Tyler Elsbury | WUW 574

In this episode of the Walk Ons podcast, the team sits down with Tyler Elsbury, a recent graduate from the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Tyler is from Byron, Illinois and was part of the 2020 recruiting class for Iowa. Tyler shares his experiences and challenges transitioning from college to NFL training. He describes the differences in training schedules and locations, choosing Marquette, Michigan over warmer and more luxurious spots for his draft prep. Tyler delves into his multi-position versatility on the Iowa offensive line, reflecting on his role as the 'sixth man' ready to fill any position. The conversation also covers his childhood, growing up in a sports-centric, big family in Illinois, and his ambitions of becoming a coach in the future. Enjoy stories of barn workouts, milk fridges, and preparing for the NFL draft in our hour long conversation with Tyler.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fun one today. This guy is an unsunk hero and
we hear that a lot about Lineman or walk On.
This guy fits the bill. Tyler Elsberry joins the show.
Awesome story. Get to hear a little bit about his background,
coming from Illinois to Iowa City, his recruitment, how he
became the sixth man for the offensive line, the entire line,
and how he's positioned himself to actually succeed at the

(00:20):
next level in the NFL. You'll enjoy this one. Let's
have a day, Let's go back again. Wash Up walk

(00:52):
On's podcast. Another guest, another one of the recent graduates
from the Iowahaukee football team. We're sitting down tonight with
Tyler is Barry, Tyler bro what's.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Up a whole lot?

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Just train, same name, Absolutely big podcast. Anytime we can
get a Tyler on here, somebody that they don't have
to listen to to me anymore. Training. You said, how's
training going.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
It's good. It's going good. Man. Uh, definitely different than
than in college. A little more a little more relax
with the with the rules. But it's been good so far.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Tell me more about that. Describe that.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, it's kind of like, uh, it's like a soft
eight thirty start in the morning, which is pretty nice.
You're not stressing to get there before everyone and and
roll out your feet and do all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Trained train in the morning.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
It's pretty pretty low key, get the you know, sprint,
kind of get your own rest time a little bit,
which is nice and not kind of on the clock
to get out and do some some GPP or conditioning
and then uh, and it's just a smaller group, you know,
I'm up here, it's probably ten guys or so.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Where you're at.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I'm up in Marquette, Michigan. So I'm way up, way
up north right on Lake Superior.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
So wow, everyone else everyone else is going to like
San Diego Bahama, like it's all like resorts, and you're
going up to like negative Tendia.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
I mean if I'm they tell me it's gonna make
me like Rocky So yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
I mean if I'm, if I'm a draft scout, like
a half of my thought pross like, well at this guy,
I think about tough. This guy is he's going up
to He's going to Michigan as opposed to Oceanside, California.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Fast.

Speaker 4 (02:31):
Let's let's look at these guys.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
We're gonna have to text luc Liche back and tell
me soft for being in La Jay went down to
like Texas, you chose to go north, absolutely, and it's
been it's probably been just as cold or worse up
there over the last couple of couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Today was better. Yeah, yeah, it was like real feel
it was like negative twenty five, about the same as
I was there. I mean, and I mean it's like
Chicago because were on Lake Superior, so we have all
of the lake effect in So I go to bed.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
And it's like no snow in my car, and I
wake up and there's like an inch.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
And a half.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
I will say that down here in Iowa this winter
we've been fortunate on the snow. There's only been I
think one legitimate snow. How do we end up in? Uh?
How do we end up up there?

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Is that like kind of an agent thing? That's where?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, so it's kind of like a weird connection story.
But my my agent kind of kind of set me
up up here. Last year a guy named Cole Spencer
train up here ran the fastest forty out of old Linemen.
And then the year before that, Jake Witt was up
here ran the fastest forty out of the lineman. So,

(03:45):
I mean my agent played college football with one of
my dads, like first coaching buddies when they both came
out of college at the same time and got a
job coaching the other, so they knew each other, got
in touch, and my agent was pretty much like, if
we've trained the fastest two guys past two years, I
think that that's probably smart for you to You've come

(04:06):
up here and reciprocate it, so.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
It makes sense. Grant, what I'm hearing is this guy's
about to run the fastest forty.

Speaker 4 (04:11):
Yeah. I was gonna say, do they got that on
DraftKings or something?

Speaker 1 (04:13):
Should we can we get some Elsbury prop BET's going down?
That's hilarious. No, that's that's great. I think there is
something to it, like Grant saddy little tongue in cheek there,
but I choose to go somewhere that isn't like all
glitz and glam. Yeah, and it kind of uh. I mean,
I think they evaluate everything in this process. I wouldn't

(04:35):
know because I never made the league.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
But.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
They're they're looking at all at all things character and
what kind of decisions you make, and I think they
like they I mean they might send out like personal
investigators on you guys. It's they try to find out
every single little piece of information. And a guy who
makes a decision like that, it shows where your motivation is,
shows shows how committed you are. You're not worried about
the fancy Exos facility down in Phoenix, like just you

(05:02):
just show up, ball out, go to work, head down Iowa,
Iowa guy.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, up here in God's Country kind of yeah, all woods?

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Are you a woods guy?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
I am?

Speaker 3 (05:16):
I actually come up here.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
I mean not Marquette, but Iron River, which is like
an hour and a half kind of Wisconsin up border.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
I go ice fishing up here like every winter, so
I love it up here.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
It's nice Iron River. That sounds like a place where
alignment would hang out.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Yeah you see that. You see that up on the
draft board, like spends spends one hundred and sixty days
in Iron River exactly. I was, who's the who's the
kind of the He's Joe All I remember when he
got drafted. He was like in some log cabin. I
think he's from Minnesota. So everyone's like, well, he's gonna
be eleven all pros Like probably this is he's more
in the quarter. Zip didn't hug his mom, Like yeah,
he's yeah, all pro for sure. I've seen I've seen enough.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Took a took a bite of beef jerky as his
name was gold. So so you're a big hunter, you're
one of them.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, I just I just kind of got into hunting
the past couple of years.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Really. Yeah, So, I mean.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
It seems like the Linemen are always hunters. Like going
back to the Pulse and Twins when I was there
and I shot and and all those guys like feels
like all you got like you're you're like built like deer,
like you're as big as deer and bears, and so
you just go out and hang out with them in
the forest. Like just seems like that's how it works.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
I just I just started this past this past couple
of years.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
My dad was like pretty big and uh turkey and
deer hunting and stuff when he kind of lived out
in Iowa and was teaching out in Iowa. And then
obviously he had me and my four older brothers. Uh
so you kind of stopped being able to do that
stuff and you have five kids running around.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Dude, you're one of five. Yeah, yeah, yep, your house
was chaos.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yeah, it was pretty Uh, it was pretty electric though.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Your parents hated every second of them but also loved it. Like, like,
how many we got to dig into that? What was
your childhood?

Speaker 4 (07:11):
Like?

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Lots of sports? Like my dad coached football and wrestling.
My mom like coach basketball, coaches volleyball. We all played
pretty much three sports in Illinois because that's all you
can do. But we played three sports throughout high school,
so we're kind of always at some practice, game, event,

(07:35):
whatever summers. I honestly don't know. Both my parents are teachers,
so they're home but like watching after us. I don't
know how they ever got to do anything fun. I
don't think I'm entertaining to you. Were you were the
fun exactly?

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Dude? Uh so, wow, you and I are really similar.
I had two brothers. I'm the oldest. Yeah, both of
our parents are teachers, so same same thing. Yeah. I mean,
you guys just had to beat the ship out of
each other.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
I just feel like a Monday night raw every week
at your house.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
What what's the what's the age gaps we got going
on here?

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (08:14):
Eight years between all five of us.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Oh my god. Yeah, your parents just decided we're gonna
make our lives hell and we're gonna do it real
quick and we're gonna get it out of the way.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah pretty much.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Oh my god, this is incredible in Illinois.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, yep.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Did you guys tear that city down?

Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean it's far from the city, but that town
definitely knew, uh each one of us, Yeah, each I
mean you could. You could probably see our car on
the road and then they're like, oh, there's there's an
Olsbrae car that and pointed.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Out how big is how big is Byron?

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Not very big? Probably a couple.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I think I had four hundred and seventy kids in
my whole high school.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
In the whole high school.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay, so with a hundred.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
So it's not like it's not like crazy, it's not
like it's not like Cope Dejeane small.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
But no, no, no, no, no, I'm not yeah, not that.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
Small from the old obg High school high school. Shout
out to Coop by the way for the Super Bowl
on his birthday. That's gonna be on his birthday.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Jesus, what a year he's having him in Saquon's birthday.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
I think that's the key to success.

Speaker 4 (09:31):
It's to be in the Super Bowl on your birthday,
just Sirianni in the off season, just like, how many
guys can we get on our roster at once at
all of the birthday on the Super Bowl?

Speaker 1 (09:44):
Just and they just electric there. So you, Byron Illinois,
you're a wrestler.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yeah, you're a football player.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah what you threw track?

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Nope, play baseball?

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Bingers, gaggers, He said, let's go actually.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Though, yeah yeah, actually you.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Could hit the thing. Oh yeah, oh let's go. Wow.
How what what did you look like in high school?
Like you're clearly developed now it's into a twenty three
year old. What what did like sixteen seventeen year old
Tyler Elsbury look like? What was the dimensions on you?

Speaker 2 (10:21):
I was probably six four six ' five same, I
mean probably I was probably oh boy.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
And you stepped up to the plate and.

Speaker 2 (10:29):
Just yeah, wow it pitched a little bit too through some.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
But I threw was your fastball? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Well I have no idea that I just didn't have.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Radars. There was no guns in uh radar guns and Byron,
they just like, hey.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Actually, yeah, we got a radar gun for my senior
year baseball, but then that was COVID, so I never
ever got to actually no, actually got to like finish
out with baseball. It's like whatever. But so I have
no clue. Just I mean, seventy five miles an hour
the street straight down.

Speaker 4 (11:07):
Still, that's that's not easy to hit. I mean I
went to like Slugger's banding cages. I was struggling fifty five.
Oh yeah, little nothing.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
I remember in college we went. I might have been
right out of college, so like I was peak, you know,
this is as fast as I'm ever throwing. And I
went to like the State Fair and there's like, you know,
step up and it'll I think I hit seventy two
and my shoulder hurt for three days. So bad.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
That was always the worst.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
So the guy plays basketball, football, wrestles, His family runs
the town. Old youngest of four brothers. So what did
did the four brothers? Did they go on to play
sports in college?

Speaker 2 (11:47):
Actually, so my dad, all four of my brothers and
my mom all went to co college and suitar rapids.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Shout out, Seth Wallace, baby up.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, so uh yeah, my dad was there early, I
mean nineties ladies.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
I think, Wait, so he probably knows coach Wallace.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Oh yeah, yeah, they know.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
They know each other aproval, like they knew each other
before you ever were a Hawkey.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
I don't know how well they knew. I think they
knew all each other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then so
all all four of my older brothers went there. Played football,
My dad played football.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
There were they all there at the same time? Then
like almost.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
Almost, Yeah, all my brothers, all my brothers overlapped at
least one or two of the other ones being there.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Oh my god, they they gotta they got a one
of the academic buildings has to be like the Elsbury
Hall or something over there.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
See that's our joke because like Coe is like College
of Elsbury. So that's what we say in our family.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
But my goodness, so they all go to co Yeah,
so you you were destined for co You're supposed to
your supposed to be what are they the the is
it the coach? Like is it the Hawks?

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yep?

Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah. So you're you're Tyler Elsbery, You're you're you're a sophomore,
you're a junior. You're gonna be a Cohawk. It's written stone.
This is what happens and then and then and then
how does it go wrong? How do you how do
you pick a hawk?

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah? So actually I was. I probably got recruited as
a sophomore or started kind of that process as well
as a sophomore.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Well yeah, if you're six four, two nineties a sophomore, Jesus.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Yeah, I was playing varsity, starting varsity football for US.
We're a semi final team. Just started getting recruited. Sean Constant,
I played dB for coach Parker and like two thousand
and fours when he got got drafted and stuff, Well,
he was our DC.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
He came back to Byron. He's from Byron.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
I was gonna say, Byron sounds familiar. I swear to god,
there's one or two guys.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, you know you guys went. You were probably there
at the same time.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Yeah, read Sylvie, you'll be is I do it?

Speaker 1 (14:04):
I I for some reason, I have a weird knack
for the guys that were there. I knew where they
were from, and I didn't want to say it to
sound stupid, but okay, so Selby was from there and continent.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah. So Sylvie was actually right in between my oldest.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Brother and my second oldest brother in school to play
football together and everything. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
He was a big wrestler too. Yeah, all your brothers wrestle. Yeah,
Jesus Christ, you guys were just higher athletic department at
Byron High School.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Jeez.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
Okay. So so you start getting recruited, you remember what
that's like like for you at a small town buyern known,
Like what does that actually look like? As a sophomore,
You're getting a few letters.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
You're getting like letters like a bunch of camp invites.
I come to n I U come to I come
to whatever. Do our camp, Wisconsin do our camp? Stuff
like that. Went to Iowas camp, went to camp with
n IU, and Penn State was there, went to Wiscon.
It's in. Did a lot of that stuff. Kind of

(15:02):
summer going into my junior year, sure, much more, much
more so, just like coaches would kind of come into
school and get there and say hey, and you know,
because they couldn't text us or anything at the time,
it couldn't really yeah whatever, and then kind of when
that whatever, I think August first is the date, like

(15:24):
the date that.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Kind of hit going into my junior year, and that's when.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Like TV would call called me or Coach Wallace and
coach P when Coach P was there kind of called
me and other other schools were kind of texting me
and get hold of me, face time on me and
stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
So that would have been the start of junior year.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah what uh what.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
Did that look like as far as over the next
year then towards the start of senior year, like how
many offers did you get? When did Iowa? Like when
when did all that kind of start happening?

Speaker 3 (16:00):
So I was my first offer.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
I think I got probably around fifteen I'm guessing from there, offers, uh,
mainly just focused on sports like football. My junior we
made to the state finals and then we played our
state championship game on a Friday. Well that next Thursday
at a wrestling meet, So like I was right after

(16:23):
that right into wrestling.

Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah, wrestled.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Made it to the state finals for wrestling my senior
or my junior year, and like the week after that
was indoor baseball practices.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
So I was just kind of like I came up
to like a Penn State wrestling.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Meet coming up this this weekend, I think.

Speaker 3 (16:43):
Yeah, Yeah, this Friday pumped good hawks.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
You know what I'm saying, your dogs.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
From what I understand, I don't really watch the wrestling,
but Penn State's pretty good. They're like every guy's like
in the top five. So Hawks are a little bit
of an underdog. But that's all right, one, aren't we right?
I mean we're not. It's crazy that they so far
and away like underdogs and we're the second rate team
in the country anyway.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
So yeah, I came up here on a visit unofficial whatever,
got to watch the wrestle on me, hang out, meet
with all the coaches kind of coach parents, and coach
Wallace would kind of pop into school a couple of
times during the year when they could with some other
coaches that would. It was actually kind of electric because
my my head football coach was also my math teacher

(17:30):
in high school for calculus, so like and and I
always had him for like our first class of the
day because we did four classes like the four block
schedule or whatever.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
Yeah, so I'd be in class.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
And our coach, coach Boyer, look at his phone, be
like all right, and go up to the phone and
like call one of my other math teachers and can
you come into the room, like for a second, when
you're on lunch. Yeah, another teacher would come here and
he'd be like, all right, Tyler, we gotta go to
the office. Uh, you got to coach here to see

(18:02):
And like my math class, I had like two of
my best couple of my best friends are in there,
so I got to get up and leave it. They're
all just like what.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
But just like constantly giving you ship like, oh, big guy,
get another coach to come see.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
He's just too good for math.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
Oh guy, I just need to learn pre calc. Okay.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
He is funny with that. Actually, he always is like, wow,
just because you're good at pushing people like that's it.
And he was actually like it's just funny because he
was actually are like stud running back.

Speaker 1 (18:33):
But there there is a little bit of truth to
that though. If you're if you're just good at this
one physical thing, you could just you could skip other
parts of life. That's funny. It's funny you describe that
as electric Tyler. It's almost like you knew about our
sponsor tonight, which is Eagle Point Solar Grant. Did you

(18:55):
know about that?

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (18:57):
It's actually I feel like it's the opposite of it.
Wouldn't it be.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Well kind of. I mean, you know electricity right how
you share? Yeah, you're electricity in your home. We'll get
back to Tyler's story in a second. But for the
first time in twenty twenty five, we have a legitimate
sponsor on this show. You came on this show, Tyler,
and it got more professional.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
So, you know, for for this month, a couple other
months this year, we're uh, we're proud to partner with
Eagle Point Solar local to the Iowa community offices in Cedar, Rapids, Dubuque,
and Des Moines. And I mean, Grant, what do you
know about solar power?

Speaker 4 (19:32):
Huh? But so they're clearly nothing. If I'm being honest,
I'm here to educate you. I know that if you're
gonna get solar at your house, you should go to
Eagle Point Solar. I've always been a huge fan.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Of theirs always.

Speaker 4 (19:45):
I've always been eception, you know, I've been since I
was in the Eagle Point Solar Club in elementary school.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
Safe fan.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Yeah, just we would always just you know, research what
they were up to.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
It.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
It's a great produm.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
It is well and we're going to actually tell you
why it's a great product. Over the the course of
the next few episodes, excited to partner with them, have
them as sponsor of our show tonight. I'll just I'll
just sort of leave you with this. We'll kind of
give you a taste. They are a local solar community.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know, they're built to really be turnkey in the
solar in the solar business. They're gonna do it all.
They build these things, they install them, they're certified. Again,
I'm gonna get into the details of all of this.
I sat down with them actually earlier today. All right,
this isn't the first virtual column on today. I sat
down for like seventy five minutes and got solar educated.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
Right.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
You know how much money you can save by switching
to solar.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean you should. I'm gonna I have an apartment,
but I'm gonna install them like on my patio.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
Just anyway, dude, there's a lot of there's a lot
of things going on. This company's EPs, i'll call them EPs.
They're Eagle Points Solar. They've done over four thousand installs
over the course of them being in business. These things,
these these modules, the panels, they last forever, like I'm
telling you, I'm dead serious when I say that this

(21:06):
is this is a big partnership and we're excited to
be wrapping them. I'll leave you with this, and this
is sort of where I'm going to turn you guys
as I do the Eagle Point reads over the next
few months. Go to their website Eagle pointsolar dot com.
Free solar analysis up in the right hand corner. It's
free if you do the analysis. You give them a
full copy of your electric bill and they can tell you, hey,

(21:28):
what's up here. Two hundred dollars Amazon gift card just
for doing the analysis. And they can tell you if
you qualify, how much money you could save, what that
process would look like the whole shebang. So shout out
to Eagle Point Solar for sponsoring the show and interrupting
Tyler Elsberry's story. Back to it now, Okay, so you're

(21:50):
getting pulled out of class? Was this the dream? By
the way?

Speaker 2 (21:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, Like you're seven years old or you're like ten
years old and third grade and you're sitting there and
you have to fill up those dune things like my
favorite color is I want to be this when I
grow up? Like was it was? That football player.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
Actually, i'd probably said I wrote down pilot a lot
for that. I wanted to be like a fighter pilot.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
But oh, like okay, topic.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Like yeah, but once you reach like six foot in
middle school, you're kind of already out of the brother
so I kind of know. But I always I think
I think that was more so just like oh, like,
what's my career going to be in pilot whatever? And
I kind of played football for fun that my brothers
played it or whatever. Yeah, I ended up being decent at.

Speaker 4 (22:40):
A little bit.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Well, uh, kind of on once I started playing like
junior tackle.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
That's kind of when I was like, all right, I'm
pretty good at this football thing.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Nobody can tackle me. I'm probably gonna.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Be I'm like I'm a monster. Kids run away.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
And then you gotta wonder how good of a pilot
you could have been though. That's right, Hey, well actually
see how good he is a football Wait till you
you see them on the flight simulator.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well I have a question though, because Air Force has
alignment on their team, right, and I know they're not
like as big as normal alignment, but they still have
to have like some six four six five guys that
are pushing the upper twos three hundred pounds like they.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
Well, not all of them are pilots. Yeah, there's only
it's like it's very hard to be a pilot in
the Air Force.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, oh I thought they were all pilots.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
No, most of the actually they very small percent of
them are pilots.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
Okay, so is that way they is that what the
whole joke is that they're the chair force is because
most of them are actually just like sitting at a
cubicle like doing like clerical.

Speaker 4 (23:37):
I mean, respect the troops first of all.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
One hundred percent respected troops.

Speaker 4 (23:41):
But I don't know where the Air Force thing comes from.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Idea.

Speaker 1 (23:44):
Okay, all right, Uh so you're not going to be
a pilot. You get to high school, you're like, oh,
shoot this, this whole athletic thing might work out. IOWA
offers you first offer. That mean did that mean something
to you?

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Yeah? Did? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (23:57):
For sure? I mean I think kind of at least
i'd hope.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
So that, like a lot of people, when they kind
of get their first off, their first offer, especially when
you're not like getting forty five offers out of high school.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
That's always kind of a special special one.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
I'd say, like it's kind of like the holy crap,
like this is for real, I can like I'm going
to play Division one football. Yeah, like yeah, like you
this is this is my opportunity.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Now you've got one. Yeah, and you're like, okay, well
I'm in like at bare minimum if I don't get
anything else, Like exactly I didn't have that, but I
totally understand where you're coming from. This is the washing
up walk on, so walk up disappearing by the way.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, so yeah that was special. My dad's from Northeast Iowa.
My mom's from northeast Iowa. So no, no, no, not that far.
My mom's from Dubuke and my dad's from a Lama
or Strawberry Point. My grandparents owned on a farm up there, Yeah,

(25:04):
a dairy farm and stuff.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
So my dad went to Starmont High School.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
So I'm kind of they kind of grew up Iowa fans.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
I kind of grew up an Iowa fan.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
So when did you finally commit?

Speaker 3 (25:16):
I think it was a spring in my junior year.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Okay, and that's twenty nineteen, yep, because your class of
twenty twenty yep. And what was that? Like, I mean,
that's gotta be weird.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
It was, Yeah, I mean it was, it was good.
I kind of always I think I always kind of
knew that I was gonna be a spot for me.
I mean, you guys know what it is. Yeah, you
guys know ks the man, the way he talks to
you is like a regular person on the street, and
that's just kind of how I was raised. Kind of

(25:50):
smoke to home for me. So I knew that when
I was going somewhere like Iowa, that it was gonna
be very comfortable for me, and it was gonna be
They're a great, great program at developed. Oh i'man. I
mean sure I watched just like Tristan Norris that air
would have been drafted.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
You know, he's okay and he's yeah, exactly right for himself.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
So yeah, I think it was just the best fit
for me, and I wouldn't have changed my decision still.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
So and did you come in that summer or did
you the summer in the summer of twenty twenty And
that's and that's in the midst of all of the
COVID stuff where you guys are like testing every day,
Like yeah, yep, was that like a like it's a
tough transition to become a go from a high school
athlete to like a Division one college student and athlete,

(26:40):
all of that had to make it more annoying and harder.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yeah, it sucked, idea, Like like I hadn't been doing anything,
yeah for three months before I got there, Like we're
out of school, wasn't playing sports. I was lifting in
a barn to be able to lift.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
Oh lifting in a barn. Yeah, some like one of
your buddies just has gym equipment, like behind this the
horse stalls or what.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Yeah, this is Yeah, that's incredible.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
Actually, one of my so no.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
High school MUDs uh walked on to play wide out
at Western Illinois, so he was home because of COVID
and everything too. And then another one to walk down
to play like QB and wide out at Indiana State,
so they were they were home. And then one of
our other buddies was playing the three football at Platteville,

(27:39):
so we were kind of all home.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
Same time. I wasn't in school because they're older than
I was.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
We're all trying to kind of figure out where to
work out because the gyms were closed, couldn't be couldn't
be in a public area, so one of my buddies,
his name is Nolan. His dad had like an old
bench rack in his basement. We found an old squad
racked down there too. Uh. Sean consign had a barn

(28:06):
as like a shed at his place. So we like
texted him if we could set up a weight room
out there and so we can lift and stay in shape.
So we transported all the all the weights waits for
my basement. My dad was like, well, you better make
sure you get all these weights back, and I was like, Dad,
I don't think anyone's eased these weights in five years. Yeah,

(28:32):
So we moved, uh moved everything out there, and we
started our group chat and we were calling ourselves to
the monks, and we worked out for three months, just
the fellas out there like ten am every four times.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
So it's kind of come full circle because that's like
kind of what you're doing right now.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, yeah, pretty much.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
I texted I actually texted that group chet like a
week or two ago when I decided to come up here,
and I was like, it looks like the monks are
are getting back in order kind of walk in fellas.
They're all laughing.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
Man, it's like the most weight you could get up
to them in the barn gym, Like did you have
a full setter?

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (29:11):
Yeah, I was picturing like yeah, like I don't know,
there's like a like a three fourths of like a
forty five pound plate like barely.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, we had like full plates and stuff like.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
That, tractor tires on once they.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah, that's that's what I'm picturing. It is, like it's
kind of built in, you know, like one side's got
like a little like farm flipping hay bales instead.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Of Yeah, and then we like drug in uh like
those black mats like horses, like horse mats or whatever
and put them on the cement so you could like
clean Oh yeah, stuff brought in like a giant speaker.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
Dude, I'm jealous that that you're literally describing like anybody
who likes to just lift with the boys.

Speaker 4 (29:54):
That's just like it's the dream.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, it's a dream. And I mean we're all eighteen, nineteen,
twenty years old, just hanging out out of shed on
the on the days, just.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Kill a ninety minute pup session in the barn and
then just slug down like a protein shake and just
we're living boys, We're living we.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
I mean we've literally left for like it'd be like
we'd be I shouldn't say we'd lift. We'd be in
the barn for like three hours for an hour left,
just shooting the craft and.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
Hanging out, and.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Then it'd be like, all right, well I might go home, shower,
eat some food.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
What else are we gonna do today?

Speaker 1 (30:35):
Yeah we'll just hang.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Out, Yeah, hang out or whatever.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
But that's incredible. So you come in that summer twenty twenty,
you're testing COVID every day, Like what's what's after you
get through the initial like, well, this is a really
annoying process to just even be a part of this,
right now, What was it like integrating onto the team?

(31:00):
You know that you guys have a weird kind of
fall there where like there's gonna be a season and
then there isn't, and then there is a season and
then you guys play like eight games, the last two
get canceled. You got a little bit of football in there, though,
So like, how did you How was the adjustment?

Speaker 2 (31:18):
It was good? Definitely different learning a college system front
like learning fronts and stuff like that. You know, in
high school we ran a wing t offense, so it's
kind of like Yeah, if there's a guy in front
of you, if not, look to the guy on top
of you, like a linebacker and bury him.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
Like dude, It's real easy.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
It's simple, real simple.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
But it was good.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
Yeah, wearing masks that summer to like work out horrible.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
Conditioning was awful after not doing anything for three months
besides oh, drinking protein shakes and lyft and A, didn't
do a whole lot of running. Well, I was working
out in the barn. But yeah, so that that was
kind of the biggest adjustment. I think it was just
kind of getting back into shape and then more so

(32:11):
into college football shape. And then yeah, that that kind
of full camp ish we were treating it. It was
kind of like OTAs. Yeah, yeah, that was awful. Having
to wear a mask, like inside your face mask.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
You had to do that.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah, they like skip tied yellow fabric inside your face mask.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
Like I was like looking at linebackers out of like
a slider like this.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
I actually didn't know that you had to do that.
That's crazy, that's wild. Uh, any fun welcome to football
moments in that first year, Like I don't even know
who would have been like the best senior d Lineman
at that point, but like do you get like cross face.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
Yeah, that was a couple Chauncey yeah, Nixon, Oh yeah,
pretty good. Yeah. My first year it was fun.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Was there any days where you found yourself like on
your ass and you're like after practice in the dorm
room and you're just like I don't I don't know.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
If this is for me?

Speaker 1 (33:20):
No, not really, that's good.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Yeah, it was more so just like wow, those guys
are the most gifted big men I've ever seen.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
Like I got some work to.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
Do, but you had you had some some grasp of
like okay, that's where they're at. Yeah, like you you
believed in yourself to the point where you're like I
think I can get there.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah, yeah, definitely nice.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
That's a lot more than a lot of guys have.
We've talked to a lot of guys on here who
ended up being I think we talked to Worfs, and
Worfs at one point was like he was like I
don't know if like I can hit hang here like
like his freshman year, So be honest.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
I think it helped, Like COVID, like sure, practices were
kind of space spaced out a little bit more we
could have. We weren't going as long it was. Yeah,
it was just different into it a little bit, kind
of into it a little bit. I was a freshman,
like I was. I wasn't taking like tons of ups
against those guys.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Yeah. Well it's it's funny. Maybe not funny, but it's
interesting because you have And this is probably what I'm
most excited to talk to you about is shortly after
that little eight game COVID season. Uh, not just you,
but really the class of twenty twenty offensive linemen, you

(34:45):
guys are thrust into like serious roles on the team.

Speaker 4 (34:50):
Yeah early, Uh.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
You Logan Jones, Colby Richmond, you guys are you know?
I think we at one point we did it. But
you know, a couple of guys leave early, like Lindy,
and a couple guys uh don't work out, and a
couple guys have to like medically retire, and all of
a sudden that a line room got thin, and you

(35:15):
guys were like, okay, like where the starters now like
one year in. Yeah, and you even more specifically have
this super interesting story where I don't know if there's
ever been a guy who's played as many games and
snaps as you have, but you weren't like really the starter.
It's crazy, and you also play all three positions. I'm

(35:36):
reading some of these draft things of like this is
the like this is the most versatile guy in the
draft and you didn't even start for the Hawk guys,
like yeah, what a where were you at the beginning?
What position? Like did you play? And then how did
how did you get to be like you were the
sixth guy for every spot. I felt like you would
have gone into receiver if somebody went down, Like you're

(35:57):
the guy, how did you get there?

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (36:00):
So I started. I came in was gonna play guard.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
It was pretty much the only spot I played in
my old freshman year and then even into kind of
my first spring ball that year, only only really.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Ever played guard.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
So my first game time that year got to play
against Michigan State and then empty stadium, which was yeah,
it was it was still cool to be playing like
college football as a freshman year, like, wow, this is
pretty sweet.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
You guys kick their ass. So that was good.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
Yeah, exactly, big win too. Yeah, And then came into
that spring ball kind of after Lindy left, Shot left, uh,
Cody left. All those guys, that's kind of the year
where we're gonna be really really young kind of all
had to play. And then that spring ball was kind

(36:53):
of the first time I started playing center, moved inside
to play center. Logan Jones was playing center. I was
playing guard.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
I was like they didn't have anybody.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah, absolutely, like all.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
Right, we got to find new centers. They're like, all right,
Logan and Tyler, you're up.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Yeah, pretty much. I had never snapped a ball before ever.
I always put tackle. I put tackle up Byron and
the wing tea and then came in and played on
the guard. Never snapped, and that kind of spring ball
was like, all right, we need you to be like
you have to play.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Center, like got to learn this.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Yeah, So stepped in first practice was not great at all.
Snaps high, low, left, right, bad, I mean just bad. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
Was that a tough next day in the film room.
I mean even though you know that, like they're not
expecting you to have it down. Was it just tough
to walk in that day and be like, Wow, this
is going to be horrible.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
I think it was honestly worse on the field because
like it was just like messing up the temple practice
and then I mean, you know, KF gets in those moments, Yeah,
there yelling and you're just like, oh god, this is
all on me, and I feel so bad because it's
like our fourth twenty three in a row or whatever, you.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
Know, are looking at you. What is going on dude?

Speaker 2 (38:12):
H Yeah. So it was definitely not an easy transition
to start. Then kind of started getting the hang of it.
Logan turned out to be the heck of the center.
Hell yeah, and I could play. I could still play guard,
So I moved back out and was playing playing guard,
and that was kind.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
Of where I was.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
I was playing guard, rotating in with bow and counter played,
and Jennings at the time was playing playing guard there too,
and then kind of whenever if Logan, the plan was
that if Logan ever went down, I was sliding right
inside to play center. So I mean that was kind

(38:52):
of that. And then the year after, so my my
third year was kind of the first year where I
moved out to tackle a little bit in practice kind
of only did it as like an emergency like sure,
Like it was more like a like in devo reps,
like hey, like let's try tackle, see how you look.

(39:13):
Whatever turned out to be pretty decent at that as well.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
I mean you played in high school, you were there different.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
But like, yeah, so kind of then I started kind
of playing tackling practices, and that was kind of a
spring ball where we were really short on on alignment
in general. I think a couple of guys had We're
having surgeries, guys, Older guys were leaving, Younger guys weren't
quite in. I think there was only probably wasn't even

(39:43):
fifteen of us in the room in that spring ball.
So I was just like I was playing like rotating
that first team guard, playing the second team center, and
then like doing third team tackle sometimes going through the
grinder there for that spring all.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Your body hurt.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Yeah, Yeah, that was That was probably honestly, that was
probably the only time where I was like, wow, like
I like, if I have to do this continuously, I
might not make it.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
It was for I mean, you can kind of see
the light at the end of the tunnel there because
you know it's only fifteen practices, but like I gotta
imagine like a practice six You're like, dude, I don't
know if my body will hang in for this.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
Yeah, and you're not like in super great conditioning shape either. No,
So it was really just like I'm dying out here.
Somebody get me a shape. Yeah. I was like, if
I go into if I go into fall camp and
it's ninety five degrees and I'm doing this, like I
seriously might not last a full practice. Yeah, but got
fall camp, kind of stopped playing tackle, went went more so,

(40:48):
went more so, guard, was rotating at guard, had a
transfer come in, Rusty played, Yeah, rotated with Rusty Bough again,
kind of went through the season.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Mason actually ends up getting hurt.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
I think that was. I think that was this year.
The same year in year four. Yeah, I I have
no idea anymore account.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Probably dude, your career specifically being all over the past,
like where you played in this game versus this game
this week, it has to all just blend together.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Yeah. So ended up being like Mason got hurt kind
of Earlier in the year, Nick Deong was playing tackle,
was rotating, and Jack Plumb I think that was this year,
was playing tackle. Nick and Jack are rotating. Mason was
kind of starter. Well, actually I think Nick got hurt first.
So it's just Jack and Mason. We didn't really didn't

(41:39):
have any other tackles. So I was like kicked out
to tackle and practice.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yeah. So by this time, you're basically like they're like, okay, Tyler,
you're this, You're you're.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Like it turned into like all right, Tyler, Like we
really can't play you a whole time in game because.

Speaker 3 (41:56):
If one person gets hurt, you're the guy.

Speaker 2 (41:58):
You're the guy asked to fill the spot.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Real, dude, Like, it's it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Yeah, and I was kind of like it was unfortunate,
but also like a blessing in this guy is now
where I can because at the time I was passed,
I was like, well, like I just want to be playing.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
Yeah, I imagine it was hard because, like you, I understand it,
yet everybody wants to be the start. Yeah, you're like,
just give me a position and let me be the
guy there. Yeah, I don't want to be the guy
who fills in for everybody else. But like, dude, you
might be the most all time selfless player all of football.
You chose to back up be the first man in

(42:34):
for offensive line at every position. Like that's nuts.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah, it's it's kind of crazy. Like to me, it's normal.
That's like that's the thing. Like for me, I'm like yeah,
but like and then like I like going, I'll talk
to coach Burnett and he's like, do you like, I
don't know if you understand, like I've never been able
to coach someone that can.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Do that, Like that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
And I'm like, I don't, like, I don't know, I
mean right, yeah. So then yeah, so back there we're
at two tackles. Well, then Mason ends up getting hurt.
I think it was like the week of prideo or
the game before that gets hurt. So like all week.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
I was like left tackle was practicing starting left tackle.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
I was like, oh my goodness, like this is gonna
be and George, I think George carl Offtice was on
the team at the time.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
Yeah, watching film, wasn't super confident.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
It was like, this is this might be fair.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
There wasn't a lot of guys on the other side
of carl Offtice, but it was.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
Just like this might be just the absolute detriment of
my career here if I just if George just picks
me apart. Yeah. Practice all week, Friday was taking reps Mason.
Mason tried to go, couldn't really go very well on Friday.
It was an afternoon like later afternoon game, I think

(43:59):
like four clock, So wake up Saturday morning, Mason's getting
treatment and it's like it feels really good today, like
I'm gonna I'm gonna try and go. So didn't get
to start Mason started, and so I was just kind
of like on the sideline the whole time, Like at
any second year, I might be in yeh, tackle for this.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
And Mason props to them tough through it.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
I think. I think at the end of the year,
the diagnosis was like he broke part of his leg
and played through it.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
For Yeah, that's what came out I think in the media,
like we learned that he played with a broken leg.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah, and I mean it's like absolutely really tough from him.
Props them for that, Like and he didn't really tell
any of us. Nobody really told any of us what
was actually on. Kind of just knew it was like
a lower leg. But so he came in tough it out,
played that game. But that's kind of when I started
first playing playing tackle and real and that's pretty good
at that as well.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
So I mean just crazy, all of that is crazy.
A lot of it is due to unfortunately a lot
of injury, like guys going down, guys being banged up,
which is and has been a huge contributor to some
of the inconsistency of the old line from that twenty

(45:18):
twenty one season.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, it felt like.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
A lot of times you guys were close and then
some somebody would get shuffled around because someone got hurt
or something would happen, right, And I know nobody knows
that more than you guys. You're in the room, you're
watching the film, you're you're you're playing the games, and
you guys talk You guys took a lot of heat
too over. I mean, I probably I probably said some

(45:44):
dumb shit about you guys, about how you guys are
soft and like can't block it. You know, I probably
said something dumb like that multiple times. Nobody clip anything
and bring it home. And obviously that's not the case.
You guys are busting ass in there. I know exactly
what that looks like. I saw every guy that I
played with like do that. They're giving their all. They're

(46:05):
not trying to lose games, they're not trying to blow assignments.
But you guys went through sort of a little trial
by fire there for a long time, Yeah, definitely. And
then this year, you guys break through. Yeah, what did
that feel like?

Speaker 2 (46:17):
It was kind of like a finally moment, Like like
you said, like we were we've been in the room
and we're like, if we can just like clean up
the smallest of details, like we're gonna be absolutely humming,
like and not just humming, like we could be one
of the best units in the country, like and we're

(46:39):
not far at all, but like we have to work
work towards it. And that was kind of our whole
our whole offseason this past offseason kind of started in winter,
like we were like all right, earlier met met as
players and they're like, listen, like if this is what
we're gonna want to do, like we're gonna have to
start pushing each other like pretty uncomfortably, and like we're

(47:03):
gonna have to start working like we haven't before. Yeah,
that's kind of what we started doing. And so just
kind of like to see the fruits of that labor
was was pretty awesome. I mean, it helps heaven kJ
back there like he's absolutely electric as running out.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
But yeah, I mean, but we're also a big part of.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
That, Like yeah, absolutely there.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
He was there the year before and we didn't have
that production.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
So how good does it feel to to open up
a hole and watch him spring for sixty down the side?

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Like it's pretty sweet. You just get amped, like I'll
never forget, Like the Nebraska on that was just something
that I've never seen before. Crazy, and I mean won
the game right there for us and just like just
a special play in Iowa history.

Speaker 1 (47:53):
But probably yeah, I mean probably not probably it's the
play of the season. Yeah, And and I put it
up there with many over the past couple decades, like
that's pretty sick. Crazy the uh you learn a lot
through that, right, Like not only just you physically maturing

(48:15):
from eighteen to twenty three, but you guys going through
that trial by fire, learning a lot of lessons of
we're trying to push this thing through. It's right there,
we're so close. What is Barnett saying? And how has
Coach Barnett helped you guys in that room over the

(48:38):
last three years. He took a lot of heat as
well the outside for a long time, and I don't
you know, we haven't really heard from him on the
outside kind of stuff. People kind of thought just because
you guys were a depleted room. You were young for
a while. They're like, oh, this is Barnett's fault. And
from what I hear from the players, this dude's elite.

(49:01):
Tell me about tell me about him.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
Yeah, So when he first kind of got here, obviously
younger room. I mean we were all in our first second,
third year in the program. I think Nick, Nick might
have been Nick or Jack might have been They were
the oldest too in the room, sure, kind of that
the year after Lindy and then left. Kind of when
we started. It was his first season with a new

(49:26):
new kind of fall line. I think Jack Palm was
the oldest, and then it was Nick and Nick was
the third year and we're all, i mean just young.
I mean, when you're a bunch of around a bunch
of young eighteen nineteen twenty twenty one year olds, you know,
a lot of us are immature coming out of high school,
and and there was a lot of that for sure

(49:48):
in our room at the time. We're all young, inexperienced,
probably pretty arrogant and unaware of actually how bad we
were at the time until the season kind of came around.
But yeah, coach Barnet's the man, I mean, he was
just kind of kind of start off preaching more so

(50:08):
just like like we got to get this room to
where it needs to be and where it should be
as an offensive line room. We got to get young
guys like ready to play. You guys got to grow
up faster than he probably should have to in this situation.
But like that's what we're dealt with, and there's no excuses,
and we're gonna we're gonna get it done. But and

(50:31):
he I mean, like you said, he took a bunch
of heat, but never ever carried that into the room. Ever,
never ever carried any of the outside stuff into the room.
Didn't didn't mention it one time throughout the whole these
past three years. His his kind of words to us
has always just been like listen, like we got to
get better at working in practicing, and we got to
get better at you know, being men and growing up

(50:53):
and everything else will take care of itself on the
football field. And I think you obviously saw that. And
I mean, now we're all twenty two years older and older,
younger or whatever, but we're way more mature, way more
you know, put together as o line, way more experienced.
And that's kind of part of it. Yeah, and he was.
He was just definitely the leader of that of all

(51:15):
of us, all of us growing up and getting better
at being alignment.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
It's it's good to hear from the inside too, because
you know, people talk on the outside and to quote
KF they don't know shit about ship okay exactly, and
we're we're we're a part of that too. We don't
know shit either. But yeah, from the outside, it was

(51:41):
fun to see and it's got to feel good from
the inside too. So now here you are five years
later and you're looking at the NFL draft and like
I said, like there's there's articles about you, man where
you're like, like this could be a sleep per pick
for the league. How how does how does that make

(52:03):
you feel? Especially after all the work you put in,
Like you know, you're like not the starter, but you're
the guy that you fill in for every other guy.
How is your confidence levels as we you know, as
you train here, approach the draft pro day, like what
what is your gauge on? Like how how real of

(52:25):
a shot do you feel like you have it? Like
going and doing something special.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
Honestly, I think my confidence is probably the highest now
that it's bad the past five years of being in Iowa. Like,
like you said, I haven't really been a starter. I'n't
like I haven't started full seasons.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
It feels like you have.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
Yeah, it's weird. It's weird to say it because I've
definitely played meaningful games, definitely played very meaningful snaps. I
have starts like yeah and play, but like I wasn't.
I wasn't one of our starters. I was never like
the five. Yeah, but you know, looking back at it now,
like Logan is, next year is going to be, if

(53:09):
not the top the top three centers taken. Yeah, Like
you have Mason who most starts ever for Iowa as
an offensive lineman. Connor was a four year starter, true
freshman senior. And it's like his uh was whatever, I
saw something like pff guard. He was top ten on

(53:32):
the season.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
Yeah, I mean it's quite the it's quite the.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:36):
Jennings was tackling number two this past year and.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
And a freak.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
Yeah, I lived with I lived with him.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
This past Oh my god, what was that?

Speaker 2 (53:46):
Like?

Speaker 3 (53:46):
It was awesome. It was awesome. He's the man. And
we went to high school forty minutes from each other.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
So oh, ship, did you wrestle it was your wrestler.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
I did wrestle him, but I was a junior and
he was a sophomore. Or I was a senior and
he was a junior.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
I mean, he's got to be horrible, Like you see
him across the matt you've got to be like, god,
damn it.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
He was, like it was weird because year before he
wrestled my one of my budds, who was two twenty. Yeah,
and the next year we come around and he's like
two seven, Like not the same dude.

Speaker 3 (54:17):
I was like, yeah, what happened.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
Yeah, I don't know. I don't think anybody knows what happened, dude,
But that guy is an animal, like an actual creature.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
Yeah. But yeah, I mean we just have And like
Bo Stevens is a great football player too, like people,
I think he's probably one of the most underrated in
our room. Sure, but he's a really good guard. I mean,
very very physically dominant, like you watch film, like he's
gonna hit someone and he's gonna drive people off the ball. Yeah,
And like I tell people this all the time, Like

(54:49):
next year when all all six of us are out
and like we're all gonna be playing somewhere in the league,
like hell yeah, like it is what it is, Like
I was behind great like great players, great development went
on in our room. Yeah, and yeah, I went down
to the CGS Bowl two weeks ago. Yeah, I played
all three position in one on one. I don't think

(55:10):
I lost her rep. Like that's I mean, that was
kind of part of it. It was like I spent
five years kind of in and out of the lineup,
playing in and out like yeah, I'm like I'm a
good football player, but like in my great and I like,
am I really going to be able to translate?

Speaker 3 (55:26):
And then I kind of go to this event and.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
Like I was like it definitely wasn't why I black
across from me and one on ones and you know
what I'm saying, Like.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
It's not a couple of clips of him at whatever
bowl he's at.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
Just do Yeah. So like and that's kind of the thing,
is like I have such a small scope, but of
like my playing time and against great players. Yeah, that's
the thing.

Speaker 3 (55:48):
All my playing has been, I think it's great players.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Like so when I go against other great players, it's
nothing different necessarily. Yeah, So I played I mean I
played balled out at this at the CGS thing. I
texted coach Barnett kind of right away and I was
just like, wow, like thank you, Like I don't I
don't really know what else to tell you. I didn't understand.
And he's like he's like, yeah, like just ass kicker,

(56:11):
keep keep keep working. And I was like, oh, yeah, wow,
but yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:16):
I mean I think my confidence is highest now. Definitely helps.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
I can play all five and I showcase that I
never really got to showcase that. And season I think
I played one game at tackle and I think it
was like my second year.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
You You've got all of this, Like this is all
going to pay off for you in football, right, You're
gonna play hopefully a lot more games for a lot
more years. But I'm telling you, when you're like thirty,
like you're my age, or like when you're like a
father someday, Like the character and the traits that you

(56:51):
built being filling the role that you did over the
last four years are so invaluable.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
Dude.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
I'm like, you are so set up for life. It's incredible.
Just like the ultimate team player. So it's so admirable, admirable,
so sick.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
I've had those conversations with coach Burnett because when I'm
done playing, like I want to coach football, Like, oh yeah,
I don't ever want to leave this sport, best sport
in the world.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
And he tells me that all the time.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
He's like, no matter how long you play or whenever
you decide to stop playing and whatever, You're gonna be
an absolutely incredible coach just based off of these five years.
I like your experience and what you've gone through and everything, like,
it's just gonna absolutely set you apart from everyone else.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
In full agreeance, full agreance, g Bone, You got any
questions before we let this guy go.

Speaker 4 (57:49):
Yeah, I just one thing I have to hear about.
You grew up with a milk fridge.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
What is.

Speaker 4 (57:57):
How many? What is like our quantity in there? What
kind of like just tell me everything there is to
know about a milk fridge.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
Yeah, so we had a we got a new refrigerator
for our for our house one year, put the old
one just right out in the garage.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
We Uh, we went through a lot of milk in
my house.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
Yeah, how was you? So?

Speaker 2 (58:19):
I think there was one week my mom counted with
all of us home and it was somewhere between like
fourteen to eighteen gallons a week.

Speaker 4 (58:28):
You're actually I don't know if you hout you about
like Levi and Landon Paulson, but they came on here
and they had they're exactly like you with except twins.
So let's you are one of your brothers a twin
by a chance?

Speaker 2 (58:39):
No?

Speaker 4 (58:39):
Yeah, but do they really like in the woods and
drinking milk? Was like thirty minutes of when they talked
to us, but gone sorry.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
Yeah, So we had a full fridge in our garage.
The freezer was pretty much full like butchered meat, like
kind of let you go get from a butcher, and
then the fridge part was just like strictly milk. Otherwise
we wouldn't be able to put any actual food in

(59:07):
your fridge.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
Yeah, fridge, What did you guys? What did you guys eat?

Speaker 2 (59:13):
Like?

Speaker 3 (59:14):
I mean we all had cereal for breakfast?

Speaker 2 (59:15):
Hell yeah, I'm not talking like like a china bowl.
I'm talking like we would grab tupplewar.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
Like a mixing bowl.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
How many boxes the cereal did you guys go through?
I mean, what's what's the cereal?

Speaker 4 (59:29):
Choice's?

Speaker 1 (59:30):
I know, I know teacher salaries aren't the best. My
parents are both teachers. My wife is a teacher. It's
it's it's okay. Money, it's not enough for what they
do because they're saints. But yeah, it's hard to buy
forty six boxes of cereal a week.

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Yeah, favorite cereals probably cinnamon toast crunch.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
Classic choice. Did you guys go through like a million eggs?

Speaker 3 (59:55):
I've never asked that. Actually I don't know.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
You have to you have to add your part is there?

Speaker 4 (01:00:02):
Did you did? Did you go through enough to justify
a separate fridge for just steaks?

Speaker 3 (01:00:07):
Okay because it was mainly cereal for breakfast before.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
There you go?

Speaker 4 (01:00:12):
But then are you? Are you house and milk as
soon as you get back from practice in high school?
Or like how like I'm curious how much milk is
Tyler Elsbury drinking in a day?

Speaker 2 (01:00:22):
All right? So I'd have like a bowl cereal with breakfast,
and I'm talking like a big bowl cereal, right, like
definitely a few servings, you know what I'm saying, Like
it was not a one serving bowl, sure, And then
like at school, I'd have a couple of chocolate milks
with lunch, yeah easy, and then yeah, after school I'd

(01:00:44):
run home before practices. I'd probably make like a pbm
J or whatever, but I would always have a glass
of milk and then like dinner, like at the end
of the night when everyone was kind of home for practices,
my mom's like kind of go to It was like tortolini, impassa, Yeah,
and we all have a glass of milk, glass milk
or I mean, you know, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:01:06):
That's just what I've always done. And that's like I come.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
To Iowa and everyone's like, you like drink milk, Like
just a glass of milk. Yeah, it's awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:01:16):
You never mix it up and go like chocolate milk
or anything.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
How many how many like fair lives were you putting
down to their core powers? Were you big? Did you
like those?

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
I was always kind of on the heavier side though,
so I didn't.

Speaker 2 (01:01:31):
Drink Yeah, yeah, I feel you need those calories.

Speaker 4 (01:01:36):
Yeah, I said, were any were any of those fifteen
offers you in high school Michigan? I know, like Jim
harborugh All, he does like he's similar to you. I
think he's drinking like ten glass of milk a day.

Speaker 2 (01:01:47):
No.

Speaker 3 (01:01:48):
No, I don't have any huge offers like Michigan or.

Speaker 4 (01:01:51):
I could see him just seen across a spreadsheet like
he's drinking. How many glasses offered? Well, I'm glad you
end up in I will regardless though.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
That was I'm too Yeah, I'm too.

Speaker 4 (01:02:05):
I guess. Last thing is, how excited are you to
be on the Denver Broncos coming up? How excited you
about that?

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
It'd be awesome to play with Riley? I'm not for sure.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
Okay, Grant's big Broncos guy.

Speaker 4 (01:02:16):
I know I got it slid up the PFF board.
It's just all the all the IO boys skintting like
Cloche out there. You know, Caleb, just fix the whole team.

Speaker 2 (01:02:23):
Cliche has been balling out right now.

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
I guess did you see that video of him on Twitter?
I don't know if you're on Twitter or not, but
oh my.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
Goodness, I'm not at college.

Speaker 1 (01:02:34):
Yeah, there you go, keeping all the distractions at bay. Dude,
thanks for sitting down with us. This is uh, this
is exactly the kind of episode we like to do.
Just get the barn lifting stories and the milk like
in the this is this is why we do this.
And you're a guy who you know, especially linemen who
are oftentimes like they don't get the credit that they deserve.

(01:02:57):
You get to come on here, talk about your story,
talk about how you made at Tiowa City and the
Black and Gold, and we're just thrilled that you sat
down with us and let us tell your story a
little bit. So thanks so much, man.

Speaker 3 (01:03:07):
Yeah, thank you, guys. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:09):
Fun, good luck, good luck this spring you'll end up
somewhere and you're gonna kick ass wherever you are.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
Thank you appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
All right, everybody, thanks for listening. Tyler Elsberry got to
know another hawk Eye today. We're going to try and
keep getting these guys on and pumping out the content.
So thanks for listening. We'll see you next time. Hey,
thanks for listening to the show. If you want more,
you can check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube by searching Washed Up walk Ons. And if you're
interested in supporting the show, head over to patreon dot

(01:03:37):
com slash Washed Up walk Ons, where you can find
bonus podcasts, merchandise, and other cool perks. Best part, half
of your subscription benefits the kids at UI Children's Hospital.
We'll see you next time. Hawks by a million, un

(01:04:00):
un un pun pun