Have you ever wondered what would happen if you give a former NFL QB 2 hours of radio in one dau? This show makes that happen with former 12-Year NFL Veteran Scott Mitchell from 10-11am on ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM and 1-2pm on 103.9 & 98.3 ESPN The Fan. Scott w
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell, the
Utah football legend and twelve year NFL veteran, on Utah's
number one sports talk ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one alf M, a proud part of Utah's BSPN
Radio network.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He Hey, sports fans, welcome on in. It's the Down
and Dirty with Scott Mitchell here on ESPN seven hundred
ninety two one FM. Proud to be a part of
the Utah ESPN Radio Network. So happy to be a
part of your day. It's Monday. It's a fun day.
We love Mondays. They're always great and marvelous because so
much happens typically over the weekend. And there were a
(00:38):
lot of interesting things, of course that happened over this weekend,
and we'll get into all of it today, I promise you.
And it's game week. Yeah, it's game week for you
uts out there. It's five days till the Rose Bowl
in August, which it means the roses right now are
(00:59):
not in bloom. They have a lot of manure on
them right now. So but that manure that's what makes
them grow and makes them shine. So you know, out
of the ashes of disaster, come the roses of success.
So we're excited about the season, excited about what's going
to happen. I have to get into this thing that
(01:21):
I watched over the weekend, and it's this documentary on
the Dallas Cowboys America's team. Now, A long long time
ago I asked my agent, who, I said, why are
they America's team? What's the deal? And he said to me,
(01:42):
and I thought he was I thought he was joking.
I really did. He said, Well, in nineteen sixty three,
of course, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas,
it took on this image of being, you know, where
the freaking president was assassinated, and it wasn't a good image.
And in an attempt to kind of revitalize that image
(02:06):
with the you know, the Dallas Cowboys and the all
American kind of coach and Roger Staubach and the whole thing,
they they they rehabilitated the image through becoming America's team,
and uh and and the whole thing is is absolutely
fascinating to me, this this whole thing, and I and
(02:27):
part of why it's fascinating to me is because I had, uh,
you know, I was it was during my era of football,
and it was it was compelling, you know, to to
and and I know a lot of the stories. I
know what was going on. There was some insight into
it that I, you know, I didn't get. But when
(02:48):
I when I I walked away from it, uh I,
I realized how maybe unsatisfying like it is to be
an athlete and an owner and to compete in sports,
and and and part of part of the I don't know,
(03:10):
the the thing that drives you is the thing that
almost implode you as well. And and and I think
it happened almost with every single one of those players
except maybe EMMITTT. Smith, and including the owner, and including
Jimmy Johnson. They all could not appreciate, they all could
(03:36):
not value how precious it was, the circumstances they were in.
And I look at my you know, my time with
the Detroit Lions, and there was a lot of good
and there is a lot of bad. And I would
have killed to be in the situation that the Dallas
(03:57):
Cowboys were in. And yet think none of them could
be happy with it, none of them except maybe Emmitt Smith,
and you know, and I wonder, you know, and he
was the last one. He kind of survived him all
other than Jerry Jones. But here you have and I think,
(04:20):
I think this is the this is the stupidity you
have as an athlete. You think you're gonna last forever.
You think it lasts forever. You think that you're just
gonna keep doing this, and on and on and on.
And part of it is you're young, and so you
don't have the perspective of life. Your life is just
you know, it's been twenty ish years, you know, as
(04:40):
opposed to when you're forty. That's twice as long as
you've lived. And you're still young at forty. And then
you get to sixty, you know, and it's a third
of your you know, it's it's just not that much
life experience to realize these moments are so precious, Like
every every moment, every breath, every drop of sweat you have,
(05:04):
every every practice, every play, every game is just it's
just so precious. And and I I looked at this
and I'm just like wow, and and and and they
offered very different reasons, kind of had these disgruntledness about
(05:27):
the whole situation. So here you have Jimmy Johnson, and
I think Jimmy Johnson thought. You know when when Jerry
Jones says, hey, I can have five hundred coaches coach
this team and win a Super Bowl, and Jerry Jimmy Johnson,
(05:48):
I believe I can go coach five hundred teams and
win a Super Bowl with them as well. And and
and so he none of them and Jimmy Johnson really
understood and valued how freaking hard it is to assemble
(06:08):
what they did. And the reality what they did is
they just struck. They struck lightning. Yeah, they had all
the draft picks, but the draft picks that they picked
were really good. You know, you talk about some of
the offensive linemen they drafted and in some of these
(06:29):
mid rounds, and you talk about Russell Maryland, who was
a great defensive lineman for him, and you talk about
picking up Chad Hennings. You talk about, you know, Charles Haley,
a Hall of Famer, one of the top defensive ends
in the entire history of the NFL. Maybe he's a
little cuckoo, but you know what I've always said, I
(06:50):
want the cuckoo guy. If I have a defensive end,
I want him to be like Charles Haley. I will
love that. I will celebrate that. I will say, go
be kookie dude all day long. And and the forty
nine ers said, here here our biggest rival, you can
have our best player. It's like, like, who does that?
(07:12):
Like they had, and they they just thought that was normal.
They just thought, you know, this is just this is
all me, this is this is my skill, my ability.
And and they they absolutely one thousand percent were so lucky.
And it wasn't lucky. It was just that that what
(07:32):
they did just everything worked. Now, I think Jimmy Johnson's
an incredible core Unions and the Hall of Famer, and
he is a great coach, but man, he he wasn't
great after he left there. He was good with the
with the Miami Dolphins. He was a great college coach,
(07:56):
but he he didn't have near the same success because
the the the moment, the the uh, the conglomeration of
greatness that was put together was that moment, and none
of them really understood it. They didn't appreciate it. They
(08:17):
didn't get it. They didn't get that they were so
much better together than they were apart. And so here
you have Jimmy, Jimmy Johnson, who you know, he's just
like I'm not. I'm not gonna work for that guy
who because he's gonna take all the credit for everything
I've done. And Jimmy Johnson just couldn't handle that. And
(08:39):
Jimmy Johnson, you know, it's like, I guess the question
to me is, well, do you just suck it up?
You know, you just you just you just swallow your
pride and go, wait a minute, it is it is
so much better. It is so much better when we're
when we're together, and this this this whole this whole
(09:04):
thing together make is it works so much more than
than we were apart. And and I think if you're
gonna have that great team, you're going to have to
swallow that. And I think I think the team, the
people who really got it, and they may be the
only people ever to have gotten it, is is Tom Brady,
(09:27):
and is Bill Belichick. And I think I think from
I think from there. And and the beautiful thing is
Robert Craft didn't go in and try to be Jerry Jones.
But but believe me, he's got the same ego and
he's certainly he's supplanted it for a long time. And
and they and you can you can argue that they're
(09:49):
not as good apart as they were together. You know,
Tom Brady says, look, I want a super Bowl without
Bill Belichick, and I'm like, you wouldn't have been to
ten super Bowls or nine super Bowls if you weren't
with Bill Belichick and so so many. Really, what I
believe is the Dallas goud was just screwed it up.
I mean, they had this, they had this incredible opportunity
(10:13):
to be just like dominant for a long time, dominant
really through the whole nineties, and and they just they
just couldn't grasp how amazing that was. I've I experienced that.
I I've been with other players. I just I'm telling you,
(10:35):
I hear you know. Dan Marino has brought this up
a million times. He's like, we went to the Super
Bowl our second year, and we just thought we were
gonna go back every year, and never went back to
another super Bowl in like seventeen eighteen years. But then
then you have Jerry Jones, and and Jerry Jones like
(11:00):
the same thing. You know, he can't he can't get
out of his own way, and and to to my surprise,
I don't think I don't think he realized it in
the moment, but he said, you know, for some reason,
I just can't. I can't leave things well enough alone
when when when things are good, I just I'm not comfortable.
(11:24):
I like the fight. I like and and really, what
it what it feels like to me, is like it's
a gambler's addiction, where where a gambler is like, you know, hey,
I just I just won one hundred thousand dollars, and
and a gambler can't walk away because it's it's not
(11:48):
it's not that it's not that I won one hundred
thousand dollars. It's that, man, I could I could bat
this hundred thousand dollars in that exciting that I might
lose it, but I also might win a million. And
it's that. It's that. And you listen to Jerry Jones
and kind of how he made his money and how
he was constantly in this fix of the thrill of
(12:13):
being on the edge of just you know, like being destroyed,
and and so I just am so fascinated by it.
When I when I was in Detroit nineteen ninety five,
we had a record setting year, one of three teams
(12:34):
ever to start zero to three and make the playoffs.
Just our offense was as explosive as any in the NFL.
I mean we were really we were humming and and
uh and we ran into the same thing. The running
back wanted to be the star of the show. Two
(12:55):
wide receivers that couldn't get along. Everyone thought I favored
one wide receiver, that I had some special program going
on with this guy. And I'm just like, man, you
know how you know how come we work is because
we're all there and everyone being a part of it
(13:15):
helps everyone to have the most success you could possibly have.
And it wasn't in my mind, it was never about
one person. In my mind, it was about, man, we
can we can be something really really special here. And
and I called a meeting because we'd started, we started
(13:36):
the season, and and I was just like, man, this
is this is a bad vibe. This is not this
is not good. We're we're not on the same page.
It's it's it's pretty ugly. And I got in the
meeting and I just said kind of what I'm saying
right now, Hey, guys, look, we we can be the
very best in the NFL. We are the very best
(13:58):
in the NFL. And but I just I get a
sense like, you know, something's not right, something's uh, something's
not not going on. It's just it just doesn't smell
right to me. It doesn't feel right to me. And
and there was dead silence. There's it's just all the
offensive players, And I said, what's going on? And and
(14:26):
a couple of guys kind of look at the around
the room at each other and and uh, you know
they're they're uh, no one's saying anything. And finally Brett
Perriman says, well, I'll say it then, and he says, you,
pointing at me and him over there pointing to Herman
Moore got some special program going on between the two
(14:49):
of you, and none of us are a part of it.
And I was like, and this is a guy who
I threw the ball to fifteen times in the game before.
And the meeting was terrible. We didn't talk to each
other for I don't know, two or three days at all.
(15:11):
It was dead silent at practice, which normally it was
never like that. And then we we kind of turned
it around and got together. Unfortunately, I got injured that
year and it was a tough year for us, and
the coach got fired and they brought in a coach
who didn't have the same offensive opinion of who we
(15:33):
are and what our talent was, and it wasn't good.
And we am just telling you we just could not.
We were just not smart enough. And I think so
many people just don't realize how great it is. And
you know, Troy Aikman said something in that video. He said,
I don't want to I don't want to waste my
(15:55):
career on some owner trying to figure out how to
be an owner. And I was like, wow, But I
get it because you run a fine line as a
player between because it's your career, and so you can
sit there and say nothing, or you can or you
(16:19):
can speak up and speak your mind. And there are
a couple of times in my career that I did
and I'm going to talk about that in the next segment.
But but before we take a break, let me tell
you something. I can see. I have seen the light.
It's incredible. I had this refractive lens surgery with doctor
(16:43):
Wade at Wake Vision and it's changed everything. Like I
can see close, I can see far. Just had to
check up. I'm doing amazing and they're just they couldn't
be happier with the result of what happened minimally invasive surgery,
fifteen minute procedure, But man, was it worth it? And
has it changed everything? I read the computer screen, I
read my phone, I see far away, I see close.
(17:06):
It's just it's and it just very very naturally happened.
It was really strange, you know. It's just it was
like one one day my vision was blurry and the
next day it wasn't. And uh and it's just happened
that way. And they just do an incredible job. There
any kind of corrective surgery that you might need, they
are on top of it and they are unbelievable. Go
(17:26):
check out weight vision dot com. W A I T
E Vision dot com. All right, when we come back,
I'm gonna tell you some of the conversations I had
with coaches when The Down and Dirty returns here on
ESPN seven hundred ninety two.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You were listening to about Down and Dirty with Scott
Mitchell on Utah's number one sports talk and home up
they ESPN seven hundred ninety two to one A f M.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Hey, sports fans, welcome back. It is The Down in
Dirty with Scott Metro here on ESPN seven hundred ninety
two one FM okay Man talking about this this this
documentary on the Dallas Cowboys in America's team and it
was kind of an era when the Cowboys were really good,
have been good for thirty years, but they still had
(18:19):
the same owner. Fascinating and part of the fascinating side
of it was Michael Irvin. And and Michael Irvin was
he was the guy that really I think got it going.
He was that energy, He was that spark, He was
that guy that you know, he was the energizer bunny
and he just and you need that guy on your team,
(18:40):
that one that just he's kind of always there to
pick you up. And there's probably because he's always up,
there's probably that time he needs to be down. And
and he had his he had his demons, you know,
and unfortunately for him, those demons came to light. And
the reality is is it probably was what was happening
(19:01):
for a long long time before anything anything happened from that.
But I had a I had an opportunity to spend
some time with Michael Irving when I was a contestant
on a reality TV show and Michael Irvin came to
the show's biggest loser, and and he was there to
(19:23):
kind of it was just part of one of the
challenges we had. And and I just I remember talking
to him and somehow they they caught me saying it,
and I just said, man, I really appreciate you being here.
And I said, you know, this is a this is
(19:43):
a very vulnerable time for me in my life, you know,
to go in front of millions of people on television
and just say, hey, you know, I'm overweight and trying
to deal with this and it's something that I've struggled with.
And and we had just we had just one of
the greatest conversations, uh, in the world. And and uh
(20:05):
and it was it was just a it always it
always made me really appreciate Michael Ran. A lot of
people were like, you know, he's a terrible human being
and he did all these things, but I don't know,
spend a lot of time with me. And it was
it was off camera, it was very personal and and
uh and and and we talked about the demons, you know,
(20:28):
and and how how challenging they are and how they
you know, they you know, it's it's it's a it's
a thing that we have in our life. That keeps
humble and realizes that. And we realized that it. You know,
we can't get through life, we can't overcome things without
some help from somewhere and whatever you find that help from.
(20:53):
But I, personally, you know, find it with my relationship
with God. But people find it other ways. And and
so it was it was really and and you know,
watching him kind of culture that because he went through
that before he ever was wash I ran into all
the big sol losers. So it was it was well
(21:13):
after all of all of his issues issues happened. But
I I had an opportunity in my career because I
mentioned about Traikman and how he said, you know, I
don't want to waste my career on having someone learn
how to be an owner. And you kind of feel
(21:35):
that way about coaches too. And I just remember, you know,
as a young kid, your first impressions of the NFL,
and for me, a lot of it was like, at
these coaches aren't really that good. You know, there are
some really good coaches, and I got good coaching in
(21:56):
the NFL, but I also had a lot of coaches
that just they just they just weren't They were kind
of placeholders. They weren't like, Wow, that guy's super knowledgeable.
That guy is is incredible. You know, I had I
had an experience when I was in Detroit and my
my first year with Bobby Ross who was our coach. Uh,
(22:20):
Mark Tressman was was the quarterback coach and and I
just got along with Mark so well, and I just
clicked with him, and he was a great coach, and
we just spent a lot of time just mentally preparing
and being ready for uh you know, situations and games.
He was he was just he was so good and
(22:42):
and he really helped me through because we had an
offensive coordinator who was trying to learn how to be
an offensive coordinator and he wasn't very good. And and
his name, you know, Sylvester CRuMs was his name, and uh,
you know, he his claim to fame. Well, first he
played at Alabama, but but beyond that, he was the
first African American coach in the SEC at Mississippi State
(23:07):
early two thousands. Anyways, he was the offensive coordinator and
he never been that guy before. And I can't say
that is you know, it's hard when you have a
guy who is a former offensive the offensive lineman scared
that bajeebers out of me when they become because all
(23:28):
they want to do is run the ball and and uh,
you know, and they don't understand what it's like to
play quarterback. And then and same with defensive coach. I'm
not a fan of having a head coach as your
your defensive coordinator effect. Oh gosh, someone was talking about
this over the weekend and and they just said, well,
it was just it was actually Steve Young, uh, and
(23:52):
he was on the Dan Patrick Show and he was
talking about how they're not that many systems quarterback friendly
systems in the NFL. He's like, in my in my
time in the NFL, there might have been six. This
is Steve Young, there weren't many, and they're not. And
he said, but now you know you have more, you
know have you know? He listed off Sean mcvays and
(24:13):
the Andy Reid's and Sean Payton's and some of these guys,
but he said, there's a lot more than then back
back in the day where they're they got creative minds.
They they really put you in a good position as
a quarterback. And so you know, here I'm I'm in Detroit.
Mark Trestman, he's great he's a great buffer because he helps.
(24:36):
He really helped Sylvester Kroumes. And you know, we had
a successful season. We went to the playoffs and and
then the next year Mark leaves and they bring in
Jim's Orn and I'm like, I'm beyond me and I'm excited.
I'm like, oh, former quarterback, you know, NFL quarterback, left
handed man, he's really gonna get you know, he's going
(24:58):
to get me. And and I'm just excited about it. And
he like we got along like oil and water. Like
we did not get along at all. And I was
constantly battling him about reads, about you know, philosophy. Uh
(25:19):
and and it was it was massively distracting. It was like,
you know, I'm really it's like I felt like I
was trying to beat the other team and my and
my coach at the same time. You know, It's like,
you know, are you on my side at all? Are
you trying to help me out here? Are you? You know?
And he just he had a different agenda and it
(25:40):
didn't go well. And uh, it was. It was a tough,
tough situation to be in. But it's one of those
where you go, man, you you would have thought it
would have been a match made in heaven, and it
was really at it was a match made in hell.
Uh and it was. It was a thing. But the
(26:01):
challenge of it all is like, it's your career, right,
it's your opportunity, and you can passively sit there and
just go, Okay, you know, I'll kind of do this.
And when you're young, I think you kind of do it.
And what what you what you under? What you realize
(26:21):
is and I think, guys, you know, I take a
guy like David Craig. David Craig lasted a billion years
in the NFL, and he was a guy who you know.
We were in Detroit my first year and he goes,
I'll probably get cut and he was playing terrible, and
(26:44):
he looked here, he looked like, didn't throw the ball
twenty yards. Seriously. I was just like and even said it,
and he was He's just like, and I got hurt,
I don't know, ten nine, ten games into the season
and he came in and and instead of running our offense,
he just said, here's the things I like and and
(27:05):
it just went boom and and he just took off.
We went, we made the playoffs, and he played really well.
And I was like, I just remember watching all of
that and going, well, that's sure is interesting. You know
he's not He's not here trying to do all of
what you know these coaches want to do. He says,
I just don't feel comfortable with that stuff. And I
(27:25):
I think I think that's a lot of why he
lasted as long as he did is he was really
good at selecting and understanding what his strength was and
he just knew, you know, to call plays or to
have a system built around what he could do. And
but he but he was aware of what he could
(27:47):
do and what he couldn't do. And I think so
many players are are are good soldiers, and they're just like,
I'm gonna run. I'm gonna run your offense. And you
hear the really good you hear the really good coaches
in the league who go, you know, I'm going to
tailor the offense so much to the players today, and
(28:08):
I think a lot of why you see younger players,
a lot of why you see more more quarterbacks succeed
today in the NFL is because they're allowed to run
offenses that they're very you know, that are very similar
to what they did when they were in college, which
which because of rules you you don't you can get
(28:31):
away with that. Like it's just it's just so much
easier to be a quarterback day. And I'm not saying,
I'm not pouting about it or complaining. I'm just that
the fact. That's just the fact, and that's why you're
seeing it. And and so you see these Jayden Daniels
and these CJ. Strouds who come in as rookies and
(28:51):
they play great. You see Bo Nicks, you see Patrick Mahomes,
and they're running concepts and systems similar to you know,
where where they thrive and where they they feel comfortable
and and uh, but but I just remember in my
time and in my situation, how I had two two
(29:19):
two times when when I went to a coach and
the one the one was was my rookie year with
with the Miami Dolphins. And I went in and I
went to coach you, and I said, hey, why did
you draft me? Like you have Dan Marino and he's
right in the prime of his career and and uh,
(29:40):
you know, he's got a lot of years left and
and coach she said, well, you know, we we felt
like you were first round material. We we we feel
like we stole you in the draft, and we we
we really thought highly of you, and we're just like,
you know, Dan has been complaining about wanting to get
traded because he doesn't think our team is doing the
(30:01):
things to get to the super Bowl and and and
I don't want to player around who doesn't want to
be here. But I'm not just gonna give him up
because he's really good. So we're gonna we're gonna develop
you and when, uh, when you're ready to play, then
then we're gonna trade Marina. And I was on cloud
(30:24):
and I walked out of his office like, man, I
just hit lottery, the most unbelievable thing in the world.
And uh, two days later, den Marino signs this huge
long term contract and I'm like, have I been played here?
And and it was I was like, yeah, kind of,
(30:46):
but still it was it was still pretty good, you know,
And so I was I felt like they liked me,
and I was excited about it. And and uh so
we go through camp and we're and we're in our
we're in our second to last preseason game and we're
playing in Denver and that this this guy I knew
(31:09):
in the front office. We become buddies. He's he's just
a few years older than me, and he was just
trying to get into uh, you know, being a scout,
being a man, you know, it's kind of being in
the in the management side of of football. And and
so he, you know, he got a job with the
with the Dolphins and anyways, and he was a great dude,
(31:30):
and we we're really good friends. And and he he
comes up to me and I'm in the locker room
getting ready for for the game. He goes, Hey, congratulations,
you're You're the number two. They've made the decision. You're
the guy. And and so I'm like, oh, this is
this is awesome, you know. And so how how Miami
did their preseason? Like playing time is Marino played? Uh,
(31:57):
he played a half. He typically the last two games,
he played half of each one of those games. And
then and then the backup played the second half. So
we we go in the game and you know, come
at halftime and so Marino's done and they say, Scott Sequels,
You're you're gonna start the second half. And I'm like, no,
(32:18):
but that's Scott's sequel, Scott Mitchell, that's what you mean
and they're like, no, no, no, Scott Sequels, you're not
You're not playing. So Scott Sequels plays the second half
of the game, and I'm like, well, he must be
the backup. And uh so I I go to on Monday,
(32:39):
I go into Coachula's office and I said, so I
didn't play, and uh, does that mean you've made your
decision and he's your guy? And he says, yeah, so
Scott's the number two guy and you just you just
keep working hard and and uh, you know, just just
keep playing. And I looked at him and I said,
(33:04):
you know I'm better, and I know I'm better, and
you know that I need to be. I'm that guy.
And I said, and if you put me in that position,
I will not let you down. And that's why I
told Coachula and I left. So we're playing the last
preseason game and how the practice reps because because during
(33:25):
the season, during preseason, everyone gets reps right and so
not not in the at the end, the starter gets
most of the reps as you're getting close to the season. Anyways,
I went through that whole week. I didn't get a
single rep. Played the New Orleans Saints last game, Marino
plays the first half and Sheula goes, Mitchell, you're in
in the second half, and I was just so mad.
(33:47):
I was so mad I could run through a wall.
I'd practiced all week. He told me I was the
third guy, and anyways, I come back, we win the game,
and I become the backup. And they did all of
that on purpose. But I was willing to go in
and stake my case to my coach and stand up
for myself. All right, we can take another break, come back,
shoot or Sanders. A lot of people think he got
(34:08):
set up, and we'll talk about that and so much
more when The Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell returns
on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
This is The Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell on
Your Home of the Utes, ESPN seven hundred ninety two
one A f M.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Made up their minds and they started back in left
before they.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Sports fans, Welcome back Scott Mitchell. Here, It's the Down
and Dirty on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
I love the down and Dirty. I love to talk
about all this stuff, and I really appreciate folks to
tune in and listen, so thank you very much. The
Sanders family did not have a good weekend. Shiloh uh
(35:12):
punch someone, which is so dumb, like like it's just
it's just it's dumb for so many reasons. It's the
preseason for for starters, right, and like you can't you
can't punch someone and get away with it. Like it's
like like there's no there's no place in anyone's world,
(35:36):
anywhere in the NFL where that that's a thing. Now.
I understand after a while, folks get all hot and
whatever and and it happens, but there's so many opportunities
down the road that are legal that you can seek
(35:56):
your retribution. But I've always felt like a player that
is going to fight in a punch is just very
selfish and it's not a player that really values or
understands the concept of the impact it has on a team.
Just just those dumb, stupid, very avoidable penalties. It's it's
(36:21):
really simple, just don't do it, Like it's not that complicated.
And you know it's it's like do you sit there
and tug on a guy's face mask? You sit and
hold a guy all the time? I mean no, you don't.
And you know that because you know that's the rule. Well,
you know, punching someone's the same thing that was was
(36:41):
Shiloh Sanders cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of that.
I don't I actually don't think so. Todd Bowles is
a pretty like he understands, you know, the fighting thing
and throwing a punch and whatever. And I don't I
don't necessarily think I don't. I don't think that that
(37:02):
he's a He's a guy that says, you know, I'm
gonna I'm gonna cut you for that kind of offense.
There are coaches who will cut people on the spot.
And maybe Todd Bowles has done that before, maybe he hasn't.
Jimmy Johnson has speaking of Our America's team. Uh, there've
(37:23):
been there have been a lot of coaches who have
who have done things like that. Now, who did they cut? Right?
Coaches aren't stupid, like they're not dumb. They know that
they're not gonna, you know, they're not gonna cut the superstar.
And and Jimmy Johnson's actually come out and said that.
(37:47):
But there has to be and this is the big
challenge I think with with uh, you know, Jerry Jones,
is there has to be some level of of like,
it's not a threat, it's just everyone needs to understand
that if you're not working towards excellence, you're not striving
(38:08):
to help the team win in whatever capacity that you're in,
because not everyone everyone has a different capacity on the team,
they're all very valuable and if you're not doing that
and as your part, then then yeah, you should be
cut and you should always have the threat of that
(38:29):
being cut. You know, some coaches are pretty blunt in
their in their explanation of this. You know, I'm gonna
cut you. I'm gonna cut you right now. I'm gonna
cut your behind today, this very minute. If you guys,
or in a meeting, a coach will say, I can
go on the street and find a whole bunch of
people that are playing like you are right now, which
(38:51):
I've heard before, and I've heard the do you understand
why you're on a one year contract like this is
a this is a test. This is to see if
you are worth having around long term. A one year
contract is no year contract. It's a no it's a
no confidence type of thing. Or hey, we're going to
(39:15):
bring someone in to compete against you. This isn't your
just job by default? So yeah, I don't think. I
don't think that Chador was cut because he punched. And
I may be wrong, but I just didn't feel like that.
I think people are making it out to be that way,
(39:35):
you know, Like I find I find this whole Sanders
family thing fascinating, the drama of it and the fact
that I'm actually even talking about I'm talking about it
because I think I think that the point is an
interesting one about fighting and what have you, but also
(39:58):
about you know, there there are some former players who
have sons that are pretty pretty good, you know. There
there are some uh, there are some families that have
multiple I mean, the Sharp family has two people in
the Hall of Fame. You have the Matthews family. You
(40:21):
have you know that you have the the Watts Killer Watts. Uh,
you have uh, you know, you have Derek Carr and
his brother so that you know, you have the what
is it the Asselebacks and their dad was a was
(40:43):
a player. Uh. Sometimes the dads are better or worse
or whatever. So so former players have had sons that
have had success, Howie Long sons that you know, I
had a former teammate, Farrell Edmonds, who three of his
boys are in the NFL. Luther Ellis's got kids in
the NFL, and for some reason, Dion's kids are, I
(41:10):
don't know, they're vilified there. There's it all becomes about race,
it all becomes about all these other things, and maybe
should just isn't that good and it's okay, but you know,
Deon's made him out to be like really good, but
he backed off of that before the draft. I think
I think Dion knew. And so the question, you know,
(41:34):
came up when uh, when Shadu or played and he
played with the worst players on the team, and the
reality is, yeah, it's hard to do that. Like it's hard.
It's because you know, you know that that if you're
(41:58):
if you're not with the better players, there's a high
likelihood that you're not going to be able to display
your abilities. Now. I watched actually the plays and I'm like, dude,
you got to step up and that You're like, it's
almost like he was dropping back anticipating that there was
going to be pressure before before it ever, you could
(42:20):
just sense and you know, and everyone's like, well, he's
The routes were further down the field. The coach called
the plays intentionally to make Shaudure hold the ball, and
Shouldure holds the ball like he held the ball in college,
not like he's just like boom, get it out, get
it out, get it out. And if you're a quarterback
(42:45):
and you know your offensive line isn't very good, you
better be looking for the guy who's you can get
the ball out too quick. You know there are things
you can you know you can do and understanding the
circle stances that that you're in, but the way and
not a scrambler. Like he's not a running quarterback at all.
(43:08):
He does not have that running gene that his father had.
He's not that guy. And I still think that's what
everyone thinks. Now he's he made the team, but you
you you got to realize people he was a fifth
round draft choice. They weren't sitting there going because I
(43:31):
think everyone thought he wasn't and I think everyone in
they thought the NFL was like, no, we're going to
pass on this guy. We're going to pass on this guy.
And I think I think what happened in the in
the NFL is a is his team said this is
what we see with this guy, and we don't like it.
I think you're foolish to think if anyone thought Shadur
(43:56):
Sanders was like wow, Dion as a quarterback, he would
have been the first pick in the draft that there
no one has anything out for Deion Sanders. Deon Sanders
is one of the most respected football players of all time.
There no one has no one, No one has a
beef with with the no one has a beef with
(44:17):
the fact of him being prime. And in the end,
people don't care about that. Fine, you they didn't care
about it when he played. Look if you show up,
uh great. I mean Chad Johnson kind of took on
that persona Keishawn Johnson took on that. You know, there's
a lot of guys who have taken on this like
(44:40):
media blitz persona about you know everything and and uh
in the NFL, if you can perform and you can play, uh.
Antonio Brown was more of a headache and a hassle
and a problem. But man, he was talented and because
he was talented, like we'll give you a million, We'll
(45:01):
give you a million opportunities. Josh Gordon is another guy
who had a ton of talent, got a lot of
opportunities and the reality is your schadeur will probably get
you know, two or three oportunity, who knows. But he
came to the Cleveland Browns as a fifth round draft choice.
(45:24):
From day one, they have no interest in him being
the starter, and I think people are trying to think
there's some conspiracy and I think they're just like, yeah,
he's a guy that will will look to develop him
potentially because Joe Flacco is not a long term solution.
We don't think Shador Sanders is the guy of our future,
(45:46):
but we don't think he isn't either, So we're going
to bring him into the program. We're going to slowly
develop him and see what happens. But we also, like
this Dylan Gabriel, We're going to see where he goes.
Kind kind of it. It's not that big a deal.
They're they're trying to find a quarterback long term there
(46:07):
and and they certainly are going to be patient. Everyone thinks,
well it should or should just walk in the door
and be the guy from day one, and that's the
end of the story. And that's just not the situation
that he's in. So the question came up, did they
try to make him look bad? And the answer to
that question is that does happen. And it's not so
(46:28):
much that they're trying to make a guy look bad.
It's that they're trying to minimize And maybe they were
trying to minimize Shador from the standpoint of they knew
he wasn't going to be the guy, so they didn't care.
They threw him out there with the scrubs. Whatever. You know,
(46:49):
if you make something happen, great, If not, we don't,
it's not going to change our position of you. But
maybe they said we don't want you to do well
because then we're gonna have to hear about it. So
no matter what we do, we're gonna have to hear
about it. And I'm telling you people that the preseason
does not matter. It does not matter. It matters what
(47:12):
you do in the regular season. And they and Joe
Flacco goes, look, I didn't get a lot of work
early on, and he goes, I just need I need
some time. I need to get out. I need to
fill the game a little bit before the season gets started.
So so it's if someone made a comment like I
already know what Flacco can do, and it's not about
(47:34):
what they can do. It's about what do you do
to get prepared to go into the season, and that's
how they play the Cleveland Browns. If they get to
Shadur Sanders, they're probably not thrilled about where their season's going.
And they have a quarterback because I think they believe
(47:56):
they have a team that can win now. They've got
a really good defense, they've got some pieces offensively, and
they've got a quarterback that they've had success with them past,
and so they're trying to win now and they're not
into that. They probably have been given the ultimatum from
the owner. I'm tired of, you know, years and years
of ineptitude. And the only bright spot we've had is
(48:19):
one Joe Flacco has been our quarterback. And by the way,
the coach has had a history with the quarterback. He
he he trusts him, and that's why he's the guy.
That's why they that's that's why they got him, and
a coach, a coach goes I'll take I'll take the
guy I trust over anybody else because I know what
(48:42):
I know what I'm getting and I know he can
perform for me, and that's that's very comforting to me.
But do guy, But do coaches try to minimum minimize
a guy success. Absolutely, if a guy's they can change
the plays and how they're called there there is no
(49:05):
doubt about it. And a lot of times you know,
and and it just depends on the coordinator. You have
a guy that's you have a good relationship with the
then he's really favorable to like putting you in a
good position. But if a guy, like let's say a player,
the team's doing poorly and a player has a bonus,
(49:26):
then then just stop throwing the ball to him or
or whatever, stop handing the ball off. I mean, yeah,
there's you know, there's a million things that that teams
can do. You're not going to make the playoffs, but
a guy could get a signing bonus, Like why are
we paying him a signing bonus when we're out all right?
Speaking about it's star time to go. So it's been
(49:47):
a fun Monday. We'll be back tomorrow with so much more.
This has been the down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell
here on ESPN seven hundred ninety two ONEFM.
This is the Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell, the
Utah football legend and twelve year NFL veteran, on Utah's
number one sports talk ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one alf M, a proud part of Utah's BSPN
Radio network.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He Hey, sports fans, welcome on in. It's the Down
and Dirty with Scott Mitchell here on ESPN seven hundred
ninety two one FM. Proud to be a part of
the Utah ESPN Radio Network. So happy to be a
part of your day. It's Monday. It's a fun day.
We love Mondays. They're always great and marvelous because so
much happens typically over the weekend. And there were a
(00:38):
lot of interesting things, of course that happened over this weekend,
and we'll get into all of it today, I promise you.
And it's game week. Yeah, it's game week for you
uts out there. It's five days till the Rose Bowl
in August, which it means the roses right now are
(00:59):
not in bloom. They have a lot of manure on
them right now. So but that manure that's what makes
them grow and makes them shine. So you know, out
of the ashes of disaster, come the roses of success.
So we're excited about the season, excited about what's going
to happen. I have to get into this thing that
(01:21):
I watched over the weekend, and it's this documentary on
the Dallas Cowboys America's team. Now, A long long time
ago I asked my agent, who, I said, why are
they America's team? What's the deal? And he said to me,
(01:42):
and I thought he was I thought he was joking.
I really did. He said, Well, in nineteen sixty three,
of course, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas,
it took on this image of being, you know, where
the freaking president was assassinated, and it wasn't a good image.
And in an attempt to kind of revitalize that image
(02:06):
with the you know, the Dallas Cowboys and the all
American kind of coach and Roger Staubach and the whole thing,
they they they rehabilitated the image through becoming America's team,
and uh and and the whole thing is is absolutely
fascinating to me, this this whole thing, and I and
(02:27):
part of why it's fascinating to me is because I had, uh,
you know, I was it was during my era of football,
and it was it was compelling, you know, to to
and and I know a lot of the stories. I
know what was going on. There was some insight into
it that I, you know, I didn't get. But when
(02:48):
I when I I walked away from it, uh I,
I realized how maybe unsatisfying like it is to be
an athlete and an owner and to compete in sports,
and and and part of part of the I don't know,
(03:10):
the the thing that drives you is the thing that
almost implode you as well. And and and I think
it happened almost with every single one of those players
except maybe EMMITTT. Smith, and including the owner, and including
Jimmy Johnson. They all could not appreciate, they all could
(03:36):
not value how precious it was, the circumstances they were in.
And I look at my you know, my time with
the Detroit Lions, and there was a lot of good
and there is a lot of bad. And I would
have killed to be in the situation that the Dallas
(03:57):
Cowboys were in. And yet think none of them could
be happy with it, none of them except maybe Emmitt Smith,
and you know, and I wonder, you know, and he
was the last one. He kind of survived him all
other than Jerry Jones. But here you have and I think,
(04:20):
I think this is the this is the stupidity you
have as an athlete. You think you're gonna last forever.
You think it lasts forever. You think that you're just
gonna keep doing this, and on and on and on.
And part of it is you're young, and so you
don't have the perspective of life. Your life is just
you know, it's been twenty ish years, you know, as
(04:40):
opposed to when you're forty. That's twice as long as
you've lived. And you're still young at forty. And then
you get to sixty, you know, and it's a third
of your you know, it's it's just not that much
life experience to realize these moments are so precious, Like
every every moment, every breath, every drop of sweat you have,
(05:04):
every every practice, every play, every game is just it's
just so precious. And and I I looked at this
and I'm just like wow, and and and and they
offered very different reasons, kind of had these disgruntledness about
(05:27):
the whole situation. So here you have Jimmy Johnson, and
I think Jimmy Johnson thought. You know when when Jerry
Jones says, hey, I can have five hundred coaches coach
this team and win a Super Bowl, and Jerry Jimmy Johnson,
(05:48):
I believe I can go coach five hundred teams and
win a Super Bowl with them as well. And and
and so he none of them and Jimmy Johnson really
understood and valued how freaking hard it is to assemble
(06:08):
what they did. And the reality what they did is
they just struck. They struck lightning. Yeah, they had all
the draft picks, but the draft picks that they picked
were really good. You know, you talk about some of
the offensive linemen they drafted and in some of these
(06:29):
mid rounds, and you talk about Russell Maryland, who was
a great defensive lineman for him, and you talk about
picking up Chad Hennings. You talk about, you know, Charles Haley,
a Hall of Famer, one of the top defensive ends
in the entire history of the NFL. Maybe he's a
little cuckoo, but you know what I've always said, I
(06:50):
want the cuckoo guy. If I have a defensive end,
I want him to be like Charles Haley. I will
love that. I will celebrate that. I will say, go
be kookie dude all day long. And and the forty
nine ers said, here here our biggest rival, you can
have our best player. It's like, like, who does that?
(07:12):
Like they had, and they they just thought that was normal.
They just thought, you know, this is just this is
all me, this is this is my skill, my ability.
And and they they absolutely one thousand percent were so lucky.
And it wasn't lucky. It was just that that what
(07:32):
they did just everything worked. Now, I think Jimmy Johnson's
an incredible core Unions and the Hall of Famer, and
he is a great coach, but man, he he wasn't
great after he left there. He was good with the
with the Miami Dolphins. He was a great college coach,
(07:56):
but he he didn't have near the same success because
the the the moment, the the uh, the conglomeration of
greatness that was put together was that moment, and none
of them really understood it. They didn't appreciate it. They
(08:17):
didn't get it. They didn't get that they were so
much better together than they were apart. And so here
you have Jimmy, Jimmy Johnson, who you know, he's just
like I'm not. I'm not gonna work for that guy
who because he's gonna take all the credit for everything
I've done. And Jimmy Johnson just couldn't handle that. And
(08:39):
Jimmy Johnson, you know, it's like, I guess the question
to me is, well, do you just suck it up?
You know, you just you just you just swallow your
pride and go, wait a minute, it is it is
so much better. It is so much better when we're
when we're together, and this this this whole this whole
(09:04):
thing together make is it works so much more than
than we were apart. And and I think if you're
gonna have that great team, you're going to have to
swallow that. And I think I think the team, the
people who really got it, and they may be the
only people ever to have gotten it, is is Tom Brady,
(09:27):
and is Bill Belichick. And I think I think from
I think from there. And and the beautiful thing is
Robert Craft didn't go in and try to be Jerry Jones.
But but believe me, he's got the same ego and
he's certainly he's supplanted it for a long time. And
and they and you can you can argue that they're
(09:49):
not as good apart as they were together. You know,
Tom Brady says, look, I want a super Bowl without
Bill Belichick, and I'm like, you wouldn't have been to
ten super Bowls or nine super Bowls if you weren't
with Bill Belichick and so so many. Really, what I
believe is the Dallas goud was just screwed it up.
I mean, they had this, they had this incredible opportunity
(10:13):
to be just like dominant for a long time, dominant
really through the whole nineties, and and they just they
just couldn't grasp how amazing that was. I've I experienced that.
I I've been with other players. I just I'm telling you,
(10:35):
I hear you know. Dan Marino has brought this up
a million times. He's like, we went to the Super
Bowl our second year, and we just thought we were
gonna go back every year, and never went back to
another super Bowl in like seventeen eighteen years. But then
then you have Jerry Jones, and and Jerry Jones like
(11:00):
the same thing. You know, he can't he can't get
out of his own way, and and to to my surprise,
I don't think I don't think he realized it in
the moment, but he said, you know, for some reason,
I just can't. I can't leave things well enough alone
when when when things are good, I just I'm not comfortable.
(11:24):
I like the fight. I like and and really, what
it what it feels like to me, is like it's
a gambler's addiction, where where a gambler is like, you know, hey,
I just I just won one hundred thousand dollars, and
and a gambler can't walk away because it's it's not
(11:48):
it's not that it's not that I won one hundred
thousand dollars. It's that, man, I could I could bat
this hundred thousand dollars in that exciting that I might
lose it, but I also might win a million. And
it's that. It's that. And you listen to Jerry Jones
and kind of how he made his money and how
he was constantly in this fix of the thrill of
(12:13):
being on the edge of just you know, like being destroyed,
and and so I just am so fascinated by it.
When I when I was in Detroit nineteen ninety five,
we had a record setting year, one of three teams
(12:34):
ever to start zero to three and make the playoffs.
Just our offense was as explosive as any in the NFL.
I mean we were really we were humming and and
uh and we ran into the same thing. The running
back wanted to be the star of the show. Two
(12:55):
wide receivers that couldn't get along. Everyone thought I favored
one wide receiver, that I had some special program going
on with this guy. And I'm just like, man, you
know how you know how come we work is because
we're all there and everyone being a part of it
(13:15):
helps everyone to have the most success you could possibly have.
And it wasn't in my mind, it was never about
one person. In my mind, it was about, man, we
can we can be something really really special here. And
and I called a meeting because we'd started, we started
(13:36):
the season, and and I was just like, man, this
is this is a bad vibe. This is not this
is not good. We're we're not on the same page.
It's it's it's pretty ugly. And I got in the
meeting and I just said kind of what I'm saying
right now, Hey, guys, look, we we can be the
very best in the NFL. We are the very best
(13:58):
in the NFL. And but I just I get a
sense like, you know, something's not right, something's uh, something's
not not going on. It's just it just doesn't smell
right to me. It doesn't feel right to me. And
and there was dead silence. There's it's just all the
offensive players, And I said, what's going on? And and
(14:26):
a couple of guys kind of look at the around
the room at each other and and uh, you know
they're they're uh, no one's saying anything. And finally Brett
Perriman says, well, I'll say it then, and he says, you,
pointing at me and him over there pointing to Herman
Moore got some special program going on between the two
(14:49):
of you, and none of us are a part of it.
And I was like, and this is a guy who
I threw the ball to fifteen times in the game before.
And the meeting was terrible. We didn't talk to each
other for I don't know, two or three days at all.
(15:11):
It was dead silent at practice, which normally it was
never like that. And then we we kind of turned
it around and got together. Unfortunately, I got injured that
year and it was a tough year for us, and
the coach got fired and they brought in a coach
who didn't have the same offensive opinion of who we
(15:33):
are and what our talent was, and it wasn't good.
And we am just telling you we just could not.
We were just not smart enough. And I think so
many people just don't realize how great it is. And
you know, Troy Aikman said something in that video. He said,
I don't want to I don't want to waste my
(15:55):
career on some owner trying to figure out how to
be an owner. And I was like, wow, But I
get it because you run a fine line as a
player between because it's your career, and so you can
sit there and say nothing, or you can or you
(16:19):
can speak up and speak your mind. And there are
a couple of times in my career that I did
and I'm going to talk about that in the next segment.
But but before we take a break, let me tell
you something. I can see. I have seen the light.
It's incredible. I had this refractive lens surgery with doctor
(16:43):
Wade at Wake Vision and it's changed everything. Like I
can see close, I can see far. Just had to
check up. I'm doing amazing and they're just they couldn't
be happier with the result of what happened minimally invasive surgery,
fifteen minute procedure, But man, was it worth it? And
has it changed everything? I read the computer screen, I
read my phone, I see far away, I see close.
(17:06):
It's just it's and it just very very naturally happened.
It was really strange, you know. It's just it was
like one one day my vision was blurry and the
next day it wasn't. And uh and it's just happened
that way. And they just do an incredible job. There
any kind of corrective surgery that you might need, they
are on top of it and they are unbelievable. Go
(17:26):
check out weight vision dot com. W A I T
E Vision dot com. All right, when we come back,
I'm gonna tell you some of the conversations I had
with coaches when The Down and Dirty returns here on
ESPN seven hundred ninety two.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
You were listening to about Down and Dirty with Scott
Mitchell on Utah's number one sports talk and home up
they ESPN seven hundred ninety two to one A f M.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Hey, sports fans, welcome back. It is The Down in
Dirty with Scott Metro here on ESPN seven hundred ninety
two one FM okay Man talking about this this this
documentary on the Dallas Cowboys in America's team and it
was kind of an era when the Cowboys were really good,
have been good for thirty years, but they still had
(18:19):
the same owner. Fascinating and part of the fascinating side
of it was Michael Irvin. And and Michael Irvin was
he was the guy that really I think got it going.
He was that energy, He was that spark, He was
that guy that you know, he was the energizer bunny
and he just and you need that guy on your team,
(18:40):
that one that just he's kind of always there to
pick you up. And there's probably because he's always up,
there's probably that time he needs to be down. And
and he had his he had his demons, you know,
and unfortunately for him, those demons came to light. And
the reality is is it probably was what was happening
(19:01):
for a long long time before anything anything happened from that.
But I had a I had an opportunity to spend
some time with Michael Irving when I was a contestant
on a reality TV show and Michael Irvin came to
the show's biggest loser, and and he was there to
(19:23):
kind of it was just part of one of the
challenges we had. And and I just I remember talking
to him and somehow they they caught me saying it,
and I just said, man, I really appreciate you being here.
And I said, you know, this is a this is
(19:43):
a very vulnerable time for me in my life, you know,
to go in front of millions of people on television
and just say, hey, you know, I'm overweight and trying
to deal with this and it's something that I've struggled with.
And and we had just we had just one of
the greatest conversations, uh, in the world. And and uh
(20:05):
and it was it was just a it always it
always made me really appreciate Michael Ran. A lot of
people were like, you know, he's a terrible human being
and he did all these things, but I don't know,
spend a lot of time with me. And it was
it was off camera, it was very personal and and
uh and and and we talked about the demons, you know,
(20:28):
and and how how challenging they are and how they
you know, they you know, it's it's it's a it's
a thing that we have in our life. That keeps
humble and realizes that. And we realized that it. You know,
we can't get through life, we can't overcome things without
some help from somewhere and whatever you find that help from.
(20:53):
But I, personally, you know, find it with my relationship
with God. But people find it other ways. And and
so it was it was really and and you know,
watching him kind of culture that because he went through
that before he ever was wash I ran into all
the big sol losers. So it was it was well
(21:13):
after all of all of his issues issues happened. But
I I had an opportunity in my career because I
mentioned about Traikman and how he said, you know, I
don't want to waste my career on having someone learn
how to be an owner. And you kind of feel
(21:35):
that way about coaches too. And I just remember, you know,
as a young kid, your first impressions of the NFL,
and for me, a lot of it was like, at
these coaches aren't really that good. You know, there are
some really good coaches, and I got good coaching in
(21:56):
the NFL, but I also had a lot of coaches
that just they just they just weren't They were kind
of placeholders. They weren't like, Wow, that guy's super knowledgeable.
That guy is is incredible. You know, I had I
had an experience when I was in Detroit and my
my first year with Bobby Ross who was our coach. Uh,
(22:20):
Mark Tressman was was the quarterback coach and and I
just got along with Mark so well, and I just
clicked with him, and he was a great coach, and
we just spent a lot of time just mentally preparing
and being ready for uh you know, situations and games.
He was he was just he was so good and
(22:42):
and he really helped me through because we had an
offensive coordinator who was trying to learn how to be
an offensive coordinator and he wasn't very good. And and
his name, you know, Sylvester CRuMs was his name, and uh,
you know, he his claim to fame. Well, first he
played at Alabama, but but beyond that, he was the
first African American coach in the SEC at Mississippi State
(23:07):
early two thousands. Anyways, he was the offensive coordinator and
he never been that guy before. And I can't say
that is you know, it's hard when you have a
guy who is a former offensive the offensive lineman scared
that bajeebers out of me when they become because all
(23:28):
they want to do is run the ball and and uh,
you know, and they don't understand what it's like to
play quarterback. And then and same with defensive coach. I'm
not a fan of having a head coach as your
your defensive coordinator effect. Oh gosh, someone was talking about
this over the weekend and and they just said, well,
it was just it was actually Steve Young, uh, and
(23:52):
he was on the Dan Patrick Show and he was
talking about how they're not that many systems quarterback friendly
systems in the NFL. He's like, in my in my
time in the NFL, there might have been six. This
is Steve Young, there weren't many, and they're not. And
he said, but now you know you have more, you
know have you know? He listed off Sean mcvays and
(24:13):
the Andy Reid's and Sean Payton's and some of these guys,
but he said, there's a lot more than then back
back in the day where they're they got creative minds.
They they really put you in a good position as
a quarterback. And so you know, here I'm I'm in Detroit.
Mark Trestman, he's great he's a great buffer because he helps.
(24:36):
He really helped Sylvester Kroumes. And you know, we had
a successful season. We went to the playoffs and and
then the next year Mark leaves and they bring in
Jim's Orn and I'm like, I'm beyond me and I'm excited.
I'm like, oh, former quarterback, you know, NFL quarterback, left
handed man, he's really gonna get you know, he's going
(24:58):
to get me. And and I'm just excited about it. And
he like we got along like oil and water. Like
we did not get along at all. And I was
constantly battling him about reads, about you know, philosophy. Uh
(25:19):
and and it was it was massively distracting. It was like,
you know, I'm really it's like I felt like I
was trying to beat the other team and my and
my coach at the same time. You know, It's like,
you know, are you on my side at all? Are
you trying to help me out here? Are you? You know?
And he just he had a different agenda and it
(25:40):
didn't go well. And uh, it was. It was a tough,
tough situation to be in. But it's one of those
where you go, man, you you would have thought it
would have been a match made in heaven, and it
was really at it was a match made in hell.
Uh and it was. It was a thing. But the
(26:01):
challenge of it all is like, it's your career, right,
it's your opportunity, and you can passively sit there and
just go, Okay, you know, I'll kind of do this.
And when you're young, I think you kind of do it.
And what what you what you under? What you realize
(26:21):
is and I think, guys, you know, I take a
guy like David Craig. David Craig lasted a billion years
in the NFL, and he was a guy who you know.
We were in Detroit my first year and he goes,
I'll probably get cut and he was playing terrible, and
(26:44):
he looked here, he looked like, didn't throw the ball
twenty yards. Seriously. I was just like and even said it,
and he was He's just like, and I got hurt,
I don't know, ten nine, ten games into the season
and he came in and and instead of running our offense,
he just said, here's the things I like and and
(27:05):
it just went boom and and he just took off.
We went, we made the playoffs, and he played really well.
And I was like, I just remember watching all of
that and going, well, that's sure is interesting. You know
he's not He's not here trying to do all of
what you know these coaches want to do. He says,
I just don't feel comfortable with that stuff. And I
(27:25):
I think I think that's a lot of why he
lasted as long as he did is he was really
good at selecting and understanding what his strength was and
he just knew, you know, to call plays or to
have a system built around what he could do. And
but he but he was aware of what he could
(27:47):
do and what he couldn't do. And I think so
many players are are are good soldiers, and they're just like,
I'm gonna run. I'm gonna run your offense. And you
hear the really good you hear the really good coaches
in the league who go, you know, I'm going to
tailor the offense so much to the players today, and
(28:08):
I think a lot of why you see younger players,
a lot of why you see more more quarterbacks succeed
today in the NFL is because they're allowed to run
offenses that they're very you know, that are very similar
to what they did when they were in college, which
which because of rules you you don't you can get
(28:31):
away with that. Like it's just it's just so much
easier to be a quarterback day. And I'm not saying,
I'm not pouting about it or complaining. I'm just that
the fact. That's just the fact, and that's why you're
seeing it. And and so you see these Jayden Daniels
and these CJ. Strouds who come in as rookies and
(28:51):
they play great. You see Bo Nicks, you see Patrick Mahomes,
and they're running concepts and systems similar to you know,
where where they thrive and where they they feel comfortable
and and uh, but but I just remember in my
time and in my situation, how I had two two
(29:19):
two times when when I went to a coach and
the one the one was was my rookie year with
with the Miami Dolphins. And I went in and I
went to coach you, and I said, hey, why did
you draft me? Like you have Dan Marino and he's
right in the prime of his career and and uh,
(29:40):
you know, he's got a lot of years left and
and coach she said, well, you know, we we felt
like you were first round material. We we we feel
like we stole you in the draft, and we we
we really thought highly of you, and we're just like,
you know, Dan has been complaining about wanting to get
traded because he doesn't think our team is doing the
(30:01):
things to get to the super Bowl and and and
I don't want to player around who doesn't want to
be here. But I'm not just gonna give him up
because he's really good. So we're gonna we're gonna develop
you and when, uh, when you're ready to play, then
then we're gonna trade Marina. And I was on cloud
(30:24):
and I walked out of his office like, man, I
just hit lottery, the most unbelievable thing in the world.
And uh, two days later, den Marino signs this huge
long term contract and I'm like, have I been played here?
And and it was I was like, yeah, kind of,
(30:46):
but still it was it was still pretty good, you know,
And so I was I felt like they liked me,
and I was excited about it. And and uh so
we go through camp and we're and we're in our
we're in our second to last preseason game and we're
playing in Denver and that this this guy I knew
(31:09):
in the front office. We become buddies. He's he's just
a few years older than me, and he was just
trying to get into uh, you know, being a scout,
being a man, you know, it's kind of being in
the in the management side of of football. And and
so he, you know, he got a job with the
with the Dolphins and anyways, and he was a great dude,
(31:30):
and we we're really good friends. And and he he
comes up to me and I'm in the locker room
getting ready for for the game. He goes, Hey, congratulations,
you're You're the number two. They've made the decision. You're
the guy. And and so I'm like, oh, this is
this is awesome, you know. And so how how Miami
did their preseason? Like playing time is Marino played? Uh,
(31:57):
he played a half. He typically the last two games,
he played half of each one of those games. And
then and then the backup played the second half. So
we we go in the game and you know, come
at halftime and so Marino's done and they say, Scott Sequels,
You're you're gonna start the second half. And I'm like, no,
(32:18):
but that's Scott's sequel, Scott Mitchell, that's what you mean
and they're like, no, no, no, Scott Sequels, you're not
You're not playing. So Scott Sequels plays the second half
of the game, and I'm like, well, he must be
the backup. And uh so I I go to on Monday,
(32:39):
I go into Coachula's office and I said, so I
didn't play, and uh, does that mean you've made your
decision and he's your guy? And he says, yeah, so
Scott's the number two guy and you just you just
keep working hard and and uh, you know, just just
keep playing. And I looked at him and I said,
(33:04):
you know I'm better, and I know I'm better, and
you know that I need to be. I'm that guy.
And I said, and if you put me in that position,
I will not let you down. And that's why I
told Coachula and I left. So we're playing the last
preseason game and how the practice reps because because during
(33:25):
the season, during preseason, everyone gets reps right and so
not not in the at the end, the starter gets
most of the reps as you're getting close to the season. Anyways,
I went through that whole week. I didn't get a
single rep. Played the New Orleans Saints last game, Marino
plays the first half and Sheula goes, Mitchell, you're in
in the second half, and I was just so mad.
(33:47):
I was so mad I could run through a wall.
I'd practiced all week. He told me I was the
third guy, and anyways, I come back, we win the game,
and I become the backup. And they did all of
that on purpose. But I was willing to go in
and stake my case to my coach and stand up
for myself. All right, we can take another break, come back,
shoot or Sanders. A lot of people think he got
(34:08):
set up, and we'll talk about that and so much
more when The Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell returns
on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
This is The Down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell on
Your Home of the Utes, ESPN seven hundred ninety two
one A f M.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Made up their minds and they started back in left
before they.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Sports fans, Welcome back Scott Mitchell. Here, It's the Down
and Dirty on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
I love the down and Dirty. I love to talk
about all this stuff, and I really appreciate folks to
tune in and listen, so thank you very much. The
Sanders family did not have a good weekend. Shiloh uh
(35:12):
punch someone, which is so dumb, like like it's just
it's just it's dumb for so many reasons. It's the
preseason for for starters, right, and like you can't you
can't punch someone and get away with it. Like it's
like like there's no there's no place in anyone's world,
(35:36):
anywhere in the NFL where that that's a thing. Now.
I understand after a while, folks get all hot and
whatever and and it happens, but there's so many opportunities
down the road that are legal that you can seek
(35:56):
your retribution. But I've always felt like a player that
is going to fight in a punch is just very
selfish and it's not a player that really values or
understands the concept of the impact it has on a team.
Just just those dumb, stupid, very avoidable penalties. It's it's
(36:21):
really simple, just don't do it, Like it's not that complicated.
And you know it's it's like do you sit there
and tug on a guy's face mask? You sit and
hold a guy all the time? I mean no, you don't.
And you know that because you know that's the rule. Well,
you know, punching someone's the same thing that was was
(36:41):
Shiloh Sanders cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of that.
I don't I actually don't think so. Todd Bowles is
a pretty like he understands, you know, the fighting thing
and throwing a punch and whatever. And I don't I
don't necessarily think I don't. I don't think that that
(37:02):
he's a He's a guy that says, you know, I'm
gonna I'm gonna cut you for that kind of offense.
There are coaches who will cut people on the spot.
And maybe Todd Bowles has done that before, maybe he hasn't.
Jimmy Johnson has speaking of Our America's team. Uh, there've
(37:23):
been there have been a lot of coaches who have
who have done things like that. Now, who did they cut? Right?
Coaches aren't stupid, like they're not dumb. They know that
they're not gonna, you know, they're not gonna cut the superstar.
And and Jimmy Johnson's actually come out and said that.
(37:47):
But there has to be and this is the big
challenge I think with with uh, you know, Jerry Jones,
is there has to be some level of of like,
it's not a threat, it's just everyone needs to understand
that if you're not working towards excellence, you're not striving
(38:08):
to help the team win in whatever capacity that you're in,
because not everyone everyone has a different capacity on the team,
they're all very valuable and if you're not doing that
and as your part, then then yeah, you should be
cut and you should always have the threat of that
(38:29):
being cut. You know, some coaches are pretty blunt in
their in their explanation of this. You know, I'm gonna
cut you. I'm gonna cut you right now. I'm gonna
cut your behind today, this very minute. If you guys,
or in a meeting, a coach will say, I can
go on the street and find a whole bunch of
people that are playing like you are right now, which
(38:51):
I've heard before, and I've heard the do you understand
why you're on a one year contract like this is
a this is a test. This is to see if
you are worth having around long term. A one year
contract is no year contract. It's a no it's a
no confidence type of thing. Or hey, we're going to
(39:15):
bring someone in to compete against you. This isn't your
just job by default? So yeah, I don't think. I
don't think that Chador was cut because he punched. And
I may be wrong, but I just didn't feel like that.
I think people are making it out to be that way,
(39:35):
you know, Like I find I find this whole Sanders
family thing fascinating, the drama of it and the fact
that I'm actually even talking about I'm talking about it
because I think I think that the point is an
interesting one about fighting and what have you, but also
(39:58):
about you know, there there are some former players who
have sons that are pretty pretty good, you know. There
there are some uh, there are some families that have
multiple I mean, the Sharp family has two people in
the Hall of Fame. You have the Matthews family. You
(40:21):
have you know that you have the the Watts Killer Watts. Uh,
you have uh, you know, you have Derek Carr and
his brother so that you know, you have the what
is it the Asselebacks and their dad was a was
(40:43):
a player. Uh. Sometimes the dads are better or worse
or whatever. So so former players have had sons that
have had success, Howie Long sons that you know, I
had a former teammate, Farrell Edmonds, who three of his
boys are in the NFL. Luther Ellis's got kids in
the NFL, and for some reason, Dion's kids are, I
(41:10):
don't know, they're vilified there. There's it all becomes about race,
it all becomes about all these other things, and maybe
should just isn't that good and it's okay, but you know,
Deon's made him out to be like really good, but
he backed off of that before the draft. I think
I think Dion knew. And so the question, you know,
(41:34):
came up when uh, when Shadu or played and he
played with the worst players on the team, and the
reality is, yeah, it's hard to do that. Like it's hard.
It's because you know, you know that that if you're
(41:58):
if you're not with the better players, there's a high
likelihood that you're not going to be able to display
your abilities. Now. I watched actually the plays and I'm like, dude,
you got to step up and that You're like, it's
almost like he was dropping back anticipating that there was
going to be pressure before before it ever, you could
(42:20):
just sense and you know, and everyone's like, well, he's
The routes were further down the field. The coach called
the plays intentionally to make Shaudure hold the ball, and
Shouldure holds the ball like he held the ball in college,
not like he's just like boom, get it out, get
it out, get it out. And if you're a quarterback
(42:45):
and you know your offensive line isn't very good, you
better be looking for the guy who's you can get
the ball out too quick. You know there are things
you can you know you can do and understanding the
circle stances that that you're in, but the way and
not a scrambler. Like he's not a running quarterback at all.
(43:08):
He does not have that running gene that his father had.
He's not that guy. And I still think that's what
everyone thinks. Now he's he made the team, but you
you you got to realize people he was a fifth
round draft choice. They weren't sitting there going because I
(43:31):
think everyone thought he wasn't and I think everyone in
they thought the NFL was like, no, we're going to
pass on this guy. We're going to pass on this guy.
And I think I think what happened in the in
the NFL is a is his team said this is
what we see with this guy, and we don't like it.
I think you're foolish to think if anyone thought Shadur
(43:56):
Sanders was like wow, Dion as a quarterback, he would
have been the first pick in the draft that there
no one has anything out for Deion Sanders. Deon Sanders
is one of the most respected football players of all time.
There no one has no one, No one has a
beef with with the no one has a beef with
(44:17):
the fact of him being prime. And in the end,
people don't care about that. Fine, you they didn't care
about it when he played. Look if you show up,
uh great. I mean Chad Johnson kind of took on
that persona Keishawn Johnson took on that. You know, there's
a lot of guys who have taken on this like
(44:40):
media blitz persona about you know everything and and uh
in the NFL, if you can perform and you can play, uh.
Antonio Brown was more of a headache and a hassle
and a problem. But man, he was talented and because
he was talented, like we'll give you a million, We'll
(45:01):
give you a million opportunities. Josh Gordon is another guy
who had a ton of talent, got a lot of
opportunities and the reality is your schadeur will probably get
you know, two or three oportunity, who knows. But he
came to the Cleveland Browns as a fifth round draft choice.
(45:24):
From day one, they have no interest in him being
the starter, and I think people are trying to think
there's some conspiracy and I think they're just like, yeah,
he's a guy that will will look to develop him
potentially because Joe Flacco is not a long term solution.
We don't think Shador Sanders is the guy of our future,
(45:46):
but we don't think he isn't either, So we're going
to bring him into the program. We're going to slowly
develop him and see what happens. But we also, like
this Dylan Gabriel, We're going to see where he goes.
Kind kind of it. It's not that big a deal.
They're they're trying to find a quarterback long term there
(46:07):
and and they certainly are going to be patient. Everyone thinks,
well it should or should just walk in the door
and be the guy from day one, and that's the
end of the story. And that's just not the situation
that he's in. So the question came up, did they
try to make him look bad? And the answer to
that question is that does happen. And it's not so
(46:28):
much that they're trying to make a guy look bad.
It's that they're trying to minimize And maybe they were
trying to minimize Shador from the standpoint of they knew
he wasn't going to be the guy, so they didn't care.
They threw him out there with the scrubs. Whatever. You know,
(46:49):
if you make something happen, great, If not, we don't,
it's not going to change our position of you. But
maybe they said we don't want you to do well
because then we're gonna have to hear about it. So
no matter what we do, we're gonna have to hear
about it. And I'm telling you people that the preseason
does not matter. It does not matter. It matters what
(47:12):
you do in the regular season. And they and Joe
Flacco goes, look, I didn't get a lot of work
early on, and he goes, I just need I need
some time. I need to get out. I need to
fill the game a little bit before the season gets started.
So so it's if someone made a comment like I
already know what Flacco can do, and it's not about
(47:34):
what they can do. It's about what do you do
to get prepared to go into the season, and that's
how they play the Cleveland Browns. If they get to
Shadur Sanders, they're probably not thrilled about where their season's going.
And they have a quarterback because I think they believe
(47:56):
they have a team that can win now. They've got
a really good defense, they've got some pieces offensively, and
they've got a quarterback that they've had success with them past,
and so they're trying to win now and they're not
into that. They probably have been given the ultimatum from
the owner. I'm tired of, you know, years and years
of ineptitude. And the only bright spot we've had is
(48:19):
one Joe Flacco has been our quarterback. And by the way,
the coach has had a history with the quarterback. He
he he trusts him, and that's why he's the guy.
That's why they that's that's why they got him, and
a coach, a coach goes I'll take I'll take the
guy I trust over anybody else because I know what
(48:42):
I know what I'm getting and I know he can
perform for me, and that's that's very comforting to me.
But do guy, But do coaches try to minimum minimize
a guy success. Absolutely, if a guy's they can change
the plays and how they're called there there is no
(49:05):
doubt about it. And a lot of times you know,
and and it just depends on the coordinator. You have
a guy that's you have a good relationship with the
then he's really favorable to like putting you in a
good position. But if a guy, like let's say a player,
the team's doing poorly and a player has a bonus,
(49:26):
then then just stop throwing the ball to him or
or whatever, stop handing the ball off. I mean, yeah,
there's you know, there's a million things that that teams
can do. You're not going to make the playoffs, but
a guy could get a signing bonus, Like why are
we paying him a signing bonus when we're out all right?
Speaking about it's star time to go. So it's been
(49:47):
a fun Monday. We'll be back tomorrow with so much more.
This has been the down and Dirty with Scott Mitchell
here on ESPN seven hundred ninety two ONEFM.
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