October 29, 2019 • 39 mins
In this episode of Perspectives, Brian Sexton sits down with former Jaguars wide receiver and current wide receiver coach, Keenan McCardell.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The following presentation of the Jaguars Podcast Network is presented
by by Star Credit Kicker. They don't make football players
any tougher than Keenan McCardel. The twelfth round draft pick,
wouldn't take no for an answer, despite being cut multiple
times before he finally caught on in Cleveland. He wasn't flashy,
(00:27):
unless you're talking about his sense of fashion. But when
the game was in doubt, there was no one who
wanted the ball more and no one you could count
on more to make the catch than number eighty seven.
There he goes thirty, there's keening in the twenty. He's
at the ten five touch down Jackson Bill mcardel for
sixty seven and six on the scoreboard. This is perspectives,
(00:49):
the story of the first twenty five years of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, told by the people who built the franchise
from the ground up. This is Keenan McCardell. McCardell has
always played the game his way, on his terms. After
years of struggle between the Bears and Redskins, he landed
in Cleveland and he posted a season worthy handsome free
(01:14):
agent contract with the Browns, becoming the Ravens. He knew
he was going to have to look elsewhere. It's kind
of funny. I kind of told a friend of mine
that I'm not going to Jacksonville. Um, not a place
for me. They want to be led by by a
drill sergeant. And the changed when I took a trip
(01:35):
here and and enjoyed it. Michael Hugh coach Coughlin, and
I kind of said, it's not gonna be a bad place. Uh,
It's a place to to put myself on the map,
you know. And then I got here. Uh, Tom asked
me immediately, you know, I need you to be a leader. Um.
(01:58):
I was like you, I'm I'm up for the task.
And I'm coming from a Cleveland team that was dismantled
because of the move. Had some really good players, um,
Andre Risen, Uh, Michael Jackson. Uh, guys that I've learned from,
you know, and my past had helped me kinda kind
(02:22):
of know the kind of resilience this team needed, you know,
because of my past, coming up as a twelfth round pick,
always having to fight for what you wanted, you know,
I've been cut a couple of times and uh, and
in Cleveland, finally made my way and I needed to
show some resilience in my career and coming here, I
(02:46):
felt like this team needed to have a person that
that could show resilience and we as a group needed
to to have that because it was gonna be tough
for us. We knew it was gonna be really tough
for uce. Nobody els afected us to win second year
UH franchise they can't get it together. Uh. But we
(03:07):
found a way to get it together because we believed
in each other in that locker room. UM. I don't
know if it was the cause of us being against Tom,
but whatever it was, we found a way to to
come together, be resilient to practices that we were that
we didn't like, find a way to make it fun,
(03:30):
find a way to enjoy each other. And like you know,
I always did have arrogancy about myself because I always
felt like I was the best in the league. And
that's the way I thought, and I wanted guys to
think that way. And I always say, if you look,
if you look at some of the videos back then,
I always say, why not us? You know, because the
(03:53):
coach I always told me, why not you? It doesn't
have to be the first round pick. It has to
be the fifth round pick. Why at you the twelfth
round pick? And uh, and I always used to say,
why not us? And the guys kinda said the same
thing with me, Why not us? I mean, in that year, Uh,
we kind of came together. It was tough early. It
(04:15):
was tough earlier we had come to Jesus meeting uh
in that locker room down in the coach's offices, with
with time with the leadership committee, and but it all
kind of brought this brought that team together. The Jaguars
paid McCardell, but they weren't quite sure he was going
to ignite their passing game all by himself. So they
(04:37):
went back to Cleveland and swung for the moon All
Pro wide receiver Andre Rising. I'm out and O t
A s doing some good stuff and here comes Andre.
You know, but I wasn't mad because Andre came, because
I've played with Andre and I knew what kind of
competitor he was. Um, everybody don't know what kind of
(04:59):
teacher he is. I mean, he he's a He's a
great motivator. Two guys, if you listen and know how
to listen to the things that you need to listen
to from him, and uh, because I was in Cleveland
when he was there, and I'll say this, he was
one of the guys that really got my confidence to
being where it needed to be weekend and week out,
(05:22):
day in and day out in the league. I mean,
how do you bounce back from from things? So with
him coming in the room, I wasn't mad at all
because I knew what kind of player he was. I
knew he was on you know he was He still
could play, he still could help us, But I didn't
know how he was gonna how Willie, Jimmy, Reggie was
(05:43):
gonna receive him, you know. So, you know, him coming
in the room, it kind of rubbed Jimmy a little
a little bit, I could tell, but he never let it.
Really really show one good thing about our room. We
laughed a lot. We our room liked each other. Our
room really liked each other. We always wanted each other
(06:07):
to be successful. It was just a competitive vibe in
our room. But we never made it spiteful to one another.
I mean, we could go hang out, We're gonna have fun,
we go get on the boat, we go jet skiing together.
Our room was it was fun. And then the thing
about it. I I never forget the day. We were
(06:29):
out in practice one day and bad Moon was out
of practice, and uh, we were having one on ones
and he came out and he was doing some stuff
and one on one and he didn't get open. So
Kevin Gilbride got on him and he turned to Kevin
(06:51):
and said, I got three hundred and fifty six moves
to get off the line. And Kevin told her, well,
can you use one of them to get off the
line of the day, and you should have started. We
were all standing back there and we just fell out laughing.
And that point right there, we knew that he would
(07:13):
say whatever we needed him to say for us. We
didn't have to be the guy that came in and
said something. That was one thing about Dre. He wasn't
afraid to say what was on our minds in that room,
and he helped us. And so from that point on,
I think Jimmy kind of loosened up about Dre and
started to realize that no, this guy could help me.
(07:37):
And then, you know, as the season went on, we
just started to help each other here and there. And
then I never forget the game in Pittsburgh we um
when when the situation happened with Andre. Uh. It was
we called it X read and we have a three
ray read on the play for the X and Dre
(07:59):
was land X and he saw it one way, Mark
saw it another way, Mark through the past. It was picked,
you know, and it was a pick six. And I
think that was the downfall of what happened to Andre Rosen.
He he just made a bad read. I mean, it
could have happened to anybody, but just to say it
(08:20):
happened to a veteran and a guy of his experience
that has played in this league before, and he he
should have saw it and it was a it was
a clear picture that he should have saw. And you know,
it happened. And you know, the next week, the monday
he got cut, Jimmy. Jimmy came in the room and
we were like, hey, man, it's us, let's go. I mean,
(08:44):
and from that point on, it's been thunder and lightning
and and we I mean, we've we've seen a good
the bad. Uh, A lot of good times. Not a
lot of bad times, but a lot of good times.
Um Uh. Personally team wise, A bad thing that we
didn't do is let's bring a championship here. I thought
the dragonars were done when I walked into that locker
(09:06):
room on the Monday after Pittsburgh. The players who respected
and admired Rising, We're sitting on the floor at his feet.
It seemed ominous. It seemed over. But it wasn't the end.
It was the beginning. When that situation happened, you know,
it was like, all right, somebody gotta put the big
boy pants on the lead this team, and myself, Tony,
(09:32):
you know, on offensive side of the ball mark in
a way that Mark leads. Um just kinda picked up
picked up the pieces. Um, we go, like you said,
go to St. Louis, big, big game me personally. But
in the end, we lose, and we lose on a
(09:54):
play that you know, we we just we felt like
we we were the better team and we lost. You know,
like you say, five picks. You very setting when the
NFL game with five picks. But it never broke us
because I think we saw the potential and who we
were offensively, and you know, and then you know, we
(10:17):
we keep going. We get in there, we get in
the locker room, we talked about it. It brought us closer.
The likes of Robert Massey, the Clyde Simmons was keeping
us together, you know. And I was a I was
a young leader. Those guys were veteran leaders that have
(10:37):
been in locker rooms. And I remember Robert Massey telling
me his in his own way, young we got it.
We just gotta get it, put it together. The talent
is here, he said, I've seen I have. I haven't
seen so much talent in one locker room. We just
got to bring it together. Clyde would always tell me,
(11:00):
you know, get them together over there. Y'all got it.
We see it, you know. And those are guys that
have seen greatness and and played against great teams, have
been on some very good teams and some great teams,
and it just kept coming back in our mind, resonating
in our mind, like, hey, we gotta keep pushing, we
(11:22):
gotta keep getting better despite what's going on with us.
If we just continue to get better, the light is
at the end of the tunnel for us. And hey man,
we for some reason it clicked for us and we
saw the light and we was running to it, running
to it as fast as possible, because as as you say,
(11:43):
why not us, we start to see it and start
to feel it in our in our win street. We
started to feel it and started, as they say, started
to feel yourself. The next four games moved the Jaguars
from four and seven to eight and seven, and at
the very custom of any probable playoff appearance, winning the
season finale against the three and twelve Falcons was old.
(12:06):
It's stood in their way, and they stood there on
the Jaguars playoff hopes until the game's final drive. They
go down, just started moving the ball, catching the ball here. Yeah,
I think Eric mccalfe caught the ball over the middle.
Um My mind's going back terms matthis all those guys.
(12:26):
I think Eric caught the ball. Iron Head was pounding
the ball at us, and I was like, Eric, don't
do this to us, you know. And then you know,
they were moving the ball. So we get get a
fourth get fourth down. Martin comes out and he's one
of those guys that you know, being a veteran, it's
just automatic, you know. And we're all on the sideline
(12:51):
on the offensive side, just on our knees, looking at
looking at him head down, praying that he missed. The
snap comes. I remember looking at the snap. I'm looking
at the ball and when he kicked it, I was like, oh,
that doesn't look good. And I looked up and I
was like, there's no way he's gonna make this. And
(13:15):
when it was going, I mean, I was already up
jumping and it's a picture at where I'm jumping and
Tony Bracken's is pushing me so far up in there.
He's just throwing me up. And it was just a
big side relief because we knew we didn't play our
best game. We're coming off a hot streak and played
(13:39):
a terrible game. I think if you, if you went
back to odds makers probably had us winning that game
running away and we played bad. So with that happened
and we got in. We came back and that week
going to Buffalo was like, man, we're in the dance.
We can write our home story right now. And it's like,
why not, brother, let's I mean, we're going up to Buffalo.
(14:04):
They've never lost the playoff game, enriched stadium and rich stuff.
I was like, so what why not us? I mean,
we got the best matchup on Bruce Smith with Tony Boselli,
we got Nate playing out of his mind right now,
We're gonna do our stuff outside, So we were looking
at each other like, hey, we gotta we got a
(14:24):
good chance. We like our matchups, so we went in
and we just started playing like, look, it was cold,
crowd didn't bother us. We wasn't even worried about the crowd.
We were just so zoned in that that team. We
were so zoned in on our matchups, winning our matchups.
If we won our one on one matchups, we're gonna
(14:46):
win this game. And it was just so gratifying to
see Tony compete the way he competed against Bruce Smith,
shut him down like he did, and it helped us
it because going in it was like Bruce Smith is
going to destroy this, this this and to have Tony
go over and like silence him made it so much easier.
(15:08):
And then we started running the ball search she started
pounding him. On the other side, Nate started running the ball,
and we had to make our plays outside when we
got a chance to. We knew the weather was gonna
be a big issue for throwing the ball, but we
could lean on Nate, and that'side, That's how that team was.
We could lean on everybody and and everybody just decided
(15:31):
to step up and that game they played out of
his mind. He played out of his mind. You know.
Jimmy made a great catch, I made a big play.
Mark made some big throws. I mean, everybody just kind
of played the way they played. Our defense str k
gun we were. It was it was just it was
(15:52):
all coming together. So we got there, got to win.
Now everybody was like, whoa, that was just luck. They
just went in and and just got lucky in one one.
Now we're going to Denver. That week it was fun.
We were, we had I mean, we was playing with
house money. We were like, you know, they don't expect
(16:15):
us to win, why not us go in and show them.
I mean, so we're playing with house money. Uh. Then
about halfway through the week, we start to feel like,
hey man, we belong here. They know house money anymore.
It's us. It's a good team. We're good. Let's go.
(16:36):
Young guys start to feel see themselves as been a
good team. So we're going to Denver. We get there,
we get an article Jaguars, Oh Tom makes that very
known to us. Uh, this is what they think about you. Well,
it could have broke us or could have made us. Huh.
(17:00):
We had some veteran guys like Clyde Robert and Eddie
Robb all those guys. We were just kind of like Jeff,
which was a big key to us. Also on the defense.
Uh like it was like, hey man, you guys just
go out there and you know and like its way
you go out there and you know what and play
(17:20):
like you know what, and we're gonna handle this. And
we came in that locker room and say, this is
what they think about us. Let's go show him who
we really are. And uh, we got in that game
and we were like there was no stopping us. We
(17:41):
they came out and played the way they played, made
they threw a haymaker and then a big fight. We
threw a hay maker back, and then once they thought
they had us, they threw a couple of hay makers
and all of a sudden we came back. Play down
the sideline that I made, I mean on the touchdown
(18:03):
kind of jump started us. But I have to make
that play. I'm going to make that play. I mean,
everybody's like, wow, that's the player at jump start. That
was my number call. I was gonna make this play
so to get this team started, because that's who I
felt I was I was that leader that needed to
make a play to really get us going in the
(18:26):
right direction. And then after that, everybody just started playing
the third down that Jimmy carp I mean, it's sealed
the deal. I mean, I think, uh, those guys in
Denverver really felt how felt bad to lose it to
(18:48):
a team like us to upstart Jaguars, But they also
knew we were we were a pretty good team. You know,
I've never seen an FC championship game where the lights
go out, you know, how does the lights go out
in the n FC championship game? Man? But it went
out in the Super Bowl, so I can't I can't
say that, But at that time, it had lights that
(19:09):
never went out. If we'd have played anywhere close to
the level that we played the last two games, we'd
have beat that team. And I think, you know, not
saying it, that's the excuse. But they knew to slow
us down, you know, and uh, you know, but you
gotta get them credit. I mean, they played well at home,
(19:32):
and we felt like we let one slip away, to
be honest with you, and that taste was in our
off the whole off season, you know, and the driving
thing after losing that game. The only thing that we
could talk about all the way back in was getting
(19:53):
a playoff, getting the championship game here in Jacksonville. That
was the only thing that we were talking about on
a flight back. More perspectives following this from Vistar Credit
Union Advice Star. We believe in better, better convenience, so
members can bank anyway they want, whether it's at a branch,
(20:17):
on a mobile device, or at one of more than
twenty thou fee free a t M s across North America.
We believe that people have better things to do with
their time. If you believe that convenience is better, join
vi Star. We never forget that it's your money. All
loan subject to approval, insured by n c u A.
(20:39):
They were no longer an expansion team. They were a
contender and they were confident because they had their quarterback
and he at Thunder and Lightning one we had to
have a quarterback, and Mark was the quarterback for us.
My manner, uh it listened to us, would trust us
(21:04):
on what we said, and he knew if he threw
it in and kind of anywhere close to us, we
will take care of it. We're gonna be wide open. Uh,
like we always say, we're like sevent we're always open.
Bro Um hit market tell y'all would tell him, I'm
always open more just look my way. But for us
(21:27):
to make the tandem that we were, we were so competitive,
but it was it goes back to our I would
starting in the National Football League. Um, both guys. I
came in twelfth round. He came in the second round,
(21:47):
had some situation, had entry situation in Dallas. They basically
forgot about him, like all right, well, let's move on.
So we're backs against the wall. Nobody's giving us a chance.
And heck too to be a successful NFL player. Let
(22:08):
along be a successful uh dynamic duo or dynamic receivers
in this league. Um, we talked about it a lot.
The next thing we we we said to ourselves and
we used to say it to ourselves all the time.
They were trying, they tried to kick us out. But
(22:29):
now we're gonna write through. We're gonna we're gonna go
out the way we want to go out. They'll never
be able to kick us out. They're never we'll we'll
never get cut. We're gonna walk away from this our
own way, And we used to say that to us
all the time. If we're coming down the ramp, we
always say our way, bro, and we're gonna make it.
(22:50):
We're gonna go out our way. So that kind of
drove us. We were competitive as heck. Um, we always
wanted the ball. We always want the ball, and a
lot of times it was just out of share determination,
fear of not being open and them saying that or
(23:13):
they can't get open anymore. That's why they that's why
they we should go out and get a number one,
because they can't do it when they're not talented enough.
So each and every day in practice, we wanted to
destroy our own teammates. I hate to say it that way,
but that's how we felt. Um. Any one on one
(23:34):
situations uh, and and joint practices. We wanted to show
people we were heading shoulders above everybody else, even their receivers. Uh.
We wanted them to look at us. Um. I think. Um,
that's the way we lived our lives here playing in Jacksonville.
(23:57):
And then it helped that this was an upstart franchise.
It played into what we had going. Nobody gave us
any respect, so let's show him and every day we
went out and it fueled us. When I left, it
feeled me when I left, it feel Jimmy even when
I left. Um just to show people exactly what they're
(24:21):
missing and what a lot of people missed out on
and two guys that they underestimated. The two men put
up Hall of Fame type numbers together and helped to
find the first era of jack words football. They also
built a lifelong friendship, but not only endured through Jimmy
Smith's personal struggles, but grew stronger as McCardell stayed close
(24:43):
to his friend. I mean, it was tough for me to,
uh to hear the things that I was hearing. Um Man,
that's my friend. I'm a defender, I mean, And one
thing I respected about Jimmy was that smooth never put
anything in my face. I mean, I was big brother,
(25:06):
little brother, what however you want to say it, It
was never in my face. The things that he was
doing was always and closed behind closed doors. And uh,
everybody said, you had to have known. I never knew
because it has so much he respected me, and I
wouldn't have us assumed that he was doing it at all.
(25:27):
I mean, you know, and the and the thing about
it is that he never around me ever was that way.
And you know, I I hate that I had to
leave because I felt like we we would have still
(25:48):
brought glory and probably brought a super Bowl here if
I would have never left. Um, but you know, that's
the way this business goes. I mean, and you know,
and I felt like he could with me being there
in that room. He knew that he had to be
(26:13):
a better, better citizen, respect the room. And that's the
thing that I felt like some of the guys in
the room, he didn't respect the room, and some of
the guys fell in the trap of following Jimmy. The
young guys was following Jimmy. I was never a follower.
(26:34):
I wasn't going to be a follower. I was gonna lead,
and I was gonna show him how how it should
be done, because when I got here, that's what I
was told to do. That's what I was asked to dude,
that's what that's who I am. Period. If you lead,
if you follow me, if you're a leader, you're gonna
have guys. You're gonna show people the right way to
do things. And I think every day that I went
(26:56):
out when I was here. He respected that, and I
respected him going out every day and working the way
he did. And I think when I left, he didn't
have anybody to really push him to that point. And
you know, and like today, you know, I called him.
(27:18):
I just called him yesterday, you know, left him a
message here. He usually calls me back. You know, I'll
get a call today. We'll talk um. Relationship is good.
You know, a lot of times we'll just let him
be himself. And I was just you know, you're good.
I mean he's like, yeah, I'm fine, man, I'm just
chasing the kids. And then that's what happens now. You know,
(27:41):
he realizes some things, you know, the embarrassment to his family, Uh,
embarrassment to him. But that's part of life. I mean,
you you you you pick up the pieces, you put
it back together, and you'd be a better person. You
just just try to do it one day at a time.
And I think that's what he's doing. Those Jaguars were
(28:02):
among the best teams in the a f C in
ninety seven and ninety eight, and they were the best
team in ninety nine except for the Titans. It was
such a dislike that we felt like we had to
go out and win instead of just playing like it
was another team. It's kind of like you go the
(28:23):
extra mile to try to beat them, but you overdo
it instead of just being yourself, you know. I mean,
I can remember the second game of the year that
we were fourtune into an. I can remember Tom being
(28:43):
furious because that week we had just one I think,
and we're getting ready to play Tennessee, and his whole
demeanor just changed that week. I'm like, we're thirteen and
one right now, Let's go in here and play Jaguar
football and not make a big deal about this, and
(29:04):
let's play and see what happens. But everybody just seemed
they got to get so uptight because it was Tennessee.
Jeff Fisher, those guys that they beat us Hill, they
beat us nine to six. I think in the rainy
game here, it was a close game and we go
up Tennisee and get our head beat in and I'm
(29:28):
like and then everybody's like, well it was you guys
had already clinched. It was just what formality this that
and the other. I was like, no, it was too
much of a dislike instead of personal about that one team.
Instead of just playing this team as it's it's just
(29:50):
another team. And I would say we played some better
teams that year, you know, all before that, but it
was just it's the Tennessee type. And I know it's
a division game and divisional game, and you just gotta
kind of sometimes you kind of have to go back
(30:12):
to being yourself and playing your brand of football instead
of trying to beat them and play who you are,
Be who you are and let it happen and it
will happen. And I really feel that way every time
we play Tennessee, every time play them. After that, all
it's just, uh, it's the Titans. We gotta do this
(30:35):
and we get out of our game instead of playing
jaguar football, and you know, and then coming in they
beat us, uh three times, which is a big feat
to do in the National Football League with all the
film study and all that, and I think it got
(30:57):
to be a mindset of who they were, and that
was our big Achilles Hill from from from keeping us
from from being in the Super Bowl. The talent on
that team, No, I've been fourteen in two once in
(31:19):
my career, no once in my career, have been twe
before twice and that fourteen and two team was better
than those two even four teams, but those two one
of those two have but four teams got to the
super Bowl. I think it's it's tryveristy because you look
(31:45):
at the talent that was on that team, Corne l
a Um, the Brackens, the Hearties, I mean the guys
that Fred myself, I mean art to I mean you
look at those look at the talent. You go down
the line and it was it was set, and to
(32:09):
not come through it, it was very disappointing for us
that it It hurt us a lot. It's kind of
like the franchise put all the eggs in the basket
that year and we came up short, and then it's
kind of like, let's go a different direction. It was like,
it's kind of hard to say go to a different
(32:29):
direction when there's only one team in the league that
beat you. And I mean, I felt like that window
of opportunity was still open for us and we should
have kept it together one more time and let's see
what happens. Because when you look at it, everybody was
coming back. Everybody could have came back, you know, and
(32:51):
I think that team would have been the team that
that would have brought us a Super Bowl here more
respectives following this from Vistar Credit Union Advice Star, we
believe in better, especially in helping build a better financial
future for our members, so we reviewed our offerings from
(33:12):
the ground up. We've lowered or eliminated over half our
fees and enhanced our already competitive rates, saving members more
than a million dollars this year, in addition to the
millions we saved them every year. If you believe that
saving money is better joined by Star, we never forget
that it's your money, all loan subject to approval insured
(33:33):
by n c U. A. McCardell left in two thousand
two and wouldn't return to Jacksonville until once again to
lead the receivers. This time though from the front of
the room coming back, I was so excited, um trying
to get our franchise to being back in the limelight. Um.
(34:01):
You know, winning a Super Bowl here is big for me.
I mean even as a coach, because I feel like
it's well deserved. It's been a lot of years of
hard work for Mr Weaver um to Miss Weaver. I mean,
they have they have put this franchise in the right direction.
(34:26):
You know now that Mr Connor, he has it that
now he has his going in the right direction. It's
time for the Jaguars. Time for the city of Jacksonville,
not just the jack was the city of Jacksonville to
be seen as a champion, I mean a city of champions.
And uh, I would love be a part of this,
(34:47):
this this process of bringing it here because I mean,
these fans in Jacksonville they deserve it, because they are
one of the best fan bases that people don't know
about out They know football, they know it from the
ends and outs of football, and people don't realize it
(35:09):
because it's such great college football here and they understand football.
They love football. They eat and breathe football here in Jacksonville.
And why not. It's Duvall and I should said the
right way. Du All this time, though he didn't hesitate
(35:31):
to work for the guy he once thought he couldn't
play for, I care so much for him because he's
a person that believed in me and gave me a
true opportunity to be who I am now, who and
who I always wanted to be in this in this league. Um.
He believed in me. Um, That's all I wanted somebody
to do is believe in me, because I'm gonna give
(35:52):
you my best each and every day. Um. I played
with an arrogancy because he has an errancy himself or
being the best. Uh. It played right into what I wanted,
what I needed as a coach. Um. You know, just
him being who he is. He's straightforward, straight shooter. You know.
(36:16):
I remember our conversations through the times of some situations
that were happening here, you know, and I could come
out and be myself and tell him the truth. He
respected it. He might not have liked it, he still
told me he didn't like it, but he respected it.
And uh and in his own kind of way, he'll
(36:37):
come back and say I hear you. He might not
tell you right away, but in a way you and
I kind of it's kind of like father's son. You
You you kind of understand what he's talking about, and
he kind of understands what you're talking about, and you
get that that sense of all right, I got you,
(36:59):
you know. And um, I mean he through all the
times that he was tim the terrible we were rallying
around ourselves, he he never waivered and I didn't expect
him to waiver. But I could always go talk to
him and and just say, hey, this is the field
(37:21):
of the locker room. Um. You might not like it,
but I'm telling you, Um, but we will handle it
down there. You've got enough guys in the locker room
that can handle it. Uh, you don't have to worry
about it. We'll we'll get it together. You know. Tony
was one of those guys too. It's like, we'll go
down there and we'll get it together. And and he
(37:45):
just let us be who we are, and we let
him be who he was. The man noticed Thunder cares
deeply about his legacy. He knows Jimmy what was the
big play guy. And he's entirely comfortable with what he did,
with what he meant, with what he means to the Jaguars.
I'm that clutch guy. When you need it, call on
(38:06):
me through whatever situation he was coming up with the football.
You need a big play, called the playmaker, call me,
called my number. It's gonna happen for us. Um. It's
kind of funny you say that men Eric were great
friends and being teammates in Cleveland and stuff like that.
(38:32):
Every time I played that that franchise was always a
little chip on my shoulder. So for you to say
that that defined me, probably did because showed the arrogancy
that I had and showed the determination to prove Baltimore wrong.
It's just part of who I was. I mean, always
(38:55):
trying to prove something, and that that that situation we
needed it, We had to have it, so I had
to make a catch, and me being that guy, being
the guy that was supposed to make a catch. That's
your job, because you are the leader. Let me leave.
The following presentation of the Jaguars Podcast Network is presented
by by Star Credit Kicker. They don't make football players
any tougher than Keenan McCardel. The twelfth round draft pick,
wouldn't take no for an answer, despite being cut multiple
times before he finally caught on in Cleveland. He wasn't flashy,
(00:27):
unless you're talking about his sense of fashion. But when
the game was in doubt, there was no one who
wanted the ball more and no one you could count
on more to make the catch than number eighty seven.
There he goes thirty, there's keening in the twenty. He's
at the ten five touch down Jackson Bill mcardel for
sixty seven and six on the scoreboard. This is perspectives,
(00:49):
the story of the first twenty five years of the
Jacksonville Jaguars, told by the people who built the franchise
from the ground up. This is Keenan McCardell. McCardell has
always played the game his way, on his terms. After
years of struggle between the Bears and Redskins, he landed
in Cleveland and he posted a season worthy handsome free
(01:14):
agent contract with the Browns, becoming the Ravens. He knew
he was going to have to look elsewhere. It's kind
of funny. I kind of told a friend of mine
that I'm not going to Jacksonville. Um, not a place
for me. They want to be led by by a
drill sergeant. And the changed when I took a trip
(01:35):
here and and enjoyed it. Michael Hugh coach Coughlin, and
I kind of said, it's not gonna be a bad place. Uh,
It's a place to to put myself on the map,
you know. And then I got here. Uh, Tom asked
me immediately, you know, I need you to be a leader. Um.
(01:58):
I was like you, I'm I'm up for the task.
And I'm coming from a Cleveland team that was dismantled
because of the move. Had some really good players, um,
Andre Risen, Uh, Michael Jackson. Uh, guys that I've learned from,
you know, and my past had helped me kinda kind
(02:22):
of know the kind of resilience this team needed, you know,
because of my past, coming up as a twelfth round pick,
always having to fight for what you wanted, you know,
I've been cut a couple of times and uh, and
in Cleveland, finally made my way and I needed to
show some resilience in my career and coming here, I
(02:46):
felt like this team needed to have a person that
that could show resilience and we as a group needed
to to have that because it was gonna be tough
for us. We knew it was gonna be really tough
for uce. Nobody els afected us to win second year
UH franchise they can't get it together. Uh. But we
(03:07):
found a way to get it together because we believed
in each other in that locker room. UM. I don't
know if it was the cause of us being against Tom,
but whatever it was, we found a way to to
come together, be resilient to practices that we were that
we didn't like, find a way to make it fun,
(03:30):
find a way to enjoy each other. And like you know,
I always did have arrogancy about myself because I always
felt like I was the best in the league. And
that's the way I thought, and I wanted guys to
think that way. And I always say, if you look,
if you look at some of the videos back then,
I always say, why not us? You know, because the
(03:53):
coach I always told me, why not you? It doesn't
have to be the first round pick. It has to
be the fifth round pick. Why at you the twelfth
round pick? And uh, and I always used to say,
why not us? And the guys kinda said the same
thing with me, Why not us? I mean, in that year, Uh,
we kind of came together. It was tough early. It
(04:15):
was tough earlier we had come to Jesus meeting uh
in that locker room down in the coach's offices, with
with time with the leadership committee, and but it all
kind of brought this brought that team together. The Jaguars
paid McCardell, but they weren't quite sure he was going
to ignite their passing game all by himself. So they
(04:37):
went back to Cleveland and swung for the moon All
Pro wide receiver Andre Rising. I'm out and O t
A s doing some good stuff and here comes Andre.
You know, but I wasn't mad because Andre came, because
I've played with Andre and I knew what kind of
competitor he was. Um, everybody don't know what kind of
(04:59):
teacher he is. I mean, he he's a He's a
great motivator. Two guys, if you listen and know how
to listen to the things that you need to listen
to from him, and uh, because I was in Cleveland
when he was there, and I'll say this, he was
one of the guys that really got my confidence to
being where it needed to be weekend and week out,
(05:22):
day in and day out in the league. I mean,
how do you bounce back from from things? So with
him coming in the room, I wasn't mad at all
because I knew what kind of player he was. I
knew he was on you know he was He still
could play, he still could help us, But I didn't
know how he was gonna how Willie, Jimmy, Reggie was
(05:43):
gonna receive him, you know. So, you know, him coming
in the room, it kind of rubbed Jimmy a little
a little bit, I could tell, but he never let it.
Really really show one good thing about our room. We
laughed a lot. We our room liked each other. Our
room really liked each other. We always wanted each other
(06:07):
to be successful. It was just a competitive vibe in
our room. But we never made it spiteful to one another.
I mean, we could go hang out, We're gonna have fun,
we go get on the boat, we go jet skiing together.
Our room was it was fun. And then the thing
about it. I I never forget the day. We were
(06:29):
out in practice one day and bad Moon was out
of practice, and uh, we were having one on ones
and he came out and he was doing some stuff
and one on one and he didn't get open. So
Kevin Gilbride got on him and he turned to Kevin
(06:51):
and said, I got three hundred and fifty six moves
to get off the line. And Kevin told her, well,
can you use one of them to get off the
line of the day, and you should have started. We
were all standing back there and we just fell out laughing.
And that point right there, we knew that he would
(07:13):
say whatever we needed him to say for us. We
didn't have to be the guy that came in and
said something. That was one thing about Dre. He wasn't
afraid to say what was on our minds in that room,
and he helped us. And so from that point on,
I think Jimmy kind of loosened up about Dre and
started to realize that no, this guy could help me.
(07:37):
And then, you know, as the season went on, we
just started to help each other here and there. And
then I never forget the game in Pittsburgh we um
when when the situation happened with Andre. Uh. It was
we called it X read and we have a three
ray read on the play for the X and Dre
(07:59):
was land X and he saw it one way, Mark
saw it another way, Mark through the past. It was picked,
you know, and it was a pick six. And I
think that was the downfall of what happened to Andre Rosen.
He he just made a bad read. I mean, it
could have happened to anybody, but just to say it
(08:20):
happened to a veteran and a guy of his experience
that has played in this league before, and he he
should have saw it and it was a it was
a clear picture that he should have saw. And you know,
it happened. And you know, the next week, the monday
he got cut, Jimmy. Jimmy came in the room and
we were like, hey, man, it's us, let's go. I mean,
(08:44):
and from that point on, it's been thunder and lightning
and and we I mean, we've we've seen a good
the bad. Uh, A lot of good times. Not a
lot of bad times, but a lot of good times.
Um Uh. Personally team wise, A bad thing that we
didn't do is let's bring a championship here. I thought
the dragonars were done when I walked into that locker
(09:06):
room on the Monday after Pittsburgh. The players who respected
and admired Rising, We're sitting on the floor at his feet.
It seemed ominous. It seemed over. But it wasn't the end.
It was the beginning. When that situation happened, you know,
it was like, all right, somebody gotta put the big
boy pants on the lead this team, and myself, Tony,
(09:32):
you know, on offensive side of the ball mark in
a way that Mark leads. Um just kinda picked up
picked up the pieces. Um, we go, like you said,
go to St. Louis, big, big game me personally. But
in the end, we lose, and we lose on a
(09:54):
play that you know, we we just we felt like
we we were the better team and we lost. You know,
like you say, five picks. You very setting when the
NFL game with five picks. But it never broke us
because I think we saw the potential and who we
were offensively, and you know, and then you know, we
(10:17):
we keep going. We get in there, we get in
the locker room, we talked about it. It brought us closer.
The likes of Robert Massey, the Clyde Simmons was keeping
us together, you know. And I was a I was
a young leader. Those guys were veteran leaders that have
(10:37):
been in locker rooms. And I remember Robert Massey telling
me his in his own way, young we got it.
We just gotta get it, put it together. The talent
is here, he said, I've seen I have. I haven't
seen so much talent in one locker room. We just
got to bring it together. Clyde would always tell me,
(11:00):
you know, get them together over there. Y'all got it.
We see it, you know. And those are guys that
have seen greatness and and played against great teams, have
been on some very good teams and some great teams,
and it just kept coming back in our mind, resonating
in our mind, like, hey, we gotta keep pushing, we
(11:22):
gotta keep getting better despite what's going on with us.
If we just continue to get better, the light is
at the end of the tunnel for us. And hey man,
we for some reason it clicked for us and we
saw the light and we was running to it, running
to it as fast as possible, because as as you say,
(11:43):
why not us, we start to see it and start
to feel it in our in our win street. We
started to feel it and started, as they say, started
to feel yourself. The next four games moved the Jaguars
from four and seven to eight and seven, and at
the very custom of any probable playoff appearance, winning the
season finale against the three and twelve Falcons was old.
(12:06):
It's stood in their way, and they stood there on
the Jaguars playoff hopes until the game's final drive. They
go down, just started moving the ball, catching the ball here. Yeah,
I think Eric mccalfe caught the ball over the middle.
Um My mind's going back terms matthis all those guys.
(12:26):
I think Eric caught the ball. Iron Head was pounding
the ball at us, and I was like, Eric, don't
do this to us, you know. And then you know,
they were moving the ball. So we get get a
fourth get fourth down. Martin comes out and he's one
of those guys that you know, being a veteran, it's
just automatic, you know. And we're all on the sideline
(12:51):
on the offensive side, just on our knees, looking at
looking at him head down, praying that he missed. The
snap comes. I remember looking at the snap. I'm looking
at the ball and when he kicked it, I was like, oh,
that doesn't look good. And I looked up and I
was like, there's no way he's gonna make this. And
(13:15):
when it was going, I mean, I was already up
jumping and it's a picture at where I'm jumping and
Tony Bracken's is pushing me so far up in there.
He's just throwing me up. And it was just a
big side relief because we knew we didn't play our
best game. We're coming off a hot streak and played
(13:39):
a terrible game. I think if you, if you went
back to odds makers probably had us winning that game
running away and we played bad. So with that happened
and we got in. We came back and that week
going to Buffalo was like, man, we're in the dance.
We can write our home story right now. And it's like,
why not, brother, let's I mean, we're going up to Buffalo.
(14:04):
They've never lost the playoff game, enriched stadium and rich stuff.
I was like, so what why not us? I mean,
we got the best matchup on Bruce Smith with Tony Boselli,
we got Nate playing out of his mind right now,
We're gonna do our stuff outside, So we were looking
at each other like, hey, we gotta we got a
(14:24):
good chance. We like our matchups, so we went in
and we just started playing like, look, it was cold,
crowd didn't bother us. We wasn't even worried about the crowd.
We were just so zoned in that that team. We
were so zoned in on our matchups, winning our matchups.
If we won our one on one matchups, we're gonna
(14:46):
win this game. And it was just so gratifying to
see Tony compete the way he competed against Bruce Smith,
shut him down like he did, and it helped us
it because going in it was like Bruce Smith is
going to destroy this, this this and to have Tony
go over and like silence him made it so much easier.
(15:08):
And then we started running the ball search she started
pounding him. On the other side, Nate started running the ball,
and we had to make our plays outside when we
got a chance to. We knew the weather was gonna
be a big issue for throwing the ball, but we
could lean on Nate, and that'side, That's how that team was.
We could lean on everybody and and everybody just decided
(15:31):
to step up and that game they played out of
his mind. He played out of his mind. You know.
Jimmy made a great catch, I made a big play.
Mark made some big throws. I mean, everybody just kind
of played the way they played. Our defense str k
gun we were. It was it was just it was
(15:52):
all coming together. So we got there, got to win.
Now everybody was like, whoa, that was just luck. They
just went in and and just got lucky in one one.
Now we're going to Denver. That week it was fun.
We were, we had I mean, we was playing with
house money. We were like, you know, they don't expect
(16:15):
us to win, why not us go in and show them.
I mean, so we're playing with house money. Uh. Then
about halfway through the week, we start to feel like,
hey man, we belong here. They know house money anymore.
It's us. It's a good team. We're good. Let's go.
(16:36):
Young guys start to feel see themselves as been a
good team. So we're going to Denver. We get there,
we get an article Jaguars, Oh Tom makes that very
known to us. Uh, this is what they think about you. Well,
it could have broke us or could have made us. Huh.
(17:00):
We had some veteran guys like Clyde Robert and Eddie
Robb all those guys. We were just kind of like Jeff,
which was a big key to us. Also on the defense.
Uh like it was like, hey man, you guys just
go out there and you know and like its way
you go out there and you know what and play
(17:20):
like you know what, and we're gonna handle this. And
we came in that locker room and say, this is
what they think about us. Let's go show him who
we really are. And uh, we got in that game
and we were like there was no stopping us. We
(17:41):
they came out and played the way they played, made
they threw a haymaker and then a big fight. We
threw a hay maker back, and then once they thought
they had us, they threw a couple of hay makers
and all of a sudden we came back. Play down
the sideline that I made, I mean on the touchdown
(18:03):
kind of jump started us. But I have to make
that play. I'm going to make that play. I mean,
everybody's like, wow, that's the player at jump start. That
was my number call. I was gonna make this play
so to get this team started, because that's who I
felt I was I was that leader that needed to
make a play to really get us going in the
(18:26):
right direction. And then after that, everybody just started playing
the third down that Jimmy carp I mean, it's sealed
the deal. I mean, I think, uh, those guys in
Denverver really felt how felt bad to lose it to
(18:48):
a team like us to upstart Jaguars, But they also
knew we were we were a pretty good team. You know,
I've never seen an FC championship game where the lights
go out, you know, how does the lights go out
in the n FC championship game? Man? But it went
out in the Super Bowl, so I can't I can't
say that, But at that time, it had lights that
(19:09):
never went out. If we'd have played anywhere close to
the level that we played the last two games, we'd
have beat that team. And I think, you know, not
saying it, that's the excuse. But they knew to slow
us down, you know, and uh, you know, but you
gotta get them credit. I mean, they played well at home,
(19:32):
and we felt like we let one slip away, to
be honest with you, and that taste was in our
off the whole off season, you know, and the driving
thing after losing that game. The only thing that we
could talk about all the way back in was getting
(19:53):
a playoff, getting the championship game here in Jacksonville. That
was the only thing that we were talking about on
a flight back. More perspectives following this from Vistar Credit
Union Advice Star. We believe in better, better convenience, so
members can bank anyway they want, whether it's at a branch,
(20:17):
on a mobile device, or at one of more than
twenty thou fee free a t M s across North America.
We believe that people have better things to do with
their time. If you believe that convenience is better, join
vi Star. We never forget that it's your money. All
loan subject to approval, insured by n c u A.
(20:39):
They were no longer an expansion team. They were a
contender and they were confident because they had their quarterback
and he at Thunder and Lightning one we had to
have a quarterback, and Mark was the quarterback for us.
My manner, uh it listened to us, would trust us
(21:04):
on what we said, and he knew if he threw
it in and kind of anywhere close to us, we
will take care of it. We're gonna be wide open. Uh,
like we always say, we're like sevent we're always open.
Bro Um hit market tell y'all would tell him, I'm
always open more just look my way. But for us
(21:27):
to make the tandem that we were, we were so competitive,
but it was it goes back to our I would
starting in the National Football League. Um, both guys. I
came in twelfth round. He came in the second round,
(21:47):
had some situation, had entry situation in Dallas. They basically
forgot about him, like all right, well, let's move on.
So we're backs against the wall. Nobody's giving us a chance.
And heck too to be a successful NFL player. Let
(22:08):
along be a successful uh dynamic duo or dynamic receivers
in this league. Um, we talked about it a lot.
The next thing we we we said to ourselves and
we used to say it to ourselves all the time.
They were trying, they tried to kick us out. But
(22:29):
now we're gonna write through. We're gonna we're gonna go
out the way we want to go out. They'll never
be able to kick us out. They're never we'll we'll
never get cut. We're gonna walk away from this our
own way, And we used to say that to us
all the time. If we're coming down the ramp, we
always say our way, bro, and we're gonna make it.
(22:50):
We're gonna go out our way. So that kind of
drove us. We were competitive as heck. Um, we always
wanted the ball. We always want the ball, and a
lot of times it was just out of share determination,
fear of not being open and them saying that or
(23:13):
they can't get open anymore. That's why they that's why
they we should go out and get a number one,
because they can't do it when they're not talented enough.
So each and every day in practice, we wanted to
destroy our own teammates. I hate to say it that way,
but that's how we felt. Um. Any one on one
(23:34):
situations uh, and and joint practices. We wanted to show
people we were heading shoulders above everybody else, even their receivers. Uh.
We wanted them to look at us. Um. I think. Um,
that's the way we lived our lives here playing in Jacksonville.
(23:57):
And then it helped that this was an upstart franchise.
It played into what we had going. Nobody gave us
any respect, so let's show him and every day we
went out and it fueled us. When I left, it
feeled me when I left, it feel Jimmy even when
I left. Um just to show people exactly what they're
(24:21):
missing and what a lot of people missed out on
and two guys that they underestimated. The two men put
up Hall of Fame type numbers together and helped to
find the first era of jack words football. They also
built a lifelong friendship, but not only endured through Jimmy
Smith's personal struggles, but grew stronger as McCardell stayed close
(24:43):
to his friend. I mean, it was tough for me to,
uh to hear the things that I was hearing. Um Man,
that's my friend. I'm a defender, I mean, And one
thing I respected about Jimmy was that smooth never put
anything in my face. I mean, I was big brother,
(25:06):
little brother, what however you want to say it, It
was never in my face. The things that he was
doing was always and closed behind closed doors. And uh,
everybody said, you had to have known. I never knew
because it has so much he respected me, and I
wouldn't have us assumed that he was doing it at all.
(25:27):
I mean, you know, and the and the thing about
it is that he never around me ever was that way.
And you know, I I hate that I had to
leave because I felt like we we would have still
(25:48):
brought glory and probably brought a super Bowl here if
I would have never left. Um, but you know, that's
the way this business goes. I mean, and you know,
and I felt like he could with me being there
in that room. He knew that he had to be
(26:13):
a better, better citizen, respect the room. And that's the
thing that I felt like some of the guys in
the room, he didn't respect the room, and some of
the guys fell in the trap of following Jimmy. The
young guys was following Jimmy. I was never a follower.
(26:34):
I wasn't going to be a follower. I was gonna lead,
and I was gonna show him how how it should
be done, because when I got here, that's what I
was told to do. That's what I was asked to dude,
that's what that's who I am. Period. If you lead,
if you follow me, if you're a leader, you're gonna
have guys. You're gonna show people the right way to
do things. And I think every day that I went
(26:56):
out when I was here. He respected that, and I
respected him going out every day and working the way
he did. And I think when I left, he didn't
have anybody to really push him to that point. And
you know, and like today, you know, I called him.
(27:18):
I just called him yesterday, you know, left him a
message here. He usually calls me back. You know, I'll
get a call today. We'll talk um. Relationship is good.
You know, a lot of times we'll just let him
be himself. And I was just you know, you're good.
I mean he's like, yeah, I'm fine, man, I'm just
chasing the kids. And then that's what happens now. You know,
(27:41):
he realizes some things, you know, the embarrassment to his family, Uh,
embarrassment to him. But that's part of life. I mean,
you you you you pick up the pieces, you put
it back together, and you'd be a better person. You
just just try to do it one day at a time.
And I think that's what he's doing. Those Jaguars were
(28:02):
among the best teams in the a f C in
ninety seven and ninety eight, and they were the best
team in ninety nine except for the Titans. It was
such a dislike that we felt like we had to
go out and win instead of just playing like it
was another team. It's kind of like you go the
(28:23):
extra mile to try to beat them, but you overdo
it instead of just being yourself, you know. I mean,
I can remember the second game of the year that
we were fourtune into an. I can remember Tom being
(28:43):
furious because that week we had just one I think,
and we're getting ready to play Tennessee, and his whole
demeanor just changed that week. I'm like, we're thirteen and
one right now, Let's go in here and play Jaguar
football and not make a big deal about this, and
(29:04):
let's play and see what happens. But everybody just seemed
they got to get so uptight because it was Tennessee.
Jeff Fisher, those guys that they beat us Hill, they
beat us nine to six. I think in the rainy
game here, it was a close game and we go
up Tennisee and get our head beat in and I'm
(29:28):
like and then everybody's like, well it was you guys
had already clinched. It was just what formality this that
and the other. I was like, no, it was too
much of a dislike instead of personal about that one team.
Instead of just playing this team as it's it's just
(29:50):
another team. And I would say we played some better
teams that year, you know, all before that, but it
was just it's the Tennessee type. And I know it's
a division game and divisional game, and you just gotta
kind of sometimes you kind of have to go back
(30:12):
to being yourself and playing your brand of football instead
of trying to beat them and play who you are,
Be who you are and let it happen and it
will happen. And I really feel that way every time
we play Tennessee, every time play them. After that, all
it's just, uh, it's the Titans. We gotta do this
(30:35):
and we get out of our game instead of playing
jaguar football, and you know, and then coming in they
beat us, uh three times, which is a big feat
to do in the National Football League with all the
film study and all that, and I think it got
(30:57):
to be a mindset of who they were, and that
was our big Achilles Hill from from from keeping us
from from being in the Super Bowl. The talent on
that team, No, I've been fourteen in two once in
(31:19):
my career, no once in my career, have been twe
before twice and that fourteen and two team was better
than those two even four teams, but those two one
of those two have but four teams got to the
super Bowl. I think it's it's tryveristy because you look
(31:45):
at the talent that was on that team, Corne l
a Um, the Brackens, the Hearties, I mean the guys
that Fred myself, I mean art to I mean you
look at those look at the talent. You go down
the line and it was it was set, and to
(32:09):
not come through it, it was very disappointing for us
that it It hurt us a lot. It's kind of
like the franchise put all the eggs in the basket
that year and we came up short, and then it's
kind of like, let's go a different direction. It was like,
it's kind of hard to say go to a different
(32:29):
direction when there's only one team in the league that
beat you. And I mean, I felt like that window
of opportunity was still open for us and we should
have kept it together one more time and let's see
what happens. Because when you look at it, everybody was
coming back. Everybody could have came back, you know, and
(32:51):
I think that team would have been the team that
that would have brought us a Super Bowl here more
respectives following this from Vistar Credit Union Advice Star, we
believe in better, especially in helping build a better financial
future for our members, so we reviewed our offerings from
(33:12):
the ground up. We've lowered or eliminated over half our
fees and enhanced our already competitive rates, saving members more
than a million dollars this year, in addition to the
millions we saved them every year. If you believe that
saving money is better joined by Star, we never forget
that it's your money, all loan subject to approval insured
(33:33):
by n c U. A. McCardell left in two thousand
two and wouldn't return to Jacksonville until once again to
lead the receivers. This time though from the front of
the room coming back, I was so excited, um trying
to get our franchise to being back in the limelight. Um.
(34:01):
You know, winning a Super Bowl here is big for me.
I mean even as a coach, because I feel like
it's well deserved. It's been a lot of years of
hard work for Mr Weaver um to Miss Weaver. I mean,
they have they have put this franchise in the right direction.
(34:26):
You know now that Mr Connor, he has it that
now he has his going in the right direction. It's
time for the Jaguars. Time for the city of Jacksonville,
not just the jack was the city of Jacksonville to
be seen as a champion, I mean a city of champions.
And uh, I would love be a part of this,
(34:47):
this this process of bringing it here because I mean,
these fans in Jacksonville they deserve it, because they are
one of the best fan bases that people don't know
about out They know football, they know it from the
ends and outs of football, and people don't realize it
(35:09):
because it's such great college football here and they understand football.
They love football. They eat and breathe football here in Jacksonville.
And why not. It's Duvall and I should said the
right way. Du All this time, though he didn't hesitate
(35:31):
to work for the guy he once thought he couldn't
play for, I care so much for him because he's
a person that believed in me and gave me a
true opportunity to be who I am now, who and
who I always wanted to be in this in this league. Um.
He believed in me. Um, That's all I wanted somebody
to do is believe in me, because I'm gonna give
(35:52):
you my best each and every day. Um. I played
with an arrogancy because he has an errancy himself or
being the best. Uh. It played right into what I wanted,
what I needed as a coach. Um. You know, just
him being who he is. He's straightforward, straight shooter. You know.
(36:16):
I remember our conversations through the times of some situations
that were happening here, you know, and I could come
out and be myself and tell him the truth. He
respected it. He might not have liked it, he still
told me he didn't like it, but he respected it.
And uh and in his own kind of way, he'll
(36:37):
come back and say I hear you. He might not
tell you right away, but in a way you and
I kind of it's kind of like father's son. You
You you kind of understand what he's talking about, and
he kind of understands what you're talking about, and you
get that that sense of all right, I got you,
(36:59):
you know. And um, I mean he through all the
times that he was tim the terrible we were rallying
around ourselves, he he never waivered and I didn't expect
him to waiver. But I could always go talk to
him and and just say, hey, this is the field
(37:21):
of the locker room. Um. You might not like it,
but I'm telling you, Um, but we will handle it
down there. You've got enough guys in the locker room
that can handle it. Uh, you don't have to worry
about it. We'll we'll get it together. You know. Tony
was one of those guys too. It's like, we'll go
down there and we'll get it together. And and he
(37:45):
just let us be who we are, and we let
him be who he was. The man noticed Thunder cares
deeply about his legacy. He knows Jimmy what was the
big play guy. And he's entirely comfortable with what he did,
with what he meant, with what he means to the Jaguars.
I'm that clutch guy. When you need it, call on
(38:06):
me through whatever situation he was coming up with the football.
You need a big play, called the playmaker, call me,
called my number. It's gonna happen for us. Um. It's
kind of funny you say that men Eric were great
friends and being teammates in Cleveland and stuff like that.
(38:32):
Every time I played that that franchise was always a
little chip on my shoulder. So for you to say
that that defined me, probably did because showed the arrogancy
that I had and showed the determination to prove Baltimore wrong.
It's just part of who I was. I mean, always
(38:55):
trying to prove something, and that that that situation we
needed it, We had to have it, so I had
to make a catch, and me being that guy, being
the guy that was supposed to make a catch. That's
your job, because you are the leader. Let me leave.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.