The All-Pro Philly Players Show w/ Thomas Booker -- 9/23/24

Jerrold Colton and Dave Spadaro are LIVE from Chickie's and Pete's in Marlton, NJ and are joined by #Eagles DT Thomas Booker IV. They talk all things #Eagles win over the #Saints in New Orleans at the Superdome on Sunday, and look ahead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Coming to you live from Chicky's and Pete's in Marlton,
New Jersey, every Monday night. It's the All Pro Philly
Players Show. Now Here are your hosts, Gerald Colton and
Eagles inside it. Dave Spadero, Welcome to the Chicken and.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Marlton, the All Pro Philly Show. We are here every
Monday during Eagle season. Myself Gerald called my co host,
Gave Spadera, joined by an Eagles player every weekend. We
are here on what is a glorious Monday in the
del Rio.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Gerald, It's not Monday, It's Victory Monday. Victory Monday.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
Welcome to Victory Monday. Here chickens and pizza.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
And the season got off to a weird start because
first we had a game on Friday, and then we
had a Monday night.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
Game, which we don't need to talk about anymore.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
But this is our first victory Monday of what hopefully
is many. So Dave and I have known each other
for at least three decades, and he's been the Eagles
insider for a super long time, and he's been through
Super Bowl championships as well as off seasons.

Speaker 4 (01:04):
But when he landed in Philadelphia coming.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Back with the Eagles from New Orleans yesterday called me
right away, and I got to tell you that was
as excited as I've heard you after a regular season victory.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
You were so excited about that win down in New Orleans.

Speaker 5 (01:18):
I think people need to put things in perspective. And
for the Eagles to come on a short week against
a team that everyone was hyping as the best team
in the NFL ninety one points scored, defense outstanding, tons
of injuries for the Eagles defense getting.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Just ripped apart, criticized.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
To go into New Orleans, it was not a perfect game,
we know that, but to come out with a win,
as the former Eagles legend and Eagles member of the
Eagles Hall of Fame Howard ron Jaworski says, they never
ask you how, they ask you how many And to
get out of New Orleans with a victory, Gerald, I

(01:58):
thought it was extremely significant. Told me a lot about
this football team, about the fight this team has, about
the resilience and as Nick Sirianni said, how everybody has
each other's back, and I think that will serve this
football team very very well.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
That's that's an awesome setup for the person who is
sitting between us and one of the Eagles who was
a part of it yesterday playing on that field at
the Mercedes been superdroom in New Orleans. And he's relatively
new to the Philadelphi Eagles, but we're getting to know
him more both as a player. We're going to get
to know him here as a person and you're gonna
love this guy. And he actually pinch hit today, Dave,

(02:36):
thanks for grabbing him because Brittin Covey was going to
be here and Britain, unfortunately was one of the guys
who suffered an injury. So I really pleased to introduce
and welcome Thomas. And I'm gonna talk the start with
just Thomas instead of Earl, but big, really good Thomas Booker,
number sixty nine of the Philadelphia.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
Eagles pre sach. You guys have him, yeah, man, hey, listen.

Speaker 5 (02:59):
We we are excited Thomas because you have you have
a story that everybody can relate to. You have a
very valuable role and growing role on the team. And
the defense was lights out yesterday, so we want you
to share with us what exactly was going on on
the field before the game last week. We had a
lot to talking about thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 4 (03:20):
We doing here.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Take us, Take us with you as what was like
to be down in the world to be part of
that field Oflph Eagles keep going into the game coming
out of it.

Speaker 6 (03:28):
Man, when you talk about like a you know, electric atmosphere,
especially in the NFL, there's a few places that are
going to be, you know, close to the super Dome.
It's absolutely incredible to see, you know, the Eagles fans
that travel in, the Saints fans that were jeering and
booing us when we came in, but you know, being
able to come in there with the vaunted team that
they had averaging around forty five points a game and

(03:49):
hold them down to twelve, you know, and have numerous
stops when you know, we have an interception or a
fumble or even a block kick and being able to
you know, make a stand consistently. I think it's a
testament to the coaching staff, my teammates, and just our
fortitude as a group.

Speaker 5 (04:04):
It was more than that from a sense from the
standpoint of the fans, the media, and I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
If you pay attention to it.

Speaker 5 (04:11):
The amount of criticism the defense, the run defense in particular.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Was receiving all week. Are you immune to that stuff? Thomas?
Do you honestly do you hear it?

Speaker 6 (04:20):
You? Are you aware of what people are saying? I
think you're always aware of it. You know, there's a
lot of media everywhere, you know, Twitter, TV, all the
rest of it.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
You see it.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
But at the end of the day, like you know,
within the walls of the of the organization of the facility,
we knew what we had to do in terms of
being on top of our details, you know, being more physical,
being more prepared, all the rest of it. And at
the end of the day, the practice work that you
put in usually shows up on game day. So I
think we had a great week of practice that you know,
showed itself on this biggest stage.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Were the guys pissed off? Absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 6 (04:49):
I think we have a standard that we played towards
that we didn't meet the previous week. And only thing
you can do is go to the drawing board, assess
what you can assess, you know, take the negatives and
strive and build on the positives.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
And that's what we tried to do.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
And Thomas, from my standpoint, it's always great where if
one one side of the ball isn't doing as well
as normally on the other side, picks them up and listen,
you have things on this final statistics sheet that normally
indicate victory. There was The yardage total was outrageous. How
much more the philop Eagles had than the New Orleans
says yesterday, I mean it was four sixty to two nineteen.

(05:23):
That's crazy type possession thirty two minutes to less than
twenty eight, and a whole bunch of other factors.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
Obviously a tremendous.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Rushing game again from Saqua, and it was it was
just you dominate everything except some very critical statistics that
can change games. Those are turnovers, a couple of fourth
downs where that you didn't convert a block punt, which
you put that together that kind of like works out
as five turnovers to some extent, but the defense never
let up. You get up three points early and then

(05:51):
not again until the fourth quarter.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
So it was it was really a spectacular p and in.

Speaker 5 (05:57):
That time New Orleans have forty four total yards and
two first downs and it all starts toms at the
line of scrimmage.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Take us into the line of scrimmage, and that's a
team that had set historic numbers. In the first two weeks.

Speaker 5 (06:11):
They've scored on fifteen straight possessions with their starters, and
then they scored on the first possession of the game
yesterday and that was it for three quarters.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, you know,
they have a vaunted offense. They've got Alvin Kamara, Derek Carr,
a line that's been playing really well together. I think
at the end of the day, when you put hands
on people in your physical a lot of things change,
you know. I think that's something we didn't do enough
of the previous week, along with some other smatic things.
But when it came down to what we were physical,
we got off the ball and you know, you look
at a Jalen Carter, you look at Jordan Davis, Milton Williams,

(06:45):
everybody that was out there like they were setting the tone.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
You know.

Speaker 6 (06:48):
As a defensive line group, we believe in like throwing
ways of guys at you, you know, So that's what
we tried to do, and everybody, I think, you know,
rung the bell with that.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
I thought it was one of Acquire's best games as
a pro.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Stories of impact too, passes, defend at a sack had a
whole bunch of stuff, a little getting into it with
the New Orleans crowd.

Speaker 6 (07:06):
Wait, jac is a spirited player, you know, and when
you're locked in like that and you're dominating like that,
it's hard not to get emotional.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
So I definitely feel where he's coming from.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Here's a question I have though, or what I want
to talk about. I don't know if you know who
the name Jarry Evans, but Jewry was my partner in
this show.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
I was his agent as a player.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
He should be going to Canton in the Pro Football
Fame's He's an assistant offensive line coach in New Orleans,
and he is very proud of his offensive line. He's
been sending me all these clips of them mouling and
killing people. And you made reference to being physical you
saw on tape. I'm sure that that was a really
physical offensive line from New Orleans. Absolutely, and you guys
responded in kind.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 6 (07:42):
You know, I think they based their game off of,
you know, wide zone and all the rest of it
and getting guys to run to the side and all that.
So the way that you stop that is you, you know,
you put hands on people, you stay square, and you
allow yourself to make adjustments because they got a really
dynamic running back and Alvin Kamara that will punish you
for committee too early, you know, not saying you're apps
all the rest of it. So it definitely, you know,
when you have coaching trees in the NFL, there's a

(08:05):
lot of guys that come from the Shanahan tree where
they like to run wide zone and one happened. Yeah,
we've happened to run into a lot of those teams.
It's a pretty you know, popular like meta. I guess
the league currently this year, specifically with how much people
are running the ball versus like the Cover two and
Cover four looks that we're seeing. But yeah, no, it
depends on how you play, and we've gotten a lot
of those those offenses the first couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
I'm curious as in your preparation for games and how
the season goes on, you know, because practice from the
from my perspective on the outside has changed a lot
over the years, and.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
They limit the contact in the hitty.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
But you on the Philolp Eagles have one of the
best offensive lines in football and we know that, I
would venture to say the best and New Orleans wants
to argue that, but after yesterday, I would venture to
that you you p proved positive as well as lost
your left side.

Speaker 6 (08:51):
And still shout out to Tyler Stein and uh and
Fred Johnson. You know, those guys stepped in a time
when we needed them to and made a ton of great.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Bector went down, he's doing a great job of left card.
But Lane Jenson, who was I'm sorry, right right card.
And then Lane Johnson, your right tackle who will definitely
be going to Canton someday, went down. And normally you
lose your right side like that against a team like that,
that spells doom.

Speaker 4 (09:15):
And those guys both stepped in and did fabulously.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
But I'm curious for you when you practice against that
Eagles offensive line, does that help prepare you.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
When you go against a team like a New Orleans Saints.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (09:25):
I think you look at Landon Dickerson, Jordan Malatta, those
guys they're probably you know, three fifty three sixties, so.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
That's about seven hundred Jordans more than that. Yeah, yeah,
that might be.

Speaker 6 (09:35):
That might be Jordan On a cut, but yeah, no,
when you look at those guys, it's a seven hundred
plus pound double team that you're going to be dealing
with from guys that are you know, obviously paid like
some of the best, because they are some of the best.
So when you go from dealing with that on a
practice stage to a game, you know, you're shocked. You're like, Okay,
you know, I can, I can definitely deal with what's
going on.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Right now easier.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
Yeah, absolutely, you know, And it's one of those things
where you want to get scout team reps against the
ones because those are some of the best guys league.
Those are reps that come in to premium absolutely.

Speaker 5 (10:02):
So fans want to know, you know, hey, from one
week to the next to look like yesterday's team was
much more urgent. Is that the way you see it, Thomas,
Or did it just happen to feel better, execution better?
Was the intensity of the same weeks one, two, and three?
Do you think, like, how how do you see it

(10:24):
on the field when you're in it? How do you
feel it?

Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (10:27):
I think it's just like a level of being locked in,
you know, I think that everybody on the field and
everybody on the sideline always wants to be as intense
as possible. But I think with this week of practice
and the urgency that we've seen from the numbers that
we let up last week. There was a bit more
urgency and intensity this coming week. You could tell in
the huddles with CJ or CD, just the way he

(10:48):
was talking with the guys and how we were responding.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Everyone was so locked in and dialed in.

Speaker 6 (10:53):
You could tell there was an energy on the sideline
that even in the hostile territory, we knew exactly what
we had to do and that they shouldn't have been
scoring on them.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
The rotation in the group that you have a defensive tackle,
it's it's you, it's JC, it's it's uh, Jordan Davis,
who am missing Milton Milton Milton of course, and Moro
who's playing great too, you guys.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
Iron sharpens iron kind of thing. Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (11:17):
I think the way that we look at it is
it's all you know, friendly competition. But we all know that,
you know, as we continue to grind together, challenge each
other and all the rest of it, the play of
the entire group will will increase, you know.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
And for us, we like throwing waves, like.

Speaker 6 (11:30):
I said earlier, so when we can keep guys fresh
and you know, playing an elite level. It just builds
off of it, you know, and just more and more
guys get a chance to to eat.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
You know, that's what we wanna do.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
And Thomas is going back to the theme we started
the show with that there's no not even but a
beautiful victory. Every one of them is, and and they're
so hard to come by by the in the NFL.
But you've played three games now that all came down
basically to the last second. Every single one of them
could have gone either way. So that's got to be
an credibly intense, drainy thing and then huge relief. And

(12:03):
it's just great to be two and one after those
three games could have been on three, could have been
three and oh, but two one's pretty good.

Speaker 6 (12:08):
Absolutely. I think what it teaches you though that you
just have to be very present, you know. I think
when you start thinking to large scale about things, the
nervousness starts coming. Well, when you just lock in and
be like, okay, I'm just gonna, you know, take care
of my one eleventh, my box, as we talk about
dominate your box, then everything becomes a lot more simplified.
You know, you're not as nervous about what's gonna go
down because you know, I handle my job. I trust

(12:29):
everybody else to do theirs. As a team, as a defense,
we will come together and do we need to do
no God, end.

Speaker 5 (12:34):
Of the game, Eagles have the football down third and sixteen.
Where are you? How are you watching the game? Are
you watching it on the boards? What's going through your mind?
What was your reaction?

Speaker 3 (12:44):
And just set that up.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
I mean you're down at that point twelve to seven,
and you you need a touchdown and you can't really
give up that football at that point and expect to wait.
So this is this is this is it. It's doward
and there's so good.

Speaker 6 (13:02):
Yeah, I think I think I was watching it when
we were sitting down, so I was looking up at
the big screen. But at the end of the at
the end of the day, you have faith in the
playmakers that we have on offense. You have faith in Jalen,
you have faith in Dallas and Saquon in the offensive
line and all the rest of those guys.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
And you know we're seeing it up here.

Speaker 6 (13:18):
Saquon like he's a guy that can take it to
the house whenever you need to. And Dallas, as you
saw ten catches, one hundred and seventy yards all the
rest of it.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
Like he is a top tight end in the league.

Speaker 6 (13:28):
So at the end of the day, you trust those
guys to make plays because you've seen it in practice,
you've seen it in games, and you know, my dad
likes to say, like the trend is your front, so
you know their trend is being playmakers.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
I actually thought New Orleans let the Eagles score in
the next player?

Speaker 5 (13:41):
Did I feel that at all? I actually feel are possible?
I feel like they did. Am I wrong?

Speaker 3 (13:46):
I couldn't tell you. I don't know.

Speaker 6 (13:48):
It looked like the offensive line got a pretty good
jump on the ball, but I could see that potentially
being a strategic thing they tried to do, But I'm
not sure.

Speaker 5 (13:54):
And then for the third week in a row, the
defense is on the field at the end of the game.
Your thoughts on you know what is going through the
defense's mind. You want to be in that situation. You
want to close out the game of that last play,
pressure up front throw that Reid makes a great diving interception.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
What happened with that defensive sequence?

Speaker 6 (14:14):
First off, Reed tends to have some kind of knack
for those game ending interceptions, specifically diving and catching them.
You know, he had the same thing happened in Brazil.

Speaker 4 (14:23):
That was a heck of a cat.

Speaker 6 (14:24):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely read is that guy? But I think
it's a defense. You always look to those pressure field
situations where you can end the game on your terms.
I think we'd had a great performance throughout the day,
so what better way to cap it off by ending it?

Speaker 3 (14:37):
You know?

Speaker 2 (14:37):
And Thomas, one of the things about the beaten part
of the Eagles, and I know you broke into the
league as a Houston Texan, were drafted by them in
twenty twenty two. They don't have the following the Eagles too,
but no one has the following like the Eagles too.
So wherever you go, there's a lot of green and
a lot of Eagles fans making noise.

Speaker 4 (14:53):
But that dome. I've been in a dome a lot
of times.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's a loud place and pretty supportive of the New
World of States.

Speaker 4 (14:59):
How was the crowd yesterday? And where you hear any
Eagle support?

Speaker 6 (15:02):
Oh my gosh, you could you could? You know, ask
any guy on the sideline. The sideline that we had
was populated the Eagles fans. You saw a lot of
Kelly Green. You saw a lot of midnight Green all
that you could hear him. You know, it sounded like
the Saints were in a road game when the offense
was out there on occasion, and specifically when Saquon broke
that run, man, the stadium got as loud as any

(15:22):
other play that the Saints had made. So, you know,
shout out to the Eagles faithful for traveling with us
and always showing us support.

Speaker 5 (15:28):
At one point, the Eagles defense was on the field
urging the fans to make more noise because the Eagles
fans were that loud that present. And yeah, totally amazing
turnout by the Eagles fans, and it will be the
same Sunday in Tampa.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
I have a great feeling about that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yeah, So when you got to the locker room and
a whole lot of guys had stepped up and.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
It wasn't it wasn't a game that was easy at
any point.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
How to feel, man, it felt amazing.

Speaker 6 (15:54):
You know, when you put together a performance like that
with you know, your brothers, these guys that you grind
with every single day, it just builds a trust even more.
You know, when you go through adverse situations That's the
beautiful thing about football. It's all adverse situations. So as
you go through those things throughout the season, throughout the
training camp, you just get more and more trust the guys.
Next year they're gonna do what they need to do
in the plays.

Speaker 5 (16:14):
And did you when you watch film, did you go,
how did I not intercept that pass?

Speaker 6 (16:21):
It would have been it would have been crazy if
I was able to to one hand, left hand grab
that one like that. You know, I'll have to put
that in the in the film for next week. They
had you play both sides they needed this week.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
I did.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
I played both sides and not in college and in
high school. So you know, if they ever even to
do anything in little package, I would definitely be down
for that. But that was one of those places where
I actually didn't know that he's going to throw the
ball because he has a really really quick release. So
when I came around and I seen him, you know,
pumping the ball, I was like, Okay, I gotta get
a hand up, and it just so happens the timing
and the placement was was perfect.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
So I got the ball down in front of you. Yeah,
I know, Oh my gosh, get on the drudgs machine
and practice this week can say.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
Let's but you did give breafter but we'll talk a
little more about your personal story. But taking yourself back
to high school and that was in Baltimore, so you
were nearby in.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
High school about the hour thirty away on train.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
So how many of your family make it up to
Eagles games?

Speaker 6 (17:14):
Man?

Speaker 3 (17:14):
A lot of them do, so it's actually might be
very closely for you.

Speaker 6 (17:17):
Yeah, a lot of them will probably put their their
own bill for the tickets, so I appreciate them for that.
But actually, my god brother is from Philadelphia. Originally his
name is recently he was a swimmer. He actually went
to cal Berkeley's actually the cover Sports Illustrated for the
Sports Illustrated Kids edition.

Speaker 3 (17:35):
He's a kid of the Year.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
Wait where did you go to high school?

Speaker 3 (17:37):
You to Pencharter.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
I knew of him.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah, so my still went to Pencharter, So I remember
they had this great local kid.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (17:45):
So, I mean I think when he was sixteen or
seventeen years old, he was, you know, getting interviewed by
Will Smith playing you know, so it's been.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
Great And what made you pick football over swimming.

Speaker 6 (17:57):
In the water? Yeah, I think Reece might have had
more of the onto typical body type of that than me,
so I decided to go with the great.

Speaker 4 (18:03):
I think you made the right trade.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
But when we come back, we'll get more into your
journey to get to Philadelphia. Took you from Baltimore all
the way to the West Coast, the Atlantic Coast Athletic
or the Atlantic Coast Conference. But we'll talk about all
those things and really a great, great philadelph Eagles victory yesterday.
It's so exciting to hear you talk about it and
hear how much it feels inside of you and hopefully

(18:25):
something to really build on as a football team. So
we're just underway here on the All Pro Philly Show
live from Chickens and Pizza. If you're listening to us
and you're near Marlton, New Jersey, please stop them by.
Shows are going to be going on for the next
hour and a half. We have to we leave give
way to the blind Side. That's two former Eagles offensive
linemen and Todd Herban's and Trey Thomas and they'll be

(18:46):
breaking it down. But it's Daves Badero, Thomas Booker, Jerald Cole.
We're here on the All Pro Philly Show well Fox
Sports and Gambler and streaming as well on YouTube.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
We'll be right back.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
So welcome back to chickens and pizza in the All
Pro Philly Players Show.

Speaker 4 (19:07):
We are in Marlton, New Jersey, as we are every
Monday night.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
I'm Gerald Clobe Wall with my co host Dave Spaedero,
Eagles Insider, and we're just reveling in a great Eagles
victory yesterday over the New Orlands Saints down at the
Mercedes Been Superdome.

Speaker 5 (19:19):
And Gerald, you're you're daking two and one.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
You're feeling good about two in one, right?

Speaker 2 (19:25):
I love two in one, especially when you were one
on one before the game, before the season might have
said I want three and oh I'm a little greedy,
but right now, very very happy to one. Especially it
was such a weird first three weeks in the National
Football League, so to be a too one to be
a top the NFC East standings right now is a
good st.

Speaker 5 (19:42):
When do you think Gerald's gonna regulate? When are we
going to find out what teams are all about it?
I think we still have two or three more weeks
of finding a variance in the league.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Let me tell our already.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
It is also Thomas Booker the fidelf Eagles number sixty
nine defensive tackles here as well.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
Thomas, do you have an.

Speaker 3 (19:57):
Opinion on that suit?

Speaker 6 (19:58):
I think, you know, it's obviously very hard to win
in the league week to week, so there is probably
gonna be variance throughout the season. But I think as
you see, you know, teams start developed towards the midway point,
you can start to see some of the you know,
team trading.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
All the rest of it.

Speaker 6 (20:12):
But honestly, again, this is a football league about adjustment,
you know, so there's always a revolving carousel of guys
that are you know, succeeding, failing and all the rest.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
So you just have to be locked in a week
by week.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
And the other part, Dave and I talk about this
all the time. You don't win the Super Bowl in September, right,
you could, but you can lose it. Yes, So start
the season two and one. If you know, for the
teams that are own three, they're already in almost desperation mode.
The statistics say it's so hard for them to even
make the playoffs. So to sit at two and one
is a decent start.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
We are in the first quarter of a long season
and longer than ever. And again, all you want to
do is stay healthy, which the Eagles are knock on
wood here no super long term injuries, I don't think.

Speaker 3 (20:54):
And they're winning.

Speaker 5 (20:55):
And if you can get through this next game, the
bye week, which we all three weeks goes.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Oh, the bye week is so early. Oh, it's too early.

Speaker 5 (21:03):
When the bye week arives, everybody's gonna say it is
here at the exact right time, because it's always here
at the exact right time.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Well, Thomas, you can speak to that because you know,
you go through training camp, then you start the season,
you're probably going to welcome that bye week in a
couple of weeks.

Speaker 6 (21:18):
Sorry you, Yeah, no, I think all the guys benefit
from it for sure, because you know you're playing a
lot of football. It's a it's a seventeen week regular season,
you know, eighteen if you count that bye week, and
then also with the playoffs, you could potentially be out
there for twenty one, you know, twenty two whatever how
many weeks. So you take the rest when you can
get it, you know, to get your body back and
all the rest of it. But yeah, the bye week,

(21:39):
definitely you know always comes at the right time somehow.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
And the other part that I like about yesterday Dave
is that I think it's good and Thomas kind of
alluded to this, to not play your best football still
get the victory and know there's a lot of things
to improve uply, you want.

Speaker 5 (21:56):
To build and build and build and play your best
football late regular season into the postseason peak at that time.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
Although I wonder how do you feel about this, guys?

Speaker 5 (22:05):
Do you think that one game carries over into the
next game or is every game a brand new start.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
I'll put it this way. I think that it depends
on your preparation, you know. I think that when you
have a gutsy win like this, as long as you
take the right things from it and you keep that
exact same attitude and urgency and intensity week over week,
I absolutely do think that it can carry on. But
you have to attack each and every single game like
its own challenge, you know. I think that's what we've
challenged ourselves to do, is just to stay present in

(22:33):
the moment, not even talking about the week, but what
are we doing today?

Speaker 3 (22:37):
Is it a third down day? Is it a red
zone day?

Speaker 6 (22:39):
All the rest of it and the more minute you
get into those details, the more success that you stack
on top of each other because you're not looking too
far ahead.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
All right, let's transition.

Speaker 5 (22:48):
Into something if it's okay, because I've interviewed Thomas a
few times here, and you know, frankly, at the beginning
of training camp, there wasn't a whole lot of conversation
about Thomas Booker. We were wondering, who is Thomas Booker?
What is is Thomas Booker going to make the roster?
And when you did, and we talked about your preseason

(23:08):
and since we've talked since then, you've referenced staying in
the moment, being present where you are. This is a
mindset that is very important for people to understand. Can
you explain how you've come to that realization that kind
of that's what life's all about for you and performance
is all about that.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (23:28):
I think even when I was a kid, my dad
has told me, you know, he always appreciated how president
I was. You know, we would always think of during
the winter time, you know, what kind of summer camps
do you want to do?

Speaker 3 (23:37):
You know, what sports you want to do, all the rest.

Speaker 6 (23:39):
Of it, And I would say like, Dad, can you
just focus on like right now, like this week? And
for him, he kind of sat back, and he was
probably a little bit annoyed to it at first, and
then he kind of realized, like, no, he's just very
much where his feet are.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
So that's kind of how I've always rocked.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
I've always tried to exhibit high effort in small doses
on a day to day basis.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Well, obviously, yeah, and you said that you approach every
moment like it's a huge moment.

Speaker 5 (24:03):
We talked about late in the in the preseason game
against the Patriots that was really like the start of
your production in the preseason. And so I've actually adopted
that mentality and I kind of always had it, but
I've been reminded of it doing things that maybe I
didn't think they were like huge assignments, but I've had
I've been reminded that every assignment, every opportunity that you have,

(24:24):
make it into a huge event and give your best
effort and treat it like it's center stage.

Speaker 6 (24:29):
Absolutely, I think that you know how you do anything
is how you do everything to a certain extent. So
when you continuously place like a priority on performance and
high effort in all the little things that you do,
You're not surprised or nervous in the big moments because
you have now trained your body, your mind, your spirit
to do that all the time.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
We're here with Thomas Booker at Chickens and Pizza, Marlton,
You're going to be seeing a lot more of this
guy on the field and hopefully in the community because
you're just such a great addition to the Philadelphia area.
But everybody talks about how meaningless NFL preseason games are now,
except for the guys like Thomas Booker and truly and

(25:07):
I looked at you and your performance and Dave just
alluded to it. How you, you know, made big plays
at the end of the New England game to preserve
a victory and then got more of an opportunity. Without
that preseason game, you might not be sitting here with
us right now.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (25:20):
I think again, like the way that I look at
it is any single time, anytime that you get to
step out onto an NFL field, whether that's a practice
field or an actual game field, that's an opportunity to
build your resume, you know, to show what you've you've
grown as as a player, and all the rest of it.
So you know, to the people that say the preseason
games are meaningless, yes they do not have an effect
on the regular season record necessarily. But any single time

(25:42):
that you get to step out on the football field
against some of the best guys to play the sport,
that's a fantastic opportunity to prove yourself, you know, and
to prove yourself right about the work that you put in,
and just to gain confidence.

Speaker 2 (25:52):
And you know that you're putting down that tape not
just for the fieldelf Eagles, for the other thirty one
teams to look at a case Eagles decided to go
to another. You've got a great team here with a
lot of good defensive line and defensive tackles already. So
it was hard to make it, and yet you made
it and here you are.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
It's her. Yeah, No, it's honestly a blessing. We have
a fantastic defensive line room. I could talk about all
those guys you know, all day. Those are my brothers,
So you know, it's a blessing to be, you know,
with them and be able to work with them every day.

Speaker 5 (26:19):
Thomas, when did football start? Tell us about the journey?
When did football become a big part of your life
in Baltimore. And and how'd you get to the ACC
while it wasn't the ACC back then Stanford University back
then Pact twelve shout out to the boys from being
Syracuse by the way, and then and then you know
you and the NFL and being drafted in Houston, what

(26:41):
happened there and coming to Philly and now a rising
player in this Eagles.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
Defensive tackle room.

Speaker 6 (26:46):
Yeah, absolutely, So I started playing football when I was
in sixth grade. I loved watching basketball when I was
a kid, but I think my dad knew that I
was going to have a football body pretty pretty early on.
But yeah, I couldn't play because my parents wanted me
to play with kids or my age and the weight
that I had, the weight class that would have fit
into I would have been playing with kids that were
like two to three years older. So they waited until

(27:08):
I was old enough to play in it unlimitedly, which
was sixth grade for me. And yeah, I played tight
end in defensive end. That's always what I played. I went,
you know, I played two ways, so I was always
in the field, you know, And that was kind of
something I was used to from playing tennis, like you
never come off. It's always you know, on there, like
you know, mentally locked in and all the rest of it. So, yeah,
started in sixth grade, got you know, better and better

(27:31):
as time went on, and then I started really realizing
that I had the shot to you know, to play
at a collegiate level. Probably you know, back half of
my freshman year, we had a stacked team in high school.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
We probably had thirty Division one players.

Speaker 6 (27:43):
Wow at our high school, guys Gilman High School, yep,
the high school, famous, world famous. Yeah, yeah, but we
had guys that think we had three guys go to
Stanford including me. Guys go to Alabama, Penn State, all
the rest of it. So, you know, learning from them
as a freshman, being able to play as a fresh
man gave me that confidence. A really funny thing actually
is that, you know, when I think my sophomore year,

(28:05):
when I was starting to start on the high school
team that I was on, my first blocking assignment was
Toroll Hall then was to Row Hall back then his
name now is Toroll Lewis.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
Oh yeah, our guy.

Speaker 6 (28:16):
Yeah, first blocking assignment, five star defensive end from Saint
John's Academy. I was playing h back, blocking and kicking
out the defensive end the whole day. And man, was
that a welcome to football moment for sure?

Speaker 4 (28:28):
Well, I saw were you were a four star, which
is pretty darn good.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
But how many of those guys you just referenced made
it to the NFL any besides yourself?

Speaker 6 (28:37):
Yeah, so, Defree Hamilton. I played with him in Stanford.
He's also in the league. There's probably a couple of
guys other guys off the top of my head that
I can remember. Darien Dalcourt also was on at the
Ravens offensive line. So yeah, it was a couple of
guys that I played with and ended up making it
to the big leagues.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
All Right, So it's a four star recruit, and we'll
get into your athleticis when you're combined performance as well.
But why Stanford and who else did it come down to?

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (29:02):
So Stanford for me was always super attractive. I've always
been into technology. I've always been into economics and the
business all the rest of it, the markets. So you know,
when I was looking at schools, I kept on seeing
on my phone and you know, I.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
Look at YouTube, I look at Google, all those places.

Speaker 6 (29:16):
I'm naturally a pretty like inquisitive person, so I always
kind of tried to figure out who's making these applications,
and it kept on being guys from the Stanford Graduate
School of Business, you know, Stanford undergrad all the rest
of it. And funny thing about that, Stanford, when they
were recruiting me, they actually had a pitch that was
pretty cool. You know a lot of guys send stuff
in the mail, all this sort of stuff. They sent

(29:36):
an iPad that had all of the apps on it,
and all of them were apps that Stanford graduates had
create and it was probably like thirty It filled the
entire page, and it was stuff that we'd all use,
Snapchat all the rest of that.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
Very cool.

Speaker 6 (29:50):
Yeah, So for me, like Stanford was, you know, a
place that I really was interested in and curious. And
I actually went there as a sophomore in high school
to Stanford Summer high school colle so I said to
apply like a student, I had to write, I had
to write an essay, everything like that. So, yeah, I
was super interested there. I wanted to see how the
West Coast would be, so I enjoyed.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
It a lot.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
Dave, Now we know what Temple's doing wrong in every time.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
Yeah, exactly exactly.

Speaker 5 (30:14):
But did you were you thinking at all NFL at
this point in your life?

Speaker 3 (30:18):
Again, I think for me, I wanted to become the
best football player. Yeah. I wanted to become the best
football player I could be. And I really do mean that.

Speaker 6 (30:25):
So I knew that I had the potential to be,
you know, exceptional at that level. And as I grew
year to year to year, I started being able to
realize like, yeah, I really can do this, you know.
And I think my junior and my senior year, as
it usually goes, you know, that's where your your confidence
is the highest. So I knew that I could really
make an impact in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Dave Is, an avid reader, had an interesting note about
somebody very.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
Near to your high school, near and dear to your
high school.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
So yeah, so I kill him in high school.

Speaker 4 (30:50):
There was a book.

Speaker 5 (30:51):
When I was coaching my kids and my buddy and
I were coaching our kids, we came across this book
written by Joe erman From who was a long time
player in the NFL Baltimore Colts and then was Gilman
High School head coach, and he wrote a store a
book called A Season of Life just about the love
that football kind of a metaphor for the rest of life,

(31:13):
and how you take care of your brothers and you're
in an environment with all these different cultures and you
really have to be selfless and you have to be
a great teammate.

Speaker 3 (31:20):
And I know you hadn't had a.

Speaker 5 (31:22):
Chance to take a look at it, but but you
agree with that that premise that that is what football
represents in the big picture.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (31:29):
I think football has always been like a microcosm of
our society and what can be you know, very right
with our society. You have people from all different walks
of life that probably would have never met a cross
paths that are now not only meeting each other, but
depending and relying on each other to do their.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
Job, you know.

Speaker 6 (31:45):
And obviously there's a lot of you know, sweat, tears, pain,
blood that goes into it. So I've always been a
believer in that. I think in sports in general, that's
a beautiful thing about sports is you get, you know,
chances to objectively fail or succeed, you know, and there's
not a lot of spaces in our society where you
can objectively fail or succeed that aren't these large scale
things you can't come back from there's gonna be a

(32:06):
game next week, you know, in most cases, unless it's
playoffs that you need to win. But you know, that's
the beautiful thing about the game is that you've always
got a chance to improve and you get objective feedback
on whether you won or you lost.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
And my son's favorite show, or at least one of them,
is The Wire. So no, you know, it didn't necessarily
always show Baltimore the best, Like, but do you watch
The Wire?

Speaker 6 (32:28):
So I actually have not watched The Wire. I've been
told so many times that I need to. But it's
funny because whenever I tell anybody that I'm from, I
tell people I'm from Baltimore. I'm actually from Elcate City, Maryland,
so a little bit out in the suburbs, but no
one knows what that is. So I always say Baltimore,
like is it like The Wire? And I'm like, no,
it's not completely like The Wire, but yeah, I gotta
take a look at that show.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
So now that you've been in Philadelphia, it is your
second season up here, so yeah, on the account or
really only about thirteen months, that's really incredible.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
I'm sure it feels probably a lot of ways longer
than that.

Speaker 6 (32:58):
Yeah, it's pretty wild that I'm only been here for
about a year and a year and a.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
Month, all right, And you even said this is your
first time in the Chicki's and pizza.

Speaker 4 (33:04):
This is decretable.

Speaker 2 (33:06):
So that sports par not only in Philadelphia but really anywhere.
I'm glad you're here getting documented the terrific food, the
crab fries and everything else here. But tell us about
the things that you've been able to experience in Philadelphia
and what you've gotten to enjoy so far.

Speaker 6 (33:19):
Man, it's been fantastic. I talked about this a little
bit earlier. With my god brother, my god family living
up here, so being able to be close to them
and being able to you know, eat with them on
a Sunday night or do something like that has been amazing.
But just in general, like the love that the city
has the team and how fired up everyone is wherever
we go, you know, might be in a grocery store

(33:41):
or whatever else, like people will say something to you.
It means something to everybody that's here. So I think
the team has been a few hours it is pretty cool.
And you know, being able to go back hang out
with my mom and my dad and then get back
up to Philly.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
Is definitely a treating, a gift, and I'm sure they
have no problem converted to being Eagles fans.

Speaker 6 (33:57):
They have absolutely no issue with that. My mom's got
all the merch. Ever, my dad has got all the merch.

Speaker 4 (34:02):
Ever, immediately did they go Kelly Green?

Speaker 1 (34:04):
So?

Speaker 6 (34:04):
Yeah, so my dad actually that's only jersey he wears. Yeah,
so he came to a training camp practice. I'm pretty
sure I've got the photo on my Instagram. He's got
that fifty nine jersey and Kelly Green.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
Now you talked about the fan base.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
I have been fortunate enough to be all over this
country experience all the different sports, and I.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
Think we have a unique no.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
No. People give Philadelphia hard time for their fans, but
I think the passion of the fans here is because everybody,
every man, woman, and child's into not just the Philadelphia Eagles,
for all the other teams, but the Eagles are a
number one no.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
And you can feel it too.

Speaker 6 (34:40):
I think that you know when you look at the
city and you look at the just the way that
the city goes, the way that the team goes, and
the way the fans react to us and the way
they show up on the road relentlessly like it is
really a testament to the fan base, to the organization.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
You know that at the end of the day, we're
all kind of tied in this together, and we are.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
And it's funny because you know, as a player, you
experience one part of the game and all advanced experience. No,
I know, you know how much they care. But you know,
every bar, every restaurant in the city of Philadelphia, the
region is packed on an Eagles gabe. And you realize
that when we have the unfortunate ending Monday night, everyone

(35:19):
had a lousy week looking forward to Sunday at one
o'clock and come four o'clock Sunday, you just made this
region a very happy place for the next seven days.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Hey, you gotta love it.

Speaker 6 (35:28):
You know, when you have a team that rides and
dies the city, you know, that's what comes with it.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
That's what comes with it.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
So anyway, it's been fun talking about that, getting to
know you a little bit more. When we come back,
we're going to look ahead to next week because it
never lets up.

Speaker 4 (35:42):
No, you get to enjoy this for how long do
you get to enjoy a win?

Speaker 6 (35:45):
About twenty four hours. But you know, the NFL is
a what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 3 (35:49):
League?

Speaker 4 (35:50):
Yeah, and it sure is.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
And next week is going to be down in Tampa
with another new challenge. And the schedule has been really
tough for you guys in as early goo. And so
you go from Brazil against Green Bay, home against the
Falcons little Monday night downtown Orleans, and now it's playing Tampa,
who's gotten off to a good start other than they
flopped yesterday.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
So say, you never know a great test.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
And sure, so you listen to the All Pro Philly Show.
We are alive at Chickens and Pizza in Marlton, New Jersey.
Still another hour to go. After us with the Blindside
with Todd Herman's and Trey Thomas, Gerald Carlton, Dave's Podero
and our great guest Thomas Booker, the Philadelphi Eagles, we'll
be back to wrapping up and look ahead to Tampa Bay.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
You're listening to Fox Sports The Gambler.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
Welcome back to Chicken with Pizza, Marlton, New Jersey, and
the All Pro Philly Players Shows, Gerald Culton, Daves Padero
and we've got Eagles. Somebody we've enjoyed being with the
last hour Thomas Booker and I'm looking over outside or
at the entrance to Chickens and peach, and then walked
an imposing figure of Trey Thomas. I mean that's an
Eagles Hall of Fame or a six to eight left

(36:55):
tackle and the kind of guy you go up up
against on Sundays.

Speaker 6 (36:58):
Yeah, all them news they say that's a lot of
the first.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
And it looks like at tackle, what what's tough for time?

Speaker 5 (37:05):
Is a bigger a bigger defensive lineman or a bigger
offensive lineman or a smaller quicker guy or like what
what body does a body type of an offensive lineman
impact you in any way?

Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (37:16):
Absolutely, I think it all depends on the scheme, right.
I think like the bigger mallers, you know, they fit
inside of those power run schemes where's downhill. When you've
got the smaller guys, they're more, they're tougher to deal
with when they run the wide zone and all the
quick stuff.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
So I think it all depends on the scheme that
they're put into.

Speaker 6 (37:30):
But if you just had me pick which one's more,
you know, difficult to deal with, I think the dudes
who probably like look like me. There's six four or
three ten, three twenty can move you know, those guys
great athletes.

Speaker 3 (37:43):
So definitely a difficult match. Is that what you play?
What do you play?

Speaker 6 (37:46):
What?

Speaker 3 (37:46):
Wait?

Speaker 6 (37:47):
I usually play it around like three oh seven three times?
Do you fluctuate?

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I got a.

Speaker 6 (37:51):
Little bit of fluctuation depending on you know, how much
chick fil I eight or how much I didn't need,
but yeah, probably around like three or seven three.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
Pund tennis player, I mean, come on, you do wear
it well. I mean I just wanted to right.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
But interestingly enough, as we charted sort of your course
that got you here to Philadelphia and we hope keeps
you here for a very long time. And clearly and
everyone can attest this, it's really not where you started,
where you finish and how the journey goes. And so
you come out of Stanford and you really put together
an incredible combine.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
As I looked at the number broad jumped.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
And you still at that speed and quickness, still did
thirty one repso of the two twenty five. Yes, sir,
so tell me I Houston was very lucky to get
you in the fifth round and We're lucky to you
here now in Philadelphia.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
No, I'm lucky to be here for sure.

Speaker 6 (38:43):
It was actually kind of funny that that combine day
because they actually put me in the wrong group. So
I was at the savers. I was at the edge guy. Yeah,
the edge guys that wasn't the d tackles. So actually
guy that I trained with, his names of Mari Berno,
he broke the combine record for edge forty time, thinking
like a four to three seven, So he should have
been I should not.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
Have right after him. I was not in that group.

Speaker 6 (39:06):
So I'm like, you know, if he ran a four
to three, I at least got to get below five
and then motivated, Yeah, I at least got to get
below five. And then also, you know, we had Jordan
Davis that same combine run the four seven, So I'm like, man,
I thought a four nine four was pretty good, but
you know, we apparently got aliens uh combine but you
know reeks, Yeah, absolutely. The combine preparation process was definitely, uh,

(39:28):
you know, an interesting one for me.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
I just again tried to lock into my details.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
I knew the drills that we had to run through,
so you know, try to try to have a clean
run of it.

Speaker 5 (39:36):
Draft day, you hear your name called, I mean, what
was the scene? Tell me about the moment. Did you
see the scroll coming across? Did somebody announced it?

Speaker 3 (39:43):
What was it like? Yeah, so that was also an
interesting thing too.

Speaker 6 (39:46):
So we were actually, you know, sitting in a room
that originally didn't have any cell service, so I had
to move somewhere else. We had we had food catered
and everything, so you know, it's a really nerve wracking day.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
So they're trying to call you.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (39:59):
So I didn't eat or drink anything for probably the
first four rounds of the of the draft. So at
certain point, my parents, my god parents, my uncle, my aunt,
they told me, like, you got to eat something. So
I went downstairs and literally, like in the moment that
I was away from all of my loved ones and
my family members, I get a call from a Houston
area code UH and I pick it up and it's

(40:20):
a you know, it's the GM of the of the Texans,
Nick Cassario talking to me. So definitely a crazy moment,
you know, a culmination of a lot of effort that
I put in over the years, and also just like
attestament to the village that I had around me. So
it was a definitely amazing moment.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
Who cried? Who I would have been crying?

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Mom?

Speaker 3 (40:37):
I think my mom cried.

Speaker 6 (40:39):
My dad had some grown man teers that he was
not going to let me see, probably, but they were there.
My sister for sure, and you know me as well.
You know, you get emotional when you think about how
far you come along, you know, specifically when this is
something you wanted to do for so long. It's very
rare that you know you're blessed enough to be able
to complete your dream, like unequivocally, you know, being able

(40:59):
to play the End of Fels since I wanted to
I wanted to do for a very long time. I've
seen guys on the TV since I was a little kid.
So the idea that I get to be what I
looked at as a kid is a beautiful one.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
It definitely makes you emotional and then and then ups
and downs. Thomas, you know you played as a rookie.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Uh then you.

Speaker 5 (41:15):
Weren't there, you know, months later, like, how do you
deal with that moment? The moment when they tell you
that they don't want you to be here?

Speaker 6 (41:24):
Man, It's it's crazy you know, as you know obviously,
if you're a football player that's gotten to that level,
there's not been many times yea told that you weren't
good enough to make a.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Team or to start or to play or whatever else.

Speaker 6 (41:36):
But you know, NFL's a business, and that happens, and
I think again, it's a it's a blessing in disguise
because it's adversity. You know, you get to figure out
who you are when your back's against the wall, when
someone tells you you're not good enough, you get cut.
You know, you're essentially fired, right, So having to come
back from that, you know, and still stay focused on
getting better day by day by day and watching those

(41:57):
games kind of grow has been one the most rewarding
experiences for me in my life in general, not only
the past couple of years.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
And you never want that feeling again, even though in
general never ends happy.

Speaker 4 (42:08):
But you can like Fletcher Cox or Jason Kelsey and.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
Right right, that's a that's a really good career path
that or.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
VG of course, But why is Philadelphia and philip Eels
better for Thomas Booker than it was in Houston.

Speaker 6 (42:21):
Yeah, obviously I'm thankful to Houston for giving me a
shot in the league. I think the the Eagles organization
is fantastic, you know, especially specifically because of the defensive
scheme that we have with Vic Fangio. Vic was actually
at Stanford in two thousand and eight, so a lot
of the same principles that we have, you know, carry
on over that over with that. So you know, when

(42:42):
we were doing our installs in training camp, I've always
you know, wrote down the plays and my notes and
the iPad since I was a freshman in college. So
I actually saw a lot of the same plays, same
names for things, all the rest of it pop up,
and just the terms of the playing style, the read
and react, all the rest of it.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
You know, That's what it was. So definitely a blessing
to be with that.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
All Right, We've enjoyed being with you so much.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
But before we get out of here and give way
to Trey Thomas and a little bit of late Todd Herman's,
we want to look ahead to trip down to Tampa
next week. And as we said that, the road never
gets any easier, and we got to turn the page
from that great win in New Orleans and look ahead.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
So did you start watching Tampa yet?

Speaker 3 (43:21):
Yeah, we started watching.

Speaker 6 (43:23):
We start watching Tampa today in meetings, and I'm gonna
watch more of it tonight. They have a similar scheme
in terms of their wide zone and all the rest
of it to some teams we played so far this year.
So yeah, you know, you enjoy your win for a
couple of hours and you're locked right back in.

Speaker 5 (43:36):
And they gave up seven, count them, seven quarterback sacks yesterday.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
Let's get after them. We would love to have some
of those.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
And it is funny to time me because had they
not given them, maybe are coming over overly confident.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
Now they're going to try to work on that.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
But but certainly, and they weren't facing a defensive line
nearly as good as yours.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
No, I'm excited for the opportunity.

Speaker 6 (43:55):
They have a you know, great coaching staff, bicker Mayfield's
been playing great ball, so you know, I'm excited to
see we can do against them.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
I'm really confident about our chances.

Speaker 4 (44:02):
And then from an Eagles standpoint, they knocked you out
last year.

Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yeah, so, and obviously it wasn't the best time for
the Eagles.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
We were not going to the millmentum has.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
Sort of slipped away, so chance to sort of reclaim
as to your rightful ownership of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Speaker 6 (44:17):
Absolutely, you know, I think we're thinking about that. But
also just again, like how do we build week to
week become a better football team because we know that
we haven't played our best ball yet.

Speaker 5 (44:25):
Great, Thomas, thank you, awesome guys, have a great hour, fast.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
And truly it's such a pleasure for you to come
out here. I know Dave last year and and you
came right in and you are welcome here anytime, and
obviously the people here loved having you, so it really
for us, it's it's just a pleasure and a big.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
Hand for Thomas Booker. Everybody please Thomas Bookmer.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Number sixty nine, filled up the Eagles defensive.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
Tackle and go birds. Let's win next week. Baby, Let's
get it. Let's get it.

Speaker 2 (44:51):
And you're still a bird, you know, you were a
red bird in college at Cardinal.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
But so technically, so technically that's actually.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
Not our mascot because they changed it.

Speaker 6 (44:59):
We're so Stanford Cardinal isn't for like a Cardinal bird,
it's for the color red Cardinal.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (45:04):
Okay, that's why we I apologize, That's why we have
that tree is. We don't actually have an official mascot.
I actually live next to the Stanford Tree my freshman year.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
Well, they did change the name when it became politically
and correct as to what they were always calling.

Speaker 5 (45:18):
Indeed, is it like a Joshua Tree? Like is that
a mythical thing? To Stanford Tree?

Speaker 6 (45:22):
So yeah, it's actually something you have to audition for
every single year, really, and you have to do like
these ludicrous crazy things like you know, run through the
campus naked or something like that. Do you do that?

Speaker 3 (45:33):
What you do? I did not do that.

Speaker 6 (45:36):
I think I left that up to the people that
you know, we're not playing football.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Oh that that was the promise to get you there?

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (45:42):
Yeah, So I was not involved in any of that.
But I did live next to one guy who did.
Did he make it?

Speaker 2 (45:50):
Yeah, he actually did make it. He was a year
better if you're going to do that anyway. All right, listen,
it's been, as Dave just said, a quick hour. We
appreciate all the people that come out. You're in sports
and everybody listening. We appreciate Spencer's year around. We had
a great server here today. We got tied doing all
the videos and all the audio stuff. John Jansen here
always getting us on the air. We got Sam at

(46:11):
back at the studio, and thanks Sam, of course, my
partner Dave Spadero, the Eagles insider, and Pete Cheroke, the
proprietor here.

Speaker 4 (46:19):
He usually stops vib it didn't.

Speaker 3 (46:20):
Go to repeat tonight.

Speaker 4 (46:22):
I don't know. He must have must have something better,
but what's better than here?

Speaker 2 (46:26):
So please join us every week here from five or
from six to seven, talking about hopefully a lot of
victory Mondays.

Speaker 4 (46:33):
And we'll be here next week.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
We're not one hundred per cent serve of I guess,
so I won't say it, but we will have another
great Eagles player join us right here on the All
Pro Philly Player Show. So on behalf of our guy
who's filled in great today. Thomas Booker, Dave Badero and
Jery call and saying thanks to listen.

Speaker 4 (46:50):
We'll catch you next week on the All Pro Philly
Player Show.

Speaker 6 (46:52):
Thank you guys for having me. Appreciate it, do it.
Thank you,