September 26, 2025 • 24 mins
Former NFL Quarterback Jeff George joins Jake Query to kick of the second hour of the show to discuss what he has seen from the Indianapolis Colts through three weeks, highlights why he believes Daniel Jones has been able to revitalize his career with Shane Steichen, admits that he still believes in Anthony Richardson to become an NFL quarterback, and the mindset as a former player going from one franchise to another and having immediate success.
Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't know this. I don't know this, but I
suspect it. I suspect that there was a time that
this song was blaring out of a tape deck on
some car rolling into the parking lot at Washington Square
on the way to get a hot Sam back in
about nineteen eighty three or eighty four, and Jeff George
was driving listening to Journey after a Warren Central football
(00:23):
practice and getting himself a pretzel before going home to
watch Andy Griffith and Warren tape. That's my guess, he
joins us now on the program, the former Cult of
Course Illinois and Warren Central quarterback Jeff George joining us. Jeff,
how are.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You good, Jake? How you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm good? Is that an accurate description, by the way
that Journey might have played at Washington Square back in
the day.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I mean, that's pretty accurate. He know me too well.
But I mean it's still to this day. I still
listen to a musician.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You were like, wait, what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Back in Washington Square back in the day happening? I
could go by there and wondering where it's at. Where's
Eastgate at? You know, it's Glendale. I miss all those
days going to hot stand. How any that that does
bring back memories? And what was that that story you
always went in and you you saw the posters and
you're going through the posters and oh, Spencer gifts Spencer.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, yeah, if you were lucky, there was a heather
locklayer poster that just got released, right, those are the
glory days. Hey, Joe listen, I wanted to ask it.
I appreciate the time coming on, you know, first and
foremost before we get into because there was a specific
thing that I thought you'd be able to add, you know,
more than anybody in this town actually an expertise on it.
(01:42):
But I know you watch football. I know you spend
a lot of time watching it. So let's begin with
just simply your thoughts so far on what you've seen
from the Colts at being at three and oh and
what's jumped out at you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, you know, obviously the main player that's jumped out
as Daniel Jones. You know that's you know, without his
play and without what he brings the to the offense
and to the team, the leadership, I'm not sure that
they would be there. Although I'm a big ar fan,
I think he's got, you know, a lot of upside
(02:15):
to him. But in this system and this with this
coaching staff, uh, with this type of offense, I think
it's a perfect fit for for what Sticking and the
Colts want to accomplish. So I mean it's exciting. Everybody's
excited around here, especially with that for the Paincers and
all the success that they've had, and you know, the
(02:37):
city's hungry to see the Colts uh be successful again.
And uh, you know what a great start they're on
and and uh, you know, I think it all begins
with the quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
You know, So let's go back to this and and
I've talked till I'm blue in the face about some
of the challenges that were presented to you when you
were drafted by the Colts, and you know, we don't
need to go over that. I think most people that
just in terms of different offensive coordinators and different players
you had around you and lack of protection. But you know,
in the four years that you were here, your highest
(03:11):
yardage passing was twenty nine hundred yards. Twenty nine hundred
and ten yards you had in a year. And then
you go to Atlanta and you take off and you
go to Atlanta and you throw for thirty seven hundred
yards in year one, you go over four thousand yards
in year two, you combine for forty seven touchdowns in
those first two years?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Jeff? And the reason I ask is because what's fascinating
to me is to look at Daniel Jones and to say, Okay,
maybe he didn't get the footing that he needed in
New York, but clearly in Indianapolis so far, there is
a comfort level there and there is just maybe a
lack of pressure that allowed him to flourish. What was
(03:49):
it about? Just a new start for you or for
any quarterback that can be beneficial that allows you to
really kind of take off and spread your wings a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, I think the main thing is to find a situation,
a team, a coaching staff that that believes in you.
The type of system that that they run here it
fits his style play. They give the quarterback a lot
of freedom at the line of scrimmage, and you have
to be smart enough to understand coverages and fronts, and
(04:24):
you know, you have to know your offense like the
back of your hand. You just have to be a
coach out there playing and what they allow him to
do is what he's probably been doing, especially when he
was back in college at Duke. I remember Washington playing college.
My oldest son played at Pitt at the time, and
it was a down, poor rain and it was just miserable.
And he comes out and he throws for four four
(04:46):
point fifty I think, and four or five touchdowns. I
had a couple of rushing touchdowns. And at that time
I remember telling my oldest son, Jeff Junior, that I go,
this guy's pretty good. I mean, you're gonna hear a
lot from him. He's gonna be a you know, first
round pick. And uh, you know, I thought he was
great in college. So when the Giants picked him, you know,
I thought it was a great pick. But a lot
(05:08):
of times that that doesn't me and you're gonna have
great success at that team that picked you. So like
in my for me example, coming to Indianapolis, it was
great to come back home play in front of family
and friends and hometown and all that. But was it
the right fit for me at the time, No, it wasn't.
(05:28):
It would have been nice to be able to maybe
play in the league for four or five years and
have success and if it didn't work out as a team.
I was that before to come back to Indianapolis when
they were good and uh and you know, finish my
career out at that time. But you know, you need
a lot of luck and a lot of you know,
things just need to go your way. And when he
(05:48):
was in New York, it just you know, with a
new coach, coaches coming in coming out and trying to
replace you know, future Hall of Famer and an Eli
having to deal with all that, it was it was
just too much. And you know, I'm not sure anybody
would win in that situation and been successful. You know,
he had a running back at the time, sa Kwon
(06:08):
Markley that was unhappy and wanted out. And you know
there's a reason why players won out of a situation. Uh,
you know, they know it's not good. So when you
have a franchise player like your running back that is
all world and he wants out of New York, uh,
you know, there's there's something to be said about that.
So I just don't think it was made for him
to be very successful in New York. And he just
(06:29):
you know, he's fortunate to be able to get out
of there and get a fresh start coming to Indianapolis,
media is not as big as as it is there,
and you know it's Uh, he can just pretty much
breathe and be himself and be that same kind of
player that he was at college at Duke and uh,
and that's kind of what you're seeing. He's running around,
making plays with his legs, he's showing his that flakeability.
He's smart, he's making checks at the line of scrimmage,
(06:51):
he's got a strong arm. Teammates love him, and uh,
you know, a guy like that, you know can't help
but be successful. So you know, I'm happy for him.
I've been there, like you said, and you see guys
like that, good people become successful and you can't help
but be happy.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
For him when you go Jeff, Jeff George is our guest,
like for example, and I've always said this. Oftentimes, players
I think get unfairly judged based on how and where
they were acquired. So in other words, when you were
in Atlanta, and I say this only because again it's
kind of analogous to the situation that Daniel Jones may
be going through. There was so much pressure on you
(07:28):
in Indianapolis because you were the number one player taken
in the draft and obviously your background in the city itself,
but when you went to Atlanta, do you think that
part of why you were able to really flourish was
because just that microscope was off a little bit? And
maybe Daniel Jones feels that same way, like you talked
about of you know, there's a difference in terms of
(07:49):
what was invested in Daniel Jones by Indianapolis, and therefore
he doesn't have that pressure bearing him down that would
be tough for anybody. Is there some truth to that?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
There there's a lot of truth to that and and
and what he brings to It's not like he's he's
uh uh, you know, first second year guy. He's a
he's an experienced veteran that understands that's been through all
the every situation you can go through as a quarterback,
not just football, but off the field as well. You know,
when you tend to when you don't have success early on,
you you really tend to isolate yourself. You know, it's
(08:23):
not just football. You you worry about where you're going.
You know, people just look at you different. Heck, your
teammates even look at you different. Because what the media
and everybody puts out there and says about you it's
totally not true. But when they read that, you know,
other people just they you know, they believe that. So
you kind of like carry yourself a little bit in
the facility, carry yourself a little bit different. You're thinking, man,
(08:44):
is this you know, does my teammate believe in me?
You know, do my coaches believe in me? Does the
ownership believe in me? And I would imagine he felt
that way in New York and you know I felt
that way as well. But you know, the main thing
is he's a confident guy. He's had success in college.
He knows how good he is. He you know, he
has all the the ability in the world, you know,
like I said, not just passing the ball, but he
(09:06):
has the mental part of it that you need to
to be a great quarterback. And and he can run.
You know, he's mobile and man, some of the plays
that you've seen that you've see him make is uh
is uh. You know some of the best that you know,
the best guy's doing at that level. So you know,
when whenever you go out and you uh the first
(09:26):
I mean game three games they've played and you were
the first two games that you never saw the punter
on the field. That's pretty incredible, you know, to to
go down there, and I believe that's what the record
with it. The punter never played right on that.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah, two games didn't put and then they scored on
their first ten possessions. I think something like that or
ten straight I should say.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I mean that. Yeah, I mean it's hard to
score points in the NFL. So so when you're doing that,
you don't you don't need your punter.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That speaks a lot of what your quarterback's doing on
the field. Is he's doing something right and uh, whether
you know it's a bad play and he sees the
blitz coming or he's changed protection, just knowing where everybody's
down the field, he's able to do that. So that's
that's always going to be, uh be success. So you know,
I'm happy for him. I'm I'm happy for the Colts.
(10:13):
I'm happy for him and hopefully they can continue.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
What what things. Jeff, you know, you hell, you would
know this better than anybody in town. I mean, you
were a long time starting quarterback in the National Football League.
So when you're watching a game, I'm imagining that you're
watching it through a different lens than say myself for
most people. When you first saw from Daniel Jones, you know,
was there anything that you saw out of him that
(10:37):
and I know you like Anthony Richardson that you were
waiting to see out of Anthony Richardson That told you
right away, Okay, he's comfortable here, this is going to work.
What does your trained I notice that perhaps the average
person does not.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Well, you just watch them how they you know, they
carry themselves in the huddle, how they walk up the
line of scrimmage. What you're looking for, your keys, your
your looking at the safety, you're looking at the front.
You know, there's just so much you have to do
that's going through your mind, and the clock's going down, ticking,
and you have to get the playoff at uh you know,
uh at a certain time. So yeah, it's just just
(11:13):
the way he handles himself out of the huddle is
excuse me, how my car went off? And you can
still hear me.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Oh yeah, okay, sorry about that, Ja, that's right.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So yeah, so just how he cares himself, you know,
he you can just tell he's in command of the
offense and players looking in the eyes. You can see
in the eyes that you know, they're just looking and
knowing that he's in charge. And you know, if he
says that he makes a check, he knows the right
check and not that Anthony Richardson didn't do that. I mean,
I I see so much upside to him and all
(11:45):
the talent that he has, the arm strength and obviously
the running ability. I just don't think that that he
was coached right in the beginning, you know, whereas Daniel
Jones just came into the league, uh, you know, just prepared,
came from an offense to prepare and everything NFL and uh,
you know, and and aar just I don't think got
the coaching that that he really needs to to develop
(12:07):
into a great the great quarterback that he can be.
But man, there's just so much upside the day and
you know it when you watch him, and you know
even in his interviews, how he talks, how he uh,
he is always picking up his teammates, always you know,
giving credit to somebody else, and you know it's just
a he's just a polished quarterback, not just on the
(12:28):
field but in in the media world. And he just
knows the right things to say and just how he acts,
and you know, I'm just impressed. I'm impressed with the
with the not just the football player, but the but
the person. Every time I hear him.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Talk, Jeff, I don't think we've had a chance to
talk to you, certainly, you know, publicly since the unfortunate
passing of Jim Mersey. And you know, I know everybody
listening to this show knows what Jim Mersey meant to
this town in terms of just his philanthropy and the
different things he was involved in. He also was a
guy that clearly was a huge believer in you, a
story you know, going back to when he came and
(13:01):
watched your workout of Illinois and said, we're gonna make
you the number one picking the draft. What was your
overall relationship with Jim Irsay, and just obviously your thoughts
on the loss of Jim Irsay.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It was tough, you know, just like everybody else, you
feel all the the stuff that he did for the city.
But my relationship with him was really good. You know,
I wish I've said it all along. He's probably the
best owner that I ever played for. I just didn't
get a chance to play for the owner that he
became we all knew that he was he was going
(13:34):
to be great. He was Ah, he loved the players.
He was always in the weight room lifting weights with everybody,
and I mean he was always praising, you know, whoever
he drafted. Yeah, he was a big fan of mine.
And it's just unfortunate that that I just wasn't able
to continue my career to play with him because he
was Uh, you know, I played for a lot of owners, obviously,
(13:54):
but out of all the owners I played for, nobody
was better than Jim So Uh. I just wish I
could have brought a lot more wins and a Super
Bowl or a championship to Indianapolis when I played, because
he's one of those owners that deserve it. He deserved
more than the one super Bowl that they won. With
all the talents that they had here and defense and
(14:15):
all the offensive players that they had. Uh, you know,
they kind of reminded me of the h the Atlanta
Braves back when the Braves were good with all that
pitching and Glavin Maddox and all those smolts and having
all the talent but only winning one World World championship.
And it would have been nice to have brought him
more than one one Super Bowl because if there's any
owner that deserved it, it was him. And you know,
(14:38):
we just weren't We just weren't very good. I've said
this all on you and I've talked about it. We
were just in that learning stage when I got here,
and you know, we're just both on offense and defense.
We just were really weren't that good. And and you know,
you draft a rookie quarterback, you know, like myself, and
we had all the comments in the world, but you know,
if you don't have uh and I was and I'm
(15:00):
not you know, blaming anybody else, but if you do,
if you don't have a team, uh on both sides
of the ball and a team that uh, you know,
an organization with an owner, and we didn't. I didn't.
We didn't even have a GM at the time. So uh,
I mean it was Bob ur Say and jim and
uh so we we we were learning as we went.
But uh, they got good and Jimmy was was one
(15:21):
of the best. And uh, what a great family to
see his daughters out there uh being involved as much
as they are. I love that. I love hands on owners,
having them on the on the sidelines and having Jim
be a big part of them when he was there,
it just made you as a player feel good and
you just couldn't help but win.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
What is for any player, Jeff, you know, for being
Anthony Richardson be what Daniel Jones had to in New York,
you know, Adie Mitchell, whoever it may be, when you
get into the NFL, I mean, aside from the obvious,
which is the media and as you you know, let's
go back to it. I guess this way, when you
talk about just being a leader being you know, like
(15:59):
Daniel Jones appears to kind of have kind of the
command in the presence of his teammates, is that a
learned skill? The guys just either have that or they don't,
or do you kind of learn it through experience?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know what a little bit of both. You know.
The way you carry yourself as you know is leadership.
But you know, I've said this, you know, I think
I said it last time we were on for a quarterback.
When you come into a system and from college to pros,
you need to have a young nucleus around you. You really
can't have a veteran dominated team because those guys just
(16:38):
look at you different. It's hard to lead as a
twenty two year old kid. It's hard to lead a
thirty two to thirty five year old guy and say, hey,
follow me. You know, I know, you know, I know
what I'm doing. I you know we're gonna win. Just
follow me. I have the map for that. Guys don't
really buy in. They're like, yeah, okay, rookie, you know
you're you know, twenty just tight. You know, two three
(17:01):
years down the line, you know what's uh, let's figure
this out. But if you got if you've got a
young group of an offensive line, receivers, you know, defensive
guys that are you know, two three year veterans, and
you're coming in as a rookie, it's easy to lead
those guys. It's easy for those guys to follow you.
It's easy. You know, come in there and you you
you you feel you you feel like this is really
(17:21):
my team. You're in the weight room and you know,
if all these young guys you're you know, not just football,
but you do stuff off the field. You do you know,
in the off season, you you go to all the
pacer games, you you go to dinners, you you you
go to bowling. You know, it got all guys have
foundations nowadays, and you know, you you do, you know
a ton of charity work together. You're it's not just
(17:42):
the season that you're together, it's the whole off season
that you're together as well as the season. And I
know that's kind of how you just build the chemistry.
And you know, that's the way it does in college,
high school, college, you kind of grow up together. You
you go through some ups and downs, you win and
lose together. But if you're trying to lead a twenty
two year old quarterbacks trying to lead a thirty five
year old guy, it's kind of hard. And that's kind
(18:05):
of what I felt like my experience here in Indianapolis
was I felt like there just wasn't a lot of
young guys that we came in together that we could
grow together. We had two or three guys, but we
were a veteran dominated team that you know, I felt
like half the guys came from Baltimore, and you know,
I was watching them play as a kid, and so
(18:26):
it's just it's just it's different. So to answer question,
I don't know if I'm answering your question or not,
but I think it's easier for a guy like Daniel
Jones to come in. It's been around, it's played four
or five years. It's been those the ups and downs
when he was in New York because nobody faces that
type of pressure in New York. And then to be
(18:48):
able to come to Indianapolis, it really is, it's it's
pretty easy. I'm thinking I would think he would say
the same thing if New York is nothing like Indianapolis
and I can just go out there and beat myself.
I can go to dinner, I can go to the grocery.
I don't have to go to the grocery at ten
forty five at night to get my to get milk
and cereal or whatever. You get to watch Andy Griffiths
(19:09):
and those, but you know, you can go at you know,
at one o'clock in the afternoon where people really they
may know you, they may not, but you know, it's
just it's the little things that you just kind of
take for granted that you can't do and in certain
places that you can do here in indian Apple. So
(19:30):
I know that he feels comfortable, and obviously his play
is speaking for itself.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Have you watched Ted Lasso Jeff, I have not. Let
me tell you someth let me tell you something. Of
all people, Jeff George, of all people that I know,
needs to watch ted Lasso on Apple TV more than
any person because it is basically twenty twenty five Andy Griffith.
It is Andy Griffith that we're the sports team. I'm
(19:55):
telling you right now, if you start watching Ted Lasso tonight,
you will have it done before the Colts kickoff on Sunday.
It's three seasons, and then you will say to me
you were right. I mean it has that, you know,
Andy Griffith. There's something you can learn in every episode.
You know what I mean. There's just Andy Griffith gives
you a little wisdom in every episode. Right, same thing, man,
(20:16):
I'm telling you exact same thing. You will absolutely love it.
My last thing for you is this. I know a
lot of guys that played will have up on their
mantle the helmets of each team they played for. In
your case, it would be you know, the Colts, the Falcons,
the Raiders, the Seahawks, the Bears, Washington. I don't think
(20:38):
I'm missing anybody there? Did I miss anybody?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Vikings?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Vikings, I say, okay, Vikings as well, and then just
to the left of that you would have Illinois Perdue
and Warren Central. When you look over all those helmets,
if you had to pick up one of them to
be able to put it on and instantly put yourself
back to when you played there that brought you the
most joy, it would be which helmet.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
You're not gonna believe this, but the Warren Tomahawks before
my fifth and sixth grade travel ball, Warren travel ball.
It's you're a kid, You're just out there, You're man.
I was, Uh, we were pretty good and uh played
with all the guys that I played with it in
high school. Obviously, I think whenever you ask a quarter
(21:22):
or ask a football player what was the best part
or best time in your life when you played football,
and every I think almost everybody would say high school.
Friday night lit you that that that's the best. College
is great, you know, you're there for four years and
you know, but it's more of a you know, it's
just it's it's not high school. And then the pros.
It's a business, and you know, you have your ups
(21:45):
and downs, and you know, pros are great. NFL is awesome.
But for me, when it all started. Honestly, I mean
this sounds crazy, but I was a Warren Tomahawk in
sixth grade and we went, you know, made it to
the final game. And you know, to this day, I'm
you know, I I I can You'll remember every pass,
every past incomplete pass because we threw the ball a
(22:06):
lot in sixth grade and uh for me as well
as high school. Uh So to answer your question, my
Warren Tomahawk helmet, which I don't know where it is
to this day, I probably don't have it, but uh,
the high school as well, Warren Central put that helmet
up there. We're all began where it was all innocent.
You were just a kid and you just go out
(22:27):
there and then just played with all your buddies that
you grew up with, playing out in the yard sideyard, backyard,
you know, coming in at ten eleven at night when
it's you know, mom's calling you to you know, hey,
you got to come on in that give us five
ten more minutes. We're almost done. Uh you know what
I'm talking about. As we talk about just when it
that's when, that's when it it was. It was just fun.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
So who beat the Tomahawks? When you got to the final.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Who beat you? The green Wood Wood Chuck. They came
up with some double a gap. It was like, you
know in the teens. It was teens. I couldn't fill
my hand. Lance Shyte's dad was our coach. He's yelling
at me, saying, you got hold on the ball, Hold
on the ball. My hands are frozen. I couldn't, you know.
(23:13):
I'm telling him, let's try and run the ball a
little bit. We're throwing it forty to fifty times in
the ten degree weather, and I think we got beat
like I don't even think we scored like seven and nothing.
I believe it was. But they kept coming with a
blitz through double a gap blitz, and you know, we're
a little sixth grader and we had no idea to
pick it up. And I'm taking one step getting hit
and getting sacked and not really sure of thinking to myself, man,
(23:35):
maybe I need to play baseball, get into baseball. So
I think that time became good in baseball because I
wasn't sure whether I liked football or not because I
got hit too much in Little league.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Damn those wood Chucks, That's all I gotta say.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Those darn Greenwood would check that's.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Right, Jeff. Appreciated as always, man great perspectives. Appreciate it
and look forward to talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Sound good, Jake, anytime, thanksfull
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Jeff George joining us on the program the former Warren
Tomahawk and Indianapolis Colt
I don't know this. I don't know this, but I
suspect it. I suspect that there was a time that
this song was blaring out of a tape deck on
some car rolling into the parking lot at Washington Square
on the way to get a hot Sam back in
about nineteen eighty three or eighty four, and Jeff George
was driving listening to Journey after a Warren Central football
(00:23):
practice and getting himself a pretzel before going home to
watch Andy Griffith and Warren tape. That's my guess, he
joins us now on the program, the former Cult of
Course Illinois and Warren Central quarterback Jeff George joining us. Jeff,
how are.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You good, Jake? How you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm good? Is that an accurate description, by the way
that Journey might have played at Washington Square back in
the day.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I mean, that's pretty accurate. He know me too well.
But I mean it's still to this day. I still
listen to a musician.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You were like, wait, what are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Back in Washington Square back in the day happening? I
could go by there and wondering where it's at. Where's
Eastgate at? You know, it's Glendale. I miss all those
days going to hot stand. How any that that does
bring back memories? And what was that that story you
always went in and you you saw the posters and
you're going through the posters and oh, Spencer gifts Spencer.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, yeah, if you were lucky, there was a heather
locklayer poster that just got released, right, those are the
glory days. Hey, Joe listen, I wanted to ask it.
I appreciate the time coming on, you know, first and
foremost before we get into because there was a specific
thing that I thought you'd be able to add, you know,
more than anybody in this town actually an expertise on it.
(01:42):
But I know you watch football. I know you spend
a lot of time watching it. So let's begin with
just simply your thoughts so far on what you've seen
from the Colts at being at three and oh and
what's jumped out at you.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, you know, obviously the main player that's jumped out
as Daniel Jones. You know that's you know, without his
play and without what he brings the to the offense
and to the team, the leadership, I'm not sure that
they would be there. Although I'm a big ar fan,
I think he's got, you know, a lot of upside
(02:15):
to him. But in this system and this with this
coaching staff, uh, with this type of offense, I think
it's a perfect fit for for what Sticking and the
Colts want to accomplish. So I mean it's exciting. Everybody's
excited around here, especially with that for the Paincers and
all the success that they've had, and you know, the
(02:37):
city's hungry to see the Colts uh be successful again.
And uh, you know what a great start they're on
and and uh, you know, I think it all begins
with the quarterback play.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
You know, So let's go back to this and and
I've talked till I'm blue in the face about some
of the challenges that were presented to you when you
were drafted by the Colts, and you know, we don't
need to go over that. I think most people that
just in terms of different offensive coordinators and different players
you had around you and lack of protection. But you know,
in the four years that you were here, your highest
(03:11):
yardage passing was twenty nine hundred yards. Twenty nine hundred
and ten yards you had in a year. And then
you go to Atlanta and you take off and you
go to Atlanta and you throw for thirty seven hundred
yards in year one, you go over four thousand yards
in year two, you combine for forty seven touchdowns in
those first two years?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
What was it?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Jeff? And the reason I ask is because what's fascinating
to me is to look at Daniel Jones and to say, Okay,
maybe he didn't get the footing that he needed in
New York, but clearly in Indianapolis so far, there is
a comfort level there and there is just maybe a
lack of pressure that allowed him to flourish. What was
(03:49):
it about? Just a new start for you or for
any quarterback that can be beneficial that allows you to
really kind of take off and spread your wings a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Well, I think the main thing is to find a situation,
a team, a coaching staff that that believes in you.
The type of system that that they run here it
fits his style play. They give the quarterback a lot
of freedom at the line of scrimmage, and you have
to be smart enough to understand coverages and fronts, and
(04:24):
you know, you have to know your offense like the
back of your hand. You just have to be a
coach out there playing and what they allow him to
do is what he's probably been doing, especially when he
was back in college at Duke. I remember Washington playing college.
My oldest son played at Pitt at the time, and
it was a down, poor rain and it was just miserable.
And he comes out and he throws for four four
(04:46):
point fifty I think, and four or five touchdowns. I
had a couple of rushing touchdowns. And at that time
I remember telling my oldest son, Jeff Junior, that I go,
this guy's pretty good. I mean, you're gonna hear a
lot from him. He's gonna be a you know, first
round pick. And uh, you know, I thought he was
great in college. So when the Giants picked him, you know,
I thought it was a great pick. But a lot
(05:08):
of times that that doesn't me and you're gonna have
great success at that team that picked you. So like
in my for me example, coming to Indianapolis, it was
great to come back home play in front of family
and friends and hometown and all that. But was it
the right fit for me at the time, No, it wasn't.
(05:28):
It would have been nice to be able to maybe
play in the league for four or five years and
have success and if it didn't work out as a team.
I was that before to come back to Indianapolis when
they were good and uh and you know, finish my
career out at that time. But you know, you need
a lot of luck and a lot of you know,
things just need to go your way. And when he
(05:48):
was in New York, it just you know, with a
new coach, coaches coming in coming out and trying to
replace you know, future Hall of Famer and an Eli
having to deal with all that, it was it was
just too much. And you know, I'm not sure anybody
would win in that situation and been successful. You know,
he had a running back at the time, sa Kwon
(06:08):
Markley that was unhappy and wanted out. And you know
there's a reason why players won out of a situation. Uh,
you know, they know it's not good. So when you
have a franchise player like your running back that is
all world and he wants out of New York, uh,
you know, there's there's something to be said about that.
So I just don't think it was made for him
to be very successful in New York. And he just
(06:29):
you know, he's fortunate to be able to get out
of there and get a fresh start coming to Indianapolis,
media is not as big as as it is there,
and you know it's Uh, he can just pretty much
breathe and be himself and be that same kind of
player that he was at college at Duke and uh,
and that's kind of what you're seeing. He's running around,
making plays with his legs, he's showing his that flakeability.
He's smart, he's making checks at the line of scrimmage,
(06:51):
he's got a strong arm. Teammates love him, and uh,
you know, a guy like that, you know can't help
but be successful. So you know, I'm happy for him.
I've been there, like you said, and you see guys
like that, good people become successful and you can't help
but be happy.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
For him when you go Jeff, Jeff George is our guest,
like for example, and I've always said this. Oftentimes, players
I think get unfairly judged based on how and where
they were acquired. So in other words, when you were
in Atlanta, and I say this only because again it's
kind of analogous to the situation that Daniel Jones may
be going through. There was so much pressure on you
(07:28):
in Indianapolis because you were the number one player taken
in the draft and obviously your background in the city itself,
but when you went to Atlanta, do you think that
part of why you were able to really flourish was
because just that microscope was off a little bit? And
maybe Daniel Jones feels that same way, like you talked
about of you know, there's a difference in terms of
(07:49):
what was invested in Daniel Jones by Indianapolis, and therefore
he doesn't have that pressure bearing him down that would
be tough for anybody. Is there some truth to that?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
There there's a lot of truth to that and and
and what he brings to It's not like he's he's
uh uh, you know, first second year guy. He's a
he's an experienced veteran that understands that's been through all
the every situation you can go through as a quarterback,
not just football, but off the field as well. You know,
when you tend to when you don't have success early on,
you you really tend to isolate yourself. You know, it's
(08:23):
not just football. You you worry about where you're going.
You know, people just look at you different. Heck, your
teammates even look at you different. Because what the media
and everybody puts out there and says about you it's
totally not true. But when they read that, you know,
other people just they you know, they believe that. So
you kind of like carry yourself a little bit in
the facility, carry yourself a little bit different. You're thinking, man,
(08:44):
is this you know, does my teammate believe in me?
You know, do my coaches believe in me? Does the
ownership believe in me? And I would imagine he felt
that way in New York and you know I felt
that way as well. But you know, the main thing
is he's a confident guy. He's had success in college.
He knows how good he is. He you know, he
has all the the ability in the world, you know,
like I said, not just passing the ball, but he
(09:06):
has the mental part of it that you need to
to be a great quarterback. And and he can run.
You know, he's mobile and man, some of the plays
that you've seen that you've see him make is uh
is uh. You know some of the best that you know,
the best guy's doing at that level. So you know,
when whenever you go out and you uh the first
(09:26):
I mean game three games they've played and you were
the first two games that you never saw the punter
on the field. That's pretty incredible, you know, to to
go down there, and I believe that's what the record
with it. The punter never played right on that.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah, two games didn't put and then they scored on
their first ten possessions. I think something like that or
ten straight I should say.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I mean that. Yeah, I mean it's hard to
score points in the NFL. So so when you're doing that,
you don't you don't need your punter.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That speaks a lot of what your quarterback's doing on
the field. Is he's doing something right and uh, whether
you know it's a bad play and he sees the
blitz coming or he's changed protection, just knowing where everybody's
down the field, he's able to do that. So that's
that's always going to be, uh be success. So you know,
I'm happy for him. I'm I'm happy for the Colts.
(10:13):
I'm happy for him and hopefully they can continue.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
What what things. Jeff, you know, you hell, you would
know this better than anybody in town. I mean, you
were a long time starting quarterback in the National Football League.
So when you're watching a game, I'm imagining that you're
watching it through a different lens than say myself for
most people. When you first saw from Daniel Jones, you know,
was there anything that you saw out of him that
(10:37):
and I know you like Anthony Richardson that you were
waiting to see out of Anthony Richardson That told you
right away, Okay, he's comfortable here, this is going to work.
What does your trained I notice that perhaps the average
person does not.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Well, you just watch them how they you know, they
carry themselves in the huddle, how they walk up the
line of scrimmage. What you're looking for, your keys, your
your looking at the safety, you're looking at the front.
You know, there's just so much you have to do
that's going through your mind, and the clock's going down, ticking,
and you have to get the playoff at uh you know,
uh at a certain time. So yeah, it's just just
(11:13):
the way he handles himself out of the huddle is
excuse me, how my car went off? And you can
still hear me.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Oh yeah, okay, sorry about that, Ja, that's right.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So yeah, so just how he cares himself, you know,
he you can just tell he's in command of the
offense and players looking in the eyes. You can see
in the eyes that you know, they're just looking and
knowing that he's in charge. And you know, if he
says that he makes a check, he knows the right
check and not that Anthony Richardson didn't do that. I mean,
I I see so much upside to him and all
(11:45):
the talent that he has, the arm strength and obviously
the running ability. I just don't think that that he
was coached right in the beginning, you know, whereas Daniel
Jones just came into the league, uh, you know, just prepared,
came from an offense to prepare and everything NFL and uh,
you know, and and aar just I don't think got
the coaching that that he really needs to to develop
(12:07):
into a great the great quarterback that he can be.
But man, there's just so much upside the day and
you know it when you watch him, and you know
even in his interviews, how he talks, how he uh,
he is always picking up his teammates, always you know,
giving credit to somebody else, and you know it's just
a he's just a polished quarterback, not just on the
(12:28):
field but in in the media world. And he just
knows the right things to say and just how he acts,
and you know, I'm just impressed. I'm impressed with the
with the not just the football player, but the but
the person. Every time I hear him.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Talk, Jeff, I don't think we've had a chance to
talk to you, certainly, you know, publicly since the unfortunate
passing of Jim Mersey. And you know, I know everybody
listening to this show knows what Jim Mersey meant to
this town in terms of just his philanthropy and the
different things he was involved in. He also was a
guy that clearly was a huge believer in you, a
story you know, going back to when he came and
(13:01):
watched your workout of Illinois and said, we're gonna make
you the number one picking the draft. What was your
overall relationship with Jim Irsay, and just obviously your thoughts
on the loss of Jim Irsay.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It was tough, you know, just like everybody else, you
feel all the the stuff that he did for the city.
But my relationship with him was really good. You know,
I wish I've said it all along. He's probably the
best owner that I ever played for. I just didn't
get a chance to play for the owner that he
became we all knew that he was he was going
(13:34):
to be great. He was Ah, he loved the players.
He was always in the weight room lifting weights with everybody,
and I mean he was always praising, you know, whoever
he drafted. Yeah, he was a big fan of mine.
And it's just unfortunate that that I just wasn't able
to continue my career to play with him because he
was Uh, you know, I played for a lot of owners, obviously,
(13:54):
but out of all the owners I played for, nobody
was better than Jim So Uh. I just wish I
could have brought a lot more wins and a Super
Bowl or a championship to Indianapolis when I played, because
he's one of those owners that deserve it. He deserved
more than the one super Bowl that they won. With
all the talents that they had here and defense and
(14:15):
all the offensive players that they had. Uh, you know,
they kind of reminded me of the h the Atlanta
Braves back when the Braves were good with all that
pitching and Glavin Maddox and all those smolts and having
all the talent but only winning one World World championship.
And it would have been nice to have brought him
more than one one Super Bowl because if there's any
owner that deserved it, it was him. And you know,
(14:38):
we just weren't We just weren't very good. I've said
this all on you and I've talked about it. We
were just in that learning stage when I got here,
and you know, we're just both on offense and defense.
We just were really weren't that good. And and you know,
you draft a rookie quarterback, you know, like myself, and
we had all the comments in the world, but you know,
if you don't have uh and I was and I'm
(15:00):
not you know, blaming anybody else, but if you do,
if you don't have a team, uh on both sides
of the ball and a team that uh, you know,
an organization with an owner, and we didn't. I didn't.
We didn't even have a GM at the time. So uh,
I mean it was Bob ur Say and jim and
uh so we we we were learning as we went.
But uh, they got good and Jimmy was was one
(15:21):
of the best. And uh, what a great family to
see his daughters out there uh being involved as much
as they are. I love that. I love hands on owners,
having them on the on the sidelines and having Jim
be a big part of them when he was there,
it just made you as a player feel good and
you just couldn't help but win.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
What is for any player, Jeff, you know, for being
Anthony Richardson be what Daniel Jones had to in New York,
you know, Adie Mitchell, whoever it may be, when you
get into the NFL, I mean, aside from the obvious,
which is the media and as you you know, let's
go back to it. I guess this way, when you
talk about just being a leader being you know, like
(15:59):
Daniel Jones appears to kind of have kind of the
command in the presence of his teammates, is that a
learned skill? The guys just either have that or they don't,
or do you kind of learn it through experience?
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know what a little bit of both. You know.
The way you carry yourself as you know is leadership.
But you know, I've said this, you know, I think
I said it last time we were on for a quarterback.
When you come into a system and from college to pros,
you need to have a young nucleus around you. You really
can't have a veteran dominated team because those guys just
(16:38):
look at you different. It's hard to lead as a
twenty two year old kid. It's hard to lead a
thirty two to thirty five year old guy and say, hey,
follow me. You know, I know, you know, I know
what I'm doing. I you know we're gonna win. Just
follow me. I have the map for that. Guys don't
really buy in. They're like, yeah, okay, rookie, you know
you're you know, twenty just tight. You know, two three
(17:01):
years down the line, you know what's uh, let's figure
this out. But if you got if you've got a
young group of an offensive line, receivers, you know, defensive
guys that are you know, two three year veterans, and
you're coming in as a rookie, it's easy to lead
those guys. It's easy for those guys to follow you.
It's easy. You know, come in there and you you
you you feel you you feel like this is really
(17:21):
my team. You're in the weight room and you know,
if all these young guys you're you know, not just football,
but you do stuff off the field. You do you know,
in the off season, you you go to all the
pacer games, you you go to dinners, you you you
go to bowling. You know, it got all guys have
foundations nowadays, and you know, you you do, you know
a ton of charity work together. You're it's not just
(17:42):
the season that you're together, it's the whole off season
that you're together as well as the season. And I
know that's kind of how you just build the chemistry.
And you know, that's the way it does in college,
high school, college, you kind of grow up together. You
you go through some ups and downs, you win and
lose together. But if you're trying to lead a twenty
two year old quarterbacks trying to lead a thirty five
year old guy, it's kind of hard. And that's kind
(18:05):
of what I felt like my experience here in Indianapolis
was I felt like there just wasn't a lot of
young guys that we came in together that we could
grow together. We had two or three guys, but we
were a veteran dominated team that you know, I felt
like half the guys came from Baltimore, and you know,
I was watching them play as a kid, and so
(18:26):
it's just it's just it's different. So to answer question,
I don't know if I'm answering your question or not,
but I think it's easier for a guy like Daniel
Jones to come in. It's been around, it's played four
or five years. It's been those the ups and downs
when he was in New York because nobody faces that
type of pressure in New York. And then to be
(18:48):
able to come to Indianapolis, it really is, it's it's
pretty easy. I'm thinking I would think he would say
the same thing if New York is nothing like Indianapolis
and I can just go out there and beat myself.
I can go to dinner, I can go to the grocery.
I don't have to go to the grocery at ten
forty five at night to get my to get milk
and cereal or whatever. You get to watch Andy Griffiths
(19:09):
and those, but you know, you can go at you know,
at one o'clock in the afternoon where people really they
may know you, they may not, but you know, it's
just it's the little things that you just kind of
take for granted that you can't do and in certain
places that you can do here in indian Apple. So
(19:30):
I know that he feels comfortable, and obviously his play
is speaking for itself.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Have you watched Ted Lasso Jeff, I have not. Let
me tell you someth let me tell you something. Of
all people, Jeff George, of all people that I know,
needs to watch ted Lasso on Apple TV more than
any person because it is basically twenty twenty five Andy Griffith.
It is Andy Griffith that we're the sports team. I'm
(19:55):
telling you right now, if you start watching Ted Lasso tonight,
you will have it done before the Colts kickoff on Sunday.
It's three seasons, and then you will say to me
you were right. I mean it has that, you know,
Andy Griffith. There's something you can learn in every episode.
You know what I mean. There's just Andy Griffith gives
you a little wisdom in every episode. Right, same thing, man,
(20:16):
I'm telling you exact same thing. You will absolutely love it.
My last thing for you is this. I know a
lot of guys that played will have up on their
mantle the helmets of each team they played for. In
your case, it would be you know, the Colts, the Falcons,
the Raiders, the Seahawks, the Bears, Washington. I don't think
(20:38):
I'm missing anybody there? Did I miss anybody?
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Vikings?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Vikings, I say, okay, Vikings as well, and then just
to the left of that you would have Illinois Perdue
and Warren Central. When you look over all those helmets,
if you had to pick up one of them to
be able to put it on and instantly put yourself
back to when you played there that brought you the
most joy, it would be which helmet.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
You're not gonna believe this, but the Warren Tomahawks before
my fifth and sixth grade travel ball, Warren travel ball.
It's you're a kid, You're just out there, You're man.
I was, Uh, we were pretty good and uh played
with all the guys that I played with it in
high school. Obviously, I think whenever you ask a quarter
(21:22):
or ask a football player what was the best part
or best time in your life when you played football,
and every I think almost everybody would say high school.
Friday night lit you that that that's the best. College
is great, you know, you're there for four years and
you know, but it's more of a you know, it's
just it's it's not high school. And then the pros.
It's a business, and you know, you have your ups
(21:45):
and downs, and you know, pros are great. NFL is awesome.
But for me, when it all started. Honestly, I mean
this sounds crazy, but I was a Warren Tomahawk in
sixth grade and we went, you know, made it to
the final game. And you know, to this day, I'm
you know, I I I can You'll remember every pass,
every past incomplete pass because we threw the ball a
(22:06):
lot in sixth grade and uh for me as well
as high school. Uh So to answer your question, my
Warren Tomahawk helmet, which I don't know where it is
to this day, I probably don't have it, but uh,
the high school as well, Warren Central put that helmet
up there. We're all began where it was all innocent.
You were just a kid and you just go out
(22:27):
there and then just played with all your buddies that
you grew up with, playing out in the yard sideyard, backyard,
you know, coming in at ten eleven at night when
it's you know, mom's calling you to you know, hey,
you got to come on in that give us five
ten more minutes. We're almost done. Uh you know what
I'm talking about. As we talk about just when it
that's when, that's when it it was. It was just fun.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
So who beat the Tomahawks? When you got to the final.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Who beat you? The green Wood Wood Chuck. They came
up with some double a gap. It was like, you
know in the teens. It was teens. I couldn't fill
my hand. Lance Shyte's dad was our coach. He's yelling
at me, saying, you got hold on the ball, Hold
on the ball. My hands are frozen. I couldn't, you know.
(23:13):
I'm telling him, let's try and run the ball a
little bit. We're throwing it forty to fifty times in
the ten degree weather, and I think we got beat
like I don't even think we scored like seven and nothing.
I believe it was. But they kept coming with a
blitz through double a gap blitz, and you know, we're
a little sixth grader and we had no idea to
pick it up. And I'm taking one step getting hit
and getting sacked and not really sure of thinking to myself, man,
(23:35):
maybe I need to play baseball, get into baseball. So
I think that time became good in baseball because I
wasn't sure whether I liked football or not because I
got hit too much in Little league.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Damn those wood Chucks, That's all I gotta say.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Those darn Greenwood would check that's.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Right, Jeff. Appreciated as always, man great perspectives. Appreciate it
and look forward to talking to you again.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Sound good, Jake, anytime, thanksfull
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Jeff George joining us on the program the former Warren
Tomahawk and Indianapolis Colt
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.