Richard Sherman sits down with Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss for an honest conversation about his journey from a two-star Iowa recruit to an NFL starter. Moss discusses the “white cornerback” narrative, learning from Patrick Surtain II, dealing with questionable PI calls, and how Denver’s defense became one of the league’s toughest units. The two analyze techniques for facing elite receivers and the upcoming game against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast. I got another
incredible guest today, cornerback Riley Mass in the Denver Broncos.
Appreciate you joining me, brother, Yeah, absolutely for having me anytime, anytime.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So we go.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We gonna. You know, everybody tells me to avoid the
white corner thing, and I'm like, why avoid it? You know,
it was history in the making when you and Cooper
Dejene entered the league, and both of you guys came
in playing at such a high level. You have such
a tough task each and every week. Obviously Petricertain is
out right now, but being opposite of him, you get
a lot more targets and you stand up incredibly well.
(00:40):
Just talk me through your journey.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, you know, and all kind of started when I
was honestly, it was travel team football, dude, like middle school.
I had a coach. He kind of threw me at
dB because I was like one of the faster kids.
I paid receiver in then uh corner, and I did
this the FBUTH thing. If you know, FBU is like
the football university. It's kind of like the youth football.
(01:05):
Like there's a bunch of camps and stuff. So did
that and continued kind of trying to play corner, mostly
because people were telling me, like, you know, typically, you know,
the white kid really doesn't play corner, and so I
was kind of like, yeah, let's let's let's do this thing.
So you know, come to high school. You know, I
I end up you know, playing corner in high school
(01:29):
and and doing the camps you know, I went to
I only went to college camps that you know had
contacted me, right, So I went to Iowa, and then
I went to a lot of FCS schools like North
Dakota State, North Dakota, you and I all around the Midwest.
I was only really a two star recruit. I wasn't
getting very much attention. I ended up you know, getting
(01:51):
Iowa late and it was a blue shirt, I believe.
So it was you know, they didn't have a scholarship
before for me then, but you know down the road
one opened up. I was gonna be the first guy
to get it. So I ended up going to i
with my freshman year, balling out my my first summer,
and and end up you know, earned a scholarship and
(02:11):
kind of the rest is history, right, Like I ended
up starting as a freshman, which honestly, I didn't think
it was gonna happen. You know, I was the last
kid in my recruiting class, right, So end up you know,
kind of chipping away, balling out, and you know, my
first start against Minnesota, you know, I got two picks,
which was crazy. So it was kind of a wild,
(02:32):
uh wild journey. But ended up balling out at as
Well for five years and and you know, got drafted
the third round to Denver, so uh and here I am.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Anthony was putting him out for a little while. Anthony
was was you know, not just at Centennial, but a
number of guys got out of there and played Big
ten football. Uh. And it seemed like you ran into
a bunch of them at Iowa and obviously a few
at Purdue. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, you know, Buddy Brex is the name that comes
to my and he actually got drafted to the to
the Rockies to play baseball, but he was a dual
sport at Iowa, played receiver and then played baseball. So yeah,
Ankie's got some athletes for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Speaking of that, people don't appreciate high school football enough.
But you guys played against the number one team in
your state, in your division and you were able to
win that game big time upset from what I understand,
But that seemed to be the moment like you jumped
on everybody's radar, especially Iowa, when guys really understood that
you could play at a high level. Talk to me
(03:35):
about that, because I remember the moment where things started
to click for me, especially at dB, where it was like, hey,
I think I can do this at a high level.
And a lot of it came down to getting the
football and when the football is in the air. Not everybody,
as you know, not everybody has natural ball skills. Some
of these dudes act like they got two left hands
when the ball comes. But you were natural early on.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, I think, you know, the biggest thing was just
kind of going out there and having fun and flying
around and the success that's kind of came with that,
you know what I mean, Like it just followed that
and I never tried too hard to make a play.
It always kind of just came to me. And you
know a lot of guys say, like you're living right,
Like I think I'm a big believer in that. Dude,
(04:17):
Like sometimes because that ball just finds you and can't
explain it.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
But it's great, no question about it. It's tough, and
this year there's been a little bit of scrutiny for
PI and for fans out there. Corner is the hardest job.
Only got dang field. So it appenally or two is
gonna happen. But I still feel like there's some biased
against you. I feel like at least four of these
calls that had could have could have not been called
(04:41):
at all, are gone the other way but advanced Joseph's defense.
Like you got a tough task almost each and every dawn,
man to man coverage, tight zone coverages, and you got
the lowest completion percentage against you this season forty four percent,
but the highest amount of targets in the league. I mean,
I mean, I don't think you're getting appreciated enough for
(05:02):
the job you're doing. But why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, honestly like the p I cause listen, like I'll
be the first one to point a finger at myself
if it's p I Like, I'm not delusional, you know,
but I would agree with you there are a couple
that were you know, alleged, but also can't allow that
to affect how I play, right, Like you know, VJ.
I'll say, like, we're okay with We're okay with you know,
(05:29):
athletic physical play. We're not gonna tell you to shy
away from that, you know, obviously, you know, don't be
stupid and and don't be blatant about it. But there's
there's definitely been a couple of alleged ones, but you
got to play through and now let it, let it
affect you. But that's that's kind of like, you know,
the the entire mentality though of our defenses is fly around,
(05:52):
be physical, you know, don't even think about it. Just
go and play football and whatever happens kind.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Of happens, no question about it. And your defense is
playing incredibly well last week. I just I want to
know how the how the meetings went after that game.
You guys only allowed seven points in the game, and
and even that it was it was in the first drive.
You didn't allow much after that. It looked like this
defense is hitting on all cylinders as the season, in
(06:17):
the middle of the season, Uh, comes upon us. What
are those conversations like after this game?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know, I think the biggest thing for our defense
is not not trying to reach perfection, but always trying
to improve, and you know, we give up seven points,
and that's seven points. We don't want to give up, right, Like,
you know, the stats look good and all that, but
there's still stuff that we can work on and continue
(06:48):
to get better at, and you know, being able to
stay hungry, you know, you know, like it's a long
season and you got to be able to continue to
improve and be the team that improves the most, you know,
each week, because you know, that's why we're sitting where
we're sitting, is because we continually and rapidly you know, improved.
So I think that's the biggest thing for us.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
We talked briefly about Patrick Curtain when we when we
did to sit down and interview. But obviously I'm a
huge fan of him, and I'm a huge fan of
you because when you watch the tape, you got to
see him and you can't happen. You can't help but
to watch you in the incredible job you're doing. But
were there a ton Are there a ton of things
that you've learned from him? I mean technique wise, or
(07:31):
patience or or you know, because I felt like each
and every day I felt like I could learn something
from somebody, whether it was a practice squad guy. I mean,
I watched a ton of tape on a key to
leap when he was in Denver. I learned some stuff
from just about everybody that plays. And because it's such
a nuanced position and you covered these receivers enough, you're like, hey,
(07:51):
you could see somebody's trick and you're like, hey, I
need to put that in my bag because it was
really effective. Do you feel yourself doing that with Patrick
Shirtan and you guys bounce an ideas off each.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Other, yeah, a thousand percent. You know, I think we
have that conversation each week, you know, at practice, you know,
ask him questions about the prior week. You know, he
might have made a play on on something. You know,
how did you see that? You know what? You know
you were outside leverage, but his his split was also
(08:20):
like outside the numbers, So like, how did you know
you were getting that nine ball fade? You know what
I mean? Like things like that, And you know, it's
good to be able to bounce off off each other
because we play a little bit differently. Obviously everyone's different.
You know, he's long and lengthy and very patient, and
I try and mimic as much as possible, you know,
that same type of thing. But at the same time,
(08:41):
you know, I'm not six three and and you know long,
you know, and uh so there's there there's things you
could pick up on on some guys. And and also
you know, watch around in the league as well, like
you said, like you know McDuffie in Kansas City. You know,
there's some things that you know, he's a little bit
shorter guy, but he's quick and twitchy and and and
you know there's some things you can pick up off
(09:01):
him too. So I think the biggest thing is just
being able to look around the league and try and
you know, take one or two things from certain guys
and put it in your bag.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Like you said, you talked about when you got to
Iowa and how quickly you felt comfortable. Obviously you started
in your first year, and you know, I had two
picture in your first game, when was the moment where
you felt comfortable in the league where you've been not
comfortable but felt like, hey, man, I could play. Because
I don't know about you, I won't speak for you,
but when I got to the league, there was a
(09:30):
moment where we were in the game, I think this
was my first start, and we had the Bengals and
I had AJ Green and Ajkan talking cash and you know,
kind of kind of telling me about myself. This is
my first start. I'm a fifth round pick, one hundred
and fifty fourth pick. He's number five to five pick
in the draft, I think. And I got to pick
I think first or second quarter, and it was like
it turned me up immediately. And so at that point
(09:52):
I was like, hey, I could do this. I can
do this, and I can play as long as I
want to because I feel comfortable in this moment. When
was that moment for you.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I'd say my first pick against the Raiders last year,
my second year, you know, it was kind of that,
like you said, like you know I could I could
play in this league, and you know, I can dominate
in this league, not even just play, I can dominate.
And you know the biggest thing that I've realized about
myself is, you know, just because they were drafted ahead
(10:23):
of view or the media covers them more, doesn't doesn't
make them you know, hercules right, like they're still bleeding red, right,
Like they're the same as you, and and it just
depends on your preparation and you know how much time
you've put in and and you know, I think that's
the biggest thing for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's that's awesome. Was there ever, was there any like
welcome to the league moments where you felt like, oh
my god, this guy's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Dude. We were playing the the Seahawks first game the
season last year. I can't remember who the running back was,
but I thought I was, you know, I was obviously outside,
you know, keep everything inside of you, setting an edge
and took off like you know, I think I'm a
pretty fast dude. And he hit the corner and was
out of there, and I was like, how like, yes,
(11:17):
yes it was Kennith Walker. Yeah, hit the edge and
just took off, and I was like, oh my god, Like,
you know, they're getting paid two So this this ain't
no we're playing Northwestern or.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You know, this ain't no big head.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
This is right, some real deal stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So right, no question he got some next man's feed,
no question about that. There's some incredible whiteouts in it, say,
but you get to go against an incredible white out
on your own team. Courtland Sutton obviously underappreciated guy, But
I remember we did a joint practice versus those guys
in twenty nineteen. You know, I'm an old man, so
I gotta take you back. But I had never. I
(11:56):
had never in my life gotten lost. Never, not one
in the league. Now. I think I might have had
one close in college, but never run the league. Never
in the game where I go jump ball and I
don't win, and we were in We're in the middle
of a practice. I'm having a pretty good day, you know,
knocking it down. Courtland gives a release, goes nine ball.
You know, I get in the pocket, get my shoulder
(12:17):
in front of his I look up routine interception and
I go up off my foot, feeling good about it.
And then I just feel pressure on my shoulders and
I'm like, the hell is going on? Like I know,
gravity ain't got me. And next thing, you know, I
see hands above my head and pluck over my head.
I said, who just did that? Never in my life,
(12:41):
but gotta look. Ever since that day, I'm a Courtland
Sudden fan boy.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You got a fan in me, dude, He's uh, he's strong.
Like it's it's like in practice, like in camp. I
remember this year, like he does a good job, like
at the top of the rout of pushing off and
like you know, like better than anyone. They're not calling
refs aren't looking for that calling that. So like I'll
get a dig and or a curl and he's strong
(13:07):
at the top of the route, he's long. That's what
makes him really good. And then of course, you know,
like the fade ball like you've seen this year, he's
caught multiple, like heavily contested fade balls, like the DD
was in great position and he just kind of big
bodies him like he's he's he's gotten really good at
you know what he's good at.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
If that makes sense, it makes a lot of sense.
It makes a lot of sense outside of McDuffie obviously
watching his tape and watching a lot of guys. Now,
was there anybody that you look to and watched to
emulate as you were coming up, whether it's high school
or college, that you were like, hey, I need to
you know, pattern my game. Obviously, Champ Bailey and and
(13:46):
and Reeves and Dion and Charles Woodson are all some
guys that that could play at a high level. I
don't want to go to the Jason Seahorn route. He's
not the same type of corner issue. But that's where
they want me to get cookie cutter. We can't do that.
It's too cookie cutter.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, no, Darrel Reeves. For sure, I grew up a
Jets fan, which is kind of wild. I'm from Iowa,
but you know, Darrel Revis and then i'd go low
key like high school probably you, to be honest with you,
I appreciate that. Yeah, not just because what I'm talking
(14:20):
to you, I'm not going to give you that, but
like honestly, like for sure you and and Darrell and
and obviously still you know, trying to trying to emulate
my game after guys you know currently, But yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I I I just really want people to appreciate that
the job you're doing, and the job your defense is doing,
your d line is full of dogs and that makes
the job a lot easier. I mean, they still doesn't
make their job totally easy because they get blocked sometimes too.
And if they got time, you gotta go, you gotta
stand up. But talk talk talk to me about that
(14:58):
defense and Benito and Cooper and Zach Allen and uh
Stranad and all these guys that that can get after
the pastor I mean, Franklin Myers.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, it's it's a defense full of full of
junkyard dogs, is the best way I'd put it. Like,
they don't care if it's pretty. They're they're gonna go
and fly and hit you in the mouth. And I
think that's why we're such a good defense is because
you know, from the D line to the backer, just
to the back end, like you know, guys are flying
around Halfunga Is is going in there to knock you out.
(15:33):
Brandon Jones, same thing. And you know that makes our
job a lot easier on the outside because you know,
you got guys that we're setting the blitz. You know,
it's balls coming out, you know, pretty fast. So you know,
the front, the front guys have done a phenomenal job
this year. As you know, Coop and Bonito are are
absolute dogs, same with zach uh Dj Jones does a
(15:54):
great job fill on the gaps. So you know, just
top down, you know, everyone does their job well. And
you know we kind of build off each other, right
like we're playing for each other, and that's that's why
we've seen so much success.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no question about it. I mean, you guys are
playing as a complete unit. And it's it's cool to see.
I really appreciate your time. I know it's it's your
off day and you you got things to do, people
to see, places to be. If you got any questions
or anything you want to talk to me about, I
can talk a corner play all day until the cows
come home, because I mean, it's it's fun. It's a
fun position. It's a really tough job. It's a thankless
(16:30):
job because you could have fifty nine good plays and
on that sixtieth play, if they hit you, everybody's gonna
tell tell you how terrible you were. You know, it's
a what and what have you done lately? Job? But
you're playing it at a really high level. And I'm uh,
and I see you.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, I appreciate you, you know, giving me some ros
and stuff. We got some work to do still, though,
so it'll be I'm excited. I'm excited for our team,
excited for our defense. Uh, keep chipping away. Got a
big one this week with the Chiefs coming to town.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
So yeah, that's gonna be fun. That's gonna be a
fun game. And and and talk to me, I guess
about the challenge of a game like this A tough
division opponent against a team who's been so consistent and
so good and been in a super Bowl five in
the last six years.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you know, it's always it's always the Chiefs, right,
Like it's always gonna go through the Chiefs. And you know,
we've been close to the suite the last two years, right,
But you know it's time to get over the hump.
And and you know they're a great team. They got
a bunch of great players, and uh, they're gonna come
in your hot and and and we're ready for it.
It's it's gonna be a great game where I have
(17:33):
some challenge.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I love it. I love it. I can't wait for
that game. It's gonna be a great matchup. I last question,
what do you think of Sean Shots? Sounds a unique character.
And if you've never played for him or I had
a conversation with him, Shot his funny man.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Yeah, no, I I love Sean. You know he's Uh,
he's a competitive dude, and he's easy to play for
because you know, he wants to win so badly and
and we all want to win badly. And he's done
a great job since he came here. You know, I
was his first draft class. He did a great job
of kind of building the locker room first, having a
bunch of good guys who could really feed off each
(18:12):
other and are similar minded people. And and then came
you know, the football and you know, kind of growing
as football players. But it all really started with the
guys that he brought in to the locker room and
building that culture. And you know, you know, year three
and this is where we're at. So he's done a
great job and he's a good coach to play it for.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Well, it's a great season so far. I hope it continues.
Hope you guys are able to pull out the dub
this week. That'll give me something to talk about on
his great podcast. I appreciate you joining me and spending
you off day with me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Absolutely, thanks for having.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Me anytime anytime, brother, enjoy you, enjoy yourself. We'll see
you next time.
Welcome back to the Richard Sherman Podcast. I got another
incredible guest today, cornerback Riley Mass in the Denver Broncos.
Appreciate you joining me, brother, Yeah, absolutely for having me anytime, anytime.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So we go.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We gonna. You know, everybody tells me to avoid the
white corner thing, and I'm like, why avoid it? You know,
it was history in the making when you and Cooper
Dejene entered the league, and both of you guys came
in playing at such a high level. You have such
a tough task each and every week. Obviously Petricertain is
out right now, but being opposite of him, you get
a lot more targets and you stand up incredibly well.
(00:40):
Just talk me through your journey.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, you know, and all kind of started when I
was honestly, it was travel team football, dude, like middle school.
I had a coach. He kind of threw me at
dB because I was like one of the faster kids.
I paid receiver in then uh corner, and I did
this the FBUTH thing. If you know, FBU is like
the football university. It's kind of like the youth football.
(01:05):
Like there's a bunch of camps and stuff. So did
that and continued kind of trying to play corner, mostly
because people were telling me, like, you know, typically, you know,
the white kid really doesn't play corner, and so I
was kind of like, yeah, let's let's let's do this thing.
So you know, come to high school. You know, I
I end up you know, playing corner in high school
(01:29):
and and doing the camps you know, I went to
I only went to college camps that you know had
contacted me, right, So I went to Iowa, and then
I went to a lot of FCS schools like North
Dakota State, North Dakota, you and I all around the Midwest.
I was only really a two star recruit. I wasn't
getting very much attention. I ended up you know, getting
(01:51):
Iowa late and it was a blue shirt, I believe.
So it was you know, they didn't have a scholarship
before for me then, but you know down the road
one opened up. I was gonna be the first guy
to get it. So I ended up going to i
with my freshman year, balling out my my first summer,
and and end up you know, earned a scholarship and
(02:11):
kind of the rest is history, right, Like I ended
up starting as a freshman, which honestly, I didn't think
it was gonna happen. You know, I was the last
kid in my recruiting class, right, So end up you know,
kind of chipping away, balling out, and you know, my
first start against Minnesota, you know, I got two picks,
which was crazy. So it was kind of a wild,
(02:32):
uh wild journey. But ended up balling out at as
Well for five years and and you know, got drafted
the third round to Denver, so uh and here I am.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Anthony was putting him out for a little while. Anthony
was was you know, not just at Centennial, but a
number of guys got out of there and played Big
ten football. Uh. And it seemed like you ran into
a bunch of them at Iowa and obviously a few
at Purdue. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, you know, Buddy Brex is the name that comes
to my and he actually got drafted to the to
the Rockies to play baseball, but he was a dual
sport at Iowa, played receiver and then played baseball. So yeah,
Ankie's got some athletes for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Speaking of that, people don't appreciate high school football enough.
But you guys played against the number one team in
your state, in your division and you were able to
win that game big time upset from what I understand,
But that seemed to be the moment like you jumped
on everybody's radar, especially Iowa, when guys really understood that
you could play at a high level. Talk to me
(03:35):
about that, because I remember the moment where things started
to click for me, especially at dB, where it was like, hey,
I think I can do this at a high level.
And a lot of it came down to getting the
football and when the football is in the air. Not everybody,
as you know, not everybody has natural ball skills. Some
of these dudes act like they got two left hands
when the ball comes. But you were natural early on.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, I think, you know, the biggest thing was just
kind of going out there and having fun and flying
around and the success that's kind of came with that,
you know what I mean, Like it just followed that
and I never tried too hard to make a play.
It always kind of just came to me. And you
know a lot of guys say, like you're living right,
Like I think I'm a big believer in that. Dude,
(04:17):
Like sometimes because that ball just finds you and can't
explain it.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
But it's great, no question about it. It's tough, and
this year there's been a little bit of scrutiny for
PI and for fans out there. Corner is the hardest job.
Only got dang field. So it appenally or two is
gonna happen. But I still feel like there's some biased
against you. I feel like at least four of these
calls that had could have could have not been called
(04:41):
at all, are gone the other way but advanced Joseph's defense.
Like you got a tough task almost each and every dawn,
man to man coverage, tight zone coverages, and you got
the lowest completion percentage against you this season forty four percent,
but the highest amount of targets in the league. I mean,
I mean, I don't think you're getting appreciated enough for
(05:02):
the job you're doing. But why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, honestly like the p I cause listen, like I'll
be the first one to point a finger at myself
if it's p I Like, I'm not delusional, you know,
but I would agree with you there are a couple
that were you know, alleged, but also can't allow that
to affect how I play, right, Like you know, VJ.
I'll say, like, we're okay with We're okay with you know,
(05:29):
athletic physical play. We're not gonna tell you to shy
away from that, you know, obviously, you know, don't be
stupid and and don't be blatant about it. But there's
there's definitely been a couple of alleged ones, but you
got to play through and now let it, let it
affect you. But that's that's kind of like, you know,
the the entire mentality though of our defenses is fly around,
(05:52):
be physical, you know, don't even think about it. Just
go and play football and whatever happens kind.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Of happens, no question about it. And your defense is
playing incredibly well last week. I just I want to
know how the how the meetings went after that game.
You guys only allowed seven points in the game, and
and even that it was it was in the first drive.
You didn't allow much after that. It looked like this
defense is hitting on all cylinders as the season, in
(06:17):
the middle of the season, Uh, comes upon us. What
are those conversations like after this game?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know, I think the biggest thing for our defense
is not not trying to reach perfection, but always trying
to improve, and you know, we give up seven points,
and that's seven points. We don't want to give up, right, Like,
you know, the stats look good and all that, but
there's still stuff that we can work on and continue
(06:48):
to get better at, and you know, being able to
stay hungry, you know, you know, like it's a long
season and you got to be able to continue to
improve and be the team that improves the most, you know,
each week, because you know, that's why we're sitting where
we're sitting, is because we continually and rapidly you know, improved.
So I think that's the biggest thing for us.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
We talked briefly about Patrick Curtain when we when we
did to sit down and interview. But obviously I'm a
huge fan of him, and I'm a huge fan of
you because when you watch the tape, you got to
see him and you can't happen. You can't help but
to watch you in the incredible job you're doing. But
were there a ton Are there a ton of things
that you've learned from him? I mean technique wise, or
(07:31):
patience or or you know, because I felt like each
and every day I felt like I could learn something
from somebody, whether it was a practice squad guy. I mean,
I watched a ton of tape on a key to
leap when he was in Denver. I learned some stuff
from just about everybody that plays. And because it's such
a nuanced position and you covered these receivers enough, you're like, hey,
(07:51):
you could see somebody's trick and you're like, hey, I
need to put that in my bag because it was
really effective. Do you feel yourself doing that with Patrick
Shirtan and you guys bounce an ideas off each.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Other, yeah, a thousand percent. You know, I think we
have that conversation each week, you know, at practice, you know,
ask him questions about the prior week. You know, he
might have made a play on on something. You know,
how did you see that? You know what? You know
you were outside leverage, but his his split was also
(08:20):
like outside the numbers, So like, how did you know
you were getting that nine ball fade? You know what
I mean? Like things like that, And you know, it's
good to be able to bounce off off each other
because we play a little bit differently. Obviously everyone's different.
You know, he's long and lengthy and very patient, and
I try and mimic as much as possible, you know,
that same type of thing. But at the same time,
(08:41):
you know, I'm not six three and and you know long,
you know, and uh so there's there there's things you
could pick up on on some guys. And and also
you know, watch around in the league as well, like
you said, like you know McDuffie in Kansas City. You know,
there's some things that you know, he's a little bit
shorter guy, but he's quick and twitchy and and and
you know there's some things you can pick up off
(09:01):
him too. So I think the biggest thing is just
being able to look around the league and try and
you know, take one or two things from certain guys
and put it in your bag.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Like you said, you talked about when you got to
Iowa and how quickly you felt comfortable. Obviously you started
in your first year, and you know, I had two
picture in your first game, when was the moment where
you felt comfortable in the league where you've been not
comfortable but felt like, hey, man, I could play. Because
I don't know about you, I won't speak for you,
but when I got to the league, there was a
(09:30):
moment where we were in the game, I think this
was my first start, and we had the Bengals and
I had AJ Green and Ajkan talking cash and you know,
kind of kind of telling me about myself. This is
my first start. I'm a fifth round pick, one hundred
and fifty fourth pick. He's number five to five pick
in the draft, I think. And I got to pick
I think first or second quarter, and it was like
it turned me up immediately. And so at that point
(09:52):
I was like, hey, I could do this. I can
do this, and I can play as long as I
want to because I feel comfortable in this moment. When
was that moment for you.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I'd say my first pick against the Raiders last year,
my second year, you know, it was kind of that,
like you said, like you know I could I could
play in this league, and you know, I can dominate
in this league, not even just play, I can dominate.
And you know the biggest thing that I've realized about
myself is, you know, just because they were drafted ahead
(10:23):
of view or the media covers them more, doesn't doesn't
make them you know, hercules right, like they're still bleeding red, right,
Like they're the same as you, and and it just
depends on your preparation and you know how much time
you've put in and and you know, I think that's
the biggest thing for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's that's awesome. Was there ever, was there any like
welcome to the league moments where you felt like, oh
my god, this guy's legitimate.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Dude. We were playing the the Seahawks first game the
season last year. I can't remember who the running back was,
but I thought I was, you know, I was obviously outside,
you know, keep everything inside of you, setting an edge
and took off like you know, I think I'm a
pretty fast dude. And he hit the corner and was
out of there, and I was like, how like, yes,
(11:17):
yes it was Kennith Walker. Yeah, hit the edge and
just took off, and I was like, oh my god, Like,
you know, they're getting paid two So this this ain't
no we're playing Northwestern or.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
You know, this ain't no big head.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
This is right, some real deal stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So right, no question he got some next man's feed,
no question about that. There's some incredible whiteouts in it, say,
but you get to go against an incredible white out
on your own team. Courtland Sutton obviously underappreciated guy, But
I remember we did a joint practice versus those guys
in twenty nineteen. You know, I'm an old man, so
I gotta take you back. But I had never. I
(11:56):
had never in my life gotten lost. Never, not one
in the league. Now. I think I might have had
one close in college, but never run the league. Never
in the game where I go jump ball and I
don't win, and we were in We're in the middle
of a practice. I'm having a pretty good day, you know,
knocking it down. Courtland gives a release, goes nine ball.
You know, I get in the pocket, get my shoulder
(12:17):
in front of his I look up routine interception and
I go up off my foot, feeling good about it.
And then I just feel pressure on my shoulders and
I'm like, the hell is going on? Like I know,
gravity ain't got me. And next thing, you know, I
see hands above my head and pluck over my head.
I said, who just did that? Never in my life,
(12:41):
but gotta look. Ever since that day, I'm a Courtland
Sudden fan boy.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
You got a fan in me, dude, He's uh, he's strong.
Like it's it's like in practice, like in camp. I
remember this year, like he does a good job, like
at the top of the rout of pushing off and
like you know, like better than anyone. They're not calling
refs aren't looking for that calling that. So like I'll
get a dig and or a curl and he's strong
(13:07):
at the top of the route, he's long. That's what
makes him really good. And then of course, you know,
like the fade ball like you've seen this year, he's
caught multiple, like heavily contested fade balls, like the DD
was in great position and he just kind of big
bodies him like he's he's he's gotten really good at
you know what he's good at.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
If that makes sense, it makes a lot of sense.
It makes a lot of sense outside of McDuffie obviously
watching his tape and watching a lot of guys. Now,
was there anybody that you look to and watched to
emulate as you were coming up, whether it's high school
or college, that you were like, hey, I need to
you know, pattern my game. Obviously, Champ Bailey and and
(13:46):
and Reeves and Dion and Charles Woodson are all some
guys that that could play at a high level. I
don't want to go to the Jason Seahorn route. He's
not the same type of corner issue. But that's where
they want me to get cookie cutter. We can't do that.
It's too cookie cutter.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, no, Darrel Reeves. For sure, I grew up a
Jets fan, which is kind of wild. I'm from Iowa,
but you know, Darrel Revis and then i'd go low
key like high school probably you, to be honest with you,
I appreciate that. Yeah, not just because what I'm talking
(14:20):
to you, I'm not going to give you that, but
like honestly, like for sure you and and Darrell and
and obviously still you know, trying to trying to emulate
my game after guys you know currently, But yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I I I just really want people to appreciate that
the job you're doing, and the job your defense is doing,
your d line is full of dogs and that makes
the job a lot easier. I mean, they still doesn't
make their job totally easy because they get blocked sometimes too.
And if they got time, you gotta go, you gotta
stand up. But talk talk talk to me about that
(14:58):
defense and Benito and Cooper and Zach Allen and uh
Stranad and all these guys that that can get after
the pastor I mean, Franklin Myers.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You know, it's it's a defense full of full of
junkyard dogs, is the best way I'd put it. Like,
they don't care if it's pretty. They're they're gonna go
and fly and hit you in the mouth. And I
think that's why we're such a good defense is because
you know, from the D line to the backer, just
to the back end, like you know, guys are flying
around Halfunga Is is going in there to knock you out.
(15:33):
Brandon Jones, same thing. And you know that makes our
job a lot easier on the outside because you know,
you got guys that we're setting the blitz. You know,
it's balls coming out, you know, pretty fast. So you know,
the front, the front guys have done a phenomenal job
this year. As you know, Coop and Bonito are are
absolute dogs, same with zach uh Dj Jones does a
(15:54):
great job fill on the gaps. So you know, just
top down, you know, everyone does their job well. And
you know we kind of build off each other, right
like we're playing for each other, and that's that's why
we've seen so much success.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, no question about it. I mean, you guys are
playing as a complete unit. And it's it's cool to see.
I really appreciate your time. I know it's it's your
off day and you you got things to do, people
to see, places to be. If you got any questions
or anything you want to talk to me about, I
can talk a corner play all day until the cows
come home, because I mean, it's it's fun. It's a
fun position. It's a really tough job. It's a thankless
(16:30):
job because you could have fifty nine good plays and
on that sixtieth play, if they hit you, everybody's gonna
tell tell you how terrible you were. You know, it's
a what and what have you done lately? Job? But
you're playing it at a really high level. And I'm uh,
and I see you.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Yeah, I appreciate you, you know, giving me some ros
and stuff. We got some work to do still, though,
so it'll be I'm excited. I'm excited for our team,
excited for our defense. Uh, keep chipping away. Got a
big one this week with the Chiefs coming to town.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
So yeah, that's gonna be fun. That's gonna be a
fun game. And and and talk to me, I guess
about the challenge of a game like this A tough
division opponent against a team who's been so consistent and
so good and been in a super Bowl five in
the last six years.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you know, it's always it's always the Chiefs, right,
Like it's always gonna go through the Chiefs. And you know,
we've been close to the suite the last two years, right,
But you know it's time to get over the hump.
And and you know they're a great team. They got
a bunch of great players, and uh, they're gonna come
in your hot and and and we're ready for it.
It's it's gonna be a great game where I have
(17:33):
some challenge.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I love it. I love it. I can't wait for
that game. It's gonna be a great matchup. I last question,
what do you think of Sean Shots? Sounds a unique character.
And if you've never played for him or I had
a conversation with him, Shot his funny man.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Yeah, no, I I love Sean. You know he's Uh,
he's a competitive dude, and he's easy to play for
because you know, he wants to win so badly and
and we all want to win badly. And he's done
a great job since he came here. You know, I
was his first draft class. He did a great job
of kind of building the locker room first, having a
bunch of good guys who could really feed off each
(18:12):
other and are similar minded people. And and then came
you know, the football and you know, kind of growing
as football players. But it all really started with the
guys that he brought in to the locker room and
building that culture. And you know, you know, year three
and this is where we're at. So he's done a
great job and he's a good coach to play it for.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Well, it's a great season so far. I hope it continues.
Hope you guys are able to pull out the dub
this week. That'll give me something to talk about on
his great podcast. I appreciate you joining me and spending
you off day with me. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Absolutely, thanks for having.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Me anytime anytime, brother, enjoy you, enjoy yourself. We'll see
you next time.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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