2011 AFC Championship with Matt Patricia | Ravens vs. Patriots

Matt Patricia is in studio! The former Head Coach and Coordinator is with us to breakdown a legendary Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots AFC Championship clash. We go back to January 2012 (48:45). We take a look at these teams (58:40). We get into the game (1:50:32). We get some never before heard Patriots stories in our first edition of The Chill Zone presented by Coors Light (2:21:36). Then we wrap up the show by scoring the game (2:54:03).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was laughing at him earlier. I was like, do
you remember my oldest dom's first Halloween. I'm like, I
came to your house, you know, for trick or treat
and so Rob obviously I know where he lives, right,
So he comes to the door and he's wearing the
exact same clothes he wore to work, with a knitted
Santa Claus like mask, like right on his face. So
I'm like, all right, So I'm like, trick or treat whatever.

(00:20):
My domb's like one, so it puts it in. So
I was talking to so he's got the mask, and
I was like, my god, you get a lot of
you know, a lot of tricker treaders or anything. And
he's not really saying anything, and I was like, I
was like all right, and.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
He kind of like looks at me. He's like, how'd
you know it was me? And I was.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Like, I know, I know where you live, and you're
in the same exact clothes I saw you in two
hours ago.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Like in Foxborough, like Jack Santa Clause.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
It was like it was like the best man.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Welcome to games with names. They're Jack and Kyler. I'm
Julian Edelman, and we are on a mission to find
the greatest game of all time, and on today's episode,
we are covering a special special game, the twenty eleven
AFC Championship between the Ravens and Patriots, with three times

(01:16):
Super Bowl champion, former defensive end offensive coordinator, an actual
rocket scientist, Matt Patricia Matt e p and we get
into talking about everything, the time he almost killed Gronk.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
He takes off it starts to run, and I take
the garbage can and I throw it behind me, and
all I hear is oh. And I turn around. He's
on the ground and he's laying there and he's not
moving this Friday before game.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
We get into the time he got Belichick's trust, you know,
Matt's side of the Malcolm Butler interception, the call for
high tower stripsack in twenty eight to three, the rival
between the Ravens, and what it's like in Patriots coaching meetings,
and when Matty pew We're gonna win. Like we get
into everything, Okay, Then we wrap up the show by
bringing you the Chill Zone presented by Coors Light. How

(02:07):
cool is it to have Cores Light as a sponsor.
We're in the big leagues. Now we're the big leagues boys,
so buckle it up. This is a long one. Let's go.
Games with Names is a production of iHeartRadio. January twenty second,
twenty twelve, Jellette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Baltimore lines up the game tying chip shot with a
trip to the super Bowl on the line.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Looks like we're heading into over today. Missed it? Why left?
Why left? This is the twenty championship game. Welcome to

(03:04):
Games with Names, and today we have a freaking, really
special episode. We get to go in the nitty gritty
of the twenty eleven AFC Championship between the Ravens and
the Patriots with one of the guys that had to
orchestrate a defense this year, with guys off the street
putting receivers there in the slot, one and only, Matthew Patricia.

(03:29):
Welcome to Games with Names.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Man at Thanks, I appreciate you having me. It's great
to be here.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
We were so excited to have you because we've had
all these Patriot coaches on but it's been all offense,
and we know what really wins the game. Defense wins championships.
Offense just sells tickets. But in one sentence, Why did
you pick this game?

Speaker 1 (03:47):
I was waiting since two thousand and four when I
got to know Ang. I think one of the coolest
things that I saw that year was Troy Brown played
defense and I was like, that is cannot wait to
do that again. And so we waited and then eventually
you came. And when you showed up, I was like,
that's the guy. That's the guy we're going to get

(04:09):
to play defense, and it finally happened in the AFC
Championship game. So this one to me because of you, Miracraft,
that year was really special to me, to the team, uh,
to the Craft family. Uh, this is just one of
those games and against one of the teams that we battled.
I mean, we want to talk about battle. This was
a war with these guys when we played them. It

(04:30):
was physical, it was tough, and we had to have
tough guys on the field, and we had some injuries
on defense that year and you were a tough guy.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
And we'll jump into it, but is this the greatest
game of all time?

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Uh? The greatest game of all time? I saw the list.
I mean again, there's some championship games that I think,
are you know, obviously up there, but this is a
special one.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Of all time. Okay, special of all time. We like that.
That's first time we were heard. It's not the greatest
game of all time, but it's the world's specialist game
of all time. I saw the specialists of all all
games of all Maybe what's life looking like these days?
What are you doing?

Speaker 1 (05:05):
So back home? And my family took this year, took
the year off, you know, just was I was in
Philadelphia last year. That was great, great people down there,
but my family was still in Massachusetts. I missed my kids.
You know, my kids got big really fast. My oldest
Dominic he came to visit me at Thanksgiving, and you know,
he was about chess level. And then he came back

(05:27):
for Christmas. He's thirteen, and he was looking at me,
you know, damn near right, yeah, And I was like, okay,
this is going really fast. You know me, you know
how I worked like I worked life. Balance wasn't my
my strong suit. So it just had an opportunity to
be dad.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
And that's what I'm do. You know, I tell this story.
White people always, they always ask me, why do you
why aren't you getting into coaching? And I always say,
I did my time. Okay, I was in New England
and I would leave the facility. I put my hours in,
I put a fifteen fourteen hour day in, but I
would leave. I say it all the time. I'd leave

(06:01):
at seven o'clock and you see Matty P specifically b
flowing all these guys talking to their kids, seeing their
kids for the first time of the day, right before
they had to go back in for night meetings with
Bill right like, I ain't doing that. And Maddy P
was one of the guys that was a cock guy.
We like to call him a cot guy because you'd

(06:22):
look into Matty PA's office and you'd see the fucking
cop because he slept there all night. Now, what do
you do in twenty four hours in the building? Explain
this to me?

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Yeah, that's a great question. I mean there's a lot
of times at two o'clock in the morning, I'm like,
holy cow, like is this even what are we doing?
Just kind of how the day was, you know. I
think my thing coaching and why I spent so many
hours there is I was always paranoid that, you know,
the next day would come and I wouldn't be prepared

(06:50):
to give the players every bit of information they needed
to be successful.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
In the game. You know, it just kept me up.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
And the thing about it is everyone calls it work,
and it wasn't work as my passion. Yeah, you know,
so like when you when you do something that you're
that passionate about, time doesn't really matter, you know, just
so you gotta get up at three thirty in the morning.
You get up a three thirty morning, who cares? You
gotta work till one work to one?

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Who cares?

Speaker 1 (07:13):
You know, if I'm doing something that I know, I've
got to have, you know, preparation, and I got to
be prepared to give the players, give you guys the
information so you can go do what you're supposed to do.
Then I can stay up for days. It doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Now you're kind of like coaching Belichick because you got
to get him prepared with all this stuff and stuff everything,
because you're helping him out with all his podcasts. So
does it keep you up at night to have him
fully prepared for all these podcasts and media gigs that
he does.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
I think I think Bill's doing just great.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
I means you're doing a great good great coach. We
got a great coach.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
We got a great we're having We're having a lot
of fun. We have our our podcast on YouTube coach, which.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Killing I watch it. I watch it, dude, Well, I
like appreciate that. Well, people don't realize I listened to
this fucking guy. These guys speak for fifteen or for
twelve years, and I was like in the front listen
to everything. So it's kind of like I watch that,
I'm like, oh, it's kind of like normal. Yeah, feel good.
It feels feels comfort, It feels yeah. And I also

(08:08):
I agree with a lot of how you guys, you know,
it brushes up my knowledge and it because it makes
me hit stories. When I hear you guys talking about
stuff or how you guys break down a certain coverage
or something, then it sparks something in my mind. Did
that I can talk about.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
It's how we see the game, you know, So what
happens I see the game?

Speaker 2 (08:24):
How you see the because that's where I went to school.
That's what we did.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
We went to a doctor program about all the time,
Like we went to a doctor program of football, and uh,
you know twenty years you know at New England, Bill
and I you know, Bill's like my closest friend, you know,
he's he's we spent a lot of time every day together,
more time than with our families. Last February, I was
I was actually driving down to Philly and he's like, hey,
He's like, I got to go to New York. He's like,
do you mind if ive, you know, jump in the

(08:48):
car with you. And I was like, you know, we'll drive.
So it was three hours he and I just in
the car and we were just going, like we go,
like we can you know the stories the we're talking
about the rosters in the league right now, we're talking
about coaches, coaching changes, we're talking about trees, we're talking
about players, we're talking about past players. It was three
hours of game plans and just all of it. And

(09:12):
I'm pull into Manhattan and he's like, oh, that was great.
And I was like, honestly, Bill, I was like, if
we had filmed this whole thing for three hours, I'm like,
everyone would have been amazing. Like it just and the
idea hit me and I was like, I got hey,
I got an idea. Like I'm gonna go write some stuff.
I said.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
I said, I'm gonna call you later, and I have
an idea. He's all right, so I did.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
I just wrote the show, you know, I wrote the
Coach Show and kind of a bunch of different ideas
things that we could do. You know. It started off
with a lot of Hey, let's go through a normal
work week like we would and kind of give everyone
behind the scenes look at kind of how we game plan,
like how we prepare to Hey, maybe we'll look at
some games, we'll talk about matchups, we'll talk about the players.
Let's just teach some football. Let's just go teach football

(09:53):
because that's what we love to do. And you know,
we were talking and we were like, you know, here's
term all the time, double mug. This was actually what's
the conversations.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Like what's double mug for kindergarteners? What is everybody like?

Speaker 3 (10:04):
What is that?

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Though?

Speaker 1 (10:05):
That's that's the big thing, Like everyone's like what exactly?
We heard it all the time, but what exactly is
double mug? So we just I was like, hey, why
don't we just break it down?

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Six on the line? Why do they do it?

Speaker 1 (10:13):
You know, five on the line?

Speaker 2 (10:14):
What do those look like?

Speaker 1 (10:15):
You know?

Speaker 2 (10:16):
Seven up?

Speaker 1 (10:16):
And just so it's been fun, you know, we get
up on the board. I give him to a couple
of demos once in a while, which is good. He's like, fun, Hey,
beat the crap out of me on the one ball
security thing.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
I was like, you don't have to hit me.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
It's like, it's okay, and we get to tell some
stories and my my favorite, one of my favorite ones
obviously was you know, I got him to cut cut
up film. I don't know if he saw that one,
but like all the time I cut ups. Hey, we're
gonna watch this cut up and we say all the time,
and I was like, well, where did that come from?
And it actually they we used to physically cut the film,
and you know, he just he just that's when you

(10:50):
get you know, you pull Bill out and he becomes,
you know, the guy we all know. It was awesome
to watch him do all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
So I think it's been great content, and it's been
super fun of Lombardy in there as well, because he
gives a whole other perspective and he's great at talking.
If you want real content, this is what I think
you need to do. This is what you do. You
get fifteen to thirty of the worst fucking football plays

(11:18):
of the week, and you sit there and low lights, lights,
and you don't tell Bill there's a camera in there,
and you just say it's me and you guys, and
then you film it and then you have him discussed
like what that is. And I think that would be
just pure fucking gold.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, low lights. When we would get those in the
squad meeting, it was always going to be real interesting
for sure. Look, that's the beauty of coaching and certainly
the way that we were raised, you know, in New England,
and we could certainly look at things we did well
and learn from if we definitely learned from the things
that we did not so well in those team meetings
for sure.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yeah, I mean that's that's part of the game. It
was part of the game. Now what in football right
now or what organization are you looking at? Like, Man,
they got a lot of shit dialed up right now.
I like how they're coaching staff's doing. I like how
their roster's built. Yeah, there's some deficiencies here, but I
like their theme of style football. What are some of

(12:15):
the organizations you like right now?

Speaker 1 (12:17):
Well, you know, just coming from Philly, I think you
know this year they're just doing a great.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
Job, Like a fucking different I mean, Jesus, it's all right.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
I mean it's awesome though it's great in insane. I
mean he does the reverse leap frog, and you know,
I'm like sitting there with my son and I was like,
you will never see that again. I was like, it
was the craziest thing ever. You know, So you appreciate,
as we know, you appreciate when you see greatness. And
I just think from top down, how he nick they
do a great job, Jeffrey Lorie of just bringing in

(12:47):
really good football players, tough you know, tough team. Their
offensive line. You know, I love offensive line. I love
the play of the offensive line. And Jeff Stoutlin, who
I coached with at Syracuse years ago, he's there. I
think he's developed those guys. Just it's been remarkable to
see how that offensive line's played without Jason Kelce the
first year. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Now and now now, granted they have a generational talent
running back right now, that makes a lot of people
right yeah, but still they're they're beating fucking guys up. Yeah,
they're moving the move image, they're they're big, swallow up.
They just cover you up.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
And with you know, a guy like Saquon doesn't take much.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
That Jalen Carter. He looks like he's in shape right now. Yeah,
so he is.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Last year in practice, there was a practice he went out,
we were in pads and he it was like one
of those deals where he just destroyed practice. He was
unblockable and you were like, wow, this is that's next
level stuff. So you couldn't wait to see him come
along from that standpoint. But I think, you know, twenty fourteen,
we went to the super Bowl, like, and we know

(13:50):
how hard that is, and we know how long the
season is. You know, if you remember twenty fifteen, you know,
the end of twenty fifteen, like we kind of hit
a bad skid at the end before the season we
lost I think five out of six or four out
of six, like whatever it was. It was bad until
we got to the playoffs and we pushed to the
championship game.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
And that year in fifteen, the Soldier went down and
ate Deon Lewis went down, I broke a foot yep like,
so we didn't like we were we were blowing teams
out that year. We were like, I thought that we
were really good that year and then all of a sudden,
we you know, you lose.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Guys so Philly last year, Yeah, same thing, same thing,
but now come back a year later. They get a
little bit more rest in the offseason last year. Now
they come back a year later and the ruling just
like we did in sixteen. So I see a lot
of similarities with those that three year stretch and then
you know kind of what they've been going through So Philly.
You know, I like Buffalo right now. I mean obviously, Josh,

(14:42):
I mean, look, I'm always gonna look at the offenses
of that will keep me up at night. You ask
why I don't sleep well. You know, when you're playing
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees like you know, I would
obviously my beard was big and black at the time,
and I would have these little white hairs. I'm like, okay,
that's Peyton Manning. I'm like, this one's Drew Brees, like
you know, because stay up a nico On, how are
we going to disguise? I think there's so many quarterbacks

(15:03):
right now, and Josh Allen and I think Buffalo's running
the ball. They're doing the things they need to do
to win. It's it's it's good.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
They're they're doing very, very good and I and I've
been since I've started doing TV. I always said, can
we get them a fucking run game and take the
ball out of Josh's hand forty five times of the
game and let him use his superpowers and situational plays?
Can we fucking do that? That's what they've done. Yeah.
The one thing that scares me with Buffalo.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
See if you get it right, what do you got?

Speaker 2 (15:30):
They're light there, their secondary is terrible, and they're light linebackers.
They're light linebackers up front. They and I love Milano,
but he's got a bice tenant and he's getting he
can't get off the blockers, and I just I get
so scared. They play that two show with the safeties
in the run box, and I remember whenever we struggle
with them, they were always light and you could run

(15:51):
the ball down the field on them and you could
control the game. And look at the teams that are
in it right now.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
So if you sat in the meetings, it's like you're
paid attention. You literally, it's like, you know, you know,
this is what makes me the happiest when I hear
you guys, you know Brew and everybody you know that
does this now or even when we used to be
in the Saturday night meal room, We'll be watching college football.
You guys would be running through situations on the screen,
and Bill and I would stand back and I would
just smile because I'm like, they're listening. I'm like, they're listening,

(16:19):
but they're you're You're exactly right with Buffalo.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
And why are they like?

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Because they play nickel defense, they play small. So the
run control the game?

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Love it?

Speaker 1 (16:28):
Control the game? How do you control the game? Run
the ball, stop the run, cover kicks.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
You know, and you nailed it, and you know, Josh,
and then if you do that, I'll tell you a
little template out here because we played Josh Bunch. Control
the game. You run the ball, you have long drives.
Then Josh gets a little antsy. If you're scoring points,
you get a little antsy and they'll throw He'll give
you three or four chances where you could pick them.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, he's gonna because he's got that gun slinger. So
that is the one thing Buffalo has scares this year.
But that's what they've done this year.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
They haven't turned the ball over, that's exactly. And then
another thing with this has been very remarkable to me,
this was like.

Speaker 1 (17:02):
Three hours in the car with Bill. This is we
could the way that we were all raised grab we
could do this for.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Um yeah hours. But with with Buffalo, you know, it's
just scared. You know, it's been really great to see
this because preseason we were all thinking, you know, this
is a rebuild year, you know, and they didn't have
the offensive weapons. But what they've done well as they've
they've drafted that Shakiir guy is a difference maker. He's
a safety blanket, little Beasley type that Alan loves to
have in the middle of the field. Coleman's contested catch guy.

(17:30):
He's made a couple of those, Samuel, he needs to
make a couple more. But they got the two tight ends.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
I was gonna say, what else did they do?

Speaker 2 (17:36):
The tight ends? Yeah, ends, and then they running that
bowl Cook So I like them too, And you're.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Right because with the defensive side of it, new safeties,
you know, they pieces I.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
Like, but he he plays too hard for his size.
He knocks himself out. And could Buffalo actually win it
this year? Though?

Speaker 1 (17:55):
I think that with Kansas City, you know again they're
love Kings City, love Andy, love Mahomes love how they win.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
I still it's it's hard for me right now to
bet against the Chiefs. Now. Everyone wants to say, oh
they're they're not playing good. They're not. You look at
them on third down, they dominate you. Look you look
at them on God to have you to talk about
this ship, I would love to. But they can win situationally,

(18:31):
which scares me because if you look at all the
other teams, Buffalo can do it. But Buffalo don't have
Kansas City defense. They don't got that that defense when
when you need a play, they can make a play.
And Spag knows how to win these games. And I
don't like. I don't like the plans of other offenses
against Spags. So like that's why I think that Kansas

(18:52):
It's the field needs to step their game up.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Other than Kansas City does right now is five plus
minute drives. They lead the league. So they are slowing
the game down. They're not going to give the other
offense as many possessions, and that's in third down, so
third down conversion, slow the game down, hold the ball,
situational football. Andy Mahomes fed on them and that's how
they went.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
They may not have an explosive run game. But you
know what they have. They have an effective run game.
They get that three point eight yards every time. It
may not be four, but they set themselves up in
those third downs manageable. And then Kelsey gets to do
his shit. Then they got a couple of those draw
fucking draw after Friday practice plays that they fucking do

(19:34):
in the red air like they do it, We've seen it.
And then you got Mahomes, which is death. And when
you have Mahomes, which has been the really craziest thing
for me because it's in a testament to Andy Reid
changing and evolving, because I remember specifically, anytime we played
the Chiefs and the Andy Reid team coaching staff, Bill

(19:55):
would always say, this guy does not want to run
the ball. He wants to throw the ball. It's in
his heart, he wants to throw the ball, which he's
kind of changed Andy's and he's unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Andy one hundred percent has died into the players he
has and how to win in late you know, late
part of the year, and we all know control in
the game, and they do a great job of.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
It without a doubt, you know. And it's crazy how
Shanahan came from that West Coast, but he instead of
using those short passes, developed the run game. So he's
taking those.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Mike's a little different now. Mike Shanahan, he was at Oakland, okay,
and then when he got let go from Oakland, he
went to San Francisco, but George Seaffer was the head coach. Okay,
so he went learned the West Coast in San Francisco.
But all those other guys, remember home Gren, All those
guys left going to Green Bay, so that whole tree

(20:48):
had kind of gone over there. So he had the
principles of the West Coast. But then he died into
the run game. You know, his run game that he
owned that he developed at Denver was that zone. But
he had the change up a power run game. And
and really but that's what Kyle runs. And yeah, I
mean they that whole family, and Kyle's you know, Kyle's
evolved too, his own his own sense. But you know,

(21:10):
Mike Shanahan will never forget two thousand and six we
played Okay, see if you remember this one, I know
you weren't there yet. Two thousand and six we played
in what was called the China Bowl.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Look this way, I remember hearing about so we had
to go to We were going to China.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
We were going to be the precursor for the Olympics.
The Olympics were in two thousand and eight in China.
Two thousand and seven, we were supposed to go to
China in the preseason. We're going to play Seattle. We're
gonna fly to Seattle, play Seattle. We were both teams.
Are gonna get on one plane fly to China, be
the precursor for the Olympics. And uh so the year
before that, in two thousand and six, we're playing Denver.

(21:45):
We had the China Bowl. There's there's it's painted on
the field, you know that, all of it. We had
jerseys and Chinese business cards.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
It was crazy. We were going to China.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
So that game we played Denver, and I remember that
game specifically because we're playing Mike Shanahan and we're ready
for the zone team. We're ready for the zones. And
so all week I've got Brew and Junior and my linebackers,
you know, and I'm telling him like, look, we're going
to creep the line of scrimmage. You know, we used
to play base defense. You know, three four, we're gonna
move up to two and a half yards off the
line because we got to go press these guards right now.
We got to get them off of the defensive line.

(22:15):
Vince and those guys tie and we got to get downhill. Well,
Mike went to the whole power gap, you know, duo
run game, and it was all down blocks.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
What is power gap? Duo? So all kind of the.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Same deal, right, good, good question, good question the side.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Of the boys if you're getting.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
In the same direction. Now we go to the gap,
the duo or the power double teams everywhere, double teams
all along. We're trying to move body.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
So we're two on one.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
It's six versus three hundred, Yeah, six hundred verse three
moving the line of scrimmage.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
Love it.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
So instead of pressing the line of scrimmage, we actually
linebacker wise, we got a stack. We got to get
over the top, pull the double teams off. Well, Junior,
you know who is kind of we were in the system.
He's running through and so we got gashed run game.
I mean I think we won, we gosh. And so
now we got to go in Monday to Bill's office
and we got to go through the tape and it
was not pretty. It was not good we had.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
It was a very long meeting.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
I've got Junior say out Teddy, Bruce, Ki, myself, Bill
killing us because we couldn't fit the runs power it's
not zone. We practiced zone all week, you know, ready
for the Shanahan stretch and uh. I remember just walking
out and Junior looking at me. He's like, I don't
I don't think I've ever I don't think I've ever
been spoken to by a coach like that before.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
That was that was the craziest meeting.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
And Teddy's like, yeah, we just gotta get it right,
you know, it's just it was just coaching. You know,
it was nothing new, but that was like the eye
opening moment I think for Junior, like Buddy, yeah, Buddy, Buddy,
because Junior had two different buddies, right, it was Buddy
and then Buddy Buddy depending if he new Year, if
he didn't know you, yeah, yeah, the other a couple
of different ones. But so that was the China Bowl.

Speaker 2 (23:49):
That was Mike Shannon.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
So we had the stretch, but they had the downhill
run too.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
So Manny p walk us through how you got into coaching.
You're from New York, New York guy Italiano like, how
does an Italian rocket scientist get into coaching?

Speaker 1 (24:04):
Yeah, good question, So you know, quick version of my story.
I appreciate you asking. So born and raised in Syracuse,
New York, right in between Syracuse and Utica, and my
mom is from Long Island's a little bit time down
in Long Island and then up in Syracuse. Family, hardcore,
hardcore Italian, you know it is where it is, Northeast,
Northeast Italian. Played Division III college football once. I was

(24:28):
a center and guard center, played tight end in the
heavy packages in my young years in college. But uh,
senior starting right guard and then played center when you
was recruited as a center. So Division three is great
because it's everyone's five ten or six foot and just
whether you weigh one seventy or three hundred, you know,
that's it. But everybody's the same height and it's just
depending on how.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Much you weigh.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
So we were Actually I went to a school called
RPI rinse Leer Engineers in school. Yeah, I wanted to
be you know, originally kind of grown up.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
I want, you know, like so the mascots and an engineer.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
It was an engineer. It actually was not like train
like you know, I don't know, like engineer, Like, it
wasn't a pocket it wasn't even like a pocket protector.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
I don't even know what the hell it was. It
was just wow, I guess, uh, what's on the side
of the helmet?

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Uh, your number for a couple of years or an R.
It was just keep it simple.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
I would put like the I would put like dag
room theory. Yeah, actually, you.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Know what the best one was, we really you know,
f equals force equals mass times acceleration, because that's what
we were doing.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
That's exact, that's exactly what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
That would be would be a good one. Yeah, great engineering.
So you know, I wanted to play in the NFL
and do all that stuff, right, and then my dad
quickly sent me down and said, listen, you're Italian. You're
gonna be about five to ten. You know, you're not athletic.
So the NFL thing is cool, but you're not going
to play.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
So what what else?

Speaker 1 (25:43):
I was a child of the eighties, fell in love
with top gun, wanted to be a military pilot, Like
I was all in, Like, you know, it's that's what
I wanted to do.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Love love planes. Yeah, so I was.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
Thinking about going to Annapolis West Point, the fly do
all that in the academies, you know, start junior or whatever.
We had pretty good high school team, so we're in
the championship game. So you start getting recruited, you know,
like everybody else.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
That's good.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Even though it Division three, you're still getting recruited. You
can get money and go to good schools that maybe
you couldn't get into if he didn't have sports, you know.
So RPI, I knew of my uncle had gone there.
He was a really successful engineer, had a great ROTC
program at our RPI. So I wanted to play football
in college, and I just decided to go there as

(26:29):
an aeronautical engineer. Looked at what was called PLC, which
is platoon leadership for the Marine Corps at the time,
which they were looking for pilots, and kind of that
was gonna be my route. That's where I was going.
So design planes, fly him, all that deal, you know,
maybe in the military after school. And I love football
like all of us, you know, just love it, right,

(26:50):
the smell all of it blew out my shoulder.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
My junior year.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
The Marine Corps PFT.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Is pull ups.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
You can't do pull ups with his shoulder. Let's wrecked.
Plus you know I'm five to ten away to seventy eight,
So that's not a not a good look. Really hard
to do, really hard to do pull ups. So luckily,
you know, you're kind of able to get out of
those programs. And I just, you know, rehab got ready
for my senior year. Played my senior year. We had
a really good team, graduated, and was going to go

(27:20):
back to school for my NBA so engineering Aeronautical engineering,
NBA kind of that route.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
And so I ga'ed, So you want to design airplanes
to sell them?

Speaker 1 (27:29):
I mean, just put it all together, right, you know,
just capitalize it and go. So, uh, I went back
gaid coached coaching offensive line. I played offensive line, and
you know, I remember just the first like half of
the year going you just you miss it. You know,
you're like, man, I could still do this, like I
could still play, like you know, you're just you're kind
of like it's hard when the game's done. Like game's done,

(27:51):
it's done. It's like you're not putting the pads on,
we're not going out back in the backyard and you know,
playing the game. So but I remember, you know, it
was coaching offensive line. His kid, Jimmy Shirtzer, remember his
name was right guard. He was a sophomore and we're
getting ready to play coast guard academy. And I just
remember teaching him like, hey, look this is what gonna
happen on the goal line. They're gonna do this, make
this block, We're gonna score. It's gonna be really good.

(28:12):
And it happened in the game and we scored. And
the joy that I saw on his face by doing
something and achieving it just like flipped it flipped everything
for me. And I was like, that's the greatest thing
I've ever seen to watch somebody actually be able to
do what they work so hard to do, apply it

(28:34):
on the field, help a team win, and go that.
I just I got hooked. Now, my dad was a
he was a wrestling coach, you know, so I had
me and it was a teacher my mom. My mom
was a teacher also, so he'sing was definitely part of
in my you know, in my blood. But I just
I loved it, right, but I get, you know, I
get done with that year, and my mom.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Was kind of like, hey, that.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Just got that's probably gonna Hey, you really well, you
need to go use it because your dad and I
are like getting ready to retire, you know.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
They were like, yeah, yeah, you're done sixty five, You're you're.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Eighteen year out. Let's go figure it out.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
So I did it?

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Is it is?

Speaker 2 (29:11):
I did?

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (29:12):
I didn't.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
I left. I got an engineering job. I did engineering
for like two years. But it was the same thing.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
You know.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
It was getting towards the fall, start to get fresh
cut grass smell, and you start to just the sweat,
the lot all of it, you know, all that stuff
just hits you and you're like, man, I missed this
a lot. So coach high school football, you know. And
my my boss was great. He let me do that.
And I was volunteering. I was actually living in Syracuse.
I was volunteering at s U with the strength staff

(29:37):
at the time. And I don't know, I just I
didn't love my job at the time. My boss was great,
people worked with were great. I missed football. I interviewed
for a job with an electric boat. I had been
talking to him for a couple of years. It was
a I was offered a job as a nuclear maintenance
engineer for all submarines and aircraft Carrieres and I say Navy, right,
So a huge job, great job, unbelievable. You know summary,

(30:00):
planes are planes are great, Subs are super cool, so
you know, diving into how those are designed and put
together and all that was amazing. So I get the job.
I'm literally driving home from the job.

Speaker 2 (30:11):
Phone rings.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
It's one of my old college coaches. He was at
Amherst College and Western mass He's like, hey, He's like, look,
I got a D line job here, pays like five grand.
He's like, what do you think? He's like, you want
to get into coaching? And I was like, you know,
I just walked out of a building where they offered me.
Like you know, you're twenty nothing years old, right, I'd
been doing an interesting for a couple of years. I
had like a BMW a jeep and I'm.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
Like, you know, I'm buying stuff like I don't know
what to do, right, you just you buy stuff.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
So very good offer from that company, a good salary,
all the rest of it, like five thousand dollars a
year coaching job.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
And I was like, yeah, yep, I want it. Let
me do it.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
I'm gonna do it because if I don't do it
now I'll never I'm never gonna do it. And if
you're gonna bet on anyone, bet on yourself, right.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
So I called my mom.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
She's like, how to go. I was like, it's great,
I got the job. She's like, that's awesome, that's amazing,
Like how cool. I'm like, I'm not gonna take it.
She's like, what are you talking about. I'm like, I
think I'm gonna go coach football. She's like what. I
was like, yeah, they're gonna pay me like five grand.
It's gonna be great. I'm gonna go coach, you know,
defensive line at Amage College. And she was like, what
what are you talking about? We just you know, you
just graduated, got this. I said yeah. I said. If

(31:15):
I don't do this now, I said, I'm never gonna
do it. So quit everything. Moved to Amherst. I coached
defensive line, was special teams, and I sold everything, you know,
because I just can't live them five thousand dollars a year,
you know, but you're saving everything can So I sold
all my cars. I bought a bike bicycle, which is
great around January when you're riding your bike to work

(31:37):
up a hill, you know, at five o'clock in the morning.
Cars are whizzing by you. You're getting covered, and you're
just thinking, like if I just swerve into the road
and one of these dudes hits me, like all I
want is to ride, like just give me. I don't
even care, just just give me, Like I'm just just
drive me off up the hill because this like I'm
not a small dude. So like, you know, a mile
up a hill on a bicycle in January is not fun,
Like it's not fun at all. So yeah, yeah, coming

(32:00):
down was good because you were coming down was good.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
We grew up in northern California, walked up hill both ways,
snow uphill.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Can I jump in here quick? I didn't realize you
coached at amhers Can you speak a little bit about
the Amherst Williams rivalry?

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, well absolutely, the little three right, and then Bill
obviously went to Wesley and so that was another thing
we talked about in the NESCAC. Huge rivalry the two schools.
I think this I think the story was the president
at Williams left. I think he took all the books
out of the library went to Amherst, created this huge
rivalry between the two teams. So I remember my first year,

(32:36):
I'm like, let's go, let's go be Union, and I
was like, I was so like just in the like,
this is my rival, it's a rival game. What's going
I was like Union, Union, Union, and you can see
all the guys like the fire what is there playing
Williams coach Like. So we actually won and it was
the first time we had beating them in like I
don't even know how long, four or five years, so
that was really cool. I actually want to finish in

(32:57):
my master's at UMass. Mark Whipple was the head coach there.
Don Brown was the defensive coordinator. They actually won the
national championship around the same time. So I left Amherst.
I went back to Syracuse. I was lucky enough coach
Pascalon he was the head coach, went back there, and
I coached at Syracuse George Leione and went back to offense.
So played offense, coached offense, went to Amherst, coach defense,
coach special teams, went back to Syracuse, coached offense, was

(33:19):
the offensive line with coach de Leone.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
And really at that point, like you know, growing up
in that.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
Area, for me, like that was it. There was no
pro sports. You know, it was Syracuse football was Syracuse
basketball back in the day in the old school Big East,
like that was unbelievable, the rivalies, the Carrier Dome, and
so going back to Syracuse for me was like amazing,
you know, and great people, great coaches. You know, was
there three years and coach p actually was gonna flip

(33:47):
me over. I was going to go back to defense.
I was going to coach linebackers there. And Brian Dabele calls.
Brian and I had played against each other in college.
He had went to U of R I was at
RPI and he said, hey, He's like, we're they were
in the middle of getting ready for the Super Bowl
run and all the stuff and the point. So this
is three three and he's like he's like hey, He's like, look,

(34:07):
we're going to have an opening here. You know, I'm
moving around, some people are moving around. He's like, you know,
do you want you know, you want to come out
an interview.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
I was like that.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
I hadn't even really thought about pro football at that point,
and I was like, yeah, I'm like let me, you know,
let me go check this out. You know. My draw
out of the game originally was I felt, you know,
probably the same in college as a college coach. My
college coaches were incredibly influential in my life. Yeah, I
just felt college I could really really help, yeah, really

(34:37):
help these you know help. I just wanted to help,
you know, I just want to help kids and help
them become you know, young adults, young men. So I
thought college was it. So I go and interview and
there was Syracuse guys at New England, you know, Ivan Fears,
Syracuse guy, Mike Wosick was there.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
Guy.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
So I go in. I interviewed Dable obviously, Josh Charlie
was the offensive coordinator. I was interviewing for offensive position
with those guys helping Dante, you know, Scar, helping with
the on line, because that's what I was doing at
Cracuse three hours with Bill, you know, going back and
forth playing the you know, football chess game, which he's
very good at.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
But what is that? How does that? What is football?
What do you Bill grilling young?

Speaker 1 (35:14):
He wanted to really figure out how did I think,
how did that problem solve? And I think that's what
he was looking for in the job, which you know
I did a pretty good job of, you know, And
after that.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
They like what's a question?

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Like, uh, it's just stuff that's going to be really
common to us.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
Now, Okay, you're sitting there, here we go, Okay, here
we go. What are you going to call in a
third and three situation? Your fucking head set goes out
all of a sudden, your middle line.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
Right now, thirteen years old watching the show, like, how
is that?

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Is that a situation he's asking you?

Speaker 1 (35:49):
Or is it?

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Like we would we talked a lot about.

Speaker 1 (35:53):
We were definitely we were doing Pythagoram theorem, and now
we were talking about, hey, here's a formation. This is
what the defense did. Why do you think the defense
did that? You know, things like which you would know
is like a crunch call, right, so we could call
cover two, but based on formation, you could bring the
corner off the edge because it was a short side
or nubside on the back side. And now it looks
like a pressure. So a lot of people are gonna say, oh, no,

(36:14):
they called a pressure here, but they didn't. It's just
a formation adjustment to the defense. So nice split again,
nicely split to the backside. So things like that of
just trying to see like how did you see the game?
How did you process, how do you problem solve? Of course,
like you know, there's the grunt work that we have
to do, the padding which is which was brutal. But
you know all of us that went in there as

(36:34):
young coaches, right, So the young guys that got there
this you know, basically within a year or two of
each other. Was Dable, Josh Casario, myself now again Dable
and Josh started on defense. I started on offense. Cory
Onnglin was on depress when I got and then we flipped.
Everybody flipped. Dable came over, Josh came over. Well, I
told I took flow from special teams. I had Brian Ferrence.

(36:57):
He went to offense.

Speaker 2 (36:58):
He started with me.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
He was one of my QC's.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
It was my QC. Here was that when he started.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
He started on defense and then we switched before the
season he went over all titands yep, but it was
all we were just you know, learning the game. So
get the job offered from New England and basically never
left like that was it? Like I went to the interview,
packed my car, ad a car. At that point I
bought another car which was good, nice and yeah, I
think I went from five thousand a year too. I
think Coach p paid me, like I don't know.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
If it was seventeen, it might have been seventeen.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
I was. I was like, I'm getting the cars right,
this is you know you got, I can afford I
can afford lunch. You know you do though, Like and coaches,
you know, they're great. Older coaches would be like, hey,
I need you to go get lunch. Here's you know,
twenty bucks. Like here's twenty bucks, you know, go get
a sandwich. And you'd come back and you'd be like,
get the sandwich wherever you get to change. He's like,
don't don't ever give me the change. And he was
like okay, So like they would you know.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Yeah, Randy used to do that to me. That's a
rookie because I was a seventh rounder that except twenty bucks,
it would be like an eight hundred dollars order, yeah,
for fucking right before travel. But he give me the money.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
The travel cash was great travel. Cas know, if you
were as you were a young co young player, you
know you had the older.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
Guys per diem take this perdice yet, but our per diem.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Was like the little lesson everybody else.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
Yeah, it was like thirty six bucks. I remember when
I first got there was thirty six bucks. Do you
know what we used to do with the pa diem?
Were you there when? Yeah? The plane used to we'll
be in the plane.

Speaker 5 (38:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
It was As a young coach, I was like, please win, please,
I need this. This is like the lights are being
turned off so my apartment. If I don't win, the
raft on the plane.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
So everyone would put there all their money and you'd
get and you put your initial on it, and you
put it in this bag and one of the stewardess
she'd go out and she'd pull it out, or she'd
pull out. The first one gets his money back, so
the person would get the money back, and then the
second one would take the whole bag. Oh you want
to be second all day, all day? You ever win, listen,
I would take it.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
I would take either one because I couldn't afford to
lose the thirty six dollars.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
I was like, I was done, and you cannot put
it in. By the time I got out of.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
About sixty four, Yeah, went up every a couple of
years if I lost that per diem, Like I wasn't
gonna be able to leave the facility because gas had
to stay in my car.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
I was leaving it. Coaches they got nothing. They were
so broke, broke.

Speaker 1 (39:14):
I don't think I ever won.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Damn.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
I know.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
It's like the power even put mine in y P.
I mean, so in the end you're like you won.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Yeah. We were good.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Even when I was older and I had money, I
still didn't put it in. But yeah, so that was it.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
I got to New England and and just uh. I
tried to learn as much as I could.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
You know.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
I was on offense obviously for two years with scar Uh.
And then Bill came and he's like, hey, I'm gonna
flip you over. You're in coaching linebackers side the ball.
And I was like, okay, this is this is gonna
be It's gonna be good.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah. So Bill clearly did his homework on you though.
He's like, all right, I did want to. He worked
on submarines. I'm a navy guy. He's he's a smart guy.
I'm a smart guy.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
So we had the Nescac little tree AMers William.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Beginning last before we move on rocket science ship.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
All my friends are actually rocket scientists. Get so pissed.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
Why when people say that because like, bro, you didn't
even do this, don't steal valor heuronautical engineering ship. How
does rocket fuel burn in space without oxygen?

Speaker 1 (40:22):
Great? Great question, We're gonna cut this out of the
entire episode. It doesn't it doesn't need oxygen.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
It doesn't need oxygen. But I don't know.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
I'm gonna text somebody on that one, killing me right now?
What about why are why are can we go through
like lift theories of Lyft of like you know Colvis
of Lyft on a plane, Like I actually was awake
on something.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
You know, it was so funny. Listen, I played football too,
Like I was like, what do we remember?

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Listen, here's the whole thing. I went to RPI, the
valedictorian of my high school. She went to r P I.
I sat right next to her, super smart. I was like,
I need a lot of help here. Like we're you know,
the rest of my football buddies are like passed out
of there. They're taking like, you know, the my my
electives in school. These were my electives. So like my
main courses were like theory of flight, thermo dynamics one,

(41:07):
thermo dynamics two, Egan values, eigenvalues, you know, mathematic, fluid mechanics,
all that stuff. I was like, I need a I
need like a can I get like an elective and not.
I don't want to say easy, but I'm just dynamics one,
Thermo dynamics two. I was like, I'm gonna take econ microeconomics, macronomics.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Those are my classes. I was like, okay, I just
need a couple of these, Like those are your electives?
What was your course?

Speaker 1 (41:31):
Lad?

Speaker 4 (41:31):
At Kent State?

Speaker 2 (41:32):
I had African American Studies read Oh, I had a
sex edge class I got. I did a sexual human
sexuality class. It was awesome, nice, and then I had
a lot of bunch of business classes. When we had
Ernie on the show, we were like, oh wow, Ernie
loves that old academic. Ernie's one of the great things Ernie.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
You know, Ernie obviously loves football like we do. So
I go to dinner at her Ernie's one night, I
go to see my wife and Ernie lives in an
amazing cool old.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
House, years old parents living. Yeah, exactly, it's been in
his family for.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
Built a library in the attic of this thing that
is the coolest historical like playbooks, Like I was like, Ernie,
let me learn about the flex defense. He's like, Boom,
grabs the book, pulls it out. Here's the Dallas flex defense.
You know, Randy White, the whole deal. And we're going
like I was like hours up there. I was like, Okay,

(42:30):
let me give me the whatever, orange crush, give me
the purple people waters. And it's like we're pulling playbooks off.
So that to me, I love Ernie, Like that was
the best. Like and again I walked I walked by
his office every day and I was like, Ernie, what
are we talking about today, Let's learn, let's talk, let's
We'd go back and forth and uh.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
What was the best Ernie nugget? Because I always ask
because I was always I always used to use Ernie
because like people were like scared of him, like what
does this guy do? He's eating the tomato by himself,
Like who is this guy? And I would go up,
what's what's the give me a little something on the punter?
What's good? He's like, well, you know he does this,
it's gonna arrows.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
Like we're just so. My wife and I were going
to Italy. We were going for three weeks and he
he loves to travel Yeah, loves to travel and he's
been everywhere, and so he got all excited to tell
me about a race called the Palio in Siena. You
look it up, bro, you gotta go. This is the
most insane thing. We've been to a lot of insane things.

(43:30):
This was insane. So it happens twice a year. I
think it was in July.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
We're going to July.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
So he tells me he's all excited about the Polio.
A whole different story. That was crazy. It's a horse race.
It's literally, I would say a nice way because it's
my people, but it's it's like the it's the village
idiot on the village horse.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
I swear to you.

Speaker 1 (43:47):
It's like the most amazing thing. It's the most corrupt,
I've sad video, unbelievable. And it's in the center piazza
in Siena. But the pageantry, the the just all the
villages come out to different sections. It's amazing. It's like majestic.
And Ernie had he's the one that told me about this,
and he had gone. So he had also told me

(44:09):
that he Ernie loves lions like he loves line. So
he told me so everywhere I went in Italy. You
know there's like lionheads, you know, from the Roman days
and all that stuff. So my wife took pictures of
all the lion heads and we made them a book,
like a table book of all the lion heads in Italy.
And he was like it was just you know, like
you see that other side, like get him back. So

(44:31):
it was pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
So yeah, there it is. It's pobably, dude, we are.
We are.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
So I'm in the middle, like see that craziness in
the middle. So we get there and of course, like
it's one of those things like see all the people
sitting in the balcony, like all those people up there.
So I'm I'm at the front desk in Siena. The
resort was staying. I'm like, hey, can I get tickets?
Like how do you like the And they called them
like yeah, they're like two thousand whatever it was at
the time, Like I ticket in somebody's living room like
selling bucks. Like I'm like I don't think we're doing that.

(44:57):
Sit in somebody's living room. They're like we can sit
in the middle. It's free. And I was like okay,
well free, okay, Like hey babe, come on we're going
this is gonna be great. So we see the horse
with no rider. Bro, wait till I tell you this story.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
So this is the one we went to it.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
So I'm probably in this picture somewhere. I'm telling you,
you're gonna find me. So it is a one hundred
and nine degrees. We're on cobblestone. Once you're in there,
you cannot leave. They close you in there, so no
bathroom eight hours. My wife's like, what are we doing right,
you know, because it's.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
All real fun. It's all real fun when you go
in there at like nine in the morning. But by
five pm, she's like, what this is sandy.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
They'll say yeah, and you can't get drinks, like, you
can't get anything, and everybody in there. What happened was
because it was empty.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
I was like, this is great.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
We were right by the finish line. We don't realize
is that they parade everybody through all of the villages
fill in their sections. So now you're in the middle
of like crazy people that actually have a lot of
money on these horses and they're betting and all the
rest of this stuff. So it's three laps. So it
takes off in the first last nuts and it's like sand.
They put sand on cobblestone, so that's real good, right,

(46:01):
And the horses are slipping. The horse with no rider,
this dude comes around the corner and like launches his
rider into the crowd. So people just get wiped out
by the guy. The horse bangs into the side, so
he starts running because he's just running.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
So he starts running with the rest of the horses.
He gets lapped too, he stops.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Now he's standing in perpendicular as the rest of the
horses are coming out, like this is like bowling. This
is gonna be amazing, right, So all the horses scattered.
Dudes get thrown off. The guys are like trying to avoid.
Now the horse starts running the opposite direction. So now
here comes on the third lap, everybody's running. They're running
at each other. I'm like, this is the most amazing
thing I've ever seen. So now the two lead horses

(46:42):
get around and I'm looking and the guy in the
orange who won, he is whipping he and the guy
in the red and black were the two. They're whipping
each other's horses to try to like get him. Like
they're not they're like hit it was the craziest. It
was the craziest thing I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
I want to see this race in Louisiana. I was
gonna say, Kentucky Derby take notes. That is so cool.
So that was Ernie.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Ernie gave me the polio.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Freaking Ernie. When when Ernie so we had him out
here before he came out, he he looked at my
address and he read up on the development of where
I live in Santa mon A, Hysteria in l A. Yeah,
and we took about the dinner. He's like, he's like
wat yeah. It is like he's just so Ernie. I

(47:30):
was like, oh my god, this guy is so crazy. Dude.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Getting to share a beer with Ernie at Hillstone's bucket
list item it was unreal.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
He ordered the ribs, ribs, let's go back to a round.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
Ernie falling down when we told the story, bro, he
looked like I literally thought he was dead. And you know,
like it was Thursday, right, so Thursday of Super Bowl
week the families were coming in. So his wife was
coming in and I remember I'm like, hey, Ernie, Ernie
had to go stitches, like he split his head open.
I'm like, he's okay, you know, and it's like she
just gets off a plaint. She's like what She's like,

(48:03):
I'm like, yeah, trip fell backwards, split his side open.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
And it's all bandaged. Doesn't look good, but he's all right,
have you got a concussion?

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Probably, you know, but he he's on the product. But
he coached her. There was nobody at the rest of
practice that was going to go light because it was like,
Ernie just got back out here.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
He put his hooto like, I think we can finish
our profusely.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
It looked like it looked like carries carry his blood
everywhere Ernie. And then then twenty five minutes later we're
all we go through probably and then you see Ernie's
coming out, stumbling out and got fucking it looks like
a mummy. You get that turkey shatter transplant.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Literally looked like the Revolutionary I was like, yeah, I
was like, this is the most amazing thing I've ever
seen right here.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
Let's go back to around January twenty second, twenty twelve,
that's when the game took place, and we like to
go and talk about what was going on outside.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
If you can put whatever you want as far as
what was going on in the real world. I have
no idea like I have.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
You could like contra band like Mark Wilberg, listen I.

Speaker 1 (48:59):
Like now currently my wife she calls me like in
Sino man. She's like, I'm like, I don't know how
to use the dishwash, Like I don't know how to
do anything like that. If it's wasn't in that building,
I'm out.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
You don't listen to music while you're game planning by
yourself in the facility.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
Actually all used to be in the room. We would
listen to music.

Speaker 2 (49:16):
Music. What was on the list? I mean for us,
it would be probably a lot of Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam?

Speaker 3 (49:21):
Is it?

Speaker 2 (49:21):
Bon Jovi? Like the show Ship, I mean we love
so Bill was out there bon Jovi.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
I'm a big Buffett guy, So Jimmy Buffett, that's the
last mango that those are my guys. Jimmy was great.
We played a lot of comedy too, like just stand
up comedians just because you needed something going now. There
was also a lot of comedy probably going on in
the room. We would sit in the staff room late,
you know, whether it was Bowyer and Flow and myself.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
Who had the ox cord, who was putting the music on.
Who had the playlist?

Speaker 1 (49:51):
It probably changed, It probably changed. It would probably be
then I'd be like, you know, flow, let's get some
music or Lawyer's get some music on or whatever it was.
Bed would come in or a lot of times, you know,
would be fun in the fall too World Series, you know,
some sort of championship game. So it would be late
in October, you know, beat because he was hardcore and baseball.
He'd be out there basically crying or screaming based on

(50:11):
whichever way the game was going, which was awesome.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
The late Night's coaching.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
As much as it sucked being away from your family thing,
it was fun because you're just hanging doing football.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
Who's some of your favorite Yeah, that's a great question.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
I think there's like classics for me. You know, obviously
you go back to like Robin Williams. I think Robin
Williams at the met It was George Carlin at Carnegie Hall.
Eddie Murphy when he had the red suit on.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
That was delirious.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Yep, that was a classic one. I got really into
Sebastian men. But you know who the best guy that
got me into all that stuff? Though you're gonna have
to guess this one of my favorite all time people
to be around.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
Is he a coach?

Speaker 1 (51:00):
You know, he was a special teams linebacker.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Special teams Dane Fletcher.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
I loved Dane Fletchers talk to me the other day.
I loved Dane same time Dane Fletcher and this guy.
So we had tradition in the defensive room. It was,
you know, so pizza Friday, pizza. So pizza Friday was
a big thing. That was a big Dante thing when
I was on offense. And Pizza Friday the whole idea
and why Ted struggled with this, right, And remember Ted's

(51:24):
first shout to tell the Ted story toist was he
came in right. So that was our third that was
our fourth. Right, So Joanne was first, then we had
guy was there for like a cup of coffee, and
then Joel took over for him and Ted right, So,
but we always had Pizza Friday. And the idea with
Pizza Friday was this, It wasn't about the pizza, It
was about the mentality. Right. So when you were in
school and you went to school, pizza on Friday, right, Well, okay,

(51:49):
Friday's gonna be a good day because.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
You went in.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
It was actually it was the only meal that was
actually only good meal of school meal that you actually
buy and eat Pizza Friday. But the idea for us,
and again this back in the day four got crazy,
like it got crazy in New England, but literally because
I had to do the practice schedules so I would.
I remember, people were amazed I figured out how to
paste like it was Dominoes and KFC, like that's what

(52:12):
we had. It was Dominoes and KFC and PA some
of the practice schedules, thank god.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
But it was all right.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
The work week is, we're coming to the end. It's
all positive. Let's not be yelling and screaming today. Let's
go out and have a good prem Let's feel. Yeah,
let's feel. Let's have a good mental day. Like it's
pizza Friday. Everybody'd be good. Now, Scar, if you remember,
he'd like, don't ruin Pizza Friday. Don't make because Scar
had the other side that could come out real quick,

(52:38):
and he'd be like, don't ruin Pizza Friday. I'm not
yelling today, don't get me so. And the defensive side
of the ball. Not only Pizza Friday, but we used
to have videos on Friday. Ny videos.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
So originally started out as like highlights. We started off
with like high school highlights.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
You know it'd be it'd be good because you had
some legit dudes at a high school film and then
you'd have like, you know whatever, Rob Ryan's highlight of
his high so funny stuff. But then it turned into like, okay, hey,
we need some comedy. And it was always usually the
QC's job to get a tape and credit quality control,
young coach, and it better be funny because these guys

(53:14):
we've been yelling and screaming all week. We need something
funny before we go on the field. And Vince was
the best because Vince, we didn't leave. I love love Vince, right,
so Vince wouldn't leave until we showed the video. Even
though Scottio had a meeting coming in, Vince like it
didn't matter, and like Vince wasn't leaving, the next meeting
wasn't starting, and he wanted something funny. Well, Nico Kuda

(53:37):
Viti's funny comes in and Nico is one of the funniest, best, great.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
Heart of human being, who is the what did they
call it in the in the Italian world levantier or something.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
Okay, killing me right now?

Speaker 2 (53:51):
So you always calling levantier though, So Nico.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
Would bring in the videos and he like, did he
take this was like the one like I don't think
he knew any of the defensive assignments, but he nailed Friday.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
We would be laughing at the curb he had me,
He had me dying. He loves because that's kind of
Nico's humor too.

Speaker 1 (54:12):
Because you know, Chicago Italian stuff. Nico was great.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
But in the sports route of twenty eleven and twenty twelve,
as a sports guy, you probably know that the Giants
won the Super Bowl. That was a bad one. Rogers
won in I'll tell you what though.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
You know what the Giants Super Bowl taught everybody if
you're paying close attention situational football. What situation did I
have to execute in that game to give us a chance?
This was this was tough.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
Now, that was the situation. Rolex Rox Rolex, nice job,
nice job.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
So you know what happened with that? So at the
end of the Super Bowl, what happens is you know
you got the.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
Coachha player points.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
Time is more important than points exactly, So within the
two minutes or within three minutes at the end of
the Super Bowl, all the sideline media turns on, all
the cameras, all this stuff, so everything turns on. The
headsets went down, and there was no stopping at that point,
and I just remember, you know, May and those guys
on the field, it's they're going in and it was like,

(55:07):
oh my gosh, this is Rolex and I just hit
him with the set. It was like, hit him with
the signal. There's no time to talk about it. I'm
not talking through the helmet. It was like the one
signal and everybody knew what to do. It's a horrible game,
but I'm reaching for anything positive there.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
But yeah, we made up for it. N C two
A champion Alabama.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's easy because really I think there was
a stretch in there where we just rotated every other year.

Speaker 2 (55:31):
Every other year he won or we won, and it
was back and forth. I mean this was the second
at Bama. Second. Yeah, you know coach saban at all?
How was he?

Speaker 1 (55:41):
He's great. Meet him, He's actually great, and him and
Bill together are great. Uh, Nick's knicks. Really, he's been
really good to me, Like I was. I was a
keynote speaker at their clinic one year. Yeah, when you know,
I was coaching in Detroit, had a couple of coaches.
He would call and we'd ask about guys. He always
you know, it was Nick was amazing, you know, getting.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Ready for the draft.

Speaker 1 (56:01):
It's obviously hard, right, so you're we're calling college coaches,
we're obviously there. We'd go there and spend a lot
of time there, and you know, you could call him
like the day of the draft, day before the draft
and be like, hey, all right, Nick, real quick, what
do you think? And he would whatever he's doing, he
would tell you he was really awesome. The thing, the
funniest thing about Alabama was it was more like will

(56:22):
you know muss Champ and like Kirby, who are the
defensive coordinators there? And that was the defensive coordinat obviously
in New England, And like all of a sudden, like
Bill and Nick would get together and they'd have a
conversation and all of a sudden, like Kirby called me
and be like, all right, listen, what what is this
defense you're running? Because like our two head guys got
together and he's trying to like what you know, or
Bill'll be like, hey, call will call Kirby. They've got this,

(56:43):
you know, sonic boom whatever. He's like, we got to
put that on, Like, could you just stop talking to
because it was more work for us, you know, but
so we so we the three of us kind of
laugh all the time about that because you know, it's
just that's all part of the tree. You know, we're
on that tree.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
I'm such a nick Saban fan. I don't I think
I were elbows just because of I think he was
at a facility of one of our practices or something.
Time he went to Kent State. Ye played at Kent State.
And I don't know, but I've heard through their gate Brian.
I could be completely wrong, but I heard he's our
biggest booster. He gives our school the most money.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
I wouldn't doubt that.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
You know. That's fucking cool. He sts a huge heart, Yeah,
huge heart coaches. So I'm in Alabama. That's why I
always root for Alabama. Well, nothingmore, but I was always
saving Fanny's gold flash. We'll be right back after this
quick break, Jackie. Let's break down this game. Let's start
with the New England Patriots and set the stage, Bubbs.
All right, Let's start with these with these Pats thirteen

(57:40):
and three.

Speaker 5 (57:42):
This is of course head coach Bill Belichick. I Leo
run the offense. Maddy p was the primary defensive play
caller this year.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
Really great, that's great.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
Bill in the defensive coordinator since twenty ten.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Primary defense college.

Speaker 1 (57:55):
I was the high I was the was a defensive coordinator,
was the lowest paid outside line baer coachure what was
in my contrac was like ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Did you ask him on the three hour car ride? Why?

Speaker 5 (58:03):
Why that?

Speaker 2 (58:04):
It was always the case?

Speaker 1 (58:05):
I mean, I know why we did it. As a
young coordinator, Josh when he came over to offense. So
I was on offense, right, Charlie Leaves, he goes Notre
Dame Josh on offense, he's calling plays. You know myself
on defense twenty ten when I started running the defense.
Bill O'Brien when he started running the offense. So the
thing was his young coordinators in the league. Honestly, Bill

(58:28):
was just trying to protect us. He was trying to
protect us as play callers, to allow us to learn
how to be a play caller, learn how to run
those meetings, run the defense, run the offense without having
the direct even though we did scrutiny of everybody else.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
It actually really I've always wondered that. So what happened was,
you know, I was so.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
My first year is a play caller. So again, boy
was was with me the whole run, you know. And
in twenty ten ten I coached linebackers. I was coordinated
the defense called the defense. Pat Graham was left, so
I coached with that Blazzero damp Yeah. Yeah, So I

(59:12):
was a linebackers coach, you know, the coordinator, and Pat
Graham was my QC.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
So defensive coordinator for the Raiders right now.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
So after one year, I said to Bill, because look,
it was all about the way Josh and Brian and
I were raised in the system was you know, Romeo
was the defensive coordinator, Charlie was the offensive coordinator, and
we were raised to develop our own That's the that's
been the philosophy of New England, and that is what
he wanted to do when he got there. And that

(59:43):
was Charlie and Rack and the offensive coaches that were
or the defensive coaches. They taught us how to be coaches.
So you know, you q seed, you're a young coach
and then you became a coach, you know, and that
allowed to be able to coach the team. So the
philosophy was, look, the coaches coach the players, you know,
the coordinators coached the coaches, and the head coach coach
the team.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
That's everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
So that is that's how it worked. And so again
we were trying to raise our own So after a
year twenty ten past the QC, you know, Flow, who
I knew was great coach, going to be a great coach,
and he was in special teams and Flow again when
I got their, Flow was on you know, he had
gotten there too.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
He was the scouting department, you know, and then he
came over.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
So I wanted Flow in defense, so I said, Bill,
I said, listen, I go, let's move Josh. You know
boyer he was going to coach corners, so let him
coach corners. I'll coach the safeties. Let's make Pat the
linebackers coach, and let's get Flow over here as the QC.
So that was like the plan for that year, and
it was good for me to get in the back
end again. And that's you know, really what Bill did too.

(01:00:40):
Build did this similar thing in his coaching career when
he was coming up. He had hired a guy that
was linebacker guy, so he moved from linebackers to safeties
and coached the back end. So all of that was
part of our training well, just because you got to
learn all the coverages right and get all that married.
And when you coach the linebackers, obviously you're coaching all
of it. You know, you got to coach the fronts,

(01:01:01):
the run fits, the coverage, all that stuff, but then
to get into the intricacies of the coverage stuff and
be able to develop those guys. And we were, you know, again,
this was a transitional time for us defensively. The old
heads had all retired and moved on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
Thomas Sierra was gone. This was the start of the
new I would say then, was like the start of
the real news.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
We'd say, the the the area that was gone was
more of like the Bruskies, the Rabels, the making and
all those guys stage more like it was more like
Mayo was our holdover. So I drafted him and that
was eight you know, I told him, sit in the room,
be quiet, just learn, you know which he was amazing
defensive player of the year, and so Mayo found Nikovic.
He was the holdover and then the rest of it was,

(01:01:43):
you know, we were piecemealing, you know, Pierre Woods, Eric
Alexander who I heard from the other day, which was great,
you know, yees, so cool, all those guys. So this
was the point where okay, like I was starting to
rebuild the secondary, drafted, Devin had Pat there were all
the young guys that we were bringing in to try
to get them rolling. So I moved the safest for
the year. The next year, again, Flow is the QC

(01:02:06):
I said about I said, look, just let me I'll
just do coordinate the defense. So I don't care whatever
title you want to get me out. I don't care
about titles.

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
Yeah, I'll coordinate the defense.

Speaker 1 (01:02:14):
But let's move Flow the safeties. Let's start his progression
and uh, you know, and then we'll get the next QC.
So it was always that was the idea was I
was always trying to I'll move positions. I don't care
because't what I'm doing is gonna change. But how do
we keep moving the young guys up? Yeah, you know,
And that's what we did defense. And then eventually I
got stev B and then Stevie you know, he was
my QC and then you know, Mike and Brian and

(01:02:37):
kind of just rolled through. I got bad who came
in finally and was coaching the D line and stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
So what did b d fucking have a great little
thing going? Well, yeah, he went won three Super Bowls
with us. Now he's with the Chiefs, won all those three. Yeah,
well this fucking guy. So keep going on the team, Jackie. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:02:54):
Just to further contextualize this season, we're coming off the
Can't Wait Game, the the work Round in twenty ten,
Brady's coming off an MVP season. The season before this
season was dedicated to Missus Graft. Of course, the patches
on the Jerseys lost uncharacteristically lost back to back out
of the bye week.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
And then rattled off eighth straight to finish regular season.
Would we lose to there? It was the Giants and
the Steelers. I remember that Steelers.

Speaker 1 (01:03:22):
Steelers is always like like the Ravens, Like those were
the tough, physical These games.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
Were like they were old school football. They did what
they did though you knew exactly what they were doing
every time, and they still do what they do. They
still do the same goddamn ship that when I was
playing Tomlin's defense, Steelers football. I'm like, what the we
still have linebackers covering the three slot every time we
play the Steelers, I have at least nine catches. Do

(01:03:50):
you think that they would change it? Right?

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
But they do what they do. They got six coach, Like,
how do you get away with it for that long?
Like just doing what you do and being yeah, like
you know, they believe, but they also they play the
game and they coach it up. Well, yeah, they're fucking
they're all coached.

Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
They don't make a lot of mistakes. And again, what
do we because I heard you say this, heard you again?

Speaker 2 (01:04:08):
Do more research? Right, more games in the NFL or
what they're lost than one. So if they're they.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Don't make mistakes, they don't lose a lot of games.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
They don't and they still don't lose them.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
And then we beat them in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
Sorry, And some notable rookies on this team.

Speaker 5 (01:04:24):
We got Veren Ridley, Solder, Marcus Cannon, Uh, Josh was
brought back for the playoff run to come in, Josh McDaniels.

Speaker 2 (01:04:31):
That is come into a little offensive words. Well, that's
a big draft. That's a big draft.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Yeah, is that Benny Benny.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
Benny Ben Jarvis Green all a great, I have a
great Ben Benny. The law firm. What do you got
law firm?

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
It's a it's a story that involves Junior Sale.

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
So we're getting beat up at linebacker. We have some
injuries and uh, Bill says to me, he goes, he goes, Hey,
he goes, where's Junior because he wasn't you know, he
played for us, but he was.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
I was like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:05:02):
He's like, give him a call fin out. So, hey, June,
I go, uh where are you?

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
He's like Fiji. I was like the island.

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
He's like, yeah, surfing. I was like, okay, well Bill
wants to bring in like we're, you know, kind of
beat up, Like you are you ready to go or what?
He's like, yeah, I'm ready. I was like all right, well,
how fast can you get here? He's like, I don't know,
I'll get there as soon as I can.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
I was like great.

Speaker 1 (01:05:22):
So I go back to Bill and I was like, hey,
Junior's in Fiji surfing. I was like, like, Fiji's like
that's far far. And he's like oh, He's like when
can you get here? I'm like he's trying to get
your smooth. We're playing Seattle in Seattle. So I was like, well,
I'm like he you know, he can get back to
the West Coast. I'm like, he just meet us in Seattle.
He's like, no, he's got to come back. He's got

(01:05:44):
to take a physical before he ssund the country. I'm like,
we're going to find him all the way. He's like, yeah,
you gotta flyway.

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
He I was like, oh my god.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
So I called you and I was like, hey, bro,
you gotta fly all the way to Boston, like you
got to get So I think he was getting into
Boston on like Thursday, like I called him on Monday.
I was like, you gotta fly and then we're gonna
get on and plane. We're gona fly all the way
back to Seatt Like this is gonna be awesome. So
Junior June bugs great. Right, So June Junior flies in.
You know, does physical Juniors like unbelievable human specimen. He's

(01:06:09):
always in shape, doesn't matter like, you know, So he's
great past physical, get on playing fly Seattle. He's like
he's like, buddy, what's the plan? And I'm like, you're
not playing, but you know, we want you to get
around team to play next week, gets you in shape,
make sure you're ready to go, all that stuff. He's like,
all right, I'm like, you're actually probably gonna be active
for the game because everybody's hurt. He's I'm like, but
I'm not, I'm not playing you. He's like, okay, all right,

(01:06:30):
no problem. So we getting into the game. I think
it was, Uh, I have to ask Brew on this one.
So I think it was Gary Geydon, right, Gary. So
Gary's another one of my linebackers that you know, I
kind of had.

Speaker 2 (01:06:40):
Georgia tech right quick. Fact, Gary Geiden set it up
Slater with his wife Gary Nice. Garry's great.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
So Gary and Gerard were like that was Batman and
Rob That's what they were for me. Right. So Gary,
I think takes out Brew. We're playing, we're in the game,
like hits him, like you know, so now Bruce Key's yeah,
friendly fire. So now Teddy's down. So Teddy's the game.
So I'm like, uh, Junior, you gotta win. He's like, well,
I'm like we're out of body, so I'm like, you
gotta go. So put Junior out there right before the

(01:07:11):
half throws like a little route. Now Deon branch is
on Seattle. Yeah, so this is you know, Deon obviously
played for US. I love Deon, but so now he's
in Seattle. So Deon catches like a check out. He
goes for like sixty some yards. We missed tackle. We
have like eleven missed tackles on the play. I think, like,
I think everyone missed him like seven times. Junior missed
him like five. Like, Junior misses him so bad. And

(01:07:32):
when he comes, he goes blowing by me.

Speaker 2 (01:07:33):
I grabbed him. I literally throw him back. I'm like,
go get on me. Still runs. I throw him back
in there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
He takes off. All right, So game's over. We're staying
in California. It's back to back games. So he get
in the meeting on Monday or whatever, and uh, we're
getting ready to go over Wednesday. And Bill's like, uh,
he goes, we were done practicing pass at this point
because it was late in the season. He goes, hey,
he goes look, he goes, he missed you know, he
missed Dion like four times. He's like he's got it.

(01:08:00):
He's got a practice tackling. I was like, okay, He's like,
tell him bring his pads to practice. I was like what.

Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
He's like, how to get his pads, get his equipment,
get out there for post practice. I was like sweet.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
So I'm like, hey, Junior, I'm like, bring your pads
to practice and he's like what. I was like, yeah,
you had some mistackles. I'm like, it wasn't wasn't good
on tape. I'm like, you know, Bill wants to do
some tackling after does he realize I'm like the NFL's
all time leading tackler And I was like, yeah, well,
you'd have one more if you just tackled him before
the half. So I'm like, get your pads on, let's go.
We gotta go. So he's like, So he gets his

(01:08:33):
pads and so I'm like practice rookie. I'm like, hey, Benny,
I need I need your help. Post practice He's like, yeah, coach,
what I mean Ben?

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
I love Benny, Ben Jarvis Greenells.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
I'm like, we're gonna do one on one tackling you
and Junior sale like post practice he was like what
And I was like, yeah, it's gonna be great. So
they're like ten yards apart, whistle and you know Bill's
over there and so whistle goes and Junior's like, ooh,
just drills him. And I was like, and I'm like
looking at Benny. Benny gets up, Junior looks at me.

(01:09:04):
He's like, we're going again, and I'm looking at I
was like, so, I mean, it was like wow.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
And now Junior is now like, is that enough? You
guys good if you see nothing.

Speaker 1 (01:09:14):
Benny's like helmet, I'm pretty sure his sideways like it's
just one on one like blood sport.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
At this point, I'm like, I'm I'm looking at like
we are we done here? Post practice, post pctice on
the road surfing like a week earlier. I'm like, are
we are we done here yet?

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
Or what you know? So? Yeah, so we we did
one on one.

Speaker 2 (01:09:33):
Tack on Benny. That's Benny. He man, he takes. That's
a team guy right there. He didn't fumble. I never
when we were doing the research for this game. To
this point in his career, he never fumbled in high school,
college or pros. Mister ball security, ball, security.

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
Security, job, security, There's nothing more important than the ball.
The other one says like, when you carry the ball,
you carry carry fate of the entire organization in your hand.

Speaker 2 (01:09:59):
He said, not just the organization, the fucking region. This
is a big region. Then he says, say less, I
got you, Ben, He says, say less.

Speaker 5 (01:10:08):
And since we got Maddy p here and we're we're
talking about this team, we gotta give a little shine
to some of these defensive guys. Andre Carter into the
season injured but had ten sacks. Thenco six and a
half seconds.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Great. Andre Carter played my brother in championship at CCS
in high school. Really yeah, I went. I remember going
and seeing them at San Jose State. My brother played
for Saint Francis and he went to Grove and my
brother's team beat him. My brother's team in high school,
Saint Francis was like they won like CCS five years, seven,

(01:10:41):
eight years in a row. They were fucking You share
one thing about Andre Carter that you remember.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
What's the first thing that comes.

Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
Your big hands vice grips. Can you shake his hand?
You you literally risking breaking a finger. It was like
wrap around your forearm.

Speaker 1 (01:10:56):
It was just it just I was like, I don't
really want to shag.

Speaker 2 (01:10:58):
Head like kung Fu Grip kung Fu Carter Gee.

Speaker 1 (01:11:02):
Money, Vince Kyle Love, Kyle Love's a great story. So, Kyle,
do you know where I found Kyle Love? That's how
I found Kyle Love.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
So I do I do?

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
I have to go to the University of Florida two
years before this and I do a huge you know,
Bill sends me down. I do a huge workout because
that team was loaded.

Speaker 2 (01:11:18):
Team had half the team.

Speaker 1 (01:11:19):
But the game that we watched, yeah, the game we
watched was it was Florida versus Alabama. There was more
NFL football players in that one game than you could
watch the twenty other schools getting ready for the draft.
So I go to Florida. I do a three hour
workout with all the offensive guys and we're in the
swamp and then I took a break and then had
another three hour workout with all the defensive guys. So
I literally worked out like fifteen eighteen dudes that were

(01:11:42):
coming out. And so I meet with the pouncies. In
the meeting, we're going through protection. I said, all right,
who's who's the hardest guy you had to block this year?
And they're like Kyle Love. And I'm like, I don't
even have Kyle, Like I don't even.

Speaker 2 (01:11:56):
Have them on my notes.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
Who is Kyle love, and so that's how we found
out about the penalty us. That was one of the
hardest guys that had to block that year, and that's
that's why we got them.

Speaker 2 (01:12:07):
They wouldn't they would know those are guys were That's
how it worked with a.

Speaker 1 (01:12:11):
Lot of players. Like I mean, we'll get to your story,
but like I mean, the Ohio State game, we don't
think we all watched that one hundred times.

Speaker 2 (01:12:18):
You played them tough. I was hurt.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
Exactly. That's why we watched. What kind of guys we're
looking for, Yeah, tough guys.

Speaker 4 (01:12:25):
Can you speak a little bit about the recruiting process
or the scouting process of Julian We.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Would pick really late in the draft, luckily very fortunate,
very blessed, but really make it at the end of
the first round, like you're really talking about second rounders
and it just as it goes down the draft.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
It's like that.

Speaker 1 (01:12:41):
So we would always try to find and still all
through the years, who are the guys that we dig
out that we can find that are going to make
our team because they have the traites we're looking for
that might not be on everybody's radar. Because that's when
we're gonna have to try to get them. You know,
we're gonna have to try to find tough guys that
we think can fill a role, can play make the

(01:13:02):
team or what do we see their projection? What do
we see them developing into? From that standpoint, And that
was Julian through and through, tough as nails. Just you
went in a category of just a ballplayer, you know,
like Scar would say, ball playing Jesse.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Ball playing Jesse, Yeah, that would be Julie. So it
was like, what exactly he's gonna play quarterback for us?

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Probably not?

Speaker 2 (01:13:24):
Probably not, but can we.

Speaker 1 (01:13:26):
Find a way? Right, Okay, so exactly so, but can
we find a way for him thee on field? Yeah,
he's gonna be tough, he's gonna be reliable, he's gonna
be available. And we were always looking for special teams,
you know, who are the guys that could help us
be dynamic? And I think you came in did all
those things. You mentally worked through some catch things right

(01:13:52):
because that was real, and got to the points where
you became sure handed, you became trusted, You learned the
game the way that we I don't want to say
wanted you to, but the way that we played. You know,
you were smart, and we just love those guys like
those are our guys, Like those are our type of guys.

(01:14:12):
So we would watch the Ohio State game. We were injured,
but you were tough, you were out there, you know, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:14:18):
You had some games were lighting it up Iowa State,
but those games like okay, but those those schools for
our school it was, but Ohio State.

Speaker 1 (01:14:28):
We're looking at those guys saying, well, you know, this
guy's fighting his ass off against this team. Like okay,
if you're on the other side of it, everyone's saying, well, yeah,
of course he's an NFL guy. Well why is that
not an NFL guy like you're seeing against the competition.

Speaker 2 (01:14:39):
You want to see, now, how did he when we're
hiring guys off the street middle of the season for
DB's because we were baying, okay, here we go. Yep,
who the FU asked who brought up to put me
on that? I remember Josh Boy told boy go get him,
go get him and bring him in. Boy or literally

(01:15:01):
came up to get in the fucking locker room and said, Yo,
you're on a Wednesday. Yeah go get It wasn't even
on a Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (01:15:06):
No, no, he's said, hey, a conversation on Tuesday, but
it wasn't because one of the reasons I love this
game Myra honoring her this year playing you know Baltimore.
The way we won or they lost. However, I look
at because I think I think Myra pushed the ball.
I think she pushed it out of the goal post
because that guy was really good. Really, but it was

(01:15:29):
I told you my my infactuation of like when I
got to New England, I thought that, you know, I'm
says Syracuse Division one coach Pascoing is a great football coach.
But just the way that we looked at the game
at New England and I again, I remember Troy Brown played,
you know, the star for us. He played, you know,
he was one of our best. You got to pick
against Drew. It was like first completion of the game
was Detroit. It was like we got confused, but it

(01:15:50):
was like he that whole what I saw us do
in two thousand and four. I was like, that is
the coolest thing ever. I can't wait to do that.
And then so as I'm taking over the defense, I
would always look at the offensive guys going, okay, we
get late because I knew you're gonna be at the game? Yeah,
you know, because you're always like, who's going to be
at the game. That's what I need, you know, because
once you get through those four set of guys roster management.

(01:16:12):
So I was always looking at the offensive get.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
Forty what do you get forty eight on game day? Yeah?
It was forty seven, sety.

Speaker 1 (01:16:19):
Seven on game day for three on the roster, And
I was always looking at the offensive guys getting said
who could play defense? Yeah, the offensive guys that can
play defense. But once you were kind of on the team,
all of that stuff that you went through, I was like,
that's the guy that can do it. So I always
had in my head I was like, at some point,
he's going to play dB for us.

Speaker 2 (01:16:39):
Which is so crazy. For two reasons. I remember when
I was getting worked out, Pittsburgh worked me out as
a safety in a corner when I was coming out
of Kent. And then the second thing, when you told
me about the Troy Brown stuff, and like you said,
oh that I finally got someone that I could do
this with. When I first got afted to New England, Yeah,

(01:17:02):
my agent Don Ye yeah, Don do Hunk goes to
me and he goes, I have a vision you're the
next Troy Brown. I just the team's gonna it's gonna
be hard for them to cut you because you're gonna
Because that was the thing going into this. They had
seven receivers my rookie year. Eight receivers. They traded for
a guy they had Randy Moss West. One of the

(01:17:22):
guys was a special teams captain Sam Akin. So like
the roster spot was like hard, you can't get that spot.
But my agent was just always say it's gonna be
hard for them to cut you because you could do
a lot, a lot. It's crazy you said that. Fucking
Don's a smart dude.

Speaker 1 (01:17:38):
But yeah, it was. I just and Josh, you know,
Josh Boyer, he was great at all that tiff too.
So Josh was like, and I think he was on.
He was in that same mentality Josh was and he
saw the same thing. So you know it was Jules
was gonna play defense. We were gonna, we were gonna
go through it. You know, I remember Troy saying, I
was like long time ago. I was like, Troy, how
did you He's like, well, I know most of the routes.

Speaker 2 (01:17:59):
Yeah, he's like a run on these routes. Yeah, so
I know everything inside exceptually, Yeah, that's situation, So.

Speaker 1 (01:18:05):
You knew the same and then situational. You know what
we wanted to defensively, and I knew you'd learn it
in a very short amount of time.

Speaker 2 (01:18:11):
So because I remember what I would do Bill, and
you guys would always say, well, Bill, I would listen
to the team meeting, yep, and Bill would always say,
gotta have it situations, the third downs, the four point
plays they throw got to have it routes to gotta

(01:18:31):
have it players. Yeah, so if you fucking study the
gotta have it route, give you the list on that
straight third down, and then you study the got to
have it player. Like, all I would do is just
hold on for dear life for the first five yards
because I knew guys hated it and they just play
to your leverage. But in this fucking game, which I
want to get into, we had, did we go over

(01:18:53):
locking combo all fucking week?

Speaker 5 (01:18:55):
We did?

Speaker 2 (01:18:55):
And you see me making the fucking call and square
it off. I I'm not calling no one out, but
you gott anybody out? What are we doing? Maybe? And
then they're calling me out on the TV. I remember
watching it when I was so proud it was AFC Championship.
They're like, oh, we got dumb ass, that'll be there.

Speaker 1 (01:19:12):
I obviously did not do a good enough job of
coaching that.

Speaker 2 (01:19:14):
That's all right, I called it. I called it to
him because the point was set. So what we're talking
about is, and we'll get into in the game on
a specific third down end cumbole and then late in
the game he motions it. They have a bat, they
have a bunch, And what our game plan for that
week was we were gonna lock the point of the
bunch and you combo the the other two guys, which

(01:19:36):
means if this guy on the outside goes inside, I
got whoever goes inside. H the other guy has whoever
goes outside the other guy when it goes in, it
was an instant check to the bunch. If it was
a check, So you see me square it off because
I'm I want square. So the guy runs into me
so I could get a bum, can.

Speaker 1 (01:19:56):
Pull out the game plant the game plan.

Speaker 2 (01:19:57):
Well, I always loved you. Yeah, And then the other
I came over and we fucking looked like the Keystone
cops out here, and the guy runs free we almost
lose the game because of it. So I'm sitting here
thinking the whole time, fucking I lost the goddamn Super
Bowl for us. So do you know, like in this
get so up into this game.

Speaker 1 (01:20:16):
I think I think I had fifteen straight defensive three
and out series.

Speaker 2 (01:20:22):
Yeah, in this up.

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
So I think the first two series of this game
they went three and out. Maybe the third three series
of yeah, first three, so so I think it was
total fifteen straight. We're playing some good ball.

Speaker 2 (01:20:32):
Yeah, third down, and that's when you give up a
lot offensive guys on defense. La was playing safety.

Speaker 1 (01:20:40):
I was like, Slate, listen, I need you in the middlefield, bro,
like just bro like I was. This was I could
jump this in the back of the back end and
this this was. This was intense trying to put this
crew together.

Speaker 2 (01:20:49):
Very it was very intense.

Speaker 1 (01:20:51):
I tell you my favorite part of this game though, Yes,
this is great. So you know I put the call
in whatever Jewels is out there and in Gwin Bolden
you remember me on it, Joe Flacco.

Speaker 2 (01:21:03):
Yeah, it's fucking Julian Edelman. Throw me the goddamn ball.
He was so mad, he was so mad, so mad.

Speaker 1 (01:21:12):
I laughed with him about that all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
Hey, he was, he's like the ball he got me,
he got me one time. But I was, I was.
My strategy was, I wasn't going to cover you, No,
I wasn't gonna glove you up, but I was gonna
be around to tackle you and make you. It'd be
a contested style type catch, and I was gonna grab
you and fucking try to cheat as far as I
could and hate you. Yeah, how would you sell up

(01:21:36):
this team? In just the twenty eleven team.

Speaker 1 (01:21:40):
I mean, gritty, gritty, gritty team tough, I mean obviously
the next man up mentality. So but it was really
just I think everyone capitalizing on their opportunities and just believing,
like and again why I love this game this year
with my Ra, like we were really trying to do
every thing we could honor her without her memory. And

(01:22:02):
I think that every week we knew like, hey, like
let's just everybody give their best and go out there.
And we had a good, good bunch of young guys
that we knew were going to be great players, you know,
on the team. So it was fun to watch them develop.
And then some guys that had been there for a
little while and just I just this was just a tough,
gritty willing themselves almost to win. You know, there's so

(01:22:25):
many guys in the team and people like who was
that I forgot about that guy. I didn't realize that
guy was there. I didn't realize that guy was there.
And it was like we were to the super Bowl. Yeah,
were the super Bowl? So like you want to like
it was nobody can go to.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
But now you said fifteen straight three and ounce.

Speaker 1 (01:22:40):
I think it was fifteen straight something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:22:43):
What's the art of the DC? How do you what's
your starting point of when you're preparing for a team.
Are you looking at players plays or is it changed
situationally for each team? Like how do you construct what
you're going to plan for that week? Because you were
a game planning coach angels every week? How do you
break that in? What's the art of co d C?

Speaker 1 (01:23:03):
Yeah, you know it was interesting so being Annoy England.
Obviously our fundamental background defensive philosophy right comes from the Giants,
right nineteen eighties Bill at the Giants, those great defenses there,
and then you got to really understand So I had
I had two playbooks, right, we had our playbook and
then I had the Bible, right, I called it the
Bible because that was everything like that. I I was

(01:23:24):
always keeping track of the history of where did all
this stuff come from? Because I figured if you could
understand where it came from, then we would know when
to install older when to use it.

Speaker 2 (01:23:34):
So who made the Bible? So I did you know
copy football beer? Does that make you a profit? Definitely?

Speaker 1 (01:23:42):
I mean Jesus, I am. I mean I was named,
I am Matthew.

Speaker 2 (01:23:46):
He's one of the prophets. He's out of here.

Speaker 1 (01:23:47):
So so so yeah, so eighties, right, and then you
have the influence of our defense from Saban, when Bill
and Nicket together at Cleveland, and how it moors from
cover two to cover three, a little bit of Cover
five which was our two man Nick with Cover one four,
and then so as.

Speaker 2 (01:24:04):
We get to New England loves it right.

Speaker 1 (01:24:06):
So as we get to New England, you know Romeo
Rack is there early what that was Mangini and then
Dean takes over and we go all in to Cover four,
which was you know, that was his baby and that
was great for all those years too. When Dean left,
you know, Bill wanted to get back to some more
traditional stuff. The game was changing at this point, right

(01:24:27):
around this timeline, and I really think offensively, Bill had
a great vision of where the game should go and
it was getting away from the elevens into the mixed
twelves personnel groups. But at this time, defensively, we had
gone back to a lot of base cover two, cover three.
We had young players playing zone. Because he had zone,
you got more chances for turnovers. You can see the quarterback,

(01:24:49):
you can see the throws. Good tack We're always good tacklers, right,
good tackling defense. And so that's we had young guys.
So that's what we were in this era. We had
our man's for situational football because you got to play
man in situational football, red area things like that. And
then really as our team developed and we get into
other games, you know when we get keep to leave,

(01:25:10):
everything defensively changed changed. Everything changed. It keeps like one
of my favorites ever right walks in and he's like
Matty Pee, He's like, I got him. You figure out
the rest of it. I'm like cool, Like you know,
it was like, so we changed, we morphed. We would
always morph the defense based on the talent. We had
right at this time, we're also coming out of this
is actually the last year of a lot of base defense.

(01:25:32):
So then next year after this, because of our twelve packages,
you know, I went into big nickel. This is where
that's where Pat Chung really comes into. This is where
Pat Chung saves us for a lot of years. No,
he does not get enough credit for the evolution of
what we went to and where we were for all
those years. After defensively, Devin also gets moved from corner
and move him to safety, you know after this because

(01:25:54):
of where we were. You know, Dev's like rookie of
the year.

Speaker 2 (01:25:56):
And do you do that? Why do we change defense?
Because because you're twelve personnel and so there's a lot
of twelve personnel, which means there's two tight ends, but
teams are still spreading people out, so the safety has
to cover the tight end. Who's a better route runner
these days? So Patrick Chung being the physical type player

(01:26:16):
that could play decent against bigger or very good against
bigger guys. So that's why Patrick Chung was so good
because he was a covering safety. He wasn't a big safety,
which now all the safeties looked like Patrick Chung. But
at this time, you know, this is when safeties were
fucking huge.

Speaker 1 (01:26:36):
Yeah still still big, still coming down there. That's what
I'm just giving of the history. So defensively, our mentality
in general was how do we fit the defensive structure
to the so again, like people are are like, oh,
you're a base cover two coach, and I'm like, well
I was when we needed to be, you know. But
like you saw a playbook, like we had every coverage
known to man in that thing, and then some we

(01:26:56):
made up so or fronts and variations. So with that
mentality the defense, that was just from mentality every week,
what do we have to do? What do we have
to play in order to win this game? Because that's
all that really mattered. It was like, it doesn't matter
what we do, how do we just win this game?
Complimentary football with the offense, with special teams with defense,

(01:27:16):
and who are the players we have to do that?
And so it was always evolving, always changing. But when
you game plan an offense for for me, you know,
started with the quarterback, how are we gonna make this guy?
You know, how we're gonna play the game within the
game against this guy? And then I went to the
offensive line. You obviously identify who are the great players,
who the go to guys you got to stop, you know,

(01:27:38):
who's the ball going to and what situations, you know,
make sure you got those guys handled, make sure you
got him covered. But game planning affecting the quarterback was
through the offensive line. How do we get pressure in
his face? He's gonna step up? Is he gonna bail?

Speaker 2 (01:27:49):
Is he gonna move?

Speaker 1 (01:27:50):
Do we need to keep him in the pocket? Do
we want him out of the pockets he scramblard? Does
the extend all of those You got to answer all
of those questions, you know, as you go through the
game plan process, and then you know you got run game.
You got all of that in there. What packages are
gonna play? How are you gonna call the game? You know,
So a lot of games I would have, you know,
I had different call sheets. So I had the main,

(01:28:10):
our main call sheet that everybody had, and then I
would have adjustment call sheets, you know, and I either
have them or you know, people ask me the time.
So I always had a notebook in you know, always
wore hoodie, always had pocket, yeah, of course, right, uh,
but I always had But I always had notebooks with paper,

(01:28:30):
you know, and I would rewrite different scripts, different series
coming up, you know, like we come aside. I'm like, hey, Jewels,
next third down call is going to be this, next
first down is going to be called to be ready
to go in on second down, and long, second and
short we're gonna stay based. And I would write all
of those out so that everybody had that during the game, I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:28:45):
Done, how's money? I'm done early, and then I went
to Nickel.

Speaker 1 (01:28:49):
Then you went to Nickel.

Speaker 2 (01:28:50):
But yeah, so that's how we game plan.

Speaker 1 (01:28:52):
And you know, going to this game, they had had
good skill that, you know, good running back obviously a
quarterback that was gonna sit in the pocket. So it
was like, how do we disrupt the timing of the
game we had We're able to generate with some Andre
and Mark, we're able you know, Vince pushed the pocket.
It was Vince wilfork Man. He's easily.

Speaker 2 (01:29:11):
Now does Bill come in to staff meeting? All right, boys,
this is how we have to win this because he's
gonna give you the keys on what he thinks the
whole collective teams, special teams, defense and offense has to do.
So he pulls in, all right, guys, this is what
we got to do, this, this, this, this, this, and
then he pulls you aside. You guys break and you

(01:29:31):
guys go install what you're gonna do for that week
or develop what you're gonna do for that game plan week.
Now does he ever sometimes come in, I like, Matty
p you know, we're gonna score a lot of points
on these guys, like, this is what we need you
to do. So like, is that's what a good head coach?
Is that what he's doing as well?

Speaker 1 (01:29:50):
So we certainly would have as we got ready for
game plans. You know, we would meet Josh would meet
with Bill. I'd meet with Bill and we'd talk about like, hey,
what are you thinking, how do you want to play this?
What do you think on the other side of the ball.
We'd do that kind of individually. We talked, you know,
personnel always biggest thing.

Speaker 2 (01:30:05):
We who do we got?

Speaker 1 (01:30:06):
You know, it was always us first, like who do
we have? Who are the best eleven guys we can
put on the field to help us win this week
against and who do they got? It was all you
know to me the NFL coming from college, the NFL
was so much more the NBA than it was college football.
It was the matchups. It was who's this guy? Who
whears this guy? How do you play the game, you know,
against these the players on the other side of the field,

(01:30:28):
and who do you have? So we would talk about
the big picture. We would put the game plans together.
You know, I'd certainly go in and talk to them like, hey,
this is what we're thinking. What do you think You'd
be like, yeah, this is great, this is good. Hey
take a look at this. Maybe try something here too.
So he'd always have you know, we'd always have to
say as far as things that he liked, and then
what we would do, which I loved, loved these meetings

(01:30:49):
that were super long. All of our meetings were super long,
all of them. So but it would be the night
before the game and we would have a coordinators meeting
and we would and Ernie so Ernie Bill coordinators's phone
was not ringing. That was the most amazing thing ever.
I know, Josha bro, you have no idea. I was
like everyone thought they were fired right there. Okay, anyways,
so we'd have these coordinator MOMENTI story, and so we

(01:31:14):
would we would go through we would go through the
call sheet every with so I knew how Josh was
going to call the game. Josh knew how I was
going to call the game. I knew what Scotti was
going to call on special teams, and we would build
it sit there and we talk about, Okay, hey, does
this fit the vision of how this game needs to
go so that we give ourselves a chance to win?
And that was the most fun.

Speaker 2 (01:31:34):
Yeah, that's that's the crazy thing. We talk about, all
these sexy hires, all these play callers. You know that
these future coaches. You think that a good play caller
could just be a great head coach. It's hard. It's
fucking hard. Being a head coach is hard. It's hard.

Speaker 1 (01:31:52):
It's really hard.

Speaker 2 (01:31:53):
Jackie, let's break down the fucking uh Ravens. Baltimore Ravens
get through the they were in our division because play
them twice a year the regular season.

Speaker 5 (01:32:02):
On theofs somehow didn't match up this year against them
in the regular season this year.

Speaker 2 (01:32:06):
Oh yeah, you gotta be a first place All the
first place teams play each other. That's how it goes. Well,
that's what people don't realize about the schedule. Making all
in conference, whatever you place, you play all those same
places and then you get a different conference division, So
that makes up the eighteen to seventeen games the schedule

(01:32:27):
more beautiful.

Speaker 1 (01:32:27):
It's like, again, you think about the incredible run that
we had, like every year, let alone, we're getting whatever
team we played, we were getting their best because that
was the benchmark. But you're also playing the best teams
every year all the time. Like the mental fort two
is that word? The mental toughness a favorite Tommy Like

(01:32:50):
the the what do you say?

Speaker 2 (01:32:53):
Competitive?

Speaker 1 (01:32:54):
Competitive stands my favorite favorite term that he would use
competitive stamina of you guys was unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (01:33:00):
And that's what a lot of people don't realize right
now with these Chiefs. Everyone says, oh, they only won
by two points. They don't realize that every team and
every coach that's coaching against them, they're sitting and they say,
that's America's most wanted If we beat them, we're gonna
get paid more, we're gonna get a new job. We're
gonna do this every single team. And it's not like

(01:33:22):
you're playing Louisiana Lafayette Agricultural School the right. Everyone's getting
everyone's good, everyone's good. So that's why it's impressive what
they're doing. But that's what Matt matty p was trying
to say, like, you know, it gets hard when you
when you're winning first place every year, you're America's most wanted,

(01:33:42):
so you're playing everyone's super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (01:33:44):
It's amazing. You don't realize, you know. And again we
did this on purpose, right, so we were always kind
of behind the curtain, like you know, knowing we had
that mystery about us, right, which we loved because we
didn't talk outside the building like everything was in house.
And we loved it because actually it was an advantage.
Like Teddy would say this whole time. Breu would be like,

(01:34:05):
we had them beat before they walked in the field
because everyone was like, how are they doing this? How
are they doing this? And once we put a little
bit of doubt in their head in the first or
second quarter, well.

Speaker 2 (01:34:18):
Because we wouldn't make mistakes and they would Yep, we
had them. Why the great teams embrace the bulls eye. Baby,
you gotta you know what.

Speaker 1 (01:34:26):
Kyle Busch, which is great, right, So.

Speaker 2 (01:34:29):
He rubbed me when I was fucking starting to race
in the New Hampshire once when I was the pit car. Yeah,
you fucking bumps. So I did the same thing New Hampshire.
Go right, go do the same thing.

Speaker 1 (01:34:37):
Actually, so I go out. I gotta I walk out
with him and uh give him a check or something
to him whatever. So you know, everyone loves to boo them, right,
So I come on, they like announce me, and everyone's
kind of like and then you know, cheering, and then
like they announced him that they want to boo.

Speaker 2 (01:34:52):
But I'm on there so it's kind of awkward.

Speaker 1 (01:34:53):
And then he just looks at me and he goes,
he goes, I love the booze.

Speaker 2 (01:34:58):
He goes, it means you're Relevan then, and I was like,
I like that. It's true love that. He was awesome.
He was. He drove the pace car.

Speaker 1 (01:35:07):
Yeah, I didn't drive it.

Speaker 2 (01:35:08):
I rode see I drove. I drove the pace car.
And he was the first. He won the fucking polls,
so he was. He was the first car and that's
what he did. I went, I was like, hey, it
was the day's thirder. He's bump you rubbed, you go rubbed.
He's race He's also a Broncos fan, so I know
he's got to. He was so cool though, he let

(01:35:30):
he let me. All right, well he let me into
his trailer and everything, but definitely on this oh yeah,
come on, all right.

Speaker 5 (01:35:38):
Anyway, these Ravens went twelve and four, fourth year of
the hardball era o C Cam Cameron Chuck Pagano was
leading the team. We know him a future head coach
after this. Ricky Williams last year in the NFL was
taking snaps in this game. It's just my mind rewatching
this game. Oh my god, running Ray shout out Ricky.

(01:35:59):
Uh fourth straight year making the playoffs for the Ravens.
Terrell Suggs DP O wide. He's been Player of the
Year and they swept their division, so pretty dominant MAFC
North that year. Dude, Jimmy Smith I always say he
was really good.

Speaker 2 (01:36:11):
I liked him. Yeah, he was a bad, physical guy
that could get in and out of his breaks because
we played him so much. And then Tory Smith he
was just he was a really fast receiver. Tyrod Taylor
was a rookie crazy. They had the running back that
was good.

Speaker 1 (01:36:28):
Yeah, Ray Rice was.

Speaker 2 (01:36:31):
That guy. He's one of my favorite He's one of
my favorites. He's a fucking low He's a sweet guy.
He wasn't like an asshole.

Speaker 1 (01:36:39):
Amount of the amount of respect I have for him
is off the charts.

Speaker 2 (01:36:43):
I remember, I remember Torell's or No, that was Bart Scott. Bart.
Scott went to Billio's face, Remember that fuck you what boy?
Billy Like I'm talking this was like I think the
ref was doing the penalty for something and like there's
dead time on the field and Bart went up to
him and did that billy oh like starts yelling at him.

Speaker 5 (01:37:03):
And also this was Jones, this late era ed Reid
for the for the Ravens second to last year in Baltimore.

Speaker 2 (01:37:10):
Now, how much did ed Man how much did he
talk about him? And coaches me, because in our regular
meetings we we'd have a forty five played cut up
on a Wednesday, fucking Ravens week of Ed Reid and
the up and under on punt, the fucking the punt return,
Like did Bill talk about him obsessly?

Speaker 1 (01:37:31):
And the defensive guys, what are you talking about?

Speaker 2 (01:37:34):
Here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (01:37:35):
So we played when I was at Syracuse two thousand
and one, we played Miami last game of the year,
so we were actually really good that year. Freenie was
a he was a senior Dwight.

Speaker 2 (01:37:43):
He was rolling.

Speaker 1 (01:37:43):
It was our whole third down defense was hey, Dwight, Yeah,
Dwight's my guys, just go back to the quarterback. So
we played Miami. McKinney, right is the tackle for Miami. Yeah,
so this is Dwight story. But anyway, I was talk
about Ed Reid, So Ed Reid and Jason Taylor. Literally,
I think we threw more pick sixes to those guys
in that game. I think they scored like four touchdowns

(01:38:05):
a piece. It was unbelievable. Was a track meet, like
those guys are just so ed Reid, Like even college,
he was Unreal's the way that he did, the way
that he could find the amazing He baits you too.

Speaker 2 (01:38:17):
There'd be some times were like I remember just in
our gameplay meetings when we play against him. For an
offensive skill player, when you're looking at coverage, you never
look at the corners because corners can lie and cheat.
What you always do is you have to always take
a pre snap read of the safeties and then post

(01:38:40):
snap what the safeties are doing. You have to be
able to locate them to see what responsibility they're trying
to get. So then that just what that stuff. Yeah,
you got to see. But whenever we play the Ravens,
we had to like we couldn't do that because Ed
would fucking just completely go rogue on on something. He
would start up over here when he had to be
the halffield safety on the other side and then get

(01:39:02):
over there, which we would get them. We would get them,
we would, we would. We would gash him with the
touchdown here or there. But then there would also be
a pick that came out of nowhere.

Speaker 1 (01:39:10):
Like that's just those games within the game, because that's
my game within the game of like the quarterback the
safety like Brady and and like that's fascinating stuff, like
people that love like that is just watching those two
great players at it with each other was amazing. Or
you know, like coverage you mentioned where you find the fish, right,
who's the youngest guy on the field.

Speaker 2 (01:39:31):
Who's the youngest guy.

Speaker 1 (01:39:32):
He's going to be the most scared about his coverage,
So before the snap he will be in the alignment
he's supposed to be in. So just find the fish
and that'll give you. Like so whether it was a nickel,
a star, a corner safety, you.

Speaker 2 (01:39:44):
Know, by the end I would look at because you'd
always sometimes I would hear like Scar and Brady and Josh,
they'd talk about like the defensive line, and sometimes you
get keys from the defense line on what the coverage
would be because if they were in like a bear front,
or if they were in like five down diamond, you

(01:40:04):
knew you were always getting manned because they were manned up,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:40:07):
So like or if you listen and you saw, like,
you know, guy has uh he's normally got one hand down,
all sudden he's got the other hand down.

Speaker 2 (01:40:13):
It's like, okay, he's dropping. Yeah, he's dropping. You know,
he's almost There's all these little keys.

Speaker 1 (01:40:18):
There's no different we look at offensive tackles. I'm like,
all right, well, if his you know, his heels up here,
if the stagger's this, it's past. This is run like
all those you know, things you look for. But good players,
like i'd read you better be careful.

Speaker 2 (01:40:30):
Now, how what was what was this offense for the Ravens?
How what was the keys to stop this offense? What
was so good about this offense in twenty eleven?

Speaker 1 (01:40:39):
Well, I mean, you know, coming out of the year before,
obviously the run game was going to be an issue, right,
So we got to stop the run. But this was
getting Flacco, like, you know, like we got to get
Joe Flacco. We gotta make him uncomfortable. He's not really
gonna scram he's not going to take off. We got
to push the middle of the pocket. They're gonna get
some yards. They've been getting it all year. We just
got to do a great job in the red area
and then you know, make him try to drive it

(01:41:01):
and get some turnovers, which we did. You know, we
got a couple of great I mean, the spikes pick
in this game is a great play.

Speaker 2 (01:41:07):
By one hand. Yeah, that was a really good pick.
Now with Joe Flacco what I always saw with you,
let me pull the book. I can show you we
we got ye.

Speaker 1 (01:41:18):
We're coming on.

Speaker 2 (01:41:20):
I mean we're coming out. Holy Ernie, Maddie. All of
them were Josh brings ship to just din't bring anything.
I don't think Josh Billy. Oh he brought a tea kettle.
He got all pissed. So this would be right. So
this is your play sheet.

Speaker 1 (01:41:38):
So this would be the play sheet from the game.

Speaker 2 (01:41:40):
How many times do you refine that?

Speaker 1 (01:41:43):
So I was obsessed.

Speaker 2 (01:41:45):
Yeah, we start out with probably like eight hundred plays.

Speaker 1 (01:41:50):
So through the course of the week, like I'd build
it right, So whether it was early downs, third downs,
red area, I would build him as we would go through,
and then by the end I would sit there and
just I'd sit there by the end, and you know,
I'd build the call sheet and we always had you know,
I had a little bit of a different call sheet
than than all the other coaches because they also had

(01:42:10):
the personnel on the back. I wasn't doing the rotation
of the players and all that stuff, so all the
situational stuff was on the back. But yeah, so in
the front of the game, you know, we'd go circle
the calls we were going to start with in the game,
go from there, and then i'd have like minis sometimes
when my eyes actually work, my eyes don't work anymore,
but I'd be able to call it off the minis
if I wanted those. I couldn't find my notebook for

(01:42:31):
this one, my handwritten notes during the game. But yeah,
so we had you know, I got the evaluation of
the game right here. Things we did well, things we
did poorly.

Speaker 2 (01:42:38):
So when you're you're about to call a play, you're
looking over to see who's the signal guy to tell
us what personnel was. So Joshua's boyer was upstairs, upstairs.
We gotta love it, we gotta love it, we gotta
love it. And you go to your eleven personnel.

Speaker 1 (01:42:56):
There was nobody better upstairs than josh His eyes is
the way he saw the game, the information he gave me.

Speaker 2 (01:43:02):
I love josh. Yeah. So he gives you personnel, and
then you already know situations. So it's first and ten.
You go to your first and ten thing. We got
eleven person are eleven personnel, and then you're changing up
if you want eleven personnel blitz or this that, and
that's what you're making the decision.

Speaker 1 (01:43:20):
Yeah, or you know, based on how I think the
game is going, or if I have a tendency on
how I think he's gonna call it. Like some guys
getting run past rhythms. Some guys go run run past
or whatever that is, or or.

Speaker 2 (01:43:29):
First down after crossing the fifty, maybe a shot.

Speaker 1 (01:43:32):
All those situations. I mean, if we get to the
logo or low fridge, high red area, fringe, hi yep,
backed up, protection, block it up, throw it outside. If
you're showing yeah, all that stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:43:44):
Can I ask the dumbest like at home fan question.
Just hear me out for a second. The place sheets laminated, Yes,
you've got a pencil in your.

Speaker 1 (01:43:52):
Ear or I had a paper note pad so you
can see on the back there. Those are the second
joy's got it right now, I had I was like
staples now, I mean I had had.

Speaker 2 (01:44:03):
Austments.

Speaker 1 (01:44:04):
Those are the adjustments or probably during the game, you know,
in the second half. Those are second half. I had
my thin markers in my right front pocket. I had
thick markers in my back pocket because it would cross
them out. I had pencil here, I had a notebook
in the front of my pocket because sometimes it was
cardboard or paper because again the lambin it's great. The

(01:44:27):
thing about the lamina was good is that you could
mark on it and do all that. But it actually
when you lamit made the thing bigger, so I can
actually see it.

Speaker 2 (01:44:33):
Sometimes.

Speaker 1 (01:44:34):
Uh, you know it's hard, but you know you'd be
writing and doing all that stuff. But again, if it
rained or if it snowed, like, those markers are useless, right,
so they don't work. Paper and pencil always works, you know,
cardboard works, and a lot of times, like as if
I had the call sheet here, I actually had paper
in front of it. And then so during the series,

(01:44:54):
as I'm getting notes, I would quick mark on the
paper in front of me in front of the call sheet,
and then go back, and then when everyone came to
the sideline, I would go and mark up in marker
on the call sheet because I didn't want to mark
on the call sheet during the call. I didn't want
to correct anything on the call sheet because I wanted
the call sheet. That's that's where I was making the
calls from. So I needed that as good as it
could be. I mean got chaotic. I could cut some

(01:45:15):
of these game plans. So I hand drew all of
our game plans, hand wrote and drew every call.

Speaker 2 (01:45:23):
You put it into something though only the call sheet,
so all that is you don't have that. You know
what you should do? If I was, you tell me,
if you want to be real smart, what you have
engineering power to do this? You know there's chat GBT, Yes,
I'm into that right now. You should make chat matty

(01:45:44):
P where you log all your football ship in. And
then whenever I have anything, I could just say, what
is that base thing this that you could type it
in there and it'll it'll take all the databases from
all your notes and it'll be able to answer the question. Now,
that's a that's AI. I might already be on that.
I know you're on that ship. I know you're on

(01:46:05):
that ship. I am heavy into that right now. But
that's what that's what it's gonna be. I can't believe
you just told everybody just oh yeah, we were watching this.
And I always remember sometimes you get in front when
I would play scout team, because he would. When I
was playing a scout team at this time, Matt e
p would come coach the scout team for fifteen minutes

(01:46:27):
on what he wanted to emphasize on the period of
the play cards. So he would he would go through
all our play cards what we had to go run
against the real team or the ones, and he would
go and kind of try to coach how they would
do it. And so a lot of times when we
play these guys with Joe Flacco, he'd be like he

(01:46:48):
go to the quarterback, he goes, all right, I don't
care if the guy's covered down the field, just throw
it up because they're going to try to get a pie.
And half the time is that not true?

Speaker 1 (01:46:59):
Yeah, yeah, because it was he was gonna go the
fifty fifty. You know, everybody fifty. But defensively, for me,
it was always like, really, there's three things that can
happen on the play when you played these guys, and
they always had it was either he could you could
break it up, he can catch it, or they're gonna
get a you know, they're gonna get a PI and
then get the ball down there. So I'm like, we

(01:47:19):
have to practice that. If we don't practice that, we're
not gonna be able to make those plays live. And
in the game it was all like because again you're
you're downfield trying to play the ball up in the air,
and a lot of times for the show teams, it's like,
all right, I'm just not gonna throw it. I'm like, no,
I need this guy to get this rep. I don't
care if he's covered, because this is gonna happen in
the game, and if he doesn't do it in practice,

(01:47:40):
he's not gonna you know, as a player, you're not
gonna have that confidence that you're gonna be able to
do it right in the game. And I just wanted
to have that confidence going in the game, so you know,
we'd be out in the field and be like, hey,
you've made this play three times this week, like I
threw it you on purpose, Like just go make it
in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:47:52):
You can do that. So what would you say? The
craziest little one of those types of things you guys
made players due to work on players weaknesses, because I
have one. When you used to tape up the balls,
you would tape they would tape up. They would tape
up Dv's hands. They would tape up their hands so
they couldn't grab if they got a lot of grabbing penalties,

(01:48:14):
they would fucking tape their hands so they couldn't grab him. Provy,
So mad I would be. If I was a dB,
I would be like, this is fucking crazy. Or if
say another team was on vice versa as a receiver,
Bill and Maddy p would go into the other you know,
the scout team for the defense, and he would say,
line up off sides and hold the guy. There's no

(01:48:36):
holding this way, there's no holding, we just hold him.

Speaker 1 (01:48:39):
Or like pass rush, I tell the defensive ends against
you know, if like you had a good rusher for
the offensive tackles, hey, just line up off sides, like
just don't don't worry about line up on the ball,
just line up off sides, because that's how fast this
guy gets off the ball.

Speaker 2 (01:48:52):
Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That's what people don't realize
when I see all these situations, like when the defensive
lineman sees the ball on the ground after a quarterback
got strip sacked and there's a pile of guys and
a guy tries to pick it up instead of just
falling on it. Country, and we used to literally fucking
practice that we're country. Sit there and throw a ball out.

(01:49:15):
All right, there's two guys. All right, you can pick
it up or you have to get on it in
country and city. Country and city.

Speaker 1 (01:49:20):
What do you mean in the country pick it up?
Here in the city, get on.

Speaker 2 (01:49:22):
It, Get on it. That means too much, too much traffic,
Too much traffic, jackie, what's the game. Let's blast through
this thing thirty two degrees at kickoff. This is the
early game of the of the Championship series. So it's
still in New York.

Speaker 5 (01:49:35):
Sam Frayin on the back end, Ledsoe Honrey, captain ye
Steven Tyler out there singing the national anthem. This thing
is getting kicked off, and we're coming off the tebow
Mania and ground three TV performance riding high and then
of course a little bit of bad memories coming in
here with the Ray Rice.

Speaker 2 (01:49:53):
Eighty seven yard TV to kick it off two years earlier.

Speaker 5 (01:49:56):
So that was that was a storyline swirling to We
alluded to this earlier in the episode three and out
fest to start the game three in a row, Big
Vince was in their tackle for loss sacks. We're moving
the ball down the field. Three points in the first half,
low scoring or the first quarter. Sorry about that, Pat's
up three to nothing. Tom throws a pick late in

(01:50:18):
the first quarter, intended for Jules. That drive extends into
the second So mad at me, I look at like
such a young player in that play.

Speaker 2 (01:50:27):
I hate it. I hate it.

Speaker 5 (01:50:30):
Well, the scoring opens up a little bit in the
second quarter. Ten ten Steve o tax On.

Speaker 2 (01:50:36):
Technically the ball is supposed to be outside of numbers
two yards outside.

Speaker 1 (01:50:41):
This is why we are how we are. We've won
so many games. I can't like sometimes I remember that
I know every game, every bad play, like all like
we just we have said.

Speaker 2 (01:50:50):
You know, you know what's crazy? This makes me rehash
and remember stuff. Yeah, I don't just sit and remember,
like because we we were blessed and fortunate enough where
we had so many Usually, if you're like a guy
that goes to high school, you play football, you remember
everything from high school. But we've gone on to so
many crazy experiences and we've had a lot of them

(01:51:14):
that like my processor can't handle it all.

Speaker 1 (01:51:19):
I mean, we were like six Super Bowls, eight straight
AFC championship. I don't know how many total AFC champions
you cant. I mean, it's just like so lucky.

Speaker 5 (01:51:26):
Yeah, it's crazy. Thirteen ten at the half, Pats are up.
Moving into the second half, we extend the lead with
another Steve o field goal. A lot of bend don't
break going on on both sides of the ball. Baltimore
gets the lead, first lead of the game on a
Tory Smith twenty nine yard touchdown. Then we have a
tough sequence coming up here. Woody fumbles the subsequent kick return. Brutal,

(01:51:49):
brutal three hold him to three on a big red
area stop.

Speaker 2 (01:51:55):
So what's the art of the red area stop?

Speaker 1 (01:51:57):
Oh? Yes, negative play.

Speaker 2 (01:52:01):
Negative play decreases your chances of scoring. It's it's resetting
the line of scrimmage.

Speaker 1 (01:52:07):
Negative play in the reddia decreases your chances of scoring
by like fifty percent or whatever it is. So it
was always like when they run the ball like they
you know, you can never let him run it in never,
and then it's the you know, stop him on early downs,
and then it's the four point play on third down.

Speaker 2 (01:52:22):
We'll be right back after this quick break.

Speaker 1 (01:52:26):
So we used to do goal line seven on seven.

Speaker 2 (01:52:30):
I remember competitive like it was like we would talk.
That's when he brought out the easy button. We talked
about that. Remember talk.

Speaker 1 (01:52:35):
We would talk ship and all that stuff, like we
would bat you know, Brady and all that, so, you know,
and Rob would always be talking, you know. So I
would stand. I would put the garbage cans up because
he'd be.

Speaker 2 (01:52:44):
Running the route, like the garbage can linemen. Yeah, but
I put them out.

Speaker 1 (01:52:48):
And like make sure that they couldn't just run through
because we had the you know, only the skelly out there.

Speaker 2 (01:52:54):
And so Rob.

Speaker 1 (01:52:55):
Rob was yaking, and so I had the garbage can
in front of me, and I knew he was running
across out behind me. So he takes off and starts
to run, and I take the garbage can and I
throw it behind me, and all I hear is and
I turn around. He's on the ground and he's laying
there and he's not moving. This Friday before game and
he's laying there and he's not moving, and I was like,

(01:53:16):
oh my god, I just broke his leg. Like I
was like, I just I'm like, I'm gonna get fired
right now, like I just killed him. And so I'm like,
so now I panic go over and now I'm like,
oh my god, I'm like, are you okay? And he
starts laughing. I was like he's so he was like
he scared the shit out of me. He used to like,
you know, my kids would come after train can was
the best, right, you know, and he would always take
Dominic and put him on his back and do push ups.

(01:53:36):
He's like, I do my push ups and he'd take
dom and he'd bang out the push ups. And I
was laughing at him earlier. I was like, do you
remember my oldest domb's first Halloween. I'm like, I came
to your house, you know, for trick or treat, and
so Rob obviously I know where he lives, right, So
he comes to the door and he's wearing the exact
same clothes he wore to work right with a knitted
Santa Claus like mask, like right on his face. So

(01:53:58):
I'm like, all right, so I'm like, treat whatever. My
mom's like one, so it puts it in. So I
was talking to so he's got the mask, and I
was like, my god, you get a lot of you know,
a lot of tricker treaders or anything, and and he's
not really saying anything.

Speaker 2 (01:54:10):
And I was like, I was like all right, and
he kind of looks at Me's like, how do you
know it was me?

Speaker 1 (01:54:15):
And I was like, I know, I know where you
live and you're in the same exact clothes I saw
you in two hours ago, like.

Speaker 2 (01:54:24):
Foxborough.

Speaker 1 (01:54:25):
Like it was like it was like the best man,
I love, I love you know. I was like, that's
the best. But we used to talk, you know, and
it's I mean, tell him to temmy right.

Speaker 2 (01:54:40):
So he talked so much.

Speaker 1 (01:54:44):
My old heads back in the day, Rabel Bruce Ki,
like those guys they would go play show team just
to play show team because they were bored, and they
go out and play safety and you know, tell him
we got mad. So it was always like it's not
gonna remember always competition back and forth between the offense defense.

Speaker 2 (01:55:01):
What was the what was the one time that you
because I know Raves used to give it to Brady
the worst was there a specific incident or a practice
You don't have to say what he said that you
remember where like I think he may it went too far.

Speaker 1 (01:55:15):
You would hear the helmet go flying, and it would
be yard Sale ear piece, mouth piece. Like I was like, oh,
they got him, they got him good. You know, he'd
be so mad, he'd be so mad, and he'd probably
tell you too. The worst part was is that those
guys probably messed up the look he's and you know,
you know he'd get all because he knew covered three
there in fucking yeah. They're you know, yes, splot field

(01:55:38):
safety stuff and ruin. But with Tom and Grenk, this
one was great too, where we would always do competitive
drives two men and all that stuff, and and when
there was a lot of ship talking going on back
and forth and Gronk's on the far side of the field,
and it's I think I was giving him a lot
of ship we were. I was like, you guys, you know,
we got you. Whatever he to me, takes a snap,
he draws back and he just he throws it and

(01:55:58):
as soon as he lets it go, he turns around
at me and he looks at me and he was like,
gives me one of these.

Speaker 2 (01:56:02):
And I was like, and I knew as soon as.

Speaker 1 (01:56:04):
I was like, oh my god, it's a touchdown, like
he's about to like score. So he gives me one
of these and he's looking at it, doesn't even look
at the play, looks at me, and I was like, oh,
he dropped it. And he turns around. He was so
mad because he thought like Gronk dropped, Dronk caught it.

Speaker 2 (01:56:16):
It was a touchdown. He turned around and looked back
at me, and I was like, that was ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (01:56:20):
It was unreal.

Speaker 2 (01:56:21):
So much fun, man, And he said, no fun over there.
We did.

Speaker 1 (01:56:24):
Oh my god, Matt Light, are you kidding me?

Speaker 2 (01:56:26):
Like he even story the.

Speaker 1 (01:56:28):
Dinosaur Barbecue won in Rochester, which he did the game.
That was amazing because so being from Syracuse, that's where
Dinosaur Barbecue was that opened up in Rochester. So he
texted me, we're on the bus like we're literally trying
to be a snowstorm and we're just like we're gonna
get on ninety the through way and we're gonna drive
until eventually they just shut the throu way down. We
get up in Rochester. We go to a hotel. It's
like under construction. There's like stuff everywhere, and I get

(01:56:50):
a text from Light. I would always get a text
my Light. He said he said Dinosaur BBQ meet us.
And I was like, Oh, this is gonna be bad.
And I just remember I was like, you know, think god.
There was like no videos and phones and all that stuff.
And I remember walking in like boat races are going
on and like all that, and I was like, I'm
gonna have to babysit this.

Speaker 2 (01:57:12):
This is not gonna be This is not.

Speaker 1 (01:57:13):
You know, because I was always the one that was like, hey,
let's get Maddie p He'll take care of it that way.
If we get in trouble, we're okay. And I was
like not again, because Light would do the same when
we would do training camp.

Speaker 2 (01:57:24):
This one's great.

Speaker 1 (01:57:25):
So we all the coaches at bed check and your
name would be on the board of who was the
bed bed check coach that night. So Light comes to
me training came. He goes, hey, he goes, uh listen,
he goes, you got bed checked and then I said, yeah,
he goes, you gotta do me a favorite. He goes,
there's a new movie coming out. He goes, I rented
the movie theater. He goes, but the whole team is
gonna be there. It's okay, He's like, but we're gonna

(01:57:45):
be a little late. And then it's like you mothers
like why my I night? Like why do I always
I have the worst bed check. Everything always happened to
me on bedcheck, not a movie inside. So I was
like what and the he I was like okay, I'm like, well,
you know, and I gotdn't obviously don't say anything. I'm like,
all right, I got you. I'm like, but I'm coming,
like I'm going to the movie. So it was Anchorman.

Speaker 2 (01:58:07):
That was the movie. It just come out, and literally
the whole movie, it's the whole team is in the movie.
That popcorn.

Speaker 1 (01:58:14):
Everyone like the whole thing, and I just remember it
andding and it's like eleven whatever, curfew was eleven. I'm
like like, look, everyone's got twenty minutes, and I'm like,
I'm going to rooms in twenty minutes. You better hurry up.
But it was like one of those things where life's
like hey, just you know, it'd.

Speaker 2 (01:58:26):
Be good for the team, you know how he could
say anything, and I was like, oh, this guy's so
Matt Light one training camp. Every day at the end
of training camp we'd have two minute drill and for
the for the film, they would always go to the clock,
which was you'd have fans under the clock and it's
like there's like a lawn, there's a bunch of fans

(01:58:47):
under but they'd go to the clock to see where
it was before the play, to see the time on
on the play. So like if you had two minutes
to go after a play, you'd have you know, one
thirty of no timeouts whatever, but you get that show
out of the scoreboard every single time. And so Matt
had one of his buddies come up during two minutes

(01:59:08):
and he wrote a bunch of signs that he knew
after each play to put the sign up before the
thing for the cut up, so the whole team would
have to see it. And they would be signs like mayo,
I wish I put some mayo on those buns, or
he had all these crazy things and.

Speaker 1 (01:59:26):
So you can choker wide, Yeah, I have them all,
and I had they were in the back of my truck.
Cause again it's like I gotta I gotta hide these.
I'm throwing them in the back of your truck. I'm like,
don't put them in my truck, Like I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:59:36):
I don't want the evidence.

Speaker 1 (01:59:37):
Like, so we go into the team meeting and you know,
Bill's he's up there and he's mod he's coaching, and
so no one's catching it, like the first time it
flashes over, but you can see the players like, wait,
what did I just did? I just see right there?
And then you know, Bill's like, go to the next play,
and then I see the next one comes up. And
then so now like part of the room sees it.

(01:59:58):
Now part of the room starts truckling. So now once
part of room start was like what And so you
can see I sat behind and I can see the
whisper going through and I'm looking I'm like, oh my lord,
I'm like, he did not And I knew because I
could look over and light. Always I knew when he
was guilty. It was like your kids, right, I always
knew when he was guilty. And I was like, I
can't So I'm staring at him and he won't like

(02:00:20):
I know he can feel that. I know, he can
feel the heat coming off of me, and he won't
look he won't look over and he's just got his
you know, his little smirk. And so now eventually everyone's
everyone's like cracking up and feels like there's like trying.
And then he's like what the he you know, like
just goes on the rant. The whole room erupts, and

(02:00:41):
it was it was.

Speaker 2 (02:00:43):
Unbelievable, it was amazing. It was amazing. What does Bill
say to that after like the stime? I think you
know what he says after that Jesus cry? I think
you know.

Speaker 1 (02:00:54):
But it was that's the thing, like, you know, listen,
I said, you know, I know everyone's like, hey, what's
best Bill story? Like all like every like whatever, Like
Bill's like my best friends, He's you know, he's like
my best friend. Like well, I said, but like the
thing like I don't see people say, is like no, no,
Bill doing a having a water gun fight in my

(02:01:14):
pool with my kids in the middle of the summer.
Like that's the funniest to me. You know, my kids
are like dunking them Like that's you know, hysterical. That's
that's the Bill I know. But I was like, oh,
practice and all that stuff, and I go, yeah, but look,
it was work. Like we went to work like that's
what it was. We we love football, it was our passion.

Speaker 2 (02:01:31):
We learned.

Speaker 1 (02:01:32):
It was hard, don't get me wrong, Like it was hard.
Every day was hard. But you guys that you guys
made it fun. Like it was just like that was
the best part of my dad was like I would
get done with the you know, twelve hours, I would
work at night and I'd be I didn't want to
see any the other anybody, the coaches or whatever, and
and then you guys would come in and be like, Okay,

(02:01:53):
the players are here, let's go, let's get And that
was the great part about it. And that's what was
so fun. But like stuff like that, it would happen
all like, you.

Speaker 2 (02:02:01):
Know, the pig's head, the pig's head, which one was
that so light would have pig ROAs, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:02:11):
A friend of ours would have pig ROAs. And all
of a sudden there would be a pig head that
would show up in the locker room and like because
you know, we used to have the one door, yeah,
and you'd open up the door and there's a pig
head sitting in your locker, like right there standing.

Speaker 2 (02:02:25):
You know, guy's freaking I mean it was he put
a duck, a live duck in someone's locker. One time.

Speaker 1 (02:02:31):
I walked out of the I walked out of the
meal room and the running back room used to be
right there, yea, and Ivan was in there. It was
late in the afternoon, five so you know, film might yeah,
film might have been watching. And I look in and
Light is literally doing the chicken's He's walking like a
chicken behind Ivan, and you know, like one of the

(02:02:52):
cronies is in there with the camera and he's filming it.
And I'm like, I'm like, what are you doing? Literally
walking like a chicken in the back of the running
back room.

Speaker 2 (02:02:58):
But get it, to know, a camera? Yeah, getting it.

Speaker 1 (02:03:00):
He don't everything, he has it all like he has
all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:03:04):
There's some stories that we couldn't tell of how crazy
Light was about certain things that he did to teammates.
There was things we couldn't tell. Was there ever a
moment We're like, all right, he went too far? This
is it? Like with Light, he's getting at it, like
he's getting cut.

Speaker 1 (02:03:17):
I would say with Light it was always borderline. The
stuff that got out of control, which actually ended all
of it. Was the quarterbacks that ended it. What happened
you You never messed with the guy that had real money, No,
because real money could really mess you up.

Speaker 2 (02:03:33):
Yeah, like guys that send moving companies.

Speaker 1 (02:03:36):
To your house and move all of your furniture out
onto the front lawn while you were at practice and
you go home in your entire house. No, that would
cost a normal person like twenty thousand dollars. But you
know somebody has real money. Like you're messing with the
wrong person wrong or uh you know you you take
whatever it was, three of the tires off their.

Speaker 2 (02:03:54):
Car and him I remember that.

Speaker 1 (02:03:56):
No, three of them in the locker and the fourth
ones hidden like in.

Speaker 2 (02:03:59):
The stadium ground. Yeah, so you're in the stadium on
the stadium grounds.

Speaker 1 (02:04:03):
Or you maybe alter someone's jersey and hang it in
the shower so that it dries. But when he sweats,
the smell of how you altered it comes back in
the middle of practice and you want to throw up
the Uh that was? That was the worst? Oh my god,
you'd put the you take their mouthpieces and you'd spray

(02:04:26):
with the oldrant because you never put your.

Speaker 2 (02:04:28):
Mouthpiece until you got the practice and put them in.
The odant just sucks, sucks all.

Speaker 1 (02:04:31):
The saliva out of your mouth and now you can't
breathe and you can't.

Speaker 2 (02:04:35):
That was a good one.

Speaker 1 (02:04:36):
So we are at the Pro Bowl. We're at the
Pro Bowl and he's there, and the Pro bowls over,
and I can't remember if we were flying home or
we're just at the after party at the prob I
think we're at the after party and he and he's
sitting there with us and he goes, watch this. He goes,
I got this app and he goes, I'm gonna call
and Billios across the room and he calls Billy. Oh,
but it came up on Billio's phone as Robert Kraft.
So so you I'm watching it, and Lights like, watch this,

(02:05:00):
and so he dials it and you I'm looking at
Billy and bill Hill was looking ass and he's showing anybody.

Speaker 2 (02:05:06):
He's like like, Robert's like, what do I what do
I do it?

Speaker 1 (02:05:09):
And so you can see him like answer and Light's
doing like mister Kraft on the other end, like how
disappointed he is in the game. And you know, we
we needed to show better in the Pro Bowl and
Billy's like answering them. I'm dying. I'm like, how is
this guy have this stuff? It was he was He
was absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:05:29):
What did Billy do? What he did? He find out
we were dying, we were rolling.

Speaker 1 (02:05:32):
I think I had pictures of that somewhere too, ess,
just taking pictures of him as he's answering the phone.

Speaker 2 (02:05:37):
But light, Yeah, you had to know.

Speaker 1 (02:05:41):
The quarterback thing was that was crazy. The we used
to have the uh the FBI die that would turn purple.
So they put it in like money bags and like
if you got the money bag wet or whatever, then
all the money would turn purple. It was. It was
like a white powder. Yeah, So you'd put it and
everybody's cleats, you know, before you go to practice, so

(02:06:03):
you wouldn't know. And now you sweat during training camp
and you come out of training camp in your feet
or purple and you can't It's like it's like grade
whatever die. You can't get it off, and you're just
so you know, like you know, you're walking around the city.
I'm like, he got diet, you know, he got it.
He got it, you know, he couldn't shot. The worst
was Pierre this is the worst.

Speaker 2 (02:06:22):
This is too far. I lived with Pierre Guy. Here's
my guy. That's so light.

Speaker 1 (02:06:28):
This is so bad. Man Light had this stack of
lottery tickets that were like fixed, like they were winners,
and they were like ten million dollars or something crazy.

Speaker 2 (02:06:41):
So it's Christmas, I think it was Christmas.

Speaker 1 (02:06:43):
And he's handing out the lottery tickets and Pierre sit
at the table and he gets one and he starts
scratching and he's like and he's scratching a little bit
more and he's like scratching again.

Speaker 2 (02:06:54):
He's like and he's like, oh my god. He's like
I think I just want ten million, like a million dollars, and.

Speaker 1 (02:07:01):
Like they're letting it go on and on and on
and light, and I'm like, son of them, I'm like,
that is not cool, bro, way too far.

Speaker 2 (02:07:10):
It's not it's way too far. Right there they go
to the yeah defensive room saying fuck you. Right, he
out of p I'm not playing this week. I'm done.

Speaker 1 (02:07:22):
Like I was like, oh my, that one, that one,
I felt that one.

Speaker 2 (02:07:25):
That one was all right, we gotta get back to this.
Can you take us through the sterling more punch? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (02:07:31):
So driving in the two minutes and then which you know.

Speaker 2 (02:07:34):
Two minutes, right, so driving, lock and combo.

Speaker 1 (02:07:38):
Yeah, lock and combo.

Speaker 2 (02:07:41):
That was the third.

Speaker 1 (02:07:44):
So now they're in the fringe and uh, you know,
throw it up to the sideline. It was the far sideline.
It was their sideline going away from the lighthouse, and uh,
we're beat at the line of scrimmage, you know, and Sterling.

Speaker 2 (02:07:57):
Sterling.

Speaker 1 (02:07:58):
The thing that was so special about him was he
just had an unbelievable ability to play the hands and
really he was strong, like his hands, his punched, like
his finished through was really strong, good quickness, good change direction.
But you know, I mean this is high competition. This
is at the end of the game. And so the
ball goes up and obviously, you know, it's like trying
to go to Super Bowl all that, and you're like,

(02:08:19):
oh my god, we're beat beating the line of scrimmage
and he's trailing's in full trail and it just totally casual,
you know, drops in and here, and then I was like,
oh my god, he's gonna knock it out.

Speaker 2 (02:08:30):
And I knew.

Speaker 1 (02:08:31):
I just knew it was like because we saw it
in practice. All he timed it so perfectly. As he
chopped through and it is literally, you know, they did
a whole science thing. I think he has been like
the whole like whatever breakdown of the science behind how
fast he did it before the second foot came down
and he knocked it out in the control and the
whole thing. That was just one of those plays where

(02:08:51):
I was like, somebody helped us right there, like you know, somebody,
you know, because we were beat you know that should
have should have won. Yeah, Myra made up and then
know we needed on the fourth down on the field goal,
and she did it again. So I think the Sterling
more like you know, you think about plays in the
NFL that happened for this game for me, you know,
you finally coming along and being the guy that I

(02:09:11):
was like, all right, we got a two way player.
Let's go and if we're gonna do this on defense, right,
Sterling Moore. The legacy of Sterling Moore is really solidified
in this game. Right, So this is his you know
game that people know who he is.

Speaker 2 (02:09:23):
And then.

Speaker 1 (02:09:25):
You know, I were pushing the ball a little bit
to the left, miss field goal and miss in the
field goal, and we're we're going back to the Super.

Speaker 2 (02:09:31):
Bowl now, what are you doing pre snap before that?
Are you going over your potential before the kick? Are
you going over potential calls in all over time?

Speaker 1 (02:09:41):
Yeah, all these situations, I'm always panicked, right, so I'm
I'm not I'm never watching the kick. I'm always thinking, like,
all right, it's tied. They get the ball, how are
we gonna you know, how we're gonna play the next series,
which probably drove everybody crazy, and certainly you know, Boyer
is the one that had to keep me calm because
I'll be like talking to playing.

Speaker 2 (02:09:55):
Look, they get the ball.

Speaker 1 (02:09:56):
We got to do that, and all the players like,
I don't want to talk to you right now, Like
I'm like, I'm watching the kick, and I'm like I
can't watch the kick, like I gotta do something to
take my mind off.

Speaker 2 (02:10:03):
It was no different than the Super Bowls. We were
in the same thing happened, ye.

Speaker 1 (02:10:08):
So yeah, so I didn't really I just wait for
the reaction to know where we're going with it. So yeah,
I gotta I gotta stay busy.

Speaker 2 (02:10:15):
That was crazy. We missed that. That was for them
to tie it. Everyone thinks for them to win it.
I was just to tie it. That was that was
like a crazy year for us to aftermath because there
was that drought. There was a there was a fucking
drought from that seven to that, and it was kind
of a new team, we're rebuilding, you know. We got

(02:10:38):
to the end of nine.

Speaker 1 (02:10:39):
I mean, Bill and I just kind of looked at
it and said, all right, we gotta we gotta start over,
you know. And it was just like, all right, how
we're going to rebuild the roster? What are we going
to do with the pieces we got? Where do we
gotta go? How do we you know, what do we
want to be? You know, where's the league going? It
was a great thing. They always knew kind of like, hey,
the league's gonna shift here, shift this direction, and we
would always try to stay in front of that. Or
The big thing for us really after this was it

(02:11:00):
was really probably this year. We were so predominantly base
three to four defense at that point because there was
a lot of twenty one and twelve and twenty two,
you know, Baltimore to play twenty two personnel, and half
of the league at one point was playing three four.
Whether it was branches of our coaching staff that was
out there or Pittsburgh's it just became harder in the
draft to find outside linebackers, you know, so we kind

(02:11:22):
of switched. Two thousand and eleven, we played like really
like one outside linebacker. We played more of a four
man line, kind of like four to three. And then
after this, because of twelve personnel and the way that
was going, it was easier for us to get in
a four down front and play the big nickel. The
sub packages still had base and so after this year,
I really I went in and I was like, look,
every training camp we started with the same run fits,

(02:11:43):
we start with the same install I said, I'm scrapping
all that. I'm like, we're going to start and sub
you know. And I started to change the defense. Twenty twelve,
we got some more pieces. I got high you know,
Chandler that year, and those were new pieces of the
defense I was really able to create. Then the next
Jamie came in, we got to leave. That changed another
piece for me. I started sending the linebackers what's called

(02:12:04):
like people call like sim pressures. Now, we were doing
those in twenty thirteen, you know, and it basically it's
a sim pressure, so where you know what it is,
So basically it looks like five man rush pressure, but
it's actually four and someone else is dropping out, and
you're trying to really mess with the protections. And one
of the things I found out.

Speaker 2 (02:12:24):
They're changing is they don't know which guy's dropping out.
That's what people So that's why when you say you're
trying to mess with protections, there's five guys coming, the
offensive line can pick them up. But if you they
don't know which guy's not coming, or you're dropping someone
and you have someone do something, then it confuses their protection.

(02:12:46):
And that's when guys come out free.

Speaker 1 (02:12:48):
Yeah, and the quarterback throws pick, I mean Rob pick
against Peyton. Yeah, you know, I dropped them. That was
a sim But the thing that was happening was I
was doing all of sub defense in this in this timeline,
but I was using three four principles. So in three
four you got the three down, but you don't know
where the fourth rushers coming from, and so it was
just calls on the field based on formation and things

(02:13:08):
like that. So I just took that principle and I
basically went to two four defense. So the two defensive
tackles because I had Rob on the left, Chan was
on the right, but then Chan got hurt. You know,
when we bring in a key marriage who's another outside
linebacker type. So it was like I had four backers
on the field. Now I've got Jamie and High behind
the line of scrimmage. And I realized, hey, when the
protection slide's going here the he's got a block Jamie

(02:13:31):
or High Tower. So I was like, look, just make
a call drop him. He knows what the drop is
outside linebacker. Just switch it on the field, you go
run over the back and go, you know, get the quarterback.
So we just created all of the on field communication
calls really out of a two four system is what
it was. And then you know eventually that because you

(02:13:51):
have to have run fits on all this, you know,
I moved the defensive tackle on the weak side. He
started from like a shade to a two wide to
a two and then eventually two threes. You know, through
thirteen what we had Tleeb who changed the coverage. So
now we go from a two and a three team
to really a cover one team man middlefield, safety, help zone, middlefield,
but lock it up on the backside with him. You know,

(02:14:12):
Rebus comes in in fourteen, the defense takes another real
kind of progression to five down looks.

Speaker 2 (02:14:18):
We had all the six.

Speaker 1 (02:14:19):
Uplooks at double muggs, all that was in there from
two thousand and four, So I just used all those
and then the five down looks where I could reduce
Chandler walk now Jamie and high up on the edge
because now they had to go five down protection. Now
I'm setting the other one through the middle because now
he's back on the back. I'm using the same rush
calls to just drop whoever I wanted to. So they
had like four different looks and we're just messing with

(02:14:40):
the front, moving the coverage behind it, and just evolving
the defense. We get to the Super Bowl, we're playing
a lot of five down but now I've got the
quarterback readoption, so I kick both of the tackles out
to three techniques. We go into you know, we call
like ball and chain, where now I'm sending the linebacker
through the middle and the other guy's rapping fast over
the top. So that's how that stopped that whole.

Speaker 2 (02:14:59):
Run system them.

Speaker 1 (02:15:00):
You know in the Super Bowl, which one the Seattle fourteen,
and then by the time we get to fifteen, we're
running that. We had some injuries, we get to sixteen.
Now we're more five down and then six up. Looks
you know, branch, We're just we just kept evolving, you know,
and just it.

Speaker 2 (02:15:15):
Was always when we started being like me because the league,
the offenses were changing. Yeah, like this game, we're all twelve.
By the time of the end of my career, we
were having like seven dbs on the fucking field. Yep,
you know, because the game has changed that much from
you know, Space Game eleven personnel. Now there's four wides groups.

(02:15:37):
But if we see, if we all take a real
look at all the dominant teams, they're all still using
the old ship. Yeah, because it goes and flows now
everyone you know, the fullbacks coming back where you could
blow up these small linebackas defense.

Speaker 1 (02:15:52):
So when you put twenty one in the field, what
was happening is your three calls? Yeah, you just don't
have the time during the week, so you know, offensively,
Hey we put this unit out there, it's gonna be
one of three calls. All well, let's get our keys.
We know how we're gonna attack this. You know, you
stay in eleven. You let us run our sub packages.
You have could be four down, it could be six up.
It could be five down, it could be odd spacing,

(02:16:14):
we could be in a buck. Look, you know you
have all those plus all the disguises behind it that
we were using, and the on the field because we
had smart players on the field. Calls where we're swapping
and switching, that's a lot. That's a lot to deal with.

Speaker 2 (02:16:26):
Yeah, and we drafted. We drafted the one, I mean,
Jamie Collins, high tow so.

Speaker 1 (02:16:32):
Just all those guys I kept, you know, we drafted
Chandler Syracuse guy. I was like, you know, we drafted
pass rusher finally, but then I loved Dante like I was,
you know, he was the guy just washing on tape.
And again there was there was there was an outside
linebacker from Alabama that was getting all the press swept.

Speaker 2 (02:16:49):
We went to Baltimore, but I loved high like. I
was like, Hi, I will be the next signal caller.

Speaker 1 (02:16:53):
He's gonna be the guy stands in front of the
huddle and he's gonna be the guy I talked to.
And he could play on the edge, you could play
like the versatility guys. Because then I got van neyd
right and he was another versatility guy. Or you know,
I just kept getting again we'd get however we could.
But I was like, okay, what's the role, what can
they do? How can they get on the field. How
does it help us win? And that was so fun
about the creativity. I got Steph so we could stay

(02:17:14):
in more of the lock up stuff with him. We
could push coverage, we could have help. Devon was in
the deep part of the field. Pat was Pat Chung
was the key to all of it, you know, playing
the safety position, and we could you know, just keep
working around whatever pieces we had.

Speaker 2 (02:17:26):
And that was the fun.

Speaker 1 (02:17:27):
Like that just it was so much fun to like
do that stuff and then create and we would you know,
we do all those buttz pick up stuff before practice.
So I'd be trying stuff out against the offense and
you know, everybody get all mad and were like this
is what are we seeing. I'm like, well, if you.

Speaker 2 (02:17:41):
Can't pick it up, then I think's probably gonna work.
Walk through.

Speaker 1 (02:17:45):
This is the worst one. The worst one was were
Mayo so I called I called double Mug. He walks
up inside. I forgot who the other inside backer was
and Rob's on one side, chains on the other outside
and it was it was Josh Gooje. So we're we're
doing the right pre practice and so make a protection call.

(02:18:06):
So Mayo looks at Rob and goes switch. So they switch.
Mayo walks up outside, Rob comes inside. So now the
offense is changing it again, right, So now Rob switches inside.
So we changed it again on offense and then I
looked at Mayo and I go, you know, it's like chaos,
like move it all. So Mao flips everybody. So Mayo
goes outside, the chandler goes inside. Rob goes back outside,

(02:18:27):
like all four And it was like a three hour argument.

Speaker 2 (02:18:30):
Yeah, Gooje and.

Speaker 1 (02:18:31):
Josh on how they were going to pick it up.
And honestly, we didn't do anything, like we're just down operation.

Speaker 2 (02:18:38):
Yeah, so you're you're you're practicing communication and that's like
eighty percent of defense is community being able tonicate of
the most athletic dudes on the field. But I always
say they're the dumbest guys. I know, dumbest guys.

Speaker 1 (02:18:51):
I know.

Speaker 2 (02:18:52):
Here we go again, you know, I mean locking combo.
The receiver on the fucking field that doesn't play dB
did the right call, and the guy who plays it
for a lot of living and making lots of money
didn't get the call like it just.

Speaker 1 (02:19:07):
Just run a step. I mean, if you've been running
that since you're in third grade, exactly, very well.

Speaker 2 (02:19:12):
It's time for the Chill Zone, brought to you by
cores Light. Get cors Light delivered straight to your door.
Visit corslight dot com, slash gwn celebrate responsibly. Can you
walk us through the Malcolm Butler situation? Yea, the interception
in in fourteen on the Super Bowl, that whole sequence

(02:19:36):
of plays and what do you got on that?

Speaker 1 (02:19:39):
Yeah, So obviously you're talking about great games, and certainly
the eleven Baltimore team and and the Y and all
of it. That's why I love that one. And obviously
you so I thought that'd be a great one. But
you know these the fourteen game, the sixteen game, you know,
the super Bowl. There's there's some crazy, crazy stuff that
just happened in those games. And the thing about the

(02:20:01):
fourteen Super Bowl with Seattle. So going back to around
this time, really when I took over the defense eleven
and ten, they would come to me every training camp
and again in the Bible had all the calls and
he'd be like, hey, it's like we really every training
camp hey, when are we putting goal line three corner in?
And I'd be like, yeah, we got to get that in.

(02:20:22):
We gotta get I'm like, we're never gonna run goal
line three corner like it's eleven personnel, Like I'm not
doing it, like they're gonna throw, like it's just the
whole thing. So for years I was like, yeah, it's
going at like we never got it in. So as
soon as we win the championship game and I'm like
I knew we were playing Seattle and walked into the
defensive staff from I go, you're not gonna believe I'm

(02:20:42):
about to say, and they're like what And I'm like,
we got to put goal line three corner in And
I'm like, what are you talking about. I'm like, we're
gonna need this call in this game. I'm just telling you, like,
we can't. We can't go eleven personnel and not have
as much mass on the field. I'm like, we got
to figure this out. So I knew like that Monday
and everyone was like, there's no way you're gonna call this,

(02:21:03):
and I'm like, I'm just telling you we're gonna need
this call, So start drawing it up.

Speaker 2 (02:21:07):
Going through the card.

Speaker 1 (02:21:08):
I think you need the call because I knew that
no one had seen it.

Speaker 2 (02:21:12):
We hadn't run it. We hadn't run this call. Need
that call.

Speaker 1 (02:21:17):
Just eleven personnel inside the three yard line trying to
be able to stop Lynch the quarterback run game, the
receivers that are on the field if you were going
to go sub defense on the two yard line, Like
just too much space. There's just too much space. Like
he's just he's too good. Remember, like I played Lynch
for a lot of years. When he's at Buffalo, like
my happiest day. When Buffalo sent him to Seattle, I

(02:21:37):
was like thank like m send flowers to Buffalo, like
get him out of because this guy is unstoppable. I'm
like that guy was so good, so good. So I
just needed to have enough size to stop the line
of scrimmage from moving. And I couldn't give up any space.
And I also knew that no one had seen it,
and it was going to be one of those calls

(02:21:58):
where I was gonna make them pay, like they were
gonna panic. I wasn't sure what they're gonna do. We knew,
you know that they would have a check, which they did.
We knew we'd kind of get him into that throw
the rubb route. So we get we probably, I draw
it all up, I get it ready to go. We
go down. I remember we practiced like three days before
we leave, and then we go and I kind of

(02:22:19):
told everybody, I'm like, look, we're gonna put this in
as soon as we get down there. But I wanted
the week to really work through all the problems, like
that's just kind of my problem solving. I wasn't gonna
give it to the guys and then change it. So
we get down to Arizona, and you know, I put
it in and I kind of had the guys in
the right spot that I thought. We practiced it. Now,
we ran that pick route. We ran it like and
of course, of course we're into the cards, but like

(02:22:41):
we that was like one of those cards like we
need to see.

Speaker 2 (02:22:42):
This card, like this is this is voices.

Speaker 1 (02:22:45):
We did, and the thing was everybody saw it, like
it wasn't the same guy every time seeing it. We
ran all the combinations. So we get into the game,
or we get we get to the end of the
week of practice and I looked at it and I
was like, I don't there something here. I don't really
like I need to move, you know. I switched Jamie.
I switched him, I switched high. I kind of moved
somebody up and I kind of switched it. After we

(02:23:07):
practiced it like the last day and we kind of
just walked through it, and I was like, all right,
because it was really about stopping the run. It was
going to stop the run, and really the combination with
it to that side was the snack m flat. I
didn't worry about the other side because we knew what that.

Speaker 2 (02:23:18):
Was, so practice it changed it.

Speaker 1 (02:23:22):
At the last minute, I was like, okay, like it's ready,
we're gonna I'm gonna need this. And it's literally written,
it's like three letters in the bottom right hand corner
of the call sheet. It's like the most tiniest call
on the sheet. So beginning of the game, we had
talked about how tough this game was going to be.
The first play of the game is my favorite play
of the game. Like you watched the defensive guys because
we knew their offensive line looked to clean clean the pile.

(02:23:44):
So as soon as Lunch got the ball, they were
coming to take people out. And I was like, look,
we're gonna taggle this dude in the first play of
the game. I'm like, but as soon as he's down,
everybody else go find someone, Go find someone, and go
knock their heads off because they're not doing that to us.
And to the point of like one of my favorite
compliments of all time, and it was probably in the
twelve era, was Chris Berman, who's a great guy, great friend,

(02:24:07):
came up to me and he goes, he said to me,
he goes, you have the best tackling corners in the NFL,
And I was like, if our corners tackled a high level,
the whole team's going to tackle a high level. I
just I took so much pride in that. So in
that first player of the Super Bowl and fourteen, we
tackle inch, everyone turns and looks and starts to take
dudes out, and like Revis is like taking He's going
to get like one of the biggest linemen, you know,

(02:24:28):
the tackles that had that's coming. So I'm like, okay,
like we're on this right, Like we're we're coming. So
we get into the second half and you know, going
into halftime, we were struggling with some coverage matches, right
and they scored right before half.

Speaker 2 (02:24:46):
I was I was hot, it was hot. This was bad.

Speaker 1 (02:24:49):
There's a bad series of bad play. So I am literally,
you know, I'm I'm, I'm like, we're changing, like I'm
switching some guys up. Malcolm is gonna come in the
whole deal. So get into the second half and they
have It was kind of back and forth right like
they were moving, we were moving. It was like, you know,
the defenses in the Super Bowl get worn out.

Speaker 2 (02:25:08):
It's just what happens.

Speaker 1 (02:25:09):
You know, if you can control it early, you have
a chance. But you know, if you're playing like those
games are long, and if you're moving the ball ear
in the first half, the second half, you're worried about,
you know, how well is the defense gonna hold up.
It's gonna be, you know, be a shootout. So both
teams are moving the ball and I was like, ah, man,
this is this is We got to get one stop
in the red area, will be okay. So it's a
series going away from you know, like the last play

(02:25:31):
of the game is the left the series going to
the right end zone and.

Speaker 2 (02:25:36):
Third and two.

Speaker 1 (02:25:38):
So I call I call call one of our one
of the stackbacker left. So The idea of the call was,
we're gonna walk up on the edge the defensive end
who's now in Ninkovic. He's gonna crash down hard and
he's gonna take out Lynch, and then the backer's coming
off for the quarterback. So call stackbacker left third and two.
Rob goes in and nails Lynch and we stop them
on third and two. So I was like, we just

(02:25:59):
stopped on a nickel defense really two yards giving the
ball a Lynch Like, that's pretty So I'm like, Okay,
that's gonna change. They're gonna that's gonna change what they're
doing right now. So we get the last drive they hit.
You know, they're coming down. They hit the big play
down the far sideline. It's on the opposite side the
rule chain, you know, Dron jumps over the pile, it falls,
he catches it. Now again, I'm sitting here twenty fourteen,

(02:26:22):
seven years later in the same stadium in the Super
Bowl where David Tyree, when I coached in college, who
was a special team didn't catch anything in college, catches
this thing right, and I'm like, holyf did that just
happened again?

Speaker 2 (02:26:37):
I was like I was just like I was on
the scene. We're talking about the scene where he tipped
it and Curse ended up doing it back Malcolm. Malcolm's great.

Speaker 1 (02:26:45):
There's a great play that Malcolm makes on a third
down earlier where he goes up and through the pocket
and then rips the near hand and gets the ball
out there. There's a big play in that game earlier
to kind of get him off the field to get
the ball back to the offense. But so now they
line up on them. I click in the high. I'm like,
they're gonna run it. Man Like I'm looking at High's.

Speaker 2 (02:27:00):
Got one arm.

Speaker 1 (02:27:01):
I'm like, they're gonna run it. We were stuck in
the defense, and he makes it. I saw an unbelievable tackle,
unbelievablet tackle, one arm gets him down. So now the
clock is moving, so I know the situation and so this,
I mean, it's one of those moments where really like
the like life slowed down for me. I don't know
exactly how long the seconds were, but for me, it

(02:27:22):
felt like a half hour. So I know the call
I want to make. I'm hearing eleven personnel going in
the game, and I slide over next to Bill because
I didn't I wasn't gonna put it out there and
let them call time out. I didn't want them to
see no one had seen this. And then so I
slided it next to the Bill and I was like, hey,
I'm like, are you calling the timeout?

Speaker 2 (02:27:39):
And he's staring.

Speaker 1 (02:27:40):
He's just staring across the field and I'm like, Bill,
I'm like, are you calling the timeout? And he's not
saying anything to me. And I was like, hey, I go,
I need to know because I'm not putting this out there.
Are you calling the time out? And he's like, yeah,
just make your call. And I was like okay, so
I click out. I'm like, hey, go line three corner,
get it out. Make sure we got Malcolm. So like
they're all I'm down with Bill. Everyone's out down on

(02:28:00):
the sideline, so flow out her flow. He's he's like
screaming because we had changed the coverages. So like later,
you know, I'm talking to Bill and I was like,
what were you watching? He's like, well, I was watching Pete.
He's like, and I'm watching their offense, trying to figure
out like they put the personnel, could they sub He's
watching and then once we put goal line, he knew
we subbed it so late they weren't going to be
able to change. They were going to go to the check.

(02:28:22):
So we were just waiting it out to see who
could get it out there last. And I was like,
cause the hemlic communication shuts off, so they weren't gonna
be able to check the play to Russ. So we
get goal lines, so they just see goal. We're signaling
goal line, so they goal line is going out well
automatically to them, They're like, all right, well, we're gonna
throw it. Wait, I have like six thousand pounds of
flesh like sitting there. I have like Chandler Jones, Dante

(02:28:44):
high Tower, Jamie Collins, Branch, Vince. This is like an
eighteen wheeler out there. Like you know, I understand, like
just give the ball to Lynch, but like we had
just stopped him on Like these are like some of
the best players in the NFL right there. Yeah, So
I was like, they're gonna panic, They're gonna throw it.
I was worried about the snacks of them flat so

(02:29:04):
that was built. So I watched them build. So I'm
watching in my end, I'm watching the left side, and
I'm like watching him build. They bring the receiver over you.

Speaker 2 (02:29:14):
I'm I think you think that the brub was is
all good?

Speaker 1 (02:29:17):
I just we're good on the rub. Like, they're gonna
go to the snack seven flat. They guy to have
a play to the other side. They're gonna pick the linebacker.
So I'm like, so I'm on with high. I got hey,
make sure you don't get picked here. I'm like, Lynch
is going to you know, this is gonna be snacks
him flat to your to your side. So I'm watching
the left side of the offensive the right side of
the defense, and all snapped and I look and its

(02:29:39):
snags of him flat and we get picked. Chandler's peeling
late because he had the peel call he had from
the high time. I'm like, give Chan the call. So
Chan's peeling late, but if it was good throw, I
was like, this is gonna be a touchdown. And I
look and I'm like and then they picked the linebacker.
So I'm on the headset and I'm like, all right,
here we go. I'm like, all right, it's not the run.
I'm like, yeah, we're gonna get the snack seven flat.
I'm like, oh my god, they picked him. And then
everyone starts screaming. They're like, no, he picked it, and

(02:30:00):
I'm like, who picked what? I didn't see the play.
I didn't even see the player on the other side.
I was so worried because the guy's opened in the flat.
So everyone's going crazy and I'm like what, I don't
even know what. I'm like, what happened? Obviously, the best
part of the story is Browner.

Speaker 2 (02:30:13):
What I love.

Speaker 1 (02:30:13):
Browner is the one who we're going in half. He's like,
Browner knew that personnel so good. He's like, put me here,
put them there, put them there right, So it'd be
a good coach. The best thing you can do is
just listen to your best player, listen to your smart players.
So that was the matchups that we did. But when
they built the stack, you know, Browner looks at Malcolm
and goes, listen, I'm gonna choke the shit out of him.

Speaker 2 (02:30:33):
You just go.

Speaker 1 (02:30:33):
And if you watch the play, Browner's he's literally got
his hands around his neck. Yeah, and he's and he's
and then Malcolm just goes. So I didn't see any
of that. I'm like, we got picked everyone, and everyone's like, no,
you picked it. I'm like, who, I didn't even know
we had the ball, so that was like chaos is
going on. So now again I'm nervous because I'm looking

(02:30:55):
at Thelock'm like, oh my god, I'm like where the
balls like on the inch line here, like there's right.
So I'm like, they're gonna get the ball back.

Speaker 2 (02:31:01):
There's up.

Speaker 1 (02:31:01):
I'm going through situational plays. No one wants to listen
to me because I'm like, what are we gonna do?
What are we putting out there? Because I'm panicked, like
we're gonna be back on the field and obviously, you know,
we get the thing and the games, and and I
turn around and Revis is running at me and he
jumps and I like catch him, like do you know thick.

Speaker 2 (02:31:20):
He's so he's his little this is what he was
so good. He was so strong, so he bent.

Speaker 1 (02:31:25):
He cracks my back. So the end of Super Bowl,
I cracked my back like in the celebration because he
jumps up on me.

Speaker 2 (02:31:31):
I didn't care, Like who cares? Who cares? Right, it
doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (02:31:34):
You know, Stevie B's running around me like like he
like everybody's freaking out. It was like amazing. Malcolm still
crying and it was like yeah. It was like total
chaos and my best my best play if you watch,
if you watch the coaches copy of that tape, if
you watch the end zone copy, because again we had
the extended end zone because we watched the celebration and

(02:31:55):
all that stuff in the back of the end zone
is the Seattle Man, Scott. It's my favorite thing in
the whole world. He's standing there and you can see
him as as right before the snap, seems like you can.

Speaker 2 (02:32:07):
Just see, like, you know, his face. His expression is
the change. You see.

Speaker 1 (02:32:10):
We're about the back, we're about the hands, think the lynch,
we're about to like score here we and they snapped
the ball and you see him freeze and then the
ball's picked and he just takes his hands and he
puts his hand on the front of his beak and
he stands there like and he doesn't move and you
could just see him like, what the hell just happened.
It's the funniest ship ever. I'm just telling you, it's hysterical.

(02:32:31):
And he doesn't move, like there's chaos going on. He
doesn't move for like five minutes. He's just standing there.
It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:32:36):
But you know what's crazy, Cot That's not the first
time a coach has has pointed out a standing. Oh,
we watched the stands all the time because they watched
so much film, so they sit there chatty l would
come in there, like, look at this guy. Beer on.
This guy my favorite. Every year I.

Speaker 1 (02:32:57):
Would watch every year there's a guy in Buffalo and
every scoreboard he sits in the right corner of the
stadium and it would be the middle of December. He's
got no shirt on, he's got a big beer belly,
and he looks kind of like, you know, he's got
long gray hair. So I'm like, and he's every year
he's there and I always check. I'm like, he's still
there and no shirt.

Speaker 2 (02:33:15):
It's middle, you know.

Speaker 1 (02:33:16):
Or the in New Orleans where the scoreboard there'd always
be a crew that and Halloween would dress in costumes
instead above the score so you just you just you
look always but the mascot and the.

Speaker 2 (02:33:27):
End zone of that thing.

Speaker 1 (02:33:28):
It's really we had an extension. It's one of the
most amazing things. But that was that play, how that
was put together, the game, the halftime, the fact that
it was like I can't believe we're gonna install this.
This is like six years he'd been asking. H'm like, nope,
here does we need it?

Speaker 2 (02:33:45):
We got it.

Speaker 1 (02:33:45):
We're gonna have it right now and put that in
a week and have that thing go out.

Speaker 2 (02:33:49):
Was that was crazy.

Speaker 1 (02:33:50):
And honestly, that whole defensive year like give that, like
Vince wilf work and I sat down because you know, look,
he wanted to win again like he was and he
was unbelievable man. His leadership is guidance of like, hey,
let's do this, like we you know, give the defensive
guys a book we read, you know, Legacy the All Blacks,
and we put all our words together and just kind

(02:34:12):
of like all the way through the season, you know,
the night before the Super Bowl I kind of read
it to the defense again and like, hey, this is
what we said we're gonna do. And you know, when
you win the Super Bowl, Yeah, I think that was
the year. I kind of told him, like the trophy,
you know what, it's like the hold the trophy, you know,
and it's it's heavy at the top, and it was
kind of like the thing the story, and I explained
to him how you know, and when we won and
you know, four and being able to hold the Trophy

(02:34:34):
and what that's like, and just all of that expression
into and and Vince leading the charge, and then you know,
we tell him like you win a super Bowl, like
you're bonded for life, Like you're bonded for life, Like
it doesn't matter where you are when it is, anybody
on those teams call you, you are bonded for life.
I have a great picture of you. I was actually
just looking at the other day. It's you and Rob
and Chan after the White House. You guys are walking

(02:34:56):
down the side of the bus. It's just three of you,
and I just snapped it, you know. I mean, I
think you got to lip her out to here and like,
you know, like the whole deal. We've just been in
the way and it's like it's the coolest shit ever. Yeah,
you know, But that that play the time, it was
just one of those moments in life where just time stopped. Yeah,
and just like here we go and we're gonna, we're gonna,
we're gonna do this. It's gonna be crazy.

Speaker 2 (02:35:17):
It just hit me. Two of the last couple plays,
one on defense and one on offense, other than the
when we were running out the clock where adjustments added
after practices after all our prep was done. My my
return route, yeah right, that was We added that on
Saturday night in the hotel goal line, going on three corner,

(02:35:41):
three corner added after practice, Like, had to adjust it.
But that's that. That shows you how smart are our
coaches were to understand that we needed to put that
in and how smart the players were to be able
to execute it without a rep of practice. That's right.
It's not us, it's you guys. It's the head, you know,

(02:36:02):
knowing that you know we may need this and it
comes down to it. You know that happened a lot
of times in my career.

Speaker 1 (02:36:07):
How fast you guys process and put that stuff together, man, Like,
it's just it's amazing. Like I just you know, like, look,
I'm I'm just lucky to be there and kind of
help and do whatever I can to give you guys
a chance to go play and execute. But watch you
guys do that up quose man, that is that is
a treat that you know I'll have with me forever.

Speaker 2 (02:36:25):
Thankfully. That was the chill Zone thanks to our favorite beer,
cores Light. Get cors Light delivered straight to your door.
Visit Corslight dot com. Slash GWN celebrate responsibly.

Speaker 1 (02:36:38):
I just remember one of the things annowing on. Like
you listen to a lot of like coaches, right and
it's like, oh, hey's in the barn. And I used
to walk in and be like, listen, there's no hay,
there's no barn. Like we are working until we win,
and we will keep working until the game is over
and we have one.

Speaker 2 (02:36:52):
That is it.

Speaker 1 (02:36:53):
And that was just the mindset that we always had.

Speaker 2 (02:36:56):
Now I can see that for the coaches, but sometimes
you have to put that. You have to say that
to the player. Yeah, because the physical work. Yeah, the
mental work, that's pizza Friday. We're good pizza Fridays. Physical work,
but that.

Speaker 1 (02:37:10):
Was pizza Friday. Friday was shutting it down. But we
always you guys, you guys, listen your The edge that
you guys had is that you did keep working from
the time like everyone most teams Friday at one o'clock
they're out, nobody's home, Like that's forty eight hours before
the game. You guys stayed sharp all the way up
into the game. And that's the walkers in the hotel.

(02:37:32):
Like I know I watched, like you know, the walkers
in the hotels the meeting. Look, we all tried to
do it in a different ways. Sometimes it was a
meeting and we just rolled through calls. But the sharpness
that you guys were going to the game, the confidence
of that instilled that you guys brought to the table unbelievable. Man.

Speaker 2 (02:37:44):
Yeah, I mean I always say it, you know, like
the Patriot way with everyone else. What is that? I go, Well,
you know, the coaches had a template, they had the laws,
and they picked certain players to be sheriff to go
make those laws enforced.

Speaker 1 (02:37:59):
You know. Was really easy for us though, was if
you like I would stand back all the time and
I would watch Bill, or I'd watch it, I'd say
the bill. I would watch the team and be like
it was it was a herd, right. The team moved
in a herd, and every once in a while you'd
look and you'd see, like, man, that guy's not in
the herd anymore, Like.

Speaker 2 (02:38:16):
What's going on?

Speaker 1 (02:38:17):
And if you just watched the team, you guys told
us everything we need to know on who you trusted
and who could go out on the field and help
us win. If you just watched, you guys did it
probably without even knowing it. But if you just watched,
you'd be like, Okay, we're really good here, Like we
got to look at that. There's something off over there.

Speaker 2 (02:38:36):
So by twenty fourteen crazy, the twenty sixteen the high
tower sack. What do you get on that?

Speaker 1 (02:38:42):
Yeah, I mean same call, isn't that crazy? Stackbacker left?
Same call I just talked about with Nikovic. It was
the same call.

Speaker 2 (02:38:48):
But let me go back. So this is this is
you so.

Speaker 1 (02:38:53):
Obviously, so we're't allowed to five down. We're playing, you know,
really good offense. It's coming at as fast we're we're
struggling on defense.

Speaker 2 (02:39:01):
Right, Yeah, this is one of the highest scoring offenses
in the history of the league.

Speaker 1 (02:39:04):
Offensive MVP, best coordinator with Channy, you know, like coordinator
of the year everything, Yeah, lost, Okay, so coordinator of
the year, best off you know all this stuff. Right, So,
so off the first half isn't going good. I'm trying
to make adjustments. It's it's long and then this is
another one of those weird things. Right. So the night
before the game, you know, we got extra time, so

(02:39:27):
I'm like, hey, let's watch this game. Let's watch this game.
Let's watch this game. So I had watched the Chargers game,
and I was like, I need to show this game.
So it was the night before the game. I sat
down with the defense and I said, listen, I go,
this this offense can score points. I go. But if
we just play the game all the way out, I go,
we'll be okay. Look at this game. So the Chargers
in that year got down early, they got down big.

(02:39:49):
But as you watched the Atlanta to Atlanta, as you
watched the game, they just started chipping away second half,
chipping away, chipping away, and then they scored, and then
they stopped them and then they turned the ball over.
And he got all the way down to the end
of the game and the Chargers actually kicked the field
go and won the game. It came back from him,
was like it was a big deficity. It was good,
kind of like I was like, I'm gonna show this game.
So I remember, you know, before the the first half ended,

(02:40:14):
I was like, all right, I need to we gotta
go in this locker room. We got to remind everybody
like we're okay here. Then other half of this game,
and we've we just saw on tape how they you know,
there's a there's a window here. So we go in
the locker room. First thing, you know, you do because
the halftime is longer. I'm like, all right, everybody, do
what you gotta do. Take a couple of seconds, and
I just got the defense. I said, listen, here's what

(02:40:36):
we're gonna do. I'm like, Julio is ridiculous. Like, you know,
we had the whole like, oh, he's injured. He can't
play it off his right foot. He's only gonna be
able to break left.

Speaker 2 (02:40:42):
Now. Yeah, no, he could break wherever you wanted to.

Speaker 1 (02:40:45):
So we had to because I was cheating alignments based
on that injury information. I was like, don't worry about it,
we're going And then again, you know, we meged the
backside of cover two.

Speaker 2 (02:40:55):
We undercut him.

Speaker 1 (02:40:55):
I think it was Logan and he reached up over
the top of Logan and took the cut and I
was like, oh shit, a problem. So yeah, so that
was in the first half, was like first series of
the game or whatever. So we go into the locker
room and said, listen, we're going to all the red
area calls. I said, I'm just I'm gonna We're gonna
play the red area calls. These are the calls we're
gonna do. Went through the staff, go back to the players,
and I said, fellas, listen, I go, first of all,

(02:41:18):
first half, here's the issues.

Speaker 2 (02:41:20):
This is what happened.

Speaker 1 (02:41:21):
I go, remember what we watched last night. I was
like the Charger game. I'm like, we're going to come
back and win this thing. I'm like, we are gonna
be fine. Like we just go play every single down.

Speaker 2 (02:41:31):
We got it.

Speaker 1 (02:41:32):
We put ourselves in a hole, but we got to
play every single snap. These are the calls we're gonna make.
I go, you gotta believe right now because we're going
to do this. And what was happening was Doran was
on the bike. You remember this, No, Douran was on
the bike and he was trying to stay warm. And
so I let the players, you know, I get down
my meeting and players going to the coaches and Duran

(02:41:53):
starts chirping.

Speaker 2 (02:41:54):
He starts chirping.

Speaker 1 (02:41:55):
He's like, we got it, like he just I just
And I was like you could feel the energy and
you could feel the belief. And then all of a sudden,
you come in and you're like we gotta go, and
you start chirping with Duran and you guys are chirping
back and forth, and the energy's building and I remember
walking out, I was like, holy fu, we're gonna win
this game. And I just I just because I don't

(02:42:15):
know where you came from. I don't know why you
were on our side, and Duran was like chirping, and
it was like you two are chirping at each other,
and it was almost like, I don't know if you
were trying to pump us up or he was trying
to pump you up or whatever it was, but it
was just it built.

Speaker 2 (02:42:29):
And I was like.

Speaker 1 (02:42:30):
I walked down, I was like, holy shit, we're gonna
win this game. And I told him before we went out,
I said, here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna get a
negative play.

Speaker 2 (02:42:36):
On the first run.

Speaker 1 (02:42:37):
They're gonna run the ball. I'm like, Hi, if they
run it at you, this is a TfL. I'm like,
if a first start down, they're not gonna throw, We're
gonna double over here, it's coming backside. It'll be three
by one. You gotta make the play, and it was.
Eric made the play on the backside. So the very
first year they had the ball TfL, in the first
play they run it.

Speaker 2 (02:42:50):
The high.

Speaker 1 (02:42:51):
Third down, they throw it to Eric was like third
and long because we had put him in long yard situation.
We break it up and coming side and I go,
here we go, it's gonna happen. So we go through
the game, and what happened was the series. They're going
left or right, so they're going that way in the
end zone. Second down run. Coleman is in the game.
Coleman was the third down back. Yeah, Freeman was early
down back. So Coleman comes in, hands it off and

(02:43:13):
I look and he's on the ground and he's injured,
screwed up his ankle.

Speaker 2 (02:43:17):
And I remember watching. I was like, it's third down.
Coleman's out.

Speaker 1 (02:43:20):
And I clicked and I said, hey, Hi, I said, Hi, listen,
I said, Coleman's out, Freeman's in. I go, we're going
stack back or left. I go, don't show it. I
go walk late. I go, he'll never see you. I
go go get the ball, Scoop. We gotta score, bro.
I go, you got this right now. I just it
was one of those like Coleman got hurt. It clicked
in my head. Freeman was in there, he was gonna
miss the protection. Don't show it, walk up late, we're
coming right at him and we're about to score. We

(02:43:42):
didn't score. I thought we're gonna score, but I was like,
I just so I'm on with High the whole time.
I go wait, wait, wait, wait, And I can see
the quarterback give Freeman the mic point and I can
see him scan correct because he's got the mic and
he's got scan and he sees High inside and then Hi,
he goes outside. I go all the way outside the bunch.
He walked all way outside the bunch and he comes
ripping off the edge and I was like, I was like,

(02:44:04):
no one even sees him and he stripped it. I
think Branch recovered it. I was like, I thought we're
gonna scoop the score. But it was the same call
as Rob I called in twenty fourteen. Rob stopped him
on the third and short, and it was just one
of those things where it was like it just clicked
in my head. It was like, Freeman's out. You know
they're not, they're gonn screw up the third down protection.
Let's go get him. So that was the turnover, which
really then you know, now we're feeling it.

Speaker 2 (02:44:25):
Then we had the tree Flowers sack.

Speaker 1 (02:44:26):
So then later in the game. Now they're driving, they throw.
Julio's right there. He and I was who I was
with Julio last year. He's like the best right, And
I was like, bro, how far out about it?

Speaker 2 (02:44:37):
Did you reach?

Speaker 1 (02:44:37):
The little ball is literally ten yards out of bound.
It's ridiculous, right, It's I'm in the coaches, it's passed
me and he catches this thing, and everyone on the
headside it's like he's out.

Speaker 2 (02:44:45):
He's out him like literally looking at his feet. I'm like,
he's not out.

Speaker 1 (02:44:47):
I'm like, he just caught it.

Speaker 2 (02:44:49):
So now they're in field goal rangement.

Speaker 1 (02:44:51):
I was like, oh my god. So I'm like, hey,
dev Wick, we got a blitz. So with get the
TfL And so now it's second along. So everyone's they're
gonna run again. They're gonna run it again, and some
of my I was like, they're not gonna run, they're
gonna throw. And then and I'm arguing. I'm arguing on
the headsets with Bill. He's like, they're gonna rune it.
I'm like, they're not gonna run it. I'm like the
quarterback of the Year got off in the corner of

(02:45:11):
the year. Like they're throwing the ball over the place,
like they're gonna throw it again, like they're they're gonna
get in their own way here.

Speaker 2 (02:45:16):
I'm like, I'm so I called.

Speaker 1 (02:45:18):
I actually called a three man rush because I wanted
to have max coverage, but it was a five down look.
But as they lined up, I look, and now I've
got one. I got Gaeball was great shirt. He's on
the outside. But now I'm like, oh shit, it's the
wheel route. I'm like, oh, I'm like, this is about
I'm freaking out because I'm like, this is about to
be a touchdown. And so sure enough back I think

(02:45:38):
it was Freeman. He releases. I see Jabal he's peeling
on the wheel. I was like, oh my, like here
we go. And Trey just because I put him on
the nose because of his quickness in his length and
I knew that they would struggle. Yeah, he had the ankle,
and I knew he was gonna struggle with the redirect
and Tray's arms for so long he could get into you,
and he was skinny, and he just skinnied through and
he gets in and he saxsmon and I was like,

(02:45:59):
he's I mean save. So then what happens is on
that play, so that one or the next one high
tower he's on. I think it was long on the
other side and high Tower gets held, totally buried and
they didn't call it. And I see Hi talking the
official and I was like, they're gonna call holding. I
was like, so I stir down, so I'm like, hey, Hi, Hi,

(02:46:22):
go again. So he rushes again, flag comes out. I
was like, pushes him back and before I'm like, I
don't know how the hell like you just like you
just see that stuff. So then you know again the
whole thing was they weren't in control of the game.
We were controlling the game.

Speaker 2 (02:46:36):
We were running.

Speaker 1 (02:46:36):
We were stopping the run now and now we got
to cover a kick and slate those guys made able
wile they pin them deep late in the game, and
I remember clicking on we stopped him on first time.
Remember clicking on the bill and I go, hey, where
about to win the Super Bowl? And the craziest rule
that no one's ever seen before. I'm like, be ready
for a free kick because I was like, if they
don't get any more yardage, I'm like, we're gonna fair
catch this thing. And we're gonna We're gonna win the

(02:46:57):
super Bowl. It's gonna be crazy. I think they got
like seven and put us out, just out of it.
You know, they kicked it out and.

Speaker 2 (02:47:04):
I was thinking walk off because I went down to
return the punt. I was sitting there like, all right, man,
if I fucking walked this off, man, unbelievable. So so
then you know, we go to overtime. We tried some
other ship. Remember we tried the game cock bro, I
mean blues Hamstring. It was it was like that was

(02:47:25):
so bad. Game was like the annexation of Puerto Rico.
Play for us guy like a bumble Roosky fake Neil
handed over and fucking that was a crazy game.

Speaker 1 (02:47:35):
That was crazy.

Speaker 2 (02:47:35):
So then we win.

Speaker 1 (02:47:37):
Yeah, it's bananas. I'm so we go through all the sale.
I get on the bus, right, So I get on
the bus. Tom Tommy's in the back. It's Josh, Laura, myself, Rina, Bill,
Tommy's in the back, and I'm literally like, did we win?
Like I don't even know what happened? And Josh is

(02:47:58):
looking at me and goes, hey, bro, goes I didn't.
I didn't see any of the defense. I didn't see
one play of the offense. It was because every series
was like this has to go right in this so
your catch. I didn't see that till the next day.
I was like, I didn't see any of any of
that happened during the game. And Josh was like, what
happened to you?

Speaker 2 (02:48:14):
And I'm like, bro, we got the stackbacker left call.
He's like, you should just.

Speaker 1 (02:48:17):
Catch Julian made and then we ran this and Josh
and are trying to fill each other in because I'm like,
I don't even know if we won and Bill. Bill
turns around and he's like, hey, look, he goes, listen,
he goes. You know, we got to play these guys
next year. It's probably gonna be like the first game
of the year. They'll probably do that. When we get back,
Let's make sure we write down, like what was good.

Speaker 2 (02:48:33):
I'm like, I don't even know if we won.

Speaker 1 (02:48:34):
Bill.

Speaker 2 (02:48:35):
I'm like, literally on the bus, I'm like, what are
you talking about right now?

Speaker 1 (02:48:38):
I'm like, oh yeah, it was like holy Josh and
I just looked at you and started laughing. I was like,
what are you talking about? I don't even know if
we won the game.

Speaker 2 (02:48:49):
When was the moment you knew we were gonna win
fifty one? When when was the real were you saying
right out of the locker room in halftime? I did,
I was like, we're gonna win this game. I just
I was just trying to be a rawer guy. Man,
it's gonna be a hell of a story bed.

Speaker 1 (02:49:02):
Yeah. But you but you picked the right guy to
talk to because Doran was in that mode. And I
mean it, I was so blessed like to be around
great guys and I mean, it's so many but it
was like it was unreal. I mean obviously, I mean,
you know, myla, I gotta to bring him up.

Speaker 2 (02:49:19):
Of course, Italians love Italians.

Speaker 1 (02:49:20):
The same thing I had with Welker. It was like
I said it, I was like, we played Welker one
year at Miami and we don't know Mari who played
at Syracuse pulls his calf in warm up. Yeah, so
I'm like, I'm gonna just pull his calf and then
I'm looking, I'm like, Wes Welker is kicking. Wes Welker
kicked off kickfield goals, extra points caught like one hundred
and thirty yards on me. I was like, we got

(02:49:41):
them in the game. I was like, can we trade
for this guy because I don't think I want to
cover this guy anymore.

Speaker 2 (02:49:45):
This guy is Bruce.

Speaker 1 (02:49:46):
So we traded so the same thing we're getting Amadola.
I was like, I don't, I don't want a game plan,
you man, like, can we just get you over here
on this side?

Speaker 3 (02:49:53):
And like you look, they all went out car shop
and went ahead. The car in the garage already said
we had we had a good bottle to the real
car in the garage already in. We're just trying to
get as many as possible, many as possible.

Speaker 2 (02:50:09):
So yeah, so Ami Dola and I I was I
love that I wanted to kill you all when you
signed Amla.

Speaker 1 (02:50:15):
Do you know how much of a better player?

Speaker 2 (02:50:16):
I know, but I still wanted to murder you. Good,
you should. I think that's what Bill like to. Bill
used to sign me these contracts where he knew it
was enough to make me satisfied but also enough to
piss me off. Listen, you and me both. He did
that with all of us.

Speaker 1 (02:50:32):
You know, it's like trying to negotiate a coaching contract
in there. Hey, but I don't I don't think I should.
She think we should a little bit more here. He's like, yeah, no,
I'm just gonna keep your place.

Speaker 2 (02:50:43):
Yeah yeah, Well.

Speaker 1 (02:50:47):
That's the beauty of Bill is like it was more
intellectual than it was. Like I've been around coaches just
like forrage. You eventually you're like all right, like I'm good.
But it was the intellectual mind bombs that would go
off later and you're like, what did.

Speaker 2 (02:51:01):
You just say? Yeah he would, you know, you're like
some of them, what did he say?

Speaker 1 (02:51:07):
The thing like you guys wouldn't see is like we
would go on road trips and you know, we'd have
the bus drivers and stuff, and like everybody be on
the plane will be out there like giving them cash.
You know, he'd be like tipping on the bus drivers,
like making sure that they were okay.

Speaker 2 (02:51:21):
You know.

Speaker 1 (02:51:21):
Just that was all the stuff where.

Speaker 2 (02:51:24):
He has a heart killing I love it, killing me. Bro,
Let's name the game, Mattie P. Now, these are the
names that we came up with. Sterling Steel, Sterling Steel Steel.
See he's a fucking aeronautical instro. Bro, I got it.

(02:51:44):
Score the game? Is this the greatest game of all time?
Let's score it, Matty P. Zero to ten is okay?
What are the states yeah, I love this game.

Speaker 1 (02:51:55):
It is an AFC championship game, so it's definitely above
a seven seven at above a nine because it's not
a championship game, so I'm probably the eight. What are
we doing for Deskmalds here?

Speaker 2 (02:52:06):
They're okay eight point two eight point two? See the
fucking Matty pe did this guy damn homework? Probably watched
about fifteen of our shows just the grading Situationally watched
this show. All Right, he's gonna all right, let me
see what the intro is like. All right, let me
see what the interviews like. All right, let's do the
score segment. Okay, this is what they do in the
all right, yeah, yeah, Mavericks owner he too much? Yeah,

(02:52:30):
I would say an eight flat eight flat at a
nine to three at eight? Hi. Hi.

Speaker 1 (02:52:39):
The other thing about this game, this was a start
of us turning it around. We had gone through a
couple of years of rebuilding, and then we had the
young guys that maybe had a couple of years in.
We're still gonna add some pieces. We knew we had
to add some pieces, but it was the start of
what would become a very long, great, great run. And again,
if you think about it, you know, twenty ten, we

(02:53:00):
had a really good defense. Twenty ten, like we played
but we weren't the best team. But again, like we
were young still young were yeah, and we were building
on defense. We hadn't started drafting all the defensive guys yet.
We had a couple. But two thousand and one, right
to me, is kind of like twenty eleven. Thousand and
one starts a run of ten years of like unbelievable,

(02:53:21):
Like twenty eleven started a run of like unbelievable play.
It's it's crazy unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (02:53:27):
Star power struggle. I struggle with because.

Speaker 1 (02:53:30):
Again, the beauty of this game to me is that
I think the star power is low on our side.
Their side, I think it was high. I mean, look
we had Tom Brady, so like that Trump's all of it, right,
Like that makes all of it. Uh, you're young at
this point, so you know and can play. So I
think that's why I love the game is because the
star power it's kind of lower, kind of scrappy, kind

(02:53:50):
of gritty, kind of like you know, but but winners. Yeah,
it just now if you take where they went to,
where all you guys went to, star powers out out
the chain, so if you graded at the time, it's low.
If you're graded now, we're in the nines. A lot
of really good names on that at the time. That's
why I see, I'm trying to get a little clarity

(02:54:10):
because I'd like this one to be up there a
little bit. I won't be in like that fifty four
range or whatever that was I saw last time on
this thing, right, So I'm just saying, you know, overall,
so I was trying to bump it up to like
current would be like a nine to four, and current
where it was during the time, Let's say it's it's
probably an eight.

Speaker 2 (02:54:27):
Eight for us. Yeah, I mean you got two first
ballot Hall of Fame coaches, work coaches. It's star power
of the.

Speaker 1 (02:54:37):
Crowd. Oh god, Stephen Tyler.

Speaker 2 (02:54:39):
With Steven Tyler, I had to go like.

Speaker 1 (02:54:41):
Find the lady that made that so my wife could
get one and stand.

Speaker 2 (02:54:45):
I mean, there's a lot you could bump it up.

Speaker 1 (02:54:50):
I mean, Hall of Fame coaches, Steven Tyler.

Speaker 2 (02:54:53):
It's pretty big. This is real big. Potentially more Hall
of Fame coaches because there's still a lot of meeting
on a lot of careers, a lot of a lot
of meat. Those bones for so a lot of these
guys eight nine, I'll go eight five.

Speaker 1 (02:55:08):
Talk you into that.

Speaker 2 (02:55:09):
I went nine to one. I'm going high. Are you
see Jackie Blaze's Patriot games?

Speaker 1 (02:55:14):
I do.

Speaker 2 (02:55:15):
I'm a homer. I am an unabashed homer.

Speaker 1 (02:55:17):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (02:55:18):
The gameplay of this game at ep back forth. Yeah,
how it's the field goals, I.

Speaker 1 (02:55:25):
Know, but like I know, people don't like field goals.
People want touchdowns. But when you're calling defense, that is stressful.

Speaker 2 (02:55:30):
There's there's some stressful.

Speaker 1 (02:55:32):
Back and forth here. There's back to back turnovers. We
picked it off, they picked it off.

Speaker 2 (02:55:36):
I'm like, you think you're good and good and then
we throw the slate. That's right.

Speaker 1 (02:55:41):
So the back and forth in this the stress level
of this game, it was pretty good. There's a lot
riding and you put you know what we're playing for
ira Craft all the rest of ye I was stressed.
This one was stressful. This was a nine to one
for me.

Speaker 2 (02:55:55):
For me, there's.

Speaker 1 (02:55:57):
You could just get a lock combo in this one.

Speaker 2 (02:55:58):
I'm sure there was probably know we got receivers playing
fucking dv in this game. Do you think the gameplay
is going to be fallless? Jesus Christ, what do we do.
I'm gonna go I'm gonna go E eight because it
still was. It was an exciting fucking game, and it's Baltimore,
Baltimore hated and they came into our stadium and beat

(02:56:19):
our ass the last time in the playoffs went I
went eight five.

Speaker 4 (02:56:23):
Missing a kick at the end of a game always
is a little bit of a detractor for me. Giants
won a Super Bowl doing that, and then they didn't
have a good, good gameplay score right.

Speaker 1 (02:56:33):
Missing I think missing and blocking a field, all that
stuff I think is just because they missed doesn't mean
they didn't affect the kick. I don't think the rush
didn't affect the kick.

Speaker 2 (02:56:43):
The stadium.

Speaker 1 (02:56:47):
Make them kick it in the closed end zone late
in the year when the pattern of the wind goes
from the open lighthouse across the field to their side,
and the kicker is going to overcorrect for that and
the wind dies.

Speaker 2 (02:56:59):
Right, and then you put the rush to the right
so that he has to think, get it away from
the rush. Hmmm, I'm going to move it up.

Speaker 1 (02:57:05):
I'm going to go to stadiums and I'd be like,
all right, what flag am I watching? Because you couldn't watch.
You couldn't watch the uprights. So there's there's every stadium
at a list of what flag in that stadium was
going to tell me the true direction of the wind? Wow?

Speaker 2 (02:57:19):
So who's who's the flag scouter? Like, who did we
higher on the staff to the scout out? Which flag
is the wind flag scottio.

Speaker 1 (02:57:29):
You know, we can call on other teams like hey,
what flag are we watching for the like, Hey, we're
just trying to, you know, do everything. We could win
where you could be the Buffalo wind because that was
crazy over there.

Speaker 2 (02:57:40):
I played the night before in two thousand and eight.
You're talking about the two thousand and eight win where ridiculous.
I play.

Speaker 1 (02:57:48):
Weather games were the most amazing things I've ever been
a part of.

Speaker 2 (02:57:51):
I played the Saturday before you guys played in my
last college game at Buffalo against Buffalo. That's awesome and
that wind, that that crazy win game where you didn't throw. Remember,
I'm not talking about the Mac Jones one.

Speaker 1 (02:58:07):
Was the most amazing win I've ever seen. That was
sixty had chains. They had chains holding the uprights for
just ripping off. I literally told the DBS, I said,
listen because the wind was blown across the field to
their sideline. I said, play the top of the numbers
as the sideline.

Speaker 2 (02:58:22):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (02:58:23):
I go move everything inside. They're not going to be
able to throw it outside.

Speaker 2 (02:58:26):
It was that. It was really unreal. I changed my
score to eight six. That might be a first and
Maddy p Lastly, to top it off, we had to
score the name of the game, which you came up with,
the fucking killer little name that I just yeah, I
kind of like it as the Sterling stealing steel Man.

Speaker 1 (02:58:44):
This is like a guy's legacy right here, if we're
talking about a dude's legacy. Sterling Steel, fucking Sterling Sterling
made some money, got us to the Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (02:58:52):
They've definitely made a couple of ducats off of it.
That's pretty tight right there. You know his coaching right now.
I think it is highlight.

Speaker 1 (02:58:57):
Yeah, whole highlight on the ESPN form.

Speaker 2 (02:58:59):
It's a nine nine five Sterling Steel game. I'm gonna
go with an eight to two eight two. That's low. Well,
I mean you got to think about this, Matt, I
think about it. We did the immaculate reception culturally, do
you we're talking about that? Huh? I didn't we're not.
But we know that game from nineteen seventy something and

(02:59:23):
it's fifty years past. Fifty years. You give that one,
Hi hi, Hi, okay, so go a little bit. I
went seventy. No low, that didn't go high high. I
gave that one maybe like a nine. Really, what's ten?

Speaker 5 (02:59:37):
Is there?

Speaker 2 (02:59:37):
There's no you played for Coach Belichick. There's no perfect game.
I won a Super Bowl MVP and I almost had
a perfect play call out sheet, but I still remember
three plays that keep me up at night. So it
wasn't a perfect game. Like when you when you eat
a burger? Have you ever had a ten burger? And
if you're telling me yes, and I'm definitely needing some,

(03:00:00):
knock you off your socks and you'll go back. Seven
to five will bring you back. Seven five will bring
you back. So anything in ninees is like, oh my god,
what the you're talking about? Don't talk me down. I'm
trying to talk you up.

Speaker 4 (03:00:11):
All right, it's this cultural impact.

Speaker 2 (03:00:13):
Can I get a retraction? You can change it? All right,
let's go.

Speaker 4 (03:00:17):
I did at eight point one.

Speaker 2 (03:00:18):
I'm four.

Speaker 4 (03:00:19):
Terry Bradshaw did a ten even on the Immaculate Reception.

Speaker 2 (03:00:23):
He might be with my with my retraction.

Speaker 1 (03:00:27):
Four.

Speaker 2 (03:00:27):
All right, what does that put us? This is going
to be high.

Speaker 4 (03:00:30):
Puts us right here, just tenth. It's just ahead of
the Statue of Liberty Game two thousand and seven fest
the ball stay for Oklahoma, and just behind the nineteen
ninety nine Women's World Cup China USA.

Speaker 2 (03:00:45):
This is the diving board to the next generation of
the dynasty, This twenty eleven team, This hardship that we
had to learn the very two weeks, the next two
weeks later, whatever leadership.

Speaker 1 (03:01:00):
You guys learned, you know, like again, like I'm just
remember like all the young guys that came in, like
you guys had big You guys had ginormous shoes to film.

Speaker 2 (03:01:09):
Oh yeah, ginormous shoes. You think I loved hearing about
fucking the other Patriots. I wanted to win Super Bowls
just as so Bill could stop talking about Teddy Bruce Ski,
Troy Brown.

Speaker 1 (03:01:19):
What do you think that was the brilliance of it?
I mean, like my linebacker room, like Teddy Bruski, Mike Junior,
William McGinn, it's Roosevelt Colvin and Dahlius Thomas larry Is.

Speaker 2 (03:01:29):
But it motivated me to it motivated me to want
to say, I want to make our stamp on it.
So like it was a great motivation factory because you
definitely you love the guys to death and you respect
them because they were always around. But like we wanted
to be something, you know, you wanted to be in
that level that was like a fucking a shooting star

(03:01:50):
that you're looking at. You guys grew and they went
back to back. We never did close fucking bullshit S three.
We still got three back to back.

Speaker 1 (03:02:00):
We played, we won twenty one in a row. Yeah,
that was twenty one games in a row. We want
until it was Halloween. It was Halloween in Pittsburgh two
thousand and four, So twenty one in a row. You
haven't lost in twenty one games the NFL.

Speaker 2 (03:02:16):
That's crazy, man.

Speaker 1 (03:02:17):
We're at the end here, Yeah, because I got I
got I got something.

Speaker 2 (03:02:22):
What do you got something? Well? Before that, did we
miss anything from this game?

Speaker 1 (03:02:27):
Thank you the guys that were out there, And like
I said, I've been waiting like ten years to get
an offensive guy on the defensive field. Kidding me again,
it was just I wouldn't say there was there was
stars on the field, but there was stars waiting to
be born on the field and that's.

Speaker 2 (03:02:44):
Cool, yeah to me. So maybe time to let the
ways day.

Speaker 1 (03:02:52):
I got something for you.

Speaker 2 (03:02:53):
What do you get?

Speaker 1 (03:02:54):
So when I got back to New England, right, So
I left for a little while, took a cup of coffee.

Speaker 2 (03:02:59):
On the Midwest. I come back.

Speaker 1 (03:03:01):
New England is my home. You know, the fans and
you know I love it there and my kids were
born there and all that stuff and you guys. Right,
So I got back to New England. It was very
emotional for me to go in that building. Now I'm
coming in a different role. I'm coming in because Nick
left and Bill needs me to do the GM stuff
and kind of oversee and just be his eyes and
ears and all that stuff. So as the GM when
I get back, you know, your situation was coming up.

(03:03:24):
So talking to Don Don was amazing. He and I
went amazing conversations. And so you were going to retire. Yeah,
I was in this situation, was like, all right, well
here's here's here's a legendary Patriot player that I've watched
just grow up before my eyes. Someone I admire, someone

(03:03:45):
that worked hard, just did it our way and really special.
You're a special person. So when it was all settled
and everything was worked out and you were going to retire.
So my office was Nick's office, which is next to
the personnel room. So I walked into the personnel room
and we had the personnel board in there for the
Patriots has all the players on the team throw up
in magnets in the name tags. So usually when someone

(03:04:08):
retires or leaves or whatever, it is like, you know,
like one of the young guys in the scotting apartment
comes in and just grabs a name and he's gets
thrown away or it gets uh maybe put in the
back corner or whatever. And I just, you know, always
felt like those names to me that we had up
on that board represented so much more than just a
piece of paper. I just and knowing you, I just

(03:04:29):
kind of went in and I was like, I don't know,
I just got to take this off the board and
I took your name and I.

Speaker 2 (03:04:37):
Opened that my guy. Then we start crying. Matty P.

Speaker 5 (03:04:45):
Got here.

Speaker 1 (03:04:53):
So that was your name tag that was on the
personnel board at the Patriots while you were playing. I
don't know if it always got updated because it was
on there for a while, but I didn't want that
to just go anywhere. I thought that it should go
to you. And so for whatever reason, how many here
every year as it is now, I back then grabbed
it in the moment and I've just kept it all

(03:05:14):
these years.

Speaker 2 (03:05:15):
And uh yeah, I thought it was it's got my
salary on there.

Speaker 1 (03:05:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had a salary. There's no doubt
we had a salary on there, of course.

Speaker 2 (03:05:24):
But uh, what is uh nine and a half? Okay,
twenty nine nine and a half there? Your hand size?
Is that? That is my hand size? I am that's
that's a big hand for my size.

Speaker 1 (03:05:34):
Yeah, but that was to me, those tags on the
board represented more than just piece of paper.

Speaker 2 (03:05:39):
Dude, I appreciate that. I love you, man, I love
you too, buddy, I really do know. This is what
this is. When you go into a general manager your office,
they always had the they could slide something so you
couldn't see the names board. I would always sneak up
in there. Once I look and see the depth chart,
Well you can see where what the guys were taking
through their depth charts, you know, they plot out the

(03:06:01):
team on how they wanted to build it. Thank you, man,
that's so that's I appreciate you. I love you to death.
Mattie P.

Speaker 1 (03:06:08):
Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (03:06:10):
I appreciate you coming on. Anything else from you guys,
that was unbelievable. I feel like my ball knowledge is
my Oh I man, that was an honor. Thank you
so much. That's why we do the show for conversations
like this, and everyone go out and check out. Coach
Matty P wrote it, He's helped producing it. I think
he's doing all the nuts and bolts of it. It's

(03:06:30):
with matt it's Matty Pea's in it, Coach Belichick, Mike Lombardi,
it's and I listen to it every week just because
that's how they would talk in our team meetings a
lot of time. But also then you hear the buddy
buddy shit what they would say, probably in the staff meetings,
So I always like to hear that stuff. But it's

(03:06:51):
a great content. I appreciate you coming out, man, And
I wait, last before anything, best friends with the big guy? Yeah,
all right, So why is he dodging me? Why he
dodging Why is he dodging games with names in the nuthouse.
I think he's I think he's just you know, he's busy,
busy stuff going on. You're on the West Coast. Had

(03:07:14):
a lot of stuff going on in my life. You
know what, I know what he told me to do. No,
put it in the draw He said, take everything, and
you put it in a fucking drawer and when the
season's over you could deal with it. Yeah, okay, I
put it in for thirteen years. Put it in the drawer. Coach,
I just want you to come talk ball.

Speaker 1 (03:07:31):
Yeah, well just think how fool his drawers. There's a
lot in there.

Speaker 2 (03:07:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:07:36):
Here, how about this?

Speaker 2 (03:07:37):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (03:07:38):
I think I'm gonna have to join social media?

Speaker 2 (03:07:41):
Well are you?

Speaker 1 (03:07:41):
I think I'm gonna do it tomorrow?

Speaker 2 (03:07:43):
Let's go.

Speaker 4 (03:07:44):
Yeah, who's running Coach Belichick's Instagram?

Speaker 2 (03:07:48):
Yeah? Thank you forgetting it all.

Speaker 1 (03:07:52):
Maddie.

Speaker 2 (03:07:54):
What a game.

Speaker 4 (03:07:55):
The lighting has changed, audience, because we're still here forty
eight hours after.

Speaker 2 (03:08:01):
Day has turned tonight, the night has turned back today.
You don't become a rocket scientist by just not knowing everything.

Speaker 4 (03:08:08):
Great episode. Amazing man, He's he hung around later too,
was great.

Speaker 2 (03:08:13):
Yeah, Maddy p is a good one. He's one of
He's a good dude. We're smarter ball knowers. From from
hearing that it's good to have defense perspective. It is.
You know, if you don't know what a double mugg
is by now, you didn't listen to this episode. You
didn't listen to the goddamn episode. Okay, but Matty pe
got us. You gotta explain it to kindergarten people. Okay.
If you're gonna be in TV, you know you can't

(03:08:33):
say double mug fire zone six. This that I mean,
come on, buh. Part of what makes Maddy po safety Blitz.
And that's been another episode of Games with Names. Subscribe
on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your
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(03:08:57):
x TikTok, and snapt. Leave a message on the old
hotline at four two four two nine one two two
nine zero. Those are always fun games and names. The
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