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O-Zone Podcast: C Luke Fortner · 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. All Right, welcome into
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: this week's ozone podcast presented by by sar And I
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: think we're gonna have some fun today. I think Jaguars
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: fans are anxious to get to know the draft class.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: If they've heard anything or read anything about this guest,
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  Speaker 1: they know it'll be an enjoyable, entertaining interview. I welcome
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: in Jaguar's offensive lineman. I'm not going to call him
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: a center yet, but I think that's what we all know.
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  Speaker 1: It's headed to Luke Fortner from Kentucky. Luke, I appreciate
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  Speaker 1: you joining the ozone podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me on.
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  Speaker 1: I'm really excited. And look, the first question, I know
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  Speaker 1: you spent about fifteen years at Kentucky, right, so, um,
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  Speaker 1: with all that time, Uh, why in the world. I
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  Speaker 1: know football is important, but why in the world wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: you have gotten something to fall back on? A great question?
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people, a lot of people wonder why
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  Speaker 1: I wasted so much time there, and you know I
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: didn't use it the right way, but I'll figure it
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  Speaker 1: out eventually. Obviously, Um, you know people know it, but
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  Speaker 1: tell me your degrees that you've earned. Give me the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: official rundown on those titles. It's fascinating. Yeah. So I
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  Speaker 1: I have received my undergrad and Mechanical Engineering UM and
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  Speaker 1: then I received the master's and Aerospace Engineering and I'm
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  Speaker 1: getting my MBA this spring. Fantastic And uh, you know,
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  Speaker 1: is that direction something you always wanted to do? Did
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  Speaker 1: did something at UK start sort of guiding you? Tell
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  Speaker 1: me how the academic part of it came together. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: let me be honest with you. I got in there
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  Speaker 1: and they were like, what what do you want to
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  Speaker 1: do with your life? And said, I have no idea.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah I was They're like, what are you good at?
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  Speaker 1: I was like I don't know, I'm okay at math.
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  Speaker 1: They're like, well, what about engineering? I was like, sure,
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  Speaker 1: give it a shot, give it, give a shot, and
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  Speaker 1: you know, really like it. And then I got through
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  Speaker 1: the bachelor's and I had an advisor who you know,
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  Speaker 1: I really loved football, and he was like, I'll take
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  Speaker 1: you under my wing and you can get a master's
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  Speaker 1: degree in that way you can spend your you know
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  Speaker 1: what I thought was my last year, my fifth year
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  Speaker 1: you know, working towards something. Um, and then you know,
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  Speaker 1: kind of the silver lining of the pandemic for me
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  Speaker 1: was I got to come back and you know, obviously
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  Speaker 1: improved my draft stock, but also uh end up with
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  Speaker 1: an NBA degree. Now the sixth year, I mean I
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: was in college a little longer than I could have been.
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  Speaker 1: I was in there four and a half. But six years.
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  Speaker 1: Do you even remember high school? It's a long time
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  Speaker 1: ago now, right, No, I don't remember much from back then.
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  Speaker 1: You know, they the best advice I got was staying
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  Speaker 1: college as long as you can. So I put that
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  Speaker 1: to the test. U. Well, you won't regret it. And
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  Speaker 1: we'll get into some football things as we go along.
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  Speaker 1: But um, honestly, football wasn't your only option. Uh. Have
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  Speaker 1: you had opportunities to go a different direction already? Uh?
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  Speaker 1: And I guess football is just the passion, so you
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  Speaker 1: want to stick with it, right? Yeah? I had h
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  Speaker 1: had the opportunity to intern at NASA, and UM, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to get a job at Toyota.
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  Speaker 1: They have a plan in Kentucky and a couple opportunities.
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  Speaker 1: I never took them up on them, just because the
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  Speaker 1: time was constraints with football. Um, but definitely some different
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  Speaker 1: options I could have pursued. And I kind of got
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  Speaker 1: to the end of the fifth year and realized that
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  Speaker 1: football is what I wanted to do with my life. UM.
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  Speaker 1: So I came back to that six year and kind of,
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  Speaker 1: you know, dedicated most of my time to it. All Right,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: give me your and again we'll get to football in
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a second. But I get to talk football a lot.
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  Speaker 1: And this is fascinating, Sammy. Give me your five year plan,
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  Speaker 1: to use a cliche, but then give me your twenty
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  Speaker 1: year plan, because I I would imagine they're different. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Five year plan would be, you know, be a start
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  Speaker 1: in the NFL for as long as I can. Um.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty year plan, you know, depending on how the NFL
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  Speaker 1: thing goes. I would love to, you know, get an
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  Speaker 1: aerospace engineering job, you know, whether it's with NASA or
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Blackie Martin Boeing, one of those places that would be
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  Speaker 1: really cool. I think that'd be super interesting and super engaging. Um.
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  Speaker 1: And then the other ideas. I end up getting the
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  Speaker 1: NBA degree and I feel like I could use it
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  Speaker 1: nonprofit world. It's something that's important to me and you know,
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  Speaker 1: giving back to community. That kind of thing. So H
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  Speaker 1: we'll see. I'm not sure, but opened open to a
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  Speaker 1: lot of different things. Luke. I worry about your future.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: I worry about where you're headed. Uh, council you a
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  Speaker 1: little bit. You can go into sports riding, which is
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: a very lucrative job. Um, give me your impressions to
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  Speaker 1: the Jaguars. I mean, how much you knew. I assume
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  Speaker 1: you knew a little about him because of Josh, But
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  Speaker 1: what were your impressions before and then once you were drafted? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: you're You're absolutely right. Once Josh kind of came down here,
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  Speaker 1: definitely started watching a few more games. Um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: obviously got a tremendous player and Josh Allen. Uh. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I didn't watch a ton of Jacksonville tape, but I
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  Speaker 1: really really like, you know, obviously Trevor Lawrence to great player. Um,
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  Speaker 1: I really like the pieces they have, and I feel
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  Speaker 1: like they have some really good players. Uh, and I
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: feel like they're you know, there's just a couple of
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  Speaker 1: seasons away. You know, if it's not this season, it's
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  Speaker 1: gonna be next. And uh, just the momentum they're building
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  Speaker 1: and what they've done with you know, the coaching staff
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  Speaker 1: and bringing the players in I'm excited to see where
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  Speaker 1: they end up, and you know, I get to be
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  Speaker 1: a part of that now. So it's it's really exciting stuff. Now.
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  Speaker 1: You answered this very professionally the other day, but obviously
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  Speaker 1: a third round center offensive lineman has a chance to
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: play pretty quickly. You feel like you're capable of coming
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: in and contributing and perhaps starting right away. That's your goal. Yeah, definitely.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's everyone's goal when they come to the NFL. Um.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I mentioned, you know, on a radio show
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  Speaker 1: earlier at as a part of the Jaguars organization, I
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  Speaker 1: want to win games. So if winning games involves me
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  Speaker 1: being out there, then great. If winning games involves me
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  Speaker 1: being you know, a role player and providing support to
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: those other guys and giving guys a look, you know,
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  Speaker 1: that's what's gonna be. Um. Well, yeah, like I said,
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  Speaker 1: every guy who comes in the NFL thinks they belong there,
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  Speaker 1: thinks they belong you know, thinks they should be starting
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  Speaker 1: in there. And you know the same for me. I
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: don't want to lose track of the Josh Allen thread
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: before we move on. You kind of joked on a
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  Speaker 1: conference call the other night about it not going very
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: well the first time you faced him. Uh was it
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  Speaker 1: as bad as you let on? Did you handle yourself? Okay,
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  Speaker 1: how did that matchup go? Yeah? Good question. So Josh
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  Speaker 1: is actually only a year older than me. Um, that's
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: how long I've been in college. So he you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: he was like a two star out of New Jersey.
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  Speaker 1: And I remember one of my buddies in the old
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  Speaker 1: line who was in his class, was like, yeah, this
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  Speaker 1: rush allan kid, Like you should have seen him last year.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he wasn't very good. And so you know,
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  Speaker 1: I get out there and uh, former offensive line coach
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  Speaker 1: kind of bumps me out the tackle and he's like, oh, Josh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, like, why don't you just give him a rep? Um,
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  Speaker 1: it didn't goes so hot. Uh, hopefully I think I
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: think I do a little better now. But he's a
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  Speaker 1: tough man the block, that's for sure. And he uh
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  Speaker 1: and obviously improved since it's freshman years. They was a
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  Speaker 1: lot better than you thought he'd be. So oh one,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I got you, I got you. Um. How does your intelligence,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: which obviously well you didn't get through school shows you're intelligent?
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  Speaker 1: How does that translate to the field. Yeah, I'm gonna
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: be honest, it probably hurts me more than it helps me,
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  Speaker 1: because then mess up. Everyone's like dud, You're supposed to
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  Speaker 1: be smart with that. Uh No, I mean it. You
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  Speaker 1: know it helps. Just just being able to, um put
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: away a lot of information, I think is the number
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  Speaker 1: one thing. Being able to you know, take the offense
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  Speaker 1: and and memorize everything. And memorizing and applying it are
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: very different, but you've got to do the first one
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  Speaker 1: to do a second one. That makes sense. So so
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  Speaker 1: being able to hold a lot of information, store a
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  Speaker 1: lot of information. You know, maybe right away it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: you know, come out and it doesn't apply well in
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  Speaker 1: the field, but over time, as long as you've got
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  Speaker 1: it down, it's gonna you know, it's gonna find its
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  Speaker 1: way out. And the same goes for whether it's watching
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: film with an opponent. Um, you know, you start to
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: store all this information and eventually just having it up
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  Speaker 1: there is all you need to so apply it on
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  Speaker 1: the field and make a show up on Sundays. Did
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  Speaker 1: you do a lot of pre snap stuff Kentucky, helping
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  Speaker 1: the quarterback with reads, etcetera. Yeah, I did, I did
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  Speaker 1: quite a bit. Um. You know, the quarterback had the
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: opportunity to change it if he wanted. Um. He never did. Um,
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  Speaker 1: So I don't know if that means I was good
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  Speaker 1: at it or he just didn't feel like it. And
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: you gotta smacked a couple of times, so I guess
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  Speaker 1: that's on me. But yeah, you could read the defense
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  Speaker 1: before the snap and say hey, here's what's coming at times.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, based on yeah, based on film stuff. I
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  Speaker 1: had a pretty good idea. Um. You know, I definitely
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  Speaker 1: wasn't right a hundred per cent the time, but more
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  Speaker 1: or less I could. I could figure it out. But
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: it was nothing you were comfortable to do. So absolutely
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: all right. I know you've shared this story multiple times,
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  Speaker 1: but I've got to hear the Iye stitches story, and
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: that sounds I've never heard anything like it. I didn't
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: even know you could get stitches in the eye. But
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: take me through that a little bit. Um. You know,
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: we're playing the Gators at home, and I'm gonna pronounce
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: his first name wrong. I think it's I think it's
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  Speaker 1: Ravon dexter Um number nine, real, real good player, real
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  Speaker 1: big player. And I went back and I went to
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  Speaker 1: cut him into line of scrimmage and you know, he
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: went to put his hands up to stop me, and
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  Speaker 1: it went right through the face mask. And I mean
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: he might need to cut his nails or something. You know,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know what to deal is, but just like
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  Speaker 1: it just tore open like right in here, right right
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: above the eye right. Uh. And what's funny is like
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: I just thought my contact fell out. So I was
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: just like, you know, I went down to a knee
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: because I was like, okay, I'm gonna go out and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: you know that's to give me a new contact. Whatever.
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  Speaker 1: So I go down the knee and like the trainer
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: comes out and I'm like going to stand up and
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: he's like no, no, no no, like like stay down, stay down.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: And I'm like what and he's like, oh, I'm like
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: what do you mean, which, like I can't see much,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: but I'm like it didn't feel bad. So he's like
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: he's like, we gotta get you to the tent like
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: a sap. And so we go over the tent and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: the team doctor comes up and he looks at it
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: and he goes and I'm like, you guys gonna quit this,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: like like what's the issue? Uh? And they showed me
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: a picture and like whatever reason. It just bled a ton.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: It didn't hurt too bad, but you know, like my
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: whole like eye and upper cheek and it was dripping
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: down in my beer. It was just blood. And they,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: you know, they thought I'd like lost an eye or something. Um,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: so you know, they put something on it real quick,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and I went out for a couple of plays and
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: it was halftime, so they just stitched it up right
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: there at the at the facility. Actual, yeah, the eyelid,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: it was like it was like like two stitches. But yeah,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: um so it looked a lot worse than it was.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: But it's definitely a good story to happen. Yeah, you
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: never went trainers to say oh no, no, no, no, Yeah,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: trained professional doctors to come over and be like, ah,
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: yeah no, it's never a good look. But the Jaguars
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: asked you about that during the combine, right, yeah, they did,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and it was something you could you kind of show
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: them to, Uh, yeah, you're not just a smart kid,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: you're a tough kid. Yeah, absolutely, I mean not that
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: you didn't know that. The teams want to know. As
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: long as I can be out there, you know, I'm
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: gonna be out there, like I said earlier, whatever is
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: best of the team. And you know all that happened
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: is I had to wear you know, I just ended
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: up wearing a visor for the rest of the season.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: All the final thing we do here, Luke is uh
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I caught the ozone five. It's just five quick fun questions. Uh.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: What was your last binge watch? Oh, that's a great question.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: It was actually Ted Lasso okay, yeah, and you liked it?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: Are you last so fan? Oh? Yeah, I thought it
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: was great. You h What was your hardest class? Oh? Um,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: there was a class called gas dynamics. Yeah it was. Yeah,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: it was a tough one. I remember. Um the last
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: song you heard in your car? What are you listening to?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: By Chris Stapleton? Got you your toughest opponent in college?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Mm hmm. His names I can't remember his first name.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: His last name is Carter from Georgia. Was a sophomore
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: going to be a junior this year. Umber eight eight.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Incredible player. Who's the person most responsible for you being
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: in the NFL? TU, that's a great question. Um, I
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: think at a high level. You know, Mark stops for
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: taking a chance on me, and I wasn't a great
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: high school player. Come out of high school and instead
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: of take a chance on me and investing me for
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: you know what feels like twenty years uh. You know
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: that was a lot of help. And then my two
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: offensive line coaches, John schlarman Um he passed away my
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: fourth year at uk UH and then Eric Wofford, who
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: came in for a year my final year and helped
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: me become a better player. So that three people, Luke,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to meet you when you get down here.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: I knew Jaguars fans will have enjoyed getting to know
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: you through this uh bright future ahead of you and
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: looking forward to covering it. I appreciate you joining the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: ozone podcast Wait to Be There,