November 28, 2025 • 33 mins
Travis is joined by Dolphins Special Teams Coordinator Craig Aukerman to teach us about special teams finer points, what’s made the Dolphins unit click this year, football in the MAC and the Aukerman Family Foundation. Plus, Week 13 picks and Travis stops by the locker room to talk to Dante Trader Jr., Kenneth Grant, Ollie Gordon and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine about their cause and their cleats this weekend.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What is up Dolphins and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday, everybody, hope your holidays were good.
A little treat for you here a day after leftovers,
the best part of the meal.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Treat for you.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Coach Craig Ackerman joins me on the show today. Plus
we'll pick the rest of the week thirteen games, and
we'll stop by the Dolphins locker room to talk to
four players about their cause and their cleats ahead of
this Weekend's My Cause, My Cleats initiatives across the National
Football League. From the Baptist Hill Studios inside the Baptist
Hell's Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
This is the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Mayie Gaff, Dolphins Special teams coordinator Craig Ackerman my guest today.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Coach.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
How are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Man? I'm doing great and happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I want to kick off the interview here talking about
your roots because because I am a true football psycho
who loves machin on a Tuesday night. Oh yeah, and
you got your start, Miami, Ohio alum, got your coaching
start in the MAC as well. Right, what has the
MAC done to develop this like national cult following that
it has in your opinion.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Yeah, I mean it's it's an interesting concept that they
end up doing with maction, you know, the way for
them to get some notoriety from national news where they
have games on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, which is obviously very
different than what we're used to. Even when I was
growing up high school then college, I was playing on Saturdays,
(01:34):
and now you get games during the course of the week,
which is really interesting. But I think it's brought a
lot of attention to the MAC, and I think it's
really good for it.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, it's been fun to see. I mean there's a
lot of good players come out of that conference and
coming to the NFL. And never forget watching Antonio Brown
and Dan la Fever Central Michigan on sow far back.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
My mation large well, that's not a good memory for
me because we've got beat in the MAC championship by
Antonio Brown and actually JJ Watt was on the team
too at that time. So yeah, I had a great
time there in the MAC and it really helped me
with my career. I met a lot of good coaches there,
just starting out with Terry Heppner, and then I think
we've got a lot of coaches right now. They're in
(02:11):
the NFL from Miami of Ohio.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
We'll apologize to bring up old scars like that. Man,
I'm gonna roll. I got McDaniel earlier this week to
talking about Tomorrio Davis too, So I'm on a wow
with with that this week. But so you got your
start there, and you know at Finley, right, yeah, and
then you make the jump to Western Kentucky and you
coach linebackers and special teams and you went to the
defensive side of the ball for a few years, but
you settle into a special team's job in twenty twelve
and you've been there ever since. I'm always curious how
(02:33):
coaches cut their teeth on special teams because it kind
of like that the third phase, you know, you go
over to that side of the ball. And I'm just
curious how you got your start in that in special teams.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Well, really, I started in high school, you know, I
was a punter and did some things there, and then college,
you know, early on.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
In my career, I ended up playing some special teams.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
So that's where I kind of cut my teeth with
special teams, and then when I start getting into coaching,
it really turned into effect.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
And when I gad there at.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Miami of Ohio, where you get asked to coach a
bunch of different positions, so you get to learn a
lot of things there. And then fortunately when I went
to Western Kentucky and got a job there, the head
coach said, hey, I really want you to coach special
teams and be the coordinator, and that kind of where
it took off. And then you know, in the NFL,
I was working defense and then had an opportunity to
(03:19):
move back over to special teams and I jumped out
to chance to to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
The more hats you can wear, right right, it works,
That's exactly right. We see all the time. Let's talk
some Dolphins football here and so as of this taping,
I don't know if you you know, there's somebody stats
out there right that people follow, but in EPA special teams,
you guys are third in the NFL right now on
special teams. How would you describe the steps that your
unit has taken to be one of the best special
teams groups in.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
The NFL so far?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Well, Travis, that's the first I've heard of that, which
which is great, you know, but you know, we really
don't look at stats as far as us as coaches
and you know, just talking to the players sometimes, you know,
well we'll bring up a few things to them, but
you know, our daily process is that we want to
get better every single day and kind of even going
(04:03):
even further than that is we want to get better
every single rep. And how do we do that. We've
got to make sure we're focused in on the meetings.
We got to make sure we're focused in on everything
that we do out there on the football field, and
that way we can make it as hard as we
possibly can during practice where it's easier for them during
the game time. So you know, we just try to
do our best as far as you know, Ronnie Joe
(04:25):
Jones really doing a really good job as far as
coaching and teaching these guys and you know, making them
learn in the practice and in meetings, so like all
that stuff really helps him out during the game.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Just for awareness, EPA's expected points at it. It is
basically a metric that tracks how much your play on
that particular play impacts the outcome of the game. So
you guys are doing very well, great in that regard,
and big part of that has been Jake Bailey. What's
impressed you most about Jake and the punting unit this year.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, just he's a professional.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Like I was really excited to work with Jake, and
you know, he's really turned it up, you know, whether
it was in the off season then during training camp.
I thought his training camp was just spot on on
everything that he did. You know, he's very detailed in
his approach of what he wants to accomplish. You know,
I just kind of sensed it right away during training
camp that he might have been on a different level.
(05:17):
And you know, he's just really improved. And it started
during the preseason games where he had a really unbelievable
preseason and that just carried over to training camp or
continued with training camp and then during the course of
the season. But he's doing a great job along with
getting hangtime and distance and directions. It's been unbelievable to
(05:38):
watch him. And I know the players you know have
noticed that too.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Around the league.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He's been playing closest to the pin with a goal
line man's sticking those ponds right there on the five
yard line every single time. It seems like something else
the punters do that I think goes kind of under
the radars as the holding aspect of the position, right,
And I always wonder because, like you know, you get
a picture catcher battery, like if you change that dynamic
some times it can cause problems. But he has a
new kicker that you know, he learns about in week
three of the preseason because Jason gets injured and here
(06:02):
comes Riley Potterson who has a really good season for us.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Here.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
What's that like for Jake to have to learn a
new kicker to hold for?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, it is different.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
And I know when I've worked with punters and kickers
for a long time and it's a really big deal
for those guys to have continuity.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
They know everything about each other.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And when Jason unfortunately went down, we had to bring
in Riley, and Riley's done a great job. But I
feel like Jake has done a really good job of
building that relationship with Riley and they can go over
and talk about a few things that they want to accomplish.
They might be doing something different with a different type
of hand flash with the tap of their finger, you know,
all these different types of things that we're trying to get,
(06:42):
you know, the field goal block unit to not get
a key on us. So I think it's really helped
those guys building a connection off the field, it's helped
them on the field.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, the big part of those rankings I talked
about the stats that we don't we don't care about, right,
we don't care about the stats so much. But your
core special teams guys Elijah Campbell, Alec Engles, somebody to
tell about here, but just those two to kind of
go off the top. But for the layman, I'm just
curious what makes a good special team a good core
special teams player.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, I think it's the one too. You know.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
We can talk about, hey, all their physical attributes and
mentally and stuff like that, but to me, it all
comes down, you know, do you want to play on
special teams? How are you going to make an impact
with this football team to help us win football games?
Which is the only stat that you know, anyone should
care about. So I think that want two is a
really big part of it. And guys who really want
(07:31):
to take and excel in a role, whether it's on
one special teams or on all four core. I think
that really sets them apart and allows them to be
a good football player.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So I mentioned the press conferences earlier. I always enjoy
your pressers with some of my favorites because you teach
us so much within those press conferences. And you recently
told us that you watch every single game across the NFL.
That's that's the Special team's aspect of the tape right
that you're watching. I'm dying to know what that process
is like, Like what's your routine to get through what
seems to be hours and hours of tape? Right?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
So, I mean we're trying to focus in on the
opponent that we're playing for the week. But then once
we feel like we've got a really good beat on them,
now it's our time to really go and continue to learn.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
You know, that's my biggest thing.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I want to continue to learn get better so I
can teach these players a bunch of different things, whether
it's technique, fundamentals.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Rules, things like that. You know. I want to.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Continue to sharpen my mind too as a special teams coordinator.
So once we find out that we have enough time,
we'll go through all of the clips.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I like watching them by game.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
I know some coordinators when I talk to them, they
really go by phases. I like to watch in the game,
so I can get a really good feel of that
team too. So we try to make a bunch of
clips and show the players that, hey, here's some situations
that are coming up throughout the league, good or bad
learning moments that we're trying to teach these guys all
the time. And you know, I think it was really
(08:53):
good early on in the preseason when Ali Gordon, who's
a rookie barely played on special teams there at Oklahoma State, uh,
did a really good job in the Detroit game of
putting his foot out and touching the ball and then
showing that on film and then him doing it.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
During a game.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I think that really caught people's attention, you know, at
least his teammates attention that hey, you know, this rookie's
learning and hey, maybe I'm a fifth year guy, I
maybe didn't know the rule or didn't pay attention maybe
when the coach was talking about it beforehand. So I
thought that was pretty key for us as far as
special teams as a young rookie to go out there
and do some good things.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Because that happens across the league all the time, where
the guys don't do that right and they wind up
catching it in balance, they go out of bounce ball
at the six yard line and then you're you're backed
up on that drive. I'm curious because watching special teams
like is a different, you know, animal than offense and defense.
But do you ever watch offense and defense and see
something that's like that might translate to my side? Love?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, there's some things as far as you know, what
we do offensively too, that I look at, you know,
certain things from around the league. I know, four years
ago I got something from the Detroit Lions when they
did an offensive set where they did a motion and
they went and tapped on like a tight end and
he went out and motioned a little bit on a shift.
(10:08):
So we try to incorporate some things like that from
around the league. But that's I hardly do that because
there's so much time for me to spend on special
teams and stuff from around the league on special teams too,
But I'll occasionally just work my way.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
In there on offense and defense and take a look
at stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
But it stands out to you, like you remember that
from four years ago. Yeah, I like it. They stick
out in a certain way. I remember asking you once
upon time about the soccer ball punting drill, that the
blocking the soccer balls opposed to football. Can you tell
us about that on the show here a little bit?
And also are there any other drills that football fans
might be surprised by their doing? So I think if
you saw that at a training camp practice, like as
a fan of the stands and maybe be like, what's
going on there?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So I got that a long time ago. When I
was an assistant. We used dodgeballs beforehand, which are a
little bit softer, but I guess we wanted to toughen
them up.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
A little bit with the soccer balls.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
But really it's for the block point, you know. We
want to make sure that these guys understand we're not
trying to close our eyes when we're blocking a kick,
because I think a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Of fans would be shocked.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Even though our players have a helmet, there's some people
that will still close their eyes or turn their head.
We want to make sure that obviously they're they're looking
at the ball and we're trying to block a punt
that our hands are lower than our eyes, so we
can really see what's going on. We want to have
our hands together and we obviously want to run as
fast as we possibly can. And then at the last second,
that's when we want to throw our hands out to
(11:27):
go and block that kick.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
So the soccer balls help out with that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Plus we get to make fun of the people who
end up turning their head or closing their eyes. But
you know, there's all different types of drills. That's one
of the things that I do in the off season.
I'll call my friends up that are coaching in college
in the NFL. Hey, you know, if you want to
talk football with me at any point time, I would
love to do it. But just know that I'm going
to try to steal something from you. So you know,
(11:51):
I got that a long time ago from one of
my friends. And I'll continue to try to work on
getting new drills for our players to learn.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
And this is this has been so great, seach us
so much in these in these interviews, in these press commerences.
But I want to finish something a little more close
to home for you, the Ackerman Family Foundation. Can you
just tell us about that, and then what you guys
have done with that, what you've achieved and what it
means to you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah. Cool.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
It's something that my wife and I talked about a
long time ago, you know, trying to do something.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Really it started with COVID where we had.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
We had some time to go and work on the foundation,
kind of get things going.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Hey what do we want to do.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
We start out, well, maybe we just do a free
kids camp, and it's like okay, Well, then we started
talking to some of my uncles, my cousins, and fortunately enough,
my wife's uncle owns a golf course and then another
one of her uncle he does a lot of business
stuff that has ran you know, golf outings things like that.
(12:44):
So when we went back up to Finlay, Ohio, we
kind of just said, hey, we're maybe going to start
a foundation and try to do some things to help
out the kids. And they're like, listen, we'll do everything,
like we'll do the kids camp, we'll do the golf outing,
and we'll do an auction. We'll try to raise money
for these kids because we all know, you know, going
(13:06):
to college, how expensive it is to go to college now.
So we're just trying to build relationships through families. You know,
when we have this free kids camp at my high
school there at Macomo, Ohio.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
It's all free of charge.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We get people to donate their time their money to
help out these young kids learn the game of football.
And then when we do the golf outing, we do
the auction that's to help rate scholarship money for those
kids that are working off to go to college.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So we ask them to do a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
It's just not free money for these kids, because you know,
everyone's working hard for their money. So what we end
up doing, they got to have a certain GPA. They've
got to have community service hours, which my wife is
really big into this oldest. He puts in a lot
hours of community service. So we ask them to do
community service and then we ask them to write a
(13:54):
three hundred word essay on how a coach has impacted
their life. So it's a lot of good things that
we end up doing for those kids. So just really
enjoy how the community there in Macomb Finlay has really
kind of supported us and what we end up doing,
and it's been great. We're going to try to do
(14:14):
it as long as we possibly can. We've got great
people helping us out, like you, my uncles and aunts,
and cousins. They're out there in the grill, you know,
growing for the people there at the golf outing.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
So it is truly a family affair.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
That's why we called it the Ackerman Family Foundation, because
it's just not about me, it's about my whole family.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You're imparting your credo. The more you can do on
these kids, right, it's the entire exactly. Craig Ackerman, Dolphins
Special Teams Cordator coach, appreciate your time to the man,
and best lucks on you. Thank you, hemen, man, I
appreciate you, and away, coach ak goes. Let's go ahead
and pause right there for our first break. Come back
on the other side and pick the week thirteen games
across the National Football League Drift Time Podcast brought to
(14:54):
you by Auto National. Know that the season doesn't start
until Thanksgiving is played the old Mike francessa right, and
so we have Thanksgiving in the rear view, which means
the NFL season is officially underway and the Dolphins will
kick off their season on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
All jokes aside.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I assume recording this on a Wednesday that we had
a pretty good slate of Thanksgiving Day games. I think
Joe Burrow's return to the Bengals is not a great
element if you're looking to make this six and zero
run down the stretch to finish this season ten and seven.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
But I think we can beat the Bengals even with
Joe Burrow.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But it sure as hell makes the Thanksgiving slate really
nice because Detroit and Green Bay with Casey and Dallas
that feel like it could be a close game. And
then the nightcap Baltimore and Cincinnati. You are always good
games when it's Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow squaring off.
So we will see what the record for me. I
took all the chalk in that on that day. I
believe Packers, no, No, No, Lions, Chiefs, and the Ravens.
(15:57):
So let's get to the rest of the week. Thirteen picks.
Everybody is in action, so we have sixteen games, three
games in the rear view.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That means thirteen games left.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
To go go ahead and cue the music right here,
and let's go ahead and start on Black Friday, which
is later on today. I'll take the Eagles over the Bears.
I do feel I mean I got the Bears wrong.
Because I think I had them at seven and ten,
possibly six and eleven, although they are this year's chiefs
in terms of rescuing games late that they were struggling
(16:26):
and trilling within the entire game for the most part.
But I do think we'll get that to even out
somewhat here down the stretch with a really brutal schedule,
and it starts here against the Eagles, where I think Philly.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Actually, I think Philly's gonna handle us one.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I think They're gonna be able to get after Kaleb Williams
and pressure him. He's gonna run backwards into that pressure
and take a bunch of sacks and negative plays, and
the Philly defense will put a stomping on the Bears
offense and get a big win here. On Black Friday,
fast forward to Sunday, we picked the Dolphins over the
Saints on the Wednesday preview podcast. I'm taking the Jags
over the Titans, but I am I think the Jazz
(17:00):
are going to get picked off in one of these
lopsided game, like presumed lopsided games here, eventually, will it
be the Titans. They play him twice, And that's why, honestly,
that Jags and Cardinals result on Sunday was such a
kick in the gut if you will, to Miami's potential,
(17:20):
you know, miracle ten and seven playoff run here because
the Jags. I don't see the Jags winning less than
ten games with the remaining schedule they have, and if
they're going to drop it, they're probably gonna have to
drop a game like this to the Titans and they
play them twice, and I think the Titans will play
better football because I think cam Ward has kind of
graduated out of the rookie element of his career.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I think he's kind of made.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That next step to where he feels more comfortable and
looks more like the player we saw at the University
of Miami and at Washington State University.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Go Koog's Will it happen this week? I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But I think there's a chance they could pick them
off in one of those two games. Maybe that's wish
full thinking, you know, trying to get the miracle playoff
run here going.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
But I don't know, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I'll take the Niners over the Browns. The Niners are
going to get to what are they eight and four?
They're going to get to ten and four here over
the next two games, playing the Browns and the Titans,
they're gonna I think handle the Browns pretty well in
this one. I'll take the Colts over the Texans. Now
the Texans will get C. J. Stroud back. And I
think the debate about Stroud versus Davis Mills, if there
(18:18):
is one in local markets or otherwise, is crazy because
you watch the games, like, don't play the results right,
play what your eyes tell you and tell you and
what the tape tells you. And when I watch the tape,
there there's no competition there between Davis Mills and C. J. Stroud.
But if the Texans offense, if they can recapture any
of their twenty twenty three magic that Stroud had that
(18:39):
sterling rookie season, this is a team that can make
some noise, but still until proven otherwise, it's an offense
that you know, they struggled to put the Bills away
in that game despite repeated pummeling of Josh Allen, sacking
the quarterback, turning him over, getting big stops in critical
spot and critical spots in the game. And if they
can just put together any semblance of offense, I think
(18:59):
they could make run and pick off the Colts for
the AFC South, they play them twice down the stretch
here as well. Do I think it'll happen. No, I
do not, and I do think we'll see Daniel Jones
continue to kind of regress back towards you know, what
his play was for the earlier part of his entire career.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I don't think it happens here, though.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I think Tech the Colts will find enough play to
get this win over the Houston Texans, who are coming
off of a ten day rest and their biggest win
of the season over Buffalo. I like the Colts to
put some distance between them and the rest of the
AFC South here. I'll take the Jets over the Falcons.
We see the Jets next week. I think Tyrod Taylor
was a net positive for them, although the offense is
still very much struggling so far this season, and the
(19:39):
defense without Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams. I just don't
think the Falcons with Kirk Cousins and without Drake London
are a threat to really, you know, challenge what the
Jets don't do well. I think Miami will be able to.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Beat the Jets next week.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
But this week the Jets get their third win of
the season, and I hope it happens, because, Hey, keep
on moving yourself down that list and further away from
QB one. In this next year's draft class, I'll take
the Bucks over the Cardinals, and I'm sort of inclined
to do that with or without Baker, even if Baker
plays that shoulder injury. Man, it's the same one that
he injured when he and the Browns said no thanks
(20:12):
to him, no mistakingly so they say it's not a
serious sprain, but it's still an ac joint. They're just
such a better football team than the Cardinals, even though
they've lost what for the last five games. I'll take
the Bucks at home over the Cardinals, with or without
Baker Mayfield. In this one, I'll take the Rams over
the Panthers. I thought the Panthers kind of showed you
who they were in that Monday night football game. And
(20:33):
the Rams are the best team in the league by
a pretty far margin in my opinion, So give me
the Rams in that one. I'll take the Seahawks over
the Vikings. Remember Max Brosmer on the draft preview podcast
talking about my preferred Day three quarterback options, it was
Max Brosmer and he might get his first career start
here with JJ McCarthy now in concussion protocol. But the Seahawks,
(20:54):
regardless of who plays quarterback for the Vikings, the Seahawks
run rough shot over the Vikings at home in this one.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Take the Bills over the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It's a four to twenty five kickoff, so you can
watch that after the Dolphins and Saints tilt and if
the Bills get picked off here, I'm telling you, I'm
telling you, if the Steelers can pull this one off,
and they should have Rogers back for this game, watch
out for a Buffalo slide here.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Man.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
This is not their hardest game remaining, and to me,
it's a must win game for them. It kind of
reminds me of the game in twenty three, which you know,
in hindsight, I've been thinking back to that season quite
a lot lately if they would have lost a game
against the Cowboys at home, but they rolled the Cowboys
in that game, so it doesn't really work this way.
But they also had a game on a Saturday before
(21:36):
our game against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve where they
played the Chargers without Justin Herbert and Easton Stick.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Damn near beat the Bills in that game.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I think they had like a fourth down and four
to get a stop on the Bills game winning drive
and they couldn't quite get it. And He's like, man,
if they just would have won that game, we would
have won the division that year and played Pittsburgh in
the first round. But again, let's not go over old scars.
I think Buffalo this game is similar to the Cowboys
or that Chargers game, whereas if they drop it, it
could get serious quick for them in terms of possibly
missing the playoffs. But I don't think it'll happen. I
(22:07):
think Buffalo is a much better team and they'll get
that win. But it's a big one if you're a
Dolphins fan hoping for a ten to seven backdoor playoff appearance.
I'll take the Chargers over the Raiders. I'm not picking
the Raiders the rest of the way, no matter who
they play against. That is the worst team in football
right now in my opinion, maybe the Titans, but I
think cam Ward would overcome the Raiders and get a
win against that team if they played right now. I'll
take Washington, no, no, no. If Daniels is not supposed to play,
(22:32):
so I'm gonna take the Broncos. If Daniels does play,
I might flip it, but I'm gonna go with the
Broncos over the Commanders here. I just think the Broncos
are poised to get picked off here, but they get
a backup quarterback in this one, and a banged up
Commander's team off of a bye, off of a tough
loss in Madrid. So give me the Broncos at home
on Sunday Night football, and I'll take the Patriots over
the Giants on Monday Night. So there you go, Week
(22:53):
thirteen picks. Let's go ahead and pause right there, come
back and do the my cause. Mike Leach chats, Dante
Trader all the Gordon, Kenneth Grant, and Nick Westbrook Akine
were my chats. Let's get to that next year. On
the Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation, I'm
here with Dolphins defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. Kennedy, First of all,
congrat so far on a good rookie season. Just how's
(23:15):
things going for you so far your rookie season?
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Pretty well, We're focused on the next game, and you
know trying to get on a run and you know
win the next thing.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That's my intro to you because I want to talk
to you about your cleats here, so so everybody can
move right the Amputee Coalition that's the cause behind your
cleats this week and tell us a little bit more
about that, that foundation and what it means to you.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
It means a lot to me, to be honest. Certainly
in the sports world, a lot of kids that have amputees.
The insurance doesn't pay for it if you want to
play sports, So it's just credit credit to them. Those
those guys over there are getting you know, legislation to
sign things and you know, be able for insurance to
pay for the amputees legs to be made and you
(23:56):
know play sports.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Yeah, that's a really cool cause I watched a lot
of golf YouTube and there's some golfers out there that
are amputees that can swing a golf club one handed,
Like is that amazing?
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Yeah, they could do a lot of good things. You know,
I saw a lot of track runners. They have both
legs on with with the with the legs, so you know,
if you give them the legs or whatever they need,
they can show out for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
That's how it goes, right, is there?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Do you have like a connection to anybody or like
a specific reason why you chose this this cause?
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Yeah, I really just chose it because, you know, I
believe all kids deserve to play sports, no no, no,
whether no amount of money gets in the way of it.
You know, all kids should be able to, you know,
play a sport no matter what they're going through and
things like that.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So how about the design of your cleats. I know
we don't have them here with us today, but you
know what they look like. You designed them like what
we're looking at here. And when it comes Sunday, when
you're gonna be wearing those those fresh kicks.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
On the game, Yeah, I'm gonna have some heat on
my feet. Man, Gotta look a couple of stick figures
to represent them, and you know things like that. I
got the everybody can move down the front of my
shoes just represent them.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So it's gonna be some heat.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Kath Grant, Dolphins fensive tackle Appy sure it time today, man,
Thank you, thank you. The sense I am joined by
Dolphins running back Alli Gordon the second Ali we're talking
about my cause, my cleats. This week, and I just
told you before he popped on the show here that
they're going to look good when you see those in
the end zone. But first rushing touchdown last week, I
want to ask you how that felt first before you
do anything else.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
You know, it felt good, got out there and we
got we was in that zone. You know, had to
get one yard our line to what to do? You know,
it was handling bits at the whole game. Shout out
to thirty two thirty definitely handle bisins out that is
so I feel like, you know, we all worked together
and all worked out.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
First Miami Dolphins to score a touchdown in Spain in
a regular season game. That's gotta sound good too.
Speaker 6 (25:32):
No, I definitely does. But I feel like all the
credit got to the line, you know. I mean, we
wouldn't have been in that situation without them.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Spoken like a true team player running back. Let's talk
about your cleats here that I'm looking at right now.
So it's the cause is for the Lotus House that
helps women and children experiencing homelessness. I just want to
first kind of gauge like why you chose this cause
and why it's important to you.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Now.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
Yeah, I definitely chose these causes because you know, I
thought single mothers, you know, whenever I've seen it, and
I just I'm I supporting so much as because I
was raised by one, you know, and I feel like
my mama put it all on the line for me.
So you know, I feel like all of the single
mothers need you know, some shoutouts too, you know, especially
when they get hard to keep going.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So I feel like that's a great cause.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Does your mom know about the cause that you've chosen them?
Speaker 6 (26:08):
No, I see, doesn't know yet. So it'll be her
first time seeing them on at the game Sunday.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
So she's gonna You're gonna like, should be there Sunday.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, she'll be here Sunday.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So she'll come up to you after the game, you know,
when you meet up with their family in the parking lot,
you'll you'll unveil this to her. What do you think
her reaction is gonna be?
Speaker 6 (26:21):
No, So she'll see pregames. She'll be on a field
pre game. So I'm gonna let to see him the
inn and at the game. I feel like he's gonna
go back home with her.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
That's awesome, man, good stuff, all right, So let's just
talk about the cletes themselves, so real quick. I was
again talking about the colors here. Yeah, if we're in
the All Whites, which usually Sundays one o'clock, we are,
those are gonna pop.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Man, tell me about the design behind these cleats.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
I went with the little pink and purple. I feel
like pink just because, you know, I feel like they
represent love a lot, you know, especially with moms and
their kids. And I went purple because that's kind of
like our birthstone color, you know. So I went with that,
and purple my favorite color.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
I don't really I don't know if she like pink
or not, but I feel like she's like these on
the nicket suite, I'll put her initials, you know, just
because I feel like I'm represent so I feel like,
you know, I got to represent my mind the most,
you know, So I'm up with that. And I got
love this on there, which is it saying that me
and my mama say to each other, which is like,
you know, it's love and it's only us, you know
what I'm saying. So I went with that and then
(27:12):
got a little hard to represent love again.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Tell me about love is real quick, so how long
how far backs that go between you and your mom?
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Man, my mom is saying that Denise is I was born.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
It is not even can remember.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
So you know it's been what twenty one years, about
to be twenty two.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
It's a losing count.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
Yeah, I los account.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I'm getting up there, man.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
We take get thirty eight. Man, it gets a little
faster up there. All the other man appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yes, so I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I'm joining her by Dolphins wide receiver Nick Westbrook. Can't
I talking about my cause my claims? This weekend and
just off the top, like what does this weekend mean
to You've been in league for a while now, what
does this weekend mean to you in terms of get
a good chance to really, you know, talk about something
important and show it on your feet. Yeah, it's huge.
Speaker 7 (27:46):
I mean this game ultimately, like we play a kid's game,
but it's bigger than that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
It's finally, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
We get a special platform at least once once every
year to highlight you know, something that means means a
lot to us. So it's it's special and I feel
like every year, you know, you want to play a
little bit harder. I know, last year, you know, I had,
like for Destiny Rescue, I had one of the survivors
names on my cleat and it was just like cool,
you know, it just felt like there was more more into.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
It, more for the game, like they were there with
you almost.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Yeah, in a way, in a way.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, So you mentioned the name right there, Destiny's Rescue
with RESCH which which is rescuing children from sexual exploitation
and human trafficking. Just tell us a little bit why
that's important to you, why you chose that, cause.
Speaker 7 (28:25):
Yeah, you know, my wife and I we both just
have a heart for for young kids, especially the innocent,
especially when you know they're suffering things like that and
it's really not up to them, like they don't really
have the choice or the freedom to you know, choose.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
A different option sometimes.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
And so really that's what it is, is just you know,
fighting for the ones that don't have a voice and
don't feel like they they're heard or seen.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
And how doose Destiny's Rescue get involved, Like what what's
the action behind what they do to to help with
this you know obviously horrible thing.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
Yeah, yeah, it's a full I mean, it's a full
fledd of full fledged approach where you know, they helped
conduct raid where they're working with the local law enforcement withever,
whatever country that they're at to do these raids where
they'll go in and stop these operations and get the
kids out of there safely and have places for them
then to you know, rehab, recover, heal from everything that
(29:16):
they you know, went through, and then set them up
to you know, have a life outside of that, a
life of freedom where they get to choose what, you know,
what they want to do, whether it's being a hairdresser,
you know, whatever, you know, joys or passions that they have.
So it's a it's a full fledged approach to bring
from you know, you know, slavery or not slavery, but exploitations, suffering, trafficking.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
To freedom being held against your will. I mean that's yeah.
And the idea of you know, repairing beyond what happened,
because like you get them out of situation, that's one thing,
but then to like have a normal life after that
probably probably difficult on those those young people.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
Yeah, and you know, I think I remember seeing a
study it's like you know, between you know, six and
nine and some of the most impressionable years that really
shape your world view you and unfortunately a lot of
these kids don't really even have a choice, uh for
what they're going through in those years.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Jess.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It's it's really heavy and it's just like getting emotional almost.
But let's let's end with this.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Do you have your cleats with you already?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Or they come out?
Speaker 3 (30:12):
I think they're coming in. They're coming in.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
So what'll we be looking at? You? I know you
design them right, so like what do they look like?
And what are you going to be a you know,
what's it gonna be looking like? Athor on Sunday?
Speaker 7 (30:20):
Yeah, we got a cool uh it's like this like
maroon color. It actually kind of works out with Dustiny
Rescue's colors are similar to Dolphin. There's a lot of
orange in there too. So I can't remember the exact
messaging right now, but the whole, the whole campaign with
this this year is just the power of choice being
especially you know for me, Like I've had a choice
all my life to choose to play football, and so
(30:42):
it's trying to empower the choice Dustey Rescue freeing up
choice for these kids that are, you know, in these
really really tough situations.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Nick Westbrook, can you apprecre you time today?
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Man, Thank you, thank you, Vinge.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I am joined by Dolphins rookie safety Dante Trader. Dante.
We got a couple of cleats who I'm looking at
in your hands right now from my Cause my cleats
this week. I just want to first ask you about
what the cause means to you. So public schools raise me?
Is your your nonprofit of choice or talk to us
about that little bit if you can.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
So when I was growing up, I always had teachers
and staff members always impacted my life.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I was really close to a lot of people.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
And then it's crazy my mom is a teacher now,
so being able.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
To see what she goes.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Through and you know, helping the next generation of kids
and education. I've always had a close their heart with
education kids. So every time I get to go home,
I go back to down Mar Elementary and.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Go speak, go play at recess.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
I've donated a couple covered up a couple of classroom projects,
stuff like that at public schools.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
So just giving back to education.
Speaker 8 (31:39):
So I just I'm just really this is that's the
closest things in my heart turned giving back is education.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's the most important thing in the world.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Man, Do you have anything down here that you're getting
involved with in terms of local schools in South Florida.
Maybe you want to reach out to you here in
the off.
Speaker 8 (31:51):
Season, I understand, and the off seas I'm gona get
on it and just try to get in a couple
of classroom projects down here too.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
This reaching out and branching.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Out than just being Delaware in Maryland with my class
from Padders.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Take advantage of the platform, man, you might as well
do it. Let's talk about the other quick here. You
got to your your your hans name on the right.
Can you tell us about that a little bit?
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Yeah, Sharry Brown.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
We lost her to leukemia when I was in high school,
and ever since then, I've always either rocked the wristband
I did in high school in college with wristband with
you know, just the cancer symbol on there, just signifying
just to pass it on my aunt. So just going
out there and raising cancer awareness, any of the cancer awareness.
Everybody knows that the rib and everything like that, but
(32:30):
specifically leukemia because she lost her battles to that.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So I'm guessing you're ryding in DCC next year. Then,
Oh yeah, I understand any idea on the mileage.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Yet, No, I don't know about that one.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You got the ninety nine Jason Telly one. You can
do that one.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's up for we'll do something well.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
By the way, those are Hurricanes colors there, so you're
gonna make a lot of fans here in South Florida
when you brought those on Sunday. So think of me
only about that one, but a little bit. Yeah, it's
all good, good, appreciate that. It next there and there
we go. That was a fun episode here of the podcast.
Let's go ahead and called a weekend. We'll see you
guys on on Sunday for the recap of the Dolphins
and Saints. Hopefully get into five and seven and just
(33:05):
one went away from six to seven, and you all
enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
We can enjoy your Black Friday.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Hope you found some deals, Hope you had some great
time with all y'all's family. Let's get the heck out
of here. You all, please be sure subscribe, rate review
of the podcast. Go ahead and follow me on social
at WINGFLD NFL the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, media availabilities, and so
much more.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
At last Button not least Miami.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Dolphins dot com. Until next time, A Strato friends up Caroline,
Cameron and Willow Daddy just coming home.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
What is up Dolphins and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast.
I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday, everybody, hope your holidays were good.
A little treat for you here a day after leftovers,
the best part of the meal.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Treat for you.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Coach Craig Ackerman joins me on the show today. Plus
we'll pick the rest of the week thirteen games, and
we'll stop by the Dolphins locker room to talk to
four players about their cause and their cleats ahead of
this Weekend's My Cause, My Cleats initiatives across the National
Football League. From the Baptist Hill Studios inside the Baptist
Hell's Training Complex.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
This is the Drive Time Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Mayie Gaff, Dolphins Special teams coordinator Craig Ackerman my guest today.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Coach.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
How are we doing?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Man? I'm doing great and happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I want to kick off the interview here talking about
your roots because because I am a true football psycho
who loves machin on a Tuesday night. Oh yeah, and
you got your start, Miami, Ohio alum, got your coaching
start in the MAC as well. Right, what has the
MAC done to develop this like national cult following that
it has in your opinion.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Yeah, I mean it's it's an interesting concept that they
end up doing with maction, you know, the way for
them to get some notoriety from national news where they
have games on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, which is obviously very
different than what we're used to. Even when I was
growing up high school then college, I was playing on Saturdays,
(01:34):
and now you get games during the course of the week,
which is really interesting. But I think it's brought a
lot of attention to the MAC, and I think it's
really good for it.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, it's been fun to see. I mean there's a
lot of good players come out of that conference and
coming to the NFL. And never forget watching Antonio Brown
and Dan la Fever Central Michigan on sow far back.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
My mation large well, that's not a good memory for
me because we've got beat in the MAC championship by
Antonio Brown and actually JJ Watt was on the team
too at that time. So yeah, I had a great
time there in the MAC and it really helped me
with my career. I met a lot of good coaches there,
just starting out with Terry Heppner, and then I think
we've got a lot of coaches right now. They're in
(02:11):
the NFL from Miami of Ohio.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
We'll apologize to bring up old scars like that. Man,
I'm gonna roll. I got McDaniel earlier this week to
talking about Tomorrio Davis too, So I'm on a wow
with with that this week. But so you got your
start there, and you know at Finley, right, yeah, and
then you make the jump to Western Kentucky and you
coach linebackers and special teams and you went to the
defensive side of the ball for a few years, but
you settle into a special team's job in twenty twelve
and you've been there ever since. I'm always curious how
(02:33):
coaches cut their teeth on special teams because it kind
of like that the third phase, you know, you go
over to that side of the ball. And I'm just
curious how you got your start in that in special teams.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Well, really, I started in high school, you know, I
was a punter and did some things there, and then college,
you know, early on.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
In my career, I ended up playing some special teams.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
So that's where I kind of cut my teeth with
special teams, and then when I start getting into coaching,
it really turned into effect.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
And when I gad there at.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Miami of Ohio, where you get asked to coach a
bunch of different positions, so you get to learn a
lot of things there. And then fortunately when I went
to Western Kentucky and got a job there, the head
coach said, hey, I really want you to coach special
teams and be the coordinator, and that kind of where
it took off. And then you know, in the NFL,
I was working defense and then had an opportunity to
(03:19):
move back over to special teams and I jumped out
to chance to to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
The more hats you can wear, right right, it works,
That's exactly right. We see all the time. Let's talk
some Dolphins football here and so as of this taping,
I don't know if you you know, there's somebody stats
out there right that people follow, but in EPA special teams,
you guys are third in the NFL right now on
special teams. How would you describe the steps that your
unit has taken to be one of the best special
teams groups in.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
The NFL so far?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Well, Travis, that's the first I've heard of that, which
which is great, you know, but you know, we really
don't look at stats as far as us as coaches
and you know, just talking to the players sometimes, you know,
well we'll bring up a few things to them, but
you know, our daily process is that we want to
get better every single day and kind of even going
(04:03):
even further than that is we want to get better
every single rep. And how do we do that. We've
got to make sure we're focused in on the meetings.
We got to make sure we're focused in on everything
that we do out there on the football field, and
that way we can make it as hard as we
possibly can during practice where it's easier for them during
the game time. So you know, we just try to
do our best as far as you know, Ronnie Joe
(04:25):
Jones really doing a really good job as far as
coaching and teaching these guys and you know, making them
learn in the practice and in meetings, so like all
that stuff really helps him out during the game.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Just for awareness, EPA's expected points at it. It is
basically a metric that tracks how much your play on
that particular play impacts the outcome of the game. So
you guys are doing very well, great in that regard,
and big part of that has been Jake Bailey. What's
impressed you most about Jake and the punting unit this year.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, just he's a professional.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Like I was really excited to work with Jake, and
you know, he's really turned it up, you know, whether
it was in the off season then during training camp.
I thought his training camp was just spot on on
everything that he did. You know, he's very detailed in
his approach of what he wants to accomplish. You know,
I just kind of sensed it right away during training
camp that he might have been on a different level.
(05:17):
And you know, he's just really improved. And it started
during the preseason games where he had a really unbelievable
preseason and that just carried over to training camp or
continued with training camp and then during the course of
the season. But he's doing a great job along with
getting hangtime and distance and directions. It's been unbelievable to
(05:38):
watch him. And I know the players you know have
noticed that too.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Around the league.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He's been playing closest to the pin with a goal
line man's sticking those ponds right there on the five
yard line every single time. It seems like something else
the punters do that I think goes kind of under
the radars as the holding aspect of the position, right,
And I always wonder because, like you know, you get
a picture catcher battery, like if you change that dynamic
some times it can cause problems. But he has a
new kicker that you know, he learns about in week
three of the preseason because Jason gets injured and here
(06:02):
comes Riley Potterson who has a really good season for us.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Here.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
What's that like for Jake to have to learn a
new kicker to hold for?
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, it is different.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
And I know when I've worked with punters and kickers
for a long time and it's a really big deal
for those guys to have continuity.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
They know everything about each other.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And when Jason unfortunately went down, we had to bring
in Riley, and Riley's done a great job. But I
feel like Jake has done a really good job of
building that relationship with Riley and they can go over
and talk about a few things that they want to accomplish.
They might be doing something different with a different type
of hand flash with the tap of their finger, you know,
all these different types of things that we're trying to get,
(06:42):
you know, the field goal block unit to not get
a key on us. So I think it's really helped
those guys building a connection off the field, it's helped
them on the field.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
You know, the big part of those rankings I talked
about the stats that we don't we don't care about, right,
we don't care about the stats so much. But your
core special teams guys Elijah Campbell, Alec Engles, somebody to
tell about here, but just those two to kind of
go off the top. But for the layman, I'm just
curious what makes a good special team a good core
special teams player.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, I think it's the one too. You know.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
We can talk about, hey, all their physical attributes and
mentally and stuff like that, but to me, it all
comes down, you know, do you want to play on
special teams? How are you going to make an impact
with this football team to help us win football games?
Which is the only stat that you know, anyone should
care about. So I think that want two is a
really big part of it. And guys who really want
(07:31):
to take and excel in a role, whether it's on
one special teams or on all four core. I think
that really sets them apart and allows them to be
a good football player.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So I mentioned the press conferences earlier. I always enjoy
your pressers with some of my favorites because you teach
us so much within those press conferences. And you recently
told us that you watch every single game across the NFL.
That's that's the Special team's aspect of the tape right
that you're watching. I'm dying to know what that process
is like, Like what's your routine to get through what
seems to be hours and hours of tape? Right?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
So, I mean we're trying to focus in on the
opponent that we're playing for the week. But then once
we feel like we've got a really good beat on them,
now it's our time to really go and continue to learn.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
You know, that's my biggest thing.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I want to continue to learn get better so I
can teach these players a bunch of different things, whether
it's technique, fundamentals.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Rules, things like that. You know. I want to.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Continue to sharpen my mind too as a special teams coordinator.
So once we find out that we have enough time,
we'll go through all of the clips.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I like watching them by game.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
I know some coordinators when I talk to them, they
really go by phases. I like to watch in the game,
so I can get a really good feel of that
team too. So we try to make a bunch of
clips and show the players that, hey, here's some situations
that are coming up throughout the league, good or bad
learning moments that we're trying to teach these guys all
the time. And you know, I think it was really
(08:53):
good early on in the preseason when Ali Gordon, who's
a rookie barely played on special teams there at Oklahoma State, uh,
did a really good job in the Detroit game of
putting his foot out and touching the ball and then
showing that on film and then him doing it.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
During a game.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I think that really caught people's attention, you know, at
least his teammates attention that hey, you know, this rookie's
learning and hey, maybe I'm a fifth year guy, I
maybe didn't know the rule or didn't pay attention maybe
when the coach was talking about it beforehand. So I
thought that was pretty key for us as far as
special teams as a young rookie to go out there
and do some good things.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Because that happens across the league all the time, where
the guys don't do that right and they wind up
catching it in balance, they go out of bounce ball
at the six yard line and then you're you're backed
up on that drive. I'm curious because watching special teams
like is a different, you know, animal than offense and defense.
But do you ever watch offense and defense and see
something that's like that might translate to my side? Love?
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Yeah, there's some things as far as you know, what
we do offensively too, that I look at, you know,
certain things from around the league. I know, four years
ago I got something from the Detroit Lions when they
did an offensive set where they did a motion and
they went and tapped on like a tight end and
he went out and motioned a little bit on a shift.
(10:08):
So we try to incorporate some things like that from
around the league. But that's I hardly do that because
there's so much time for me to spend on special
teams and stuff from around the league on special teams too,
But I'll occasionally just work my way.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
In there on offense and defense and take a look
at stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
But it stands out to you, like you remember that
from four years ago. Yeah, I like it. They stick
out in a certain way. I remember asking you once
upon time about the soccer ball punting drill, that the
blocking the soccer balls opposed to football. Can you tell
us about that on the show here a little bit?
And also are there any other drills that football fans
might be surprised by their doing? So I think if
you saw that at a training camp practice, like as
a fan of the stands and maybe be like, what's
going on there?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So I got that a long time ago. When I
was an assistant. We used dodgeballs beforehand, which are a
little bit softer, but I guess we wanted to toughen
them up.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
A little bit with the soccer balls.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
But really it's for the block point, you know. We
want to make sure that these guys understand we're not
trying to close our eyes when we're blocking a kick,
because I think a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Of fans would be shocked.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Even though our players have a helmet, there's some people
that will still close their eyes or turn their head.
We want to make sure that obviously they're they're looking
at the ball and we're trying to block a punt
that our hands are lower than our eyes, so we
can really see what's going on. We want to have
our hands together and we obviously want to run as
fast as we possibly can. And then at the last second,
that's when we want to throw our hands out to
(11:27):
go and block that kick.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
So the soccer balls help out with that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Plus we get to make fun of the people who
end up turning their head or closing their eyes. But
you know, there's all different types of drills. That's one
of the things that I do in the off season.
I'll call my friends up that are coaching in college
in the NFL. Hey, you know, if you want to
talk football with me at any point time, I would
love to do it. But just know that I'm going
to try to steal something from you. So you know,
(11:51):
I got that a long time ago from one of
my friends. And I'll continue to try to work on
getting new drills for our players to learn.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
And this is this has been so great, seach us
so much in these in these interviews, in these press commerences.
But I want to finish something a little more close
to home for you, the Ackerman Family Foundation. Can you
just tell us about that, and then what you guys
have done with that, what you've achieved and what it
means to you.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah. Cool.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
It's something that my wife and I talked about a
long time ago, you know, trying to do something.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Really it started with COVID where we had.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
We had some time to go and work on the foundation,
kind of get things going.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Hey what do we want to do.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
We start out, well, maybe we just do a free
kids camp, and it's like okay, Well, then we started
talking to some of my uncles, my cousins, and fortunately enough,
my wife's uncle owns a golf course and then another
one of her uncle he does a lot of business
stuff that has ran you know, golf outings things like that.
(12:44):
So when we went back up to Finlay, Ohio, we
kind of just said, hey, we're maybe going to start
a foundation and try to do some things to help
out the kids. And they're like, listen, we'll do everything,
like we'll do the kids camp, we'll do the golf outing,
and we'll do an auction. We'll try to raise money
for these kids because we all know, you know, going
(13:06):
to college, how expensive it is to go to college now.
So we're just trying to build relationships through families. You know,
when we have this free kids camp at my high
school there at Macomo, Ohio.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
It's all free of charge.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We get people to donate their time their money to
help out these young kids learn the game of football.
And then when we do the golf outing, we do
the auction that's to help rate scholarship money for those
kids that are working off to go to college.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
So we ask them to do a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
It's just not free money for these kids, because you know,
everyone's working hard for their money. So what we end
up doing, they got to have a certain GPA. They've
got to have community service hours, which my wife is
really big into this oldest. He puts in a lot
hours of community service. So we ask them to do
community service and then we ask them to write a
(13:54):
three hundred word essay on how a coach has impacted
their life. So it's a lot of good things that
we end up doing for those kids. So just really
enjoy how the community there in Macomb Finlay has really
kind of supported us and what we end up doing,
and it's been great. We're going to try to do
(14:14):
it as long as we possibly can. We've got great
people helping us out, like you, my uncles and aunts,
and cousins. They're out there in the grill, you know,
growing for the people there at the golf outing.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
So it is truly a family affair.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
That's why we called it the Ackerman Family Foundation, because
it's just not about me, it's about my whole family.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You're imparting your credo. The more you can do on
these kids, right, it's the entire exactly. Craig Ackerman, Dolphins
Special Teams Cordator coach, appreciate your time to the man,
and best lucks on you. Thank you, hemen, man, I
appreciate you, and away, coach ak goes. Let's go ahead
and pause right there for our first break. Come back
on the other side and pick the week thirteen games
across the National Football League Drift Time Podcast brought to
(14:54):
you by Auto National. Know that the season doesn't start
until Thanksgiving is played the old Mike francessa right, and
so we have Thanksgiving in the rear view, which means
the NFL season is officially underway and the Dolphins will
kick off their season on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
All jokes aside.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I assume recording this on a Wednesday that we had
a pretty good slate of Thanksgiving Day games. I think
Joe Burrow's return to the Bengals is not a great
element if you're looking to make this six and zero
run down the stretch to finish this season ten and seven.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
But I think we can beat the Bengals even with
Joe Burrow.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
But it sure as hell makes the Thanksgiving slate really
nice because Detroit and Green Bay with Casey and Dallas
that feel like it could be a close game. And
then the nightcap Baltimore and Cincinnati. You are always good
games when it's Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow squaring off.
So we will see what the record for me. I
took all the chalk in that on that day. I
believe Packers, no, No, No, Lions, Chiefs, and the Ravens.
(15:57):
So let's get to the rest of the week. Thirteen picks.
Everybody is in action, so we have sixteen games, three
games in the rear view.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
That means thirteen games left.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
To go go ahead and cue the music right here,
and let's go ahead and start on Black Friday, which
is later on today. I'll take the Eagles over the Bears.
I do feel I mean I got the Bears wrong.
Because I think I had them at seven and ten,
possibly six and eleven, although they are this year's chiefs
in terms of rescuing games late that they were struggling
(16:26):
and trilling within the entire game for the most part.
But I do think we'll get that to even out
somewhat here down the stretch with a really brutal schedule,
and it starts here against the Eagles, where I think Philly.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Actually, I think Philly's gonna handle us one.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I think They're gonna be able to get after Kaleb Williams
and pressure him. He's gonna run backwards into that pressure
and take a bunch of sacks and negative plays, and
the Philly defense will put a stomping on the Bears
offense and get a big win here. On Black Friday,
fast forward to Sunday, we picked the Dolphins over the
Saints on the Wednesday preview podcast. I'm taking the Jags
over the Titans, but I am I think the Jazz
(17:00):
are going to get picked off in one of these
lopsided game, like presumed lopsided games here, eventually, will it
be the Titans. They play him twice, And that's why, honestly,
that Jags and Cardinals result on Sunday was such a
kick in the gut if you will, to Miami's potential,
(17:20):
you know, miracle ten and seven playoff run here because
the Jags. I don't see the Jags winning less than
ten games with the remaining schedule they have, and if
they're going to drop it, they're probably gonna have to
drop a game like this to the Titans and they
play them twice, and I think the Titans will play
better football because I think cam Ward has kind of
graduated out of the rookie element of his career.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I think he's kind of made.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That next step to where he feels more comfortable and
looks more like the player we saw at the University
of Miami and at Washington State University.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Go Koog's Will it happen this week? I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
But I think there's a chance they could pick them
off in one of those two games. Maybe that's wish
full thinking, you know, trying to get the miracle playoff
run here going.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
But I don't know, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I'll take the Niners over the Browns. The Niners are
going to get to what are they eight and four?
They're going to get to ten and four here over
the next two games, playing the Browns and the Titans,
they're gonna I think handle the Browns pretty well in
this one. I'll take the Colts over the Texans. Now
the Texans will get C. J. Stroud back. And I
think the debate about Stroud versus Davis Mills, if there
(18:18):
is one in local markets or otherwise, is crazy because
you watch the games, like, don't play the results right,
play what your eyes tell you and tell you and
what the tape tells you. And when I watch the tape,
there there's no competition there between Davis Mills and C. J. Stroud.
But if the Texans offense, if they can recapture any
of their twenty twenty three magic that Stroud had that
(18:39):
sterling rookie season, this is a team that can make
some noise, but still until proven otherwise, it's an offense
that you know, they struggled to put the Bills away
in that game despite repeated pummeling of Josh Allen, sacking
the quarterback, turning him over, getting big stops in critical
spot and critical spots in the game. And if they
can just put together any semblance of offense, I think
(18:59):
they could make run and pick off the Colts for
the AFC South, they play them twice down the stretch
here as well. Do I think it'll happen. No, I
do not, and I do think we'll see Daniel Jones
continue to kind of regress back towards you know, what
his play was for the earlier part of his entire career.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I don't think it happens here, though.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I think Tech the Colts will find enough play to
get this win over the Houston Texans, who are coming
off of a ten day rest and their biggest win
of the season over Buffalo. I like the Colts to
put some distance between them and the rest of the
AFC South here. I'll take the Jets over the Falcons.
We see the Jets next week. I think Tyrod Taylor
was a net positive for them, although the offense is
still very much struggling so far this season, and the
(19:39):
defense without Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams. I just don't
think the Falcons with Kirk Cousins and without Drake London
are a threat to really, you know, challenge what the
Jets don't do well. I think Miami will be able to.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Beat the Jets next week.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
But this week the Jets get their third win of
the season, and I hope it happens, because, Hey, keep
on moving yourself down that list and further away from
QB one. In this next year's draft class, I'll take
the Bucks over the Cardinals, and I'm sort of inclined
to do that with or without Baker, even if Baker
plays that shoulder injury. Man, it's the same one that
he injured when he and the Browns said no thanks
(20:12):
to him, no mistakingly so they say it's not a
serious sprain, but it's still an ac joint. They're just
such a better football team than the Cardinals, even though
they've lost what for the last five games. I'll take
the Bucks at home over the Cardinals, with or without
Baker Mayfield. In this one, I'll take the Rams over
the Panthers. I thought the Panthers kind of showed you
who they were in that Monday night football game. And
(20:33):
the Rams are the best team in the league by
a pretty far margin in my opinion, So give me
the Rams in that one. I'll take the Seahawks over
the Vikings. Remember Max Brosmer on the draft preview podcast
talking about my preferred Day three quarterback options, it was
Max Brosmer and he might get his first career start
here with JJ McCarthy now in concussion protocol. But the Seahawks,
(20:54):
regardless of who plays quarterback for the Vikings, the Seahawks
run rough shot over the Vikings at home in this one.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Take the Bills over the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
It's a four to twenty five kickoff, so you can
watch that after the Dolphins and Saints tilt and if
the Bills get picked off here, I'm telling you, I'm
telling you, if the Steelers can pull this one off,
and they should have Rogers back for this game, watch
out for a Buffalo slide here.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Man.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
This is not their hardest game remaining, and to me,
it's a must win game for them. It kind of
reminds me of the game in twenty three, which you know,
in hindsight, I've been thinking back to that season quite
a lot lately if they would have lost a game
against the Cowboys at home, but they rolled the Cowboys
in that game, so it doesn't really work this way.
But they also had a game on a Saturday before
(21:36):
our game against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve where they
played the Chargers without Justin Herbert and Easton Stick.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Damn near beat the Bills in that game.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
I think they had like a fourth down and four
to get a stop on the Bills game winning drive
and they couldn't quite get it. And He's like, man,
if they just would have won that game, we would
have won the division that year and played Pittsburgh in
the first round. But again, let's not go over old scars.
I think Buffalo this game is similar to the Cowboys
or that Chargers game, whereas if they drop it, it
could get serious quick for them in terms of possibly
missing the playoffs. But I don't think it'll happen. I
(22:07):
think Buffalo is a much better team and they'll get
that win. But it's a big one if you're a
Dolphins fan hoping for a ten to seven backdoor playoff appearance.
I'll take the Chargers over the Raiders. I'm not picking
the Raiders the rest of the way, no matter who
they play against. That is the worst team in football
right now in my opinion, maybe the Titans, but I
think cam Ward would overcome the Raiders and get a
win against that team if they played right now. I'll
take Washington, no, no, no. If Daniels is not supposed to play,
(22:32):
so I'm gonna take the Broncos. If Daniels does play,
I might flip it, but I'm gonna go with the
Broncos over the Commanders here. I just think the Broncos
are poised to get picked off here, but they get
a backup quarterback in this one, and a banged up
Commander's team off of a bye, off of a tough
loss in Madrid. So give me the Broncos at home
on Sunday Night football, and I'll take the Patriots over
the Giants on Monday Night. So there you go, Week
(22:53):
thirteen picks. Let's go ahead and pause right there, come
back and do the my cause. Mike Leach chats, Dante
Trader all the Gordon, Kenneth Grant, and Nick Westbrook Akine
were my chats. Let's get to that next year. On
the Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Autnation, I'm
here with Dolphins defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. Kennedy, First of all,
congrat so far on a good rookie season. Just how's
(23:15):
things going for you so far your rookie season?
Speaker 5 (23:17):
Pretty well, We're focused on the next game, and you
know trying to get on a run and you know
win the next thing.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
That's my intro to you because I want to talk
to you about your cleats here, so so everybody can
move right the Amputee Coalition that's the cause behind your
cleats this week and tell us a little bit more
about that, that foundation and what it means to you.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
It means a lot to me, to be honest. Certainly
in the sports world, a lot of kids that have amputees.
The insurance doesn't pay for it if you want to
play sports, So it's just credit credit to them. Those
those guys over there are getting you know, legislation to
sign things and you know, be able for insurance to
pay for the amputees legs to be made and you
(23:56):
know play sports.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Yeah, that's a really cool cause I watched a lot
of golf YouTube and there's some golfers out there that
are amputees that can swing a golf club one handed,
Like is that amazing?
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Yeah, they could do a lot of good things. You know,
I saw a lot of track runners. They have both
legs on with with the with the legs, so you know,
if you give them the legs or whatever they need,
they can show out for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
That's how it goes, right, is there?
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Do you have like a connection to anybody or like
a specific reason why you chose this this cause?
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Yeah, I really just chose it because, you know, I
believe all kids deserve to play sports, no no, no,
whether no amount of money gets in the way of it.
You know, all kids should be able to, you know,
play a sport no matter what they're going through and
things like that.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So how about the design of your cleats. I know
we don't have them here with us today, but you
know what they look like. You designed them like what
we're looking at here. And when it comes Sunday, when
you're gonna be wearing those those fresh kicks.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
On the game, Yeah, I'm gonna have some heat on
my feet. Man, Gotta look a couple of stick figures
to represent them, and you know things like that. I
got the everybody can move down the front of my
shoes just represent them.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So it's gonna be some heat.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Kath Grant, Dolphins fensive tackle Appy sure it time today, man,
Thank you, thank you. The sense I am joined by
Dolphins running back Alli Gordon the second Ali we're talking
about my cause, my cleats. This week, and I just
told you before he popped on the show here that
they're going to look good when you see those in
the end zone. But first rushing touchdown last week, I
want to ask you how that felt first before you
do anything else.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
You know, it felt good, got out there and we
got we was in that zone. You know, had to
get one yard our line to what to do? You know,
it was handling bits at the whole game. Shout out
to thirty two thirty definitely handle bisins out that is
so I feel like, you know, we all worked together
and all worked out.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
First Miami Dolphins to score a touchdown in Spain in
a regular season game. That's gotta sound good too.
Speaker 6 (25:32):
No, I definitely does. But I feel like all the
credit got to the line, you know. I mean, we
wouldn't have been in that situation without them.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Spoken like a true team player running back. Let's talk
about your cleats here that I'm looking at right now.
So it's the cause is for the Lotus House that
helps women and children experiencing homelessness. I just want to
first kind of gauge like why you chose this cause
and why it's important to you.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Now.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
Yeah, I definitely chose these causes because you know, I
thought single mothers, you know, whenever I've seen it, and
I just I'm I supporting so much as because I
was raised by one, you know, and I feel like
my mama put it all on the line for me.
So you know, I feel like all of the single
mothers need you know, some shoutouts too, you know, especially
when they get hard to keep going.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So I feel like that's a great cause.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Does your mom know about the cause that you've chosen them?
Speaker 6 (26:08):
No, I see, doesn't know yet. So it'll be her
first time seeing them on at the game Sunday.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
So she's gonna You're gonna like, should be there Sunday.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, she'll be here Sunday.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
So she'll come up to you after the game, you know,
when you meet up with their family in the parking lot,
you'll you'll unveil this to her. What do you think
her reaction is gonna be?
Speaker 6 (26:21):
No, So she'll see pregames. She'll be on a field
pre game. So I'm gonna let to see him the
inn and at the game. I feel like he's gonna
go back home with her.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
That's awesome, man, good stuff, all right, So let's just
talk about the cletes themselves, so real quick. I was
again talking about the colors here. Yeah, if we're in
the All Whites, which usually Sundays one o'clock, we are,
those are gonna pop.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Man, tell me about the design behind these cleats.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:38):
I went with the little pink and purple. I feel
like pink just because, you know, I feel like they
represent love a lot, you know, especially with moms and
their kids. And I went purple because that's kind of
like our birthstone color, you know. So I went with that,
and purple my favorite color.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
You know.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
I don't really I don't know if she like pink
or not, but I feel like she's like these on
the nicket suite, I'll put her initials, you know, just
because I feel like I'm represent so I feel like,
you know, I got to represent my mind the most,
you know, So I'm up with that. And I got
love this on there, which is it saying that me
and my mama say to each other, which is like,
you know, it's love and it's only us, you know
what I'm saying. So I went with that and then
(27:12):
got a little hard to represent love again.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Tell me about love is real quick, so how long
how far backs that go between you and your mom?
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Man, my mom is saying that Denise is I was born.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
It is not even can remember.
Speaker 6 (27:21):
So you know it's been what twenty one years, about
to be twenty two.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
It's a losing count.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
Yeah, I los account.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I'm getting up there, man.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
We take get thirty eight. Man, it gets a little
faster up there. All the other man appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yes, so I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I'm joining her by Dolphins wide receiver Nick Westbrook. Can't
I talking about my cause my claims? This weekend and
just off the top, like what does this weekend mean
to You've been in league for a while now, what
does this weekend mean to you in terms of get
a good chance to really, you know, talk about something
important and show it on your feet. Yeah, it's huge.
Speaker 7 (27:46):
I mean this game ultimately, like we play a kid's game,
but it's bigger than that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
It's finally, you know.
Speaker 7 (27:51):
We get a special platform at least once once every
year to highlight you know, something that means means a
lot to us. So it's it's special and I feel
like every year, you know, you want to play a
little bit harder. I know, last year, you know, I had,
like for Destiny Rescue, I had one of the survivors
names on my cleat and it was just like cool,
you know, it just felt like there was more more into.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
It, more for the game, like they were there with
you almost.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Yeah, in a way, in a way.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Yeah, So you mentioned the name right there, Destiny's Rescue
with RESCH which which is rescuing children from sexual exploitation
and human trafficking. Just tell us a little bit why
that's important to you, why you chose that, cause.
Speaker 7 (28:25):
Yeah, you know, my wife and I we both just
have a heart for for young kids, especially the innocent,
especially when you know they're suffering things like that and
it's really not up to them, like they don't really
have the choice or the freedom to you know, choose.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
A different option sometimes.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
And so really that's what it is, is just you know,
fighting for the ones that don't have a voice and
don't feel like they they're heard or seen.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
And how doose Destiny's Rescue get involved, Like what what's
the action behind what they do to to help with
this you know obviously horrible thing.
Speaker 7 (28:54):
Yeah, yeah, it's a full I mean, it's a full
fledd of full fledged approach where you know, they helped
conduct raid where they're working with the local law enforcement withever,
whatever country that they're at to do these raids where
they'll go in and stop these operations and get the
kids out of there safely and have places for them
then to you know, rehab, recover, heal from everything that
(29:16):
they you know, went through, and then set them up
to you know, have a life outside of that, a
life of freedom where they get to choose what, you know,
what they want to do, whether it's being a hairdresser,
you know, whatever, you know, joys or passions that they have.
So it's a it's a full fledged approach to bring
from you know, you know, slavery or not slavery, but exploitations, suffering, trafficking.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
To freedom being held against your will. I mean that's yeah.
And the idea of you know, repairing beyond what happened,
because like you get them out of situation, that's one thing,
but then to like have a normal life after that
probably probably difficult on those those young people.
Speaker 7 (29:51):
Yeah, and you know, I think I remember seeing a
study it's like you know, between you know, six and
nine and some of the most impressionable years that really
shape your world view you and unfortunately a lot of
these kids don't really even have a choice, uh for
what they're going through in those years.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Jess.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
It's it's really heavy and it's just like getting emotional almost.
But let's let's end with this.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Do you have your cleats with you already?
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Or they come out?
Speaker 3 (30:12):
I think they're coming in. They're coming in.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
So what'll we be looking at? You? I know you
design them right, so like what do they look like?
And what are you going to be a you know,
what's it gonna be looking like? Athor on Sunday?
Speaker 7 (30:20):
Yeah, we got a cool uh it's like this like
maroon color. It actually kind of works out with Dustiny
Rescue's colors are similar to Dolphin. There's a lot of
orange in there too. So I can't remember the exact
messaging right now, but the whole, the whole campaign with
this this year is just the power of choice being
especially you know for me, Like I've had a choice
all my life to choose to play football, and so
(30:42):
it's trying to empower the choice Dustey Rescue freeing up
choice for these kids that are, you know, in these
really really tough situations.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Nick Westbrook, can you apprecre you time today?
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Man, Thank you, thank you, Vinge.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
I am joined by Dolphins rookie safety Dante Trader. Dante.
We got a couple of cleats who I'm looking at
in your hands right now from my Cause my cleats
this week. I just want to first ask you about
what the cause means to you. So public schools raise me?
Is your your nonprofit of choice or talk to us
about that little bit if you can.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (31:08):
So when I was growing up, I always had teachers
and staff members always impacted my life.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
I was really close to a lot of people.
Speaker 8 (31:16):
And then it's crazy my mom is a teacher now,
so being able.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
To see what she goes.
Speaker 8 (31:20):
Through and you know, helping the next generation of kids
and education. I've always had a close their heart with
education kids. So every time I get to go home,
I go back to down Mar Elementary and.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Go speak, go play at recess.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
I've donated a couple covered up a couple of classroom projects,
stuff like that at public schools.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
So just giving back to education.
Speaker 8 (31:39):
So I just I'm just really this is that's the
closest things in my heart turned giving back is education.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
That's the most important thing in the world.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Man, Do you have anything down here that you're getting
involved with in terms of local schools in South Florida.
Maybe you want to reach out to you here in
the off.
Speaker 8 (31:51):
Season, I understand, and the off seas I'm gona get
on it and just try to get in a couple
of classroom projects down here too.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
This reaching out and branching.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Out than just being Delaware in Maryland with my class
from Padders.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Take advantage of the platform, man, you might as well
do it. Let's talk about the other quick here. You
got to your your your hans name on the right.
Can you tell us about that a little bit?
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Yeah, Sharry Brown.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
We lost her to leukemia when I was in high school,
and ever since then, I've always either rocked the wristband
I did in high school in college with wristband with
you know, just the cancer symbol on there, just signifying
just to pass it on my aunt. So just going
out there and raising cancer awareness, any of the cancer awareness.
Everybody knows that the rib and everything like that, but
(32:30):
specifically leukemia because she lost her battles to that.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
So I'm guessing you're ryding in DCC next year. Then,
Oh yeah, I understand any idea on the mileage.
Speaker 8 (32:37):
Yet, No, I don't know about that one.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
You got the ninety nine Jason Telly one. You can
do that one.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's up for we'll do something well.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
By the way, those are Hurricanes colors there, so you're
gonna make a lot of fans here in South Florida
when you brought those on Sunday. So think of me
only about that one, but a little bit. Yeah, it's
all good, good, appreciate that. It next there and there
we go. That was a fun episode here of the podcast.
Let's go ahead and called a weekend. We'll see you
guys on on Sunday for the recap of the Dolphins
and Saints. Hopefully get into five and seven and just
(33:05):
one went away from six to seven, and you all
enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
We can enjoy your Black Friday.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Hope you found some deals, Hope you had some great
time with all y'all's family. Let's get the heck out
of here. You all, please be sure subscribe, rate review
of the podcast. Go ahead and follow me on social
at WINGFLD NFL the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
the YouTube channel for Dolphins HQ, media availabilities, and so
much more.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
At last Button not least Miami.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Dolphins dot com. Until next time, A Strato friends up Caroline,
Cameron and Willow Daddy just coming home.
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