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March 28, 2025 • 10 mins

This episode of Next Man Up is all about Michael Gallup! Back in 2024 Gallup decided to retire from the NFL... but now he's back and ready to make an impact for the Commanders ! We talk about his journey back to the NFL and how he can add to an already dynamic offense! 

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's good, Commanders, family, and welcome into a very special
episode of Next Man Up because we have another new
free agent that's going to help our offense in.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
A tremendous way.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcoming in Michael Gallup brother. First things first, congratulations, and
also welcome back to the NFL.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yes, sir, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Thank you for letting me come on, of course, man, No,
it's honor and a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Man.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
So first things first, man, how are you feeling right now?
You know you last year twenty twenty four, right before
training camp you were with the rate as you announced
that you were retiring. Yep, now you are back. So
now that you're back in the building, back around football,
how great does that feel?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Man? Man?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I mean especially coming out here with you know, DQ
and everybody like that, and you know, folks that I
actually know been around for a little bit. Coming back
into that little family environment that's big, you know, being
in other places like a lot of folks don't just
you know, they don't mesh well here, I mean walking
in the building, it's like, you know, I already know you,
I know you, I know you, and it's just love.
It's family. But nah, coming back into football. I mean,

(00:58):
I need it, you gotta have it. Never wanted to
leave it. I just knew I had to had to
get a little reset.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
And what goes into that decision making to say I
need that reset? Man, what happens in your life where
you say, you know what, Yeah, I'm still on my
problem of my career, but it's time for me to
take some time for Michael and take a step back.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
I think for me, it was just, you know, I
was on the sideline up there at my last team,
and honestly, like I had no desire to be there.
And that came from you know, me not speaking up,
not being vocal about you know, stuff I was going through,
you know, off the field. But I got I got
it corrected, and I knew I needed to set out

(01:36):
that year there was another little rookie, another free agent
that you know, I had that desire that year and
I knew I didn't need to be out there just
you know, giving you a seventy five percent. That's not
right to the team, that's not right to me, and
that's not right to the fans. So I needed my
reset and that's what I got.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
That's a very un selfish decision, A very mature decision,
but I'm sure not an easy decision. So what goes
into the decision is say, all right, my retirements done.
I feel like myself now I want to come back
out and.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Do this for me.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
It was actually talking to my oldest sister. I'm I'm
the youngest of eight kids. Wow, and my oldest sister
that's you know, that's my best friend. So if I
ever needed anything, you know, that's the first person I
go to. So you know, I went back home to
Georgia for a couple of months and I chopped it
up with her, and you know, it got to that
point where it's just like, you know, I still love ball.
I know I still love ball. Just go back out

(02:30):
there and do it because you know you want to.
There's no point in just sitting here wasting talent right now.
And that's what she told me. She knows I still
have it, That's what I mean. It just gave me
that fire again. But also, you know, watching all those
games with my little boys and everything, they're just saying it, Daddy.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Why you not up there? Well, like your time to live.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
But nah, I know it's for them too. They need
a witness as well. So that's that was mine. That
was my big thing. I just needed a little mental reset,
needed to talk it out then get back right.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
And for such a big decision to go into coming
back to the NFL, because again, you talk to your family,
you talk to your loved ones. Then you look over
here in Washington where this was a rival team for
majority almost your whole career. What makes you decide Washington
is the place I want to rebirth my career and
give it another run.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Well, so obviously you know, free agent wise, you're going
to go to a bunch of other teams. Everything, you
get to check everything out. Washington was actually my first stop.
And when I came up here, it was just easy off,
real off rep the way the coaches talk, the way
you know certain people in the building are coming up
to you and just want to, you know, actually help you.

(03:40):
They know that you might have been through some some
things or whatever in your past or whatever, and they're
over here just looking out to help. And you know
that's in a lot of other places, it's just ball.
They're not looking to better you outside of football, better your.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Family, anything that you need.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
And I felt like I'm definitely going to get that here,
and that's that was the biggest decision for me. I mean,
it was just it was pretty easy, though.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
And you haven't been in this situation a lot like
you spent most of your time with your former team
before switching teams. This process is very, very different than
what you are used to. How valuable was it for
you to be able to come into this building but
then be able to leave, go check out other buildings,
go to just see other things around the league, and
then be able to come back here. How valuable was
that option? Because a lot of guys don't even have

(04:24):
that option. How valuable was that for you?

Speaker 3 (04:27):
I mean, like you said, I mean, a lot of
folks don't even get a second chance out of the league.
So that is a blessing in itself for me. I
appreciate DQ for that. I mean, that's big time, but nah,
definitely valuable. I mean, just to let me even go
out there and talk to other teams and not just say,
all right, you came in here today, we're just going
to slap this whatever, you know agreement we have right
now and that's the only time you get. Now they

(04:48):
encourage me to go try you know, just go see
other teams just to see, like where you fit in,
because it's all about you, you know what I'm saying, Like,
you got to be comfortable wherever you go. It's got
to be where you want to be, so you can,
you know, flourish. And that's what they wanted for me.
And you know, for me just hearing that, letting it
be known, that's big time. So I wanted to be
a part of this.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
That's awesome and it all worked out. Now you're back
in the league. It's not like when I come back.
Now you are officially back in the league. During that
time where you set off, because when you're an NFL player,
there's a lot going on. It's constant motion, like you've
probably been doing football as long as you can remember.
But then you stop and then there's that silence. What
did Michael Gallup learn about himself amongst that silence, amongst

(05:31):
being able to quiet all that noise and that time
you took to yourself, What did you want about yourself?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
I learned a lot more about just being a student
of the game, to be honest, not necessarily just sitting
there watching film twenty four to seven, but all the
things that come with I mean benefits from the league,
benefits just being able to play ball and be healthy
with it too, a lot of things that you know,

(05:56):
we take for granted being a player, being able to
back and see how it actually unfolds, how it works,
you know, certain trade deadlines or anything like that, because
you don't really see all that you're just playing, you know,
but just getting to see how the business side of
even you know, this league works. But just putting all
that together and then getting to watch every game on Sunday,

(06:18):
that was actually pretty cool. I enjoyed that a lot.
But now I mean just just finding, like finding myself.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I didn't really have to do that. I was I
was just I was just hitting the reset in the recess.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
And now you have a different appreciation for the game.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Appreciation for the game for sure.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, and then you get to come into a situation
where it's not too much unfamiliarity because you have had
a relationship with dan Quinn before, you have known him
for quite some time. Yeah, he was a decent court
and gave us on the other side of the ball,
but you still know what he was about. What did
you see from dan Quinn when you got to sit
and watch football. Now you get to sit and be
a fan and you get to see these commanders go
on this historic run. Really, what did you see from

(06:55):
dan Quinn that maybe you already had saw, you know,
in your previous stint with him.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
So, I mean obviously when he was you know, our
old DC, he was always in the box if we're
being on it, so he was always up there, so
you didn't really get to see a whole lot of
his reactions. But when I was walking through the locker
rooms and everything like that, he was always the first
one to come up and talk to me. And it's
like the defensive coordinator those who an offensive player is,
you know, and he wants to talk to you, you know,

(07:21):
drop it up with you, like, I mean, that's that's different.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
You know a lot of folks don't do that.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
And him being a head coach now, I mean just
seeing the excitement that he has on the sideline, pushing
this team, you know, to its limits and having fun
while you're doing it. That's awesome to see and I
want to be a part of it.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
And then a big part of that fun is Cliff
Kingsbury man and the way that he rest you see
that same on your face. It feels like every offensive
weapon feels that way because y'all know Cliff Kingsbury is
going to get the best out of y'all. What do
you think being a part of this offense can do
for Michael Gallup?

Speaker 3 (07:53):
I mean, really, just do a lot. I mean there's
there's plenty. There's plenty of talent on this team. Plenty
of talent, probably too much, but great problem. But now
I know he's gonna find you know, for certain games,
there's going to be different times where folks are playing
in different spots, trying to get certain folks to ball.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
That's just what he does.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
He's a guru. But for me, I mean, I just
need to be in the right spot at the right time.
That's all it is. Playing wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
I mean, a quarterback knows where you need to be.
You just got to be there.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
And I know Clip's gonna You're gonna put you in
spots to where you can win, be successful.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
And a quarterback that's always going to know where you
need to be.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
It seems like Jaden Dames, man, I mean, this kid
is so im pressure.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
I'm sure you've heard about it.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
I'm sure you've seen it.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
How excited are.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
You to be able to be another tool in the
tool box for young Jaden Dames.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
Actually, I just saw my FaceTime get out the phone.
He was like, it's like, look, man, I need to
get your number. We got to chop it up right now.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
That's cool. That's that's just how it is. So I
appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
But now watching him this past year, hey, off the charts,
off the charts.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I'm excited. I'm ready to get to work with him.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
And something that got me really excited was when I
went out and ground my so some water and I've
seen you talking to Bobby Ingram or wide receivers coach,
and it made me think about the knowledge and the
experience is going to be in that wide receiver room
that is between you, that's between Deebo, and that's between Terry,
but Bobby Ingram and the rest of these guys. Man,
how much do you think you can learn from a
Bobby Ingram And how do you think you'll fit in

(09:17):
the system that's already in place here.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
That man played fourteen years in the league. He did
fourteen years in the league. He's still learning. He literally
told me that over brunch he's still learning the game,
so I know the knowledge is you know, worldwide for him.
But I mean it's gonna be great because, like you said, Debo,
Scary Terry, Noah Brown, all them, it really don't matter.

(09:41):
Like it's just it's just not always pick and choose
which you want to play with it, you know what
I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
But now it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
And Michael, Man, it's been so great talking to me.
I was actually really excited for this conversation just to
meet you because I can't imagine how important this is
for you right now. Your last game when we talked
about this before and you knew exactly what it was,
was in twenty two, only three in the postseason against
the Green Bay Packers. You went six for six for
over one hundred yards. And you have not seen an
NFL field since then. You have a chance to see

(10:09):
an NFL field now, Man, how special is that for you?
And how important is this moment right here?

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I was a blessing.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
Like I said earlier, a lot of folks don't get
a second chance at the league. I was blessed to
do so I would say it's luck. But at the
same time, learned it man up top and he's looking
out for folks. So for me, just got a smile
on my face. That's all I'm going to have all
year long.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Hey man, I have no doubt command this. Fans are
smaller right now hearing you talk. Man, I'm so excited
to see what you can do again. Welcome back to
the NFL.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Man.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
It's all God's glory. But you did earn this, brother,
So congratulations man. We're happy to have you here, command
this family. Our next man up, he back in the
league and he here with avengeance baby, Michael Gallup. Thank you,
brother for your time.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yes, sir, appreciate you.
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