Willie McGinest on Patriots SECRETS, Brady & Belichick's Genius, Super Bowl XL Preview

Patriots legend and 3x Super Bowl champion Willie McGinest joins Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson for an unforgettable conversation spanning NFL dynasties, West Coast culture, and untold locker room stories.

Willie reveals the REAL reason Bill Belichick chose Tom Brady over $100 million man Drew Bledsoe—including Belichick's "cold speech" to the team that shocked everyone. He breaks down what made the Patriots different, and shares wild stories about Mike Vrabel being an "asshole" teammate who researched opponents' personal lives to trash talk.

Beyond football, Willie takes us inside Death Row Records when his former high school classmate Snoop Dogg signed, describes being in Dr. Dre's studio sessions hearing unreleased music, shares his firsthand experience of the LA Riots and the unity that followed, and gets emotional recalling his relationship with the late Junior Seau.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to all the smoke today. We got a
good one. Man, So when I grew up admiring a
business partner and man the all time leading playoff NFL
playoff sack leader. Welcome to the show with you, Matt
chilling Man, he said, don't feed him alcoholics. You want
to see the wolf of long around out here, Willie.

(00:21):
What's been going on? Man, You've been out of TV
for a couple of years. You did that for about
fifteen years after you were tell you had a good running
TV and although it's not done. Yeah, yeah, you enjoyed
the family, got kids in college, kids in high school.
What's the last two years been like for you?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's been good, man. I've been able to travel a
little bit. I've been able to work on some other stuff,
you know, outside of business. Been able to see my
daughters play volleyball. Man. I got three beautiful daughters that's
playing volleyball, two in college, one in high school. As
you know, I've just been sitting back, like I said,
I've been on vacation. Yeah, I've been watching everything. You know.

(00:57):
I've been kind of assessing with the game as went
with TV and you know, all those different things. And
just kind of learning, digesting and understanding the algorithm now
like it's changed different, it's totally different now. So you know,
I've been sitting back and joining a lot and it's
it's I would say, it's kind of wild out there,
but it's fun and it's different. It's fun, it's open,

(01:18):
a little more free range.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
As someone who you know has done a lot post
career in the media space, you've been able to, you know,
take a few years off, kind of step back reset.
What are you looking to do? Because I was actually
talking to Keishan Johnson about this yesterday, same cherry you
were sitting in. He took a year off, You've taken
two years off. What kind of situation are you looking
forward to moving forward? Because I definitely know we're going
to see you back on TV soon.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
I did the traditional you know soon tie button up program,
you talk, he talked, you go. I kind of do
I want to I want to do something that involves
more lifestyle, more entertainment, more lifestyle, more sports, to be
able to talk, I would say, more of a free
range talk about different things. There's so much going in
the world right now, and sports is a big part

(02:01):
of it. And it brings us all together. But I
think for guys like us, we go beyond just sports.
You know the culture we grew up in. You know,
our kids and what they do and family entertainment, different
things that we have a lot of different interests, and
I think I'm just looking for one of those platforms
where you can express all those different things and be
able to talk about it and have fun with it.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
I mean that shit sounds like a platform. I know
really well, sound like some all the smoke type people
talk to my people.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Killing they mad. But before you keep y'all been killing it, man,
I appreciate y'all doing that. Y'all doing a phenomenal job.
You guys have fun. You guys are able to express yourselves.
You guys touch topics that a lot of people don't
some of the stories. I think with the fans and
the people man, when they want to see us out
of uniform and they want to hear about those stories
that happens in the locker room. So whenever I watch

(02:52):
the show, always learned something that I would have never
known if I didn't watch the show by guys that
you guys have on and some of the some of
the people, you guys mix it up with But you
guys are doing.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
I appreciate that, Thank you very much. The Super Bowl
is set. Yeah, your Pats are back in there. First
Super Bowl appearance since Brady and Belichick. Is the two
weeks off? That's new, right?

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Well, switch, so I did both. We'll say the week
off and then you have.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Two weeks off. So what is that give me away?
This two Bowl? These guys get two weeks off. What's
the two weeks off leading? Like, what's what's your routine
team wise? And then off the field as well.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well. The first week you want to get all the
bullshit out the way because you got you know, you
got to figure out tickets, you got to figure out hotels,
kind of like all the logistics. And I think it's
better to have those two weeks so you're not rushed
and it moves fast. So you've played in championships, you
understand how it is. You got to accommodate people, You
figure out where you're going to be staying. Then you

(03:46):
got to figure out who is going to the actual game.
So you know, you get your ticket count and you
deal with family members, and then you deal with the
logistics of practice. And all the different things. The one
thing you don't want to do is get unfocused because
you got a lot going on. It's the biggest game
in your life. And now your phone is ringing, you
don't have the people calling, You probably haven't talked two

(04:08):
in years, you know, and all those different things. So
I think, you know, mentally, you just want to get
all the business and logistics that first week out of the.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Way, playing for one to three. Let's go back to
two thousand and two. What stands out to most about
that two thousand and two round for you.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Guys, nobody gave us a shot and that was against
the Rams. So yeah, greatest show on turf. So I
think everybody was watching these games was like once the
Patriots won either way, it was going to be a
Super Bowl rematch. You know, they played, I.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
Think but that Brady second year, but first second year,
first ring, yeah, first ring, yeah, first ring.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Drew was the quarterback when he took over in one,
and then that was Brady's first year. So we were
playing against the Rams, one of the best teams in
the league on defense and offense, and as you mentioned,
the greatest show on turf. The biggest thing about that game,
I remember is nobody gave us a shot. Nobody thought
we was going to win that game. We kind of
came out of nowhere. We to some We didn't have

(05:03):
any big name receivers and all those different things. So
when we came and we was getting ready for you know,
that week, all we heard was everybody talking about how
we was gonna get our ass whip. I was going
to be a blowout by halftime, how we didn't have
a shot, and all our coaches did was just kept
feeding us the clips. Every day we had something in

(05:24):
our locker or our practice, we hear the coaches yapping
about something somebody said or nobody giving us a chance.
So I just think for that game, the build up
was crazy. The build up was like phenomenal for us
because we were like cage dogs ready to go, and
we couldn't talk in the media. Belichick's team, you can't

(05:45):
say shit, you can't have.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
That, and there was no social media, so you couldn't
even really sneak that nah.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
And if somebody did, yeah we found out who it was.
But that was just our culture. We didn't talk in
the media, and that was like a weapon for us,
you know. It is you feed, feed the animal, and
you keep telling people stuff and they hearing stuff. You
don't want to build up there upon it, you know,
in a big game. Four that was the next one.
So the funny thing is after OH one, it was

(06:11):
actually three was the was the next one. We didn't
go to the playoffs. We missed the playoffs. After we
won the super Bowl. We got complacent. We thought it
was just gonna happen. The very next year. We didn't
even make the playoffs. And then we went back in
O three and that's when we played the Carolina Panthers.
We played them in O three. I think I was
in Atlanta. That was the next Super Bowl, And at

(06:35):
that point you kind of get a feel for what
the land of the land is, you know, because everything
changes in the Super Bowl. I don't know if a
lot of people know, but because of the halftime show,
because of the pregame show, the entertainment, you get a
lot more time to warm up. The logistics are totally different.
Even how you come out of the tunnel. Everything changes.
So we kind of was more comfortable and understanding the

(06:58):
logistics of how the game and we had some of
the same core guys on the team, So we were
more of a veteran team that kind of got it
and had been there before. So I think for us
that was a little advantaged.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
So was it a back to back?

Speaker 2 (07:11):
Then? It was a back to back. So then we
ended up going that very next year against the Philadelphia
Eagles Donovan McNabb and.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
His crew, and that's the game too. Came back, right,
that's the game too, came back. Had a good game too, Falling.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Not a good game. He had a great game, and
everybody thought that he wasn't gonna do as much as
he was coming off the injury or broke, and hey man,
I had a lot of respect for TL. He went
the fuck off like he went. He went crazy. We
really couldn't stop him. But you know, our defense, one
guy usually not gonna beat us. You know, we we'll

(07:44):
figure it out. But he ate.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, he got what was it like kind of seeing
early Brady grow and then obviously to what he grew
into was, you know, would be the greatest quarterback with
seven rings or eight seven.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Rings seven he's the ring king. He got he got
the most rings out of anybody that's played. I would
say he's always been determined because you know, he went
some do some you know, some adversity at Michigan, you know,
with the starting job back and forth. So when he
came in to New England, he had a chip on
his shoulder. Now I would sit here and be lying

(08:16):
if I told you that everybody knew Brady was going
to be Brady. Drew Blood was nice. He just got
paid a hundred million dollars.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
And that's back in what two thousand, Yeah, that.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Was two thousands. He had just got paid one hundred
million dollars when he lost his job to Brady in
the sixth round. So nobody's seen that coming. But when
he came, when he came, when he came and started playing,
you know, you just saw him steadily getting better. He
didn't turn the ball over, He did what he needed
to do. He had, like I said, he had that edge.

(08:48):
And you know, the story goes he told the owner,
this is the best decision that he's ever made by
drafting him. And once he got the position, he said
he was never giving it back. Now we was all
sitting back by, Yeah, all right, when d you get
when he get healthy, it just gave him a hundred
million dollars. Yeah, he coming back. You know, we figured
that Drew was the guy. But Belichick addressed the team

(09:11):
after Drew got healthy and we kind of went on
a little run, and this, I mean this kind of
threw everybody in the team meeting. Before he addressed the press,
he said that, you know, I always have to make decisions,
and it's not going to always be what's best for
the individual, but it's always going to be what's best
for the team. And when he said that, everybody started

(09:32):
looking around, like, what the fuck is he about to
say or or talk about. It's like, we're staying with Brady.
And when he said that, the whole room just kind
of went quiet, and then we were just like, because
our defense was the catapault of the team at the time.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
How many games had Brady played in one up to
that point.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
I think it was like maybe like eight, like six
to eight. But the funny story is, so Brady's taking
us all the way through the playoffs and we're, you know,
we're doing our thing and we're winning, and we get
right before the AFC Championship game, Brady hurts his ankle
and Drew is now going to be the starter for
the AFC Championship game against Pitchburgh in Pittsburgh, by the way,

(10:13):
one of the toughest teams on both sides of the ball.
Drew goes out and balls out. He goes out and
we win. It wasn't even close. We go out there,
we dominate the game on every side of the ball.
Drew has a great game, we win. So it was like,
all right, Drew lost his job by default, Brady took over.

(10:34):
So now that Brady got hurt, Drew gets his job back.
Just signed a hundred million dollar contract. He's all happy,
thinking like he's going to start in his Super Bowl
because remember we lost with him at a quarterback in
ninety six to Green Bay. So he's like, Okay, I
get another opportunity to start redemption. Belichick made that cold

(10:55):
speech one more time. He made that cold speech.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
Was that the week or two week break between that.

Speaker 2 (11:01):
That was the two weeks he made that cold speech
that a I know, you know, everybody has to do
their job. Everybody has a role, and I'm talking to
you guys before I talk to the press, because the controversy.
The one thing you don't want before a big game is,
you know, is distractions and the media we try to
pull everything. So that was the big question. Who was

(11:23):
going to start in the Super Bowl. Drew just had
a great game, get his job back, or they're gonna
go back to Brady who got us there.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
And that's Brady. This brady second season, right.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
It's still Brady's second season. Yeah, and he's still a
young pup. And Bill made that tough, that tough speech.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Again, Well, obviously we understand you guys were the ultimate
team and team team. But obviously being an older you
got you you had some years under your belt. Your
defense carried the team for the most part. What is
that thought process when you guys here? And then also
how did Drew take it?

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Drew was probably I would say Drew was hurt. Gotta
be Yeah, he was hurt because this is another opportunity,
like you said, redemption for him to go out there
and win a Super Bowl and start, and they just
paid him and they just like quarterback players.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Wasn't getting a people say hundred million in two thousand is.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
A lot, especially in football, and football that was a lot.
So he just got a hundred million and he was
our starter. So you know, for him, I go out,
I ball out in the biggest game before the biggest game.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
And he hadn't played it what nine weeks.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, like nine or eighty weeks, and he was taking
that hard. But I will say he was super professional.
Although he didn't like it, he was super professional and
he was a good teammate. I will say that. But
you're not if you're a competitor, you know this. You're
not supposed to like it and you're not supposed to
agree with it, but you have to understand it. And
he did a great job at that. But he was

(12:47):
hurt when he figured out he wasn't going to be
the starter. But what are you going to do? You
gotta support and we were so built around team first individualism.
As a defensive player, you know, we was like, hey,
we got to do our job regardless because we're about
to play the best offense in the league. So, you know,
to eliminate the distraction. Was brilliant by Bill to say, hey,

(13:10):
we ain't gonna talk about this for two weeks or
a week. You know we're gonna get we're gonna get
past this and be able to just prepare for the game.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
It was cold man. He made the right choice.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Though, Hey, some people say this man is kind of brilliant.
He made the right choice with nobody else in there,
and look at it, and look at Brady now, seven
super bowls later.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
I wonder because I mean, I don't know Belichick at all,
but it just seems like I wonder who he can
fight it in, or if he's stressed about or he just.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
I can tell you that something that he knew that
none of us really paid attention. I didn't until after,
or why he made his decision. Bill was in Cleveland
when I came into the league. We played Cleveland our
first year with Drew as a starter. So Belichick was
the head coach in Cleveland, so he's the defensive minded coach.
He game planned against and Drew. Then when they moved

(14:01):
to Baltimore, Bill got fired. Guess where Bill came. He
came in New England, and so he was the assistant
coach with the DBS to Parcels, so he also coached
with Drew, so he saw Drew for a few more years.
Ninety six, Parcels goes, you know, when we lost, he
goes to the Jets. Well in our division, Bill goes

(14:24):
with him. So now Bill is game planning against Drew again.
For years now in two thousand he comes back. So
this man has game planned against Drew, knows Drew, understands Drew,
knows all his flaws, maybe knows his ceiling, and has
all that intel when nobody else was really paying attention.

(14:48):
So there was a little insight that went into that
decision that he already had thought about and processed. And
we wasn't even thinking that. We were just thinking about
contract this and that.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Tell you this or you just kind of I picked it.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
Up from nobody told me that, but I started putting
it together, like, this man has great game plan and
watching Drew, so he already know who he is or
what he can be or what he's not going to be.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
He seem the best weaknesses.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
There you go with Brady. He saw all upside, so
why not take that shot? And it was one of
the smartest, the smartest moves, I would say in football history.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Let's start with the new head coach of the Patriots. Yes,
someone you shared a study room with, someone that played
across the way from you, Mike Rabel for five years.
You guys got three championships together. You're telling some stories
about him before we got on camera, But I want
you to reshare that, But what have you thought about
him as a coach before we get to him as
your teammate.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
What I love about Ravees is a lot of coaches
that have played for great coaches. Sometimes you see him
try to emulate who that coach is. And I think
the great thing about Rabels he's super smart. He's always
been a coach slash player. You know, even when we played,
he was like a coach. And I think the great

(16:03):
thing that he did was take everything that he's learned
from all the great coaches that he played for, Cower Belichick,
all the coaches that he's been under, and he's taken
all that and he's put his own twist on it.
And I think that's the smartest thing a guy can do,
because you don't want to be like anybody else. But
do you want to learn from him? Do you want
to capture some of the things, the great things that

(16:24):
built like dynasties and great teams. Hell yeah, you want
to do that, but you want to put your own
twist and be yourself. And I think that's important for
any young coach that coaches under somebody that's probably going
to go into Hall of fame, Like there's no question.
You know, Belichick's going in the Hall of Fame, and
Kworr was a Hall of Fame coach, and you know

(16:44):
the guys he played for, So why not learn, Why
not grab all that stuff, but be yourself, be vaybel
And I think he's done an amazing job at doing that.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Now, your teammates played opposite of you, great linebacker. But
he was a shit starter.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
It was a shit starter. Let me say this about Rabel.
Rabel was versatile, big, fast, athletic, versatile, even played tight end,
caught touchdowns and Super Bowls as a tight end. But
the one thing that you had to know about Rabel
that you rather have him on your team than playing
against him, because he was an asshole. He was an asshole.

(17:21):
Rabel was smart. He would say certain things, he would
do his research, he would look up if you got
any trouble, if you had any problems, he'd be across
the line talking shit, saying stuff we didn't even know
about in the games, throwing guys off their game, had
guys ready to fight, just mentally, like part of a

(17:42):
big part of our game that we play, it's mental.
If Rabel was the master and he just sit over
there with that devilish laugh and laugh, and we just
look at him like he's our brother. You know, we
love you, your brother, Abri your an asshole man, like
somebody like they're gonna try to get at you.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
That's funny. Have you seen any of your guys's old
traditionist teammates that Brabes has on this newer, younger pasts team.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah. I think he's changed some things, which is good
because change is always good. But I think one of
the things that he does is he unless the players know,
like he gives them a job description, and when we
were playing, everybody knew what your job description was, like
what are you supposed to do? What's your role? And
I think his staff does a good job of game

(18:31):
planning around the skill set of players that they have.
They don't ask you to do more than you can do.
They don't put you in a bad position. And I've
seen with a lot of young players and the players
that he has, and even bringing back Josh McDaniels the
offensive coordinator, that they understand their personnel and a lot
of these coordinators and coaches and you know, you can

(18:52):
contest to this, like it's always about sometimes their scheme
in them versus who you're game planning around and who
you have you have, Yeah, and the great coaches understand that,
so they're flexible, you know, when you game plan and
putting in you know, different different systems and stuff based
on the guys that can go out and execute it.
So he's done it the great He's done a great

(19:13):
job at that. And he's also letting everybody, making everybody
feel important. You see him handshaking everybody. He waits outside
the locker room after the games, he dapts everybody up,
he hugs guys, goes a long way though. It's the
little shit, and that's how we won so many games.
It wasn't because we were probably the most talented or

(19:34):
whatever the case may be, but we prepared our ass
off and we did all the little things really really well.
And he's doing that. And in one year that team
was four and what four and four and whatever? The
year before thirteen, the year before and the year before
that wasn't good and in the super Bowl that quick
And would you say they're the most talented team all

(19:56):
the way around? Probably not, but they play like it
and they believe he got them believing in themselves, and
they play a certain style of football which it's hard
to play against because they're they're one. Doesn't matter who
get to shine, whose name is called, how many yards
a quarterback throws for, who get all the sacks. They
don't care about none of that. Ship. All they care

(20:17):
about is winning the game. And they understand because that's
how we were when one when when the team wins, everybody.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
A lot of professional organizations can instill that because I
think that's gone now and I know there's a lot
of individual and look at me across the board, not
just football, but legendary defense. The three four Bruski, ty Law,
Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymour tell me something about Bruski.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Bruski was like the underdog of the defense because he
wasn't your prototype size smaller, smaller, smaller middle linebacker out
of Arizona. And he played actually D tackle and he
played on the fil yeah, and he played you know,
he played D line, So he was a more underside.
But when you talk about somebody's toughest nails and somebody

(21:03):
that was smart, the one common thing that Bill required
for our defense. You had to be smart and versative,
you had to be able to play multiple positions, and
Bruski was undersized, but he was tough, and I've never
seen somebody get so fucking low to the ground like
when he would take on so a traditional three four.
Like you mentioned, the guards are uncovered, and our linebackers

(21:27):
stacked over those guards. So when they run those isoles
and those big time plays, those guards come right off
on the middle linebacker and Bruski man used to miss
to meet those guards. But drop lower's shoulder, rip, get
under him, get around him, and make the play. Man.
He's a He's a great athlete, smart and like I said,

(21:48):
toughest nails. Tie Man. Ty was one of those dudes.
The funny thing about Tye is Ty would Ty probably
take a nap in the meeting. Ty, you take a
nap in the meeting, and he'll wake up and say, coach,
just put me on the best fucking receiver. And that's
it was shut down. Ty was Ty was Revers Island

(22:10):
before you know Reevers. Ty was that guy that if
you had a number one receiver and you didn't want
him to have no smoke, no catches, if they knew
not to throw to him, that's the guy. You put time,
so you put TYE. You say, Ty, you take care
of that side of the field.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
Give me an example. Some receivers he would lock down
that were all pros.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
Oh Man. He played against the best play well, he
didn't play that much against that t O in that one,
but he played against Marvin Harrison. He did play against
t O and the other ones. He played against Chad Johnson.
I mean, we can go through the whole. We can
go through the whole AFC North, anybody you could think of.
Whatever team we played. He played against Michael Jackson and
those guys in Cleveland, whatever big time receiver that played

(22:53):
in that era, Ty was Ty had and he allowed
us to be versus on our defense because if we
need to play man we could if if we played
zone that we have scheme up front when we would
get to the quarterback and he would he would jump ship.
In the AFC Championship against Peyton Manning and the coach,
he had three interceptions Super Bowl against the Rams you mentioned.

(23:15):
He played against all those Hall of Fame receivers. He
had a pick played against Pittsburgh picked six, Like I
can go all the way down the line. It's every receiver.
We didn't have no problems ty taking Tye taking your
number one.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
He seemed like he'd be cool off the field too.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
He is cool. Tie's a dog. He's a great dude.
He's a dog. He's funny. He talks ship, very competitive.
You know most guys that play on the island, they
are they're super competitive. And you know he's got a
lot of swags, so he gonna he gonnad you up
there and talk ship to you. Rodney Harrison, Rodney Harrison
is an animal. When when we got Rodney from the

(23:51):
San Diego Chargers at the time, he was a game changer.
And we had Lawyer Malloy before that, and Lawyer was
a beast as well. But when we got right, Rodney
changed our defense. I would say because Rodney was a
damn linebacker playing safety, and I had so many marks

(24:12):
on my damn back from Rodney coming up. I'll be
on the I'll be on I'll be on the ball
making the tackle. Here comes Rodney cannon ball. He is
like a missile, but he was smart. He knew where
everybody was, where everybody needed to be. He was intimidating.
Nobody wanted to catch the ball. Across the middle where

(24:32):
Rodney Harrison was back there nobody and Rodney would come
up and play in the box as well. So when
you talk about that versatility, you had a guy that
can cover, You had a guy eighth man in the box.
It don't matter who the running back is, whether it
was better't the big backs the smaller backs fok, it
didn't really matter. You could bring Rodney in the box.

(24:54):
He would hit. He loved he loved the physicality about
the game. But he was also a leader and super smart.
Get guys lined up. You know, if we had breakdowns,
he would cover up a lot. And he was always
around around the ball like he was a student of
the game. Super smart.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Your other brother in the Good Hair Club, Richard Seymour.

Speaker 2 (25:13):
C MO Big C. They call him Hawk, you know what,
they called him, Hulk, incredible Hawk, Hulk. He tears shit up,
se see ship, smash ship, sea ships, fast ship. Richard.
I would say, Richard, like six seven. What do you
think said, I'm six five? Richard's like three six seven

(25:33):
out of Georgia three fifteen old country boy, big old country,
ripped and unblockable, unblockable, fast, athletic duncle basketball reverse wind
Mill all that stuff. Smart but just unblockable. So, you know,
when you had guys like him and Ty Warren and

(25:56):
the guys like very bol like we had a big
defense like that came from the Giants, that was adapted
from them. That was their prototype type guys, big linebackers,
fast guys, and big athletic you know, defensive linemen. So
we had some dogs across the front of Richard. I mean,
he's a Hall of Famer. He went to the Hall
of Fame. He's in there for a reason.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
When you look back on your Patriots days, what's one
thing that stands out?

Speaker 2 (26:19):
The one thing that stands out is how we did it.
It was unconventional for us at the time because everybody
was caught up in individualism, and we had a culture
that was built and implemented by our coach that like,
team is what wins. And I think we won so

(26:39):
many games because we believed in that and we understood
the importance of you know, team over individualism. Everybody will
have a role and this game, I might not be
able to rush. I might not be able to rush
the quarterback. Even though I love sacks. This game, they
throw a lot, they spread you out, so you got
to be in the cover more and whatever teams did

(27:03):
dictated what we did. And it was a big unselfishness
amongst group of men making a lot of money with
egos and personalities. It's hard to get as you know,
as a professional athlete bro like and youth now and
high school and college. It's hard to get a group
of men to buy in to one particular thing when
it's not about them. If it's not about them, it's

(27:26):
hard to get a group of people to buy.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
People and you've seen it firsthand. Very talented players have
a hard time making it about the team.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Sometimes they do because that attention and the headlines and
whatever the case may be. And it's not like I
know nowadays we get so driven on numbers and accolades
and things like that because you know, I guess that's
what defines an individual. But when you play a team sport,

(27:54):
for me, I'd rather win a number of championships than
have the number. I'd rather win all the championships. And
I get asked that question a lot. I'm in the
Patriots Hall of Fame, of course, but they was like,
you're on the ballot, but do you ever wish you
could trade away your Super Bowls or a Super Bowl
to be in the Hall of Fame. I'm like, hell no,
because I didn't play the game for that. I played

(28:16):
the game to win championships. And it's hard to switch
the mental.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
For a lot of for a lot of sacrifice.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
It is, it is, But when you know when you win,
it's gratifying. Now I wouldn't say, like, if you win,
you know, you get your chips and then you want
to go somewhere else for more money or for this
or for that. Then I get it. I understand it.
But at the end of the day, you know, we
played for that for that way, and that's why that
team was so good for so many years. For a

(28:45):
couple of decades, they were averaging a Super Bowl every
two years. Every two years they were in the Super Bowl.
There's no team in history that's ever done that. In football.
It's little secrets, but it's just hard to get people
to buy in. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
Drake may first Super Bowl year two, similar to Brady,
they face a tough Seahawk defense. Yeah, what do you
feel like May has to do to help his team
get over the hump?

Speaker 2 (29:10):
I think Josh McDaniel's the offensive coordinator will help him.
I think Dre's smart. I think he needs to definitely
use his feet, and you know, don't force the ball
in these big games. A lot of times players feel like,
I gotta do more, I gotta do more, got to
take care of the ball. You don't have to do more.
You got you don't have to be the entire system.

(29:31):
You just got to play well within the system. And
for young players to understand that. He seems really, really mature,
and they put a great system around him, so he
has help. He has a great running game, you know,
with Remindre Stevenson, you know, and Trayvon and then he
has some veteran receivers, some guys that to go and
make plays for him at the receiver position. But the

(29:54):
play calling is important. Don't turn the ball over, don't
force the ball. You know, a punt is ever bad,
It's okay. Can't turn the ball over in these games.
Because when you play against a team like Seattle, that's
that ball hawks that can get after the quarterback. They
force you into bad decisions. They forced they forged you
a lot of bad decisions. So what's important. A lot

(30:16):
of these quarterbacks, they always want the big play in
this system, and until Brady got Randy Mars and some
other guys. We'll take eight, we'll take nine, we'll take ten,
We'll take what the defense gives us, you know, and
just slowly move the ball down the field. Just understand
that I'm.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Gonna put you on the spot. All the dogs in
this game they got Seahawks obviously are not obviously, but
you know, favor to win. Who you got, give me
the ballpark of the score, and who you think is
gonna take the MVP.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Ship you did put me on the spot. My heart
is always going to say New England because that's my foundation,
that's my team.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
If you had to put who, let me let me
change the questions. Yeah, because if you had to put
much me on it right now today, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:01):
That's tough. Man. I hate to go against New England, man,
but if I had to put one dollar on it
right now, right now, and this is not my pick
because it's not Sunday.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
But yeah, we're just shooting the ship.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
We're just shooting ship. You're trying to set me up.
I can't do it. Man. You're gonna have me, You're
gonna have me getting attacked. Yeah, everything right, let's lets
let's hold on.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
We'll talk about this, We'll talk about it. I'm hoping
for a good game, are you Are you going Are
you going to get a chance to go out there.
You can go out there as a fan or going
out there work.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
I'm gonna go out there and do a little work
out there. Yeah. Then of course I'm gonna watch, you know,
I'm watch them. I think it would be a great game.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
Long Beach High School, Long Beach Polly, same school as Snoop,
Tony Gwynn, DeShawn Jackson's name a few Uh talk to
us about your brother step Were you guys in score
at the same time or was he?

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, he's a year Snoop is a year older. Yeah,
we was at the school at the same time, Scoop.
Snoop actually played you football with like we actually played football.
And at the time, you know what age was this
youth eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, all the way up.
And you know he I think after a while he
found out football when this thing. Now, Snoop wasn't a

(32:19):
guy like to take it, take all those hits in
your physical and all that shit. So when he got
to a certain level, you know, Snoop started joking and
rhyming and doing his thing, and they Dog was also
at the school, and Warren g was there for a
brief minute. So that's how the whole two P one
three was formed in Long Beach because all those dudes
was Long Beach guys and from you know, the city

(32:41):
and went to Polly for a minute, and then that's
that's when Snoop, you know, starts storytelling and joking and rhyming.
And you know they used to go over you know,
to the radio spot and do their thing, to vip
around the corner and hang out back there. The producers
with Slice rested in peace and you know some of

(33:04):
the other guys and do music. And I just watched
it like kind of grow from from there. But he's
always been like, you know, my brother to me, just.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Like, what was it like watching that growth, Because like
you said, Nate was in the mix, Warren was in
the mix. What was it like kind of seeing them
coming to their own and then the international superstars they
all turned in No, it was dope.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
I think the biggest turning point to seeing it is
when it was ninety two and I was at USC
and the Riots happened what was happening in LA. But
that's the year snook I signed at death Row. And
I remember going up to death Row with Dog when
he got signed and seeing DJ Quigg second and nine
and seeing all the artists in the lobby that was

(33:47):
signing and Snoop they were all signing around the same
time and Dog and we went up there and Dog
was doing this contract to actually sign with death Row,
you know, and warrenge he you know, was supporting them.
Warrange's actually want to help, you know, facilitate everything. It
was just it was just a great thing. Man. It
was a lot of talent and at that age you

(34:08):
didn't really think about it, but it was just a
lot of talent coming out of coming out of Polly,
you know, Cameron Diaz and we had you know, Billy
Jean King back in the day. There's so many people
and it's just seeing Givon now, you know, you just
go on and on and on. But just to see
him from high school and the jokes during the rhymer

(34:29):
and playing youth and just steady building, you know, like
an airplane taking off, just steady building his career. And
I'm like, damn, and then Undercover Cop came out. We
was like dog made it because that song was big
in the movie. We was like, damn Dog made it.
And then Warren g got his deal on Death Jam
and he had music out, and then Nate was over

(34:50):
there and then the Dog Pound was formed. It was
just crazy.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Man, what your relationship like? O? G? John Robinson?

Speaker 2 (34:55):
John Robinson man, rest in peace. He was he was.
He was my guy. He came from the Rams and
he kind of turned our football program into a pro
football program.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
What year did he was he there before you or
came in?

Speaker 2 (35:11):
No? He came my senior year. Okay, so my senior
year John Robinson came back and he taught us what
it was like to be a professional athlete and how
to practice and what it was going to be like.
And he was super fun. He put us in position
to play at a high level. But he taught us
how to practice. He taught us how to prepare for games,

(35:33):
you know, the one on ones, the things that we
did in practice. When I went and made that transition
into the NFL, I was kind of prepared just because
he had, you know, already coached in approgra.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Think that's a big thing. Not to cut you off,
because I think we think at each level we're always
ready to make that jump from high school to college,
from college to the pros. But there's such a huge
learning gap and speed and strength and particular in your sport.
But that's really instrumental to get a chance to see
what you're heading into before you get.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Or at least get, you know, a screenshot and be
like okay, well maybe like this, because then when you
go to that next level, it's grown men. You know,
it ain't this age to this age. It's this age
all the way to that age.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Like I said, the niggas got car seats in the
back of their trucks.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
When I came into the league. At halftime, dudes were
smoking cigarette that's crazy in the tunnel. I remember playing
the Raiders and you had dudes outside the tunnel from
the Raiders sitting on their helmets smoking cigarettes. And I'm
just sitting there like at halftime, I'm like, this is
some crazy shit. This is grown men out here smoking cigarettes.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
At halftimes that you couldn't see.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
And it was tough and they was and they was
good and they was like beasts. But they just sitting
out there smoking a cigarette at halftime. I'm like, yeah,
it's some different ship. It's in college no more. This
is different.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
You hooped a little bit too. What was the hoop
scenery like for you? Coming up in high school?

Speaker 2 (36:55):
It was good. I played with Ty Sidney, you know,
he went to u C. L A and want a chatmpionship,
and we lost two games. My senior year, we lost
the Modern Day and it was ok Hill. We lost
the Okhill Academy. You know they had everybody on their
team was post one, Yeah, pros everybody on that team. Well,

(37:18):
we lost that game. In the tournament, we played in
the Waburger Tournament in Texas and then we uh we
lost the Modern Day where the Clippers play sports Aready.
They hit the last second shot to go to state.
We won c IF to state. They hit a last
second three point shot. Dude got fouled. He just threw

(37:39):
the ball up and went in and we lost the
game to go to state. What was my game was cool?
My game was cool. Ain't gonna put a lot on it.
But I did have a dual scholarship at s C SO.
George Ravelin recruited recruited lg raft So if I would
have played my freshman year. I would have been playing
with baby Jordan, all those guys and all those dudes

(38:01):
cool Dwayne Coop and all them. But I hurt my
ankle because I played my freshman year and I was
just like, nah, I'm cool, like football's for me. But
now that I look back, I'm thinking like I should have.
I should have probably played just to play the same
I think.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
I think the same thing too. I had the same
opportunity with UCLA, the legendary number fifty five of that
see established by the late great Junior say O rest
in peace to follow those footsteps. Did you get a
chance to build a relationship with him?

Speaker 2 (38:29):
I did. I did so. He was a part of
my recruiting trip when I went to CE And you
know the crazy shit about Junior is he only played
one year college football. His first year he was ineligible.
I think the second year he got into some trouble. Whatever.
He played his junior year and nuts he went crazy.

(38:50):
I think he had like twenty four twenty three, twenty
four sacks, fifth pick in the draft, fifth pick off
of one year, and off of that they made fifty five,
a special number.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
Can you imagine at such a historical college, which you
have to do in that one season to make your journey.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
Listen, man, and I didn't do nothing. I didn't do
nothing close to that. I think the most I've had
in one year at SC was sixteen seventeen sacks.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
I mean, that's a great year. Like in the twenties,
it's fucking unhurt.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
It's unheard. It's a record right now in the NFL.
That was the record twenty three, right, Miles Garrett broke
the record with twenty three. So he was a beast.
He was an animal, and he's from you know, he's
from the land, he's from ocean side. And after his year,
they made that the number for the premiere linebacker coming in.
So we did a whole thing with Student Sports magazine,

(39:39):
a whole photo shoot with him passing down the number,
and they were just saying, look, man, this is this
is the shoes you gotta feel, you know, if you're
gonna wear this number, you gotta represent. And he, you know,
he went on to have an amazing NFL career, Hall
of Fame as well, played the sport represented and he
ended up you know, the funny story is when I

(40:01):
left New England and went to Cleveland. I went to
Cleveland for three years. He came to New England and
played with Bruski and those guys. He called me and said, hey,
Willie Mack, do you mind if I wear your jersey
number fifty five? And bro like it. I just I

(40:23):
just kind of like the air came out of me.
I was just like, bro like kid. I was like, yeah,
you kidding me? Bro, like you you you gave birth
to that, this is your number. He's like, nah, I know,
big bro, but you made it something here in New England.
And it was just all respect and all love. And
that's the kind of guy. You know. Junior was man.
He was just he was an incredible human being. He

(40:44):
was a great football player and uh, you know, we
just we lost him too soon. But when he gave
me that call to ask me to wear the number
that I got from him, the reason why I was
wearing the number, it was just it was just a
special moment.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
That's absolutely These were an era I wish I was
allowed to move around and I wasn't old enough to
move around in the nineties. But from for a kid
from Long Beach to go to USC in the nineties
with all that La had to offer with the entertainment sports.
I know football, we know your football stats. What was
life like off the field and what kind of cool stuff?

Speaker 2 (41:19):
It was great, man, it was, it was great. I
took a loss when I went pro, took a loss. Listen, listen,
I took a loss. Like I grew up in La.
In LA, we had you know, we had the Raiders,
the Rams, the Lakers, the Clippers, you had the Dodgers.
You had everything here and you had so many sports

(41:39):
teams in the city. So like coming up in sc
you know s C, U, C, L A and whatever.
You know everything it's nothing you wanted. You want to
entertainment every night of the week. You like this something
to do every single night. You know, the city was popping.
You know, entertainers had their restaurants then Zel had, you know,

(42:00):
restaurants here.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Give me, give me something you could share now that
you haven't shared before, about just your days off the field.
At see man looking at him smiling and thinking, listen,
I can't tell that.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
I can't tell that. It's a lot of shit we
used to do because we had pool. You know, like
I remember, like Tony Rutherford used to run totally secured.
So he was ran all the security for all the
clubs in LA and all the sports, all the sports
vide So we used to get in and go everywhere.

(42:33):
We didn't have a problem because the lineman was all
the security. You know, they all they all worked and
got a little couple extra dollars in security. But I
would say, man, being that the most pivotal, craziest.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
Time was being in La the riots, doing the riots.
And just watch what twenty at that time, twenty one
at that time.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Yeah, that was in ninety two. Yeah, I was twenty.
I was right around yep, I just probably turned twenty.
And just see the National Guard come in, seeing the
city on fire, you know, seeing people partaking free things,
and you know we were young and running around and
doing stuff as well, but just seeing like what happened
and how a whole city, all the gangs and everybody

(43:16):
come together, and it took something like that for everybody
to come together, the peace treaty, all the rappers, all
the entertainers, and it was just like one city, all united.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
It was. It was.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
It was the best time. It was. It was bad
what happened, but what happened, what it caused and it
you know, how it brought the whole city together. It
was pretty dope. It was dope being a part of
that era and seeing it and seeing being able to
go everywhere and everybody having respect and the unity, the
blue and the red flags tied together, the brown, the black,

(43:53):
everybody like it was no drama nowhere. Everybody was together,
The city was one, and it was like probably the
most beautiful thing.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
And people don't understand just that little last two cents
you said this to not worrying about the colors and
this and that. That's it.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
It's crazy because when you come from here, it's a
different element, right, and people if you didn't grow up
in it wherever you're from. You know, every city got
its own whatever elements. But just seeing if everybody come
together like everybody.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Was how long did you say that lasted a couple
of years.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
I would say a couple of years. You know, we
got back to Knucklehead and we got back to the
knucklehead and political ship and everything else. But you know,
I was able to see a lot happen, Like I said,
Snoop sign is deal that happened. You know, I had
my best year in college in football, which helped me.
That was the year I said, Damn, I'm gonna probably

(44:44):
go pro because at the time, you know, I was young.
It's not like now when you're getting deals in college
or nils and all those different things. You're planning for
the love of the sport and because this is your
way out and it's the way you had an opportunity
to get an education. So that was my year where
I was like, damn, agents are calling, like I'm seeing

(45:05):
my name. I'm like, I got a chance to actually
be a professional.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
Football Current State of SC football Lincoln Riley one hundred
million dollar deal. Yeah, thirty five and eighteen in four years. Good,
not great Trojan football.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
It's tough, it's a struggle, and I know there's a
lot of pressure because at USC we have a standard,
and the standard is not just winning like you know,
winning winning the championship. It's going to the playoffs and
winning championships. And I think now the going rate for
a great for a really good head coaches that it's

(45:41):
a hundred million plus whatever the case may be. But
you got to deliver, you know, And I think there's
so many things that come into play when it comes
to building a great team, especially now, like you got
to negotiate with these kids, You got to deal with
their handlers and all those different people. You got to
deal with the portal. You got to deal with kids

(46:02):
that are not happy that are on your team, that
may be leaving. There's a lot, thankfully, like this year
it was our best recruiting class. I think we ranked
number one in recruiting in the country. So we've got
some really, really good kids coming in out of high school,
but also in the portal. So this being in what
his fifth year, sixth year, At this point, you can't

(46:24):
really move somebody. Coaches contracts are guaranteed, so you can't
just oh, we're tired of this coach. He has to
go now. You got to give him some leadway, you
got to give them some time. So there's been some
coaching changes over the last couple of years. We haven't
done what we're supposed to do. We fell short. He

(46:45):
has delivered a Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams, but
as far as the standard for the school, we have
underachieved and we need to get back to where we
need to be and hopefully it starts this year.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
Mendoza yeah, when the national and though it beats Miami.
Something that I've been talking on one of my other
shows about a lot is just the age of some
of these college players now is in saying you got
a daughter in college, but the average age was twenty three.
Some players are the oldest twenty five. What are your
thoughts on twenty plus twenty five and up kids playing

(47:21):
in college?

Speaker 2 (47:21):
You know? That was that was That was the big
conversation right after the game after they won. First of all,
a lot of people didn't think they can get there.
So if that's the equation and the science for everybody
winning the national championship, don't you get everybody would have
done it? Especially the big schools though, right, especially the

(47:42):
big schools that can afford it, that are desirable for
young men that want to go. I still think talent
reigns over age, Like you could have older guys, but
you've played against older guys and she was way better
than that. You didn't give a shit if they was
a couple of years older than you. You know, that's
what happens when you go to college. If you start
as a freshman, the seniors are three to four years

(48:03):
older than you, and I get it, like some of these.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Guys, but now sometimes now they're eight years older than you.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
I know. See that's a problem, and that's the problem
that I get confused.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
It just needs to be some kind of cap. It's
got to be twenty four, just an age cap.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
It's got to be a cap. And I get the
COVID year and all that, but if a grown man
is if he's eight years and then he belongs in
another league, he belongs in the pro league, a semi
pro league or the pros. Yeah, I just think you
give him your fifth year with a red shirt if
you get injured, maybe six, maybe you can squeeze out six.

(48:38):
But after that seven eighth year and kids ain't even
going to school, They just showing up to play football
or just taking the elective or whatever to stay eligible.
I don't agree with I don't agree with none of that.
But I still think. I still think in that game
that the better team wire the way because of the
way they played, because they didn't make mistakes, you know,

(48:59):
because they didn't turn the ball over, they didn't beat themselves,
and they took advantage of opportunities that were you made mistakes.
So that's that's just my, that's just my. You know,
I hate making excuses. Hey, the better team won.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
You think the Raiders take him at one or with
all the holes they have on that old line, or
do you trade down and possibly get a couple picks
for that first pick?

Speaker 2 (49:22):
You know, you know, we saw spyteching Brady and Mark
Davis at the game right on the sideline, So I
think they take Fernando. But the question is do you
think he's a generational player? You know, that's the question.
And a lot of people like to say, well, Brady
wasn't until he was, or this guy wasn't until he was.

(49:44):
You know, Peyton Manning led the league in interceptions when
he came in. Nobody knew these guys were going to become.
So it's all about, you know, that player's development and
where his mind is and all that other stuff. But
if you're trying to turn the franchise around, and you can,
and people are throwing this out there, it's not me.
They trade Crosby, you get two first round picks, and

(50:06):
whatever you trade down from Mendoze, you get two first
round picks. Now that's four first round picks with a
couple of seconds. Can you turn your team around faster
that way, then taking a quarterback and then trying to
figure it out because it's O line, it's this, it's
D line. You need so many things. Like you mentioned,
there's so many holes on that team. Where do you

(50:28):
start or do you say, hey, here's a generational guy.
You got to have a quarterback to win in this
league and we can figure it out and build around him.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
How important is the organization for a young let's just
say quarterbacks development coming into the game.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
It's super important. It's super important because you got to
have the right pieces around him. We've saw we've seen
a lot of these top players come into the league
and they don't have the right people to develop them.
In college, you don't have enough time, and when you
get to the pros, you have even less time because
of the CBA, because the players vote not to spend

(51:04):
more time at the facilities or with the team. That's
what they voted on, So they're not there as much.
So it's hard for coaches to develop. So you got
to put great minds and you got to people. You
got to put people around these players that understand what's
your skill set, what's your weakness is? How can I
build you? What can we improve in? What do I
need to do game plan wise that's going to help

(51:27):
you and put you in the best position and just
keep taking you, you know, level by level. But it's
about winning. You don't have time now. You don't have
five to six to seven years. Teams want to win
right now unless ownership says, listen, you got a five
to six year window. I understand this is a total rebuild.

(51:47):
We're gonna let you start and redo all that. Saying
that it's a couple of plays like Detroit did it.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Yeah, we talk about that too. Is also obviously, we
came in in the era where top picks set a
little bit and learn behind people right now, no matter,
I mean, a handful of guys get tossed in the fire,
whether they be basketball, football, But there are times where
top picks get a chance to sit down and you
look at Aaron Rodgers who sat behind it. You look
at the Steve Young who sat behind several guys before
you get the shot right, you don't really see that anymore.

(52:16):
Guys you're throwing in fast. You don't because they're paid
so much.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
You don't. You're right, and you know the good thing
now is they do have a cap for the younger players,
So it ain't like they're getting a hundred million coming
out of college, although they can make that in college nowadays.
But crazy, you know, these young players that are coming in,
they do have a window. And you know, I think
last year the quarterback made forty something million dollars for

(52:39):
five years or whatever, and then before he gets to
his fifth year, you can renegotiate. But I think you're
able to see what a guy is going to be
within three to four years, and a lot of times
maybe you don't. Look at Sam Darnold. Now three teams,
what four teams gave up four four teams gave up
on him and didn't think he was the guy, and
he was the first round pick and now he is

(53:02):
the guy playing in the Super Bowl. So some players
need more time. But it's also about who's teaching those players,
who's in their ears agree it has a lot to
do with it.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
Let's take a look at this real quick.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
Let's do it.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Bill's owner Terry Pakula Pecoola Pakula, excuse me, don't mean
the butcher? His name through Sean McDermott under the bus
about the Keon Coleman pick.

Speaker 3 (53:26):
The wide receiver position has been an issue in this team,
and a lot of people out there believe you have
failed in the free agent market, and then obviously with
the Ke Coleman sign you which hasn't worked out. How
do you answer the fact that you're not given Josh
a good enough wide receiver thus far?

Speaker 1 (53:44):
Yeah, I can I interrupt.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
I'll address the Kan situation. Uh, the coaching staff pushed
to draft Kan. I'm not saying Brandon wouldn't have drafted him,
but he wasn't his next choice. That was Brandon being
a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff

(54:12):
who felt strongly about the player. And you know he's
taken for some reason heat over it and not saying
a word about it.

Speaker 2 (54:24):
But I'm here to tell you the true story.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
So you see something like that, and since this happens,
things have transpired and they promoted someone to the head coach.
So talk to me about this situation right here.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
You want the hood answer or the professional I want
the hood answer. That's bit shit right there, straight up,
that's bit shit. So the one thing you never do
is throw employees under the bus. Whether you're the head coach,
or your ownership. I've learned that in the most the
most winningness coaches, I've learned that. And the reason why
is because the owners. You're not in the scouting meetings,

(54:56):
you're not breaking down these players, you're not doing the
evils and none of that. Now, Sean McDermott will stand
up at the press conference and take blame after every loss,
and he'll give praise to the winners, you know, to
the players when they win. That's what coaches do. But
I think on that type of stage, when you fired
a head coach, who, by the way, is a defensive

(55:20):
minded head coach, he is not on the offensive side
of the ball like that. That's Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator.
Sean McDermott focuses more on the defensive side. So if
there's anybody pushing for a receiver to help one of
the best former MVP players, your quarterback, wouldn't that be

(55:40):
the offensive side of the book. You think you would
think Joe Brady to say, hey, we need this type
of receiver, this guy can help us, This guy, whatever
the case may be, will flourish within this system. I
just think you keep things in house. I think you
be professional and I'm sure Brandon Bean, the GM now president,
I think he got promoted after that, has made some

(56:02):
bad calls and has had some missus. The best coaches
in the business, basketball, baseball, football have all had missus.
What you do is you say, Okay, if this doesn't
work in this amount of time, we move on. This
kid has only been in the league a year and
when you interviewed him, everybody was laughing because he was

(56:24):
saying the silly shit and joke in and everybody was
laughing at his interview and thought it was funny. But
now when it was time for him to play and
they needed him to play, that he wasn't ready. Maybe
he was immature, maybe he needs some more work, whatever
the case may be. And we talk about development. This
is in house, so he's coming into a place where

(56:44):
you got the veterans, and you got coaches, and you
got leaders that got to get him in position mentally
and physically to be on the football field. But as
far as the owner stopping a GM from asking a
question about a player, where collectively I think outing sits down,
which the GM is over scouting, by the way, along
with the coaching staff and you guys collectively talk about

(57:08):
what you need as a staff, and you go through players. Yeah,
some coaches may like this type of player, but it's
going to be that offensive guru Joe Brady. That's probably
pointing that out. That's saying we need him, or we
like this receiver or we like that because they had
big receivers before Gabe Davis and those guys who left

(57:29):
the building. So maybe he was trying to bring in
those type of receivers. Did it work out this one year? Okay,
it's one year. Is the kid done? He might go
somewhere else in ball He might ball out next year.
You never know. But I just think it's unprofessional. I
think it's bitch hit that you do that to a
coach that had turned that organization into a winning organization

(57:53):
and won so many games and put him in position
and if you wanted to fire him because you secretly
in your mind or whatever said, Okay, look, this is
the year. There's no Lamar Jackson, no Ma Homes, there's
no this, there's no that. Whatever it is, you gotta
win it. This is the year. You gotta take it.
And he doesn't do that, that's fine, but keep it

(58:15):
in house.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
That's my thing. Keep it in house. You can feel
that way.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
It's your team. You're the owner, it's your team. You
can feel however you want to feel. But what what,
how how should Joe Brady feel now that he just
said that about the former coach? Now you're the coach.
You got promoted from offensive coordinator, now the head coach.
So if things don't work out, if you like a player,
you're not gonna speak up in the in the scouting
meetings or nothing. You're gonna You're gonna be the next one.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
You're gonna be the next one.

Speaker 2 (58:41):
So you know, I just don't like that. Man. I'm
from the old school. You just keep everything in house
and whatever happens happens.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
Quick hitters. First thing that comes to mind. Let me know,
all right, dream front seven all time, build it.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
Lawrence Taylor on the outside, we'll go, Richard Seymour. I
gotta go Richard h I gotta put myself in there.
And if it ain't me, it's Derek Thomas on the
other side, Reggie White, I'm gonna go say out and
ray Lewis my stand up linebackers. Damn, I need a

(59:18):
nose tackle. I probably just go with a will Fork,
I gotta go with my dog. I got to take
two of my teammates with me.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
Smartest QB you ever faced, probably.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
Peyton Manning because he knew everybody. He knew the coordinators
before they were coordinators, when their position coaches, he knew
what systems they ran when they were with other teams,
and it was a constant chess match with him, like
not not just every game, but every serious you go in.
Ship was changing if you saw something. So he was smart.

(59:54):
Like I said, he knew everybody that he played against,
players and coaches and coordinators, and he was always prepared.
So I would say.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
Peyton the most dynamic skill position player you've seen or
played with.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
I'm gonna probably have to go with that. I that
I had a fucking fit with Barry sand who I'm
gonna have.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
To go talk to me about Barry for a second, because, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
Man, Barry. I don't know how tall Barry is, but
with Barry man his legs and his speed, his power,
his balance, I mean his balance was incredible. You think
you have him down and you wouldn't. He spent out
of shit. He get out of shit and just slight
moves like with a wiggle, and just just how agile

(01:00:39):
his was. His vision, like you see guys coming you
becoming full speed from over here, and he stopped hit
the brakes, you fly by, it look like an asshole
hit the ground miss. And just his ability to make
big plays out of nothing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
He played with the box field eight nine ten. I mean,
can you imagine them with the past game or a
quarterback they or Emms Smith's old lines.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
Man listen and Barry retired early imagine ten years right,
Imagine the records he would have he would have continued
to break if you would have kept playing. He's probably
on on on the game, on say and all that unbelievable, unbelievable, unstoppable.

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
Hardest hitting player in your opinion and NFL history.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
You have to I know, I got to go back
because you know, I grew up with with with with
the Stellers and all these other teams.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
But you said, you see you played against Lot, played
against at Water Live.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
At Water, Troy, like safet these linebackers, you know, all
the different linebackers, I'm gonna probably pick a safety because
they get to run. They get that running starts. So
I'm gonna probably go with with Lot I'm gonna probably
go a lot my big bro, my my luge, right,
I say, yeah, he was reckless.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
He was right before you. How many years before you?
Was about five six?

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
Yeah before me.

Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
Yeah, it's big had the tip his finger cut off
and went back in the an't even played like it
was nothing to.

Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
Take it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
One album on repeat.

Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
I don't do albums. No more shit I do I do.
I would have to probably say lately Kendrick before.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
Me against the World, you got any Pok stories? That's
your era, you got any Pok stories.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
I've seen Pok in so many spots. Park was was
a genuine dude, and I've seen Pocket and Damn near
in so many fighters, But nobody would funk with him
out here. Poc had love out here like it was
and he had a lot of security. You know, he
had a lot of people with him. But Pac was
respected just because he was a real dude. You know,

(01:02:42):
he was always real, he was always sincere. He wasn't fake,
and you know he'd be hype and do whatever. But
every every time I've seen Pac, and I've been in
the studio with Dre when Dre was doing the Chronic,
I was just I was fortunate to be because of
because of Sloop and all them. I've seen so many
guys come through the studio with like Dre and coming

(01:03:04):
there and then those relationships because the dog and seeing
all these dudes. But like for somebody to say, like
it's famous, like pop running around the.

Speaker 1 (01:03:14):
City, just what's a Dre studio session?

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Like, well, for me, shut the fuck up and just
watch and just listen. But you know, seeing the deal,
seeing there, help write, seeing different guys, seeing other producers,
like messing with the board. Just Dre is so meticulous,
like it I've heard hits that ain't never came out.

(01:03:37):
I've heard music that's never came out, just because he's
so particular about everything, his sound a string and just
sitting in there, man blessed, just chilling and he's a
great dude, like he like you know, the session is
always a vibe. But like I'm in the back chilling,
Like I just like to see it, like I liked

(01:03:58):
I love production, have to see how things come together
and how it's made, and being able to be like
a fly on the wall to see someone some of
the greatest music ever made. It's crazy, crazy, one of
the best to ever do yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:04:10):
One guest on All the Smoke.

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
You'd like to see Dave Chappelle.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
Oh good, call call it. You know you call it?

Speaker 2 (01:04:17):
You know? Yeah, I mean we can get to us.

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Try to get to it. We can get to hey, man,
before we get out of here. Shout out our brother
Scott Man over at Legends Man, one of the one
of the greatest dudes I've ever met. That's how we meet.
Willy and our business partners and uh watch out for Legends.
Were walking the gear and a lot of different stuff
with Legends Man. Willie Man, I appreciate your time. Let's
have your people call my people.

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Let's do that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
Do it man, that's a rap. Willie McGinnis. You can
catch us on All the Smoke YouTube and the Draft
Kings Network. We'll see y'all next week.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
Mm hmmm.