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O-Zone Podcast: OLB Travon Walker · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast, presented by by Star Credit
0:13
Speaker 1: with Jaguars senior writer John Osan. I think fans are
0:17
Speaker 1: going to enjoy this. A player of of high interest.
0:23
Speaker 1: I've had a chance to talk with him for a
0:24
Speaker 1: few minits before we got started, and I think Jaguars
0:27
Speaker 1: fans are gonna enjoy this interview getting to know first
0:31
Speaker 1: round pick, number one overall pick Trayvon Walker. Trayvon, First
0:34
Speaker 1: of all, I appreciate you joining us, sir, Thank you
0:37
Speaker 1: all for having tell me about the last uh six
0:41
Speaker 1: weeks and the last time a lot of Jaguars fans
0:44
Speaker 1: heard you talk extensively was right after the draft. What
0:47
Speaker 1: have the last six weeks been like? Last six weeks
0:50
Speaker 1: of these man had just been like a grind, like
0:53
Speaker 1: just coming in to work every day, trying to grasp
0:56
Speaker 1: all the plays, things of that sort. The language of
0:59
Speaker 1: what they was here is totally different from college. Just
1:02
Speaker 1: basically been on the grind, trying to learn everything, process everything.
1:05
Speaker 1: So and this little break that we're get now, just
1:08
Speaker 1: continue to grow off of that and come back in
1:11
Speaker 1: a better position than I was when I left. Now,
1:13
Speaker 1: I should say thank you from the start, because I
1:15
Speaker 1: know media I know, talking about yourself it's not really
1:18
Speaker 1: your thing, right, Definitely, I really don't like to I
1:22
Speaker 1: want to say media is my thing. It's this. I
1:24
Speaker 1: don't like being singled out like so there's a lot
1:27
Speaker 1: of other people out here, like I really don't mind
1:29
Speaker 1: doing a lot of different interviews with other players with
1:32
Speaker 1: me the way, I'm not just always there the attention
1:36
Speaker 1: now is that from uh, you know, in talking to
1:40
Speaker 1: people about you a little bit and reading a bit
1:42
Speaker 1: about you. Obviously your family and your parents a huge influence.
1:47
Speaker 1: You chose to be with them during the draft? Is
1:50
Speaker 1: that approach from your upbringing? Just not really a lot
1:53
Speaker 1: about trade line you rather be about other people and
1:55
Speaker 1: about a group. I guess yea. I basically just say
1:58
Speaker 1: how I was raised and then growing up like I
2:01
Speaker 1: was always one of the biggest kids playing on the field,
2:04
Speaker 1: so I always received at tension and I always felt
2:07
Speaker 1: myself just shine back away from all the attention I
2:09
Speaker 1: was getting. So like people at the game they always
2:12
Speaker 1: be like, oh, you did so good. I'll be like,
2:14
Speaker 1: thank you. I tell them thank you, but once they
2:17
Speaker 1: keep dwelling on it, like I don't no need to
2:19
Speaker 1: keep dwelling on this in the past. I'm trying to
2:21
Speaker 1: move on and just keep improving. In that sense, I
2:24
Speaker 1: would guess football appeals to you because it's maybe the
2:27
Speaker 1: ultimate team game, right, That's that's definitely what it is
2:30
Speaker 1: when like I look at football, my main goal is
2:32
Speaker 1: to win the Super Bowl, so therefore it's going to
2:36
Speaker 1: take a complete team effort in order to do that.
2:38
Speaker 1: It was that, I assume that's what it was fun
2:40
Speaker 1: about last year because everything you're ready to be at
2:42
Speaker 1: that Georgia team, you're on a lot of camaraderie, a
2:46
Speaker 1: lot of pride in what you guys were accomplishing, and
2:49
Speaker 1: a lot of pride and what other players around you
2:51
Speaker 1: were accomplishing. Like last year out, one of our main
2:54
Speaker 1: goals was just connection and having that connection with the
2:58
Speaker 1: guy besides you make you really are a lot of
3:00
Speaker 1: other things outside of things on the football field and
3:03
Speaker 1: things out the field as well, so you really get
3:06
Speaker 1: to know that player as a person in general instead
3:08
Speaker 1: of just a teammate. Was this, um, it's almost not
3:12
Speaker 1: a fair question that all right, growing up, I assumed
3:17
Speaker 1: I assume you followed football. I assume you had this dream.
3:20
Speaker 1: Did you ever even dream about being the number one
3:23
Speaker 1: pick or does that not even enter your mind or
3:25
Speaker 1: you just I mean, I'd love to know how that
3:28
Speaker 1: process works for the player. I definitely had to say
3:31
Speaker 1: I feel a true foot like for me I was.
3:33
Speaker 1: I love football growing up always, so of course, growing up,
3:37
Speaker 1: I always dreamed I would be a number one NFL
3:40
Speaker 1: draft pick one day. And I mean, hey, it came
3:42
Speaker 1: true later on down the line, but it was something
3:45
Speaker 1: that I never just really stressed on. Like I always
3:49
Speaker 1: told myself, yeah, I want to be number one, but
3:51
Speaker 1: my main goal was just to get there. Once I
3:54
Speaker 1: got there, I know everything was going to take care
3:56
Speaker 1: of itself. I'm hard work, I'm very dedicated to the game.
3:58
Speaker 1: So as long as I just continuing those footsteps, continue
4:02
Speaker 1: to grow as a person, a player is going to
4:04
Speaker 1: work out for the best of mine. How much? Um
4:07
Speaker 1: you know, I assume from hearing you speak and from
4:11
Speaker 1: reading a bit about you, you were a as you said,
4:14
Speaker 1: a big guy early your five star recruit, so it
4:19
Speaker 1: was pretty well known early on that you were good
4:21
Speaker 1: and had a good future in this Uh. And at
4:24
Speaker 1: the same time, you seem incredibly level headed for what
4:27
Speaker 1: you've been through. UH. Is that because your dad basically
4:30
Speaker 1: said you're gonna be level headed or how did that
4:33
Speaker 1: play out? I can't say my dad did play a
4:36
Speaker 1: big part in it because I never really like my dad.
4:39
Speaker 1: Like after a game, I said, I did well in
4:42
Speaker 1: the game. Then once I get to my dad, he
4:44
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, you did good. But once once he
4:47
Speaker 1: gets that out of his mouth, oh he's gonna start
4:49
Speaker 1: talking a little trash to me. So but like it
4:51
Speaker 1: was always just a humbling moment, just because just to
4:54
Speaker 1: bring me back down a little bit after every Like
4:56
Speaker 1: I say, everybody's always boosting my head, always been the
4:58
Speaker 1: biggest one. So so I got to the college level
5:01
Speaker 1: and the NFL level, like I'm going against people my side,
5:04
Speaker 1: so really I really have to prove myself all over
5:07
Speaker 1: again just to be who I who I am. So yeah,
5:11
Speaker 1: that definitely played a part in my dad always humble me.
5:13
Speaker 1: And I assume if you had walked back into your
5:16
Speaker 1: dad's house after the number one pick and started acting
5:19
Speaker 1: like Trayvon and Walker was something special, it probably wouldn't
5:22
Speaker 1: have gone over that well. He'll probably probably give me
5:24
Speaker 1: a little punting and tis just to burn it back
5:27
Speaker 1: down a little bit. I got that's important because you know,
5:30
Speaker 1: to have that base. I covered Reggie Wayne Um and
5:36
Speaker 1: he had gone to University of Miami and I asked
5:39
Speaker 1: him once, I said, Reggie, you're not like that Miami
5:42
Speaker 1: guy thing. And he said, John, you've met my dad, right,
5:44
Speaker 1: And I said yeah, And he said, you think I
5:46
Speaker 1: could walk back into my house if I started acting
5:48
Speaker 1: like that? And said, well, that's you know, so that's
5:50
Speaker 1: an important that's an important thing. Um. How have you adjusted?
5:56
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of talk about and if it's
5:58
Speaker 1: a position adjustment, but a relatively new role in the NFL,
6:02
Speaker 1: I thought of playing outside linebacker pass rusher. How has
6:05
Speaker 1: that adjustment going the last few weeks. It's been going
6:08
Speaker 1: pretty good. Of course, it takes a like it takes
6:11
Speaker 1: a lot of learning. I wouldn't say a lot of
6:13
Speaker 1: learning because come from Georgia, like I played every position
6:16
Speaker 1: that it was from a zero to a non technique
6:19
Speaker 1: and now did I get here. I'm just focusing on
6:21
Speaker 1: one position, which is outside lineback. Is so mainly like
6:24
Speaker 1: a nine six technique. That was something that I already did.
6:27
Speaker 1: So now I'm just growing on all the other skills
6:30
Speaker 1: that I already had coming into the game. You seem
6:33
Speaker 1: like a guy who's uh pretty aware of what you
6:36
Speaker 1: can and can't do. Um, are you finding that the
6:40
Speaker 1: things that they're asking you to do, I don't want
6:43
Speaker 1: to say come easily, but that you have the skill set.
6:46
Speaker 1: We're like, okay, I can see myself doing this, So
6:49
Speaker 1: me on the type person I put. If I set
6:51
Speaker 1: my mind to it, I can do anything, no no
6:54
Speaker 1: matter how hard. It is. Like, if something's hard in life,
6:56
Speaker 1: it's probably going to be good for you in the
6:58
Speaker 1: long run, because I mean, you got you have to
7:01
Speaker 1: put in some type of work just to be be
7:03
Speaker 1: the person that you want to be in whatever field
7:05
Speaker 1: it is. It sounds like you would rather be out
7:08
Speaker 1: here working than I'd say pretty much anything. You like
7:12
Speaker 1: your time off, but you enjoy the process, uh, practice, offseason,
7:19
Speaker 1: this is what you're about. It sounds like so definitely,
7:21
Speaker 1: just because mainly I get to see myself grow as
7:24
Speaker 1: a person, and I'm all about growing as a person.
7:26
Speaker 1: Because if you stand the same, it's nothing really, it's
7:29
Speaker 1: not anything really positive coming out of you stand the same.
7:32
Speaker 1: Like you always want to elevate, like you want your
7:34
Speaker 1: money to always grow. You should look at yourself like that.
7:37
Speaker 1: So you should always want yourself to grow your mind set,
7:39
Speaker 1: to grow all of that. You're talking like a guy
7:42
Speaker 1: who's met with some financial advisors lately, try to get
7:45
Speaker 1: out of jails. Yeah, it's if I were in your shoes,
7:48
Speaker 1: I'd be meeting with him too. Um. Tell me about
7:52
Speaker 1: your relationship with Devin Lloyd. Um, it's sort of cliche
7:57
Speaker 1: now when you talk to Devin, when you talk to you,
8:00
Speaker 1: very different personalities. Um, but I also bet that you guys,
8:06
Speaker 1: uh sort of mesh on some level. Two. Correct, Definitely, Devin.
8:09
Speaker 1: He's a great guy. Just talking to Devin, him being
8:12
Speaker 1: my locker mate, coming in with Devin, talking to him
8:15
Speaker 1: at to come by and he's somebody who's chasing the
8:17
Speaker 1: same dream and I'm chasing. That's the type people I
8:20
Speaker 1: love to surround myself around because like if we all
8:23
Speaker 1: have the same goal and then we were around each other,
8:25
Speaker 1: so therefore we can push each other like knowing each
8:28
Speaker 1: other's why. That goes back to connection, and that's just
8:31
Speaker 1: the type of bund that we have with each other.
8:33
Speaker 1: We laugh, goof around, and once it's time for business,
8:35
Speaker 1: like we can have those hard conversations with each other
8:38
Speaker 1: just to help keep pushing each other and helping each
8:40
Speaker 1: other get better. What was for somebody who doesn't love
8:44
Speaker 1: the spotlight? What was Traylon Walker Day? Like I had
8:49
Speaker 1: to say, it was still a great feeling, Like it
8:51
Speaker 1: was fun, just everybody being around, Like the tension was okay,
8:56
Speaker 1: But like it's just the thing for me once the
8:58
Speaker 1: cameras start getting all into my face and things like that,
9:02
Speaker 1: I really care for the camera part, but other than that,
9:05
Speaker 1: it's memories. So like I just look at it as memories.
9:08
Speaker 1: It always be something I can go back and look
9:10
Speaker 1: on show my kids. So that's the great part about it.
9:13
Speaker 1: Like I said, I really don't hate media, just it's
9:17
Speaker 1: just something's about the media that I don't like. Um
9:20
Speaker 1: And for people who don't know, that was after Georgia
9:23
Speaker 1: won the national championship, your hometown had a day for you,
9:26
Speaker 1: which again has to be a phenomenal moment to have happened.
9:31
Speaker 1: So um Now, David Wolfe, PR guy Extraordinary over here
9:37
Speaker 1: reminded me that to acclimate to heat, you used to
9:41
Speaker 1: mow the grass with your helmet on. Now I only
9:44
Speaker 1: live about a mile away, so I've got a one
9:46
Speaker 1: that could use. Mom and if you're if you're up
9:47
Speaker 1: for it, But um, I understand your dad had a
9:51
Speaker 1: little bit to do with that, But you did that
9:52
Speaker 1: for how long? I did that? Probably? I want to
9:56
Speaker 1: say I did that for like for summer straight at
9:59
Speaker 1: one point, going only yours? Did you work anybody else's?
10:02
Speaker 1: And I did, Like I used to always cut y'all,
10:04
Speaker 1: So that was like my side hustle just to have
10:07
Speaker 1: have my own money out then't like asking people for anything.
10:09
Speaker 1: But I just did that because it's the summertime. It's
10:11
Speaker 1: real hot in Georgia, and I always wanted to be conditioned.
10:15
Speaker 1: I never wanted to look like somebody. I didn't want
10:17
Speaker 1: to be the one bending about there practice I was.
10:19
Speaker 1: I was the best one at my school. Basically I
10:21
Speaker 1: had a lot of great other teammates as well, but
10:23
Speaker 1: I just always wanted to put myself in a position
10:26
Speaker 1: to be great. So that's how I looked at it. Now,
10:28
Speaker 1: I'm guessing that if I did that, some people might
10:31
Speaker 1: look at me a little funny. At your side, it's
10:33
Speaker 1: probably nobody said anything to you that, right. I had
10:35
Speaker 1: a couple of people, but not really everybody in my town.
10:38
Speaker 1: So like if they see me if I'm out of town,
10:40
Speaker 1: so my cun there probably see men just laugh, record
10:42
Speaker 1: me whatever, like it's all fun and games. But I'm
10:45
Speaker 1: getting better. But they knew Why did they knew? I
10:47
Speaker 1: was you got a little self confidence to do that.
10:50
Speaker 1: Now I got you. Probably not a fair question, but
10:53
Speaker 1: goals for this season? Do you think that way? Is it?
10:56
Speaker 1: Is it just about learning or how do you approach that? Me? Obviously,
11:01
Speaker 1: it starts with learning, like obviously you have to come
11:04
Speaker 1: in and learn the playbook, get adjusted. But once once
11:07
Speaker 1: those things start to come like once you learn the playbook,
11:10
Speaker 1: the scheme of the defense, then it goes back to
11:13
Speaker 1: just playing football, doing what I've been doing ever since
11:15
Speaker 1: I was seven years old. So I had to say, like,
11:18
Speaker 1: I have goals set aside for myself, but it's mainly
11:20
Speaker 1: just to establish myself as an NFL player. Now. Dave
11:24
Speaker 1: wolf Foster informed me always and D's never see your date?
11:28
Speaker 1: Uh was that Dad's requirement, MAMS requirement or does that
11:33
Speaker 1: come from you? See, that's that's mom. That's mom. Mom.
11:36
Speaker 1: She was always she always work in the school system, secretary.
11:39
Speaker 1: She was like alternative school as well, so that's why
11:42
Speaker 1: all the bad kids will go. And I was always
11:44
Speaker 1: she was all every time I got a grade on
11:47
Speaker 1: some tests. She always looking in the Great Book to
11:49
Speaker 1: see check on my grade. So like I never really
11:51
Speaker 1: had a choice on that end. And I mean, if
11:54
Speaker 1: I still wanted to play sports, I had to be possible.
11:56
Speaker 1: So she always stayed on top of me on my education.
11:59
Speaker 1: Besides the one I got you, what has been your
12:03
Speaker 1: experienced relationships so far with Josh Alan Josh adding, He's
12:07
Speaker 1: been He's been a great help to me, Like ever
12:09
Speaker 1: since I've gotten here, even before I got here, he's
12:12
Speaker 1: been been a help to me. He reached out, he
12:14
Speaker 1: reaches out any time he's getting extra work and extra
12:17
Speaker 1: film session. I come in, jump in with him. He's
12:19
Speaker 1: just taking me on his wing, helping me learn the
12:22
Speaker 1: scheme of the defense. Like it's a whole new scheme
12:24
Speaker 1: from him as well. So we're both learning together and
12:27
Speaker 1: with both of us on the opposite side of the
12:29
Speaker 1: ball from each other, it doesn't do anything but make
12:31
Speaker 1: the whole defense better as a whole. Now it's a
12:35
Speaker 1: He's a top seven pick, but could have gone number
12:38
Speaker 1: one and in a different He's that level of talent
12:40
Speaker 1: just like yourself. You also got Trevor here. You have
12:44
Speaker 1: either of those, talk to you at all about expectations,
12:48
Speaker 1: about dealing with it or is that not really something
12:51
Speaker 1: you guys talk about, Like Josh, he said something to
12:54
Speaker 1: me about this basically the same thing I always tell myself,
12:56
Speaker 1: like Yeah, It's like I really don't have to put
13:00
Speaker 1: myself to anybody on the outside. It's all about one
13:03
Speaker 1: one win is building. It's all about doing what the
13:07
Speaker 1: team needs you to do. This, fulfilling what your job
13:10
Speaker 1: and as long as you handled that, then you're good.
13:13
Speaker 1: Got you And the final thing we do here we
13:16
Speaker 1: call the ozone five. It's five quick questions. Chance for fans,
13:24
Speaker 1: you get to know you a little bit. Trayvon Walker,
13:27
Speaker 1: what was your last binge watch? If you even have
13:29
Speaker 1: time to watch TV? Complete series? I had to say, Shooter,
13:34
Speaker 1: Bob Swug Okay, good, great, great TV series. The last
13:39
Speaker 1: song you listened to this morning on the way the
13:41
Speaker 1: last song million cash race, baby face Race. I know
13:47
Speaker 1: the answer to this, but the chance people get to
13:48
Speaker 1: know you a little bit. Best sport other than football
13:51
Speaker 1: and as soon as basketball, definitely basketball you can play
13:54
Speaker 1: right now, any ever, any thoughts about doing the other
14:00
Speaker 1: or to rearchs so good in football you couldn't do basketball? Um,
14:02
Speaker 1: I mean when I was in high school. I love
14:06
Speaker 1: playing basketball. I had one four rid scholarship to Auburn,
14:09
Speaker 1: but it was mainly always football that I had my
14:12
Speaker 1: first football scholarship in ninth grade and I barely even
14:15
Speaker 1: touched the field, So that really just showed me that
14:17
Speaker 1: coach Mark he had a great vision for me early
14:20
Speaker 1: on before any of it. So just stuck with sec
14:24
Speaker 1: scholarship offer. You know, everybody in the NFL locker room
14:27
Speaker 1: likes to say they could have made the NBA. You
14:29
Speaker 1: know that, right, But you actually have some cred with
14:32
Speaker 1: the basketball scholarship offer. Not that many guys have that
14:35
Speaker 1: I have to talk about it, sir, I definitely do.
14:37
Speaker 1: You can go check the status match prop, all of
14:39
Speaker 1: that still up there. I got you. Aside from the
14:42
Speaker 1: National Championship, your best sports memory, my best sports memory
14:48
Speaker 1: besides the National Championship, I had to say probably just
14:52
Speaker 1: winning basketball state championship one state championship two times back
14:56
Speaker 1: to back sophomore season, junior season as well. That was
14:59
Speaker 1: just a great feeling because number one, I come from
15:02
Speaker 1: a small town seven thousand people who go up to
15:06
Speaker 1: Georgia Tech Campids, pavilion Um, the State, the arena, and
15:11
Speaker 1: it's a full house, everybody from my cities and the
15:15
Speaker 1: and we're going to state championship. Georgia Tech didn't even
15:17
Speaker 1: sell out the stadium before that, we sold out stadium,
15:20
Speaker 1: But just winning the state championship there and having all
15:24
Speaker 1: the people who've been behind us since I was younger,
15:27
Speaker 1: it just really meant a lot to me, Like on
15:29
Speaker 1: big on inspiring a lot of the younger kids in
15:32
Speaker 1: my city because it's a small town, like you're not
15:35
Speaker 1: getting out go to college or a job or everything
15:38
Speaker 1: like that. It really becomes a trap because it's not
15:40
Speaker 1: too many big industry jobs when I'm from so people
15:44
Speaker 1: fall into a whole. By just standing, I like motivated
15:47
Speaker 1: a lot of the kids in that way. Got um,
15:50
Speaker 1: I found a question be and I can answer this
15:54
Speaker 1: went to person who's most responsible for you, being mom
15:57
Speaker 1: and dad. That there was a with mom and dad.
16:00
Speaker 1: It's definitely a community behind my mom and dad as
16:03
Speaker 1: well my grandparents and uncle's people in the community. Everybody
16:06
Speaker 1: did poor great poor great knowledge in me as a
16:10
Speaker 1: young kid. I was always a young kid who was
16:13
Speaker 1: very respectful. I always listened at what people had to say,
16:15
Speaker 1: not saying I didn't get in any trouble. But every
16:18
Speaker 1: time somebody people, every time somebody told me something right,
16:20
Speaker 1: I always took it in and just how about my business?
16:24
Speaker 1: And you like representing them to that definitely is a
16:28
Speaker 1: good deal, crayvine Walker. I couldn't have enjoyed this more.
16:30
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, uh to find the curtain a little bit.
16:34
Speaker 1: This is the last thing you're gonna do before you
16:35
Speaker 1: get out of here. Be safe, enjoy the time off,
16:38
Speaker 1: and I'll see you back here in training. Can sir,
16:39
Speaker 1: thank you so much, see you all soon.