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The Season with Peter Schrager: Lions GM Brad Holmes · NFL explained.

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: The Season with Peter Scheger is a production of the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, everybody, This is
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Peter Schreger and you're listening to the Season with Peter Schreger.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: We are in the middle of July right now, which
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: is the NFL's quote unquote slow season. But if you
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: follow the league and you love the game like I do,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: you know there is no days off when it comes
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to an NFL season. This podcast has been a blast
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: this summer because we're getting coaches and gms in their
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: homes and we're getting them at their vacation houses that
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: we're getting them maybe a little bit off the clock,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: which means they can be a little looser than they
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: might usually be. I say this with great confidence. I
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: don't think I've enjoyed a podcast more than the conversation
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: you're about to listen to since we've begun doing this
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: thing back last September. This is Brad Holmes, the general
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: manager of the Detroit Lions, with no further ado, really
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: excited about this guest and trying to get him on
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks and we got him, and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: I'm excited and it's right before the start of training camp,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: so I'm sure he's fresh as a daisy. This is
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions general manager, mister Brad Holmes. Brad, what's
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: up man, How you doing man?
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. Glad we'll be able to finally
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: get this together. I hope you to think I.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Waste No, you know what, it's funny because this is
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: like the off season, but it's also the only time
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: that people can get away. So it's yes, I'd love
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to do your podcast, but I also have a family.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I'd like to see you.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's and you know, really like during the season.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: I know we started talking about during the season, and
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: the season is probably the most like normal, lies regimented
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: part of the whole year because you kind of know
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: what's gonna happen. But when the season ends, that's when
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: it gets like crazy crazy and then we have actually
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: we do quite a bit after the draft preparing for
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: the upcoming year. So but you know, fresh off vacation, Uh,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: you know, got a good little week at home and uh,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: it's a great time. Man.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: I think that's a good segue. So take us through,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and you are a general manager, what is the schedule
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: because I think most people think, all right, draft and
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: then kick your feet up and then free agency, you know,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: but it's really year round.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really is. Man. You know, you have a
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: training camp and you go through that and you you
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: know a lot of rods reduction stuff. But after training camp,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: you know, I say, the season. Everybody thinks like the
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: season is like that's the basest part, because it's the
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: football season. But from a GM standpoint, it's actually probably
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the most regiment a part because you pretty much know, okay,
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: you got game day. Game day is going to bring
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: all your stress and emotions. And but after game day,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Mondays you're dealing with you know, injuries and medical stuff.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: And then Tuesdays you're dealing with you know, roster management
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: and getting all your moves done. And then the week
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: starts and actually we actually kind of devote a lot
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: of that time for draft prep actually, so because you
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: kind of have the time, yeah, and then you kind
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: of just operate normally. But then after the season ends,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: and that's when you're like full throttle, like you know,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: you're head straight into you're balancing free agency and draft
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: at the same time, and then you're going all the
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: way up to free agency, So that's probably the most
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: hectic time. It's pre free agency because you're kind of
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: doing both. And then once free agency kind of like
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: that second or third wave kind of hits, you can
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: start downing more so towards straight draft, and then you know,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: it's kind of just full throttle through the draft.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Because we're heading into the twenty twenty three season and
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: we're still just a couple of months removed. I want
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to go back to that first round for you guys
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: in the Detroit Lions. We're going to get into your
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: story in a second, but I feel like just the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: excitement about the Lions is real, and you've read all
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: the headlines. I'm sure you've blocked as many headline you
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: can't out about how this is like the hot team
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: in the NFC. But the draft, you know, right in
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: the days leading up to the draft, I had a
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: couple of birdies in my ear man, like I think
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Jamiir Gibbs might go earlier than the mock drafts are saying,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: and another one saying he might go before be Jon Robinson.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Sure enough, you guys, you get him early top fifteen,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and everyone around like, oh, I want a shot, But
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: like people that I was taught to say, that's not
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: such a shock. That's about where he was slated. When
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: did you fall in love with Jamir Gives and what
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: did you love about him?
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  Speaker 2: Man, it's funny that she said you heard that about
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: him going that early, because I was sitting here thinking, uh,
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I was like, nobody's going to do this. And then
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: and then after we picked them, and I heard all
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: these other gentlemen.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, that's what we wanted.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, right, I'm glad you picked them. He wasn't
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: gonna make it, But no, I first fell in love
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: with them. Obviously. I didn't know about him that much,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: like its at Georgia Tech year before. So I went
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: to Texas Alabama game earlier in the year and I
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: kind of got tipped off about him, like right before
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the start of the game. Man, I was like okay,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: and I saw his body type and like this I
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: was intriguing. And then I kind of saw what he
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: was doing in both phases. Yeah, I mean he can
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: run it, but what he was doing as a receiver
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: and the explosiveness and everything about him, And we just
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: kept doing work on him and like I said, kind
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: of do some draft prep during the season and kept
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: doing work on him, and that was just kind of
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: it for me. I was like, this guy's uh and
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: he's he's a weapon. He's a weapon. And you know,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: we talked about all the running backs going in the
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: first round and all that kind of stuff. You know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: I always say like, if he's a weapon, then forget
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: the RBS, Like that's how that's that's what he is. Like,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: that's like he we thought he was a multi phase,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: elite explosive, positionless weapon, and you know he was a
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: special player. You know, you have you have to combine
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: to confirm some things, you know, but he ran what
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: I thought he was gonna run. And you know, all
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: the testing and his workouts and we're just really excited
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: about him. I think you're gonna he's gonna bring another
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: dimension to our offense. That's as good as we were
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: offensively last year. You know, I think something even better
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: this year. But bottom line this is you just got
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: to get the guys that you want. And I kind
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: of look at especially this past draft. You know, everybody
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: was saying like this is a different draft, is a
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: different draft. Well, let's call it what it is. It
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: just wasn't as strong of a draft as it normally
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: has been.
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  Speaker 1: And by that you mean blue chip guys top twenty yeah, yeah.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Like you know, in a normal year you had
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: like true first round talent players, you might have about
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: seventeen or eighteen guys. I really haven't seen any higher
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: than twenty in all the years that I've been doing it.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: This is we ended up with fourteen guys, and that
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: was at the very end. It was less than that
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: at one point, Like at one point we had like
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: nine or ten, but Jamiro was always one of those guys.
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  Speaker 2: So I just looked at it as like, damn, look,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: let's just get the who the hell we want and
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: let's get the hell out of there and let's see
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: you know, like like like one of my favorite movies
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: is Training Yeah, like me and my dad someone me
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: and my dad's favorite movie. And uh, there was a
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: scene in Training Day where have yeah, so like it
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: was one of the scenes where you know, he goes
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: into this you know, the rough area, and he goes
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to his lady's house and takes his money and then
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: he goes out and him and even Hawker trying to
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: get out of the neighborhood and the girl comes out
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: there and rats him out and says, hey, this guy
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: just took our money. And then Ze just send his
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: shootout and he's just shooting out, trying to get out
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: of the neighborhood, and he's basically shooting his way out
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: of there. And I was like that rafts kind.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Of get me out of.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Get get who we want, and just shoot our way
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: out of here and get on out of there. And uh,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: we were just ecstatic about how the whole thing went.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Would you say that you and Dan Campbell are Jay
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Quoy and Alonso Harris in that film? Would you put.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: You know? I don't, I don't want to have that,
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: but I will say we we work as a pair
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: very very well. We partner very very well. You know again,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: I know a lot of people know now that we
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: didn't really know each other that much before we got hired.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: But always give so much credit to Sheila and Rod
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Wood and Chris Bilman and Mike Disne and everybody was
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: involved in that interview process of that. I guess that
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: they just knew that, you know, we would pair so
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: so well. And he's a joy to work with and
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: he's a hell of a coach.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: He's cool and he's got a great personality, and those
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: players really rallied around him, especially in the second half
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: of the season. You look at that running backs room,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: obviously it's it's Gibbs and now it's Montgomery. Last year
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: you had something fun with Williams and Swift. You know,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: everyone might say the value of the positions devalued and
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: whatever you want to say about it. That's a pretty
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: big change for the running backs room. Considering you guys
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: were so red hot at the end of the season.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: You feel good about where you guys are at with
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: that position group.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean overall, when you look at it just systematically,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: I do think that we'll be better offensively. And that's
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: no knock on the contributions that that those other two
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: guys gave us, because Swift is a dynamic player and Jamal,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: you know, he was a great leader for us and
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: he did he did so much for us. He had
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: a great season, awesome touchdowns. You know. Yeah, I mean,
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: but what we do think that Montgomery, You know, I
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: think we make Montgomery and Jamal are different backs. You know,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Montgomery does a little bit more in the passing game, uh,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: and you know, adding being able to add Gibbs. You know,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I think he just he's so dynamic as a receiver.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And look, he's a home run hitter as a running back.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: I mean that's the easy part. But what he does
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: as a receiver, I mean he runs routes like I
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: mean like a receiver. Is that right?
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Because I you know, you get all this Alabama talent
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: and then here's another one and it's like, no, this
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: one's special and has his own skill set that maybe
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: because he's only there one year, didn't get the same
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: hype as the other guys.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was just different. He was just different. And
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: you know, going through that process, I was like, man,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: how many guys have I seen that was like equally
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: as effective? You know, Like when I first got with
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: the Rams in two thousand and three, Marshall Fulk was
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: still there and I was a huge Marshall Faulk guy
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: just coming in and so just kind of seeing what
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: he does in both phases, and then just from a
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: scouting standpoint, when Christian McCaffrey came out, he was like
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: the last guy. I was like, Holy cow, like this
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: guy I can run routes like a slot receiver but
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: also run it and so you start getting reminders of
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: you know, some of those players. I'm not sitting here
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: those players, but you know, just a special weapon like that,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: just you know, we have a lot of excitement otism.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think the offensive coordinator story is pretty
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: cool too. Had opportunities to interview for other head coaching
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: jobs and kind of withdrew his name and said, I'm
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: good here in Detroit with this group. Take us through
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: that decision from Ben Johnson and what that meant in
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: the organization as a whole man.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: That was huge, And you know, look at the end
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: of the day, Look, it's it's hard to keep the
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: good ones, you know, I mean, eventually the cat gets
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: out the bag and you know there's there's just no hiding.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: But you know then, you know, you saw it right
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: out the gate. You know, even when he was a
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: tight ends coach, and you know obviously Dan, you know,
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: had had prior experience with him, but you know, when
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: things got rough in that twenty one season and we
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: had to make that change from Anthony Lynn and you know,
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Ben basically became the passing game coordinator basically, but Dan
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: was called in plays and Dan's plays before and and
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Dan was just doing a great job and just having
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: fun with but Ben just added this other element was
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: just like, Wow, this dude's crazy. But you know that
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: that's another component of when I when you asked you
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: the question about the running backs about and I said,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I think will be better offensively this year as good
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: as the world last year. It is just that you know,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Ben going into his second year as THEOC, like I
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: think last year he showed everybody like I can do this,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: like I'm legit, but going you know, having the experience
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: under his belt going into year two, having shared with
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: him going in year two, and then all the other
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: components that we had been creating in the draft. That's
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: why I feel better about William to be better.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Real quick, a couple more things Lions related, then we're
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: going to get more into your story. The Jack Campbell
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: picked that was one where if Gibbs was like okay Campbell,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: that left people slack jawed and just being like, wait,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: what not not a first round mock draft guy, whatsoever?
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: And yet I saw Jack Campbell, I turned to my
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: co host on nfn R like, well, that's Chris Spielman
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: just walking through the door again. That's what I who
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: of course works in your organization and has a great role.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: But a linebacker another position not considered necessarily the same
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: as pass rusher, offensive tackle or quarterback in this league.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: And you guys, you liked them, you took them, and
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: away we go.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, you know, I think with these I
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: think sometimes it's almost like the draft's not that easy,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Like the draft is not Oh, you take these positions
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: and these players have played these positions, put them up
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: top because they got stats and they've been on the internet,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: and put them up top. And then these players have
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: played these positions, put them at the bottom, and that's it.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: And just working for a couple of months.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: And Daniel Jeremiah says, Kiper says, take him there.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Like, come on, I give it a little bit more credit.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: The drafts not that easy, and and he's going to
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: look me talking about building a defense, and me and
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Aaron went to have very similar philosophies in terms of
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: like what does it take to really elevate you? And
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: you ever to have guys up front, you better have
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: guys that can cover, so you know, often the inside
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: linebacker or the off fall linebacker, like we took Malcolm
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Rodriguez year before sixth round, and he had a great year.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: You know he's gonna be He's going to be something
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: that's going to be contributed for us going forward. But
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: it was just that you got to look at the
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: player like, not not the position. We don't draft positions,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: we draft players. And so when you looked at the
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: player of Jack Campbell and we saw it as like, no,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: we're not drafting this linebacker. We actually went into after
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: we signed three, signed Alex Angeloni, and we feel really
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: good about, you know, the direction that Derek Barnes and
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: knocking Rod Driguez was heading. It's not like inside linebackers
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: like oh, you better get like it's not just like no,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: but Jack Campbell was just a hell of a football player.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: And I just think that like we're looking at it
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: as he's going to be an anchor in our defense,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: not we're drafting an inside linebacker, Like no, we're just
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: taking an anchor that our defense. And we tell about guys,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: we look at free agency, you look at inside linebackers.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: You know, you might have this whole list, But then
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: when you're looking at guys I can actually wear that
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: green dot and really run the show. That list shrinks
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: down like this, like it goes from this and it
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: goes to this. And so then when you have a
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: guy like Jack Campbell that's six five, two fifty, that's
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: extremely instinctive. He's he's heavy in the run game, he's
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: extremely smart, and I just love how the kid is wired.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's wired to fake what we're all about.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: We're all about grit, doing it the right way, like
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: the truly earning it. And this guy just loves football.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: He's he he's all business. And so it's about the player.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: It's not about not about oh it's gone place. It's
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: notline it's got a place running back, No, like go
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: to Jamiri Gibbs's like, oh it got No, he's a weapon.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: But Jamira Gibbs is really smart. It's not like you know,
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: oh yeah, he can align all these different places. You
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: got to be smart to lining all these different places.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: You don't just align all these different places, No, Like
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: you got to be really smart. You got to be
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: really heady and instinctive. And so I thought Jack Campbell,
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: you know, had all the trades that we look for
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: in a football player. And so that's how we felt
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: really good about it. Again going back to what I
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: was saying about in one but a certain amount of
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: players that we had in that first round bucket, and
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: he was one of them. And but I say it
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: was only fourteen guys. Jack Campbell wasn't fourteen, you know
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: what I mean? So like it's that's that's why I
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: just it was it was easy.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: I love it. You guys have your board, you have
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: your guys, and hey, if we can get this guy
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: at eighteen, and he was a top fourteen player of
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: ours and may even higher top ten, we're taking them.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, mock drafts be damned. Yeah, that's kind of what
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: that's that's our stance. We're just we do a lot
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: of work. We're very thorough, and I know I think
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: every team is going to say that, but we just
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: have a lot of conviction in our process in what
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: we believe, and we just stick by it. And that
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: that's what we did.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I love it. And last year not only had Hutchinson
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: step up, but you had so many rookies playing big roles,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: especially on that defense, that it's hard not to say, Okay,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's see
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: before everyone starts giving them. You know b's and c's
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: on their draft grades based on what the mont Draft said.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean that's always say like it's such
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: a psychological component of like the mock drafts and look
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: it's no, I'm not looking at it. Look I know you, like, I.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Know you do much, yes, but take a lot of
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: pride in it.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: But like, but I'll say this, I mean, stray you
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you do football every seample day, Like that's what you
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: do all the time. You know a lot of people
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: you I mean, like, I like, I look at like
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: So I'm not gonna say like I don't look at
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: mock drafts. Yeah I look at him because people talking,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: people do the research and all that. But you can't.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: You just still have to have ultimate belief and openate
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: conviction in your own process. But but no, there's plenty
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: of guys that are doing that. I respect, And I'm like, man,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: I know this guy knows people. You know, he's done
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: a lot of work, you know, and I think he
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: puts a lot of pride. But when it doesn't go
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: down the way you projected it, your your brain doesn't
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: really like that. And it's kind of want to right,
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: everybody wants to be right, and so then now you're mad,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: and now you're like, damn it, no one said he
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: was gonna go that high. And then now you got
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: to sign a grade while you're still mad. So now
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, no one said you're gonna go there. No,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: And I'm just like and I was like, at the
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: end of the day.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: I'm like, march, you know, because really the.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Only ranks that really matter is the thirty one other
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: general finishers and uh and and those are the rankings
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: that nobody has. And that's what makes the draft so fun.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: And so when when when when I see people get
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: mad about uh, it didn't go the way, I'm like, look,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: you should embrace the excitement of that, Like that's that's
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: the part. You don't know how it's gonna fall. And
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: you see a name that goes out and be like, whoa,
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that. It's like embracing it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Is ultimate, the ultimate reality show. It's more than the
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: season even because it's so rapid fire. And I say
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: it before the draft, I beg my colleagues on Twitter
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: on ESPN, I don't tip the picks. It is such
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: a fun experience as a viewer. If you don't and
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: you guys in the war rooms and then trying to
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: manipulate the chessboard. It's it's war games and it's fun
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: to watch from outside, but I'm sure it's stressful as
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: hell in your chair, but it is.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: You're right, it's fun. And and what I was I
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: was selling a lot of people out in the draft,
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: you know, I was like, Okay, this was the draft,
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: this was the draft season. This was you know, the
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: build up, and then when it's over, then it's over.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: And then now now the ota start and guys start
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: get on the field, and now that's the thing. And
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: then now training camp is about to start, so that'll
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: be a thing. So it's like it goes in phases
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: where it's just like I was telling you about the movie,
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: you know, with Ethan Hawkins Denzel A. Wasshington. It's like
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: you do the shootout and the back windows shot out,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: and you know, the cars kind of shot up a
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: little bit, but they got out. You gotta so you
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: gotta take the you know, the the D's and ALFs
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: of the mock Drafters and all that. Okay, all right,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: you know it'll be it'll be back from home.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: I love your story. I think it's a story of perseverance,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: but also you've had a great career. Can can we
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: go back to your high school days. You're a star
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: player in Tampa, Florida. You were I want to say,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Homecoming King, Is that true? I did my research. Homecoming King,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: captain of the football team. You go to North Carolina
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: A and T, and you're having a great freshman sophomore
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: here and then a major life moment occurred. I'm going
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: to say something and then you take us back and
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: explain what happened. But I'm just gonna say the Music
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: City Miracle game and then take us backwards and lead
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: up to what that game means in your life.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Oh man, So yeah, you know, I'm at home visiting,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: you know, my my parents, Ampa, and you know, have
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: a you know, near fatal car accident, just get get sidelined,
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, I mean, I see you
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: for a week and it was it was I mean,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: I'm just I'm I'm very blessed and lucky to pull
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: through that. But yeah, I was. I was in I
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: see you in Saint Joseph Hospital in Tampa, Florida, watching
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: the Music City Miracle and I never forget I was.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: And then when I got released from the hospital, watching
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: the ninety nine Rams, you know, uh go their Super
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Bowl when they played the Bucks, you know, and then
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: NSC Championship game, and uh it was. I mean I
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: was watching that just just kind of couch written when
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: I got released. But those moments kind of really resonate
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: with me because you don't you don't take anything for
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: for for granted. And you know what what that taught
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: me is that, you know, look, if you have something
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: that you believe, oh believe it, and don't let anybody
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: take your dreams away. Because I never forget that. My
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: college coach phil As visits in the hospital and you know,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: he's he sees one of his players in ICU bed
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: mangled up, and I'm sitting there telling him that I'm
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: gonna play again, and he's like, all right, yeah right,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, like you're lucky if you will walk around
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: like no, I'm gonna play again. And sure enough, it
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: just gave me time to get as healthy as I
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: could rehab. It was able to you know, join the team.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: I had missed that whole spring, and I joined the
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: team during summer workouts, and a big part of my
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: rehab process was my grandfather coming down and my grandfather
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: played golf twice today and just driving his car really
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: kind of just or yeah, like just getting used to
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: even driving again. Stuff like that. And you know, you
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: go through all this occupational therapy and all that. But
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: but be able to join my teammates that summer and
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: felt actually stronger than ever was. I felt even better
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: in shape, and you know, and we we went on
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: and you know, I was able to finish my career
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: at North Carolina A and T. But that's definitely the
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: biggest adversity that I've ever overcome in my life and
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: and something that I'll never forget. And it sticks with you.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: You went into a coma, you had a stroke, and
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: then what was it? How many how many weeks or
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: months in the hospital were you?
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: And yeah, so I was in I was in ICU
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: for almost two weeks. You know, it was like ten
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: days in ICU, and then I had almost close to
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: another week when I got released and moved from ICU.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: But yeah, had a had a coma stroke, was paralyzed
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: all the way on my right side. And you know,
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: I still to this day, I still have like I
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: still don't feel like I have the exact same amount
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: of strength, you know, like in my right arm as
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: my left or you know, it's just it's things that
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: kind of just give you some reminders of that moment.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: But having kids now, being a parent, I just can't
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: even think of you know, uh, my, my my parents.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Getting that call from one of my closest friends Gape Galagos,
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: who I just saw back when I was on vacation
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: that you know, he's the one that had to make
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: that call to my parents of what happened, and it
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: was I just can't even fathom me get in that
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: call when day just out of the blue, and you know,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: I just I just have so much respect for my family, uh,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: my closest friends. Uh and you know, I just I
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: just kind of it's just one of those moments that
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: lives with you in really a good way.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I was gonna say, is it almost in a weird way?
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: And they say this about survivors of traumatic events, but
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: also survivors of illnesses. It's almost liberating where you're like, wait,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: I've been through that, I can do anything now.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, Like it's yeah, it's it's not a good
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: moment because it's life threatening, but at the same time,
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: It's one of those moments that shape for sure, and
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: those are one of those things that I think kind
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: of started my journey. Like I felt like I was
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: always a hard worker. I always felt like I always
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: had that mindset that was kind of overcoming the odds.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: My father had taught me that a long time ago,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: you know, he had he played in the NFL for
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: a short a while, and I never forget he bought
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: me a weight set, you know, when I was in
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Lateth the seventh grade, and and he was like it
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: was no, it was in the eighth grade. I think
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: it was in eighth or ninth grade, but he bought
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: me a weight set, and I never forget he told me.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: He was like, Brad, it's it's not about what other
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: people are seeing you do, and it's about what you're doing,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: and about what you're doing when other people aren't watching,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: about how hard you're working. And so I always felt
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: like I was a hard worker. But going through that
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: car accident and going through that process getting back on
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: my feet and not only having a chanced play football,
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: but having a chance to that life again, I'm just
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: forever grateful and fortunate. But I do think that that
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: did kind of spark that fuel of getting to where
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I got to now because I had to take a
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: really long road. It was a very unconventional path in
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: terms of getting started and just you know, being told
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: no when I first shot to get into business and
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: just keep fighting at it. And I think it both will.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: It's an amazing story. And I think what you're alluding
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: to with your career, I was looking in your bio.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: You were in Atlanta Hawks public relations, you know, entry
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: level guy doing PR for the Atlanta Hawks coming out
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: of school for you, and then you were at the
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Saint Louis Rams doing p R, which is yeah, setting
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: up interviews, which is working on messaging for the team,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: which is helping the players you know, talk to the
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: media and arrange that kind of How do you make
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: that jump from PR to being an NFL GM twenty
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: years later?
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah? So my degree was in PR, and in credit
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: to my mother's been in the education field forever, and
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: like halfway through college, I started off as a business
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: and marketing major. I didn't even know why. I just
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: thought that was the cool major to be in. And
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: then my mom was like, right, you might want to
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: change that, dude. Like, you're more of a verbal writing person,
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: You're not a man. I was like, all right, So
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: I changed my degree to PR and uh, and it
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: was it was the best thing for me. And I
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: really like my grade to start to change. But anyways,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: when I got done playing, you know, I knew I
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: wanted to get in the NFL and you know, try
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: to get into Scout again. I sent my resume to
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: all the teams like everybody else does. My dad had
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: a complics, but none of that fell through. So my
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: mom was basically like, dude, you got to come back home.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: You know, You've got to come home and just figure
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: it out. And so I moved back home, and I
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: was ringing cars for Enterprise Rental Cars, and yeah, I
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: was rinting cars for Enterprise Rental Car. And you know,
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: I'm wearing the shirt and tie washing cars and rinting
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: cars and all I'm doing is I'm thinking about sports.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: And that was a very psychological and emotional period of
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: my life because that was the first time that I
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: was not getting ready to play football. I wasn't like
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: I'm going through It's like in.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: July, you don't have a training I don't have.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: A training camp, awaiting for me, I'm not involved in football.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: So I'm in that little branch that Enterprise rental car
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: just thinking about football all day and saying about sports.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: And so finally an opportunity came about with the Atlanta
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Hawks for a media relations trainee, and so I talked
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: to my mom about it and I'm like and my
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: mom was like, look, at least you'll be back to sports.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: And I was like, yeah, you're You're right. And so
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: I got that opportunity with the Atlanta Hawks. And because
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: like I only could only work forty hours a week
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: with the Atlanta Hawks, it was a meat relations trainee position,
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: but because of my experience with Enterprise, Enterprise allowed me
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: to work part time at the Atlanta Airpe. So one
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: of the one of the greatest perks that the Atlanta
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Hawks gave me was a free Marty card. Because I
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: didn't have the money to I lived way up in
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: Norcross and had this little one bedroom apartment and so
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: I would take the you know.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: You're taking ups arena.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: So I had to start up top at the Furthest
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Normal station.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: In the early two thousand. Yeah, you know about that's
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: not a yeah, all respect to the marks that ain't
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: the New York City subway system.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: So you literally added take the door into the northernmost
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: stop and go down and then drop me off downtown
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: at to see an Inventor Center of building. And that's
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: when I would do my meat relations trainee job. And
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: then when I got off, then that's when I would
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: go down to UH. I get off and I take
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: the Marta down to the Atlanta Airport and then I
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: go to the Atlanta Airport and I would just work cars,
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: so probably about about eleven o'clock at night, and then
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: you know, the Atlanta air Force is the last time,
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: so I'd have to take that that Atlanta Airport Marta
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: all the way back up to that door bill station
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: up north and UH. And that's really what's the lesson?
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: What's lesson from Atlanta?
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: What's a lesson for kids?
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: Right now?
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Who are I say? Kids? College graduate? I want to
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: get in sports, I want to be a GM. You
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: hear that story that that could be discouraging, but it
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: should also encourage.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: It should encourage you. And again, like I said at
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: the beginning, man, look if you're confised on what you
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: want to do, don't let anybody ever tell you know
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: and people will tell you no, and you got to
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: use the those a's fuel to just keep going. And
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: you just gotta have you just got to be convicted,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: and you just got to know that you're not going
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: to have the easiest path. Yeah. I had plenty of
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: friends from college that got these high paying jobs and
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: all this stuff, and it was it was, it was great.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: But I was struggling. You know, I wasn't making I
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: think I was want to make like eight bucks an
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: hour as a relations trainee, and then maybe I was
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: making like nine dollars an hour renting cars. But I
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: had enough to survive, as you know, to pay for
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: my apartment and pay for my bills. But the great
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: thing about that year, though, in two thousand and three,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: was at the NBA All Star Game.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: I remember yet the contest that year. Just as a fan,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: I actually.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: Thought it was a cool job because one of my
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: main duties was I had to get the postgame quotes
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: for the opposing teams. So, like Jordan and everybody, they
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: would be coming in and I'm like in the locker
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: room and I'm like, holy cal, Like this is Tracy McGray, Like,
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: holy cal, this is like I'm saying like, this is
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: Shaquille O'Neil, Like what Like, I thought it was awesome. So,
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: but the NBA All Star Game comes and then my
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: boss at the time, Arthur Trish, he was a he
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: was a president communication for basketball for the House at
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: the time. He knew I wanted to get in the NFL,
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: and he said, hey, look, man, a lot of these
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: PR directors from the NFL come to the All Star Game.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: You know, I can introduce you to some of them.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: And so I met Dwayne Lewis and we just kind
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: of did a little kind of lunch interview and he
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: had offered me a PR internship and I was like great,
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: And so then I just did the PR internship for
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: the year and during that year, so I was starting
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: the two thousand and three season.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: So you make the shift from Sharif abdur Rahim and
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Dan Dickau and Dion Glover and my man Alan Henderson,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: and now you're at where you're going, you go, do
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: you move everything? Go to Saint Louis for an internship.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I just kind of packed the U haul.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: I just I just packed the U haul and drove
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: the Saint Louis and and I just started there.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Had you ever been there before.
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: I've never been the same. I've never been This.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: Is the lesson. How many of these people that we
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: talked to are like, yeah, the opportunity, but I'm from
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: New York. I'm not moving to you know.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: Like, no, I think it's easier when it's when you're
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: single with no kids a little bit. But but you know,
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I'm now. I was twenty three years old, twenty two
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: years old at the time, so but yeah, I just
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: packed the U haul and just kind of drove drove
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: the Saint Louis. Uh it's about eight nine hour drive,
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: I think or something like that. You know. Then I
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: started my PR internship and back then the RAMS would
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: have training camp in Macomb, Illinois, Illinois. So uh, it's
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: like assume I get there and I'm there for like
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: maybe a week. And then I got to go to Macomb,
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: Illinois and start my PR internship, and uh it was
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: it was it was cool again. I was doing interviews
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: and with Marshall Faulk and stuff like that, and I
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: was like, this is great. But during that time, you know,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: during that training camp, I see these guys that weren't players,
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: they were just regular guys. And they had their helping
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: out in practice and I'm like, what are those and
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: they're like, oh, there was a scouting assistance and I
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: was like scouting assistance and I'm like, they can like
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: help out in practice and walk through and stuff. And
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: it's like yeah, I'm like wow. So I'm like I
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: gotta get So, you know, I struck up a good
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: relationship with our running bass coach at the time, Wilbert Montgomery,
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: former Eagles.
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, and I think Wilburt just saw that, you know,
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: I was just a young kid fresh out of college
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: that I love football, and we would just taught football
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: and uh. Then as our relationship developed, I would start
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: helping him out with stuff. I would help him. I
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: would help him do his running back risk band things,
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: you know, I do that kind of stuff. And one
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: day he just asked me, He's like, man, why are
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: you in pr Like why are you not? I said, Wilburt, Man,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know anybody. I don't. I try to get in,
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: but I couldn't. And so he was like, hey, look man,
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna talk to Charlie. Charlie Armers our GM at
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: the time, and he said, I'm gonna talk to Charlie.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: And at the time, all the Scotting assistants kind of
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: had this It's called it like a nepotism kind of
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: everyone knew one yeah, like one uncle was the president,
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: another one, you know, his dad played quarterback for the
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: g another one is like his his grandfather used to
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: be the owner's park like all. And I'm just like,
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: I don't have any of that. And he was like, look,
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: I never this is Wilburt talking. Wilver's like, look, Brad,
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: I never go to Charlotte or anything. So he knows
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: it's real. It's real. So he talks to Charlie and
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: he comes back. And one thing that I had to
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: do as a PR internship is I had to print
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: out the daily clips. And I had to print out
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: the daily clips and pass them out to all the
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: coaches offices in the gym's office.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: And so here's what Bernie milk Lass wrote about the
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: team this week.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Right is Thomas Bernie mclass like all of them and
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: so and so, and you know, now we get them
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: all and PDF and all that. I let I tell
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: these interns now, I'm like, we used to have to
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: print these things out.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: You print out, You cut out the newspaper article, you
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: put it on a piece of white paper, you paste it.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Then you got to go to the copy machine, make
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: forty copies, and you gotta staple it. And this is
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: every day.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: Sta it every single day. And so now on that again,
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: I can look at it as grunt work or but
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I was looking as an opportunity. Like I had to
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: hand out some clips to Lovely Smith's office deep into Coordinate,
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, holy cows, love Smith, like you know
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: what I mean, Like I was able to meet So
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: after Wilfrid told me about that, he talked to Charlie.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: I had to pass them out to the general manager's
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: office and I passed it. I gave the clips to
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Charlie and Charlie said, hey, uh. I talked to Wilburt
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: and he said, you know you're interested, and so come
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: come come meet me on Friday in my office. And
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: so I'm like, holy count like this is it, Like
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: it's coming. So I didn't know, and this is being
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: a young kid and not knowing really how to communicate
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: a actively and handle business, right. So I didn't tell
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Dwayne Lewis or PR director because I'm.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: I'm not giving that job, am I supposed to?
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I'm like, what am I supposed to do? Like
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: tell him I'm about to leave, you know what I mean? So, so,
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: you know, and Fridays were like a dress down day.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: So Friday, T shirt Friday, I'm sure going. So people
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: are looking at me like I just got dressed up.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: And so I go up there, I meet Charlie Army
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: and it was him and his assistant Debbie Pollam in there,
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: and I just had a bunch of writing samples from
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: my time with you know, everything that I and I
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: wanted to show Charlie like I can write, Like I
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: can write. I have a passion for writing. I love
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: like I'm a grammar snob to this day. All my
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: staff kind of jokes on me all the time because
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: I'm like, man, why is he not a comment something
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: like that? But anyways, I want to show him that
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: I can write, you know. And so I'm in there
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: and I'm sitting at this table with Charlie and his
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: assistant Debbie, and then next thing, you know, my PR
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: director Dwayne Lewis walks into Charlie's office and I'm like,
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: and Dwayne's looking at me, and he's like, what the
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: hell did you just do? Like he's like, why is
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: why is my PR intern in the general manager's office.
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: And and so Charlie was on the phone and Debbie
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: tells Dwayne that was like, no, he's fine, he's fine,
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: he's fine. And so then Charlie gets off the phone
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: and he just tells Dwayne. He goes, hey, look, I
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: was talking to Brad here, and you know, he's interested
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: in getting the scouting So after he's done with your internship,
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: he's going to be by intern starting the draft prep process.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: He hadn't even told me that.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: That's how you found out.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: I'm just like, I'm like, whoa, okay, right, and so
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: so then you know, I had a you know, I
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: had a sorry, yeah.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: A quick lesson on what this guy takes president.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: So so yeah, so that's that's that's how it got started.
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: And I got a shot to be, uh a scouting intern.
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: So when the season ended, you know, basically like January
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: through the draft and I was a scouting intern and
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: I was just you know, labeling beta tapes and you know,
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: entering reports and you know, you have to make profile
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: tapes we call profile profile tapes and you got to
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: write the time codes from the beta tapes and all that,
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: and every now and then they should watch these tapes
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: during the draft meetings. And so every now and then
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: Charlie would ask one of the scout assistants, you know,
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: to come in and talk about the player. And so
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: I never forget the first guy he could. They called
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: me in.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, come on, give it to me.
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: I want to hear. God, I can't remember who it was.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: I don't want to make some but but I probably
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: should remember it. But I never forget he called me in.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: And it's like the room is like dimly lit and
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: projector screamed on and they're watching my profile tape and
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: it's a room full of scouts in the GM and
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Lawrence mccut player personnel director, and I'm like, smokes, and
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: he's like, what did you think? And I just told him,
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: I said, I think he's this, I think he's that.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: I think he's boomom boom, bom boom. And he was like,
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: all right, thanks, and I stopped out the room and
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I have no idea like anybody thought what
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: I said. But but you know, there was a scout
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: Big Daniels who's been been one of my mentors for
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: a long time. And I remember he came out and
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: he told me, he said, grad, you did a really
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: good job. And he was the one that really taught
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: me how to construct the scouting report and how to
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: kind of write a play.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: Or a young kid come in like give me your
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: thoughts on Roscoe Parish.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: Go and you're like, no, it was it was. It
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: was intimidating, man, and you just had to be right.
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: But guess what, it was just me and those PR skills,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: the enterprise front facing salesman skills, all of it comes
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: into play because guess what you're presenting.
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, It's almost like another one of my favorite
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: movies is The Karate. You know, the scene of when
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: he's complaining about you're not teaching meaning karate, you know,
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: like I thought I was supposed to be doing karate
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: and he's like, no, wax on, wax off paint the
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: house like he's doing. And he's like no, Like do
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: you get it now? Like you've been learning it this
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: whole time, you just now it's showing. So but yeah,
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: you're right, like all those skills just bode well. But
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: as a young kid, you don't realize that at the time.
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: So after I got done with that draft, I believe
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: that's when we drafted Steven Jackson in the first round.
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: And I'll never forget that. And then Charlie he hired
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: me on as a full time scouting assistant, and you know,
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: I did that for like three years and we're just
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: picking players up from the airport. Just a lot of
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: just you know, going to the combine, not watching players,
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: just grabbing lunch for the GM, you know, between workouts
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: and stuff like like that, and keep doing profile tapes
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: and you know, just enormous scouting assistant duties and did
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: that for three years and then that's when I became
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: a combined scout in NFS Combine scout and that, to me,
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: that's the best training that you can get from a
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: scout because you're always wrooking on the next year's draft
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: class and so like so, say it's the H five
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: draft and that March in April or February, March April,
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: whatever like that, will you're working on the six guest
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: raft And so what I think is the best training
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: is I'll never forget my first junior day. I just
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: had to go to University Missouri, and you know, I
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: met the pro liaison and he just gives me a
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: list and he was like, here's a list. He walks
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: me into the film room. I don't know anything about him,
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: and I just had to sort out that whole roster,
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: like I don't know what anybody is, I don't know
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: how good anybody is. And I remember I just grinded
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: like and some of.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: That justin Smith first round pick, or it could be
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: a guy that has no chance of being drafted, but
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: you've got to do it.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you just do. You don't know, and you don't
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: know until you watch him. And that's why I tell
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: my Scott's all the time, like You're like all these
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: free agents and all these guys that are undrafted guys,
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, well, you don't know if they're free
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: agents or guys you look at them. So but that
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: that moment right there kind of showed me like, look
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: and going through the whole spring, it's like it kind
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: of gave me the whole thing of don't worry about
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: what anybody else thinks, like just trust with your IOC
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: and and and that's all. I mean that that's kind
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: of a hard thing to kind of especially as a
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: young scout, because you got a lot of noise that
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: affects you, and you got group think and all this
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: stuff that affects you. And just like we were talking
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: about earlier about the mont dress up, you want to
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: be right. And so it actually takes a very special
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: skill to be able to say, look, I don't care
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: what anybody else thinks, this is what my But being
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: a combine scout forces you to be in that moment
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: of like you're riding all these players for the up
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: for the next year's draft class. And there is no
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: mock drafts out, there is no nobody's talking.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: About change from the combine to the draft, and yet
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: you hear this guy's rising up aboard. But it's like
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: that's the group thing where it's like, well, maybe we
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: have taken another look at.
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: This guy exactly exactly, And so that's I've always been
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: big on the psychological part of the draft process and
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: still am. And so but those are the one of
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: the things of the group think. The it's a very
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: or just the whole conformity. Always look at the Solomon
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: Ash conformity experiment that you look at on YouTube, and
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: you know, it's all those guys in the room and
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: they're looking at these lines on this paper and it's
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: this guy. They say all the wrong lines, and then
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: the guy knows that he has the right answer, but
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: he keeps sharing something else and he's like, oh, shoot,
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: it's gotta be three, but everybody's saying two. So I
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: guess I'm gonna say two. But in your heart you
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: know that no, it was three. It's not it's not two.
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: And so those are the things that you know that
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: I'm always big one and try to eliminate that group thinking,
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: try to cut out that outside noise. But I think
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: that being a combine scout really really helped me out
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: with that. And you just kind of get training in
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: all aspects of scouting, of running a pro day and
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: having your own conviction and all that stuff. So doing that,
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: you know, or I did the Midwest and cross checked
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: the Southeast, and after that I finally got an area
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: job doing the Northeast, and you know, we had a
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: new regime come in, you know, fit Billy Devaney became
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: my general manager and began the Northeast area scout job
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: and then the rest of his history.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Fast forwarding to the you're rising up the chart with
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: the Rams go twenty thirteen rolls around. This kid out
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh is a defensive tackle. What was your initial
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: thoughts and feelings on Aaron Donald the prospect?
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: So, Aaron Donald, he's another great, great study in terms
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: of blocking out the outside noise. And because at the
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: time we had I think we had Michael Brockers and
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: Kendall Langford and you know, we had already drafted Chris Long,
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: So we had these big defensive linemen at the time,
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: and I'm going to pitt and I'm like, this guy's amazing,
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: but I'm like, the coaches are going to hate him
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: because he's not big. And I'm like, and then, so
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: now you're.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: Battling sure, you know, going in, how high.
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: Of a grade do I give him? Because I get
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: this guy this high of a grade, But the coach
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: is gonna be like, what are you talking about? This
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: guy's only six foot and twenty five. So, but I'll
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: never forget. And this is why always say to this day,
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: be in tangibles are the separators of success. Is that
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: I knew the defensive coordinator at Hit the time, Matt Howise,
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: because he was working with Stagnola in that previous staff
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: under spags. And so I go in the pit and
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: I see Matt and Matt tells me, hey, Brad, are
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: you staying for practice? And I said, yeah, yeah. He
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: said come out about a half hour early. And he
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: didn't tell me why. He just told me to come
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: out of half. So I'm thinking as a scout, I'm like, oh,
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: he's gonna give me some more background information, some more intel.
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: He'll be out of practice earlier. So he didn't tell
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: me that. He just told me to come out of practice early.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: So I come out to practice early. You know, they
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: practiced in that bubble at the Steelers, the Steelers, and
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: so I go out there and I walk out to
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: the bubble and it's the ball boys, the equipment managers,
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: the specialists, the kickers, the punter of the long snapper,
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: and Aaron Donald. Those are the only people in the bubble.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: And Aaron Donald is sitting on this bag fully taped
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: up with this twis in his knee as if like, man,
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: I've been waiting all day, like where's everybody at because
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: I've been waiting on this all day? And so then
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: I see Matt House. He comes out with all the
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: coaches and Matt goes, Brad, you come out early. I
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: was like, yep, and he goes, did you see it said?
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: I was like nothing else needed to be said. I
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: was like, that's that's it. That's it. So yeah, Aaron Donald,
• 51:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, a very talented player for an explosive, very strong,
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: I mean all that, very athletic. I mean, he had
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: this rare combine. But it's his work in indangibles and
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: his passion for football that a lot of people just don't.
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: I mean they know now, but at the time, like
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: and that was my story that I told, you know,
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: less need and Jeff Fisher like, I'm like that said
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: it all to me, is that when Matt House told
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: me to come out there early, and and sure enough
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: he's always been that way.
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: When he starts slipping in the draft, are you in
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: the war room like, hey guys, Scott or is it understood, Like, hey,
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: if he's there, we're taking them.
• 52:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was pretty understood. You know, we had two
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: picks that year, so you know we had we we
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: we took Greg Robinson and then and then you know
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: that's the that was the premium position, that was the
• 52:32
  Speaker 2: talented you know, what I mean, like, that's that's that's
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: what it was.
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: So and guess what, every mock draft had Robinson going
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: first or second.
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: There's no doubt it was himboy Sammy Watkins that I
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: think we were targeting, and then finally we just kind
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: of severed in on Greg Robinson. But that that was
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: a great draft. But I mean that was after that.
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: It was so then after that when we when we
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: when we got to that next pick, it's like, now, yeah,
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: Aaron Donald, you got you know, Mike Evans, you got
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: Zach Martin. It's just yeah, so many that was a
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: great Odell Beckham, I mean, c J. Bos like, you
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: got all these great players and so but you know,
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: the sites were said on on Aaron Donald. I never forget.
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: We got to that pick and a team called and
• 53:23
  Speaker 2: uh they offered a pretty tyson trade offer, and I'm
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: never Jeff thetheless was like, absolutely not, We're pitching this guy.
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: And that's just it. And uh, I'll never forget in
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: that draft meeting of our assistant gentle manager Ray Agne,
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: he was the one that really like in that draft
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: meeting leading up to that draft because a lot of
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: people are saying because of the size you know he
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: was going to be a sub rush you know, specialized
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: nickel sub rush guy. And I never forget. Rad was
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no,
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: he's every day like it is. No, it's no specialized nothing,
• 54:04
  Speaker 2: And like he said it with the most passion. And
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: you know Ray Agnew, you know Tompson Page like he's
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: like when you hear Ray Agnew and Radnews, very salt
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: smoke guy. But when he hit said, I was like, Okay,
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: this is real.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: They played you guys played Tampa and it was a
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: thunderstorm and I remember I don't know who the decordinator
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: was at the time, as probably Greg Williams. They were
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: lining airing up and outside linebacker in a three four yeah,
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: And I was like, I've never seen this before and
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: it was in a rainstorm and he was just out
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: there sacking quarterbacks from the OLB position.
• 54:37
  Speaker 2: He is he has rare I mean, if you look
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: back at his combine, he had Shuttle times like he
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: had dB Shuttle times, but he just had like thirty
• 54:48
  Speaker 2: reps in two twenty five and ran a four to six.
• 54:51
  Speaker 2: And because of the way he's built and he's still
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: got long arms and he's so explosive, but again, like
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: he's talented. I tell the story all the time about
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: Aaron Donald and I say it about Cooper Cup as well,
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: and I was like, yeah, man, like this guy loves
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: football and he was hard like because that time where
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: he was the first one in that bubble in practice,
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: He's been that way a freaking old day. He's the
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: first one out at practice every day. And I'll never forget,
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: even his rookie year, before he was even starting, I
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: never forget. I had to run to the facility real quick.
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: It was. It was a Saturday Saturday night and I
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: think I was heading out on the road somewhere the
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: next day, and so I run the facility grab stuff,
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: and it was Aaron Donald and he was in the
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: world because I was like, there's no players here. It's
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: like it's like eight nine o'clock at night, Aaron Donald
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: in the whirlpool watching his iPad like he's not even
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: a starter. He's not even the starter, but he's preparing
• 55:57
  Speaker 2: like he's the starter as a rookie. And and it
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: was it was the same way with with with Cooper
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: Cup when you know he drafted him, and that's when
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: it really it hit me. I'm like, look, man, if
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: these players don't have the tangibles, in the passion, in
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: the work ethic, in the football character, it's not gonna work.
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: It's just bottom line.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: I love this stuff. We're gonna we're gonna do rapid
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: fire and then we're gonna wrap this up. We'ven't been gotten
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: into some of the Lions stuff I want to talk about. Jered,
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: I thought it'll be another time. Yeah, I'm gonna go
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: rapid fire and you just give me some answers and
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: we go from there. Your greatest mentor as a football
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: professional non life, but it's a football person in your career.
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: Who is the person that kind of you look to
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: and say, this guy showed me the ropes?
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: And I have to say, Dick Daniels. I have to
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: say Daniels.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know that name. So tell
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: me who he is.
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so so Dick Daniels. He was a Northeast scout
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: at the time when I first joined the scouting apartment
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: as a scouting intern. And he's the one that kind
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: of took the time out. That's the that's the guy
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: that told me good job after I winning that yark
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: Rooman stilled my gut about this player on this profile
• 57:08
  Speaker 2: tape I made, and and he just kind of told
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: me like, hey, look man, like this is this is
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: what you got to do. This is how you do it.
• 57:16
  Speaker 2: And we went to this college All Star game called
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: the Cactus Boll It was like this small school college
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: all star game down in Texas. This is back when
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: they saw like one forty yard dash and stuff at
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: All Star games. And I remember it was just me
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: and him and every morning before he went out to practice,
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: we would sit in that lobby and he would just
• 57:36
  Speaker 2: tell me just all the ins and outs of Rochster
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: building team building. I mean like he was he was
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: that guy, and you know he had been in the
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: league for thirty years you know then there and he
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: just would just give me so much knowledge and intel.
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: So if I there's a lot of guys, That's why
• 57:57
  Speaker 2: I kind of like that, because a lot of guys
• 58:00
  Speaker 2: I can name. I can name Lawrensman, Cunson, I could,
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: I can name less need but uh, from from the
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: very gig go, I'd have to say the game.
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: Who is the player that you remember being most convicted
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: about and using your voice the loudest and maybe if
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: you want to say, pounding the table to be selected
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: in any any draft, any team you've been a part of.
• 58:24
  Speaker 2: Hm hmm.
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: Could be a late round guy who you're like, hey,
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: let's take a shot on it. Could be a first
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: round pick, someone that you were like, this is my dude.
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: And I remember asking Jason Light about this and he
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: was like, in Philly, Trent Cole was my guy. You know,
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: like you just have this random guy like, that's my guy.
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: For me, it was John Johnson the BC.
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: Talk about it. I love this.
• 58:50
  Speaker 2: So it was funny that draft. I remember it was
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: like that's when we first hired Sean McVay, and you know,
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: we had a lot of new coaches and Less, you know,
• 59:02
  Speaker 2: Less was in that whole hiring process, so you know,
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: he usually is like deep diving and everything all the time.
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: He didn't have that kind of time because we're doing this.
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: No, he's interviewing Doug Maroon and guy.
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: Regime makeover and so I'll never forget. We get into
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: the third round and you get to those points in
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: the draft where the board just looks kind of foggy,
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: like no one's really standing out. No, one's really it's
• 59:32
  Speaker 2: just kind of just static and staying and everyone's kind
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: of staring at it, and you know, everybody started names
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: and I just said, I was just like John Johnson.
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: I said, just let's just pick John Johnson. And I
• 59:47
  Speaker 2: never forget Wade Phillips. He looks over at me and
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: he's like John Johnson. I said, I'm telling you, this
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: guy's a starter, Like he's a starter. So Wade Phillips.
• 59:56
  Speaker 2: I love Way Phillips. He just like, oh, he's a
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: starter man. And so I just so I just kept
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 2: on the table for John Johnson. I that I'm telling
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 2: you John Johnson like, because I remember I went out
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 2: the BC Yukon game saw him live, Like I just
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: love what I saw out of him, like another guy
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 2: just high and tangible is how working. I actually thought
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: he was going to be more of a coverage player
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: and then he actually transformed himself into more of a
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: box kind of player. But I'll never forget. I just
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: that that was the moment I think that I felt like,
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: you know, I had just like a voice, and I
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: think it was a needed voice because everybody was new,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: Like you know, he had a whole new coaching staff,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 2: you know, we did just a lot of change and
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: you know, make over there and I'll never forget, you know,
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: I just had a lot of.
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: You're in New Orleans NFC Championship game a few years later,
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: who makes the biggest play of the game.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 2: Oh well, you can say a lot of guys did,
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 2: but I actually think Jared Golf played one of his
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: best games there. Johnson made the big pig at the end.
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: Yes, that Golf was awesome in that game, you know everyone,
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: And I've worked with Sean Payton this past year and
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: he's still sensitive about it because obviously the non call
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: on the Nicole Roby Coleman thing. But I always said,
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: you're up thirteen to nothing at home, you got you
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: got the ball first in overtime, you got to close
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: the door. But Jared Golf that day would not quit it.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: Like what people don't realize about the game. It was.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 2: It was the loudest thing ever. And it's like he
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: literally he couldn't hear his headset win all these He's
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 2: busting enough to try to run to the receiver before
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 2: the PLAYFOD game to tell him to sit like that.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 2: It wasn't just about his stats, about him throwing. It
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 2: was about the adversity came through. But it's funny saying
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 2: that about Sean Payton because I talked about I talked
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 2: to Dan about that game and this is sure. Yeah,
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 2: And and you know Dan, like me and Dan are
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 2: just we're so much like the same in person. Dan
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 2: he never said anything about all that call was. You know, No,
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 2: he was like, no, we shouldn't have put ourselves in
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 2: position to actually get it up, you know what I mean, Like,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 2: you know, he like, we're all about accountability, Like that's
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 2: just weighing so much in our building. And Dan was like, no, no, man,
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 2: we shouldn't have put ourselves in the position to actually
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: give y'all an opportunity to do that, you know what
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 2: I mean. So you know, you gotta love Dan's response
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: on that. This is like, that's such a Dan Campbell.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: Were you were you at Jared Goff's pro day at Cow?
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: Were you there that day?
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 2: No? I wasn't at the pro day.
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: They speak, they speaking legendary. I mean, I think Mike
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: Silver wrote a beautiful piece on it when it happened.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: But like the Rams, whatever its private workout or a private.
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 2: It was a problem. Range. Yeah, we actually purposely didn't
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 2: really send people out to his pro daye because we
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 2: kind of, yeah, we kind of wanted to keep it
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 2: close to the best. But no, I remember the private
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: workout and I wasn't there, but I know less you know, Jeff,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 2: all those guys were there and you just heard it
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: was just like man like because I think they did
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 2: him and Carson Wentz like back to back, and I
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 2: guess you know, it was all good for Carson Wentz
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 2: in terms of the weather and the conditions, but Jared
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: and I never I think we kind of gave Jared
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 2: a choice to move the location.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: And he's like, no.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: Let's go, and and he was out there just whipping it, man,
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 2: and he's extremely talented, and I'm so happy for him.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 2: Just kind of too.
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've been covering Jared since he got in,
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: but like for you, it's a personal connection where you know,
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: you draft him in La then you yourself get this
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: job in Detroit in the first big movie you make,
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: because you trade their franchise quarterback. And it almost felt
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: like it was a throw in, like yeah, we'll give
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: you golf, but here's Jared Gofflinlast year as one of
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: the best quarterbacks in the NFC.
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 2: Well, I remember when we were hammering out the details
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: of the trade. I mean, because you know, it was
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 2: kind of that carousel of available quarterbacks that year in
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 2: terms of like who was going to be available. So
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 2: obviously you know Stafford was getting traded to the Rams,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 2: but I never, forget less asked me. He was like,
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 2: do you want Jared in this trade? And I was like,
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 2: hell yeah, like absolutely, Like it wasn't like, just give
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 2: me any quarterback and I was like, no, I want
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 2: Jared in this trade. And the reason why I'm so
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 2: proud of him and I'm so happy for him is
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 2: because that first year, man, like you know, look, it
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 2: was almost like the guy as a starter in LA,
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: Like we're out of five years, he's in the postseason,
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 2: if not super Bowl, and so it's like the one
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 2: year that he did. But yeah, so like we make
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: the trade, and the way that the narrative was of
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 2: how the trade went, it kind of went like up
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 2: when Jared Goff came play, and I'm like, dude, this
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 2: guy was just in the divisional playing with a broken hand,
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 2: completing seven percent of its passes, Like why can't he
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 2: play anymore? So then we start the season and me
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 2: and Dan we tear the roster down to the stunt.
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 2: I mean literally, the only thing we really had was
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 2: an offensive line, and even all of those guys got hurt.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, besides Finny Sewell, all those guys are beat up.
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: So we really didn't have much in the skill player department.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 2: We didn't really, I mean, we had a beat up
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: offensive line. We didn't really have any weapons around him
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: to throw to, Like we thought that we didn't have
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 2: any money to play with in free agency really, so
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 2: we kind of had to play the cow formula. And
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: then we got Tyroll Williams number Shan Paarriman as like
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: the y oh we have those guys, and then Tyler
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 2: Williams kind of gets hurt. He's there. We cut with
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 2: Sean Pairman. So now we have like this rookie Moners
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 2: Brown and that like that's it and so and then
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 2: we kind of claim but you know, everything that he
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: went through that year. I mean, you know, you gotta
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 2: think Detroit, you're talking about a football town, like this
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 2: is a fan base that is unlike anything I've ever experienced.
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 2: Like this fan base, they care about their football. I
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 2: mean it's legit. I absolutely love them, but they're mad
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 2: at Jared. I mean, he was getting the booze and
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 2: all that, and I'm like, all right, we don't have
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 2: any weapons for this guy. Offensive line is beat up.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 2: We had to make a mid season offensive coordinator change
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 2: plays for the first time. Actually did a really good
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 2: job at it. But and I'm like, what quarterback would
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 2: be successful going through that kind of situation? Way Like,
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 2: I don't I don't know what quarterback would be six
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 2: I like, I.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: Tell you something also doesn't.
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 2: Happen, doesn't have an offensive line, didn't have.
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: A no c Like, do you know where I got
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: my respect for him? The toughness and all that's great,
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: and that's quarterbacks. And Yeah, didn't say a peep, didn't
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: speak negatively about McVeigh once, even though there was rumors
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: out there that like, oh yeah, McVeigh couldn't win within
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: him just kind of put his head down, went to work. Okay,
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: I'm a quarterback, let's go. And I know he's a
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: number one pick and he makes a lot of money.
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: And everyone says, well, that's what It's a lot easier
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: said than done.
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, And that's I've always said about Yeah, like
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 2: you said, like the toughness, Yeah, the quarter you gotta
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 2: have that, but the mental and I've always respected Jared's
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 2: mental toughness, Like he that's one trait of him that
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 2: I think kind of goes under the radar a little bit,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 2: But he has like top level, elite mental toughness because
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of things that he's been to,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 2: Like if something off that NFC Championship game first New Orleans,
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 2: like people want to talk about, like the noise that
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 2: he had to deal with and all that stuff, But
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 2: he goes to that twenty one season and he does
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 2: not complain. He just goes through it and it starts
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 2: coming together late in the season and then you know,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 2: he has a year that he had last year, and
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 2: now it's like, oh, Jared Golf's good, And I'm like, well,
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 2: he's actually always been good. But everybody, like I talk
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 2: about the psychology of the process, it's the recency box,
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 2: and it's like, oh, well, the last thing we saw
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 2: is Jared Golf got cast it off, so he can't
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 2: play anymore. It the last thing we saw is him
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one, so he can't play anymore. Right,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 2: Like I'm like no, he can't play. So when he
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 2: had the season he had last year, I think a
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 2: lot of people were like, oh, Jared Golf, and I'm like, no,
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 2: he's He's always been a good quarterback. He's always been
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 2: uber talented, you know, he's always had those traits to
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 2: excel the football team. And so again I'm just super happy.
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 2: But like what you're saying about him, not complaining him,
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 2: not you know, saying this and that, Like that's what
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 2: makes him pretty cool. He's a Detroit line like he's
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 2: he's he's that, Like he's embodied what the city's about.
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 2: And I think the toughness and everything that he's endured
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 2: and I think everybody just has a lot more appreciation
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 2: about him. Man. Again, i think we'll be even better
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 2: offensively this year coming up, and I'm just I'm excited
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: All Right, we've been on for over now, we're going
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: to wrap it here one last Yeah, it's been amazing.
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: I could do I could honestly do an audiobook with
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: you for six hours. I'm loving this. I want to
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: talk about Tavon Austin. I want to talk about Steedman Bailey.
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: I want to go I want to go deep I
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: want to go deep, dude, I want to talk about
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: what that was Another.
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 2: One of those drafts though, man like that twenty thirteen drafts.
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: Man, I know I want to talk Toby Dress for
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: the next hour with you. Let's wrap it with this.
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: Lions fans listening, this is the first time in two
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: decades I'd say that they actually have a little pep
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: in their step and there's actual some national media attention. Saint,
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: the Lions could be the team. I know you're excited
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: with what you've built. What would be your message to
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: Lions fans as we head towards the start.
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 2: A training camp, you know, just continue to stick with
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 2: us and just continue to know that we're not done yet,
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 2: and just know that we're always gonna work hard, keep
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 2: our pedal to the metal, is going to stay aggressive.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 2: You know. I love the fact that it's a lot
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 2: of this what they call buzz and hope, and I
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 2: think this fan base and our city deserves that just
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 2: through all that they've been through. But at the end
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 2: of the day, me and Dan know that, you know,
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 2: we hadn't made the playoffs yet, and so that's that
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 2: that's what has to be. We got to get in
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 2: the dance and uh, you know we we we have
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 2: full faith and optimism that I think we have the
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 2: right structure place, uh that that we can we can
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 2: get that done. But uh, we got to go out
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 2: and improve it. And that's that's how we're wired. We're
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 2: We're all about accountability and earning it and do it
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 2: the right way. And that's what the city of Detroit is.
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 2: It's roll up to sleeves, get it done, no excuses,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 2: and just know that you know that your your your
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 2: football team is doing the exact same thing. And I
• 1:11:17
  Speaker 2: think it's a lot of reasons for the optimism and excitement,
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 2: but I do think that you know, all the very
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 2: healthy and all that. I do think that the fans
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 2: would be really excited.
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: And first game Thursday night kickoff.
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Brad Holmes.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: This was awesome. Honestly, I feel like we should do
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: a weekly hour long show.
• 1:11:38
  Speaker 2: Oh this is awesome. I didn't even know it's an hour.
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 2: I'm like, you've been a good conversation.
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: Out the clocks. I love talking to you. I think
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: you're great at what you do. But I really honestly
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: think you've got great perspective, not only on football, but
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: on life. And it's cool your path.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: I didn't know the enterprise running car stuff, but it
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense to me. As well rounded
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: a guy as you'll meet in the NFL. I love
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: you coming on, Thanks so much for joining.
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 2: Thanks a lot. You do it the right way man.
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 2: I got a lot of respect for what you do. Man,
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 2: And you know you.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, I had I had Jack Campbell in my top
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: ten just so you know. In Brad Holmes, everybody thanks Brad.
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: All right, all right, So if you're listening to that,
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: you're like, all right, this is the guy. That's the guy.
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: The Lions are in great hands.
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 2: Aaron.
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you had a great familiarity with
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: with Brad Holmes, Aaron Kaufman, my producer. Your thoughts.
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 3: I mean, I love hearing his like his stories from
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 3: the draft room and and you know, it's such a
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 3: real story. Everyone is talking about every pick and the
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 3: Lions in particular had so many comments that you know,
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 3: every draft pundit is talking about they took the wrong people.
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: At each spot.
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 3: And I love hearing him just being like, no, this
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 3: guy was was like you.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: Said, yeah, who we want Amble as a top fourteen guy.
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: So screw it, We're taking him Enterprise rental car to
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: working as a as an assistant to the media coordinator
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Hawks in a different sport, to working
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: at the airport. Like I hear that stuff and it's like, yeah,
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: there's there's it takes hard.
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 3: Work, yeah, yeah, and his resilience and like sticking with
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 3: it and just I also loved I was out in
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 3: the field and I saw these guys that were over
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 3: there helping with practice.
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: I was like, what are they?
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, I want to be that Yeah.
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: Brad Holmes was awesome. If you're listening and you're an Alliance fan,
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: I think you got to feel pretty good. If you're
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: not a Lions fan, you gotta at least respect the
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: hell of the guy who's calling the shots in the
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: front office. This is the season with Peter Schrieger. Is
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: what we do. We talk to men and women around
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: the league and we try to get them in a
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: different light than you usually see in front of a
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: press conference or at a podium. It's produced by the
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: great Aaron Wan Kaufman. I want to thank Chason English.
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: I want to thank Kurt our editor who's going to
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: do a bang up job on this, I want to
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: thank Jack Rudd, our music maestro. I also want to
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: thank over on the NFL side, the great Chason Kleinman
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: and Matt Schneider and Meredith Batt and David Jurenka and
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: their team at NFL Media having a blast. Gu season
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: is rapidly approaching, but these off season episodes are some
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: of my favorite. Hope you listen to next week's Got
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: Another Good Guest Up Ahead the season with Peter Schrager
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio.
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.