0:05

Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints

0:07

Podcast. You'll hear from players,

0:09

coaches, broadcasters, and writers

0:11

that cover the NFL on a daily basis.

0:15

The New Orleans Saints Podcast starts

0:18

right now. Here's

0:20

your host, Aaron Summers.

0:28

Welcome to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. I'm Aaron

0:31

Summers.

0:31

This week we were able to catch up with two

0:33

recently signed players. The

0:35

Saints signing Kellen Mond, who played at

0:38

Texas A and M. He was a four year starter

0:40

as a quarterback. He had over nine

0:43

thousand career passing yards and fifteen

0:45

hundred rushing yards. It's

0:48

kind of cool because when he was there at Texas A

0:50

and M, Saints current center

0:52

Eric McCoy was his center during

0:54

his freshman and sophomore years.

0:56

He was drafted by the.

0:57

Vikings in twenty twenty one,

1:00

which means he has a lot of familiarity

1:02

with Clint Kubiak and Andrew Jinoco.

1:05

Wide receiver Equinimius Saint Brown played

1:08

at Notre Dame under Brian Kelly's

1:10

so he has ties to the Louisiana area. He

1:12

was there from twenty fifteen to twenty

1:15

seventeen and then was drafted in twenty eighteen

1:17

by the Packers. He was most recently

1:20

with the Bears from twenty twenty two to

1:22

twenty twenty three. Equinemius

1:25

has two brothers that actually also play

1:27

football in alman Ross Saint Brown and

1:29

Osyrus Saint Brown. Equinemius

1:32

is the oldest and he comes from a really

1:34

cool family. We had a lot of fun

1:36

talking to both of these players. They joined

1:39

John Deschaser and myself in this podcast.

1:41

We're going to start off with Equanimious

1:43

and then go into our conversation with Kellen

1:46

Equinimius. Thank you so much for joining us on

1:48

the New Orleans Saints podcast. It's great

1:50

to have you guys back in the building. I know,

1:52

obviously your first time here, but

1:55

how are things going so far?

1:56

Those are going well. You know, everyone's really welcoming, great

1:59

coach, staff, great teammates. So it's

2:01

only day three, but I feel like, you

2:03

know, really comfortable here with the team.

2:05

I had a little bit different of a journey once

2:08

you got into the NFL. You know, after

2:10

your first year you dealt with some injuries. How

2:12

are you doing now, How excited are you for just

2:14

a new opportunity.

2:15

I'm doing well and I'm really excited to be here.

2:17

I feel like this is a great opportunity for me, especially

2:20

where I'm at my career.

2:21

And then also, you know, I

2:23

feel like we're gonna win some games here. Yeah.

2:26

Yeah, this seems like an ideal

2:28

fit a team that needs receivers a

2:30

receiver.

2:32

What's your take on that? I mean, what what drew you

2:34

to New Orleans?

2:36

I mean I first coached your nocoe, reached out and

2:39

told people that they would be a good fit

2:41

here. And then of course, you know, agent were

2:43

looking at teams after the first wave of free agency,

2:46

and yeah, no one seemed like a good

2:48

fit for me, as you said, the new receivers, and

2:50

I'm a receiver, so and plus

2:52

the fact that you know, people said they wanted

2:54

me here, I feel like the right fit for

2:56

me.

2:57

You feel like this is the opportunity for you to you

2:59

know, because everything about fitting opportunity

3:01

when it comes to production. Do you feel like this

3:03

is a good fit and opportunity for.

3:05

You and new worlds?

3:06

I do. I do.

3:06

But still, at the end of the day, you got to go out and perform and

3:08

put the work in, so it doesn't matter where you're at.

3:11

But I do feel like this is a good fit for me?

3:13

Is that why you wanted to make sure you're here from

3:15

day one off season workouts, being

3:17

able to just get in the building and be around people.

3:20

I mean, yeah, that too.

3:21

And then off Sly's a new team, new

3:23

quarterbacks, so I know we'll be throwing at some point

3:26

and it's good.

3:27

It's good to get chemstr're going early on.

3:28

You know, what are your off season plans?

3:32

Well, to be here and then after OT's

3:34

ends, I'm gonna go to Germany for like five

3:37

days to do a camp my

3:39

brother out there, and then that's about it, and then it's trained

3:41

in La Yeah.

3:43

How cool is it growing up with brothers

3:45

that also played, and obviously your father

3:47

who's very into athletics.

3:49

Yeah, so growing up

3:51

it was cool because we all trained together, you know, as

3:53

a family. So that was that, you know, that creates a bond,

3:56

strong bond between me and my brothers, also my

3:58

father. But now that my younger brothers also

4:00

in the league, that when we live right by each other,

4:02

we could train together.

4:03

So it's good to have and with the same position.

4:05

So it's good to have a training partner, you know, to

4:07

just keep you motivated, to keep you disciplined and

4:10

just you know, make each other better.

4:11

You know, you mentioned that the camp in Germany.

4:13

How important is that for you because obviously that's

4:15

part of your background with being in Germany. How important

4:18

is that for you to continue to get back

4:20

that way.

4:21

Oh, it's really important because we used to go every summer

4:23

growing up, and then once I had

4:25

high school and we had summer ball, so I stopped going,

4:28

like for a long time until I got to the NFL.

4:29

So for a high school college I didn't go back to Germany.

4:32

And then now that me and my brother are in the NFL

4:34

and football is growing in Germany as well, I feel like

4:36

it's a good idea to go out

4:38

there and spread awareness on football, and also, you

4:40

know, football is growing internationally everywhere, so I

4:42

feel like it's a good opportunity for You've.

4:44

Been asked that's a billion times. But what is it

4:46

like to have a dad who was a three time Mister World.

4:50

No, Yeah, he's a he's a great dad.

4:52

He's a great father, you know, just not just what's

4:54

athletes, just and everything in life. He always taught us life lessons

4:57

and he's always taught us, you know, to be dis

5:00

then to go hard, and you know, he's been on

5:02

our asses since a young age, so I'm really appreciated

5:04

for that. He's definitely a big part of why

5:06

me and my brother made this far. And I

5:08

hope to be, you know, half the dad he was.

5:10

You know how much celebrity did he get from Hard Knocks

5:12

because he was he was kind of not

5:15

prominent in hard Hard Knocks, but he was memorable

5:17

in Hard Knocks when your brother was in it with

5:19

the Lions.

5:20

I'm not sure.

5:21

I haven't, you know, I'm during during the season, I'm not really

5:23

with him, and I see him little bit during the off season, but I'm

5:26

not sure how much you know, fame he got off that.

5:28

Yeah, was it always going to be wide

5:30

receiver for you and for your brothers?

5:33

No?

5:34

So well, I started off, we

5:36

all started off playing running back, okay, because

5:39

in pop warned you're a young kid normally

5:41

throws the ball like that.

5:42

You know, it's just the best player on the team plays running

5:44

back usually.

5:45

And then as it got taller, I grew,

5:47

I grew taller than my younger brothers, I moved a quarterback.

5:50

And then as I got to

5:53

eighth grade, I told

5:55

my dad I want to play receiver because I was

5:57

looking at my bodysock, my body build, I mean,

5:59

my build, and I was like, I feel

6:01

like receivers a fit for me in the NFL.

6:04

So I moved receiver in eighth grade.

6:05

My younger brothers they played running back up until

6:08

I want to say, sophomore year

6:10

or freshman year high school, and then they decided

6:12

to switch to receiver too.

6:14

It's extremely perceptive.

6:15

So you knew in eighth grade that you were on that

6:18

if you wanted to go to the NFL, was gonna have to be at receiver

6:21

because.

6:21

Yeah, because I didn't really want to play quarterbacks,

6:24

so it was running back or receiver, and I was in at all the running

6:26

backs.

6:27

None of them were like I was. Really. I was pretty

6:29

tall.

6:29

I always grew up pretty tall, so I knew I was going to be about

6:32

this height. So I was like, there's not many six five

6:34

running backs in the NFL. So I was like, this, receivers

6:37

is a better career path for me.

6:39

Yeah.

6:39

Usually guys have growth sports later than that, though.

6:41

Yeah. No, I was consistently growing, so I was young.

6:43

Yeah.

6:45

So when you got into the league, obviously getting

6:47

drafted by the Packers, you remember your first

6:49

touchdown? I assume, Yeah,

6:52

how cool is it to catch

6:54

your first touchdown from Aaron

6:56

Rodgers?

6:57

It was cool.

6:57

So I didn't get one of my rookie year, and then second

7:00

year I was an i R the whole year. So my third year I got

7:02

my first touchdown and.

7:04

Even though there was no fans, it

7:07

was COVID year. Oh yeah, it was.

7:08

It was pretty cool. It was a good experience. You

7:11

know, it was a Sunday night, I think,

7:13

and uh, yeah it was. It was a

7:15

great feeling.

7:16

Yeah, well, now you've got to come here and play in the super

7:18

Dome. You have an experience here?

7:20

Have you been every time we played

7:23

her? Twice? Every time I've been hurt.

7:24

So my second year we played

7:26

here, and then last year we played here,

7:28

and I was an i R for four weeks when we played here.

7:30

Yeah, a couple of iconic stadiums I need

7:32

to play in to call your home, you know, Field

7:35

Lambo and then here. This is very

7:37

different from Lambeau obviously, yea,

7:39

but it should be a lot of fun and I know the

7:42

fans. You're going to get a good taste

7:44

of the Saints fans down

7:46

here.

7:46

Yeah, played in Chicago too.

7:48

What was that experience like, because that another

7:50

another iconic story franchise.

7:53

Yeah, I mean it's

7:55

been I want to say, since college, I've been in cold weather.

7:58

So finally I'm happy to be in some.

7:59

More weather because I mean he went to

8:01

the extreme.

8:02

Yeah.

8:02

Yeah, so I went from Nerdame to Green Bay in Chicago,

8:04

So I've been in cold weather since I left high school. So

8:07

and they're all outdoor stadium, So I'm just happy to be

8:09

in some warm weather finally. You know, don't have to look at

8:11

the schedule every year to see what cold games have been playing.

8:14

Just you know, enjoy some warm weather for one.

8:16

So I'm really excited about it.

8:17

Not NFL related, but obviously football related.

8:19

Played for coach for Kelly not to day tell

8:22

us something about Brian Kelly, because you know he's

8:24

quite the guy up a bat rouge.

8:26

Yeah, No, he's a great coach.

8:28

I loved it from the start. He wanted me out

8:30

of high school. He's the big He's one of the main reasons why

8:32

I went to Nerdame coming from California. You

8:34

know, he recruited me much harder than USC Stanford

8:36

did. So he also offered my brothers

8:39

scholarships when they were still in uh freshman

8:42

in eighth grade. So he really wanted

8:44

me to go there, and it was a family ordeal even though my brothers

8:46

didn't go there. You know, he loved

8:48

my family. I loved him and I wish

8:50

him the best here in at Lsu.

8:52

Okay, you speak for three languages, which

8:55

you know I barely speak one, So give

8:57

us something in French.

8:58

I would say that French.

9:00

I don't claim that anymore because I still understand

9:02

it and I speak a little bit, but I haven't spoken it since

9:05

eighth grade. Really, But German I speak every

9:07

every day of my mother.

9:08

Oh yeah, yeah, okay, so your mom speaks

9:10

strictly German.

9:11

Yeah, only German to me my brothers.

9:12

Yeah.

9:13

Really yeah, and now that it's

9:15

normal, I mean it's my first language. It's been like that said

9:17

I was a baby.

9:18

So that maybe a really

9:20

weird question. But when you think, like to

9:23

yourself in your head, what language is it

9:25

in English?

9:26

Yeah?

9:26

Yeah, even though German was your first.

9:28

Yeah, even though German my first language, I

9:30

grew up in the United States, so I feel

9:32

like over time, English

9:34

it's just my main language.

9:35

Now.

9:36

But yeah, for a long time my dad

9:38

had to translate what people were telling

9:40

me to when I was playing flat football because I really

9:42

understanding all the English.

9:43

Yeah, let me ask you this.

9:45

If you want to like say something spicy to official,

9:47

do you do it in German so you won't understand what

9:49

you say it.

9:50

No, I don't say I don't say anything sis, I

9:52

don't get fined, I don't get flagged.

9:54

I let the coaches do that.

9:56

With the Brian Kelly being just down there, And have you talked

9:58

to him about, you know, this area

10:00

at all?

10:01

I have not.

10:02

No, I've not reached out to him. Jake

10:04

Flint won the strength coaches there had reached out to him yesterday.

10:06

Actually, so I looked at the maps.

10:08

He's not right around the corner, So yeah,

10:10

I got to see if I have a reason to go up there.

10:12

It's pretty straight shot though. Yeah, yet

10:16

there seventy five minutes or so.

10:19

Do you keep in touch with anybody from

10:21

Notre Dame since he's not there anymore?

10:25

Now, I'm like seven years removed, so I

10:27

don't know any of the players. Coach staff is pretty

10:29

pretty much all new but me and the players

10:31

that were on my team while I was there. We're still in touch.

10:34

Anybody here that you're looking forward to playing with?

10:36

Obviously Derek Carr quarterback.

10:40

I watched Tyr Matthew growing up in college, so it's cool

10:42

to see him, and I like to see

10:45

my old team J Will Williams. I played with him in Green Bay,

10:47

so it was good to see him. And uh

10:49

so, yeah, I just feel like we have a good team and a

10:51

good chance to you know, make wone

10:53

win it.

10:54

You have another question You've probably been asked a billion

10:56

in two times. What's the origin of the name?

11:00

Can you say your full like, middle names,

11:02

everything together?

11:03

Yeah, equanimis Tristan motep J Saint

11:05

Brown. So my dad's name

11:07

is John h. He was a really a big fan of that

11:09

name, but obviously he's not his choice, so

11:12

he wanted his sons to have unique names.

11:14

And uh yeah, my name comes from the

11:16

word equanimity, which means calm, level

11:18

headed, good and good under pressure.

11:22

Is that how you are?

11:23

Yeah, I would say so. And that has a lot to do with me being an older

11:25

brother as well. You know, I have to have more composure

11:28

dealing with two younger brothers because you know

11:31

they could lash out. But I couldn't at a young age,

11:33

I was bigger and stronger. But I'll

11:35

say, yeah, I feel like it represents to me pretty well.

11:37

So the brothers could be knuckleheads, but you could Yeah,

11:40

yeah.

11:41

They can swing. Won't we hurt me?

11:42

But you know, at a young age, the difference

11:45

of physical strength is pretty severe.

11:47

Yeah. So when did you guys acquire

11:49

the same part of the.

11:51

Same So yeah, So my

11:53

dad when I was born, he

11:56

just Brown is a slave name,

11:58

you know, So he didn't want us to have anything

12:00

to do with that. So he just decided either between

12:03

Von Brown and Saint Brown, and when we were born, he

12:05

just puts Saint Brown on our birth certificate.

12:07

Okay, yeah, yeah, that's so

12:09

cool and you like it?

12:10

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I think it sounds better.

12:12

I think it's a really cool name. I like unique

12:15

names as well. Outside of football,

12:17

What do you.

12:17

Like to do?

12:19

I like the golf and I recently

12:21

started to get into paintball as well, So I just bought

12:23

all my guns.

12:24

So I can't wait to get to that some more and

12:26

some free time. Yeah.

12:29

So you got to like get a bunch of

12:31

people together to play that. You can just go out there and play

12:33

by yourself.

12:33

No, you can play with you can play with random people too. You to

12:35

show up, and there's random people that show up. But usually

12:39

yeah, my brothers will go, my friends will go. My girlfriend

12:41

does two a little bit. So yeah, yeah,

12:47

a little bit, but not much.

12:48

It's more what kind of hide and seek?

12:50

Yeah, no, it's it's more mental, But the

12:53

physical aspect is more like it gets draining a

12:55

little bit, it gets hot out there, and the breathing,

12:57

the mask and stuff like that.

12:58

Yeah, I mean again, hit by

13:00

a paintball is not fine.

13:01

Yeah, yeah, it hurts. That's all right, It's

13:03

not that bad.

13:04

I don't know.

13:05

Yess, you are tougher than I am, which makes sense

13:08

when you think back just on the draft and

13:10

your time getting drafted and

13:12

that whole process.

13:13

It's next week. You know what do you remember

13:15

the most about it?

13:17

It was terrible waiting waiting until

13:19

six round, watching some kids get drafted

13:21

before me that you know, I thought weren't better

13:23

than me, and just waiting

13:25

with your whole families. That was the longest

13:28

three days of my life, honestly, So

13:30

I'm glad that's over. Don't want to experience that

13:32

ever again.

13:33

Yeah, did that fuel you once you got

13:35

into the league.

13:35

Yeah for sure.

13:36

Yeah yeah yeah, and

13:38

still still definitely feeling it a little

13:40

bit.

13:41

Yeah No, I just nah, I just don't think

13:43

about it ever. Yeah, that's

13:45

going. Yeah.

13:46

So what do you know about this roster composition?

13:48

I mean, obviously I would imagine you studied the

13:50

team to a degree before you signed

13:52

with the team.

13:53

I mean I just looked at before I signed.

13:55

Look at the receivers. Obviously.

13:56

I knew Derek car was here, and I

13:59

knew this that some of the I watched his look the staff,

14:01

and then just the receivers. Really, I didn't really look at much

14:03

of the defense. I kind of know the team a little bit from

14:05

playing them. I'm playing against some over the years, so

14:07

I didn't have to do too much research.

14:09

Well, you'll be catching passes soon

14:12

and we'll be out there watching you.

14:14

Thank you appreciate it.

14:15

We're looking forward to it too. Yeah, thank you

14:17

so much for spend some time talking with us.

14:18

Pleasure, Kellen.

14:22

Thank you for joining us on the New Orleans Saints podcast.

14:25

Is it nice to hear that New Orleans Saints

14:27

because that's your team now?

14:29

Yeah, it's been a blessing and came

14:31

in for physicals, and you know, we're already jumping into

14:34

workouts and meetings.

14:35

So glad to be here.

14:36

Got a really good quarterback room, so glad to get

14:39

back to work.

14:40

What was the process like signing here with the

14:42

Saints.

14:44

It started with the workout and it was extremely

14:46

last minute, and the

14:49

found out about like seven

14:51

o'clock one night, and

14:53

we were trying to get me to come work out, and

14:56

so basically I had to find

14:59

a babysitter from my son and everything. And I

15:01

actually woke up at two am, left

15:03

for the airport out to drive to the farthest

15:06

airport from my house in Houston,

15:08

and so I five point thirty flight,

15:11

landing here at six thirty and I was thrown by seven

15:13

thirty. So yeah, I was like, I've

15:15

been waiting for this workout.

15:16

Dang, killing this.

15:18

Journey for fit and opportunity. How

15:21

does it lead to New Orleans? I mean, what makes New Orleans

15:23

the place for you right now?

15:25

I think definitely with Clint Kubiak

15:27

and Jenoko being here, you know, having

15:30

familiar you know, personnel

15:33

and stuff like that within the offense is something I've

15:35

been comfortable with and even going

15:37

through meetings now there are new things

15:40

with you know, Clint's evolution and different

15:42

offensive coordinators he's been with and different

15:45

roles that he's had.

15:46

But definitely that and then

15:48

just you.

15:48

Know, you kind of hear about the culture here, you

15:51

know a lot of great stability within the front

15:53

staff and stuff like that, and

15:55

just again to have an opportunity

15:57

to be able to compete for a backup job where you

16:00

know, a lot of places in the league, you know, they they want

16:02

their you know stamped veteran

16:04

guy who's you know played and you know big

16:07

time games or at least came in and played. So

16:10

one of the few spots that is you know, getting

16:12

the opportunity for guys to come in and compete.

16:14

How much does it.

16:15

Help, I guess to come in and have that familiarity because

16:17

you might I don't necessarily want to say

16:20

hit the ground running, but you might be a little bit more advanced

16:22

in the concepts than most.

16:24

Yeah, I mean it definitely helps out.

16:26

And you know there's pros

16:28

and constant being in a bunch of systems and you

16:30

know, I've been with Kevin Stefanski, who was

16:33

you know, fairly similar and he kind of runs

16:35

his own type of system, and you

16:37

know, Shane Styken runs his own style along

16:39

with Kevin O'Connell. So

16:42

it definitely does help. When you've been in multiple different

16:44

systems, you know, you you have a familiar

16:47

way of understanding how to read these different

16:49

concepts and there's slight tweaks. But

16:52

then the difficult part is you've

16:54

learned so many systems and some

16:57

systems have carryover and some systems

16:59

have the same words that have a different

17:01

meaning. So just being able

17:03

to get in here and be able to talk with the quarterbacks,

17:06

talk with Jenoco, and be

17:08

able to just kind of hash down on you know what the

17:10

system is, you know what's what's the language of the system.

17:13

Okay, can we talk about familiarity with the center?

17:15

Oh yeah, Eric McCoy was your center

17:18

when you were a freshman and sophomore in college.

17:19

Yeah yeah, yeah, Eric was my center,

17:22

and actually Caesar was my

17:24

center in high school.

17:25

Oh wow.

17:26

Yeah, So Caesar was my center at IMG

17:28

Academy, and I was

17:30

with Eric my freshman and sophomore

17:32

year at Texas A and M. So both

17:34

of them are the real good friends

17:37

of mine. You know, he's still a closet center, I

17:39

mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, he

17:41

was just downstairs talking about his swag as

17:43

a center, as a guard. Yeah,

17:46

you know, he took Friud in it, as

17:48

you know, we're sixteen years old,

17:50

and still takes Frida in

17:52

it to this day.

17:53

You know, Well, I got to stay on seas for a second because

17:55

his college coach said he was a pretty boy.

17:56

You know, he's a big dude. He's a pretty boy.

17:58

It's yeah, runs in his blood. That

18:00

runs the season of blood.

18:02

He's always worried about how he looks

18:04

in his game day fits.

18:06

You know, how is this I guess

18:08

is this an exciting process? I mean, is it

18:10

kind of like a recruiting process

18:13

for.

18:13

You when you go into you know, going to a different

18:15

situation and the team's got to say, hey, will

18:17

you come and look at us? Will you come and give us a chance? I

18:19

mean, is it kind of like that? Is it similar to college?

18:23

You know, I think maybe

18:25

whenever you first come in, but I think, you

18:27

know, once you get years stamped on and you

18:30

realize it is a business and nothing

18:33

has ever promised in this league, and it's

18:35

truly. You got to come in every single day, you got

18:38

to work and you just

18:40

got to kill every single day. That's kind of the mindset.

18:42

So that's everything, you

18:44

know, learning and meetings, you know, even

18:47

communicating with guys, building relationships

18:49

around the building, and just

18:51

really being ready for when your time comes,

18:53

you know, OTAs and then training camping

18:56

into the season.

18:57

You know, I know, obviously you don't wish for anybody

18:59

to get injury or anything like that, but how

19:02

I guess chomping at the bid are you to

19:04

have that opportunity to showcase those skills

19:06

because I mean you put some put up some phenomenal numbers

19:09

that takes us in it.

19:10

Yeah, I mean, you never wish

19:12

any you know, heard on any type of quarterback

19:15

or really any player, but you

19:17

do understand that this league guys

19:19

get hurt. You know, it's a long season, you know, starting

19:21

with training camp and then you know, even

19:23

if your team makes it to the into the playoffs.

19:26

So and then we saw it with

19:28

a lot of quarterbacks went down last year or so.

19:31

You know, it's always about being

19:33

ready when your name is called, and it

19:35

doesn't matter if you've got to go on for one play, two

19:37

plays, or you know, finish off the season. And

19:41

really the goal is you know, if you go in there's no

19:43

there's no drop off. So every single

19:45

time you step in the game as a

19:47

backup, you you must prepare like a starter,

19:49

and your goal is to play like a starter.

19:51

What did you hear about the culture here?

19:53

Because you stepped into a room that's that

19:55

you know there's gonna be some competition here. You got four the quarterbacks

19:58

in that in that room, and you know, but what

20:00

did you hear about the culture here that made it?

20:02

It's such a draw.

20:04

It's actually something I heard about when I was in college

20:07

and my agent represents Alvin

20:10

so H, so we've

20:12

always heard about it, and kind of even going back to

20:15

Sean Payton and when Drew was here, and you

20:17

know, it's always great when you're able to have, you

20:19

know, a stable head coach and a stable quarterback

20:21

and then be able to fill in pieces around.

20:24

So that was kind of my first introduction.

20:26

And then you know, just I don't know,

20:28

I think constantly watching Drew Brees

20:30

tape Drew Brees tape, and sometimes

20:32

when you're able to kind of keep stability,

20:34

usually you can make assumptions

20:37

that the culture is always really good. So and

20:39

then just getting here, you know, being a being

20:41

able to talk to Kai and you know, Mike parents

20:43

are and those people. You definitely

20:45

see it's a really good culture here

20:47

and you know, it's definitely time to win.

20:50

So you said that you played obviously

20:52

with some of the coaches that are here now, But what does it say about

20:54

you that they wanted you back like that,

20:57

your work ath the way that you approach the game.

21:00

Yeah, I think that's really big. And you

21:03

know, usually you know it's you

21:05

know, I'm thankful to be able to, you know, get different

21:07

opportunities, but definitely trying to

21:09

find some sort of stability and really

21:11

just showed my worth. And so it's one

21:13

of those things where I haven't got the opportunity

21:16

to play, but you know, I feel

21:18

like I've gotten extremely better, you

21:20

know, from the time I was with Clinton, you

21:22

know, with Andrew back in twenty

21:24

twenty one, and you know, it's definitely night and

21:26

day of you know, my you know, my

21:28

passing, my operation, you know, just

21:31

and just full on command of offense. And

21:33

so I'm looking to be able to showcase that.

21:35

Sure outside of football, what do

21:37

you like to do?

21:39

About two years ago, I picked up photography.

21:41

So I was going to say, because you shot the

21:43

Big ten champions, Yeah.

21:45

Yeah, I did.

21:46

So, Yeah, that was that was kind of

21:48

another last minute deal

21:50

that my agent was able to get. And so while

21:52

I was in Indie last year, they

21:56

are like, do you want to shoot? Shoot the game? So we

21:58

did some stuff or I did some stuff with and

22:00

the bing ten Championship game and

22:02

so yeah, that was awesome experience.

22:04

It's definitely weird coming from a

22:06

player's perspective where

22:09

you're kind of battling out with cameraman on

22:11

who can get in the front where I usually I'm on

22:13

the other side someone's taking a.

22:14

Picture of me.

22:16

So I'm like, I'm not going to fight with y'all, cameraman, I'll

22:18

get another shot. Yeah.

22:20

It is all about positioning and stuff like that

22:22

when people they get the.

22:23

Territorial Oh yeah, And I wasn't

22:25

that way, So I'm like, I'm not gonna fight

22:28

with y'all. And I think for me, you

22:30

know, it's not something that I'm I guess

22:32

it's not a part of my job.

22:33

More leisures.

22:34

So it's definitely a lot more

22:36

comfortable and you know, a lot more fun.

22:38

I guess you could say, yeah, would you like to photograph?

22:43

It started off with like street photography, graffiti,

22:46

and stuff like that, and then kind

22:48

of moved into like architecture. So I took a trip

22:51

to Senegal, West Africa and I did some stuff

22:53

out there, and then I maybe trying to plan

22:56

a trip to Spain during

22:58

this summer break to see if I can do some nice

23:02

photography out there.

23:03

Are you printing your own pictures and stuff like that?

23:06

Not yet.

23:06

We I've been trying to figure out what's the

23:08

best way for me to come out so people can you

23:11

know, buy my work.

23:12

Yeah, very cool. You mentioned

23:14

a babysitter, So tell me about your family.

23:17

Me and my girlfriend, we have a now

23:20

fifteen month old Okay, so he's

23:22

he's on the verge of walking right now, so that's

23:25

like our next step. He's an extremely

23:27

fast crawler and I think he depends on that,

23:30

and we're trying to like it's time

23:32

to start walking, and every parent tells

23:35

me like, hey, no, you don't want that. Like once,

23:37

once he starts walking, it's it's a whole nother

23:39

journey.

23:40

Absolutely.

23:41

But yeah, it's been amazing having a son.

23:43

It's been awesome. When he's ready, he

23:45

will yeah pull, oh

23:48

yeah, he's he's timing going up the stairs

23:50

downstairs, yeh, it's just amount of time.

23:52

Yeah.

23:53

Are you looking forward to the moment that he can

23:55

run out on the field at a.

23:57

Few years Yeah, I think that'll

23:59

be fun. He wear a jersey and

24:02

yeah, obviously he won't know what's going on, but be able

24:04

to see his dad on a field, that'll be awesome.

24:06

Yeah.

24:07

Do you hope that he plays football?

24:09

Yeah? I think so.

24:10

I mean he's in it. He's in

24:12

the top one percentile. I know it's early, but

24:14

he's in the top one percentile for his height right

24:16

now. So he's very long,

24:19

extremely long. And I don't

24:21

know if he's going to be a basketball player because

24:23

once you start pushing the six to four, the

24:25

six to six range, I mean I

24:27

would love for him to be a quarterback, but once you start

24:29

pushing past sixty six, he may

24:32

be a hooper.

24:32

Yeah, definitely. You got to be open

24:34

to whatever happens.

24:35

Oh yeah, yeah.

24:37

What are you looking forward to most about

24:39

the season getting started?

24:42

I think just getting back on the field. Yeah, yeah,

24:45

you know, it's so hard

24:47

to replicate in the offseason. Just get in on the

24:49

field throwing routes, but just something

24:51

about the adrenaline, you know, being able

24:53

to practice get in reps and being able

24:55

to execute out a high level. I think you

24:58

can't replicate that in the offseason. So yeah,

25:01

got a really great QB room too, And so

25:03

I've been fortunate enough to be able to be with

25:06

you know, Kirk Cousins and Deshaun and Jacoby

25:08

Brissette and that was with Gardner last year.

25:10

So I've had a lot of great QB rooms.

25:12

So looking forward to it this year.

25:15

Yeah.

25:16

Well, I appreciate the time. Thank you so much for joining

25:18

us on the podcast. We look forward to

25:20

seeing you out there soon.

25:21

Thank you.

25:21

I appreciate you.

25:23

Thanks for listening to the New Orleans

25:25

Saints Podcast, joining us three

25:28

times per week on New Orleans Saints

25:30

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