After breaking his ankle in the season opener, Los Angeles Chargers LB Drue Tranquill is back with a vengeance. Tranquill and Shawne Merriman have a great talk about this year's Chargers team. Drue believes in the Charger's new mantra set forth by head coach Brandon Staley, "Do things Our Way, Stay Healthy And Compete." Drue tells Shawne that Coach Staley is the real deal and this Chargers team is a tight group that can win a championship.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you ready for this? Sean Merriman A one hand effect.
Boom boom boom out go to light this his Lights
Out with Sean Merriman. What's up? Guys, were back again
with another Lights out podcast Me Sean Merriman, and we
are going with my charges today. UM, exciting here for him.
(00:23):
Obviously it's a lot of talk about Justin Herbert and
you know some of the stars Keenan Allen, um. But
we got one of my favorite guys I love to
watch man. It's it's uh, Drew Tranquil. And this is
what I love about Drew the most. And you know,
obviously he's a tremendous athlete whatever, but you know his
mentality and come back from the injuries and always stand positive.
(00:46):
You know his his faith. Um, a lot of these
things that I've just got a chance to watch. And
I didn't meet him until not too long ago during
this offseason. Um, but just a hell of a person
um to meet. Uh if he says healthy a s year,
expecting big things out of them. So we go on
my charges today, talk about the season Drew Tranquil, drill,
(01:07):
what's up, my dude? Are you doing? I'm great man?
How about you. I'm I'm great dude, um, you know,
just trying to keep all the ass and shade. When
I was talking to you this morning and I look
at you now and I'm like, these dudes young, they
can move, their hips, are still good knees and even
though you have some injuries, I'm like you still, you know,
in in great shape. You always kept up with it. Man.
(01:28):
How you how's your body filling? Overall? It's good man.
We uh we had a good leg day yesterday and
uh yeah, we're doing all the hips and stuff, all
the mobility. I feel like a lot of trainers have
really got on top of the functional side of things
in terms of body maintenance and uh and keeping the
important things like your hips, your low back, all those
(01:49):
things moving. So it's been good man. What were you
hitting in the gym when I hit you up yesterday? Man?
But you just pumping some boys and tries. Man, are
you getting the full body? Listen? All I do stuff
now for it looks that's it, huh body. I'm a
Ferrari on the outside, but in the nineteen seventy two
oldsmobiling inside. Man, So I just tried. You know, what's
different now? Is it. My mentality had to change when
(02:11):
you retired, Right, So when you're playing, like obviously you
gotta go against three hundred some pound lineman is coming
up and and and leading up on you guys, and UM,
so you need your body needs to be a little
bit different from that. But man, what you just said,
I wish that I learned a lot early in my
career where you don't have to you know, squat six
seven hundred pounds, You don't have to put four plates
(02:31):
on the bench in order to go out there and
have success on the field. I wish I learned that
a lot earlier. Yeah, I haven't. I haven't backsquadded UH
heavy and a really really long time really since college.
Every since I've gotten the pro it's it's been pitch shark,
it's been leg pressed, it's been explosive movements on the field, uh,
because you don't necessarily need all that load, you know,
(02:52):
transferring down your spine lifting heavy three four or five
times a week. Um. And So I think the science
and the data just continues to show that, you know,
the sports performance side of things just continues to involve
in terms of UH, in terms of health, the health
and well being of the athletes, and so it's exciting.
We can certainly use it on our team this year. Man,
(03:13):
we're gonna trying to be healthy. That's that's the key.
And I say that every for at least for the
last couple of yearsws you guys that if you stayed healthy,
you you're gonna compete with anybody in the National Football
League period. And sometimes what happens is and you know,
when the first string guys or the you know, the
first round of guys get hurt, you got second or
(03:33):
third whoever, there can be a drop off. You get
what I'm saying, Like, that's that was that was always
my thing. I said, Look, you're gonna have some injuries.
Guys gonna get banged up, gonna have a hamstring, hip, ankle, shoulder,
something like that during the season where they might miss
some time, even if for a game or two. You
have to have really readily available guys to go in
the step up where it's not a drop off. Yeah,
(03:55):
and you it's tough too, because we had It's one
thing to have a guy get hurt and you've got
ten guys around him that can kind of pick up
his slack. But when you have guys hurt at each level.
You talk about Joey Boast of Melvin Ingram missing time
last year, then me at the second level, and then
Derwin James in the back end. I guess I'm speaking
specifically for the defense. Uh, but it's tough when you
(04:16):
have guys at each level hurt and you're trying to
compete and be a great defense in the National Football League,
and so uh. You know, coach Staley has made made
an emphasis that his his number one jobs to give
us to the season healthy, UM, And so you know,
I'm looking forward to what this training camp might look like.
Has your mentality changed because me, I had some little
injury things in college like nicks and stuff where I
(04:39):
missed a little bit of time, but nothing serious. My
first big injury came in the NFL when I missed
uh time because of my knee. I told my PC
L and l c O. And so that was the
first time I actually had to sit out for a
real course of time. Like, how was that time for you?
Because for me, UM, I was stressed out. I was
I got into a small state of depression and it
(05:00):
was mainly because not even just injury, is this I
used to watch guys go out to the practice field
and like had to be sitting in the training room.
What I used on my knee or whatever was was
I was recuperating from we're covering from. Just to see
that alone, man, was tough for me. So what what
part of that was hard? Um? And one of your injuries.
One thing, it's it's really hard because you train three days,
(05:23):
three or forty five days a year for an opportunity
to compete in sixteen now seventeen games, and there's no
there's nothing, nothing given to you. And so you're just
you're training your tail off mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, you're
doing all these things to put yourself in the in
the greatest position. Uh. And so to do all of
(05:43):
that for a year and have high expectations for yourself
and and see that come to an end on the
fifth play of the season for me, Uh, it was
really really difficult. Uh. I guess I shouldn't say luckily
for me, But I went through to a c LS
in college, so this process was it was not new
to me in terms of missing time. But you talk
about the mental side of the things with the depression
and stuff, it's really hard when you're so close with
(06:06):
these guys to to watch them go out, to watch
them travel, travel to Kansas City, you know, travel to
foxbro wherever they're going, and not be able to join
them and not be able to take the fuel with them.
And you know, there's two elements of that. It's one
you just want to be out there to compete with
those guys, and then too, it's just your love for
the game. And when you miss those two elements, you
(06:26):
feel like you're letting your brothers down and you're just
missing that just desire and passion to compete. You know,
it can get hard. You're real hard. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com
and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s
R to listen live. I know you you talk a
(06:49):
lot about like your religion and stuff like that. Did
that happen at a younger age or kind of when
the injuries and stuff happened when you had to get stronger,
you know, with your with your religion met me and
other hand man, I'm leaders like my family a strong
Southern Baptist, but I I wasn't as religious. I didn't.
That part of me didn't click into like later on
in life when Andrew started happening, when you relying more
(07:11):
on that. Yeah. So I gave my life to Christ
when I was around ten years old. And I remember, Sean,
I was sitting on my bedroom floor when I was twelve,
and I took this poster off my wall, and I'll
never forget sitting on that floor twelve years old. I'm
just twelve, and I write, Lord, you know the plans
you have for me. If you give me the platform
to make it there, I'll give you all the honor
and glory back in full. And it's crazy to see
(07:32):
that prayer come to manifestation because I really shouldn't. You
look at the odds, shouldn't be where I'm at today,
to a c l S in college, didn't really go
to a big high school, didn't really wasn't a big recruit.
And then certainly the ankle dislocation last year. It just
it's it's amazing. Uh. You know, when your faith is
in something outside of where your job is, when you
(07:52):
find yourself worth and something that's uh that's not relying
on your performance. Uh what that can do to your
hope and what that can do you on a daily basis,
and just the hope and the resiliency you can give
you to just continue to bounce back. So for me,
it was certainly at a younger age for me. No,
that's that's dope, man. That was one of the one
of the things that I saw. And and also to man,
(08:14):
just you know, get a chance to watch you around
the other guys. Y'all, y'all, you guys got a type group.
I mean, y'all, y'all are you guys are pretty damn close.
And you know, I remember at the times that we
wanted stuff that we had a really close knit team
and talk about that Mexican you know, Darrel Went is back.
You know, you're back, all your whole squad, Joey's healthy.
(08:34):
I mean, people are coming back, man. And what what
do you guys expect this upcoming getting out that everyone's
gonna be on the field. Well, we're excited. I think
we have a lot of of expectation and hope for
what we can do. Um. What I love about our
team is there's no really, there's no hierarchy system. It's
not justin Herbert's the face of the franchise and doesn't
talk to anybody or Derwin James and Joey Bows a
(08:55):
big contract guys. You know, they they're cooler than everybody else.
It's not really like that. It's a real familiesque environment
where it doesn't matter where you're at, free agent, first
round draft pick, big time quarterback. Everybody is just kind
of out there to play ball, and they love to
play ball and love to get after it, love to compete,
and so, uh, you know, Coach Dailey keep saying we're
gonna do things our way, and I think that's gonna
(09:16):
be that's gonna be the matra, Right, We're gonna be healthy,
and we're gonna do things our way, and that's compete
and build relationships. And so I think if we continue
to foster that environment, we're gonna be a good place.
You know. What's you know, it's crazy about Cole Staley.
So he caught me on the night that they brought
him in and we talked on the phone for about
twenty minutes. He was in a car and uh, he said, look,
(09:37):
I wanted you to be one of the first guys
I've reached out to because of obviously you know me
being an organization and still being around you guys and
being a ball with the team. But what I heard
in his voice, man, was like excitement and motivation. You
get what I'm saying. And it wasn't like, um, you know,
some of these coaches gave you the whole hype speech
to raw role, We're gonna go out there and kick
everybody ass. And it wasn't one of ooth. It was like,
(09:59):
you know, we're coming to here to change things around.
I realized what I have. You know, I gotta adjust
to her. But he would start naming the guys and
so it was it the you know, we're gonna come
and start kicking down doors. I'm changing everything and run
into my way. It was a more of a technical
slash like work smarter, not harder type of deal. Have
you have you seen that from him being around him
(10:21):
so far? I do? I think uh, I think just
his the young energy, right, it just brings about this
excitement that you know, changes on the horizon and we're
gonna be in a good position. But I think, uh,
you kind of hit on the nail on the head
when you said, like some coaches coming there and it's
just fake it's hur rah, and it's not really backed
(10:41):
up by anything. I think with him, when you actually
get in the film room and you start talking the
xs and ols, you go, this guy is for real,
Like he knows what he's talking about. He knows how
to attack, you know, offenses. He knows how to attack
defenses even from the offensive perspective. And so I'm really
excited in terms of what he's gonna be able to do,
putting game plans into place and and really putting us
(11:02):
in good positions to be successful. It just seems like
a brilliant football mind. No for sure. I mean just
they were smart, and I was in how can I
say that? I was hoping they were bringing in a
defensive coordinator, right because you know, you got you got
hurt Me there, and you got you know, Keenan, and
you got some stells in the offense side of the ball.
You guys doing on defense too. But I was always
(11:25):
looking for them too, you know what, what with to
lesk on those guys over there there, bringing the defensive
coordinator that was going to take the guys they have
on his defense, because it's a it's a ton of y'all.
Y'all got a squad if you want to look at,
you know, per position basis to have a coach there
that was gonna let you do what you're great at doing.
Because all the great coaches that I got a chance
(11:45):
to play for, they said, Okay, this guy's great at
doing that, this guy's greater doing that, he's not so
great at doing that, and they put guys in position
to win. Have you seen kind of him coming in
and letting guys especially like you know, uh Murray and
the guys around who I don't want to use this
and a wrong way, but kind of been leashed a
little bit and and not let go, you know, let
(12:06):
them go and make plays. Have you seen that so far?
I mean, I think with him, he he tries to
find the each guy's strength and he doesn't want a system,
uh the system to override or preceed his players. He
wants the players to make the system. And so I
think when he looks at his roster, he's looking at
(12:26):
what can these guys do, what are they best at,
and let's put them in those positions to make those plays.
I'm interested. I wanted to ask you. I guess I
think that maybe when you when you were playing or
maybe even a while back. The mantra has always been
defense wins championships. Defense wins championships. And you said, you
want to see a defensive guy come in with the
(12:47):
way that the league is going and these teams scoring
thirty points a game, do you still you still feel
that way as a defensive player. I mean, as the
defensive player, my ego is kind of like defense wins championships.
What's your what are your thoughts on that? Yeah? But
you know, more so now when when I even I
look at you guys, you got a bunch of studds
and stuff. On defense, It's more about the players, right,
(13:08):
It's less about the coach that the great teams, the
players take over. The players make things happen. And so
when you start looking at the presence, you know, the
Derwin James and you're coming back healthy and obviously you
know mel Melbourne Le's that was that was a little
bit of a hit to see how it sound with
the Steelers. But you know, I'm sure they're gonna take
care him over there. Um. But yeah, just on the
defense side of the ball, man, it's it's you guys
(13:30):
really making a big place. And I do think even
though this is a offensive league like oriented style game. Now,
I do believe that the defense are the ones that
are finally gonna gonna close out the big games. Right.
So the offense, because of the rules set up and
how things change, they're going to get their twenty one
plus points. They're going to It's it's hard not to
(13:51):
score twenty one points in today's game. You're not gonna
see like old school back when I play, we will
win games with thirteen to ten, seventeen to ten. You
know you're seeing you know the eight. Uh, those are
the games we're starting to see a lot now. But ultimately,
man like, I think the defense because of mentality that
you guys have. Mind you, those offensive linemen they're they're
(14:12):
not like, um, they're not very vocal. Then a lot
of the guys aren't super mean guys. It's really the
defensive players. You look at the caliber the defensive players.
It shows how the team's attitude is. That's the one
that kind of rub off on everybody, even on the
offense side of the ball. The defensive guys make the
organization go and they feed off each other's mentality. It
(14:35):
gives the coaches um and that you know, kind of
a chip on their shoulder. I'm always gonna say defense
wins championships because I really do believe the DNA of
a great team comes from great defenses. You look at
in the Super Bowl last year, right with the Bucks
in the Chiefs like the Bucks defense won them that game.
How to present in their ability to put pressure on
(14:57):
my Homes forced turnovers and just get after it. I
mean the Homes was running for his life and they were.
They really seemed like, you know, you got the the
greatest player ever in Brady orchestrating the offense. But when
you look at this nacity and the culture of that team,
it seems like it was said specifically those two guys
in the middle, David and uh Devin White, you know
(15:17):
now percent and and that's that's the DNA of this
team when they're even when they're running the ball in
offense and they're establishing a run game. You look at
any one of these great teams that's one in the
last five of teen years, and look at some of
their defensive stars, Guys who break down the huddle, um,
guys who are vocal, who was getting on the other
guys to step up and played better. It all comes
(15:39):
from the defense side of the ball. And I don't
care what the offense driven league that that that today's
game is and it really comes down to the defense
side of the ball. Always agree. So fans the last question, man,
fans are back this year, right, you guys are plannings
and so far stadium. What what can you expect? Man?
Because I had the the the terrible luxury and now
(16:01):
I want to say that I love Kua kom um,
but you guys are playing in the state of the art,
the best stadium in football. Now, fans that back the issue?
What can the guys? What can everybody expect? Well, I mean,
did you watch the NBA Finals Deer District, Man, The
thing was popping off. It was energy, the energy that
that fans can bring in. And we talk about as
players like you shouldn't need the fans to get up.
(16:25):
You know, you should be internally motivated enough. Uh, you know,
the love for your brothers should be enough. But it
adds an element and it gives you that juice sometimes
when you're down in the fourth quarter and you need
that little pick me up to to see those fans
and the and the love they have for the organization
of the game of football. It just brings something out
in you and it's special. It's special to look up
(16:46):
in the in the stands and see your family, see
your wife and your kids, and and see him in
your jersey. It does something. It does something with the mentality,
and I know you know that. And so to be
playing in this in the best stadium in football, my
at you, it's just a terry on top. And so
it's gonna be an exciting ride. And we've got a
lot of a lot of awesome games on the slate
(17:06):
and uh, and we're certainly gonna get things rolling here
next Tuesday. Man, it's gonna be a ride. Hey man,
I can't wait to see what you guys do this year.
Please ball out because I got a lot of trash
to talk on social media, because look that's all I
can do now, Like I could just be a troll.
I could be a troll to other people of fans,
because you know I'm going and I talked to anybody
because I especially when I know it's the Raiders fans
or somebody who's gonna clap back at me on on
(17:28):
social media. But um, I wish you the best this year, man,
stay healthy and dude, honestly, just watching you and you
know some of the injuries you battle because I've been
through it and to see how strong mentally you are
to come back from all that. Man, I wish you
all the best this year. I appreciate that. Man, Let's
ball out this year and I'll come back on the
pod and we'll ruin this on the year. Absolutely. Man,
you gotta appreciate you. Bro. Thanks guys for listening to
(17:54):
another lights Out podcast Me Sean Merriment uh and that
was dope for me on many levels. The reason why
I brought up the injury part of it because it
is tough, man. It is tough when you have those
injuries back to back and like I did, I got
bit by the injury buff and so I know the
feeling of that, not only the physical part of it,
but the mental part of it. Um to try to
(18:15):
bounce back to that. Um. Also to get a chance
to talk about coach daley Um. I got an opportunity
to talk to him right when they brought him in
and we had a great conversation. Also met him in person,
and just the energy around the charges art is different
this year, being around the facility myself, Um, you know,
talking to the players, there's a different feeling around the building,
(18:36):
so we're expect him huge things out of my charges
this year. Can't wait to see them at so Far Stadium.
It's gonna be mega. Um. Thank you guys for listening
to another lights Out podcast for me, Shawn Merriman. Those
reviews that support, the retweets, the repost on social media,
love all of it. I tried to get to you
guys as much as possible. When I see it, we're
growing like hell and it's all because of you guys.
(18:58):
Thank you.
Are you ready for this? Sean Merriman A one hand effect.
Boom boom boom out go to light this his Lights
Out with Sean Merriman. What's up? Guys, were back again
with another Lights out podcast Me Sean Merriman, and we
are going with my charges today. UM, exciting here for him.
(00:23):
Obviously it's a lot of talk about Justin Herbert and
you know some of the stars Keenan Allen, um. But
we got one of my favorite guys I love to
watch man. It's it's uh, Drew Tranquil. And this is
what I love about Drew the most. And you know,
obviously he's a tremendous athlete whatever, but you know his
mentality and come back from the injuries and always stand positive.
(00:46):
You know his his faith. Um, a lot of these
things that I've just got a chance to watch. And
I didn't meet him until not too long ago during
this offseason. Um, but just a hell of a person
um to meet. Uh if he says healthy a s year,
expecting big things out of them. So we go on
my charges today, talk about the season Drew Tranquil, drill,
(01:07):
what's up, my dude? Are you doing? I'm great man?
How about you. I'm I'm great dude, um, you know,
just trying to keep all the ass and shade. When
I was talking to you this morning and I look
at you now and I'm like, these dudes young, they
can move, their hips, are still good knees and even
though you have some injuries, I'm like you still, you know,
in in great shape. You always kept up with it. Man.
(01:28):
How you how's your body filling? Overall? It's good man.
We uh we had a good leg day yesterday and
uh yeah, we're doing all the hips and stuff, all
the mobility. I feel like a lot of trainers have
really got on top of the functional side of things
in terms of body maintenance and uh and keeping the
important things like your hips, your low back, all those
(01:49):
things moving. So it's been good man. What were you
hitting in the gym when I hit you up yesterday? Man?
But you just pumping some boys and tries. Man, are
you getting the full body? Listen? All I do stuff
now for it looks that's it, huh body. I'm a
Ferrari on the outside, but in the nineteen seventy two
oldsmobiling inside. Man, So I just tried. You know, what's
different now? Is it. My mentality had to change when
(02:11):
you retired, Right, So when you're playing, like obviously you
gotta go against three hundred some pound lineman is coming
up and and and leading up on you guys, and UM,
so you need your body needs to be a little
bit different from that. But man, what you just said,
I wish that I learned a lot early in my
career where you don't have to you know, squat six
seven hundred pounds, You don't have to put four plates
(02:31):
on the bench in order to go out there and
have success on the field. I wish I learned that
a lot earlier. Yeah, I haven't. I haven't backsquadded UH
heavy and a really really long time really since college.
Every since I've gotten the pro it's it's been pitch shark,
it's been leg pressed, it's been explosive movements on the field, uh,
because you don't necessarily need all that load, you know,
(02:52):
transferring down your spine lifting heavy three four or five
times a week. Um. And So I think the science
and the data just continues to show that, you know,
the sports performance side of things just continues to involve
in terms of UH, in terms of health, the health
and well being of the athletes, and so it's exciting.
We can certainly use it on our team this year. Man,
(03:13):
we're gonna trying to be healthy. That's that's the key.
And I say that every for at least for the
last couple of yearsws you guys that if you stayed healthy,
you you're gonna compete with anybody in the National Football
League period. And sometimes what happens is and you know,
when the first string guys or the you know, the
first round of guys get hurt, you got second or
(03:33):
third whoever, there can be a drop off. You get
what I'm saying, Like, that's that was that was always
my thing. I said, Look, you're gonna have some injuries.
Guys gonna get banged up, gonna have a hamstring, hip, ankle, shoulder,
something like that during the season where they might miss
some time, even if for a game or two. You
have to have really readily available guys to go in
the step up where it's not a drop off. Yeah,
(03:55):
and you it's tough too, because we had It's one
thing to have a guy get hurt and you've got
ten guys around him that can kind of pick up
his slack. But when you have guys hurt at each level.
You talk about Joey Boast of Melvin Ingram missing time
last year, then me at the second level, and then
Derwin James in the back end. I guess I'm speaking
specifically for the defense. Uh, but it's tough when you
(04:16):
have guys at each level hurt and you're trying to
compete and be a great defense in the National Football League,
and so uh. You know, coach Staley has made made
an emphasis that his his number one jobs to give
us to the season healthy, UM, And so you know,
I'm looking forward to what this training camp might look like.
Has your mentality changed because me, I had some little
injury things in college like nicks and stuff where I
(04:39):
missed a little bit of time, but nothing serious. My
first big injury came in the NFL when I missed
uh time because of my knee. I told my PC
L and l c O. And so that was the
first time I actually had to sit out for a
real course of time. Like, how was that time for you?
Because for me, UM, I was stressed out. I was
I got into a small state of depression and it
(05:00):
was mainly because not even just injury, is this I
used to watch guys go out to the practice field
and like had to be sitting in the training room.
What I used on my knee or whatever was was
I was recuperating from we're covering from. Just to see
that alone, man, was tough for me. So what what
part of that was hard? Um? And one of your injuries.
One thing, it's it's really hard because you train three days,
(05:23):
three or forty five days a year for an opportunity
to compete in sixteen now seventeen games, and there's no
there's nothing, nothing given to you. And so you're just
you're training your tail off mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, you're
doing all these things to put yourself in the in
the greatest position. Uh. And so to do all of
(05:43):
that for a year and have high expectations for yourself
and and see that come to an end on the
fifth play of the season for me, Uh, it was
really really difficult. Uh. I guess I shouldn't say luckily
for me, But I went through to a c LS
in college, so this process was it was not new
to me in terms of missing time. But you talk
about the mental side of the things with the depression
and stuff, it's really hard when you're so close with
(06:06):
these guys to to watch them go out, to watch
them travel, travel to Kansas City, you know, travel to
foxbro wherever they're going, and not be able to join
them and not be able to take the fuel with them.
And you know, there's two elements of that. It's one
you just want to be out there to compete with
those guys, and then too, it's just your love for
the game. And when you miss those two elements, you
(06:26):
feel like you're letting your brothers down and you're just
missing that just desire and passion to compete. You know,
it can get hard. You're real hard. Fox Sports Radio
has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch
all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com
and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f s
R to listen live. I know you you talk a
(06:49):
lot about like your religion and stuff like that. Did
that happen at a younger age or kind of when
the injuries and stuff happened when you had to get stronger,
you know, with your with your religion met me and
other hand man, I'm leaders like my family a strong
Southern Baptist, but I I wasn't as religious. I didn't.
That part of me didn't click into like later on
in life when Andrew started happening, when you relying more
(07:11):
on that. Yeah. So I gave my life to Christ
when I was around ten years old. And I remember, Sean,
I was sitting on my bedroom floor when I was twelve,
and I took this poster off my wall, and I'll
never forget sitting on that floor twelve years old. I'm
just twelve, and I write, Lord, you know the plans
you have for me. If you give me the platform
to make it there, I'll give you all the honor
and glory back in full. And it's crazy to see
(07:32):
that prayer come to manifestation because I really shouldn't. You
look at the odds, shouldn't be where I'm at today,
to a c l S in college, didn't really go
to a big high school, didn't really wasn't a big recruit.
And then certainly the ankle dislocation last year. It just
it's it's amazing. Uh. You know, when your faith is
in something outside of where your job is, when you
(07:52):
find yourself worth and something that's uh that's not relying
on your performance. Uh what that can do to your
hope and what that can do you on a daily basis,
and just the hope and the resiliency you can give
you to just continue to bounce back. So for me,
it was certainly at a younger age for me. No,
that's that's dope, man. That was one of the one
of the things that I saw. And and also to man,
(08:14):
just you know, get a chance to watch you around
the other guys. Y'all, y'all, you guys got a type group.
I mean, y'all, y'all are you guys are pretty damn close.
And you know, I remember at the times that we
wanted stuff that we had a really close knit team
and talk about that Mexican you know, Darrel Went is back.
You know, you're back, all your whole squad, Joey's healthy.
(08:34):
I mean, people are coming back, man. And what what
do you guys expect this upcoming getting out that everyone's
gonna be on the field. Well, we're excited. I think
we have a lot of of expectation and hope for
what we can do. Um. What I love about our
team is there's no really, there's no hierarchy system. It's
not justin Herbert's the face of the franchise and doesn't
talk to anybody or Derwin James and Joey Bows a
(08:55):
big contract guys. You know, they they're cooler than everybody else.
It's not really like that. It's a real familiesque environment
where it doesn't matter where you're at, free agent, first
round draft pick, big time quarterback. Everybody is just kind
of out there to play ball, and they love to
play ball and love to get after it, love to compete,
and so, uh, you know, Coach Dailey keep saying we're
gonna do things our way, and I think that's gonna
(09:16):
be that's gonna be the matra, Right, We're gonna be healthy,
and we're gonna do things our way, and that's compete
and build relationships. And so I think if we continue
to foster that environment, we're gonna be a good place.
You know. What's you know, it's crazy about Cole Staley.
So he caught me on the night that they brought
him in and we talked on the phone for about
twenty minutes. He was in a car and uh, he said, look,
(09:37):
I wanted you to be one of the first guys
I've reached out to because of obviously you know me
being an organization and still being around you guys and
being a ball with the team. But what I heard
in his voice, man, was like excitement and motivation. You
get what I'm saying. And it wasn't like, um, you know,
some of these coaches gave you the whole hype speech
to raw role, We're gonna go out there and kick
everybody ass. And it wasn't one of ooth. It was like,
(09:59):
you know, we're coming to here to change things around.
I realized what I have. You know, I gotta adjust
to her. But he would start naming the guys and
so it was it the you know, we're gonna come
and start kicking down doors. I'm changing everything and run
into my way. It was a more of a technical
slash like work smarter, not harder type of deal. Have
you have you seen that from him being around him
(10:21):
so far? I do? I think uh, I think just
his the young energy, right, it just brings about this
excitement that you know, changes on the horizon and we're
gonna be in a good position. But I think, uh,
you kind of hit on the nail on the head
when you said, like some coaches coming there and it's
just fake it's hur rah, and it's not really backed
(10:41):
up by anything. I think with him, when you actually
get in the film room and you start talking the
xs and ols, you go, this guy is for real,
Like he knows what he's talking about. He knows how
to attack, you know, offenses. He knows how to attack
defenses even from the offensive perspective. And so I'm really
excited in terms of what he's gonna be able to do,
putting game plans into place and and really putting us
(11:02):
in good positions to be successful. It just seems like
a brilliant football mind. No for sure. I mean just
they were smart, and I was in how can I
say that? I was hoping they were bringing in a
defensive coordinator, right because you know, you got you got
hurt Me there, and you got you know, Keenan, and
you got some stells in the offense side of the ball.
You guys doing on defense too. But I was always
(11:25):
looking for them too, you know what, what with to
lesk on those guys over there there, bringing the defensive
coordinator that was going to take the guys they have
on his defense, because it's a it's a ton of y'all.
Y'all got a squad if you want to look at,
you know, per position basis to have a coach there
that was gonna let you do what you're great at doing.
Because all the great coaches that I got a chance
(11:45):
to play for, they said, Okay, this guy's great at
doing that, this guy's greater doing that, he's not so
great at doing that, and they put guys in position
to win. Have you seen kind of him coming in
and letting guys especially like you know, uh Murray and
the guys around who I don't want to use this
and a wrong way, but kind of been leashed a
little bit and and not let go, you know, let
(12:06):
them go and make plays. Have you seen that so far?
I mean, I think with him, he he tries to
find the each guy's strength and he doesn't want a system,
uh the system to override or preceed his players. He
wants the players to make the system. And so I
think when he looks at his roster, he's looking at
(12:26):
what can these guys do, what are they best at,
and let's put them in those positions to make those plays.
I'm interested. I wanted to ask you. I guess I
think that maybe when you when you were playing or
maybe even a while back. The mantra has always been
defense wins championships. Defense wins championships. And you said, you
want to see a defensive guy come in with the
(12:47):
way that the league is going and these teams scoring
thirty points a game, do you still you still feel
that way as a defensive player. I mean, as the
defensive player, my ego is kind of like defense wins championships.
What's your what are your thoughts on that? Yeah? But
you know, more so now when when I even I
look at you guys, you got a bunch of studds
and stuff. On defense, It's more about the players, right,
(13:08):
It's less about the coach that the great teams, the
players take over. The players make things happen. And so
when you start looking at the presence, you know, the
Derwin James and you're coming back healthy and obviously you
know mel Melbourne Le's that was that was a little
bit of a hit to see how it sound with
the Steelers. But you know, I'm sure they're gonna take
care him over there. Um. But yeah, just on the
defense side of the ball, man, it's it's you guys
(13:30):
really making a big place. And I do think even
though this is a offensive league like oriented style game. Now,
I do believe that the defense are the ones that
are finally gonna gonna close out the big games. Right.
So the offense, because of the rules set up and
how things change, they're going to get their twenty one
plus points. They're going to It's it's hard not to
(13:51):
score twenty one points in today's game. You're not gonna
see like old school back when I play, we will
win games with thirteen to ten, seventeen to ten. You
know you're seeing you know the eight. Uh, those are
the games we're starting to see a lot now. But ultimately,
man like, I think the defense because of mentality that
you guys have. Mind you, those offensive linemen they're they're
(14:12):
not like, um, they're not very vocal. Then a lot
of the guys aren't super mean guys. It's really the
defensive players. You look at the caliber the defensive players.
It shows how the team's attitude is. That's the one
that kind of rub off on everybody, even on the
offense side of the ball. The defensive guys make the
organization go and they feed off each other's mentality. It
(14:35):
gives the coaches um and that you know, kind of
a chip on their shoulder. I'm always gonna say defense
wins championships because I really do believe the DNA of
a great team comes from great defenses. You look at
in the Super Bowl last year, right with the Bucks
in the Chiefs like the Bucks defense won them that game.
How to present in their ability to put pressure on
(14:57):
my Homes forced turnovers and just get after it. I
mean the Homes was running for his life and they were.
They really seemed like, you know, you got the the
greatest player ever in Brady orchestrating the offense. But when
you look at this nacity and the culture of that team,
it seems like it was said specifically those two guys
in the middle, David and uh Devin White, you know
(15:17):
now percent and and that's that's the DNA of this
team when they're even when they're running the ball in
offense and they're establishing a run game. You look at
any one of these great teams that's one in the
last five of teen years, and look at some of
their defensive stars, Guys who break down the huddle, um,
guys who are vocal, who was getting on the other
guys to step up and played better. It all comes
(15:39):
from the defense side of the ball. And I don't
care what the offense driven league that that that today's
game is and it really comes down to the defense
side of the ball. Always agree. So fans the last question, man,
fans are back this year, right, you guys are plannings
and so far stadium. What what can you expect? Man?
Because I had the the the terrible luxury and now
(16:01):
I want to say that I love Kua kom um,
but you guys are playing in the state of the art,
the best stadium in football. Now, fans that back the issue?
What can the guys? What can everybody expect? Well, I mean,
did you watch the NBA Finals Deer District, Man, The
thing was popping off. It was energy, the energy that
that fans can bring in. And we talk about as
players like you shouldn't need the fans to get up.
(16:25):
You know, you should be internally motivated enough. Uh, you know,
the love for your brothers should be enough. But it
adds an element and it gives you that juice sometimes
when you're down in the fourth quarter and you need
that little pick me up to to see those fans
and the and the love they have for the organization
of the game of football. It just brings something out
in you and it's special. It's special to look up
(16:46):
in the in the stands and see your family, see
your wife and your kids, and and see him in
your jersey. It does something. It does something with the mentality,
and I know you know that. And so to be
playing in this in the best stadium in football, my
at you, it's just a terry on top. And so
it's gonna be an exciting ride. And we've got a
lot of a lot of awesome games on the slate
(17:06):
and uh, and we're certainly gonna get things rolling here
next Tuesday. Man, it's gonna be a ride. Hey man,
I can't wait to see what you guys do this year.
Please ball out because I got a lot of trash
to talk on social media, because look that's all I
can do now, Like I could just be a troll.
I could be a troll to other people of fans,
because you know I'm going and I talked to anybody
because I especially when I know it's the Raiders fans
or somebody who's gonna clap back at me on on
(17:28):
social media. But um, I wish you the best this year, man,
stay healthy and dude, honestly, just watching you and you
know some of the injuries you battle because I've been
through it and to see how strong mentally you are
to come back from all that. Man, I wish you
all the best this year. I appreciate that. Man, Let's
ball out this year and I'll come back on the
pod and we'll ruin this on the year. Absolutely. Man,
you gotta appreciate you. Bro. Thanks guys for listening to
(17:54):
another lights Out podcast Me Sean Merriment uh and that
was dope for me on many levels. The reason why
I brought up the injury part of it because it
is tough, man. It is tough when you have those
injuries back to back and like I did, I got
bit by the injury buff and so I know the
feeling of that, not only the physical part of it,
but the mental part of it. Um to try to
(18:15):
bounce back to that. Um. Also to get a chance
to talk about coach daley Um. I got an opportunity
to talk to him right when they brought him in
and we had a great conversation. Also met him in person,
and just the energy around the charges art is different
this year, being around the facility myself, Um, you know,
talking to the players, there's a different feeling around the building,
(18:36):
so we're expect him huge things out of my charges
this year. Can't wait to see them at so Far Stadium.
It's gonna be mega. Um. Thank you guys for listening
to another lights Out podcast for me, Shawn Merriman. Those
reviews that support, the retweets, the repost on social media,
love all of it. I tried to get to you
guys as much as possible. When I see it, we're
growing like hell and it's all because of you guys.
(18:58):
Thank you.
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