, you
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  Speaker 1: can have reverses and specials and things like that that
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  Speaker 1: comes with it, but yeah, those are really the plays
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to punt return, A lot of us
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  Speaker 1: luck man, A lot of it is catching the football,
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  Speaker 1: the returner just having space and you want to get Look,
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  Speaker 1: a returner can't make eleven guys mess at one time,
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  Speaker 1: but he can make one guy miss eleven times. You
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: get what I'm saying. So you want to get defense.
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  Speaker 1: He's want to get guys on different levels so that
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  Speaker 1: if your returner is encountering a a free guy, he's
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  Speaker 1: one on one with that guy and then he has
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  Speaker 1: enough space to be one on one with the next person. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: so you also played quarterback. You know how thick some
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: of those playbooks can be. What you just describe in
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  Speaker 1: terms of the return game is not exactly the same playbook, no,
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  Speaker 1: how much of it is dictated by where you actually
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  Speaker 1: are on the field. Like I would imagine for you
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: when you were playing quarterback. Situationally, if you're at the
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  Speaker 1: goal line, you know you're you're thinking about what three
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  Speaker 1: four plays that are kind of like the go toos
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  Speaker 1: in these situations. How much do you focus in on
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  Speaker 1: when you're you know, trotting out there and you know
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  Speaker 1: it's a fourth down from the other team they're punting,
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  Speaker 1: and you go, okay, cool, like I'm at the forty
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  Speaker 1: or hey, I'm inside that ten. Take me through what
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  Speaker 1: you're actually thinking about in those moments. Well, it depends, right,
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  Speaker 1: It depends on your opponent and who you're playing. If
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  Speaker 1: you're playing a punt team, I'm just gonna throw a
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  Speaker 1: name out they're like this, like like the Rams Sean McVeigh.
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  Speaker 1: They'll fake upon on you, they'll throw a pass or whatever.
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  Speaker 1: So whenever you get around the forty or you know,
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  Speaker 1: between both forties and the fifty yard line, because if
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  Speaker 1: you were to fake it there, the opposing team still
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  Speaker 1: has a little bit of a ways to go to
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  Speaker 1: get a touchdown. And you know you're dealing with a
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  Speaker 1: team that will fake the football. Maybe then you're in
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  Speaker 1: a punt safe so you do have kind of a
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  Speaker 1: return on. Maybe you keep your defense out there just
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  Speaker 1: to talk a punt team out from faking it. And
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  Speaker 1: what you'll do is you're rush two or three guys
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  Speaker 1: and then just have those guys drop back to have
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  Speaker 1: a certain return that is kind of like a punt
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  Speaker 1: safe deal. You maybe have somebody backed up. You may
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  Speaker 1: have a rush right, and every single rush has a
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  Speaker 1: sideline return with it, right, So you may have all
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  Speaker 1: eight guys up at the line of scrimmage. You may
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  Speaker 1: have them all rushed the punter. Hey, you guys missed.
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  Speaker 1: After you guys missed, we're gonna all turn around and
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  Speaker 1: now this turns into a right return for the punt return.
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  Speaker 1: So again for all of our listeners and viewers out there,
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  Speaker 1: the punt team it and just going out there and saying, okay,
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  Speaker 1: we're just gonna catch the football and see what happens. No,
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  Speaker 1: that there is a method to the madness. There is
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  Speaker 1: the direction you're trying to kind of move the punt
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  Speaker 1: team bodies into so that you can have a return
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  Speaker 1: and in the play. On a positive note, how hard
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  Speaker 1: is it to locate the football once it leaves the
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  Speaker 1: puncher's foot? Very man, I can't lie, especially as a
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  Speaker 1: returner um and really really the destroyers the guys who
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: are so again, you have a punt team, you have
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  Speaker 1: a punt return team. The gunners are the guys that
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  Speaker 1: on the punt team that right at the snap of
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: the ball there on the outside, they get to go
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  Speaker 1: to the to the returner, they get to go to
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  Speaker 1: the ball. The destroyers usually are in a vice grip
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  Speaker 1: or have two guys out there to stop those guys
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  Speaker 1: from getting the free runs on the returner. And to me,
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  Speaker 1: they have one of the hardest jobs. They don't know
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  Speaker 1: where the ball is. They're fighting a guy, They're trying
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: to block a guy running all the way downfielding their
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: back is to the ball and the returner. And I
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: can't tell you, Yams, how many times where a returner
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: is yelling Peter Peter, which means basically get away or
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: oscary or whatever the co word maybe for that punt
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  Speaker 1: return team, and the destroyer just doesn't hear him because
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: he's engaged in a fight with the with the gunner
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  Speaker 1: on that side. And then the ball lands and hits
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  Speaker 1: the gunner and then it's a free ball after that.
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  Speaker 1: So it's a lot of different dynamics that goes on
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: with the pump return team, and you gotta communicate and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: oftentimes from a pump return standpoint, at that juncture of
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the game, littleois is happening in the game because the
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: other team is punting. If you're at home, you're you know,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: your crowd is excited. So it's just a lot of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: different factors that go on to the pump return. Oh yeah,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: on top of it's not like these are starters and
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: I and I was a core special teamer. If you're
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: a backup in the National Football League, you play special teams.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: There is no qualms about it. It's only forty six
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: of us that are live on game based. So you
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: gotta do it all right outside of the safe moments
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: where it's just like, hey, just make sure you catch
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: a clean At what point is it all feel like
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I gotta imagine if I'm out on of the football field,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I got ten to thousands of fans that are just screaming.
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  Speaker 1: I got lights, I got banners, I got the whole thing.
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  Speaker 1: You just told me. It's hard to locate the football.
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  Speaker 1: You got gunners that are coming down and you know
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: they're bearing down on you. Is it all feel? Before
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: you start waving hey, you know, fair catch? Like, what's
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: sort of that that point in your mind when that
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: ball is up in the air because you're not looking
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: at the gunners. You gotta be looking up. Yeah, you're
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: just are you just feeling guys out there? Like, how
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  Speaker 1: do you figure that out? There is a feel to it,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: there is um, there is a spatial awareness. Then yes,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: oftentimes you have the loudest coach on your coaching staff
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: on the sideline screaming you're good. And that was what
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: they said to me, Mike, you're good, You're good? Or no, No,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: you hear the word no, you start crossing your hands,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: you start saying no, get away, get away, get away,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: and start yelling whatever your cold word is for guys
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: to kind of get away. But yeah, there there always
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: is a plan. There is a feel aspect to it,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: and Um, there's also game planning. So let's say, for instance,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: when I play, we would play against I'm just gonna
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: throw out the Pittsburgh Steelers, right. They always had a
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: bunch of linebackers on their roster because they were three
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: four teams. So you knew a teams that were three
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: four that have a lot of that guy. Well, you
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: know that their special teamers are gonna be a lot
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: of linebackers. Exactly. I don't want any of that. I
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: don't want to get hit by it, right, L No,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: But if there's a lot of linebackers on your punt team, right,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: maybe not the fastest guys, maybe not the most guys
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: with the most agility, then yeah, as a returner, as
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: a as a punt return team, we're gonna have a
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: lot more sideline returns, especially if I got a guy
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: like a Percy Harvard or Alan Rosson who I played
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: with in San Francisco, or Leon Washington we had in
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Seattle before we had Percy Harvard, we got speak guys
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: like that, and we're playing against a bunch of linebackers.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Everything is a sideline return games, everything, And I was
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: that guy that would I was always the personal protector
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: on punt and on punt return. Basically the guys that
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: would you know, call off the return. I would get
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: the call from the special teams coordinator. I would also
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: be the guy to identify what's happening. Oh, this wing
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: is on the ball, that guy's off the ball. Alert, alert,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: alert to save something's up. This ain't normal, right I
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: was that guy? Or when the ball is kicked, I'll
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: be the one drop back and be the personal protector
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: for the return er. So just being able to identify
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the different things that the punt team is trying to
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: do to you. And ultimately, your goal is to give
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the ball to your offense. Yeah, I'm gonna repeat that again.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: The ultimate goal is to give the ball to your offense.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: And if you can make a quick ten yards off
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the return to that's also a goal. Hey, real quick,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: here is it? Just to circle back you said, the
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: lottest coach is saying, Mike, you're good. You're good. No, no, no,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: just for clarification purpose, you good means you're supposed to run.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: You can catch it. You have enough space to go,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: there's no danger, you can go and return it. If
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: he's saying no, he's basically saying you got too much
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: danger around you. Just make sure we catch the ball
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and get the possession, and at that point you're going
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: fair catch. Yes, all right, Welcome back to the NFL
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Explained Podcasts. Mike, Yam and Rob with you and Rob,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: just one other thing on this you have said it's
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: hard to locate the football. And by the way, very
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: rarely on this show do I feel like I have
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: real world experience this one I actually do. Uh years ago,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I had try to catch a football out of a
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: jugs machine up in the air. I was over three,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: and I couldn't get over how much spin there was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: on the ball. And not only was it harder to track,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: but when it was coming down, I couldn't get over
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: how fast it was dropping. How difficult it is it
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: to actually catch the football in those situations. It's very
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: different than if you're a wide receiver. Like the angle
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: of the ball is just completely different, completely different. It's
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: like it's falling out of the sky man literally it is.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: It is well, um, the nose of the football is
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: very important. The nose of the football, especially in a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: punt or pass. It tells you exactly where the ball
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: is going. If the nose is up yams right, which
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: I'm assuming these jug machine put that you were trying
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: to catch. The nose was up. When the nose is up,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the read for the returner is the back of the
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: ball because the nose is up, meaning at the at
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: its apex, the ball is gonna drop in the back
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: part of the ball is gonna direct it where it's going. Okay,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: so you see the nose up. You notice at its
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: peak the nose is still up. You better get the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: running up. That ball is gonna drop because if the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: nose is up the back is down. That means it's
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: gonna drop really really fast. And when you're catching the football,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: you want to keep your hands high right. Um, I
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: know a lot of our YouTubers can see us, but
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: keep your hands high, right. You want to keep your
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: hands as high as possible because the the the sight
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: of the human being. We lose the football in the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: last six inches of flight. That is why that picture
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: you showed me. If you catching, that's why the picture
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: you showed me, your eyes were almost closed. The ball
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: was falling in your hands. We're reaching out for the
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: ball because it started making this started like a hard
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: turn on me at the last second, Again, your hands
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: weren't high, you weren't following the back of the ball,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: so you had no idea where it was gonna fall. Now,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: in contrast to that, a game ball is kicked noses
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: up at its apex. You see the ball turn over.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Now the nose turns over to Now the nose is down.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Now you better back up. That ball is gonna carry right,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: because that was like a pass. Now it turns over
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: and now it's it's not gonna drop straight down when
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: it falls. It's gonna fall more with a with an
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: arc and over. So whenever when I was a return,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: I saw the nose up at its peak, and I
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: knew it was gonna turn over. I sprint it back
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: now because it's easier to catch the ball going forward
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: than catch the ball running backwards. So you just want
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: to put yourself in a better body position so that
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: you don't fumble. All right, Not to get two into
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: the weeds on the technical aspect of this, but I
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: do think it's important to highlight here we talked about
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: wide receivers in the previous episode. I know this sounds counterintuitive,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: but I'm gonna say it anyway. Wide receivers the best
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: guys catch with their hands. And I think people will say, well,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: of course they catch with their hands. No, No No, What
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I mean by that is they literally are only catching
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: with their hands and not their bodies right where the
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: balls kind of like they're trapping the ball around their chest.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: What you were just describing to me in my own
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: personal experience, I had no chance of at the end
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: of the day, even if I had known, Like on
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: the third try, every single tempt there was three attempts,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: every single one, I got closer the third one and
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: it hit my hands, Like I just couldn't think if
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I had to do it again, I'm a little less
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: this is I'm definitely a lot older and a little
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: less athletic. But I think knowing where it could have been,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: I could probably could have figured it out. But the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: ball hit my hands. I wasn't going to catch the
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: ball at the speed and velocity it was going down.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Now that I'm hearing you, I think I couldn't have
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: caught the ball with my hands. I think I would
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: have needed my body. Do all punt returners and they
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: thinking like that, can you catch a punt with just
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: your hands? You can? And again you got say first
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: of all, we're dealing with the best athletes in the world. Okay, yeah, yeams,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, dealing with the best athletes in the world.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: So they got hands. I got like Kenny Picket size hands.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Not sorry. And they're small too, Broy really small. But
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that's a whole another conversation about draft and draft attributes. Um,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: but these guys have hands, and so what happens is
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: you just you want to give yourself the best opportunity
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: for something bad not to happen. And so yes, most
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: time they're gonna try to catch it with their bodies right,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: because the ball is coming down pretty fast. But if
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: you have your hands high, and you know you're a
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: good tracker of the football in the last six centuries,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: you're gonna lose it if it does move a little bit.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Your instincts and the fact that you're one of the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: top athletes in the world that parts of you kick in.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: There are punts in times in my life where I've
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: caught the football in this out here, but I was
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: in a position to catch it. It's just that now
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: had to make a last second adjustment, and obviously it
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: kicks in. Yeah, those last second adjustments, that's kind of
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: what did me? And I just did it like it's
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: all good. Yeah. Well I saw at one time when
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the teleprompter with blank and Yams did a last minute adjustment.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: He did the last twenty seconds of the show off
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: the top of the dome. That is what I'm talking about.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I'm much better in those situations, trust me, than the
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: ones actually out on the field. I dropped his name
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: a little bit earlier in this podcast, Devin Hester, And
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: at least for me, he is still the ultimate. And
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: there's some other great names. And I gotta interrupt you.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: I trained with DEVI came out in the same draft
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: we were. We trained with Tom Shaw down there um
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: and at the Wild World of Sports in Disney in Florida.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: We were in the same draft class. I remember watching
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: him at Miami and when we were training, we got
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: a chance to talk and kind of like hang out
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: or whatever, and I might Devin, Bro, what's up? Man? Like,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: how did you get Like it's like the minute you
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: step on the field for the return, the entire stadium
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: stands up. That guy. You know what I'm saying. He's like, Bro,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: you gotta understand. Mike. During track season in high school,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: we might get fifteen thousand people short up for a
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: track meet. I said, what he said, Yeah, it's a
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: little different in Florida. And so what I started to
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: notice is, man, yet, the speed is different. The way
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: that they respect speed down there in Florida is a
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: little bit different. And Devin had no fear. All of
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the greatest returners that I've ever tried to tackle, I've
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: ever tried, I've ever had the block four, they had
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: no fear. Not saying that they didn't understand that there
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: may be a couple of hitters on the plant team
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: with a kickoff team or anything like that. But when
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: they caught the ball, they put their foot in the
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: grint and they decided to go forward. There was no fear.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: There was no doubt that they were going to get
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: past the combat zone, which is when I say combat zone,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: that's really usually the ten or fifteen yard zone where
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: all the blocking and stuff happens. Right, they were always
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: confident they were going to get through. And the second
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: thing that made Devin Hester ridiculously good and most returners,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: you ready for this, jams, it's something that's biological. Okay,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: dude ain't had no hips. Dude ain't had no hips, bro, Like,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: what do you mean when you tackle somebody right and
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: you grab them a lot of times you're falling off
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: until you meet assid hips. Hopefully I can say that. Okay, Yeah,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: it's all good. Okay. With Devin, he was straight up
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and down. Cribs straight up and down, Dante Hall straight up,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: and they're all they all with. You know, most of
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: these returners have the same physical attributes, you see what
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I'm saying, and so when you try to tackle them,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: these guys slipped right out of tackles. And then Devin
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: once he started returning kicks, now all of a sudden
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: he's in the punt team's head. And I remember playing
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: against him as a rookie. I remember, actually, I think
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I played against Devon every single year in my career
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: and going out as a punt team, he creates anxiety
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: through the out them what could happen to you? Because
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: you know it can happen. You're sitting there with the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: plump Like literally I plump returned. I mean our special
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: teams coach Brian Schneider. Uh, he was with the Seattle Seahars.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: I think he's with the San Francisco for the Niners
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: right now. We will be on the sideline like, yo,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: are we kicking it to him? We're like yeah, because
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: it's an ego thing. Damn right, We're gonna kick it
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: the deaf ass and I'm gonna make the tackle in
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the minute he catches it. You can feel the energy
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: of the stadium. It's like I'm watching a video game.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: It's like you can hear a fan start going real fans.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: It's like it's like the energy turns up. And then
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I'm I'm running down the middle
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: of the field. He's in front of me. Then all
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: of a sudden, I start turning, and I'm turning, he's
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: turning the corner. And then all of a sudden, you
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: start thinking, I'm gonna get cracked back on. Let me
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: start looking, and you start looking, and then he's gone,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: and he's gone in its touchdown. Bro, It's some of
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: the weirdestuff've ever seen. Patrick Peterson had the same effect,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: and he first got in the legal we would kick
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: it to him. I remember telling our coach, hey, bro,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: I don't kick the Patrick. He's too young and fast.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: He just is I remember said looking at I had
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Jeff albrig who's the defense coordinator um for the Jets
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: right now? We want special teams together. He farewell, we
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: were on special teams together. I think he's the special
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: teams coordinator up there in Buffalo. I remember having conversations
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: with these guys like, Bro, we can't tackle him. These
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: are real conversations on the side. So why because we're
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: at home hoping that you can't know him? Right? So,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: like we all get it now, this is the first
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: time I've ever heard it articulated. Why are you even
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: bothering kicking to these guys? Well, because again, you get
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: a guy like real Mike rob who I was a
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: special teamer, pro bowler, all of those things you talk
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: your special teams coach and then making some stupid decisions.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: But coach, we can do it. But that got the coach.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: He's one of the best punters and at least the
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: putting I think I think he punts for the Arizona
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Cardinals right now. Okay, yes, one of the best punters
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: in the league. We can pin him to the side.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: We've worked on this all week. We penned him two
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: yards from the sideline. He's gonna catch it. Then we
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: can corral him. Make sure our backside wing stays in
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: his lane because he's gonna show up. Guess what backside
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: wing thinks he can make. The tackle gives up the edge,
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Devin has to score another such Percy Harvd was elite
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: at that too. Yeah, well look not no, no, I
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: love it. It actually paints a really good picture of
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: of what we're discussing here. By the way, just for
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: some of the fans who might not be familiar with
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Devin Hester, just a couple of things I'll throw out
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: your way. Four time pro bowler. I'm looking at some
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: of my notes. Fourteen career punt return touchdowns. That is
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: the most in NFL history. He had four of them
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: in two thousand seven. That ties for the most in
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: a season in NFL history. Can you mention having four
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: of those in the season? They are who we thought
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: they went, not like we gave it to him. I
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: sent a kick to the devil. Hester. Why did I
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: listen to Mike rob my special teams captain. That's probably yeah,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: he didn't drop that on it, but we did get
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: a memorable sound bite. The other two leaders on the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: most punt return yards game in a career. The NFL history.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Ryan Mitchell nearly five thousand, four thousand, Dave Megat. I
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: remember him just bawling out with the Giants back in
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: the day three thousand, seven hundred eight yards, and then
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Hester just behind him three thousand, six hundred Brian Mitchell,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Dave Megat. They came from a generation or the end
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: of the running back generation, right. I mean, this game
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: for so long ran through the backs. I mean we
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: had fullbacks going touch I think Frank o' harris who
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: just passed out too long ago, I think his official
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: position with fullback or something like that at some point
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: um in his career. So those guys, Dave Megan, Brian Mitchell,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: they were toward the end the back half of offenses
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: being dominated, teams being dominated by the running back. And
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: it's because again just think about it, yams. They got
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: great hands when they get the ball in their hands,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: they're a tough person to bring down to the ground.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: And I think when you look from a return standpoint,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: that's what guys were looking for back in the day.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: If you do like running backs, you want to hear
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: about the decline of that position. Oh, we just did
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: an episode on that one. The reevaluation of the running
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: back position. You can frame it. However, office coordinators think
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: they want to throw the ball all over the place
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: running backs man, let's go okay, well, you you be
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: the judge of it, and you can decide one of
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Henry irony. No, No, I wouldn't say that to face,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: and I wouldn't say it about him. How about that,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: I'll double down, no decline in the king. There have been,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: by the way, some real changes to punt returns over
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: the years in order to increase a little bit of
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: action and tempo, including restrictions placed on members of the
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: punt team in order to open up return possibilities. Give
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: you an example. Seventy four, the NFL barred all offensive
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: players except for the two farthest from the ball. Those
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: are the gunners that m rob made reference to, from
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: crossing the line of scrimmage until the ball was punted. Then,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine, players on the punt return team
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: were barred from blocking below the waist for safety reasons,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: which is definitely a huge one. I couldn't imagine running
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: down team and having the guard against a low block.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? Hill? Hill Asau about that? Even
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the changes that were made to open up the punt
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: return game, the average yards on punt return steadily decreased
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: from eleven to nineteen before increasing the past couple of seasons,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: just for context purposes, punt return average yards per return
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: nine point six. Let's fast forward to all the way
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: down to seven point six, and then once again over
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the last three seasons there's been an increase eight point eight,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: eight point eight, and then this season we're sitting at nine.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: The player who actually holds the record for the highest
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: average punt return yardage is Chicago Bear George McAfee, who
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: played ninety one and then forty five to fifty. Man
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: for real, I mean, I'm a little surprised. I mean,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: but I mean I always and again, I know some
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: of the ore legends players a good outset with me
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: for saying this. I just I just wondered about the
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: competition back in the days, right, like, you know, the
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: average almost thirteen yards of punt return. But who are
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: you going again? All right? You took me into the
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: weeds when it comes to the philosophy and the mechanics
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: of the punt return. So we've already covered that. But
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: when we come back on the NFL Explaining podcast, we'll
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: discuss some of the greats and some of the biggest
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: punt returns the game has ever seen. All Right, this
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: is my second favorite thing that we do in the show.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: You know what it is that just tell people, you
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: know where the d M R don't don't, don't d
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: M d M yeah you d M By the way,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: they actually have been coming fast and furious, like there
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: is something to consistency and constantly promoting things. So if
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: you have a question for the NFL Explained crew and
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: you want us to do answer that question for you,
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: send me the note. Legitimately you're on the threat. I know.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: I say this every every on he actually you know,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: takes a screenshot. He actually puts it on the thread.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: But it's good for me too, because you know, I'm
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: an analyst. I've forgotten more football than a lot of
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: people know. And at the end of the day sometimes
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I gloss over stuff just thinking everybody understands what I'm
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: talking about. So the questions are just a good reminder
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: that not everybody understands it at the level that we do,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: and it just gives us a chance to break some
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: things down that you use we there. You know how
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: many times I've seen the question. I'm like, that is
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: like the best question ever. And I hit him back
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, Yo, that's an awesome one. We'll get
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: it in. And you know, and there's been a few
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: of these times where I've said I've asked the same
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: exact question. I promise we'll work this too, one of
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: those mail bag episodes. So keep the questions coming. We
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: really do appreciate it. But we are talking about the
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: art of the punt return and Rob did a great
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: job explaining some of the fundamentals around those situations, technique, philosophies, schematically,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: what we see on the field, what we want to do. Though,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: you start talking about some of the records and some
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: of the individuals who actually execute what m Rob was
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: talking about. So the team actually the most punt return
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: touchdowns in the season nineteen fifty nine, Chicago Cardinals, Yes,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: you heard me, Ryan, the only team in NFL history
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: to have five punt return touchdowns in a single season.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: By the way, I said that, Devin Hester tied the
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: record four in one season. How about this the record
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: for a whole year, Chicago Cardinals in nineteen fifty nine.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: That's crazy. And to also see that the Arizona Cardinals
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: in twenty eleven, I think that's the Patrick Peterson time
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: when he was there was a part of that. Again again,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: when when you have these exciting returners made, it just
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: affects so many different aspects of you football team. Four
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: players that have scored four punt returns for a touchdown
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: in a season in NFL history four total. Check this out. Peterson,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: who you made reference too, good call, that was that
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: eleven team he had four by himself. Devin Hester two
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: thousand seven with the Bears he had fourteen, Rick up
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Church had the four, and then in nineteen fifty one
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: from Detroit, Jack Christiansen all show with four. I'm almost
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: surprised that we haven't had a right over the last
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: few years or so, like one dude who well, especially
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: with the the type of athletes that right like today.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: But I also think when you think about Hester, and
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: you know when Patrick Peterson was coming along, that's when
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Hester was kind of on his way out. I just
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: think that you had organizations embraced special team. I mean
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: just throughout history, you just don't see teams embracing and
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: when you usually when you think of special teams, you
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: think about kicker, snapper, holder, You don't necessarily think returner
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: or the personal protector or you know, some of the
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: different things that your punter can do. So yeah, it's
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: pretty cool. I just think in that time in football history,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: teams embraced special teams. So I've made reference to this
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: on this podcast. It's not breaking news, but I spent
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: a large portion of my career over the last ten
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: years or so covering college football. What it reminds me
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: of Christian McCaffrey when he was at Stanford. I mean,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: he's another guy where you just stopped just to make
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: sure whenever Stanford was on offense, but sir le on
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: special teams, his ability to cut loose. Here now he's
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: with the forty Niners. Ryer McLeod does a great job
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: for those guys. I can't imagine, though, can you imagine
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: if McCaffrey was back. I guarantee and I don't notice
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: for a fat I ain't been to a Servantisco for
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: the out of practice and probably I don't know three
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: years now since the last time practice. I guarantee you
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: he catches punts still to this day. I guarantee you.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: That is just in case, in case somebody gets hurt
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: or whatever, or Kyle may just come him and say, look, bro,
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: I just needed you to catch it. You the guy
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: trust go out there and catch it, guarantee you. He
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: still catches punts, you know. And it's weird too because
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: some guys have success at the college level in that
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: and then they don't necessarily have the same success. Well again,
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: it's not as glorified man, Like I'm telling you, Like,
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: when you get to the National Football League, you want
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: to you know, you want to go to the money spots.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: You know, quarterback pass well left. What's the pay scale
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: for overturner? Like, where's that coming to? We're still debating,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: which I don't. I think the debate is ridiculous. But
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: people are still debating on whether Devin has to should
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: be a Hall of Famer. Like when you impact, when
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: you impact, feel position like that and you were exciting
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: the way Devin Hester was definitely a Hall of Fame.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: I saw Dante Pettis set an n C double a
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: record in the return game and yet and he does
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: still return in the league. We see that occasionally, but
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: it's it's you know, well it's different too. It's different
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: guys running down there, because I ain't gonna lie like
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: I'm running down in the last of the football league.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: This tackle is going to being I pay my bills,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: the reason why my little girl has food in her mouth.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: So yeah, you're gonna get if you're gonna get this work, gams,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: It's just guy breaks off a big return for a
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: touchdown in the punt game. What's it like on the sideline?
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: So is this against us? Or give me both pump return.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Let's start with the positive. Positive, So pump return, we
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: blocked for a good punt return, whatever, a lot of
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: excitement on the sideline. I'm not gonna lie. From a
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: special teamer standpoint, I'm thinking, Okay, did I block my guy?
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Did I get full points in the special team points system? Okay?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Did I get pluses? I ain't get no negatives on this.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: We all got a game change in place, so that's
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: extra points because you know, I know in Seattle we
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: had like top park of the week. You know what
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: I'm saying. It's like a point system. We were gett
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: and then we'd have talk top park of the year.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Out of my four years, I got it two years.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: The fire War got it two years too. We kind
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: of used to go back and fadge of honor has
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: a badger on them at the shirts and everything. You
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. But I would always think about
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: about the point system number one, and can I be
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: honest with you, I would think, get your win together.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: You got kick off, like literally you you just don't
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: have enough time to sit and just think, oh, we
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: just did this, heyy happy happy, No, I'm thinking about
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: what I gotta do next. People always ask me what
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: I did on Beast Quake when he ran and did
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: all that time. I said, but I was thinking about Kioff.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: I was blocking. But I don't think about kickoff on
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: the next play. And at the end of the day, man,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: you don't get a chance to really celebrate those long returns,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: of those big time returns until the defense goes back
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: out there. And one would think that the defense will
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: be upset because now they just they forced the punt.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: They go out there, get a scored award, and they
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: gotta go back out there for you know, some of
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: them have field goal, you know, extra point protection. Then
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: they got to go back out there and kick off
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: and then defense, so they're excited. Anytime we're scoring points,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: the defense is excited. And oftentimes the more points it
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: puts the opposing offense in like, um, you know, one
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: dimensional game. So they like that, alright. Uh. One of
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the note, by the way, on Devon Hester, I feel
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: like there's like a lot of homage that we're paying him,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: and rightfully, yeah, no doubt. He does hold the career
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: record for punt return touchdowns with fourteen. That's actually four
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: more than the next guy on the list. Eric Metcalf
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: is that guy with tim We made reference to Brian
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Mitchell earlier in the podcast. He has nine, but Emerald
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: in the mid two thousand's punts were actually returned to
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: the fifty percent of the time. That's dropped to a
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: low of fort in recent years, which makes the record
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: for the most punt returns for a touchdown in a
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: career ridiculously impressive. Mitchell, whose number we gave before, with nine,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: he's returned a hundred more punts than any other player
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: in NFL history. More opportunity, isn't that wild? More chances
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: to get into the end zone. That is pretty crazy, man.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: And again, the more chances you get, the more opportunities
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: you get for an explosive play and explosive touchdowns. But man,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Brian Mitchell was a dog man, and I'm saying that
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: in a good way. He was a dog man when
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: he gets the ball in his he was tough to
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: bring down. Yeah, you want dogs on your team. Uh.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Danny Rees, by the way, holds the record for the
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: most punt returns in a season in NFL history nineteen
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: seventy nine, seventy of them wild ex from a cluster,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: by the way, in the most recent with fifty eight
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: punt returns in a season. You mentioned special teams, right, Like,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: how does a player just go and say, you know what,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: this is gonna be my career. I'm gonna be special teams? Dude, Well,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: so you know I do USFL games. And the m
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: VP of that league, Cavante Turpin, ended up getting an
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys as a turn and a monster,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: and he has been a monster. And I think what
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: happened was he developed a reputation his speed jumps off
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: the tape and I think he's gonna be in the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: National Football League for a while now. I mean he's
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: a real weapon. I think you at least gotta have
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: the threat of getting touchdowns almost every single time touch
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: the ball. I think you have to have Opposing special
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: team coaches have to put you up on the big
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: board on Monday when you first start your game planning,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: and then everybody has to worry about you again. I
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: played with Alan rossellm I played against Allen Rossum and
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: I blocked for Allen Rossum. When you played against him, yes,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: you knew Monday you was gonna have a problem. Dude
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: was a track star and he could run through tackles.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Leon Washington same type of dude. Percy Harvard the same
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: type of dude. And obviously we talked about Devin Hester,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Patrick Peterson and those guys. I just think that there's
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: an energy that these guys bring to a team. And yeah,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: as the numbers bear out, they don't score a lot
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: of points, they don't score all the time. But at
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, if you can flip field position,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: if you can average getting that ten to fifteen yards
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: a single time you get a return, that's the first down.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: That was one of our goals as a special teams group.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Retain the football, have the possession and get a first down.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: The minute you get the football, get those ten yards
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: turned bad into good. What's crazy about this is I
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: said the record for hester in a single season was four.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: I guess subconsciously I knew it wasn't a bigger number
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: than that. But if I think back to that era
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: and watching him that season, you would have thought it
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: was happening like every game because we participated, right, Yeah,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: you got ready for it. And again it's the vibe
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: around and did he grated the whole press confice man,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: we thought they were. I don't know why you kicked
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: it to him? Yeah, exactly because there was that best Uh.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: You know, this actually surprised me going through the notes here.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: There's only been one punt return in NFL history that's
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: gone for a hundred plus yards. You would have thought
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: that it was higher. Robert Bailey a hundred and three
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: yard returned. Patrick Peterson, by the way, who's we've loved up.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: He had nine yards, so he was knocking on the
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: door there. And just a little side note, I know
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: the Super Bowl is right around the corner here. Uh,
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: it has never happened a punt return for a touchdown
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: in a super Bowl, so I know that can't be
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: one of your favorite memories because it hasn't happened yet.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: At some point it will. That dude might be your
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP when it does happen. By the way,
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: is there one that stands out to you when you
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: were either player on the sideline, when you were a
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: kid watching the games? Like, is there that one iconic
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: moment for you? Iconic moment? I don't know if it's
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: an iconic moment. I mean, obviously we remember, you know,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: Desmond Howard's when he got Super m v P. You know,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: the big one that we talked about that was a
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: kickoff I think you know what I mean. But he
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: did have ninety return yards in the punt return game,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, in the part return game in
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: that Super Bowl and he won m v P. Obviously
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: we talked about Patrick Peterson, Um, Devin Hester, Dante Hall. Uh.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: You know, I think we ought to give him a
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: little bit of credits to I forget what year it was,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: and I don't even know if I was in the
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: league when it happened. I think he was playing the
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: Denver Broncles. He did some spinning around and it was
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: in a flatty caught the ball. He spent like three
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: or four times. I interviewed him about it a few
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: years ago and he said that play was when he
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: knew he could make a career out of being a returner.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: It was like this minute he got to the sideline,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: everybody was like, dude, we gotta get to the ball.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: That So that's when he knew he had found he
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: had found this place. But, um, this game has had
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: some really really unique returners in his history. I've played
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: against a lot of them. Again, Um, Joshua Cribs, we
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: still have you know, we haven't talked about and guys
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: like that, But these guys are unique. These guys are
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: have no fear and they take returns very seriously. I
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: mean again, a guy like Leon Washington, dude just dreamed
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: about returning the ball. And he was one of my
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: best friends on the team. So yeah, man, big time
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: influence on team. It's funny. I'm looking at Dante Hall
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: and and his success. He was a two time pro bowler.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: He has got six career punt returns for a touchdown.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: That's the ninth most in NFL history. Five punt returns
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: for a touchdown in seven years with Kansas City. By
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the way, just in case you're wondering, Yes, of course,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: what about that Sean Jackson went against the what was
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: it against the Giants? He played for Philly. When I
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: kick that, he kind of around. Oh, that was so dope.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: When I remember seeing that, I said, dude, it was
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the personal protector. I was like, because you know, as
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: a personal protector, when you're puntingat you gotta be the
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: one right over the football man and if he cuts back,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: that's your tackle. Oh that was a walk off. Let's go. Uh,
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: you know, it's one of the things I remember watching
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: that game live. One of the things that I do
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: remember was Coughlin just going berserk because he probably said
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: he shouldn't kick it to him, and he got talked
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: into allowing it to happen, and he was probably wanting
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: to punch himself for kicking it to him. He was
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: going nuts. Matt Dodd, who was the punter, it just
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: I do vividly remember, you know. And Tom had that
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: like that glow about him and when I got cold,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: like his whole face would be read and it was
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: just kind of kind of go. But I remember like
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: he was blowing a gasket ball field, but a ton
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: of fun I actually when I heard it, I was like, Oh,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: this will be cool. I didn't think we go to
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: slong on this is this lihouse, ma'am? Yeah? No, man,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: kind of like digging deep on this. I hope everyone
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: enjoyed this episode. The art of the punt return explained.