San Francisco 49ers offensive linemen Jake Brendel and Ben Bartch joined the 49ers “You’ve Got Mail” podcast presented by Delta Dental to discuss becoming offensive lineman later in their careers and the organizations they are supporting through My Cause My Cleats.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the forty nine Ers You've Got Mal podcast
presented by Delta Dental. I'm your host, Lindsay Polaris. Today
we are joined by an offensive lineman duo. We've got
Ben Barge and Jake Brendle. Thank you for spending the
afternoon with us.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for having us yea, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Ben. This is your first time on the pod, so welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
All right. So, Jake, you told me something a couple
years ago on this podcast about offensive lineman that really
stuck with me. It was you and Mike McGlinchey, a
former forty nine Ers tackle, that becoming an offensive lineman
is something that happens to you. It's not something you
dream of. So that's where we're going to start your
O line origin stories. So how did each of you
(00:42):
become offensive lineman?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, I'm the new guy. I guess as you start. Yeah,
So I played tight end as a young boy and
then throughout off high school in college, I played tight
end until my sophomore year of college and I transitioned
my year and the coaches confronted me and basically transitioned
that summer and then gained a lot of weight and
(01:07):
learned the position and then kind of went on from there.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Jake, what about you?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, So where I grew up in Wisconsin, there was
a weight limit, so to touch the ball you had
to be below a certain amount of pounds. So I
was always like fifty pounds heavier than that. So I
was always on the offense and defensive line. Played both
ways pretty much my entire youth career until high school.
(01:34):
I was defensive line in I guess freshmen and sophomore
year in high school, and then our starting center ended
up graduating and the coaches forced me to go to center.
So over a three month period in summer of like
right after my sophomore year, I gained forty five pounds
(01:54):
and I switched from noseguard to center.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
What was the toughest part about going from D line
to line tight end to line?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I mean, just like fundamentals basically, and you're obviously blocking
a lot heavier guys and more skilled guys inside and
so having i'd say, the fundamentals and stuff of blocking
and leverage and stuff. Whereas tight end, like you're kind
of if you get a great block, it's great, and
if you don't, you know, you're tight end, but blocking
(02:27):
is everything for a line.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So do you miss catching the ball?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Hover a little bit? But I don't really, I don't
really care.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like a line, would you be down to report as
eligible and.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I would be down, that would be an understatement.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, Jake, what was the biggest thing you had to
learn going from D line to O line?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Obviously, Uh, just learning the offense was was was huge.
Defenses I wouldn't say, uh, they aren't as complicated, but
they're but they're still very hard to execute. So just
just learning the offense, learning the ins and out of
every offense I've been on. I mean, it's definitely been
a struggle, but at the same time, it's what you
(03:06):
put into it. So the more time you put to it,
the better you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Part of the transition to O line involved gaining weight
for the both of you. Then you had a moment
on the NFL network making a very special smoothie in
order to gain weight. It was your secret weapon. I
thought the ingredients were crazy grits, gatorade, scrambled eggs, and
peanut butter. How did you arrive at this smoothie recipe?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Desperation to be honest. Yeah, Like we would go to
all the and we would load up on we couldn't
afford a lot, but we would just get the most
like calor dense foods and stuff. And then I was
a strength coach that summer, so I had to carpool
and had to pick up all my other leads like
five am, and so basically I didn't have time to
(03:56):
like sit down and eat the amount of food. And
so I had this big my buddy had this big
nutrible blender and it had a big old handle and
I basically just blended my breakfast and drank it while
I drove so I wasn't distracted. Don't drive distracted. And yeah,
that was pretty much it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
How many recipe configurations did you have to go through
before arriving at that's the secret recipe for yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I only did it for a couple of months that
summer when I was really trying to gain it a
lot of weight. That was pretty much. It just kind
of threw a bunch of stuff together.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
When's the last time you had one of those smoothies
that summer? Yeah, that summer, Jake, what's the craziest thing
you've put together as a meal? In order to put
on some weight.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Honestly, I just ate like a complete slob for an
entire summer. So I was eating like frozen pizzas and
like tubs of ice cream.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And what kind of frozen pizzas?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh, like the cheapest ones Jassable, Yeah, Jacks or Tombstone,
some Red Barren.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Maybe you know those are classics.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
They used to have, like Red Barn four for ten
bucks back in the day. Now it's like one for
ten dollars. But yeah, and then blue blue Bell ice cream.
I don't know if you've had that. Yeah, Yeah, it's elite.
It's still fantastic ice cream. So I would crush like
half a tub of that every night.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
How different are your diets now?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Bit different? Yeah? A little bit different for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Is there a favorite calorie dense food that you have now?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I still like ice cream? Ice cream is great.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm still sticking with blue Bell.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah. Ice cream was awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yeah, I mean pizza.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, Ben. A lot of people aren't familiar with your story.
You are a D three product out of Saint John's
in Minnesota. How did you become a sought after draft prospect?
What did you do to market yourself?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Uh? I didn't. I did not really do anything to market.
I don't know. I just like played football and tried
to do my best. And Division three you have to
you have to obviously play hard and dominate and you know,
perform and stuff. But yeah, I think I think that
they find good players you know, wherever you're at and stuff.
(06:15):
But I just that was the conference, in the competition
I played in and the cards I was dealt, so
just tried to make the most of that.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
For the both of you, The Niners are not your
first NFL organization, Jake, I think you had five teams, Ben,
this is your second. What makes San Francisco the right
thing for each of you?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Don't gonna go first.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, honestly, it's it's it's a great offense to be
be a part of.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I feel like I'm a little bit undersized as a center,
so I don't fit in every single offense out there.
So being part of a wide zone first run run
scheme and kind of a play action pass pro scheme,
it's I mean, it's great. It's it's been a great
opportunity for me to be here and just being back
with coach first or because I was with him in
Miami too, so being back with him is great.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I would just say pretty much the exact same thing.
It's a great offense and there's certain players that fit
within it and different skill sets.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
So yeah, who have each of you learned the most
from during your time here in San Francisco?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Mean him, definitely him, Coaches, I mean players, it's kind
of everything. Kind of teach you.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Ben, You're coming off your first start and this was
a week thirteen game in which the whole left side
of the line looked a little bit different. How were
you guys all able to get on the same page
have a really successful run blocking game over one hundred
and fifty plus yards on the ground.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, I think just throughout the week, preparing, asking questions,
making sure that you expose what you don't know, and
throughout the week in order to prepare and just like
every week, I mean preparing and watching your film go
on over your playbook and receiving coaching.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
And Uh, anytime you have kind of a loose footing
game or just a game that has like a sloppy
play playing surface, Uh, the aggressor is always going to
be kind of at the upper hands so uh, being
being able to have like those combo blocks and being
able to like tee off on the defensive line and
they have to anchor into something that they really can't
anchor in. Uh, was was really advantageous for us on offense.
(08:27):
I think I think I think we did have a
good run game. Obviously we didn't have the result, but
at the same time, you know, I think we could
definitely learn something from that experience.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Where does that snow Globe game rank on in terms
of adverse weather that you've played in.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I mean it's pretty high.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
For Yeah, yeah, for sure, I've I've never had to
clear my feet at the line of scrimmage, like clear
my cleats like I had to then. I mean I've
had some snow games, but nothing like that.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Right, you were from Minnesota, you were playing in Minnesota,
This might not be so different for you.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I had one I had won my junior year that
was that was identical. That was a playoff game and
it was in November December. But yeah, they were like
clearing all the Saint John's, all the monks were clearing
all the lines and stuff with their gowns on and everything.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
All right, So off the field, both of you are
very involved with our community outreach and we've got some
really cool cleats on the table here because this weekend
is the My Cause Mike Cleats initiative from the NFL.
Can both of you talk about your causes? I know
for you, Jake, Living for Zachary and then Ben Big
Brother Big Brothers and Sisters of Southeast Florida.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Hey, I want to go first.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
So I've actually been really close to this nonprofit called
Living for Zachary. It's based out of the DFW Fort
Worth area, and it's really started kind of out a tragedy.
A teammate of mine in high school ended up losing
his life due to sudden kardiac arrest and an off
season workout, and his family ended up starting this nonprofit
(10:02):
so that wouldn't happen again. So what they do is
they they do a ton of things, but just to
name a few, is they donate ads to sports complexes
that don't have them. They also give out free heart
screenings to youth athletes, so you can just sign up.
I think it's twice or three times a year that
(10:23):
they offer those through Baylor Health. And then they also
give out scholarships to aspiring future mds.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So it's pretty cool, amazing.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Mine is a big brothers Big sisters and the artwork
was done by my little brother John.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, so he like made all of it, and I've
been with them for for about four years now. But
it's an organization that basically has mentors for little sisters
and little brothers that get paired with adults. There's an
extensive screening process and they basically hang out with them
(11:03):
and spend time and do different activities together and be
a role model in their life.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So, I know you touched upon a little bit of
the artwork, but take us in detail of the design
of these cleats and why you made the artistic decisions
that you guys have because they're completely customized for everyone
that doesn't know.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, every year, I just let John do the artwork
and then we throw it on a cleat and then
you know, he gets a cleat. So that's kind of mine.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
But what's the artwork out on it?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It has us playing lifting weights and it's really just
whatever he wants to express or kind of show. Yeah,
it's kind of ambiguous and subjective.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
But has he been your little brother for multiple years?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, Yeah, he's been awesome. I definitely miss him and
we call and stay in touch and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So awesome. What's the best activity you two have done together.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I got him into I'm a bowhunter, so I got
him into archery and I got him his own bow
and we'd go to the range and teach him to
shoot and stuff. So that was cool. And then we
just build legos and go to the beach and stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's cool.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Mine pretty simple, but on the outside it's just the
logo of the nonprofit Living for Zachary, and then on
the inside it's just a little heartbeat line there, but
short and sweet, very simple and to the point.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Both of you also are regulars at Community Tuesday events.
For both of you, why is it important as NFL
athletes to use your platform for good and then also
volunteer your time during busy seasons.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I think for me personally giving back and using you know,
everyone he says the buzzword like using your platform and stuff.
I think I think it's important to help out because
you don't really realize how big of an impact you
know you have as a as an athlete, whether you're
like a star, are you know, highly paid starter or
(13:01):
even just like a backup lineman or whatever the case
may be. Like, it's a really big deal. And I
know if I would have had that as a kid,
you know, that would have been really impactful to me
because I didn't have that grow up in a very
small town and my high school didn't have any professional guys.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So yeah, yeah, same same, I think, Uh, you know,
sometimes you get kind of caught up in just trying
to do your own thing and stay in your own lane,
but you don't really you don't really realize how big
of an I can impact you can have on just
anyone that you come in contact with. So yeah, I
mean we, uh so my wife and I before we
had our daughter, we were huge into all these things
(13:40):
that we would do on the like on our off
days and stuff, and I think we did every single
one of them for like two or three months straight back.
But yeah, I mean, it's it's such it's such a
cool experience just just to see all the different people
that you come in contact with and all the people
that show up to these things, because they really are
just great.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
They're they're all great people.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Our community relations team does a great job organizing these
community Tuesdays. Is there one event that was particularly impactful
for each of you.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
The last one that we went to was the so
we we got to hang out with some people that
were in transition housing and it was just so so
amazing just just to hear their stories of kind of
where they were at their low and then kind of
where they're where they are now just with the help
of a lot of nonprofits and a lot of these
government assistance programs. It's really cool just to hear their
(14:29):
stories and see how they really have just through hard
work and dedication, put themselves in a better position.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I liked. I liked the art work. We did artwork
one with different families affected by cancer, and I thought
that that was really cool because everybody could express themselves
and the art artwork was involving cancer, and you know,
it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Your artwork for that was the Vidhinduel Lupe. Can you
explain your space connection to that? Because the jacket was awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Yeah, thank you. No, our ladies, Guadaloupez big in my
family and world Catholic and so my mom and my
grandma and my grandma had cancer, uh twice and so
just like a special thing kind of in our family.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
That's awesome. So the second part of this podcast, and Jake,
I know you're familiar with this, but fans from across
the country and the YouTube community have sent in questions
for you too, so I'm going to fire them off.
This one is for you, Ben Derek. What's your best
advice for a D two or D three player trying
to stand out?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
It's a good question. I think, like I said before,
I think if you're if you have the skill set,
they're going to find you and ultimately just put your
head down and work and things will things will work out.
I mean control, you can control. You only have the scholarship,
or you're at the school and you're playing against this
competition like that's all that you have, so make the
(16:02):
most of it and you know, walk like your hair
is on fire.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I like that. This one's for both of you. Jessica
from Daily City, who's your biggest supporter?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
For me, it would be my whole family, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I think I get like ten texts every single game
day of just hey man, you know I can't say
what they say, but uh, supportive text mess.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And obviously even even my daughter now is saying like
screaming at the TV, the TV and stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
So it's it's it's it's pretty awesome to see. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah, i'd definitely say my my family, my my whole
family is incredibly supportive of me.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Are you guys kind words sort of supportive or tough love,
like you want somebody screaming at you to get fired
up for game day.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I'm probably more of like, I want to focus on
the game. And you know, as far as you're talking
about like family members, yeah, I want to just you.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Know, folks.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Again, my dad was my coach for a long time
growing up, so we had a lot of uncomfortable drives
home from practices and games. So I respond probably the
tough love more.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Than that makes sense, especially if you're blocking people all
the time. That does make sense. This one's from Travis.
What is your non negotiable in terms of a game
day routine?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
For me?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think diet and preparation as far as hydration and
what you're eating.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I mean that's you.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Know, if you're not fueled up and you didn't have
a good night's sleep, I mean, that's that's for me
a pretty big one.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Yeah, I would say sleep is huge making sure you're
getting to bed at a normal time the night before,
getting rest and then just waking up being being being
rested for the game.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
For the both of you from Angelo, what were your
first impressions of each other and have those impressions changed.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Oh, I guess I'll go first. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Man.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
When I first showed up, I was like, Wow, this
guy's pretty intense at first, you know, when you show
up and you're the new guy in the block and
no one really knows you and you're trying to earn
people's respect and show that you belong, you know. Yeah,
I think at first I was like, well, this guy's
this guy's intense, But then you get to know him
and it's good.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Dude, Jerk was a nice word, Yeah, I mean you
could have used something something a lot worse.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
No, Ben when uh, when he was first signed here, Uh,
you didn't really talk a lot, but when.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You did it was a little goofy sometimes.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
So I thought you were a little goofy, not in
a bad way, Like he cared about football and he
really cared about, you know, perfecting his craft on the field.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
But they're there were there were kind of a lot of.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Like left field comments sometimes randomly and there, and they're
still lost.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
So you're just used to them now.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
All right.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
So, since we talked about it before, the smoothie is,
what are the smoothies you're both drinking these days? I know, Jake,
you had normal smoothies.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So I mean, I literally just have. I used to
work at Jama Juice back in high school.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Oh that's sick.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, I have, I have.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
I have a lot of crazy combos, but my favorite
would be like bananas, blueberries, vanilla, way protein probably like
milk or even water as a base, and then just
some ice.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
That's pretty. It's good.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, I'm not I'm not too fancy. I'm like, uh,
almond butter and strawberries, blueberries, bananas and uh honey, cinnamon.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
There's a lot of ingredients, not too fancy, just twenty
ingredients protein, just like basic stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
I kind of just throw it all in there.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Jake, do you remember any of the recipes from Jama Juice?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
All of them? Yeah? Actually they've they've actually changed a lot. Uh.
I left before they even did the whole bowl thing.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Oh the yeah, the awset you boil.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, so I was, I was. I was out before that.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Now I think there are menus like three times as big,
but you used to. I have to know by heart
every single smoothie recipe.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So doesn't Vernon Davis own some here? I'm sure, pretty
sure it owns is jama Juice here?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, I've been to it.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, that's awesome. Wait where is it?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I think it's San Jose or Santa Clara.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I had no idea. Okay, So just out of curiosity,
what's the healthiest Jamva juice smoothie? What should we be ordering?
Speaker 4 (20:21):
So a lot of the original Jama juice recipes have
like sorbet or yeah I remember, or like this nasty
frozen yogurt stuff. It's not good for you at all.
But they do have all fruit smoothies, and they have
some that have greens in them too, So I would
just I would suggest those ones.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
This is a fun fact, all right. And then last one,
Cameron from Sacramento. What's one thing people don't know about
each of you?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I mean, you could go a lot of options.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
The world is your oyster right now?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah, I love I guess one thing they I don't know?
I like, uh, like art and pottery in particular, like throwing.
I got really into it at college. My mom is
into it and has her own studio and stuff and
has done it, and she's an art teacher and stuff.
So I used to have a studio space earlier on
(21:17):
in my career. But yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
What's the coolest thing you've made?
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I made some good, good mugs and bowls and vases
and stuff. Yeah, it's it's for me. It's doing like
proportional stuff that's not heavier, you know, poorly made.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Me, I'm I'm really good on two wheels. So whether
it's like motorcycles or mountain bikes or back in the
day BMX bikes and stuff like that, not so much
anymore because they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I'm a family man.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, but I used to.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
I used to do some crazy stuff back in the
day on on two wheels.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So we will have to see some unearthed footage of this.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Well.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Thank thank you both for spending some time with us today,
and thank you to our audience for sending in these
wonderful questions. In order to be the first to listen
to the latest episodes of You've Got Mail, make sure
to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts. And Spotify.
That's it from US Niners. Protect your teeth and your
budget with dental plans from Delta Dental. Get fumble free
(22:19):
dental coverage today.
Welcome to the forty nine Ers You've Got Mal podcast
presented by Delta Dental. I'm your host, Lindsay Polaris. Today
we are joined by an offensive lineman duo. We've got
Ben Barge and Jake Brendle. Thank you for spending the
afternoon with us.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you for having us yea, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Ben. This is your first time on the pod, so welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
All right. So, Jake, you told me something a couple
years ago on this podcast about offensive lineman that really
stuck with me. It was you and Mike McGlinchey, a
former forty nine Ers tackle, that becoming an offensive lineman
is something that happens to you. It's not something you
dream of. So that's where we're going to start your
O line origin stories. So how did each of you
(00:42):
become offensive lineman?
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, I'm the new guy. I guess as you start. Yeah,
So I played tight end as a young boy and
then throughout off high school in college, I played tight
end until my sophomore year of college and I transitioned
my year and the coaches confronted me and basically transitioned
that summer and then gained a lot of weight and
(01:07):
learned the position and then kind of went on from there.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Jake, what about you?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
Yeah, So where I grew up in Wisconsin, there was
a weight limit, so to touch the ball you had
to be below a certain amount of pounds. So I
was always like fifty pounds heavier than that. So I
was always on the offense and defensive line. Played both
ways pretty much my entire youth career until high school.
(01:34):
I was defensive line in I guess freshmen and sophomore
year in high school, and then our starting center ended
up graduating and the coaches forced me to go to center.
So over a three month period in summer of like
right after my sophomore year, I gained forty five pounds
(01:54):
and I switched from noseguard to center.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
What was the toughest part about going from D line
to line tight end to line?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I mean, just like fundamentals basically, and you're obviously blocking
a lot heavier guys and more skilled guys inside and
so having i'd say, the fundamentals and stuff of blocking
and leverage and stuff. Whereas tight end, like you're kind
of if you get a great block, it's great, and
if you don't, you know, you're tight end, but blocking
(02:27):
is everything for a line.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
So do you miss catching the ball?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Hover a little bit? But I don't really, I don't
really care.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like a line, would you be down to report as
eligible and.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I would be down, that would be an understatement.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, Jake, what was the biggest thing you had to
learn going from D line to O line?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Obviously, Uh, just learning the offense was was was huge.
Defenses I wouldn't say, uh, they aren't as complicated, but
they're but they're still very hard to execute. So just
just learning the offense, learning the ins and out of
every offense I've been on. I mean, it's definitely been
a struggle, but at the same time, it's what you
(03:06):
put into it. So the more time you put to it,
the better you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Part of the transition to O line involved gaining weight
for the both of you. Then you had a moment
on the NFL network making a very special smoothie in
order to gain weight. It was your secret weapon. I
thought the ingredients were crazy grits, gatorade, scrambled eggs, and
peanut butter. How did you arrive at this smoothie recipe?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Desperation to be honest. Yeah, Like we would go to
all the and we would load up on we couldn't
afford a lot, but we would just get the most
like calor dense foods and stuff. And then I was
a strength coach that summer, so I had to carpool
and had to pick up all my other leads like
five am, and so basically I didn't have time to
(03:56):
like sit down and eat the amount of food. And
so I had this big my buddy had this big
nutrible blender and it had a big old handle and
I basically just blended my breakfast and drank it while
I drove so I wasn't distracted. Don't drive distracted. And yeah,
that was pretty much it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
How many recipe configurations did you have to go through
before arriving at that's the secret recipe for yourself.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I only did it for a couple of months that
summer when I was really trying to gain it a
lot of weight. That was pretty much. It just kind
of threw a bunch of stuff together.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
When's the last time you had one of those smoothies
that summer? Yeah, that summer, Jake, what's the craziest thing
you've put together as a meal? In order to put
on some weight.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Honestly, I just ate like a complete slob for an
entire summer. So I was eating like frozen pizzas and
like tubs of ice cream.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And what kind of frozen pizzas?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh, like the cheapest ones Jassable, Yeah, Jacks or Tombstone,
some Red Barren.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Maybe you know those are classics.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
They used to have, like Red Barn four for ten
bucks back in the day. Now it's like one for
ten dollars. But yeah, and then blue blue Bell ice cream.
I don't know if you've had that. Yeah, Yeah, it's elite.
It's still fantastic ice cream. So I would crush like
half a tub of that every night.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
How different are your diets now?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Bit different? Yeah? A little bit different for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Is there a favorite calorie dense food that you have now?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I still like ice cream? Ice cream is great.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm still sticking with blue Bell.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah. Ice cream was awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yeah, I mean pizza.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, Ben. A lot of people aren't familiar with your story.
You are a D three product out of Saint John's
in Minnesota. How did you become a sought after draft prospect?
What did you do to market yourself?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Uh? I didn't. I did not really do anything to market.
I don't know. I just like played football and tried
to do my best. And Division three you have to
you have to obviously play hard and dominate and you know,
perform and stuff. But yeah, I think I think that
they find good players you know, wherever you're at and stuff.
(06:15):
But I just that was the conference, in the competition
I played in and the cards I was dealt, so
just tried to make the most of that.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
For the both of you, The Niners are not your
first NFL organization, Jake, I think you had five teams, Ben,
this is your second. What makes San Francisco the right
thing for each of you?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Don't gonna go first.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, honestly, it's it's it's a great offense to be
be a part of.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
You know.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I feel like I'm a little bit undersized as a center,
so I don't fit in every single offense out there.
So being part of a wide zone first run run
scheme and kind of a play action pass pro scheme,
it's I mean, it's great. It's it's been a great
opportunity for me to be here and just being back
with coach first or because I was with him in
Miami too, so being back with him is great.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I would just say pretty much the exact same thing.
It's a great offense and there's certain players that fit
within it and different skill sets.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
So yeah, who have each of you learned the most
from during your time here in San Francisco?
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Mean him, definitely him, Coaches, I mean players, it's kind
of everything. Kind of teach you.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Ben, You're coming off your first start and this was
a week thirteen game in which the whole left side
of the line looked a little bit different. How were
you guys all able to get on the same page
have a really successful run blocking game over one hundred
and fifty plus yards on the ground.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, I think just throughout the week, preparing, asking questions,
making sure that you expose what you don't know, and
throughout the week in order to prepare and just like
every week, I mean preparing and watching your film go
on over your playbook and receiving coaching.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
And Uh, anytime you have kind of a loose footing
game or just a game that has like a sloppy
play playing surface, Uh, the aggressor is always going to
be kind of at the upper hands so uh, being
being able to have like those combo blocks and being
able to like tee off on the defensive line and
they have to anchor into something that they really can't
anchor in. Uh, was was really advantageous for us on offense.
(08:27):
I think I think I think we did have a
good run game. Obviously we didn't have the result, but
at the same time, you know, I think we could
definitely learn something from that experience.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Where does that snow Globe game rank on in terms
of adverse weather that you've played in.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
I mean it's pretty high.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
For Yeah, yeah, for sure, I've I've never had to
clear my feet at the line of scrimmage, like clear
my cleats like I had to then. I mean I've
had some snow games, but nothing like that.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Right, you were from Minnesota, you were playing in Minnesota,
This might not be so different for you.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I had one I had won my junior year that
was that was identical. That was a playoff game and
it was in November December. But yeah, they were like
clearing all the Saint John's, all the monks were clearing
all the lines and stuff with their gowns on and everything.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
All right, So off the field, both of you are
very involved with our community outreach and we've got some
really cool cleats on the table here because this weekend
is the My Cause Mike Cleats initiative from the NFL.
Can both of you talk about your causes? I know
for you, Jake, Living for Zachary and then Ben Big
Brother Big Brothers and Sisters of Southeast Florida.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Hey, I want to go first.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
So I've actually been really close to this nonprofit called
Living for Zachary. It's based out of the DFW Fort
Worth area, and it's really started kind of out a tragedy.
A teammate of mine in high school ended up losing
his life due to sudden kardiac arrest and an off
season workout, and his family ended up starting this nonprofit
(10:02):
so that wouldn't happen again. So what they do is
they they do a ton of things, but just to
name a few, is they donate ads to sports complexes
that don't have them. They also give out free heart
screenings to youth athletes, so you can just sign up.
I think it's twice or three times a year that
(10:23):
they offer those through Baylor Health. And then they also
give out scholarships to aspiring future mds.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So it's pretty cool, amazing.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Mine is a big brothers Big sisters and the artwork
was done by my little brother John.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yeah, so he like made all of it, and I've
been with them for for about four years now. But
it's an organization that basically has mentors for little sisters
and little brothers that get paired with adults. There's an
extensive screening process and they basically hang out with them
(11:03):
and spend time and do different activities together and be
a role model in their life.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
So, I know you touched upon a little bit of
the artwork, but take us in detail of the design
of these cleats and why you made the artistic decisions
that you guys have because they're completely customized for everyone
that doesn't know.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, every year, I just let John do the artwork
and then we throw it on a cleat and then
you know, he gets a cleat. So that's kind of mine.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
But what's the artwork out on it?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It has us playing lifting weights and it's really just
whatever he wants to express or kind of show. Yeah,
it's kind of ambiguous and subjective.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
But has he been your little brother for multiple years?
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, Yeah, he's been awesome. I definitely miss him and
we call and stay in touch and stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So awesome. What's the best activity you two have done together.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
I got him into I'm a bowhunter, so I got
him into archery and I got him his own bow
and we'd go to the range and teach him to
shoot and stuff. So that was cool. And then we
just build legos and go to the beach and stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's cool.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
Mine pretty simple, but on the outside it's just the
logo of the nonprofit Living for Zachary, and then on
the inside it's just a little heartbeat line there, but
short and sweet, very simple and to the point.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Both of you also are regulars at Community Tuesday events.
For both of you, why is it important as NFL
athletes to use your platform for good and then also
volunteer your time during busy seasons.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I think for me personally giving back and using you know,
everyone he says the buzzword like using your platform and stuff.
I think I think it's important to help out because
you don't really realize how big of an impact you
know you have as a as an athlete, whether you're
like a star, are you know, highly paid starter or
(13:01):
even just like a backup lineman or whatever the case
may be. Like, it's a really big deal. And I
know if I would have had that as a kid,
you know, that would have been really impactful to me
because I didn't have that grow up in a very
small town and my high school didn't have any professional guys.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So yeah, yeah, same same, I think, Uh, you know,
sometimes you get kind of caught up in just trying
to do your own thing and stay in your own lane,
but you don't really you don't really realize how big
of an I can impact you can have on just
anyone that you come in contact with. So yeah, I
mean we, uh so my wife and I before we
had our daughter, we were huge into all these things
(13:40):
that we would do on the like on our off
days and stuff, and I think we did every single
one of them for like two or three months straight back.
But yeah, I mean, it's it's such it's such a
cool experience just just to see all the different people
that you come in contact with and all the people
that show up to these things, because they really are
just great.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
They're they're all great people.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Our community relations team does a great job organizing these
community Tuesdays. Is there one event that was particularly impactful
for each of you.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
The last one that we went to was the so
we we got to hang out with some people that
were in transition housing and it was just so so
amazing just just to hear their stories of kind of
where they were at their low and then kind of
where they're where they are now just with the help
of a lot of nonprofits and a lot of these
government assistance programs. It's really cool just to hear their
(14:29):
stories and see how they really have just through hard
work and dedication, put themselves in a better position.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I liked. I liked the art work. We did artwork
one with different families affected by cancer, and I thought
that that was really cool because everybody could express themselves
and the art artwork was involving cancer, and you know,
it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Your artwork for that was the Vidhinduel Lupe. Can you
explain your space connection to that? Because the jacket was awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Yeah, thank you. No, our ladies, Guadaloupez big in my
family and world Catholic and so my mom and my
grandma and my grandma had cancer, uh twice and so
just like a special thing kind of in our family.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
That's awesome. So the second part of this podcast, and Jake,
I know you're familiar with this, but fans from across
the country and the YouTube community have sent in questions
for you too, so I'm going to fire them off.
This one is for you, Ben Derek. What's your best
advice for a D two or D three player trying
to stand out?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
It's a good question. I think, like I said before,
I think if you're if you have the skill set,
they're going to find you and ultimately just put your
head down and work and things will things will work out.
I mean control, you can control. You only have the scholarship,
or you're at the school and you're playing against this
competition like that's all that you have, so make the
(16:02):
most of it and you know, walk like your hair
is on fire.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I like that. This one's for both of you. Jessica
from Daily City, who's your biggest supporter?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
For me, it would be my whole family, you know.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I think I get like ten texts every single game
day of just hey man, you know I can't say
what they say, but uh, supportive text mess.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
You know.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
And obviously even even my daughter now is saying like
screaming at the TV, the TV and stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
So it's it's it's it's pretty awesome to see. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah, i'd definitely say my my family, my my whole
family is incredibly supportive of me.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Are you guys kind words sort of supportive or tough love,
like you want somebody screaming at you to get fired
up for game day.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
I'm probably more of like, I want to focus on
the game. And you know, as far as you're talking
about like family members, yeah, I want to just you.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Know, folks.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Again, my dad was my coach for a long time
growing up, so we had a lot of uncomfortable drives
home from practices and games. So I respond probably the
tough love more.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Than that makes sense, especially if you're blocking people all
the time. That does make sense. This one's from Travis.
What is your non negotiable in terms of a game
day routine?
Speaker 2 (17:25):
For me?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think diet and preparation as far as hydration and
what you're eating.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I mean that's you.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Know, if you're not fueled up and you didn't have
a good night's sleep, I mean, that's that's for me
a pretty big one.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
Yeah, I would say sleep is huge making sure you're
getting to bed at a normal time the night before,
getting rest and then just waking up being being being
rested for the game.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
For the both of you from Angelo, what were your
first impressions of each other and have those impressions changed.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Oh, I guess I'll go first. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Man.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
When I first showed up, I was like, Wow, this
guy's pretty intense at first, you know, when you show
up and you're the new guy in the block and
no one really knows you and you're trying to earn
people's respect and show that you belong, you know. Yeah,
I think at first I was like, well, this guy's
this guy's intense, But then you get to know him
and it's good.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Dude, Jerk was a nice word, Yeah, I mean you
could have used something something a lot worse.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
No, Ben when uh, when he was first signed here, Uh,
you didn't really talk a lot, but when.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You did it was a little goofy sometimes.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
So I thought you were a little goofy, not in
a bad way, Like he cared about football and he
really cared about, you know, perfecting his craft on the field.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
But they're there were there were kind of a lot of.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Like left field comments sometimes randomly and there, and they're
still lost.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
So you're just used to them now.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
All right.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
So, since we talked about it before, the smoothie is,
what are the smoothies you're both drinking these days? I know, Jake,
you had normal smoothies.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So I mean, I literally just have. I used to
work at Jama Juice back in high school.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Oh that's sick.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, I have, I have.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
I have a lot of crazy combos, but my favorite
would be like bananas, blueberries, vanilla, way protein probably like
milk or even water as a base, and then just
some ice.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
That's pretty. It's good.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, I'm not I'm not too fancy. I'm like, uh,
almond butter and strawberries, blueberries, bananas and uh honey, cinnamon.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
There's a lot of ingredients, not too fancy, just twenty
ingredients protein, just like basic stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
I kind of just throw it all in there.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Jake, do you remember any of the recipes from Jama Juice?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
All of them? Yeah? Actually they've they've actually changed a lot. Uh.
I left before they even did the whole bowl thing.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Oh the yeah, the awset you boil.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah, so I was, I was. I was out before that.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Now I think there are menus like three times as big,
but you used to. I have to know by heart
every single smoothie recipe.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
So doesn't Vernon Davis own some here? I'm sure, pretty
sure it owns is jama Juice here?
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, I've been to it.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, that's awesome. Wait where is it?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
I think it's San Jose or Santa Clara.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
I had no idea. Okay, So just out of curiosity,
what's the healthiest Jamva juice smoothie? What should we be ordering?
Speaker 4 (20:21):
So a lot of the original Jama juice recipes have
like sorbet or yeah I remember, or like this nasty
frozen yogurt stuff. It's not good for you at all.
But they do have all fruit smoothies, and they have
some that have greens in them too, So I would
just I would suggest those ones.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
This is a fun fact, all right. And then last one,
Cameron from Sacramento. What's one thing people don't know about
each of you?
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I mean, you could go a lot of options.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
The world is your oyster right now?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah, I love I guess one thing they I don't know?
I like, uh, like art and pottery in particular, like throwing.
I got really into it at college. My mom is
into it and has her own studio and stuff and
has done it, and she's an art teacher and stuff.
So I used to have a studio space earlier on
(21:17):
in my career. But yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
What's the coolest thing you've made?
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I made some good, good mugs and bowls and vases
and stuff. Yeah, it's it's for me. It's doing like
proportional stuff that's not heavier, you know, poorly made.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Me, I'm I'm really good on two wheels. So whether
it's like motorcycles or mountain bikes or back in the
day BMX bikes and stuff like that, not so much
anymore because they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I'm a family man.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, but I used to.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
I used to do some crazy stuff back in the
day on on two wheels.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
So we will have to see some unearthed footage of this.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Well.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Thank thank you both for spending some time with us today,
and thank you to our audience for sending in these
wonderful questions. In order to be the first to listen
to the latest episodes of You've Got Mail, make sure
to subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts. And Spotify.
That's it from US Niners. Protect your teeth and your
budget with dental plans from Delta Dental. Get fumble free
(22:19):
dental coverage today.
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