December 7, 2022 • 49 mins
Patriots Hall of Fame finalist Logan Mankins is our guest on this edition of Pats from the Past. Highlights include: Which NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame player helped get Mankins ready to play and excel in the NFL? The pursuit of Perfection. Plus, Why he chooses to make his home in New England.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
It's time now for another episode of Pats from the
Past podcast. Matsmith alongside Paul Babrillo pleased to be joined
by number seventy on your scorecard, but number one in
our hearts at least today, Paul, right next, Yeah, and
you better be careful.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
And that's Logan Mankins. Logan, thanks for coming in. How
you doing, man, I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thanks for having me us.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, I really appreciate it, all right, Logan when we
start these with everybody, because I don't you mean, like
maybe people know what some ex patriots are doing, but
I think there's a lot of people that go, Logan, Mac,
it's where is he these days? What are you up to?
I think fans would love to know that.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, I'm still here in New England. We live in
North attle Borough, still just down the road from Foxborough,
and we have a little farm and we raised beef, cattle, hay, firewood,
all that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Why is a California Northern California kid? What is it
about New England? Because I think, and I'm being very
stereotypically stereotypical, I think people would be surprised. Patriot fans
will go Okay, his career is over, finish it in Tampa.
He's going to go back to northern California at some
point in time. Why still New England? I mean, and
this is somebody who loves New England, has lived here
(01:12):
his entire life.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah. Well, we had lived here for nine years before
I got traded, and then the timing of the trade
was school was about to start, so my wife and
kids stayed here and I went there just for the
season at Tampa, and then we did that. Then I
came back after the season and my daughter was in
high school, so we didn't want to make her move
(01:34):
while she was in high school, so I went to
Tampa for the season again and they stayed here. And
then by the time I retired, we just made the
decision that our oldest is in high school, let's let
her finish high school. And then she was graduating in
high school, our next one was coming into high school.
So we just made the decision to stay here and
make this our forever place.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So that's great.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, because I was one of those that I would
have said, you know, Logan Mankins, be back on the
ranch out and it was a Kathy's Valley.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, Kathy's valley.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I figured you'd be long gone and hot to find,
and then I show up at Bishop Fian. Matt, Yeah,
you know, so one of those classic Bishop Fenwick, Bishop
fee In tilts right in the Catholic Central League Mankins.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So Logan Paul's office is now next to mine, and
I'm regaled weekly with you know how great Fenwick is.
Fenwick kicked his team's ass, blah blah blah. And he
tells me, he goes, oh, you wouldn't believe this. I
read into Logan Mankins other than Bruski, who he knows
obnoxious on the sidelines, is all the most obnoxious parrot
of a kid that you've run into a high school game.
(02:38):
And he's got to be right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Well, I don't know. I don't get to see him
during the game, but he's always very gracious in defeats.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So well, see he's he's being kind. I usually bitch
about the referees for about a half hour. But it
was funny. This is this is a kind of a
funny story. So last year when Logan sun Case Mankins
is a trumendous two way player for Bishop Fiann and
my oldest son Will, they're the same same age, not
as tremendous a two way player for Fenwick, but he
(03:08):
does well. So we're at Fenwick two years ago and
it was one of those games where I was, you know,
held bent for a leather, like if I could have
found an official in the parking lot, things could have
been bad. And I see Logan at the I go,
did you see that whole day? Missing that touchdown?
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And Logan goes and then holding if they don't.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Call it so, but he was spoken like a true
offensive line right.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
But what was great was my friends are constantly, as
you probably get a lot of this, they're constantly busting
my balls. Oh, oh, big tough Paul like, oh, he
talks to Tom Brady, he talks to Toty Brusky.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Oh why don't you where's all you boys? Where's makings?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Where's all you?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Bud?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So don't you know Logan comes over at the end
of the game. You talk about being gracious in defeat,
gracious in victory. He comes over after the game, says
goodbye to my wife and I and I get the
bro hug. I got a little bro hug. And there
what you like to make fun of me about? For
people fraud. So all my friends now looking like, wow,
you really do know those guys that go what do
you think I worked there for twenty years. I never
(04:07):
met anybody, so it was it's been kind of nice.
Case played some basketball last last winter, so I bumped
into Logan a few times, and he was here in
Foxboro at the draft party too, So he's been around.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And Logan and I'm I can verify Paul, because Paul
was saying this to me when he came back. He goes,
You're not gonna believe it, And I'm not surprised, he goes,
I think Patriots fans would not be surprised as well.
Regular guy, nice guy parent who isn't screaming and yelling
and swearing at the referees like most of the other
parents are fie and hoodie.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Right with his hat probably just like that was it
Draper Farms.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, you know, a heart, you would not have any
idea that this is a you know, decade long NFL player,
well ten plus years NFL player, with the amount of
Pro Bowls and All pros, and you would have no
idea just sitting in the stands watching his kids just
like everybody else, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
And I hope this doesn't come across in a way.
It's sort as I'm saying, think about in my mind
that somebody could take it as an insult, and I
hope it would never be that way. But Logan as
the second greatest guard in franchise history, You are you
okay being behind John Hannah?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Who by the way I spent.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But they wouldn't change my life, and I get it,
I'd still be the same.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
But I don't know if you ever had a chance
to really, you know, watch Hannah or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
During little days.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And I spent some time with John a couple of
summers ago down on his cattle farm down in Alabama. Crusty,
great patriot and great guy. I think you guys would connect.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I've got him a few times. Yeah, we uh
would swap stories and it was it was great meeting
them and hearing all the great things he had to
talk about.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
And he just started yelling at you about not running
the ball enough.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, he said he liked running the ball because he
didn't like the pass block, and that pass blocking is
pretty tough, so especially against the talent they have nowadays.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
He loved watching you play. He loved watching you play.
And I would say, as an outsider, for somebody to
get a stamp of approval from somebody like John Hannah,
that means a lot more than Paul Pirillo or Matt
Smith or any other Tom Dick and Harry because here's
a legit guy. Well, he loved watching you play.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, and John, he was respected by everyone, his teammates,
his opponents, other coaches. So that's always what I wanted
to If they wrote I was good in the paper,
that was great. But I wanted my teammates. I wanted
to earn their respect, and I wanted opponents not to
want to play me. So that's how it was.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Did you think when you were coming out, did you
think you were going to be a first round pick?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I didn't know. I everyone told me probably the second rounder.
And it was funny. The day of the draft, I was.
We had me and my wife had a little apartment
in Fresno and we had a little draft party and
just people kept showing up more and more. Like my dad,
he's a he likes to have a good time, so
he was inviting everyone he saw, whether he knew there
(06:59):
were not, So that was always great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Does it make him a bad guy.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No. But we're sitting there and my offensive coordinator from
Fresno was one of his best friends was with the
forty nine ers and he calls me. He goes that
I just talked to my best friend. They're taking you
with the thirty third pick. I was like, oh sweet,
right down the road from here. And then I was like,
hold on, someone else is calling me and I click
(07:24):
the phone over and it was Scott Pioli. He's like,
we're taking you right now. I was like, oh, okay,
So it was great. I was. I think I was
very fortunate to come here. I'm it worked out the
best to come here. I'm glad that the nine Ers
weren't picking thirty two and the Patriots were.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So you obviously it did work out. You were part
of a lot of wins here and you had a
great career. Did you think it at the time, You know, like,
you were so close to being close to home and
now you have to go to New England, which I
can't tell you how many players will tell you. I
didn't really even know where New England was because they
think it's a state, not a region. And what were
you thinking about the culture, you know, the both the
(08:03):
culture with the team and the culture shock of going
from West coast to East coast.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, I wasn't, like you said, totally aware of they
said in New England. I was like, Okay, that's on
the East Coast, but I didn't know it was like
right outside of Boston. I didn't know where the stadium
was or Foxborough or any of that stuff. And guys
are like, oh, You're gonna go play with Tom Brady
and I'm like, I'm not even sure who Tom Brady
really is. Right, I didn't watch that much in NFL football.
(08:28):
I didn't Up until my senior year of high school.
I loved watching NFL football, and then once I got
to college, I kind of stopped paying attention and had
many other things going on.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So is that because you Is it because it was
so much for you to play? It took so much physically,
mentally and everything like that that when the time came
that you had quote your own time or downtime or
however you want to call it. I got other things
I need, I want to do that interest me rather
than sit and watch this. Because I'm living and know
(09:00):
in a division in school, you're working. It's a job.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, and uh, and the schedule kind of makes it
that way. So in college, you play on Saturday. Sunday,
you go in for lifting, you watch the game, and
you have your conditioning, so that's most of your Sunday
while NFL football is on, so you could watch games
on Monday night and Sunday night, but other than that,
during the day, you were usually busy, so we didn't
(09:24):
watch a lot of it. And as I got older
in college, I already had my first daughter and everything
like that. So the longer I was in college, the
more responsible I had to start becoming, and we had
a lot of other things to do to support her
and my future wife.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
So so when you were drafted, it was you know,
tackle out of first No State, and then you got
here and almost immediately it was guard. Yeah, did you
know that that you would be a guard or is
that something that Bill had talked to you about beforehand?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I assumed it was going to happen. So my coach
at Fresno was Pat Hill, and I got invited to
the East West and the Senior Bowl and he goes
He was an O line coach for for Eveland or
Baltimore one of those Bill, and he goes, I think
the best thing for you to do is go to
these two all star games, go to both of them,
(10:17):
and just play guard at both of them. Tell them
you don't want to play tackle. I was like, all right,
So I took his advice, and when I got there,
I said, I'm playing guard, not tackle. And then because
he said I was going to get moved to guard,
that's what his opinion was. So when I got here,
I just assumed I was going to Garden. That's where
they told me to go.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
So then it was day one.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, it was uh yeah, the first day always Guarden.
What I did play tackle a couple of games.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
We're going to get.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
About that athletic.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I mean, the transition, the transition from college chapro is
obviously a big transition transition position wise. Did you think
that that was a big deal guard to tackle.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I didn't think it was until I did it. Okay,
it's uh so a guard, everything is way faster, Like
everyone is lined up closer to you. Everything happens faster.
The guys aren't as fast as you're going against that tackle,
but you have more time before they get to you
to set everything up and the guys inside are way bigger,
way stronger. I thought guard was a lot more physical.
(11:21):
The few games I played at tackle, I felt awesome
after the game, whereas guard, you feel it's like, guys
right here, it he's too eighty to three point fifty
every time, just bam, bam bam.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So I think and Paul helped me on this, if
you agree with me or not. I think fans look
at offensive line and maybe other than center, where there's
an alleged you know, the center quarterback exchange that needs
to happen, and it's got to be consistent. But I
think fans will get offensive linemen and maybe other than
left tackle. I think they think they're all the same. Yeah,
and when you see there's current players on this team
(11:55):
and around the league, Hey, you know, we recognize you've
got position versatility. Oh, we like the fact that you
can play guard and play tackle. And I think fians
think that it's just interchangeable and can get on a guy. Geezh,
why is he You know, it's not as interchangeable as
maybe us dummy fians like to think. Is that a
fair statement?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh? Definitely. It takes uh for a guy to be
able to do multiple positions well, between guard and tackle
and not so much center and guard. But for a
person to be able to do guard en tackle, they
got to understand the game very well and have a
lot of athletic ability, which they already do. But I mean,
(12:34):
like position, I don't know how to really pronounce it
or say it, but they've got to be able to
flip all that in their mind all the time. You've
got to be smart. Definitely got to be smart to
be able to do both of them, because it's different
ways and techniques to do both those spots.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Now, did you have to move sides?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
No, thankfully side, which was nice because I was always
right handed, and then once I got the I always
played on the left side. And once you get stuck, well,
for me personally, once I got in that left handed stance,
that was the only one I was ever gonna be
able to do again, I get in a right hand
stance and I feel funky.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
When you got here, Logan, you know, rookie first rounder.
So you come with that kind of baggage, you know,
I mean, oh, here's a guy I gotta guarantee blah
blah blah. Who is there somebody that you can think
of that helped you the most to help make that
transition to NFL offensive lineman from college. How do you
recall that rookie year and who helped you along? And
because I think what people say now they consider they
(13:36):
they don't remember it, but they should remember it. We're
talking about a plug and play guy started just like that.
And then again another thing, I think, Oh, anybody can
do it, No, nobody, not everybody can do it. You
have to be a Logan Magans kind of person to
do it well.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
There was a lot of bumps in the road. It
wasn't always beautiful. I remember getting yelled at plenty of
times and nothing Scar Scar Bill whoever you didn't think
of in there, but let Tom get hit plenty of times.
But you learned as you go, and by the halfway
part point of the season, I felt pretty comfortable and
what I was doing and it wasn't as bad as
(14:10):
those first few games. But there was lots of guys
that helped. First of all, I had an awesome O
line coach that was I'm so lucky and fortunate to
play for him. I wouldn't have wanted to play for
anyone else. So I had that going for me. I
had a lot of older guys in our room that
they were here to win, like Matt, like Cop and Neil,
(14:33):
those guys, that's all they wanted to do was win.
And they just because you were a rookie didn't mean anything.
They would help you. You were their teammate. So that
was awesome. There was like we didn't have rookie Hazy
and the craft like that. We were all there for
one purpose. Matt was awesome. I remember we got here
and was that rookie camp for OTAs or something, and
(14:57):
he invited my wife and our children over to meet
his wife and children, just to make the whole transition easier.
So having guys like that in your locker room makes
life a lot easier when you're already dealing with stuff
you have no idea. You're learning every day as you
go as a rookie, so having older guys that are
willing to help you is great.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
So I found it interesting when you said, you know,
you got drafted by the Patriots, and oh, you're going
to go and block for Tom Brady and you're like,
I'm not really even sure who Tom Brady is. How
long did it take you to sort of realize that
he was a little different than just the other teams
starting quarterbacks. And what was it like sort of getting
indoctrinated into that.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Well, it was great Tom. He's a special player, as
everyone already knows, but he's also a special leader and
a special guy. He was a great teammate to have.
You wanted a block for the guy. The coaches wanted
you to make every block for him, and just that
makes it so much better when you really respect and
you like the guy, and you know he cares about
(15:58):
you and you care about him. And that's why we
wanted to make the blocks for him. We didn't do
it just because it was our job. We actually liked
and respected him and wanted him to do good. So,
but there was lots of guys on this team I
didn't know anything about. I remember my rookie year, Richard
Seymour was here and he was holding out and I
was like, who's this guy everyone's talking about. I found
(16:19):
out the first day he came back. He was a handful.
So I got a lot of welcome to New England moments.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Was what was that like lining up against Richard Seymour
when he comes back.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh it was. I still didn't know who he was
but I or what he did, but I was like, damn,
this guy is big. What the heck? And then of
course where he lines up every day for practices right
over me, and the first one I want he ran
me over. I was like, holy shit, I better better
figure out how to block guys like this. And then
we went to the first game and I was like,
oh man, everyone's not like I was like, thankfully not
(16:55):
everyone's like this guy does it?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Did it not surprise you? Logan? I mean it took
him probably a little longer than I think, maybe he
wanted or some of the people a little closest to him.
But is it no surprise? Do you have to get
knocked on your asp by Richard Seymore that he's in
the Professional Football Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Oh yeah, he should have been there. There was no
question he was special talent. Not everyone has got his
a bilit He's so tall and long, and he's strong
and athletic, and he had the right mentality and he
was just a very good player. He was smart too,
So maybe playing here is first. I don't know. However,
(17:31):
many years when he was asked to take on double
teams and not get the sack numbers. That probably slowed
him down, But as far as impacting the game, he
made a big impact. And I know he helped me too,
because I practiced against him every day for like four
or five six years something like that, and we had
lots of fights and all kinds of stuff, But when
(17:52):
we got to the locker room, we always talked about
how to. I would ask him what he looked at sometimes,
and he would ask me, like, how do you get
the hands off? And this kind of thing and that
thing just from guys that a different point of view
than a coach's point of view, like the guy that's
actually doing it. So I always had a lot of
respect for him.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You talked about being, you know, selfless and you know,
like Richard was, but you obviously displayed that you talked about.
Don't forget that you played tackle a little bit, Matt Scott.
You know that the anecdote from Dante about the day
that you had to play tackle like on a moment's notice.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So we were this was your first year. Both Paul
and I are kind of embarrassed about it. To be
perfectly honest with you, I don't want to put words
in Paul's mouth. But we're part of the Hall of
Fame committee to select people to get on the ballot,
and then legitimately when the people get on the ballot,
it's a fan vote, you know, and as you can
imagine skill position, guys, you know we're gonna get the
(18:48):
fan vote. But this is the first year that you
were on that ballot. And so it's part of one
of the things that I do here is, hey, who
can who's a great person as an ambassador for Richard's,
for Ty Law, for Teddy Bruski, for Logan Mankins, that
can really speak to who that person was as a
player and why they deserve to be why did they
(19:10):
think they would be a great Patriot Hall of Famer.
And of course we went to Dante, and so we're
talking to Dante and he's giving you all the platitudes
that you could think of that Dante would give you
nobody tougher comparing you as somebody who did coach. He
wasn't maybe an offensive line coach, but he was on
the team when Hannah was here, So it's not blasphemy
for him to mention your name and to me that
(19:31):
that's an awful lot of credibility, but we stopped after
one point. All right, Dante, that was great. He goes,
I'd like to say one more thing. This is really
important to me. And he talked about again how selfless
you were and the fact that I don't know, I
guess it was light probably who got hurt. And you're
playing the Ravens and you're, hey, guess what, Logan, you're
playing tackle this week? And that's the Ravens with Terrell
(19:53):
Suggs and somebody like that. And he talked about how
you nearly pitched a shutout that game, but you were
pissed on one particular play that maybe Suggs got a
hand up or maybe like sort of swept and knocked
Tom down. And he talked about how pissed you were
about that, and he goes, you know, it's okay for
the quarterback to get rid of the ball too, Logan,
don't blame that one on you. But that's how he thought.
(20:16):
That's how he felt about you. Do you remember that
game in that week having to kick out?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah? I still remember. I shouldn't got beat on that one.
I just went sit a little too far. I got
feeling too comfortable and he got me on it up
and under. But yeah, those games we uh. I actually
liked going out to tackle every now and then, just
I don't know. It was fun just to change it
up every now and then. But that was the second time.
(20:42):
The first time I played tackle, I didn't find out
untill like twenty minutes before the game, So that one
was a little tougher. But the one against the Ravens
was nice because I actually got to practice all week
at tackle, so that was a lot better. But it
was I like tackle, It was fun.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
What was the other one?
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Miami am home? And then one time I had to
play the second half I think against the Texans or something.
So how was the backup tackle?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
It amazes me, Like what does he say? Like, yeah,
I got I set to what I got. I got
up and under it like it was probably twenty years
ago at this point, Like exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You remember your bad places, remember the good ones.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Oh, I can tell you about the Tate measure home
runs I allowed in college, but I don't want to
have to get to that's another podcast for a different time, right,
Just you know, again, I want to stay with the
teammate and the selflessness and the season you played on
a twenty ACL. Well, you know, Philip Rivers played a quarterback,
you know, in the AOC Championship game against you guys
on a twenty ACL, and I think it was one
(21:40):
of the more heroic performances I've seen.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
You played a whole season like that, Like, how do
you how do you do that?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I don't know. They said maybe always loose, used to
having a loose knee or something. I don't know, but
I had to wear one of those weird braces for
most of the year, and uh, it hurt for the
first couple of games and then it just kind of
went away. So and then after the season we went
and saw the doctor and he's like, this thing's been
(22:07):
torn a long time.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Oh so you didn't realize it until.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
We didn't know it was fully torn.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
It's one of those don't ask doctors just kind.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Of shook it around and said, well, what do you think.
And I was like, well, let me give it a
shot this week at practice and he's like all right.
And then I got through drills, I was like, we'll
just go with it. He's like, all right, well we
need to get it checked out later.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So see, people think that sometimes you overstate just how
matter of fact people are about things. This is logan, Manking,
this is how he was in the locker room after games.
He would talk about, you know, the game plan and
what they did well, and it was the same level
of intensity and just.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Matter of fact everything. Yeah, well you know what do
you think? Yeah, well I can give it a shot
a practice. I can see if I can play.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He had a twenty cl right, and it's like it's
his job. It's no big deal. I'm just going to
go out and get the job done.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Do you get embarras when you hear that logan? Like
people like Paul and I want to keep praise on
you for that. You're an offensive lineman. You probably don't
give a sugar about like, yeah, that's what I was supposed.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
To do well. Everyone loves to be praised, but I
do get embarrassed when it's in front of me. I'd rather.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I don't want to embarrass you believe me, and I'm
not like you know, I've been. I've been Matt and
I have been here for over twenty years. So it's like,
you know, it's not like the wide eyed Chris Farley
on Saday Night Live, like that was awesome. You know,
I'm not in awe, you know, but but that's an
awesome and are inspiring.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That's season.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Most people sadly today at work have the sniffles and
they're down for three days, do you know what I mean?
And so when somebody says, no, it's important to go
to work, and I might not be feeling one hundred percent,
but I still think I can do my job. Yeah,
it's that's different.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, that's well. I think people used to ask me
why I did it, and I was like, well, my
dad always said, if you can go to work, you
go to work. And he always joked to just tape
an aspirinto it and you'll be all right.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Did you try it?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
No? But it was it was fine. It hurt for
a while and then it went away, and then it
just uh. I really noticed it. As the season went on,
there was no more squatting in the weight room, like
that stuff was not happening anymore. Or if you like
tried to walk down an incline, you could feel your
knee sliding. But so thankfully the football fields aren't inclined.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I think you know, your league is filled with really
really tough players and like, yeah, I mean, I see
what you guys go through. I remember the other Algae
Crumpler was here. I don't know if you guys crossed.
I forget the timeline, but what he went through to
play every week was ridiculous and you could see the toughness.
But I think a lot of people in your situation
Logan would have said, this is my career. I have
(24:59):
a finite amount of time to earn money, and if
I play in a torn a c oh it might
affect my performance. It could affect my salary down the
look they're gonna probably look to, you know, makee me
take a haircut next year, or if I'm going to
be a free agent. But yet you put all that
aside and just said, no, I have a job to
do and I'm going to go out and do it.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Well. I was fortunate. I just signed a big contract
and then all that I say fun of the guys
around the league that would get this big deal, and
then they would get hurt, and I was.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Like, this is what people do, and dis guys are
tough too.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Like in our locker room. I would make fun of
guys like that, and so then I'm possibly hurt, not
one hundred percent knowing if I'm hurt or not. And
I'm like, well, I don't want to be that guy
that I've been ragging on for my.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Whole career already, right, you don't want to be a fraud.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah. And up until that point, I what was that
my sixth year. I'd never missed a practice or game.
So I was like, I can't I can't start getting
hurt now. Then I did get a few practices off
that year.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So then logan is is that all part of maybe
your principle and your values, because I do think Patriot
fans remember that you wanted to take a stand. You
felt like that Paul helped me out in the language
of it, you know, with a rookie contract or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Right, you got I mean, you got screwed. I mean,
let's say like you're going to be a free agent.
And then that uncapped year came in, I think in
ten something like that, right after night, and they changed
the minimum years for you know, went up to six years.
And that's what led to your.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, hold led to an argument in a holdout.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So but in that case, you're you're not doing anything
different than playing on a torn acl it's I'm here
to do a job. Wait a minute, I'm here to
do a job. But why are the rules changing on him?
This isn't fair and I need to take a Stanford.
Is that all part of the principles that make up
logan makings?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Oh yeah, definitely. And technically we called a hold out,
But it wasn't a holdout because I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Right, right, you weren't. Yeah, really absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I didn't refuse to come to work. I just chose
not to be on a team yet, right, And it
was all about money and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But was that hard for you Logan to do that?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Oh? Yeah it was. It was hard at first until
I made up my mind. And then once my mind
was made up, it was easy because I'm very stubborn
when it comes to stuff like that. So I didn't
want to do it, Like I hated it came to
that situation. I did not wanted to do that, but
I felt that to me personally, I felt that was
(27:34):
the right thing to do. So maybe it was. Maybe
it wasn't, but to me it was, So that's why
I did it.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
You'll be glad to know that your buddy, Andy Hart
and I never called it a holdout just for that
exact reason that you just said. We were very much
pro pro player in that and.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
The fact that that changed. Do you feel like, I'm
not saying that you know you were the impetus behind
it or anything like that, But are you happy now
for the future players that maybe that's something that they,
you know, in the negotiation that helped work to their favor.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Possibly the money right now is I thought it was
crazy when I played. It's out of control. Now it's
awesome for the players. But that's why every other older
player says, guys ten years before me thought I was
getting paid crazy money, but got it. Yeah, I don't know.
Each guy has to do what they feel is right
for them personally, and everyone's different and some guys are
(28:27):
stronger minded than other people. So it just all depends
on who you are, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You talk about the old man status. Then, I don't
know how much football you watch today. I think to
the lay person, and I would consider Paul and I
both the late kind of person. You look at offensive
line player around the league, it just doesn't seem like
it's as good as it was maybe in years gone by.
Do you agree with that.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I haven't watched it close enough to say that, but
I do watch some of it, and I don't feel
it's as physical I see. I've talked to people they're
still playing coaches, and they're like, a lot of the
things you guys used to do you would get ejected
for now. So like we used to blindside everyone like
I was. I did watch the game where David Andrews
(29:11):
got uh yeah, and that was legal when I played, right, Like,
we ran down the field looking on interceptions for d
linemen because we knew they were coming because we did
it to them a few plays before, right, But those
kind of players are out lowed now, and we used
to do that on a consistent basis, or diving into
people's knees and all that stuff. So it's a lot
(29:32):
different now.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
When you look back.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
The seven season obviously bittersweet for everybody. Do you feel
like the team sort of ran out of gas? Just
the sort of the pressure of being unbeaten kind of
caught up to you.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Possibly. I was still so young, only my third year.
I was just happy to be playing football and just
don't but we had so many older guys that really
knew and understood football. At that time, and maybe they
they did. I know it was a very uh, I
guess you call it stressful season. Well, as the year
(30:10):
went on, it got more stressful and more pressure on you,
not just from not to lose, but like Bill that
year had his foot on the gas pedal. Every game
felt like when we'd watch film, like we lost the
game and we would be someone by forty or twenty
year and then you'd come in and feel like you
lost the game. But I didn't feel burned out by
(30:32):
the end of the year. We just didn't play well.
I know, me and the offensive line we didn't play
good enough that game. And usually if the old line
doesn't play good, you don't win. So that's how it
goes a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
When you look back at that logan in you say,
you know, it felt like a loss even though you're
trashing teams. Yeah, how did that manifest Like in the
film room when you're looking at it and stuff like that,
Does that motivate you or do you have to have
a special kind of mentality to like, look at I
know what he's trying to do here, He's looking for
(31:04):
almost literally perfection on these plays. Does that help drive
you to be a better player.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh, definitely. And our offensive line coach Dante, he said,
we're not gonna be perfect, but we're going to strive
for it every game and every practice. So he preached
that already. And as an old Lignman, you could have
eighty great blocks. On the eighty first play, you give
up a sack and that's all everyone talks about. And
you had a horrible game, right, So it's uh, we're
(31:30):
used to that as oligneman. That one bad play ruins
it all. So you've got to be perfect on all
of them, unless it was always best when you had
to play and you got beat by someone and fortunately
you were running the ball the other way or something
and it didn't effect aim play at all.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Do you think, and this is another great fan debate,
it would have been better for them to lose, you know,
and then you get that monkey off your back. Did
you enjoy the pursuit of perfection?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah? I loved it. When we squeaked out the win
was that week seventeen in New York when we win
by three or something, Yeah, I was so happy. We
want that to keep it alive. So because then after that,
you only have what three more games to win. I
wouldn't change it. I'd change that we lost the last game,
(32:18):
but the rest of the season, I wouldn't change. People
are like I have a lot of people say, don't
you wish you just lost the Chief Championship and didn't
get there? And no, I'll take the shot if we lose,
we lose, but I'll take the shot of winning.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
I mean, I tell this all the time, being on
all those plane rides back and forth, you'd be hard pressed, Matt,
you and I talk about this all the time. You'd
be hard pressed to ever know based on the mentality
of the players, the interaction on a way home, if
you guys won, are lost. You guys were just businesslike.
There's one huge exception, and that was the Indianapolis game
(32:55):
that year in seven. We came I think right ten
down in the fourth are two touchdowns to beat the
undefeated Colts, and you guys went crazy on on that
flight home another one bites. The dust was going and
I think Glonnie might have had that cranked up. It
(33:16):
was amazing to me how business like you were otherwise,
and then to see that like, oh this really was
a big game. It wasn't just like the next thing.
You know, well, you know, maybe on to Cincinnati. It
wasn't like that. You could see it with the mentality
of the team, and then I felt like that kind
of carried you through the rest of that regular season.
To your point, it did mean a lot to go unbeaten.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Oh it did. And like you said, that game against
Manning and the Colts, we had such a big rivalry
and for both of us to be undefeated that late
in the season and to get that win was big.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Did you enjoy that rivalry Logan, I mean you were
talking about you know, we were only a young player there,
still in your third year or something. But did you
get a sense of, oh, this is its year, every day,
ordinary NFL game when you're playing those guys.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yeah, especially well I first came in, we started, we
were playing them every year because we're both division winners, right,
and then my second year we had to go lose
to them in the AFC Championship game, which we would
have won that Super Bowl for sure, but absolutely that
was a heartbreaker losing that game. I was a second
year guy sitting on the sideline going, holy crap, I
don't know where we went it By twenty one or something.
(34:23):
I was like, We're going to go to the super Bowl,
and then we craft the bed the second half. Oh
my gosh, I can't believe we lost that game.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Those in particular, so they had one three in a
row and then one not three in a row, they
had one three and then they went three after you like,
is that the hole in the resume?
Speaker 4 (34:42):
Is that do you have?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Oh? Yeah, you look back. People ask me all the
time and I'm like, yeah, I wish I would have
won a super Bowl. But at the end of the day,
I try to tell like my family members, would that
make me a better dad or husband? Or now I
want to be a farmer? Would it changed my life
at all? No? Did I want to win one. I
(35:04):
tried my absolutely hardest to win one, but it just
didn't work out.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
And then, as you said, you know in six you're
gonna beat Chicago If you don't play that league, oh seven,
you're thirty seconds away from perfection. So it's not like
you weren't on teams. You know, some guys play their
whole career. You know, Joe Thomas, another tremendous offensive lineman,
plays his whole career in Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
He never had a sniff.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Yeah, so yeah, sure, I'm sure he would have liked
to win a super Bowl. He never came close it.
You know, you were on teams that had a lot
of success.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah. I came close a lot bunch of times, a
bunch of AFC championship games and lost to super Bowls.
So I would give up I don't know, some accolades.
I give up all my accolades to win a super Bowl.
But I only got those because I was a decent player.
But other than that, I I don't know. It wouldn't
(35:57):
change anything for me now. So I'm okay, I'm content
without winning the Super.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Bowl, isn't it? You know you talked about things that
you tell your family members. Okay, in life, you're gonna
get knocked down.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Oh yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
How you get up or don't get up that really
defines you. You know. So if you're gonna sit there
in your room and suck your thumb because you lost,
you know, to the giants, what you know? What kind
of person are you? Does that help you as a
as a parent? You know? As to say I live this?
You know, now, what do you do about it?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
It's so true? And if that's the worst thing that
happens during my life. That'd be awesome. Like, there's so
many things that people go through way worse on a
daily basis than losing. It's your livelihood and your career
and what you're striving for. But at the end of
the day, it's it's still a game, and so many
people are going through way worse things. So you just
(36:51):
got to remember those kind of things.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Perspective, Yeah, perspective, right.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
So we talked a little bit about the Colts Ravens.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
I think we brought up with you know, any team
in particular that you were like, that was the rival,
that was the one that.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I always god to Pittsburgh. I hated the Jets and
the Ravens, and that's because we played him every year
and they had good players on defense.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So what about Channing Crowder?
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, we didn't like him either.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
I was going to get to my individuals.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
One of my all time great Logan Mankins postgame meetings
in the locker room. I believe Matt Light had his
way a little bit with Channing Crowder. Yeah, and I
was asking you, so what happened because I don't know.
I just looked up and I saw Matt pounded him
on the head, So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
It was midlight. Always had an understanding there was The
only words spoken were be ready. And he wasn't usually
next to me on field goal and I look and
he that year he wasn't because that was the year
he had like a broken hand or something, so he
had this cast on his hand to begain with and
he's lined up next to me, and I'm like, what
(37:58):
the heck's Matt doing. He's like ready, sounded like long? Did?
I look over and Matt's like holding his helmet off
and then try to hit him on the head with
his cast. And then it turned into a whole melee.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So yet you see that smirk on his face. That's
how he told the story. It's like, yeah, you just
pounded on him on his head.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah it was great. But Crowder he had been he'd
been antagonizing Matt the whole game, and we were beating
him pretty good by then, so Matt just lost lit
the fuse a little bit and lost it. And Matt
was always he was a great teammate too. I remember
we played Detroit one year. I don't know if it
was on Thanksgiving or not. But me and Sue had
(38:37):
been fighting the whole game and it came time for
field goal, and I just that year Matt was next
to me on field goal. I just said get ready,
and I knew I jumped. Sue came low on the
field goal. I jumped back and I was pulling his
helmet off, and I looked to my side and Matt's
just punching him in the ribs as hard as he
can and as fast as they can. Those are kind
of teammates you.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Want, right, absolutely absolutely, and that.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Was even better because the referees only threw a penalty
on Sue, no one else.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
I mean this with no disrespect to a guy like
Chinning Crowder and Sue. She was still playing today, which amazed.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
And I have no problems with Sue. He's awesome player.
That's just how I played football, and he played it,
so he would have done the same thing to me.
So I'm not worried about.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Who were the people Logan, when you think about it,
when you knew that you were going to play them
that week, that you said, I better put more time in,
I better study more, I better get my body even
more right? Who are the guys that gave you the
most difficult times.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
There was Sue's number one at that you had to
be ready. It was always a long, hard day, and
he played hard and he was he was a special
strong guy, and you had to be ready for that game.
There was numerous other guys. When I played against Richard
in Oakland, he was he was still a very good
player then, and of course that was the game the
(39:57):
first time played in New England, so he was going
like a five million miles an hour. He was wanting
to kill us for trade. Of who else. Albert Hainsworth
in his early career was so good and then he
just I don't know, he got paid and just quit.
But his first like five years he was special. I
(40:18):
got to play Aaron Donald his first two years in
the league, and just his athletic ability is phenomenal for
someone inside it a three technique. He's special, special talent. But
I watched now and I see some of these guys there.
There's just so many good athletes that are so big
now it's it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
So I wanted to get back to that Tom Brady
thing that you mentioned, you know, just kind of getting
to know him when you got here He certainly knew
who you were, because when you got dealt to Tampa.
And I don't know how much of this you know.
I'm sure you talk to him privately. It was basically
a wildcat strike. Tom Brady grew a beard like yours,
and he was not happy for.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
A long time. Right, How could did that make you feel? Like?
To know that you had that kind of respect from
a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Oh great, Tom Sola respected, So to be respected by
him was always great. And he knew how much the
team in football meant to me. And I wasn't just
here collected a check that I actually was doing all
I could to make the team better, make myself better
to win football games. And I knew i'd be missed
(41:28):
the day got traded. There ended up being a big
party at my house that night, and I didn't throw it,
just a lot of guys came over and we tore
it up pretty good that night, and so it was good.
Didn't know that I meant something to most of those guys.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
That I mean, when you get kicked in the in
the in the privates like that, but to know that
you have the support of the people that you were
going to battle with every single day. Yeah, it probably
doesn't take the sting away, but it makes you feel
like maybe you would doing the right thing if you had.
Because you were saying earlier, you know, all you asked
for was the respect out of your teammates. That's what
you're playing for, right.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Yeah, Yeah, and your teammates and your coaches. I always
wanted to make my coaches happy and earn their respect.
So but I knew there was a possibility I could
get traded. There's there always is, and we'd had discussions
on things and we just couldn't come to a mutual agreement,
(42:27):
and then that was one of the possibilities. So I
have no hard feelings on it. It's a business, right right.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
You know you mentioned you know still seeing Sue play,
You can still watch Tom play. Are you surprised? Did
you think when you were here that something like that
was he talking about it? Then? Did you think that
could you even entertain the fact that this guy would
be playing into his mid forties.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
I didn't think he'd be playing that long. But before
I left, he was definitely in his taking care of
his body trend and his new those new workout regimens
and all that stuff. So but the amazing thing is
he's still going and he still plays very well, and
it's I couldn't go that long. I was done mentally.
(43:12):
I think I retired at thirty three, and my body
was fine. I could have kept playing, but mentally I
just wanted to do something else.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Was part of that Tampa just sort of not being
in the mix anymore, or was it just that you
had you'd had.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Enough well that that did play into it. That's probably
what wore me out mentally.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
So I went to Tampa my first year and it
was just a shit show. They had a new coach,
a new GM, and they were trying to rebuild, and
there was just so many people in that building that
not building but locker room that just didn't care. They
were just on a team to be on the team.
So the second year they got rid of at least
(43:50):
a third of those or third of the team, and
brought in guys that they found, guys that cared, And
the second year was so much better. I think we
only won six games, but just the effort and the
the change of people caring and getting guys that wanted
to play football. They might not have been as talented,
but they did the right things. They worked hard, they studied,
(44:13):
they were where they were supposed to be. They might
not have been able to make the ninety nine yard touchdown,
but they'd get you down there in five or six plays.
So it's not all about being the best athlete. It's
you got to be able to put in. You got
to be smart study because everyone's good, So you got
to be where your teammates expect you to be.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Do you think that that's why you clicked here? Logan?
Is because the things that maybe people can't put their
finger on, the study time, the caring, the doing, the
little things and the extra things, the details, the fundamentals,
that's what this program. Those are kind of the tenets
that this program's built on. And that's what you believe.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
I've fed in perfect I loved it here. I laugh
when those guys say new eng no fun team or something.
We had a blast.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
We see Bill, you had a pretty good group though,
don't you think IOUs group?
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Yeah? Fun guys. We worked hard, and we played hard.
We had fun together and we but we worked hard together.
And I always said, Bill doesn't care if you joke
around and have fun, but you better be doing what
you're supposed to be doing. You better not be screwing
up at practice, screwing up in the games, late to anything.
If you do everything you're supposed to do, then you're
(45:30):
allowed to have fun and joke around and do dumb
things at practice and in the locker room. But then
when you're number plays called, you better not screw up
out there.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
So and you knew that seventy two had your back
or sixty seven had your back, or sixty one had
your back. You guys were close and you held each
other accountable, didn't you.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Oh yeah, definitely. We worked out together. We ran together.
We uh, we did stick together. There was one year.
Uh so when we would run the we would always
stick together on the sprints. And we were all pretty good,
uh guys at running. We could run pretty good. And uh,
(46:14):
when you're dirt OTAs Bill starts yelling at us because
we're all in a line just running. He's like, you, guys,
I know, Neil, you're faster than so and so, and Maggie,
you're faster than him. You guys should be ahead of him. Light,
you should be up there passing everyone. And Light just
keeps saying, don't break, don't break. We stick together band
(46:34):
of brothers. So the next one we run Light, we
stayed in the same line, and Bill's getting pissed, and
then pretty soon Bill tells everyone else to stop running.
Now it's just the old line. We have to run
and stick and stayed and we stayed together the whole time.
I don't know how many extra ones we had to run,
but the whole time Light's going hold, hold, and no
(46:56):
one broke though. We stuck together. So finally Bill gave up.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
Let the team leaves.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Again, right right, But that was just like he loved
to do stuff like that. He's like, we got to
stick together, no one break you.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Still it sounds like you're still in touch with with Matt. Yeah,
you see any any other teammates.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Yeah, Copan's still he lives right down on Rhode Island.
Russ Holkestein lives in the same town as I do.
Lights in Foxborough still, so I see those guys that
are around the area and still talk to a few others.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
Still get together for barbecues.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Not as much anymore. So My kids are older now,
and Light's kids are older, but the other guys, their
kids are still young and they're running around like crazy.
So not as much as we used to.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Everybody's busy, right, And I mean I don't mean. I
don't mean that everybody's busy, busy with life right.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
It's crazy how busy you can get. And now it
seems like I don't remember this when I was a kid.
But my kids sign up for every sport that's available.
I'm like, we had to sign up for everything, Like,
can't we take a season off on something? But no,
you're just year round sports. It feels like driving kids everywhere.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
You know. We started this off and I was busted
Paul's balls about you know, being that parent in the stands.
Do you like being in the stands? Do you enjoy
watching your kid and watching him play? It's such a
great feeling, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Yeah? I do. Uh So I coached my boys of
football sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and then when they
get to high school, I stop. But I was offered
to coach at the high school and I told him
I just want to be a fan and sit and
watch and enjoy watching them. And then I told him
I could complain about his coaching, so but no, I
(48:47):
just like watching them. We talk about stuff after the game,
on what they should have done, just like every other day.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, Logan, thanks for stopping by. Man all right,
it's a lot of fun. For a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
Nothing else.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
That's it easy one say.
Speaker 4 (49:03):
Yeah, we aim to put out your gut. We're still
we can still roll.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
What do you got?
Speaker 4 (49:07):
What do you want to share?
Speaker 2 (49:08):
You guys have the questions.
Speaker 4 (49:10):
No, I think we touched on everything we wanted.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Logan, thanks for coming in.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
Man.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
Our guest was Logan Mankins on this episode of pat
From the Past. Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe
on Apple, Google Play, and everywhere else you listen.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Like the show, please rate and review us.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
Listener comments and ratings help keep us high on the
podcast rankings so new listeners can find us. Be sure
to check Patriots dot com for more news and more podcasts.
It's time now for another episode of Pats from the
Past podcast. Matsmith alongside Paul Babrillo pleased to be joined
by number seventy on your scorecard, but number one in
our hearts at least today, Paul, right next, Yeah, and
you better be careful.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
And that's Logan Mankins. Logan, thanks for coming in. How
you doing, man, I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thanks for having me us.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, I really appreciate it, all right, Logan when we
start these with everybody, because I don't you mean, like
maybe people know what some ex patriots are doing, but
I think there's a lot of people that go, Logan, Mac,
it's where is he these days? What are you up to?
I think fans would love to know that.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, I'm still here in New England. We live in
North attle Borough, still just down the road from Foxborough,
and we have a little farm and we raised beef, cattle, hay, firewood,
all that kind of fun stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Why is a California Northern California kid? What is it
about New England? Because I think, and I'm being very
stereotypically stereotypical, I think people would be surprised. Patriot fans
will go Okay, his career is over, finish it in Tampa.
He's going to go back to northern California at some
point in time. Why still New England? I mean, and
this is somebody who loves New England, has lived here
(01:12):
his entire life.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah. Well, we had lived here for nine years before
I got traded, and then the timing of the trade
was school was about to start, so my wife and
kids stayed here and I went there just for the
season at Tampa, and then we did that. Then I
came back after the season and my daughter was in
high school, so we didn't want to make her move
(01:34):
while she was in high school, so I went to
Tampa for the season again and they stayed here. And
then by the time I retired, we just made the
decision that our oldest is in high school, let's let
her finish high school. And then she was graduating in
high school, our next one was coming into high school.
So we just made the decision to stay here and
make this our forever place.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
So that's great.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, because I was one of those that I would
have said, you know, Logan Mankins, be back on the
ranch out and it was a Kathy's Valley.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, Kathy's valley.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
I figured you'd be long gone and hot to find,
and then I show up at Bishop Fian. Matt, Yeah,
you know, so one of those classic Bishop Fenwick, Bishop
fee In tilts right in the Catholic Central League Mankins.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So Logan Paul's office is now next to mine, and
I'm regaled weekly with you know how great Fenwick is.
Fenwick kicked his team's ass, blah blah blah. And he
tells me, he goes, oh, you wouldn't believe this. I
read into Logan Mankins other than Bruski, who he knows
obnoxious on the sidelines, is all the most obnoxious parrot
of a kid that you've run into a high school game.
(02:38):
And he's got to be right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Well, I don't know. I don't get to see him
during the game, but he's always very gracious in defeats.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So well, see he's he's being kind. I usually bitch
about the referees for about a half hour. But it
was funny. This is this is a kind of a
funny story. So last year when Logan sun Case Mankins
is a trumendous two way player for Bishop Fiann and
my oldest son Will, they're the same same age, not
as tremendous a two way player for Fenwick, but he
(03:08):
does well. So we're at Fenwick two years ago and
it was one of those games where I was, you know,
held bent for a leather, like if I could have
found an official in the parking lot, things could have
been bad. And I see Logan at the I go,
did you see that whole day? Missing that touchdown?
Speaker 4 (03:24):
And Logan goes and then holding if they don't.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Call it so, but he was spoken like a true
offensive line right.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
But what was great was my friends are constantly, as
you probably get a lot of this, they're constantly busting
my balls. Oh, oh, big tough Paul like, oh, he
talks to Tom Brady, he talks to Toty Brusky.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Oh why don't you where's all you boys? Where's makings?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Where's all you?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Bud?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So don't you know Logan comes over at the end
of the game. You talk about being gracious in defeat,
gracious in victory. He comes over after the game, says
goodbye to my wife and I and I get the
bro hug. I got a little bro hug. And there
what you like to make fun of me about? For
people fraud. So all my friends now looking like, wow,
you really do know those guys that go what do
you think I worked there for twenty years. I never
(04:07):
met anybody, so it was it's been kind of nice.
Case played some basketball last last winter, so I bumped
into Logan a few times, and he was here in
Foxboro at the draft party too, So he's been around.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
And Logan and I'm I can verify Paul, because Paul
was saying this to me when he came back. He goes,
You're not gonna believe it, And I'm not surprised, he goes,
I think Patriots fans would not be surprised as well.
Regular guy, nice guy parent who isn't screaming and yelling
and swearing at the referees like most of the other
parents are fie and hoodie.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Right with his hat probably just like that was it
Draper Farms.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Yeah, you know, a heart, you would not have any
idea that this is a you know, decade long NFL player,
well ten plus years NFL player, with the amount of
Pro Bowls and All pros, and you would have no
idea just sitting in the stands watching his kids just
like everybody else, right.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
And I hope this doesn't come across in a way.
It's sort as I'm saying, think about in my mind
that somebody could take it as an insult, and I
hope it would never be that way. But Logan as
the second greatest guard in franchise history, You are you
okay being behind John Hannah?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Who by the way I spent.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But they wouldn't change my life, and I get it,
I'd still be the same.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
But I don't know if you ever had a chance
to really, you know, watch Hannah or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
During little days.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And I spent some time with John a couple of
summers ago down on his cattle farm down in Alabama. Crusty,
great patriot and great guy. I think you guys would connect.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I've got him a few times. Yeah, we uh
would swap stories and it was it was great meeting
them and hearing all the great things he had to
talk about.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
And he just started yelling at you about not running
the ball enough.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Well, he said he liked running the ball because he
didn't like the pass block, and that pass blocking is
pretty tough, so especially against the talent they have nowadays.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
He loved watching you play. He loved watching you play.
And I would say, as an outsider, for somebody to
get a stamp of approval from somebody like John Hannah,
that means a lot more than Paul Pirillo or Matt
Smith or any other Tom Dick and Harry because here's
a legit guy. Well, he loved watching you play.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, and John, he was respected by everyone, his teammates,
his opponents, other coaches. So that's always what I wanted
to If they wrote I was good in the paper,
that was great. But I wanted my teammates. I wanted
to earn their respect, and I wanted opponents not to
want to play me. So that's how it was.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Did you think when you were coming out, did you
think you were going to be a first round pick?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I didn't know. I everyone told me probably the second rounder.
And it was funny. The day of the draft, I was.
We had me and my wife had a little apartment
in Fresno and we had a little draft party and
just people kept showing up more and more. Like my dad,
he's a he likes to have a good time, so
he was inviting everyone he saw, whether he knew there
(06:59):
were not, So that was always great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Does it make him a bad guy.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No. But we're sitting there and my offensive coordinator from
Fresno was one of his best friends was with the
forty nine ers and he calls me. He goes that
I just talked to my best friend. They're taking you
with the thirty third pick. I was like, oh sweet,
right down the road from here. And then I was like,
hold on, someone else is calling me and I click
(07:24):
the phone over and it was Scott Pioli. He's like,
we're taking you right now. I was like, oh, okay,
So it was great. I was. I think I was
very fortunate to come here. I'm it worked out the
best to come here. I'm glad that the nine Ers
weren't picking thirty two and the Patriots were.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So you obviously it did work out. You were part
of a lot of wins here and you had a
great career. Did you think it at the time, You know, like,
you were so close to being close to home and
now you have to go to New England, which I
can't tell you how many players will tell you. I
didn't really even know where New England was because they
think it's a state, not a region. And what were
you thinking about the culture, you know, the both the
(08:03):
culture with the team and the culture shock of going
from West coast to East coast.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah, I wasn't, like you said, totally aware of they
said in New England. I was like, Okay, that's on
the East Coast, but I didn't know it was like
right outside of Boston. I didn't know where the stadium
was or Foxborough or any of that stuff. And guys
are like, oh, You're gonna go play with Tom Brady
and I'm like, I'm not even sure who Tom Brady
really is. Right, I didn't watch that much in NFL football.
(08:28):
I didn't Up until my senior year of high school.
I loved watching NFL football, and then once I got
to college, I kind of stopped paying attention and had
many other things going on.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
So is that because you Is it because it was
so much for you to play? It took so much physically,
mentally and everything like that that when the time came
that you had quote your own time or downtime or
however you want to call it. I got other things
I need, I want to do that interest me rather
than sit and watch this. Because I'm living and know
(09:00):
in a division in school, you're working. It's a job.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Yeah, and uh, and the schedule kind of makes it
that way. So in college, you play on Saturday. Sunday,
you go in for lifting, you watch the game, and
you have your conditioning, so that's most of your Sunday
while NFL football is on, so you could watch games
on Monday night and Sunday night, but other than that,
during the day, you were usually busy, so we didn't
(09:24):
watch a lot of it. And as I got older
in college, I already had my first daughter and everything
like that. So the longer I was in college, the
more responsible I had to start becoming, and we had
a lot of other things to do to support her
and my future wife.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
So so when you were drafted, it was you know,
tackle out of first No State, and then you got
here and almost immediately it was guard. Yeah, did you
know that that you would be a guard or is
that something that Bill had talked to you about beforehand?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I assumed it was going to happen. So my coach
at Fresno was Pat Hill, and I got invited to
the East West and the Senior Bowl and he goes
He was an O line coach for for Eveland or
Baltimore one of those Bill, and he goes, I think
the best thing for you to do is go to
these two all star games, go to both of them,
(10:17):
and just play guard at both of them. Tell them
you don't want to play tackle. I was like, all right,
So I took his advice, and when I got there,
I said, I'm playing guard, not tackle. And then because
he said I was going to get moved to guard,
that's what his opinion was. So when I got here,
I just assumed I was going to Garden. That's where
they told me to go.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
So then it was day one.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, it was uh yeah, the first day always Guarden.
What I did play tackle a couple of games.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
We're going to get.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
About that athletic.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I mean, the transition, the transition from college chapro is
obviously a big transition transition position wise. Did you think
that that was a big deal guard to tackle.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I didn't think it was until I did it. Okay,
it's uh so a guard, everything is way faster, Like
everyone is lined up closer to you. Everything happens faster.
The guys aren't as fast as you're going against that tackle,
but you have more time before they get to you
to set everything up and the guys inside are way bigger,
way stronger. I thought guard was a lot more physical.
(11:21):
The few games I played at tackle, I felt awesome
after the game, whereas guard, you feel it's like, guys
right here, it he's too eighty to three point fifty
every time, just bam, bam bam.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So I think and Paul helped me on this, if
you agree with me or not. I think fans look
at offensive line and maybe other than center, where there's
an alleged you know, the center quarterback exchange that needs
to happen, and it's got to be consistent. But I
think fans will get offensive linemen and maybe other than
left tackle. I think they think they're all the same. Yeah,
and when you see there's current players on this team
(11:55):
and around the league, Hey, you know, we recognize you've
got position versatility. Oh, we like the fact that you
can play guard and play tackle. And I think fians
think that it's just interchangeable and can get on a guy. Geezh,
why is he You know, it's not as interchangeable as
maybe us dummy fians like to think. Is that a
fair statement?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh? Definitely. It takes uh for a guy to be
able to do multiple positions well, between guard and tackle
and not so much center and guard. But for a
person to be able to do guard en tackle, they
got to understand the game very well and have a
lot of athletic ability, which they already do. But I mean,
(12:34):
like position, I don't know how to really pronounce it
or say it, but they've got to be able to
flip all that in their mind all the time. You've
got to be smart. Definitely got to be smart to
be able to do both of them, because it's different
ways and techniques to do both those spots.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Now, did you have to move sides?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
No, thankfully side, which was nice because I was always
right handed, and then once I got the I always
played on the left side. And once you get stuck, well,
for me personally, once I got in that left handed stance,
that was the only one I was ever gonna be
able to do again, I get in a right hand
stance and I feel funky.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
When you got here, Logan, you know, rookie first rounder.
So you come with that kind of baggage, you know,
I mean, oh, here's a guy I gotta guarantee blah
blah blah. Who is there somebody that you can think
of that helped you the most to help make that
transition to NFL offensive lineman from college. How do you
recall that rookie year and who helped you along? And
because I think what people say now they consider they
(13:36):
they don't remember it, but they should remember it. We're
talking about a plug and play guy started just like that.
And then again another thing, I think, Oh, anybody can
do it, No, nobody, not everybody can do it. You
have to be a Logan Magans kind of person to
do it well.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
There was a lot of bumps in the road. It
wasn't always beautiful. I remember getting yelled at plenty of
times and nothing Scar Scar Bill whoever you didn't think
of in there, but let Tom get hit plenty of times.
But you learned as you go, and by the halfway
part point of the season, I felt pretty comfortable and
what I was doing and it wasn't as bad as
(14:10):
those first few games. But there was lots of guys
that helped. First of all, I had an awesome O
line coach that was I'm so lucky and fortunate to
play for him. I wouldn't have wanted to play for
anyone else. So I had that going for me. I
had a lot of older guys in our room that
they were here to win, like Matt, like Cop and Neil,
(14:33):
those guys, that's all they wanted to do was win.
And they just because you were a rookie didn't mean anything.
They would help you. You were their teammate. So that
was awesome. There was like we didn't have rookie Hazy
and the craft like that. We were all there for
one purpose. Matt was awesome. I remember we got here
and was that rookie camp for OTAs or something, and
(14:57):
he invited my wife and our children over to meet
his wife and children, just to make the whole transition easier.
So having guys like that in your locker room makes
life a lot easier when you're already dealing with stuff
you have no idea. You're learning every day as you
go as a rookie, so having older guys that are
willing to help you is great.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
So I found it interesting when you said, you know,
you got drafted by the Patriots, and oh, you're going
to go and block for Tom Brady and you're like,
I'm not really even sure who Tom Brady is. How
long did it take you to sort of realize that
he was a little different than just the other teams
starting quarterbacks. And what was it like sort of getting
indoctrinated into that.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Well, it was great Tom. He's a special player, as
everyone already knows, but he's also a special leader and
a special guy. He was a great teammate to have.
You wanted a block for the guy. The coaches wanted
you to make every block for him, and just that
makes it so much better when you really respect and
you like the guy, and you know he cares about
(15:58):
you and you care about him. And that's why we
wanted to make the blocks for him. We didn't do
it just because it was our job. We actually liked
and respected him and wanted him to do good. So,
but there was lots of guys on this team I
didn't know anything about. I remember my rookie year, Richard
Seymour was here and he was holding out and I
was like, who's this guy everyone's talking about. I found
(16:19):
out the first day he came back. He was a handful.
So I got a lot of welcome to New England moments.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Was what was that like lining up against Richard Seymour
when he comes back.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh it was. I still didn't know who he was
but I or what he did, but I was like, damn,
this guy is big. What the heck? And then of
course where he lines up every day for practices right
over me, and the first one I want he ran
me over. I was like, holy shit, I better better
figure out how to block guys like this. And then
we went to the first game and I was like,
oh man, everyone's not like I was like, thankfully not
(16:55):
everyone's like this guy does it?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Did it not surprise you? Logan? I mean it took
him probably a little longer than I think, maybe he
wanted or some of the people a little closest to him.
But is it no surprise? Do you have to get
knocked on your asp by Richard Seymore that he's in
the Professional Football Hall of Fame?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Oh yeah, he should have been there. There was no
question he was special talent. Not everyone has got his
a bilit He's so tall and long, and he's strong
and athletic, and he had the right mentality and he
was just a very good player. He was smart too,
So maybe playing here is first. I don't know. However,
(17:31):
many years when he was asked to take on double
teams and not get the sack numbers. That probably slowed
him down, But as far as impacting the game, he
made a big impact. And I know he helped me too,
because I practiced against him every day for like four
or five six years something like that, and we had
lots of fights and all kinds of stuff, But when
(17:52):
we got to the locker room, we always talked about
how to. I would ask him what he looked at sometimes,
and he would ask me, like, how do you get
the hands off? And this kind of thing and that
thing just from guys that a different point of view
than a coach's point of view, like the guy that's
actually doing it. So I always had a lot of
respect for him.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You talked about being, you know, selfless and you know,
like Richard was, but you obviously displayed that you talked about.
Don't forget that you played tackle a little bit, Matt Scott.
You know that the anecdote from Dante about the day
that you had to play tackle like on a moment's notice.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So we were this was your first year. Both Paul
and I are kind of embarrassed about it. To be
perfectly honest with you, I don't want to put words
in Paul's mouth. But we're part of the Hall of
Fame committee to select people to get on the ballot,
and then legitimately when the people get on the ballot,
it's a fan vote, you know, and as you can
imagine skill position, guys, you know we're gonna get the
(18:48):
fan vote. But this is the first year that you
were on that ballot. And so it's part of one
of the things that I do here is, hey, who
can who's a great person as an ambassador for Richard's,
for Ty Law, for Teddy Bruski, for Logan Mankins, that
can really speak to who that person was as a
player and why they deserve to be why did they
(19:10):
think they would be a great Patriot Hall of Famer.
And of course we went to Dante, and so we're
talking to Dante and he's giving you all the platitudes
that you could think of that Dante would give you
nobody tougher comparing you as somebody who did coach. He
wasn't maybe an offensive line coach, but he was on
the team when Hannah was here, So it's not blasphemy
for him to mention your name and to me that
(19:31):
that's an awful lot of credibility, but we stopped after
one point. All right, Dante, that was great. He goes,
I'd like to say one more thing. This is really
important to me. And he talked about again how selfless
you were and the fact that I don't know, I
guess it was light probably who got hurt. And you're
playing the Ravens and you're, hey, guess what, Logan, you're
playing tackle this week? And that's the Ravens with Terrell
(19:53):
Suggs and somebody like that. And he talked about how
you nearly pitched a shutout that game, but you were
pissed on one particular play that maybe Suggs got a
hand up or maybe like sort of swept and knocked
Tom down. And he talked about how pissed you were
about that, and he goes, you know, it's okay for
the quarterback to get rid of the ball too, Logan,
don't blame that one on you. But that's how he thought.
(20:16):
That's how he felt about you. Do you remember that
game in that week having to kick out?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah? I still remember. I shouldn't got beat on that one.
I just went sit a little too far. I got
feeling too comfortable and he got me on it up
and under. But yeah, those games we uh. I actually
liked going out to tackle every now and then, just
I don't know. It was fun just to change it
up every now and then. But that was the second time.
(20:42):
The first time I played tackle, I didn't find out
untill like twenty minutes before the game, So that one
was a little tougher. But the one against the Ravens
was nice because I actually got to practice all week
at tackle, so that was a lot better. But it
was I like tackle, It was fun.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
What was the other one?
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Miami am home? And then one time I had to
play the second half I think against the Texans or something.
So how was the backup tackle?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
It amazes me, Like what does he say? Like, yeah,
I got I set to what I got. I got
up and under it like it was probably twenty years
ago at this point, Like exactly.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
You remember your bad places, remember the good ones.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Oh, I can tell you about the Tate measure home
runs I allowed in college, but I don't want to
have to get to that's another podcast for a different time, right,
Just you know, again, I want to stay with the
teammate and the selflessness and the season you played on
a twenty ACL. Well, you know, Philip Rivers played a quarterback,
you know, in the AOC Championship game against you guys
on a twenty ACL, and I think it was one
(21:40):
of the more heroic performances I've seen.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
You played a whole season like that, Like, how do
you how do you do that?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I don't know. They said maybe always loose, used to
having a loose knee or something. I don't know, but
I had to wear one of those weird braces for
most of the year, and uh, it hurt for the
first couple of games and then it just kind of
went away. So and then after the season we went
and saw the doctor and he's like, this thing's been
(22:07):
torn a long time.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Oh so you didn't realize it until.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
We didn't know it was fully torn.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
It's one of those don't ask doctors just kind.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Of shook it around and said, well, what do you think.
And I was like, well, let me give it a
shot this week at practice and he's like all right.
And then I got through drills, I was like, we'll
just go with it. He's like, all right, well we
need to get it checked out later.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So see, people think that sometimes you overstate just how
matter of fact people are about things. This is logan, Manking,
this is how he was in the locker room after games.
He would talk about, you know, the game plan and
what they did well, and it was the same level
of intensity and just.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Matter of fact everything. Yeah, well you know what do
you think? Yeah, well I can give it a shot
a practice. I can see if I can play.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He had a twenty cl right, and it's like it's
his job. It's no big deal. I'm just going to
go out and get the job done.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Do you get embarras when you hear that logan? Like
people like Paul and I want to keep praise on
you for that. You're an offensive lineman. You probably don't
give a sugar about like, yeah, that's what I was supposed.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
To do well. Everyone loves to be praised, but I
do get embarrassed when it's in front of me. I'd rather.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I don't want to embarrass you believe me, and I'm
not like you know, I've been. I've been Matt and
I have been here for over twenty years. So it's like,
you know, it's not like the wide eyed Chris Farley
on Saday Night Live, like that was awesome. You know,
I'm not in awe, you know, but but that's an
awesome and are inspiring.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That's season.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Most people sadly today at work have the sniffles and
they're down for three days, do you know what I mean?
And so when somebody says, no, it's important to go
to work, and I might not be feeling one hundred percent,
but I still think I can do my job. Yeah,
it's that's different.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah, that's well. I think people used to ask me
why I did it, and I was like, well, my
dad always said, if you can go to work, you
go to work. And he always joked to just tape
an aspirinto it and you'll be all right.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Did you try it?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
No? But it was it was fine. It hurt for
a while and then it went away, and then it
just uh. I really noticed it. As the season went on,
there was no more squatting in the weight room, like
that stuff was not happening anymore. Or if you like
tried to walk down an incline, you could feel your
knee sliding. But so thankfully the football fields aren't inclined.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I think you know, your league is filled with really
really tough players and like, yeah, I mean, I see
what you guys go through. I remember the other Algae
Crumpler was here. I don't know if you guys crossed.
I forget the timeline, but what he went through to
play every week was ridiculous and you could see the toughness.
But I think a lot of people in your situation
Logan would have said, this is my career. I have
(24:59):
a finite amount of time to earn money, and if
I play in a torn a c oh it might
affect my performance. It could affect my salary down the
look they're gonna probably look to, you know, makee me
take a haircut next year, or if I'm going to
be a free agent. But yet you put all that
aside and just said, no, I have a job to
do and I'm going to go out and do it.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Well. I was fortunate. I just signed a big contract
and then all that I say fun of the guys
around the league that would get this big deal, and
then they would get hurt, and I was.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
Like, this is what people do, and dis guys are
tough too.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Like in our locker room. I would make fun of
guys like that, and so then I'm possibly hurt, not
one hundred percent knowing if I'm hurt or not. And
I'm like, well, I don't want to be that guy
that I've been ragging on for my.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Whole career already, right, you don't want to be a fraud.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah. And up until that point, I what was that
my sixth year. I'd never missed a practice or game.
So I was like, I can't I can't start getting
hurt now. Then I did get a few practices off
that year.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
So then logan is is that all part of maybe
your principle and your values, because I do think Patriot
fans remember that you wanted to take a stand. You
felt like that Paul helped me out in the language
of it, you know, with a rookie contract or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Right, you got I mean, you got screwed. I mean,
let's say like you're going to be a free agent.
And then that uncapped year came in, I think in
ten something like that, right after night, and they changed
the minimum years for you know, went up to six years.
And that's what led to your.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Yeah, hold led to an argument in a holdout.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
So but in that case, you're you're not doing anything
different than playing on a torn acl it's I'm here
to do a job. Wait a minute, I'm here to
do a job. But why are the rules changing on him?
This isn't fair and I need to take a Stanford.
Is that all part of the principles that make up
logan makings?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Oh yeah, definitely. And technically we called a hold out,
But it wasn't a holdout because I wasn't.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Right, right, you weren't. Yeah, really absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I didn't refuse to come to work. I just chose
not to be on a team yet, right, And it
was all about money and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
But was that hard for you Logan to do that?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Oh? Yeah it was. It was hard at first until
I made up my mind. And then once my mind
was made up, it was easy because I'm very stubborn
when it comes to stuff like that. So I didn't
want to do it, Like I hated it came to
that situation. I did not wanted to do that, but
I felt that to me personally, I felt that was
(27:34):
the right thing to do. So maybe it was. Maybe
it wasn't, but to me it was, So that's why
I did it.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
You'll be glad to know that your buddy, Andy Hart
and I never called it a holdout just for that
exact reason that you just said. We were very much
pro pro player in that and.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
The fact that that changed. Do you feel like, I'm
not saying that you know you were the impetus behind
it or anything like that, But are you happy now
for the future players that maybe that's something that they,
you know, in the negotiation that helped work to their favor.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Possibly the money right now is I thought it was
crazy when I played. It's out of control. Now it's
awesome for the players. But that's why every other older
player says, guys ten years before me thought I was
getting paid crazy money, but got it. Yeah, I don't know.
Each guy has to do what they feel is right
for them personally, and everyone's different and some guys are
(28:27):
stronger minded than other people. So it just all depends
on who you are, all right.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
You talk about the old man status. Then, I don't
know how much football you watch today. I think to
the lay person, and I would consider Paul and I
both the late kind of person. You look at offensive
line player around the league, it just doesn't seem like
it's as good as it was maybe in years gone by.
Do you agree with that.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
I haven't watched it close enough to say that, but
I do watch some of it, and I don't feel
it's as physical I see. I've talked to people they're
still playing coaches, and they're like, a lot of the
things you guys used to do you would get ejected
for now. So like we used to blindside everyone like
I was. I did watch the game where David Andrews
(29:11):
got uh yeah, and that was legal when I played, right, Like,
we ran down the field looking on interceptions for d
linemen because we knew they were coming because we did
it to them a few plays before, right, But those
kind of players are out lowed now, and we used
to do that on a consistent basis, or diving into
people's knees and all that stuff. So it's a lot
(29:32):
different now.
Speaker 4 (29:33):
When you look back.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
The seven season obviously bittersweet for everybody. Do you feel
like the team sort of ran out of gas? Just
the sort of the pressure of being unbeaten kind of
caught up to you.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Possibly. I was still so young, only my third year.
I was just happy to be playing football and just
don't but we had so many older guys that really
knew and understood football. At that time, and maybe they
they did. I know it was a very uh, I
guess you call it stressful season. Well, as the year
(30:10):
went on, it got more stressful and more pressure on you,
not just from not to lose, but like Bill that
year had his foot on the gas pedal. Every game
felt like when we'd watch film, like we lost the
game and we would be someone by forty or twenty
year and then you'd come in and feel like you
lost the game. But I didn't feel burned out by
(30:32):
the end of the year. We just didn't play well.
I know, me and the offensive line we didn't play
good enough that game. And usually if the old line
doesn't play good, you don't win. So that's how it
goes a lot of times.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
When you look back at that logan in you say,
you know, it felt like a loss even though you're
trashing teams. Yeah, how did that manifest Like in the
film room when you're looking at it and stuff like that,
Does that motivate you or do you have to have
a special kind of mentality to like, look at I
know what he's trying to do here, He's looking for
(31:04):
almost literally perfection on these plays. Does that help drive
you to be a better player.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Oh, definitely. And our offensive line coach Dante, he said,
we're not gonna be perfect, but we're going to strive
for it every game and every practice. So he preached
that already. And as an old Lignman, you could have
eighty great blocks. On the eighty first play, you give
up a sack and that's all everyone talks about. And
you had a horrible game, right, So it's uh, we're
(31:30):
used to that as oligneman. That one bad play ruins
it all. So you've got to be perfect on all
of them, unless it was always best when you had
to play and you got beat by someone and fortunately
you were running the ball the other way or something
and it didn't effect aim play at all.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Do you think, and this is another great fan debate,
it would have been better for them to lose, you know,
and then you get that monkey off your back. Did
you enjoy the pursuit of perfection?
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah? I loved it. When we squeaked out the win
was that week seventeen in New York when we win
by three or something, Yeah, I was so happy. We
want that to keep it alive. So because then after that,
you only have what three more games to win. I
wouldn't change it. I'd change that we lost the last game,
(32:18):
but the rest of the season, I wouldn't change. People
are like I have a lot of people say, don't
you wish you just lost the Chief Championship and didn't
get there? And no, I'll take the shot if we lose,
we lose, but I'll take the shot of winning.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
I mean, I tell this all the time, being on
all those plane rides back and forth, you'd be hard pressed, Matt,
you and I talk about this all the time. You'd
be hard pressed to ever know based on the mentality
of the players, the interaction on a way home, if
you guys won, are lost. You guys were just businesslike.
There's one huge exception, and that was the Indianapolis game
(32:55):
that year in seven. We came I think right ten
down in the fourth are two touchdowns to beat the
undefeated Colts, and you guys went crazy on on that
flight home another one bites. The dust was going and
I think Glonnie might have had that cranked up. It
(33:16):
was amazing to me how business like you were otherwise,
and then to see that like, oh this really was
a big game. It wasn't just like the next thing.
You know, well, you know, maybe on to Cincinnati. It
wasn't like that. You could see it with the mentality
of the team, and then I felt like that kind
of carried you through the rest of that regular season.
To your point, it did mean a lot to go unbeaten.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Oh it did. And like you said, that game against
Manning and the Colts, we had such a big rivalry
and for both of us to be undefeated that late
in the season and to get that win was big.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Did you enjoy that rivalry Logan, I mean you were
talking about you know, we were only a young player there,
still in your third year or something. But did you
get a sense of, oh, this is its year, every day,
ordinary NFL game when you're playing those guys.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yeah, especially well I first came in, we started, we
were playing them every year because we're both division winners, right,
and then my second year we had to go lose
to them in the AFC Championship game, which we would
have won that Super Bowl for sure, but absolutely that
was a heartbreaker losing that game. I was a second
year guy sitting on the sideline going, holy crap, I
don't know where we went it By twenty one or something.
(34:23):
I was like, We're going to go to the super Bowl,
and then we craft the bed the second half. Oh
my gosh, I can't believe we lost that game.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Those in particular, so they had one three in a
row and then one not three in a row, they
had one three and then they went three after you like,
is that the hole in the resume?
Speaker 4 (34:42):
Is that do you have?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Oh? Yeah, you look back. People ask me all the
time and I'm like, yeah, I wish I would have
won a super Bowl. But at the end of the day,
I try to tell like my family members, would that
make me a better dad or husband? Or now I
want to be a farmer? Would it changed my life
at all? No? Did I want to win one. I
(35:04):
tried my absolutely hardest to win one, but it just
didn't work out.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
And then, as you said, you know in six you're
gonna beat Chicago If you don't play that league, oh seven,
you're thirty seconds away from perfection. So it's not like
you weren't on teams. You know, some guys play their
whole career. You know, Joe Thomas, another tremendous offensive lineman,
plays his whole career in Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
He never had a sniff.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Yeah, so yeah, sure, I'm sure he would have liked
to win a super Bowl. He never came close it.
You know, you were on teams that had a lot
of success.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah. I came close a lot bunch of times, a
bunch of AFC championship games and lost to super Bowls.
So I would give up I don't know, some accolades.
I give up all my accolades to win a super Bowl.
But I only got those because I was a decent player.
But other than that, I I don't know. It wouldn't
(35:57):
change anything for me now. So I'm okay, I'm content
without winning the Super.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Bowl, isn't it? You know you talked about things that
you tell your family members. Okay, in life, you're gonna
get knocked down.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Oh yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
How you get up or don't get up that really
defines you. You know. So if you're gonna sit there
in your room and suck your thumb because you lost,
you know, to the giants, what you know? What kind
of person are you? Does that help you as a
as a parent? You know? As to say I live this?
You know, now, what do you do about it?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
It's so true? And if that's the worst thing that
happens during my life. That'd be awesome. Like, there's so
many things that people go through way worse on a
daily basis than losing. It's your livelihood and your career
and what you're striving for. But at the end of
the day, it's it's still a game, and so many
people are going through way worse things. So you just
(36:51):
got to remember those kind of things.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
Perspective, Yeah, perspective, right.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
So we talked a little bit about the Colts Ravens.
Speaker 3 (37:00):
I think we brought up with you know, any team
in particular that you were like, that was the rival,
that was the one that.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
I always god to Pittsburgh. I hated the Jets and
the Ravens, and that's because we played him every year
and they had good players on defense.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So what about Channing Crowder?
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, we didn't like him either.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
I was going to get to my individuals.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
One of my all time great Logan Mankins postgame meetings
in the locker room. I believe Matt Light had his
way a little bit with Channing Crowder. Yeah, and I
was asking you, so what happened because I don't know.
I just looked up and I saw Matt pounded him
on the head, So that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
It was midlight. Always had an understanding there was The
only words spoken were be ready. And he wasn't usually
next to me on field goal and I look and
he that year he wasn't because that was the year
he had like a broken hand or something, so he
had this cast on his hand to begain with and
he's lined up next to me, and I'm like, what
(37:58):
the heck's Matt doing. He's like ready, sounded like long? Did?
I look over and Matt's like holding his helmet off
and then try to hit him on the head with
his cast. And then it turned into a whole melee.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So yet you see that smirk on his face. That's
how he told the story. It's like, yeah, you just
pounded on him on his head.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah it was great. But Crowder he had been he'd
been antagonizing Matt the whole game, and we were beating
him pretty good by then, so Matt just lost lit
the fuse a little bit and lost it. And Matt
was always he was a great teammate too. I remember
we played Detroit one year. I don't know if it
was on Thanksgiving or not. But me and Sue had
(38:37):
been fighting the whole game and it came time for
field goal, and I just that year Matt was next
to me on field goal. I just said get ready,
and I knew I jumped. Sue came low on the
field goal. I jumped back and I was pulling his
helmet off, and I looked to my side and Matt's
just punching him in the ribs as hard as he
can and as fast as they can. Those are kind
of teammates you.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Want, right, absolutely absolutely, and that.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Was even better because the referees only threw a penalty
on Sue, no one else.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
I mean this with no disrespect to a guy like
Chinning Crowder and Sue. She was still playing today, which amazed.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
And I have no problems with Sue. He's awesome player.
That's just how I played football, and he played it,
so he would have done the same thing to me.
So I'm not worried about.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
Who were the people Logan, when you think about it,
when you knew that you were going to play them
that week, that you said, I better put more time in,
I better study more, I better get my body even
more right? Who are the guys that gave you the
most difficult times.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
There was Sue's number one at that you had to
be ready. It was always a long, hard day, and
he played hard and he was he was a special
strong guy, and you had to be ready for that game.
There was numerous other guys. When I played against Richard
in Oakland, he was he was still a very good
player then, and of course that was the game the
(39:57):
first time played in New England, so he was going
like a five million miles an hour. He was wanting
to kill us for trade. Of who else. Albert Hainsworth
in his early career was so good and then he
just I don't know, he got paid and just quit.
But his first like five years he was special. I
(40:18):
got to play Aaron Donald his first two years in
the league, and just his athletic ability is phenomenal for
someone inside it a three technique. He's special, special talent. But
I watched now and I see some of these guys there.
There's just so many good athletes that are so big
now it's it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
So I wanted to get back to that Tom Brady
thing that you mentioned, you know, just kind of getting
to know him when you got here He certainly knew
who you were, because when you got dealt to Tampa.
And I don't know how much of this you know.
I'm sure you talk to him privately. It was basically
a wildcat strike. Tom Brady grew a beard like yours,
and he was not happy for.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
A long time. Right, How could did that make you feel? Like?
To know that you had that kind of respect from
a guy like that.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Oh great, Tom Sola respected, So to be respected by
him was always great. And he knew how much the
team in football meant to me. And I wasn't just
here collected a check that I actually was doing all
I could to make the team better, make myself better
to win football games. And I knew i'd be missed
(41:28):
the day got traded. There ended up being a big
party at my house that night, and I didn't throw it,
just a lot of guys came over and we tore
it up pretty good that night, and so it was good.
Didn't know that I meant something to most of those guys.
Speaker 1 (41:45):
That I mean, when you get kicked in the in
the in the privates like that, but to know that
you have the support of the people that you were
going to battle with every single day. Yeah, it probably
doesn't take the sting away, but it makes you feel
like maybe you would doing the right thing if you had.
Because you were saying earlier, you know, all you asked
for was the respect out of your teammates. That's what
you're playing for, right.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Yeah, Yeah, and your teammates and your coaches. I always
wanted to make my coaches happy and earn their respect.
So but I knew there was a possibility I could
get traded. There's there always is, and we'd had discussions
on things and we just couldn't come to a mutual agreement,
(42:27):
and then that was one of the possibilities. So I
have no hard feelings on it. It's a business, right right.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
You know you mentioned you know still seeing Sue play,
You can still watch Tom play. Are you surprised? Did
you think when you were here that something like that
was he talking about it? Then? Did you think that
could you even entertain the fact that this guy would
be playing into his mid forties.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
I didn't think he'd be playing that long. But before
I left, he was definitely in his taking care of
his body trend and his new those new workout regimens
and all that stuff. So but the amazing thing is
he's still going and he still plays very well, and
it's I couldn't go that long. I was done mentally.
(43:12):
I think I retired at thirty three, and my body
was fine. I could have kept playing, but mentally I
just wanted to do something else.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Was part of that Tampa just sort of not being
in the mix anymore, or was it just that you
had you'd had.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Enough well that that did play into it. That's probably
what wore me out mentally.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
So I went to Tampa my first year and it
was just a shit show. They had a new coach,
a new GM, and they were trying to rebuild, and
there was just so many people in that building that
not building but locker room that just didn't care. They
were just on a team to be on the team.
So the second year they got rid of at least
(43:50):
a third of those or third of the team, and
brought in guys that they found, guys that cared, And
the second year was so much better. I think we
only won six games, but just the effort and the
the change of people caring and getting guys that wanted
to play football. They might not have been as talented,
but they did the right things. They worked hard, they studied,
(44:13):
they were where they were supposed to be. They might
not have been able to make the ninety nine yard touchdown,
but they'd get you down there in five or six plays.
So it's not all about being the best athlete. It's
you got to be able to put in. You got
to be smart study because everyone's good, So you got
to be where your teammates expect you to be.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Do you think that that's why you clicked here? Logan?
Is because the things that maybe people can't put their
finger on, the study time, the caring, the doing, the
little things and the extra things, the details, the fundamentals,
that's what this program. Those are kind of the tenets
that this program's built on. And that's what you believe.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
I've fed in perfect I loved it here. I laugh
when those guys say new eng no fun team or something.
We had a blast.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
We see Bill, you had a pretty good group though,
don't you think IOUs group?
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Yeah? Fun guys. We worked hard, and we played hard.
We had fun together and we but we worked hard together.
And I always said, Bill doesn't care if you joke
around and have fun, but you better be doing what
you're supposed to be doing. You better not be screwing
up at practice, screwing up in the games, late to anything.
If you do everything you're supposed to do, then you're
(45:30):
allowed to have fun and joke around and do dumb
things at practice and in the locker room. But then
when you're number plays called, you better not screw up
out there.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
So and you knew that seventy two had your back
or sixty seven had your back, or sixty one had
your back. You guys were close and you held each
other accountable, didn't you.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
Oh yeah, definitely. We worked out together. We ran together.
We uh, we did stick together. There was one year.
Uh so when we would run the we would always
stick together on the sprints. And we were all pretty good,
uh guys at running. We could run pretty good. And uh,
(46:14):
when you're dirt OTAs Bill starts yelling at us because
we're all in a line just running. He's like, you, guys,
I know, Neil, you're faster than so and so, and Maggie,
you're faster than him. You guys should be ahead of him. Light,
you should be up there passing everyone. And Light just
keeps saying, don't break, don't break. We stick together band
(46:34):
of brothers. So the next one we run Light, we
stayed in the same line, and Bill's getting pissed, and
then pretty soon Bill tells everyone else to stop running.
Now it's just the old line. We have to run
and stick and stayed and we stayed together the whole time.
I don't know how many extra ones we had to run,
but the whole time Light's going hold, hold, and no
(46:56):
one broke though. We stuck together. So finally Bill gave up.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
Let the team leaves.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Again, right right, But that was just like he loved
to do stuff like that. He's like, we got to
stick together, no one break you.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Still it sounds like you're still in touch with with Matt. Yeah,
you see any any other teammates.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Yeah, Copan's still he lives right down on Rhode Island.
Russ Holkestein lives in the same town as I do.
Lights in Foxborough still, so I see those guys that
are around the area and still talk to a few others.
Speaker 4 (47:32):
Still get together for barbecues.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Not as much anymore. So My kids are older now,
and Light's kids are older, but the other guys, their
kids are still young and they're running around like crazy.
So not as much as we used to.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Everybody's busy, right, And I mean I don't mean. I
don't mean that everybody's busy, busy with life right.
Speaker 2 (47:54):
It's crazy how busy you can get. And now it
seems like I don't remember this when I was a kid.
But my kids sign up for every sport that's available.
I'm like, we had to sign up for everything, Like,
can't we take a season off on something? But no,
you're just year round sports. It feels like driving kids everywhere.
Speaker 1 (48:13):
You know. We started this off and I was busted
Paul's balls about you know, being that parent in the stands.
Do you like being in the stands? Do you enjoy
watching your kid and watching him play? It's such a
great feeling, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Yeah? I do. Uh So I coached my boys of
football sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and then when they
get to high school, I stop. But I was offered
to coach at the high school and I told him
I just want to be a fan and sit and
watch and enjoy watching them. And then I told him
I could complain about his coaching, so but no, I
(48:47):
just like watching them. We talk about stuff after the game,
on what they should have done, just like every other day.
Speaker 1 (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, Logan, thanks for stopping by. Man all right,
it's a lot of fun. For a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (49:01):
Nothing else.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
That's it easy one say.
Speaker 4 (49:03):
Yeah, we aim to put out your gut. We're still
we can still roll.
Speaker 2 (49:06):
What do you got?
Speaker 4 (49:07):
What do you want to share?
Speaker 2 (49:08):
You guys have the questions.
Speaker 4 (49:10):
No, I think we touched on everything we wanted.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Logan, thanks for coming in.
Speaker 2 (49:14):
Man.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
Our guest was Logan Mankins on this episode of pat
From the Past. Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe
on Apple, Google Play, and everywhere else you listen.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
Like the show, please rate and review us.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
Listener comments and ratings help keep us high on the
podcast rankings so new listeners can find us. Be sure
to check Patriots dot com for more news and more podcasts.
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