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Cooper Kupp On Preparing For His First Playoff Game As A Seahawk · Seahawks Press Pass

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  Speaker 1: So everyone, let's go. It's great in.
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  Speaker 2: The last couple of days, laws, but what have you
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  Speaker 2: seen either in the huddle or in those plays that
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  Speaker 2: have led to over forty five percent conversion?
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  Speaker 3: I think that's the focus, concentration, understanding the details. That's
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  Speaker 3: what's been all along when things haven't gone well, it's
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  Speaker 3: just guys not being on the details, not being on
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  Speaker 3: those little little parts of this game that make plays go.
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  Speaker 3: And I think it's just that focus and the expectation
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  Speaker 3: that we're going to be able to find a way
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  Speaker 3: to get it done.
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  Speaker 2: You're a very cerebral football player, but how do you
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  Speaker 2: overcome or prevent overthinking? Are either in anticipation or set?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think your your preparation is a huge
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  Speaker 3: part of it during the week. But it's funny we
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  Speaker 3: just talked about a little bit today actually, and you
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  Speaker 3: know my process is I take Saturdays, aside from the
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  Speaker 3: football we do in the morning, like, I don't spend
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  Speaker 3: much more time looking at the at the call sheet,
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  Speaker 3: I don't look at film or anything like that. I
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  Speaker 3: try to take a mental step back, allow myself the
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  Speaker 3: freedom to just.
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  Speaker 1: Be out of it for a second.
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  Speaker 3: And when you walk back in on game day, it's like, man,
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  Speaker 3: it's all all that focus, all that ability to just
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  Speaker 3: be there, be present, know that that preparation has happened,
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  Speaker 3: all that works prepared you for this moment. You just
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  Speaker 3: get to go out there and play ball. So that
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  Speaker 3: a little bit of rest, but a little bit of
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  Speaker 3: time I've found has helped me quite a.
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  Speaker 4: Bit with your kids.
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  Speaker 1: It was good. He was good. Yeah, everyone did a
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  Speaker 1: really good job. It was great.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I do need to I didn't mean to
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  Speaker 3: call out Chris last week by name. You know, I
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  Speaker 3: actually really like him and it's been great. I've had
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  Speaker 3: lots of conversations with him during production meetings and all
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  Speaker 3: that stuff. So fell back, so I just I liked him,
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  Speaker 3: so his name was in the front of my mind.
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  Speaker 1: Should have done that. Sorry, Chris, but I know everyone
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  Speaker 1: was fantastic. You told him last.
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  Speaker 5: Week about it being about the process and there's still
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  Speaker 5: being little things to improve even during the vibe. What
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  Speaker 5: does this week mean and what ratchets up even a
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  Speaker 5: little more in that blocker room?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is. It's another week.
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  Speaker 3: Gets there's nothing, nothing's changing, you know what I mean, Like,
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  Speaker 3: it's an opportunity to get better. It's not like we
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  Speaker 3: talk about game better in the regular season, be a
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  Speaker 3: better team week eighteen than you were, you know, and
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  Speaker 3: week one, and what this is just week nineteen For us,
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  Speaker 3: it was I guess week twenty whatever you want to
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  Speaker 3: call it, like, it was just an opportunity to go
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  Speaker 3: out there and prove and get better. And that mindset
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  Speaker 3: doesn't change. That same intensity you brought, you know, practice five, six, seven,
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  Speaker 3: training campus, that's the expectation we step on the field today.
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  Speaker 3: It's that same focused at same intention. And yeah, I
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  Speaker 3: think that's that process has got us to where we
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  Speaker 3: are today and it's not going to change.
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  Speaker 1: What lessons if any of you learn, the building a
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  Speaker 1: relationship with each quarterback you play, Like, is it the
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  Speaker 1: mind first, the arm strength?
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  Speaker 4: How is that evolved?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean in terms of just the way
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  Speaker 3: that I build a relationship with them, with quarterbacks, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I think it all starts to just loving football.
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  Speaker 3: You get you to a point where you you love
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  Speaker 3: this game and you're gonna spend time together studying it
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  Speaker 3: and a lot of times outside of the mandated time
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  Speaker 3: that we have as a as an organization and being
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  Speaker 3: in those places. Uh, it helps. It helps just being
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  Speaker 3: able to dive into something that you love and and
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  Speaker 3: talk high level football and and from that all all
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  Speaker 3: kinds of things come off of it. Just being able
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  Speaker 3: to spend some time together and intentional time where you're
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  Speaker 3: not on your phones, you're not and you're working towards
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  Speaker 3: a goal, you're working towards something together, and that kind
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  Speaker 3: of collaboration. Uh, it builds just that, you know, the
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  Speaker 3: trust I think is really important in any relationship. And
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  Speaker 3: so I don't think it's it's not like there's not
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  Speaker 3: a science to it. It's just that's that's just how
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  Speaker 3: I it's natural.
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  Speaker 2: You've seen with.
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  Speaker 4: Kyle Shanahan's offense says often a lot of times trying
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  Speaker 4: to get defenses into specific personnel groups. When you've got
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  Speaker 4: a defense like this defense that just stays and what
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  Speaker 4: they stay in, how does that affect an offense?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that is challenging.
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  Speaker 3: This is I'm being a part of this offense this
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  Speaker 3: year is the first time I've really seen us really
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  Speaker 3: take that similar approach that you know the forty nine
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  Speaker 3: ers have done with lots of different personnel changes and
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  Speaker 3: making a defense match things, and it is it presents
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  Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of challenges. I mean, I
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  Speaker 3: think a lot.
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  Speaker 1: Of it is also just making people practice.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, the coaches talk about all the time, you
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  Speaker 3: only get so much time to practicingly, get so many reps.
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  Speaker 3: And I don't know how defensive coaches do it, because
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  Speaker 3: you know, you've got so many plays that you run
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  Speaker 3: during the during the course of a season, and you're
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  Speaker 3: trying to practice all those different things against all the
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  Speaker 3: different possible looks that you could possibly call. But you
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  Speaker 3: put a lot of you present a lot of things.
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  Speaker 3: You you give defenses a lot of stuff that they've
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  Speaker 3: got prepared for, and that becomes a great challenge. So,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I think the advantage, you know, in that
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  Speaker 3: regard is to a team that can stay simple in
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  Speaker 3: that in that regard.
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  Speaker 1: Defensively, you know, we we do.
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  Speaker 3: We do a great job and a few different personnels
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  Speaker 3: and those guys you know, fight the uphill battles really
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  Speaker 3: really well, and it makes it a great challenge for
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  Speaker 3: the offense.
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  Speaker 4: Is obviously a big historic rival over you in your experience,
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  Speaker 4: have you noticed that there's a difference in rivalry.
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  Speaker 5: Games at all, Like when you're at the Rams and
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  Speaker 5: you played the four game ers all the time or whatever.
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  Speaker 3: Uh you know, I mean in terms of the preparation
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  Speaker 3: all that different stuff, it says pretty much the same.
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  Speaker 3: I mean a little more chatty out in the football field,
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  Speaker 3: a few more hellos and goodbyes and things like that,
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  Speaker 3: but you know, outside that's it's a football game. You
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  Speaker 3: remember your playoff game I do against the Falcons.
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  Speaker 5: What what's the I mean at the end of your
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  Speaker 5: rookie year kind of what stood out about going into
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  Speaker 5: the playoffs for.
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  Speaker 2: The first time.
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  Speaker 3: Uh, there was definitely like a I've talked about before,
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  Speaker 3: like the atmosphere of pre game is different, Like there's
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  Speaker 3: definitely like an excitement of playoff football, but then the
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  Speaker 3: game starts in your you're playing ball and so uh yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I remember the coliseum like walking out there and it's like, man,
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  Speaker 3: the the buzz was was real pre game, But then
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  Speaker 3: you go out there and you're playing and played on
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  Speaker 3: the most slippery surface I've ever been a part of.
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  Speaker 3: But uh yeah, it's uh like I said, once you
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  Speaker 3: once the first snap happens, like you you're playing ball.
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  Speaker 5: In that buzz prime time game, it's definitely gonna be
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  Speaker 5: a really loud environment.
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  Speaker 2: Having played here, as an opposing offense, like what kind
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  Speaker 2: of factor.
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  Speaker 3: Is that crowd most and man, that's everything. It makes
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  Speaker 3: everything so much more difficult. And I mean, I can't
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  Speaker 3: wait to see what it's gonna be like with like
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  Speaker 3: stepping into Luman, being able to be on the other
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  Speaker 3: side of it and see a stadium really come alive,
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  Speaker 3: you know, like the I've playing games where the crowd
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  Speaker 3: and they feel like another player out there for you
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  Speaker 3: and or against you, I guess, and you know, so
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  Speaker 3: it's coming in this week. I'm excited to the expectations
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  Speaker 3: as soon as their offense steps on the field, like
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  Speaker 3: that volumes up and you know, as soon as when
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  Speaker 3: as soon as their communication starts, the volume is up
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  Speaker 3: and and doesn't stop, doesn't stop until our offense comes
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  Speaker 3: back out in the field. And I'm I'm really excited
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  Speaker 3: to see our fans bring that to life because uh,
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  Speaker 3: I know they brought it all year, and I'm excited
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  Speaker 3: to see what kind of a what a playoff atmosphere
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  Speaker 3: can be, like what they what can they do, what
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  Speaker 3: they can create for us, It'll be it'll be really cool.
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  Speaker 3: You came up here a few years ago for that
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  Speaker 3: playoff game with the pandemic when.
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  Speaker 1: They were no fans. How much do you think that
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  Speaker 1: just leveled the competitive playing? Oh that it makes huge
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  Speaker 1: and that year was crazy in and of itself, but.
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  Speaker 3: When you take you take that out of it, I
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  Speaker 3: mean just the what allows you to do offensively, the
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  Speaker 3: ease of like you know, hey, third downs, especially like
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  Speaker 3: third any time that you're in that huddle, it's like, man,
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  Speaker 3: there's we got to be honest. I talked about third
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  Speaker 3: downs in the detail and the focus that's required. You know,
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  Speaker 3: if you can't hear, if it's if you're having to wait,
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  Speaker 3: if you're having to have the quarterback repeat things, and
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  Speaker 3: two or three seconds ticks off the clock while they've
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  Speaker 3: got to get something communicated, Like that's that's a big deal.
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  Speaker 3: It's two or three seconds that the QB doesn't get
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  Speaker 3: up at the lone scrimmage. So yeah, that those those
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  Speaker 3: things definitely play an play role and are impactful.
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  Speaker 4: A lot of receivers make it really clear when they
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  Speaker 4: think they've been interfered with or held or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: And a couple of times the season where.
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  Speaker 4: It looked like you got held and you seem a
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  Speaker 4: little bit more quiet.
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  Speaker 1: Is that is that something that's intentional.
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  Speaker 3: Or uh no, that's not good. Actually I should really
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  Speaker 3: be selling that more so.
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  Speaker 1: No, that's good. That's a good coaching point, and you
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  Speaker 1: take that, take that to heart.
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  Speaker 5: It goes back to that twenty twenty or I guess
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  Speaker 5: January of twenty one, May you talked about like the
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  Speaker 5: buzz there is for most playoff games. Was that weird,
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  Speaker 5: like being in an empty stadium for a playoff game?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: That was Yeah, that wasn't uh yeah, that wasn't super cool,
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  Speaker 3: you know, because it is like I like what you're
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  Speaker 3: touching on is like the the environment is created by
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  Speaker 3: the people that fill that space. And as much as
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  Speaker 3: you know, we're preparing all this different stuff that happens,
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  Speaker 3: like when you step out into that stadium, you know,
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  Speaker 3: it's just sixty seventy thousand people that are going to
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  Speaker 3: fill that stadium, that are going to create the environment,
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  Speaker 3: going to create the buzz, it's gonna create the electricity.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, not having that it's definitely it's not. It's
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  Speaker 3: not how the game is seem to be played, you know,
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  Speaker 3: like they're supposed to be this supposed to be that
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  Speaker 3: factor is supposed to be, that electricity that uh the
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  Speaker 3: ebbs and flows.
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  Speaker 1: I mean it's crazy.
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  Speaker 3: You can you run a route and I can know
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  Speaker 3: a lot of times where the ball is just because
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  Speaker 3: of the environment changes. You know, the it's loud and
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  Speaker 3: suddenly there's that drop because the ball is in the
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  Speaker 3: air and you're waiting for what happens, and it's like,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the stadium tells you a lot about what's
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  Speaker 3: going on around you and just a natural, natural part
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  Speaker 3: of the game.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, it was tough not having that awesome thinks
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  Speaker 1: us