December 2, 2025 • 17 mins
Levi Drake Rodriguez with Dan Barreiro
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are pleased to be joined by a member of
the Minnesota Vikings. How about a route of applause for
Levi Drake Rodriguez kind of join us. Welcome, thank you
for giving us, giving us a couple of minutes. Are
you a Are you a guy who generally speaking works
way ahead when it comes to Christmas shopping, holiday shopping?
(00:22):
Or you last minute guy?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm a last minute guy. I say that. Yeah, get
that from my dad. My dad's bad about that? Is
that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That's not all bad though. I think if you, I mean,
I guess in your attitude when you get to that place,
if you can then just say, I'm not going to
be mad about the rush. I'm not going to be
mad about any of it. This is just part of
my routine.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, you just got to embrace that. Yeah for sure. Yeah,
that's he's always been a procrastinated Yeah that's okay. How
about as a football player, you can't procrastinate and being
the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah it's true. No, I'm I'm an.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Ye yes, sir, So wake up probably four forty five
in morning, get there five point fifteen and then get
to work, son.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Or forty five?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Ye are you do you need an alarm clock? Yeah, yeah,
no doubt. Man, that pillow is comfy sometimes, so yeah,
I understand that. Sure, that's got to be tough, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
What do you what about the professional football experience to
this point would you say surprises you the most? As
much as I'm sure you try to prepare. Why when
you look back and say, God, I didn't know about
this or I didn't realize about that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, thing in particular, I think just people don't understand
how hard we work, you know, day in and day out.
And of course, you know, we want to give them
a show on Sundays. But I wish that people could,
you know, be a little fly on the wall and
see the hours and hours that we put in daily,
you know, for our bodies, for our minds, for you know,
(01:55):
our hearts.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Just to be great at what we do.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Are you a you know, we tend to when we
talk about watching tape, we tend to talk more about quarterbacks,
I think, and maybe even the dot guy in the defense,
but not just but I mean, if you if you're
gonna be the best you can be along the defensive line,
do you have to be a big time tape guy?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Too, of course, of course, you know, just no informations,
no in backfields, their scheme, their their past scheme. How
they're trying to block that up. Yeah, yeah, you gotta.
You gotta be engulfed in film and watch it, see
tendencies and you know, and then those come to life
in the film or on the field. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So, you know, it's interesting when you're a player who's
drafted late. There's some players I've talked to over the
years who didn't take that personally, and then there's other people,
other players who did and who basically said, Okay, okay,
that's fine. You know, maybe you don't think I have
the pedigree or I didn't test the right way. I'm
going to show you. I am going to use this.
(02:56):
This is going to be part of my fuel. What's what?
How much of that has gone into a really good
encouraging I think most people agree, and I would think
you would agree first season for.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
You, yeah, man, going in my second season, I think
it's it's so cool just to see everybody going to
these Oklahoma's, Texas, Alabama's and me come from Little text
A and m commerces.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It's insane, you know, Like I'm in.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
The where is Texas? A and M Commerce and Commerce
Commerce Texas. You got about a hunch.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
We have about two stop lights.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And how did you end up there? By the way, Yeah,
tell me about where you were before that?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I was at an NAI named sago Southwestern Assemblies of
God University.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Uh Man.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We had people in our dorms the other sex for
one day out of the out of the month.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Is that right? That was it?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That was that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We had a we had a chapel dorm DeVos. I
was there for for three years and I transferred out
of there.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Man.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I prayed about it, fasted about it. Yea, and yeah,
I just went Lord said go, I said why? He
said go again? Yes, sir, So I was there for
transferred played all five years total, UH three at SAGOO
and then UH two had TEXTA and M Commerce and
uh man changed my life.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So how did it change it?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Just first three years at sagu man just spiritually so much,
and then that commerce. Just wanting to get more exposure.
I thought that was a biggest school, you know, and
it's not so just working my butt off to get
that exposure. It helped, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Did you as you are improving as a college football player.
So are you allowing yourself to think about a professional career?
Did you go down that road a lot?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, that was always a dream of mind. Well,
ever since I was a little boy, ever since I
started playing football.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You know when did you start? I was four years old?
It was four ye so tackle football at four yep, seriously.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Tackle And then we moved on to uh select, So
that's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And that was in Texas as well?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Correct? Correct? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Whereabouts in Texas, Central Texas, close to Austin, Okay, yeah,
And that was the only sport for you? Or did
you play baseball?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
I actually went to Sagoo on a baseball scholarship, on
a baseball visit, and then the coach saw me, Duncan
and my cowboy boots, and it was a hey, let's
talk to you quick, so talk to them. And then
I got a dual, dual sports scholarship for both baseball
and football.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And would you say one? Was your first? Football always
been your love? Or was baseball?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Man? I wanted to go to the league for baseball
as well?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You did, yeah? But then and what did you play?
Were you position player? My whole life and that picture. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, but man, I started eating too good A wait.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So that at some point you start thinking about the
possibility of a of a of a pro football career.
When when does that go through your mind in a
serious way?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, in a serious way. I've been practicing my signature
for since third grade, you know. I was like, Mom,
this is gonna be worse somethinge day, you know, so
ever since I can remember, I've always loved this this profession.
Now that I'm in it, it's oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Was it always defensive line?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
No?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I played O line in high school? Lie, high school,
I played old line. That's it interesting? And how did
you like that? Did you like I embraced it?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You did?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I embraced it. I've always been a defensive player. Go
hit some seatball? Good, right, but you know, just being
a team player, embracing that and you know, protecting our quarterback.
I got actually got all state for right tackle.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Offensive tackle, sir, So who made the decision to move
you to defense in your second college stop? Then that
was my first first college stop playing playing d N
But that does A coach said, hey, will you belong
on defense? Is that you pushing it?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I was like, thank you lord you like that, yes, completely, yep.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And what's I mean the in terms of playing where
you play now? What are the challenges and what do
you think you've done well? I mean, because you've obviously
gotten a lot of people's attention.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Right yeah this year, man, I would say just growing,
growing daily. Uh, just being a sponge in the building, listening,
taking coaching and applying it on the field first in practice,
then you know daily in the practice meetings, walk through
and then going out there and executing it. You know,
So just being a coachable person, coachable coachable player and uh,
(07:40):
just applying what I'm being taught is major.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
But getting here is it's very mental. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
We don't draw stuff up on the whiteboard often, we
just we know formations in our head, the talk about
them and then you just have to visualize them to
do them. It's hard. It's difficult, especially my first year,
about what is going Yeah, no doubt, but learning ball
and just getting engulfed in it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Were you at the combine? No, no, sir, no, not invited? Okay,
so is that another thing you file away and say?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Fine?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, well yeah, I hear people saying that it was tough.
It was, you know, the one of the hardest weekends, right,
like cool? You know that that's good for you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So where in your position where do you go to
get noticed by scouts?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
The vikings from man. I have to have a great agent.
Everett Levy, he did it, He did his thing. He
didn't very well. But I went to a tropical Bowl,
that's what.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, I remember that, the tropical Where the hell is
the tropical tropical?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, it was in Florida. It was beautiful too.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
It's gorgeous, but not too many, not too many coaches
out there, but that that definitely gave me exposure. I
went to two bowl games, uh, and same things, okay,
just similar playing. You know, talent from Alabama, Clemson, Tennessee, know, Iowa,
Illinois is some big schools, right and I dominated. They
(09:04):
had like three sacks and tackles. Yeah, and that's what
put my name on the mat.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So when you see that you can hold not a
hold your own, but but play maybe even better to
some of some of those players. Is that the point
where you go, I can do this or did you
always feel that.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
In my mind?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I knew I was going to play. I didn't know
what day or who what team would win, but I
knew I was gonna play and.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You have what do you what are you happiest with this?
Individually We're gonna get to the team in a minute,
but individually, in terms of your growth, where do you
think you have improved the most to the point where
you're getting people's attention right?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Just techniques and fundamentals, you know, just learning daily, applying
them on the field, off the field, just trying to
be the complete pro that I can be.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, and are you a guy? You know? Obviously the
most complete lineman want to be very good at both.
They want to be very good at handling the run.
They want to be able to be good at occasionally
you knows, wreaking some havoc when the quarterbacks going back
to past, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, And I'm trying to be great at both of those.
So just stacking days, man, waking up early, figuring out
my routine, conquering my routine daily, being that pillow, being
that warm, blank and every.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Day is It's tough, but I love it. I love it.
Best job in the world. What are you every day?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Do you can you learn from more veteran players on
this team.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Of course, of course, man.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I asked them questions about their routine, their habits, their
eating habits, everything. How much they spind on their body.
Can't do that yet, but my goodness, it's insane. Yeah, yeah,
you're not quite there yet. Now much they were into
their body?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
How much? Is It's an investment, no doubt. So you're
a sponge on picking up whatever you can pick.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Up, SpongeBob square pants, baby, yeah, if that is me?
So on.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I mentioned the team. Obviously you guys are not in
the position you wanted to be at twelve games in
so how do you you know, how do you finesse that?
I mean, you're obviously paid to work, your continue to
go forward, you got to keep playing. But how difficult
has that been within the locker room? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah, I don't think there's finessing any of that, you know,
Like like I said earlier, we go to work every
single day in the classroom, on the field. Whatever we're doing,
we're doing it with with our all, you know. So
there's no finessing hard work and that's you know, one
thing we pride ourselves on. We work hard in the building,
(11:36):
in the classroom. So doing that daily to see the produce.
So the locker room, the locker room's holding tight right now.
We are being together stronger than ever. So I just
got to keep doing that. Find for one another.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I thought, you guys again, I know the result wasn't
what you were looking for, but I thought, defensively recently,
as this last game, you guys played well, I don't
they really did not get all that much going offensively.
This is, of course Seattle with you know, your quarterback
Darnold has been very good this year, but it looked
to me like you guys had them a little bit flustered.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I mean, you know, we're on our techniques and fundamentals
all all week and you know, just working those daily
so that we can produce on the field.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And you know, it showed.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
It showed on the field, and you know it was
it was so much fun playing playing with our dogs.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, the block field goal game was that the draking correct.
So tell me about I know you talked about it
a lot, but now we have you here, Uh, tell
me about that. That's got to be an extremely satisfying play.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Oh it hurt a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It hurt on my floor arm and hurt, but man,
uh you know, just like I said, doing the techniques
and fundamentals, and you know we're in there once.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
A week for the for the field goal field goal
Block team.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, and uh, just like focusing on that and just
a one place series can change the game, change the
momentum of a game, and just giving.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Your all on that phase.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So well, you know, I don't know how well you
know Vikings history if you go back far enough to
the you know, the the hallowed Bud Grant days. One
of the strengths of the I mean there were I
I grew up in Chicago, so I grew up a
Bears fan, and I I'm sorry, but I tell the
story as a compliment to the Vikings is that there
were I felt like there were so many games where
(13:22):
throughout the game the Bears would dominate and then with
like four minutes to goo, Matt Blair would block a
punt or a field goal and it would change the
whole damn game. So that's part of the tradition of
this team going way way back and and and those
plays are they happened so rarely, but that's why I
think they stand up. Yeah, it's so much fun, especially once. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(13:46):
it gets everybody. So what is the art of Is
it about timing job?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
What's the key to We know the we know the
procedure time that the offenses use and you know the
fight pass in their angle. How long it takes to yeah,
get the ball off the foot and then we just
have to execute. So it's uh, it's either four of
us on one side doing one job and then or
two of us. So that time was was two of
(14:13):
us hip to hip and you know, taking five steps
getting their hands up. So and we did just that
and we heard that that was good. That's very good.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Are you how many cold weather games have you over
the course of your career because you know, again historically
the Vikings kind of pride of themselves on outdoor football.
That's all changed now with the building they're in now
you would you do you think you would thrive if
the Vikings were outdoors for home games all the time?
Would you thrive in that? Or you say no, I
kind of like this better.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Cold right now? I'm in Texas boys, look cool. I
was wondering, Man, I would embrace it. That's football, you know,
that's that's the history of football, And man, that's that's hard. Nos,
right there, So I love that stuff. I haven't played
in a real cold game yet, negative temperatures or snow
foot of yeah, right, man, I want to do that though.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
That's that's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, it'll probably help happen eventually, for sure. Question about
that a late game in the over the years, maybe
in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
New York.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
We'll see what that looks. That could be it too,
for sure, sure, iudio, Well.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I know you're here. You're going to be involved with
a kind of a shopping spree right with the kid.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
You're gonna be set up at the game. I can't wait,
which hopefully I can get some too.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, it's I was telling justin uh
that earlier. This is a store that's kind of it's
almost impossible to walk around this store and not leave
with something.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I go straight upstairs to that hunting.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Oh is that right? You a big hunter?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
What did you what kind of hunting? Did you grow
up doing?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
All of it? Really? Yeah? Deer hunting, hogs, you know
the whole bit.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, tell me a little bit about your family background.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, man, I grew up with a brother sister or
just a sister, my goodness, sorry, Mom, Dad, and then
a whole bunch of cousins. I grew up in a
nine hundred square foot home. You know, my pops has
always said that we're sports poor, and what that looks
like is, man, we just spent so much on sports
that we don't have a lot for you know, nicest house,
nicest car, nic gloves or bats or cleats, things like that.
(16:15):
But man, we were always pouring into sports. So yeah,
I'm just grateful for that. That's just my family. There's
a whole bunch of love in that house. That's great. Yeah,
I wouldn't trade it, went and trade my story or
for someone else's any day.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Any other athletes in the family.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah, my sister, we actually played college at the same school,
different eras, but the same school.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
What does she play?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
She played basketball, basketball, and she was going to be
a dual sport too with volleyball, but yeah, she played
basketball for all five years.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Outstanding. Well, congratulations on emerging. You know, one of the
I think emerging stories for this team. And I guess
proof again when we all get hung up all these
shows we do, you get hung up on high draft
picks and highly tootored names, you know, but we see
it over and over again, especially I think in football,
where you have free agent players, you have lower draft
(17:06):
pick players who maybe takes them a little bit of time.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We're hungry, though, Yeah, that's true. We are hungry. We
want it, we want to go get it.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
So yeah, well, thanks again for coming to see it.
I appreciate it. Thank you, Levi, Drake Rodriguez, thank you
for the time. Man, much appreciate it.
We are pleased to be joined by a member of
the Minnesota Vikings. How about a route of applause for
Levi Drake Rodriguez kind of join us. Welcome, thank you
for giving us, giving us a couple of minutes. Are
you a Are you a guy who generally speaking works
way ahead when it comes to Christmas shopping, holiday shopping?
(00:22):
Or you last minute guy?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm a last minute guy. I say that. Yeah, get
that from my dad. My dad's bad about that? Is
that right? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That's not all bad though. I think if you, I mean,
I guess in your attitude when you get to that place,
if you can then just say, I'm not going to
be mad about the rush. I'm not going to be
mad about any of it. This is just part of
my routine.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yeah, you just got to embrace that. Yeah for sure. Yeah,
that's he's always been a procrastinated Yeah that's okay. How
about as a football player, you can't procrastinate and being
the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah it's true. No, I'm I'm an.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Ye yes, sir, So wake up probably four forty five
in morning, get there five point fifteen and then get
to work, son.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Or forty five?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Ye are you do you need an alarm clock? Yeah, yeah,
no doubt. Man, that pillow is comfy sometimes, so yeah,
I understand that. Sure, that's got to be tough, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
What do you what about the professional football experience to
this point would you say surprises you the most? As
much as I'm sure you try to prepare. Why when
you look back and say, God, I didn't know about
this or I didn't realize about that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Yeah, thing in particular, I think just people don't understand
how hard we work, you know, day in and day out.
And of course, you know, we want to give them
a show on Sundays. But I wish that people could,
you know, be a little fly on the wall and
see the hours and hours that we put in daily,
you know, for our bodies, for our minds, for you know,
(01:55):
our hearts.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Just to be great at what we do.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Are you a you know, we tend to when we
talk about watching tape, we tend to talk more about quarterbacks,
I think, and maybe even the dot guy in the defense,
but not just but I mean, if you if you're
gonna be the best you can be along the defensive line,
do you have to be a big time tape guy?
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Too, of course, of course, you know, just no informations,
no in backfields, their scheme, their their past scheme. How
they're trying to block that up. Yeah, yeah, you gotta.
You gotta be engulfed in film and watch it, see
tendencies and you know, and then those come to life
in the film or on the field. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So, you know, it's interesting when you're a player who's
drafted late. There's some players I've talked to over the
years who didn't take that personally, and then there's other people,
other players who did and who basically said, Okay, okay,
that's fine. You know, maybe you don't think I have
the pedigree or I didn't test the right way. I'm
going to show you. I am going to use this.
(02:56):
This is going to be part of my fuel. What's what?
How much of that has gone into a really good
encouraging I think most people agree, and I would think
you would agree first season for.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
You, yeah, man, going in my second season, I think
it's it's so cool just to see everybody going to
these Oklahoma's, Texas, Alabama's and me come from Little text
A and m commerces.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It's insane, you know, Like I'm in.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
The where is Texas? A and M Commerce and Commerce
Commerce Texas. You got about a hunch.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
We have about two stop lights.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And how did you end up there? By the way, Yeah,
tell me about where you were before that?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
I was at an NAI named sago Southwestern Assemblies of
God University.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Uh Man.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We had people in our dorms the other sex for
one day out of the out of the month.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Is that right? That was it?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That was that.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
We had a we had a chapel dorm DeVos. I
was there for for three years and I transferred out
of there.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Man.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I prayed about it, fasted about it. Yea, and yeah,
I just went Lord said go, I said why? He
said go again? Yes, sir, So I was there for
transferred played all five years total, UH three at SAGOO
and then UH two had TEXTA and M Commerce and
uh man changed my life.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So how did it change it?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Just first three years at sagu man just spiritually so much,
and then that commerce. Just wanting to get more exposure.
I thought that was a biggest school, you know, and
it's not so just working my butt off to get
that exposure. It helped, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Did you as you are improving as a college football player.
So are you allowing yourself to think about a professional career?
Did you go down that road a lot?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, that was always a dream of mind. Well,
ever since I was a little boy, ever since I
started playing football.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You know when did you start? I was four years old?
It was four ye so tackle football at four yep, seriously.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Tackle And then we moved on to uh select, So
that's okay.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And that was in Texas as well?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Correct? Correct? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Whereabouts in Texas, Central Texas, close to Austin, Okay, yeah,
And that was the only sport for you? Or did
you play baseball?
Speaker 3 (05:17):
I actually went to Sagoo on a baseball scholarship, on
a baseball visit, and then the coach saw me, Duncan
and my cowboy boots, and it was a hey, let's
talk to you quick, so talk to them. And then
I got a dual, dual sports scholarship for both baseball
and football.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And would you say one? Was your first? Football always
been your love? Or was baseball?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Man? I wanted to go to the league for baseball
as well?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You did, yeah? But then and what did you play?
Were you position player? My whole life and that picture. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, but man, I started eating too good A wait.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
So that at some point you start thinking about the
possibility of a of a of a pro football career.
When when does that go through your mind in a
serious way?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Yeah, in a serious way. I've been practicing my signature
for since third grade, you know. I was like, Mom,
this is gonna be worse somethinge day, you know, so
ever since I can remember, I've always loved this this profession.
Now that I'm in it, it's oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Was it always defensive line?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
No?
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I played O line in high school? Lie, high school,
I played old line. That's it interesting? And how did
you like that? Did you like I embraced it?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
You did?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I embraced it. I've always been a defensive player. Go
hit some seatball? Good, right, but you know, just being
a team player, embracing that and you know, protecting our quarterback.
I got actually got all state for right tackle.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Offensive tackle, sir, So who made the decision to move
you to defense in your second college stop? Then that
was my first first college stop playing playing d N
But that does A coach said, hey, will you belong
on defense? Is that you pushing it?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I was like, thank you lord you like that, yes, completely, yep.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And what's I mean the in terms of playing where
you play now? What are the challenges and what do
you think you've done well? I mean, because you've obviously
gotten a lot of people's attention.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Right yeah this year, man, I would say just growing,
growing daily. Uh, just being a sponge in the building, listening,
taking coaching and applying it on the field first in practice,
then you know daily in the practice meetings, walk through
and then going out there and executing it. You know,
So just being a coachable person, coachable coachable player and uh,
(07:40):
just applying what I'm being taught is major.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
But getting here is it's very mental. You know.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
We don't draw stuff up on the whiteboard often, we
just we know formations in our head, the talk about
them and then you just have to visualize them to
do them. It's hard. It's difficult, especially my first year,
about what is going Yeah, no doubt, but learning ball
and just getting engulfed in it.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Were you at the combine? No, no, sir, no, not invited? Okay,
so is that another thing you file away and say?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Fine?
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, well yeah, I hear people saying that it was tough.
It was, you know, the one of the hardest weekends, right,
like cool? You know that that's good for you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So where in your position where do you go to
get noticed by scouts?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
The vikings from man. I have to have a great agent.
Everett Levy, he did it, He did his thing. He
didn't very well. But I went to a tropical Bowl,
that's what.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, I remember that, the tropical Where the hell is
the tropical tropical?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, it was in Florida. It was beautiful too.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
It's gorgeous, but not too many, not too many coaches
out there, but that that definitely gave me exposure. I
went to two bowl games, uh, and same things, okay,
just similar playing. You know, talent from Alabama, Clemson, Tennessee, know, Iowa,
Illinois is some big schools, right and I dominated. They
(09:04):
had like three sacks and tackles. Yeah, and that's what
put my name on the mat.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So when you see that you can hold not a
hold your own, but but play maybe even better to
some of some of those players. Is that the point
where you go, I can do this or did you
always feel that.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
In my mind?
Speaker 3 (09:20):
I knew I was going to play. I didn't know
what day or who what team would win, but I
knew I was gonna play and.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
You have what do you what are you happiest with this?
Individually We're gonna get to the team in a minute,
but individually, in terms of your growth, where do you
think you have improved the most to the point where
you're getting people's attention right?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Just techniques and fundamentals, you know, just learning daily, applying
them on the field, off the field, just trying to
be the complete pro that I can be.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, and are you a guy? You know? Obviously the
most complete lineman want to be very good at both.
They want to be very good at handling the run.
They want to be able to be good at occasionally
you knows, wreaking some havoc when the quarterbacks going back
to past, no doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, And I'm trying to be great at both of those.
So just stacking days, man, waking up early, figuring out
my routine, conquering my routine daily, being that pillow, being
that warm, blank and every.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Day is It's tough, but I love it. I love it.
Best job in the world. What are you every day?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Do you can you learn from more veteran players on
this team.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Of course, of course, man.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
I asked them questions about their routine, their habits, their
eating habits, everything. How much they spind on their body.
Can't do that yet, but my goodness, it's insane. Yeah, yeah,
you're not quite there yet. Now much they were into
their body?
Speaker 1 (10:44):
How much? Is It's an investment, no doubt. So you're
a sponge on picking up whatever you can pick.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Up, SpongeBob square pants, baby, yeah, if that is me?
So on.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I mentioned the team. Obviously you guys are not in
the position you wanted to be at twelve games in
so how do you you know, how do you finesse that?
I mean, you're obviously paid to work, your continue to
go forward, you got to keep playing. But how difficult
has that been within the locker room? Right?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Yeah, I don't think there's finessing any of that, you know,
Like like I said earlier, we go to work every
single day in the classroom, on the field. Whatever we're doing,
we're doing it with with our all, you know. So
there's no finessing hard work and that's you know, one
thing we pride ourselves on. We work hard in the building,
(11:36):
in the classroom. So doing that daily to see the produce.
So the locker room, the locker room's holding tight right now.
We are being together stronger than ever. So I just
got to keep doing that. Find for one another.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I thought, you guys again, I know the result wasn't
what you were looking for, but I thought, defensively recently,
as this last game, you guys played well, I don't
they really did not get all that much going offensively.
This is, of course Seattle with you know, your quarterback
Darnold has been very good this year, but it looked
to me like you guys had them a little bit flustered.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I mean, you know, we're on our techniques and fundamentals
all all week and you know, just working those daily
so that we can produce on the field.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And you know, it showed.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
It showed on the field, and you know it was
it was so much fun playing playing with our dogs.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, the block field goal game was that the draking correct.
So tell me about I know you talked about it
a lot, but now we have you here, Uh, tell
me about that. That's got to be an extremely satisfying play.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Oh it hurt a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
It hurt on my floor arm and hurt, but man,
uh you know, just like I said, doing the techniques
and fundamentals, and you know we're in there once.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
A week for the for the field goal field goal
Block team.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, and uh, just like focusing on that and just
a one place series can change the game, change the
momentum of a game, and just giving.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Your all on that phase.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So well, you know, I don't know how well you
know Vikings history if you go back far enough to
the you know, the the hallowed Bud Grant days. One
of the strengths of the I mean there were I
I grew up in Chicago, so I grew up a
Bears fan, and I I'm sorry, but I tell the
story as a compliment to the Vikings is that there
were I felt like there were so many games where
(13:22):
throughout the game the Bears would dominate and then with
like four minutes to goo, Matt Blair would block a
punt or a field goal and it would change the
whole damn game. So that's part of the tradition of
this team going way way back and and and those
plays are they happened so rarely, but that's why I
think they stand up. Yeah, it's so much fun, especially once. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
(13:46):
it gets everybody. So what is the art of Is
it about timing job?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
What's the key to We know the we know the
procedure time that the offenses use and you know the
fight pass in their angle. How long it takes to yeah,
get the ball off the foot and then we just
have to execute. So it's uh, it's either four of
us on one side doing one job and then or
two of us. So that time was was two of
(14:13):
us hip to hip and you know, taking five steps
getting their hands up. So and we did just that
and we heard that that was good. That's very good.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Are you how many cold weather games have you over
the course of your career because you know, again historically
the Vikings kind of pride of themselves on outdoor football.
That's all changed now with the building they're in now
you would you do you think you would thrive if
the Vikings were outdoors for home games all the time?
Would you thrive in that? Or you say no, I
kind of like this better.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Cold right now? I'm in Texas boys, look cool. I
was wondering, Man, I would embrace it. That's football, you know,
that's that's the history of football, And man, that's that's hard. Nos,
right there, So I love that stuff. I haven't played
in a real cold game yet, negative temperatures or snow
foot of yeah, right, man, I want to do that though.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
That's that's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, it'll probably help happen eventually, for sure. Question about
that a late game in the over the years, maybe
in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
New York.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
We'll see what that looks. That could be it too,
for sure, sure, iudio, Well.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
I know you're here. You're going to be involved with
a kind of a shopping spree right with the kid.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
You're gonna be set up at the game. I can't wait,
which hopefully I can get some too.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, it's I was telling justin uh
that earlier. This is a store that's kind of it's
almost impossible to walk around this store and not leave
with something.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
I go straight upstairs to that hunting.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Oh is that right? You a big hunter?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
What did you what kind of hunting? Did you grow
up doing?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
All of it? Really? Yeah? Deer hunting, hogs, you know
the whole bit.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, tell me a little bit about your family background.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, man, I grew up with a brother sister or
just a sister, my goodness, sorry, Mom, Dad, and then
a whole bunch of cousins. I grew up in a
nine hundred square foot home. You know, my pops has
always said that we're sports poor, and what that looks
like is, man, we just spent so much on sports
that we don't have a lot for you know, nicest house,
nicest car, nic gloves or bats or cleats, things like that.
(16:15):
But man, we were always pouring into sports. So yeah,
I'm just grateful for that. That's just my family. There's
a whole bunch of love in that house. That's great. Yeah,
I wouldn't trade it, went and trade my story or
for someone else's any day.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Any other athletes in the family.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah, my sister, we actually played college at the same school,
different eras, but the same school.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
What does she play?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
She played basketball, basketball, and she was going to be
a dual sport too with volleyball, but yeah, she played
basketball for all five years.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Outstanding. Well, congratulations on emerging. You know, one of the
I think emerging stories for this team. And I guess
proof again when we all get hung up all these
shows we do, you get hung up on high draft
picks and highly tootored names, you know, but we see
it over and over again, especially I think in football,
where you have free agent players, you have lower draft
(17:06):
pick players who maybe takes them a little bit of time.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We're hungry, though, Yeah, that's true. We are hungry. We
want it, we want to go get it.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
So yeah, well, thanks again for coming to see it.
I appreciate it. Thank you, Levi, Drake Rodriguez, thank you
for the time. Man, much appreciate it.
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