December 31, 2024 • 19 mins
In this episode of Rams Revealed, Los Angeles Rams punter Ethan Evans discusses how it feels to be NFC West champions, his growth as a player, and his journey to the NFL.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
He's going. Everyone, Welcome back to Rams revealed presented by
Sleep Number, the official sleep and wellness partner of the
NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams. I'm your host J B. Long,
and we're pleased this week to be joined by a
first time guest in his second professional season, a twenty
three year old from Division two Wingate RAMS punter Ethan Evans.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thanks for being here, absolutely, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All Right, I got to know, how did you spend
your Sunday? Were you scoreboard watching?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Me and my buddy were at the golf course and
we had the kind of like the split screen on
our phones pulled up the whole time we were playing.
We kept up with all the games and then we
were able to get home in time to watch the
commander's game, which they kept it interesting, for sure. They
kept it down to the wire. All right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So I'm an avid golfer, and distracted golf either goes
one or two ways. Either it's the worst you've ever played,
or you're like draining you know the fairway. It was okay, right,
we'll skip the golf and go right to the football.
All How does it feel to be two for two
in your NFL career, making the postseason.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It feels awesome. Man. Playoff playoff football in the NFL
is a whole different ballgame. The crowd, you know, the pressure,
everything is just different. It makes you know, the adrelling
rush you get from is like nothing else. So that's
really cool.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Does it feel a little different this time being an
NSC West champion knowing you're going to have a home
game in the playoffes?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It does? Home playoff game or home games here in
La are awesome. Thank god we ain't got to go
to Detroit in January.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It was pretty frigid. I like to go back though,
if playoff that way, we shall see. What is the
biggest stadium you've ever played in before? Sofi Stadium? I
mentioned you're from a D two school. What was the
home venue for the Bulldogs?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Like, uh, there'll probably be about two thousand people at
the games. But the biggest game I played in my
college career was our rivalry game against lenol ryon our
last year. They built a new stadium and our last
game there my senior year, there was probably fifteen sixteen
thousand people.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, it was awesome, but suffice it to say there's
been like training camp workouts where there have been more
people in attendance in some of your college home games.
How did you find wing Gate or did wing Gate
find you?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So that's a really interesting story. So my summer before
going into my senior year of high school, me and
my grandpa took a massive road trip. We started in
Florida and we ended in Syracuse, New York. Traveled for
about a month and a half. We were driving back
from University of South Carolina and we saw this sign
(02:39):
all seventy seven. They said wing Gate University. So I
got home and looked it up. It was like, does
wing Gate University have a football team? And sure enough
they did, and two days later they were having a camp.
So I was like, well, I might as well just
go give it a shot. Went down there, did really
well at the camp, and Coachrike offered me my first
(03:01):
full scholarship. It was only scholarship I got. I had
a couple of preferred walk ons before then, but gave
me a scholarship, and about a week later I committed
and yeah, I played at wing Gate.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That is so cool. If I had told you even
in that moment, like you're googling and I step In.
I say you're gonna be punting in the NFL someday.
How would that have landed on you?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I probably would thank you were lying, because going into
college I wasn't really a punter. I was more of
a field goal kicker and kickoff specialist. And I kind
of did punting in high school just because we needed it.
We didn't have a punter. But once I got to
wing Gate, coach Track was like, hey, you know, like
I really think you could be really good at punting.
So once I got to college, that's when I really
started focusing on it, and I just kept getting better
(03:44):
and better each year, and you know, thank God he
told me i'd be good at punting.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So all right, So that's one transition you've made in life.
What about from your hometown of Low Gap, North Carolina
to Los Angeles. How big of a culture? Shock is
that it.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Was really big. Low Gaps got a probably about one
hundred people in it. It's a really small little We're
at the base of the mountains of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Literally,
if you walk two minutes down the road from my house,
she'll be in Virginia. So it's a small, little mountain town. Yeah,
and then I come out here and it's ten million
people of the cities. You can drive for three hours
(04:19):
and you're still in Los Angeles. It was a really
big culture shock. But you know, the weather here is awesome,
fans are awesome. You know, scenery out here is just unbelievable.
I didn't expect it. I thought it was gonna be
like concrete buildings and everything. But then once I was
trying through the valleys and everything and I saw the mountains,
I was like, Oh, this kind of feels like home.
So yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
What's the defining feature of Low Gap for those of
us who might not ever be able to visit?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Oh, gosh, that's easy. There's a small little convenience store
called Daddy Sam's and they have the best food you'll
ever have. It's just like you walk in, You're like,
I might get food poisoned from this place, but but no,
they they got good burgers, hamburger, steak. It's just good
old Southern food. It's I go and eat their pretty
(05:06):
often off season.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
They have merch the swag that we can know.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
They don't they should, They should hop on that I
might mention it to them.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I think you can lead that. Absolutely, We'll circle back
to the place kicking because I'm fascinated by that. But
I want to get into like the punter conversation, if
you will, okay, because it's rare that we get to
nerd out in the kicking game on this show, and
I think now's a great time to do it. Can
a punter be on a heater like we see Matthew
Stafford go into like dark mode? But can a punter
(05:32):
be in that space because it seems like you are
right now?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Oh? Absolutely? I mean what every athlete has that moment
where they just kind of get in the zone and
it's like they can't they can't miss, like a golfer
or Stafford, or like Kobe Turner when he's getting off blocks.
Like there's just some games like guys are just like
in the zone. It's just them and whoever they're going
up against. And I feel like it's the same way
with punting. There's just some days the ball just flies
(05:56):
different off your foot and you know, I feel like
I'm hind it really really well this season. Last year,
I was pretty happy with how I did, but me
and Chase Blackburn talked about Okay, instead of punting the
ball ninety yards, Let's tone it down and try to
see if we can just play like little games of darts,
like okay, if we want to here, let's put it there,
(06:17):
you know, just placement, placement, placement. I feel like that
was a big improvement from last year, just putting the
ball inside of the twenty or on the sideline where we
need to go.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
That's the word improvement. I hope you don't mind if
I think of you as one of, if not the
most improved rams, Like I hope you take that as
a complement of the spirit which is intended. You agree
with that. Okay, I've got your second in the league
and punts inside the twenty by percentage, only two touchbacks
and fifty three punts this year. You've added three yards
to your net punt average. What's the most important stat
for a punter? Does any of that matter to you? Like?
(06:48):
What are you tracking?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Probably net average is the most important? Like average is
really cool and all, but what does it look like
after the returner's returned the ball? Like, because you can
hit a seven yard punt, but then they can return
it for fifty yards and in reality, it's just a
twenty yard punt. So that's what we worked on. We
were like, Okay, let's try to make our net average
(07:11):
as close to our average as we can this year,
and you know, we'll just give our defense the best
field position they can.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So then shout out to your gunners, right, Jordan Whittington.
They've had some great moments the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, Xavier Smith's last game, he did some pretty badass stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Do you like celebrating those moments with them, like you
get a nice sprint down to congratulate them and give
them a helmet tap.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh yeah, you know, once if I pin the ball
inside the inside the five and you know, x makes
you know, a catch like you did last year, or
they're diving in the end zone and batting and back,
you know, the whole world kind of goes dark and
I'm just kind of doing whatever my body is doing,
just yelling, screaming and going up tapping them on the
helmet and yeah, it's just it's awesome, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So the real reason you're on the show is against
the Cardinals. We got to know what happened on that
shank excuse the language. Yeah, yeah, But more importantly, the
illegal blind side block, the miscommunication there by the officials
that left us going to commercial thinking, how did you
get a flag for that hit?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It wouldn't surprise me if the TV copy of my
face after they called it on me turns into a meme,
because I was just like like, what just happened? What
just happened? But no, the shank, I mean, we were
trying to pin it to the sideline because Greg Dertsch
is a really good returner and I was just trying
to hit like a fifty yard ball out of bounds.
(08:31):
It still went forty seven, but I definitely could have
hit a better ball. But yeah, the blind side block,
I have no I honestly have no idea. I was
in no man's land, like there was nobody within twenty
yards around me. And I got to the sideline and
I was talking to Chase like, yeah, it wasn't my
best hit, and then all of a sudden ref comes
on It's like blind side block on the kicking team
(08:51):
number forty two. And I was just like like like,
I didn't touch anybody, and Chase was like no, no, no, no,
it's on the Yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Was crazy, and then the great broadcaster Rich Eisen, who's
on the NFL network call is going to commercial being like,
we got to get Pat McAfee on to break this
down for us. I'm sure that made its rounds across
your friend circle and social media.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah. I got to my phone after the game and
there was about thirty messages like no, way, you got
a blindside block, Like that's that's kind of cool. I'm like, no,
I didn't get a blind side block like Pat mcfew
tweeted it and everything before they came back and said like, hey,
we messed up. It was on the other team, but
yeah it was. It was interesting for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
But for the sake of Pat and his show, if
there was a punter in the league to get a
sweet blind side block and a personal foul, I think
you're the leading candidate. Oh yeah, you got the toolkit
to go do that for sure. Maybe down the road.
Not in a musing game.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, not in a must win game.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, let's get to the kicking operation. Because when I
say that, you know, I give you a compliment. I
think you're one of the most improved rams. In part
mean that as you're a proxy for the entire kicking
operation because you're involved in just about every element of it.
Let's jump around the room a little bit. Because Alex
Woard the long snapper, was injured as we know, about
a year ago last December, and I think we all
(10:12):
really felt his absence. What's it been like? How important
has his return been to the success in twenty four.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Oh, it's it's awesome. I mean, we spent all OTAs
and pre draft training together, so we kind of know
each other's timings and it makes it super easy. And
plus he's a really really good snapper, and you on
field goals, I don't have to worry about, you know,
ball going over my head or just getting back on
the ground. I just know it's going to be right
right it needs to be every time. And then on
punt I mean his blocking has just gotten so so
(10:38):
much better. And then his snap locations on punts always
on the money. Coverage is really good. He fills the
lanes in and make sure you know the return doesn't
have a lane to get down. Yeah, it's really awesome
having him back in the season.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And then you add Joshua card You into the mix,
and you and josh actually used to train together, so
you had a pre existing relationship. From back in Charlotte.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, so we trained to get there. In high school.
We knew of each other. He actually grew up in Greensboro.
That's like thirty forty minutes from my hometown. So we
grew up not too far from each other, and we
trained together in high school. We knew of each other
and we had talked a little bit, but we weren't
like really really close friends. But you know, I knew.
I knew how he kicked, his timing and everything before
(11:21):
the draft, and once we draft him, you know, I
was like, oh, okay, sweet, Like I know exactly what
this guy likes and his timing and everything.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Ethan, what's a weekly regimen look like for your group?
Like you're out of practice doing what besides, you know,
goofy ball tricks and like playing bachie, Like, oh yeah,
how do you get ready for a game? Week? Especially
Week eighteen against the Cardinal against the Seahawks the specialist.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
We just try to keep it low key, Like we
go out and we'd lock him for our fifteen minutes
of practice, you know, whether it's punt team or field
goals or kick off whatever. We just try to keep
our minds you know clear. You know, kicking is you
take you two debts and you kick the ball and
hopefully it goes where you want it to go. We
(12:04):
just try to keep our minds clear and just keep
everything simple, don't think about too much, just keep it
low key, have a good time, and just go out
and do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
How are you working to improve your role as a holder,
especially because that's right at the center of the guys
that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, I mean I did all three in college, so
that was a big That was a big question coming
into the draft last year, was you know, he did
all three in college. You didn't really hold that much.
Plus he hasn't played in front of eighty thousand people, Like,
how's he going to handle the pressure? Holding came into
Ata's last year and I was out there with a
drugs machine every morning, doing five hundred to six hundred
(12:42):
holds a day. Yeah, Chase, Chase really put me through
the ring you're on holding. He's out there spinning balls
out of his hands, send themum high, low, left, right, opposite,
spins like everything. Just making sure that I'm good. But
I still go out there every day, get fifty holes
a day before practice and then field goal period in
(13:04):
pre game on twin holds before Josh is ready to go.
You know, just you can never be too good of
a holder. You can always get better.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah, but I mean on the spectrum of punters, you
got to be on the more athletic end. You strike
me as someone who played multiple sports other things growing up.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, coordinated, Yeah, I did. I did some wrestling, did
some boxing with my dad, played soccer for however many
years it was, did track and field. I was actually
a thrower in track and field. I didn't run, and
I was gonna do track and field at wing Gate
as well, but I was like, I should probably focus
(13:40):
on football a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Good decision that paid off, it did. How high do
you think your upside is in this league? All pro
potential as an I.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Believe I do. Yeah, I think, you know, after this season,
you know, I'm going to go into this offseason continue
to improve, and I think I think I really do
have potential to be all pro, pro Bowl all that,
because that was one of my main goals coming in,
Like I don't want to come into the NFL and
finish my career and I don't want people to be like, oh,
(14:12):
that's cool, like he played ten years in the league.
Like I won't when I hang up the cleets, I
want people to say like, oh yeah, like he was
one of the best to ever do it. Plus, you know,
feeling for Johnny Hecker, I mean, it's one of the
greatest punters of all time. I was like, I got
some big shoes to feel and I'm gonna do my
best to do it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
And he's a legend in this organization. How much is
he a legend in your subset, your community for what
he does on and off the field of the person that.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
He is, Yeah, Johnny, Johnny's an awesome dude. He's hilarious,
but he's awesome dude. Great, great athlete, great punter. I mean,
probably the greatest throwing arm and punting history. But no,
he's awesome, dude. Everybody, you know, everybody in the punting
community holds him really high. Some you know, some call
him the goat. He's one of my goats. For sure.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
You had a duck on the field or something, didn't
he Yeah, they saw that one, but the animal of
a different type. How's your arm? By the way, it's
not the.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Best, no knocking out the it's not it's nowhere near Johnny's, so.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Don't go looking for that. What about that background as
a placekicker yourself, How is that helpful to understanding where
Cardi is coming from, what he prefers, what his needs are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, it was really it was really important because I
understand how important you know, the lean of the ball
is on holds, or how important it is to hit
the spot, or if you know the wind's doing every
which way, you know, I know how to lean it
to make the ball kind of play through the wind
a little bit better. But it was really important because
in college I didn't have the best holder. It was
(15:41):
our back up long snapper. So when gate it was
kind of like, okay, I want to catch it and
put it down wherever it is where it is, So
I understood like how important it was to the spot
and lean and everything.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Now that you've seen NFL place kicking up close, I'm
sure you had a conception being in that role yourself
in college, like how hard it is, but at this level,
like how differentiated is that skill set?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I mean, these these placekickers in the NFL are just
different animals, Like you know, I see them hitting seventy
yard field goals like their pats, and I'm just like,
holy cow. Like when I was in college, if I
hit a fifty yard er, I was like jumping up
and down, and these guys are hitting seventy yards Like,
oh yeah, it wasn't my best wasn't my best hit.
But no, I mean it's pretty much the same, just
(16:28):
you know, holding wise and everything, just you know, keeping
it simple and just going through it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But wait a second, you can mash a kickoff out
the back of the end zone, no problem. Why is
it in you arrange seventy yards too?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
My contact on Piel goal is just terrible. Okay, I'd
hit the I just smoke the ground before I even
hit the ball.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
And yeah, what do you think this dynamic kickoff? You know,
it seems like your mission is mostly just a banging
out the back of the end zone. I think it's
like eighty four percent so far.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, we me and Chase for talking. We were like,
our defense can play just as good a defense as
a thirty yard line as they came from the twenty
five yard So we were like five yards is not
a big deal. So we're just we were just like, yeah,
just just keep making touchbacks.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
It's got to feel like smashing a three hundred yard
drive down the middle of the farewell. Yeah, when you
get to tee it up and just rip.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you got a little breeze at your back too,
and you're like, oh yeah, this ball's going out of all.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Right, you been. Time Now for the wind down, presented
by Sleep Number. Each week here on RAMS Revealed, we
get a player's perspective on how rest and recovery impacts
performance in the National Football League. Will take your unique
skill set in a different direction for this segment, because
we know you're a weight room hero. What's the latest
from the training facility, Any new personal best that you've
been working on.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
No, no, not not during the season, because after last
year once that squat video, however, M Sean was like, okay,
like you know, that's pretty cool, but like you know,
our punter doesn't even he squatting six hundred pounds. But no,
in the season, I end season, I just kind of
maintain in an off season, I kind of pushed it
a little bit. But no, no, no, no new personal
(17:57):
basis so far?
Speaker 1 (17:59):
All right, So Sean, we know he's not on social media,
but someone brought him like your deadlifting clip and.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh no, he brought up in the team meeting last year,
tell us more. He pulled up the five I file
squat video and he looks at coach love it and
he goes, no, love it, like why is our punters
squatting six hundred pounds and love it just looks at him.
He goes big squats, big kicks, and he was like tooche,
(18:25):
my friend.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Ah, that's great, I love it. No rest I assume
for the specialists. In Week eighteen, it's just you guys, right,
you're gonna be going out there to play the Seahawks.
Can you give us a preview of the regular season finale?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I think it's going to be a great opportunity for
the other guys to go out there and show what
they got and you know, hopefully it's the same game
as last year with you know, all the backup guys
at San fran just getting hype for them and everything.
It's really cool to go out there to let the
backup guys go out there and have a blast and
just go do what they gotta do.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, good to know this isn't the last game will
play it Sofi Stadium this season but for those who
have been waiting in the wings, be it in a
reserve role or a practice squad role, how meaningful is
this rep for them? How excited are you to see
some of your teammates get a chance to shine.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Oh, it's awesome because I see the amount of work
they put in at practice and in the weight room
and everything, and it's you know, it's a great opportunity
for them to see how that work pay off and
for them just go out and have a blast and
play in front of the Rams fans and you know,
keep it in our house.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, congratulations on a great second season, much more to come.
Wish you all the best. Thank you for coming by
and remind me of the convenience store in logat North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Daddy SAMs.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Daddy SAMs to all of you watching back in the Carolinas.
And a shout out to Daddy SAMs for Ethan. I'm JB.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Long.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This is RAMS Revealed, the home of your NFC West
Champions in twenty twenty four, presented by Sleep Number
He's going. Everyone, Welcome back to Rams revealed presented by
Sleep Number, the official sleep and wellness partner of the
NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams. I'm your host J B. Long,
and we're pleased this week to be joined by a
first time guest in his second professional season, a twenty
three year old from Division two Wingate RAMS punter Ethan Evans.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thanks for being here, absolutely, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All Right, I got to know, how did you spend
your Sunday? Were you scoreboard watching?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Me and my buddy were at the golf course and
we had the kind of like the split screen on
our phones pulled up the whole time we were playing.
We kept up with all the games and then we
were able to get home in time to watch the
commander's game, which they kept it interesting, for sure. They
kept it down to the wire. All right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So I'm an avid golfer, and distracted golf either goes
one or two ways. Either it's the worst you've ever played,
or you're like draining you know the fairway. It was okay, right,
we'll skip the golf and go right to the football.
All How does it feel to be two for two
in your NFL career, making the postseason.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It feels awesome. Man. Playoff playoff football in the NFL
is a whole different ballgame. The crowd, you know, the pressure,
everything is just different. It makes you know, the adrelling
rush you get from is like nothing else. So that's
really cool.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Does it feel a little different this time being an
NSC West champion knowing you're going to have a home
game in the playoffes?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It does? Home playoff game or home games here in
La are awesome. Thank god we ain't got to go
to Detroit in January.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
It was pretty frigid. I like to go back though,
if playoff that way, we shall see. What is the
biggest stadium you've ever played in before? Sofi Stadium? I
mentioned you're from a D two school. What was the
home venue for the Bulldogs?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Like, uh, there'll probably be about two thousand people at
the games. But the biggest game I played in my
college career was our rivalry game against lenol ryon our
last year. They built a new stadium and our last
game there my senior year, there was probably fifteen sixteen
thousand people.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, it was awesome, but suffice it to say there's
been like training camp workouts where there have been more
people in attendance in some of your college home games.
How did you find wing Gate or did wing Gate
find you?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So that's a really interesting story. So my summer before
going into my senior year of high school, me and
my grandpa took a massive road trip. We started in
Florida and we ended in Syracuse, New York. Traveled for
about a month and a half. We were driving back
from University of South Carolina and we saw this sign
(02:39):
all seventy seven. They said wing Gate University. So I
got home and looked it up. It was like, does
wing Gate University have a football team? And sure enough
they did, and two days later they were having a camp.
So I was like, well, I might as well just
go give it a shot. Went down there, did really
well at the camp, and Coachrike offered me my first
(03:01):
full scholarship. It was only scholarship I got. I had
a couple of preferred walk ons before then, but gave
me a scholarship, and about a week later I committed
and yeah, I played at wing Gate.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That is so cool. If I had told you even
in that moment, like you're googling and I step In.
I say you're gonna be punting in the NFL someday.
How would that have landed on you?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I probably would thank you were lying, because going into
college I wasn't really a punter. I was more of
a field goal kicker and kickoff specialist. And I kind
of did punting in high school just because we needed it.
We didn't have a punter. But once I got to
wing Gate, coach Track was like, hey, you know, like
I really think you could be really good at punting.
So once I got to college, that's when I really
started focusing on it, and I just kept getting better
(03:44):
and better each year, and you know, thank God he
told me i'd be good at punting.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So all right, So that's one transition you've made in life.
What about from your hometown of Low Gap, North Carolina
to Los Angeles. How big of a culture? Shock is
that it.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Was really big. Low Gaps got a probably about one
hundred people in it. It's a really small little We're
at the base of the mountains of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Literally,
if you walk two minutes down the road from my house,
she'll be in Virginia. So it's a small, little mountain town. Yeah,
and then I come out here and it's ten million
people of the cities. You can drive for three hours
(04:19):
and you're still in Los Angeles. It was a really
big culture shock. But you know, the weather here is awesome,
fans are awesome. You know, scenery out here is just unbelievable.
I didn't expect it. I thought it was gonna be
like concrete buildings and everything. But then once I was
trying through the valleys and everything and I saw the mountains,
I was like, Oh, this kind of feels like home.
So yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
What's the defining feature of Low Gap for those of
us who might not ever be able to visit?
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Oh, gosh, that's easy. There's a small little convenience store
called Daddy Sam's and they have the best food you'll
ever have. It's just like you walk in, You're like,
I might get food poisoned from this place, but but no,
they they got good burgers, hamburger, steak. It's just good
old Southern food. It's I go and eat their pretty
(05:06):
often off season.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
They have merch the swag that we can know.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
They don't they should, They should hop on that I
might mention it to them.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
I think you can lead that. Absolutely, We'll circle back
to the place kicking because I'm fascinated by that. But
I want to get into like the punter conversation, if
you will, okay, because it's rare that we get to
nerd out in the kicking game on this show, and
I think now's a great time to do it. Can
a punter be on a heater like we see Matthew
Stafford go into like dark mode? But can a punter
(05:32):
be in that space because it seems like you are
right now?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Oh? Absolutely? I mean what every athlete has that moment
where they just kind of get in the zone and
it's like they can't they can't miss, like a golfer
or Stafford, or like Kobe Turner when he's getting off blocks.
Like there's just some games like guys are just like
in the zone. It's just them and whoever they're going
up against. And I feel like it's the same way
with punting. There's just some days the ball just flies
(05:56):
different off your foot and you know, I feel like
I'm hind it really really well this season. Last year,
I was pretty happy with how I did, but me
and Chase Blackburn talked about Okay, instead of punting the
ball ninety yards, Let's tone it down and try to
see if we can just play like little games of darts,
like okay, if we want to here, let's put it there,
(06:17):
you know, just placement, placement, placement. I feel like that
was a big improvement from last year, just putting the
ball inside of the twenty or on the sideline where we
need to go.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
That's the word improvement. I hope you don't mind if
I think of you as one of, if not the
most improved rams, Like I hope you take that as
a complement of the spirit which is intended. You agree
with that. Okay, I've got your second in the league
and punts inside the twenty by percentage, only two touchbacks
and fifty three punts this year. You've added three yards
to your net punt average. What's the most important stat
for a punter? Does any of that matter to you? Like?
(06:48):
What are you tracking?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Probably net average is the most important? Like average is
really cool and all, but what does it look like
after the returner's returned the ball? Like, because you can
hit a seven yard punt, but then they can return
it for fifty yards and in reality, it's just a
twenty yard punt. So that's what we worked on. We
were like, Okay, let's try to make our net average
(07:11):
as close to our average as we can this year,
and you know, we'll just give our defense the best
field position they can.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So then shout out to your gunners, right, Jordan Whittington.
They've had some great moments the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, Xavier Smith's last game, he did some pretty badass stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Do you like celebrating those moments with them, like you
get a nice sprint down to congratulate them and give
them a helmet tap.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh yeah, you know, once if I pin the ball
inside the inside the five and you know, x makes
you know, a catch like you did last year, or
they're diving in the end zone and batting and back,
you know, the whole world kind of goes dark and
I'm just kind of doing whatever my body is doing,
just yelling, screaming and going up tapping them on the
helmet and yeah, it's just it's awesome, all right.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So the real reason you're on the show is against
the Cardinals. We got to know what happened on that
shank excuse the language. Yeah, yeah, But more importantly, the
illegal blind side block, the miscommunication there by the officials
that left us going to commercial thinking, how did you
get a flag for that hit?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
It wouldn't surprise me if the TV copy of my
face after they called it on me turns into a meme,
because I was just like like, what just happened? What
just happened? But no, the shank, I mean, we were
trying to pin it to the sideline because Greg Dertsch
is a really good returner and I was just trying
to hit like a fifty yard ball out of bounds.
(08:31):
It still went forty seven, but I definitely could have
hit a better ball. But yeah, the blind side block,
I have no I honestly have no idea. I was
in no man's land, like there was nobody within twenty
yards around me. And I got to the sideline and
I was talking to Chase like, yeah, it wasn't my
best hit, and then all of a sudden ref comes
on It's like blind side block on the kicking team
(08:51):
number forty two. And I was just like like like,
I didn't touch anybody, and Chase was like no, no, no, no,
it's on the Yeah, it.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Was crazy, and then the great broadcaster Rich Eisen, who's
on the NFL network call is going to commercial being like,
we got to get Pat McAfee on to break this
down for us. I'm sure that made its rounds across
your friend circle and social media.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah. I got to my phone after the game and
there was about thirty messages like no, way, you got
a blindside block, Like that's that's kind of cool. I'm like, no,
I didn't get a blind side block like Pat mcfew
tweeted it and everything before they came back and said like, hey,
we messed up. It was on the other team, but
yeah it was. It was interesting for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
But for the sake of Pat and his show, if
there was a punter in the league to get a
sweet blind side block and a personal foul, I think
you're the leading candidate. Oh yeah, you got the toolkit
to go do that for sure. Maybe down the road.
Not in a musing game.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, not in a must win game.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, let's get to the kicking operation. Because when I
say that, you know, I give you a compliment. I
think you're one of the most improved rams. In part
mean that as you're a proxy for the entire kicking
operation because you're involved in just about every element of it.
Let's jump around the room a little bit. Because Alex
Woard the long snapper, was injured as we know, about
a year ago last December, and I think we all
(10:12):
really felt his absence. What's it been like? How important
has his return been to the success in twenty four.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Oh, it's it's awesome. I mean, we spent all OTAs
and pre draft training together, so we kind of know
each other's timings and it makes it super easy. And
plus he's a really really good snapper, and you on
field goals, I don't have to worry about, you know,
ball going over my head or just getting back on
the ground. I just know it's going to be right
right it needs to be every time. And then on
punt I mean his blocking has just gotten so so
(10:38):
much better. And then his snap locations on punts always
on the money. Coverage is really good. He fills the
lanes in and make sure you know the return doesn't
have a lane to get down. Yeah, it's really awesome
having him back in the season.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And then you add Joshua card You into the mix,
and you and josh actually used to train together, so
you had a pre existing relationship. From back in Charlotte.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, so we trained to get there. In high school.
We knew of each other. He actually grew up in Greensboro.
That's like thirty forty minutes from my hometown. So we
grew up not too far from each other, and we
trained together in high school. We knew of each other
and we had talked a little bit, but we weren't
like really really close friends. But you know, I knew.
I knew how he kicked, his timing and everything before
(11:21):
the draft, and once we draft him, you know, I
was like, oh, okay, sweet, Like I know exactly what
this guy likes and his timing and everything.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Ethan, what's a weekly regimen look like for your group?
Like you're out of practice doing what besides, you know,
goofy ball tricks and like playing bachie, Like, oh yeah,
how do you get ready for a game? Week? Especially
Week eighteen against the Cardinal against the Seahawks the specialist.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
We just try to keep it low key, Like we
go out and we'd lock him for our fifteen minutes
of practice, you know, whether it's punt team or field
goals or kick off whatever. We just try to keep
our minds you know clear. You know, kicking is you
take you two debts and you kick the ball and
hopefully it goes where you want it to go. We
(12:04):
just try to keep our minds clear and just keep
everything simple, don't think about too much, just keep it
low key, have a good time, and just go out
and do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
How are you working to improve your role as a holder,
especially because that's right at the center of the guys
that we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, I mean I did all three in college, so
that was a big That was a big question coming
into the draft last year, was you know, he did
all three in college. You didn't really hold that much.
Plus he hasn't played in front of eighty thousand people, Like,
how's he going to handle the pressure? Holding came into
Ata's last year and I was out there with a
drugs machine every morning, doing five hundred to six hundred
(12:42):
holds a day. Yeah, Chase, Chase really put me through
the ring you're on holding. He's out there spinning balls
out of his hands, send themum high, low, left, right, opposite,
spins like everything. Just making sure that I'm good. But
I still go out there every day, get fifty holes
a day before practice and then field goal period in
(13:04):
pre game on twin holds before Josh is ready to go.
You know, just you can never be too good of
a holder. You can always get better.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah, but I mean on the spectrum of punters, you
got to be on the more athletic end. You strike
me as someone who played multiple sports other things growing up.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yeah, coordinated, Yeah, I did. I did some wrestling, did
some boxing with my dad, played soccer for however many
years it was, did track and field. I was actually
a thrower in track and field. I didn't run, and
I was gonna do track and field at wing Gate
as well, but I was like, I should probably focus
(13:40):
on football a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Good decision that paid off, it did. How high do
you think your upside is in this league? All pro
potential as an I.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Believe I do. Yeah, I think, you know, after this season,
you know, I'm going to go into this offseason continue
to improve, and I think I think I really do
have potential to be all pro, pro Bowl all that,
because that was one of my main goals coming in,
Like I don't want to come into the NFL and
finish my career and I don't want people to be like, oh,
(14:12):
that's cool, like he played ten years in the league.
Like I won't when I hang up the cleets, I
want people to say like, oh yeah, like he was
one of the best to ever do it. Plus, you know,
feeling for Johnny Hecker, I mean, it's one of the
greatest punters of all time. I was like, I got
some big shoes to feel and I'm gonna do my
best to do it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
And he's a legend in this organization. How much is
he a legend in your subset, your community for what
he does on and off the field of the person that.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
He is, Yeah, Johnny, Johnny's an awesome dude. He's hilarious,
but he's awesome dude. Great, great athlete, great punter. I mean,
probably the greatest throwing arm and punting history. But no,
he's awesome, dude. Everybody, you know, everybody in the punting
community holds him really high. Some you know, some call
him the goat. He's one of my goats. For sure.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
You had a duck on the field or something, didn't
he Yeah, they saw that one, but the animal of
a different type. How's your arm? By the way, it's
not the.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Best, no knocking out the it's not it's nowhere near Johnny's, so.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Don't go looking for that. What about that background as
a placekicker yourself, How is that helpful to understanding where
Cardi is coming from, what he prefers, what his needs are.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, it was really it was really important because I
understand how important you know, the lean of the ball
is on holds, or how important it is to hit
the spot, or if you know the wind's doing every
which way, you know, I know how to lean it
to make the ball kind of play through the wind
a little bit better. But it was really important because
in college I didn't have the best holder. It was
(15:41):
our back up long snapper. So when gate it was
kind of like, okay, I want to catch it and
put it down wherever it is where it is, So
I understood like how important it was to the spot
and lean and everything.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Now that you've seen NFL place kicking up close, I'm
sure you had a conception being in that role yourself
in college, like how hard it is, but at this level,
like how differentiated is that skill set?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I mean, these these placekickers in the NFL are just
different animals, Like you know, I see them hitting seventy
yard field goals like their pats, and I'm just like,
holy cow. Like when I was in college, if I
hit a fifty yard er, I was like jumping up
and down, and these guys are hitting seventy yards Like,
oh yeah, it wasn't my best wasn't my best hit.
But no, I mean it's pretty much the same, just
(16:28):
you know, holding wise and everything, just you know, keeping
it simple and just going through it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But wait a second, you can mash a kickoff out
the back of the end zone, no problem. Why is
it in you arrange seventy yards too?
Speaker 2 (16:38):
My contact on Piel goal is just terrible. Okay, I'd
hit the I just smoke the ground before I even
hit the ball.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
And yeah, what do you think this dynamic kickoff? You know,
it seems like your mission is mostly just a banging
out the back of the end zone. I think it's
like eighty four percent so far.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, we me and Chase for talking. We were like,
our defense can play just as good a defense as
a thirty yard line as they came from the twenty
five yard So we were like five yards is not
a big deal. So we're just we were just like, yeah,
just just keep making touchbacks.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
It's got to feel like smashing a three hundred yard
drive down the middle of the farewell. Yeah, when you
get to tee it up and just rip.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, you got a little breeze at your back too,
and you're like, oh yeah, this ball's going out of all.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Right, you been. Time Now for the wind down, presented
by Sleep Number. Each week here on RAMS Revealed, we
get a player's perspective on how rest and recovery impacts
performance in the National Football League. Will take your unique
skill set in a different direction for this segment, because
we know you're a weight room hero. What's the latest
from the training facility, Any new personal best that you've
been working on.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
No, no, not not during the season, because after last
year once that squat video, however, M Sean was like, okay,
like you know, that's pretty cool, but like you know,
our punter doesn't even he squatting six hundred pounds. But no,
in the season, I end season, I just kind of
maintain in an off season, I kind of pushed it
a little bit. But no, no, no, no new personal
(17:57):
basis so far?
Speaker 1 (17:59):
All right, So Sean, we know he's not on social media,
but someone brought him like your deadlifting clip and.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh no, he brought up in the team meeting last year,
tell us more. He pulled up the five I file
squat video and he looks at coach love it and
he goes, no, love it, like why is our punters
squatting six hundred pounds and love it just looks at him.
He goes big squats, big kicks, and he was like tooche,
(18:25):
my friend.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Ah, that's great, I love it. No rest I assume
for the specialists. In Week eighteen, it's just you guys, right,
you're gonna be going out there to play the Seahawks.
Can you give us a preview of the regular season finale?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I think it's going to be a great opportunity for
the other guys to go out there and show what
they got and you know, hopefully it's the same game
as last year with you know, all the backup guys
at San fran just getting hype for them and everything.
It's really cool to go out there to let the
backup guys go out there and have a blast and
just go do what they gotta do.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, good to know this isn't the last game will
play it Sofi Stadium this season but for those who
have been waiting in the wings, be it in a
reserve role or a practice squad role, how meaningful is
this rep for them? How excited are you to see
some of your teammates get a chance to shine.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Oh, it's awesome because I see the amount of work
they put in at practice and in the weight room
and everything, and it's you know, it's a great opportunity
for them to see how that work pay off and
for them just go out and have a blast and
play in front of the Rams fans and you know,
keep it in our house.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, congratulations on a great second season, much more to come.
Wish you all the best. Thank you for coming by
and remind me of the convenience store in logat North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Daddy SAMs.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Daddy SAMs to all of you watching back in the Carolinas.
And a shout out to Daddy SAMs for Ethan. I'm JB.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Long.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
This is RAMS Revealed, the home of your NFC West
Champions in twenty twenty four, presented by Sleep Number
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