0:04

What's up, people, it's your boy Camjay back

0:07

with another episode of Off the Edge with

0:09

Cam Jordan. Now, as we gear

0:11

it for another exciting season, I wanted to

0:13

reflect on some of the incredible guests I had the pleasure

0:15

of sitting down with last season. But hey, don't

0:17

worry, though, I got you. New episodes

0:20

coming your way real soon. Relax,

0:22

I got you. But in the meantime, in between

0:25

time, let's rewind and

0:27

play back some of my favorite interviews from

0:29

season one. This week, I'm

0:31

bringing you an interview with the true leader of men, a

0:34

New Orleans savior, a man who's

0:36

won a Super Bowl right down

0:38

under whether Super Bowl's coming up this upcoming year.

0:41

Some call him Breezes. I call him Drew Orleans.

0:43

That's right, folks, I'm talking about none other than my

0:46

former quarterback, Drew Breeze.

0:48

Take a listen, hey,

0:59

it's my honor, my privilege of bringing a

1:01

teammate, a leader of sorts,

1:03

a leader of men, because beyond just football,

1:06

he does everything well. I don't know who he doesn't leave.

1:08

You look up to him. I look up to him. The world looks up to

1:10

him. It's Drew Orleans. Drew Breesiana. It's

1:13

it's it's Drew's way. It just is what it is. Drew

1:16

Brees Breeziana. My dog Mark

1:18

V would hit him with all types of nicknames while

1:20

he was throwing nice ball number nine. I

1:22

see, Drew Breesiana is sailing

1:24

today. You know, those type of situations as

1:26

we were practiced from twenty

1:28

eleven through twenty twenty when I was teammates.

1:30

He was part of the New Orleans Saints from two thousand

1:34

shit nine six two

1:36

thousand and six to twenty twenty, who

1:39

fifteen years of New Orleans. Drew Brees.

1:41

I appreciate you tapping in.

1:42

With me, big dog.

1:43

Welcome to Cam, you know, off the

1:46

Edge with Cam Jeordan Jay.

1:47

You make me feel good. Man, I missed I

1:50

I don't have a hype. I don't have a hype guy anymore.

1:52

You know. Ah when I'm just when

1:54

I'm feeling down or depressed or get you know, just

1:56

like down on myself, I just gotta I

1:58

just gotta hit you up. You you and

2:00

Mark Man, y'all like ma yell

2:02

a.

2:02

My guys, come on, man, you're

2:06

you're my goat. You're my go you

2:08

know, like nobody in the history of the NFL

2:10

has ever thrown for four more five thousand yard

2:12

seasons. You know, now that you're retired, I can say

2:14

these things with confidence.

2:15

Nobody's gonna do it.

2:17

You know, super Bowl MVP. You

2:20

know been to Super Bowl should we could have gone back

2:22

to two or three of them in twenty eleven and

2:24

twenty nineteen, like could

2:26

have could have been, could have been, records,

2:29

could have been, could have been us?

2:30

Hey, I wouldn't. I wouldn't trade it. I wouldn't. I wouldn't

2:33

trade any of it. Man, those those those fifteen

2:35

years, and shoot, we had a lot. We had ten

2:37

seasons together, Cam ten

2:40

ten. I mean you're you're

2:42

that. You came in as that that young pup,

2:45

you know, talented but kind of

2:47

big eyes right like trying to figure it

2:49

out. And now look at you, man, you're like you're

2:51

the old dog. You're the one everybody

2:53

goes to giving out words

2:56

of wisdom and advice based on all

2:58

this wealth of knowledge and experience you have.

3:00

Now, Man, no doubt, who's who's

3:02

who's your who's your you know, who's your jeweler,

3:04

Who's who's your sup guy? Who's your

3:07

Like, I'm like, did we get to football. Yeah,

3:10

Hey, who's like, who's

3:12

your barber? I don't have a barber. I've been doing

3:14

my hair like for so long. I got a great

3:16

barber now. But like you know, like who's your massuse?

3:19

I can't get you my massuse because I use him

3:21

and I can't have him being too congested.

3:23

Right, Yeah, there's some secrets that just you know,

3:26

can't give out, you know.

3:27

Absolutely, But like I said, Leaders of Men,

3:29

Drew, let's talk about this. My kid

3:31

plays in your league. I say it's to Drew

3:33

League. I believe the name of the league

3:36

is FNA. I call it Drew

3:38

Orleans Ball. But you started

3:40

that up a couple of years back. When did that start

3:42

off? How did you get to New Orleans?

3:44

I coach. I've coached just about all

3:46

my my boys, so let's see.

3:48

It's hard to believe too. My boys are now fourteen, thirteen

3:51

and eleven, so ninth grade,

3:53

seventh grade, sixth grade. But I

3:56

had a chance to coach him all the way up. So yeah, we

3:58

we started. Yeah, our bailing.

4:01

It was actually this started when Baalin was in kindergarten. He was

4:03

playing in a flag football league and

4:07

it was a good league. But it was one of those things where I just saw

4:09

all kinds of areas where it could improve,

4:11

from just the overall family experience

4:13

to the rules to and

4:16

then it really just got me on this path of you

4:19

know, youth football is interesting

4:21

because, yeah, once you get to tackle, it

4:24

is what it is. But the flag game

4:27

is so so different because

4:30

a there's all these different leagues and they're playing

4:32

by different rules. Some are five on five, some aer six

4:34

on six, some are seven on seven. Different

4:37

field size is different, flag like all

4:39

kinds of stuff. And I was like, how do I standardize

4:41

this to a point where

4:43

this becomes the type of

4:45

flag football that's played that everybody really

4:47

embraced. Is because it's safe,

4:50

it's fun, and it prepares kids

4:52

in the best way for tackle football if

4:54

they choose to want to go on and play tackle. So

4:56

that was really the kind of the objective

4:59

was how do we create the gold standard for flag football

5:01

that kids can play and enjoy with

5:04

with like the reality

5:07

that you know, maybe thirty to

5:09

forty percent of all the kids that play flag

5:11

football end up going on and playing tackle, But

5:13

that's not the point. The point, I think for me and

5:16

for you is football has meant so much in our

5:18

life, and it's it's

5:20

taught us so much about life. We've developed

5:22

so many traits, qualities, attributes

5:24

as a result of football, and I think

5:26

it's important that every kid gets a chance to experience

5:28

that. And it doesn't have to be the tackle level, but how

5:30

can we help them develop a love and a passion for the game

5:33

that they'll carry with them forever. And

5:35

if it wasn't for flag football, they may never get a

5:37

chance to experience it. So how do we create the

5:39

experience possible? So that's that was like

5:41

the origin and I

5:44

think the you know, really the story

5:46

behind howf ANDA started, and that was in twenty

5:48

seventeen in New Orleans. We

5:50

started off with three leagues and

5:53

then brought it to California, and then the

5:55

leagues started popping up in Texas and in the Midwest

5:57

and other places. So now we've got thirty leagues nationwide,

6:00

represented about eight states. And

6:02

it's awesome, man, it's awesome. Right.

6:04

I was like, it's taken off

6:06

my daughter, My five year old Nia, plays

6:09

flag in football. She just scored her first she

6:11

just scored her first touchdown this past weekend, and

6:13

as a dad, I was like, oh, she's finally in there.

6:16

Because at five years old, you usually have like

6:18

the really really good kids that I swear

6:20

have been training since birth, and you have everybody

6:23

else at a five years old, they're just like, oh

6:25

and there's an ant hill right here, and just the

6:28

gay man. It's like complete

6:30

opposites. And now, like you know, you see

6:32

that difference. But she just scored her first touchdown and

6:35

previously she was on soccer and now she's like, Dad,

6:37

I like playing flag football. I was like, hey,

6:39

baby, that's all I want to do, expose you to something different.

6:42

Yeah. Well, here's the other thing is,

6:44

you know, they just they just made the announcement

6:46

last week that flag football will

6:48

be in the twenty twenty eight Olympics

6:51

in Los Angeles, unveiled

6:53

October. It's going to be a five on five version,

6:55

which I think is probably more

6:57

appropriate just as you think about, you

7:00

know, the worldwide kind

7:02

of embracing of the

7:04

sport of football that probably

7:06

kind of brings to competitive levels, you know, more

7:09

more equal to you know, you

7:11

know, across all countries. But you saw

7:14

it this year with what they did with NFL teams

7:16

basically having a chance to partner with different

7:18

countries. Like I went over to France on behalf

7:20

of the Saints, you know, so that France is kind

7:22

of like our sister country, you know, from the New Orleans Saints.

7:25

So it's one of our charges now, you know, across

7:27

all the NFL teams is to you know, partner

7:29

with a country around the world and then help provide

7:32

support resources to help grow the game of

7:34

football in those countries, so

7:36

that here in five years we're going to have

7:38

young young men and young ladies out

7:41

there representing their countries playing

7:43

flag football. So what a great way

7:45

to continue to grow the sport around the world. And also

7:47

I think for young girls, give them

7:49

a vision for what's possible. Right Like, young girls

7:52

up until this point have been playing flag football, and hey,

7:54

it's fun, but at some point it ends. Well

7:56

right now, doesn't necessarily have to end

7:58

right like that chance on and represent

8:01

your country at the Olympics, becoming a list

8:03

and doing that.

8:03

Drew, I'm not saying you're timeless, but I'm

8:06

saying, like you were slinging the rocket forty

8:08

years old, twenty twenty eight, are you are you? Are you still

8:10

gonna try and get out there and sling that thing? One good time.

8:12

I seen Look, I.

8:13

Just saw you.

8:14

I just saw you last weekend, Drew. I

8:17

saw the heater. I saw the heater with the left.

8:19

Did you see how I was gonna say? You saw me throwing left?

8:22

Look if I trained, Man, it's

8:24

so tampting, Bro, it's.

8:26

So tamped I

8:28

might change. This is about twenty twenty eight, Like I

8:31

may lose thirty to try and get in.

8:33

Bro, I would. I'm more so I

8:35

think I've passed the baton on to the young,

8:37

to the young Breeze kids, you know what I'm saying, And

8:40

to Tank, to Tank Jordan. You know, I

8:42

think I think I think we're passing the baton on to the

8:44

next generation to go represent

8:46

the US and the Olympics.

8:48

I'm saying, like your oldest kid to be like eighteen

8:50

or nineteen.

8:51

That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Like we're

8:54

here right about time.

8:56

Member, Hey, I might I

8:58

might have to hold it down for the joy and try

9:00

and just drop thirty. Be like, yeah, what's up?

9:02

I'm here for this five on five?

9:04

Yeah? Yeah? Uh Megan,

9:06

Megan, Mega Tribe.

9:07

That's what I'm saying, Hey, treat,

9:09

treat me like Jimmy and Jimmy in twenty thirteen,

9:12

if you see me in en zone, you know it's good.

9:15

Right right? TDB? That was

9:17

that was That was Jimmy and My saying back in the

9:19

day. TDB stand for throw

9:22

me, throw me damn if

9:25

I'm if I'm in the in zone, I'm open. Okay,

9:28

nobody else around here in six seventy

9:30

I'm open. Nobody.

9:32

Nobody know why I've never

9:34

actually asked you this question, because you know, I'm

9:37

just thinking. I'm thinking like draft comparables,

9:39

because now I got I'm thinking about my kids in the draft,

9:41

Your kids in the draft. Every year

9:43

they come out with like those comparables, right the next

9:46

Cam Jordan, the next you know, I

9:49

have not seen the next Drew Brees. And

9:51

is there one? Have you ever seen somebody comparative?

9:54

And I only bring this up because Toron said

9:57

two is like the next Drew Brees. Toron

9:59

arms it over in Miami was like, man, he's

10:01

got a lot of measurables, a lot of comparables

10:03

to Drew Brees. And I said, huh.

10:07

Yeah, okay, so I think

10:09

I think the first I think the first thing, Well,

10:12

first off, everybody and Look, Sean Pagne

10:14

used to say this all the time, Like we sit around

10:16

and talk about personnel. You know, you're trying to see

10:18

how different guys fit into the system, whether

10:20

it's offense or defense. And look,

10:23

we're all visual people, and so if you can

10:25

anytime you can take someone

10:29

and and give them a comparison, I think

10:31

it just gives you an immediate vision as to oh,

10:33

okay, like now, now I see

10:35

how that guy fits into this offense because I

10:38

know the guy's skill set that you were just talking about.

10:40

If we're saying this guy can eventually

10:42

be that guy, all right, I've got a vision for him.

10:44

Right, So, I think the first the first

10:47

thing I think of when

10:49

somebody says like, oh, that's a Drew Brees. First off,

10:51

you're talking about a short quarterback. Like, let's just be

10:53

honest, you you're talking about a guy who's like,

10:56

you know, on the shorter side, right, so maybe

10:58

part of the six foot and under like yours truly

11:01

right here? Whoa

11:03

a bro? I appreciate that it's

11:05

babe, But I like to think

11:08

that we've changed the perception or

11:10

the misconception about the short quarterback.

11:13

Right Like back when I was first

11:15

coming into the league like that was a big deal.

11:17

Even ten years ago, that was a big deal. I

11:19

think enough has happened now where you

11:22

see the Russell Wilson's, the Kyler Murray's,

11:24

the Baker mayfields some of these other guys

11:26

now that are man, they're like six foot six one,

11:29

and I don't even it's not even discussed

11:31

anymore. Like that used to be the

11:34

first thing out of somebody's mouth if they were trying

11:36

to, you know, talk bad about a kid coming

11:38

out of my eyes he's only six

11:40

foot. Nobody says that anymore, Right, So,

11:42

I think the game has evolved and changed enough to where

11:45

maybe that misconception's gone. But then,

11:47

like, let's look at the other things. Okay, I was never the strongest

11:49

armed guy, right Like, I felt like

11:52

I could make all the throws, but I was

11:54

forced to throw with anticipation because

11:57

it you know, maybe I didn't have as strong

11:59

and all arm as some of the other guys in the league.

12:02

Well what is throwing with anticipation force

12:04

you to do? It forces you to be prepared

12:07

and to be on the same page with your receivers,

12:09

to have incredible chemistry, to know what

12:12

the defense is because You've got to know where

12:14

defenders are and where they're not, because

12:16

guess what, you aren't always going to see those

12:18

defenders, but you're going to know the spot and you're gonna

12:20

have to trust that. I've always felt like accuracy

12:23

is trust and anticipation, right,

12:25

Trust, trust to play, trust the coverage,

12:27

trust the guy you're throwing to anticipate

12:30

the throw, and the ball is where

12:32

it needs to be. And you got to expect your gott to be there

12:34

too. Why do you expect them to do that because

12:36

you've worked at it? Right, because you worked at it.

12:38

Did you develop that and Purdue

12:40

or the Chargers or when did you didn't?

12:43

Just like you weren't straight out of Texas. Like

12:45

anticipation, I got no, but

12:47

I kind of was, though.

12:49

I mean that's to

12:51

me that that's always been my

12:53

survival mechanism. You know, like

12:56

you learn to survive, right, I mean

12:58

call it what you want animals in the wild, like

13:00

right, like you chameleons changing

13:03

color so they don't get attacked or you know, like like they

13:05

blend in Like that's you. You have to

13:07

do what you have to do in order to survive

13:09

and get the job done. And so if

13:11

you're not a strong arm guy. You have to learn to

13:14

throw with anticipation or else ball's

13:16

not going to get there on time. Ball's going to get knocked down,

13:18

picked off. I'm not going to succeed. So

13:21

I look at guys like toa, I look at

13:23

guys like Brock Purty. To

13:26

me, maybe those are two of the guys that are most similar

13:28

from the perspective of Hey, they're shorter

13:31

quarterbacks, right, they're

13:33

not the strongest armed guys. I

13:36

would say, look man

13:38

like, they've got a lot of experience. I mean, to

13:40

two had a lot of college snaps. Brock

13:43

Party at Iowa State had a lot of college snaps.

13:45

I was a three year starter in college. I think that's

13:47

something that as scouts

13:50

look at, you know, young qbs that can't

13:52

be underestimated, and that is

13:54

their experienced level in college. Like

13:56

look at the hype that was put around

13:59

guys like Trubisky, Trey Lance.

14:01

And I'm not saying those guys aren't going to

14:03

become, you know, great players, but those

14:06

guys only had eleven games

14:09

or less in college. Right,

14:11

So you think about the number of games, the number snaps,

14:13

the amount of experience, Like you kind of expect

14:15

them to come in and be this world beater.

14:17

Well, no, that takes time, right,

14:19

It takes time because it takes experience, and it

14:21

takes reps and just time on

14:24

task. Right. So I

14:26

think these are all things that as you look at like

14:28

this next generation of QBS man, experience

14:31

in college is so important, right, and

14:33

then you know what, height's no longer an

14:35

issue, Like can this dude process the game?

14:37

Does he have leadership ability? Can he

14:39

throw anticipation? You know?

14:42

Is can he you know? Does he

14:44

fight back from adversity? Like does he have some mental

14:46

toughness and fortitude like overcome tough situations

14:49

because everybody's going to face those tough situations

14:51

even within the course of the game. Does this guy have a mechanism

14:54

where he can move on from bad plays and

14:56

get on to the next play and not

14:58

let that effect you know what's going to hap and next to get

15:00

right back on track.

15:02

Can you quantify that as an attribute?

15:04

Though? Like can you be like, oh, what is his mentality

15:06

as from drafting somebody Like

15:08

you're like, oh, you can you can only deal with your

15:10

tangibles? How do you Is there a gauge

15:12

for that?

15:13

Well, no, I'd say this, like, man, like I'm

15:16

going to bring up names that that you know because we played

15:18

with these guys. Like Pierre Thomas was the first guy

15:21

that came to mind. Pierre Thomas, undrafted

15:23

free agent out of University Illinois.

15:26

Right, nobody's heard of Pierre Thomas. Now

15:28

if you really start looking at it, Pierre Thomas,

15:31

I think was the all time Big Ten yardage

15:36

leader in return yards

15:38

in the history of the Big Ten. Like nobody would

15:41

ever know that, But like that tells me

15:43

this dude does stuff when he has the ball in

15:45

his hands, all right, number one, number two, This

15:47

dude comes in and basically makes our twenty

15:49

seventeen by blocking

15:52

like two punts in pre season because

15:54

we had drafted Antonio Pittman

15:57

a Roman round

16:00

the fourth round right that year, And here's Tt

16:03

coming in as an undrafted free agent, and basically

16:05

he's only going to make the team on special teams, right,

16:08

So he ends up making the team, But he plays

16:10

so well in the preseason that like we're forced to cut this

16:12

other guy, right, and then

16:14

he starts off the year at like four string running

16:17

back. He blocks upon on Sunday Night football at

16:19

Seattle when they're undefeated No. Seven,

16:22

right, and then before the end of the year. This dude's

16:24

the starter. The last Dame was Teason who played at

16:26

Chicago and one hundred yards rushing, one hundred yards receiving.

16:28

It's like the first time it's ever been done in Saint's history.

16:32

Drew Drew, what year is that? And

16:34

why do you remember?

16:35

Dude? I got because I got crazy recall when

16:37

it comes to this kind of stuff, because like these are life

16:39

lessons, right, Like these are the things that I'll

16:42

sit up at night and tell my kids, or like something

16:44

will happen in a game and I'll be like, let

16:46

me tell your story. Let me tell you a story about somebody.

16:48

Right, And like Peter Thomas,

16:51

here's the dude who was just constantly

16:53

sold short, like man, you're

16:56

not good enough, We're not going to draft you, Like you don't have

16:58

to make the team on special teams that

17:00

like, this dude did nothing but

17:02

earn it, like every single

17:04

day, right until all of a sudden it

17:06

was time for him to get his opportunity. And guess what, he

17:09

was ready. He was ready, and

17:11

he wasn't afraid of failure. He wasn't

17:13

afraid of adversity. He wasn't afraid of

17:15

challenges or stuff being hard because they'd

17:17

been through it. Man, he's been through it his whole life, right

17:19

all the way up through his career too. How many times

17:22

have we seen guys come in this league and man,

17:24

it's just been spoon fed to him. It's

17:26

been given to him. They never really had to never

17:28

really had to face it like that kind of adversity

17:31

or earn it like it's it's just been coddled a

17:33

little bit and all

17:35

of a sudden stuff gets hard, you

17:37

know, And I've never had to face this before.

17:39

I don't know what this is like. And then going to tank

17:42

and they don't have that mechanism just to be able to like,

17:44

man, this is just part of life, right, this is

17:46

what's here to make me better, and you know, like,

17:48

I'm ready for this. It's

17:50

a it's it's it's probably

17:53

the main thing that's wrong with the transfer portal right

17:55

now. You're just you're just making it

17:57

easy on everybody. Oh, you're you're unhappy,

17:59

Okay, you can you always have an out.

18:01

Well, guess what happens if you be in a situation where you don't have

18:03

an out and you got to figure it out, you

18:06

know what I'm saying, Like, that's we

18:08

are depriving a lot of these college kids

18:10

the opportunity to face adversity

18:13

and to develop the traits and attributes they're

18:15

gonna help them be the best they can be, not

18:17

just in in athletics.

18:18

But in life on and off the field.

18:21

Driving these kids, man, let's let's

18:23

make them work for it, make them earn it. I'll

18:25

get off my soalbox now care.

18:27

No, I mean, I'm with you,

18:29

but I also I'll be seeing these kids leave for these

18:32

bigger nil deals And I'm like, and that's what

18:34

you get when you ball out, you get a bigger

18:36

call. I said, that's yeah.

18:37

So what do we Yeah, so what's what

18:39

are we putting? What are we putting the priority

18:41

on? Are we putting on education? Are

18:44

we putting on being in the best system, the best

18:46

program, the best coach, like the best environment?

18:48

No?

18:49

Maybe, hey, maybe

18:52

you know, if you're if you're leaving you

18:54

know, like uh, Ohio

18:57

State, and you you know, because you're not star in

19:00

there or whatever it is, and you get a transfer into like

19:02

a University of California, Berkeley, You've

19:04

just elevated your education right there.

19:07

Boom. But how

19:09

hard is it to be a college coach right now?

19:11

Man? Oh yeah, no doubt,

19:13

no doubt. My d my D line coach now is a

19:15

DC over at Oregon, Or my D line coach

19:17

from college that cal is

19:19

a DC over at Oregon. And I

19:22

mean luckily they have forty five different jerseys

19:24

every other week, so I mean it's probably a

19:26

little easier his ways. But it's yeah, these

19:29

kids don't care. They're going for a dollar signs.

19:31

Out unless your name is coach prime or

19:34

you have an endless budget, right

19:37

Nick, say the right

19:40

like you? It's so hard, man,

19:42

it's so this Actually in IOL

19:45

is the non in IOL transfer

19:47

portal is the best thing for Alabama.

19:50

It's the best way for Alabama. You know why because

19:52

Alabama can never make a bad investment.

19:54

Now, never make a bad What

19:57

if I told you Cam that you

19:59

could invest money into something and

20:01

if it doesn't work out, you just

20:03

get your money back and you can move on to the next one,

20:06

like you'd never go wrong. Right. My

20:08

point is this, Alabama's recruiting

20:10

pitch to kids is, hey, come here, we'll

20:12

coach your heart. We'll get the best out of you. Every

20:14

year. We're going to bring in the best players, and if it doesn't work

20:16

out for it, you can transfer and give us back that scholarship. How

20:18

about that, right?

20:20

And so it works both ways.

20:22

Yeah, but man, it's really good for Alabama. Think about

20:24

it. Otherwise that

20:26

would have to be really selected, right, because

20:29

all of a sudden, you recruit a kid, he comes in, maybe he's

20:31

not what you thought he was. You're stuck with him. You're

20:33

not stuck with him anymore. You just

20:35

you just treat him like practice so thieves, and then you

20:37

take a scholarship back and you just go make another investment.

20:40

You never lose, man, you

20:42

never lose.

20:43

I mean that's the I hate now

20:45

that you say I'm formulating, what's what's

20:47

going wrong? I'm like, all right, no, that that

20:49

that creates a lot of holes in the things. Like these

20:51

kids. Yeah absolutely, So

20:54

Now where do these kids formulate

20:56

the mindset to become a leader like you?

20:59

Like, in my mind in college, like that's how

21:01

I became a leader. It was like that freshman.

21:04

Be sure, I was a true freshman. So like I

21:06

fought to get playing time. I fought, you know,

21:08

I was on all special teams. In my mind, I

21:10

just popped off my freshman season. I made

21:12

the first tackle on kickoff against

21:14

Tennessee at Cal right, and

21:16

I was like I had to work my way up even you

21:19

know, like that made me who I was. I looked at a defensive

21:21

end opposite of me, Tyson Lulu, who ended up

21:24

going to the Jacksonville Jaguars, like top ten

21:26

picks or whatever. It was like there was a mission there. I was

21:28

like, I want to be better than him. There's like,

21:30

you know, goals there. There was never leave Cal. I

21:32

guess it was like, how do I make the

21:34

best of this four years that I have?

21:36

Yep, exactly, So let's

21:39

be honest. Like there was moments during

21:41

my freshman year where I questioned

21:44

myself. I questioned, you know, was

21:46

like doing the right thing? Was I in the right environment, was

21:48

on the right situation? Like every

21:50

I think every kid has those feelings

21:52

and emotions perfectly natural.

21:55

But if the answer to that is stuck

21:58

it up, like learning him adversity,

22:01

it's supposed to be hard. Embrace

22:03

the challenge. You're not going anywhere

22:06

like then you

22:08

you work through it. On the other

22:10

hand, if it is hey, it's

22:13

okay, you can just leave, you

22:15

can you're gonna you can just hit the reset

22:18

button on your video game controller.

22:20

Right, you're having a bad game, you just hit the reset

22:22

button and just go somewhere else and just start over. Right,

22:24

It's okay. And oh guess what if it doesn't work

22:27

out there, let's just reset it again. Let's

22:29

just keep let's just keep kicking this can down the road.

22:31

Let's just keep transferring out till you find

22:34

so like, come on, come

22:36

on now, look, I'm not saying that. At

22:38

some point, like look, Joe Burrow is

22:40

a perfect example. He goes Ohio State Red

22:43

Shirts, sits for two years, gets

22:45

beat out, gets beat out, timing

22:47

again. So you know what, I'm gonna transfer

22:49

out. But man, he was there

22:51

three seasons at least, I believe,

22:54

And so he's man, he's had to fight through it. He's

22:56

had to struggle, he's had to Now

22:58

he's got a giant chip on his shoulder when he leaves three

23:01

years later, and look what happens

23:03

when he goes to LSU. So look,

23:05

there are there are successful

23:07

examples of that, but it was

23:09

after a period of time where they

23:12

had to like get

23:14

through the fire a bit. You know, they

23:16

had to suffer a bit. And

23:19

I'm sure I'm sure that

23:21

that Joe Burrow would would would recognize

23:24

the value of being at Ohio

23:26

State for three years.

23:28

It probably, i mean probably made him up more of

23:30

a more of a leader because he valued it that much more.

23:32

There's no question. Man, I'll

23:34

tell you what really comes as a results. That as gratitude,

23:37

And that's probably the greatest trait than any

23:39

of us could have. His gratitude.

23:59

Drew to beck to you with that added

24:01

to your leadership qualities, Like when did you become a leader?

24:03

Because when I got there, you already had the huddle

24:05

chance going, And like when did you

24:07

become a leader? You weren't just a born leader

24:10

or maybe you were. Texas football is different.

24:12

I don't know.

24:13

I say this, I'd say I've

24:15

always loved sports, right, I've always gravitated

24:17

sports. You know. Sports always gave me great

24:19

confidence, you know. I

24:21

always felt like I was an athletic kid, you know, so I

24:23

could pick up the sport and I could, you know, usually

24:25

figure it out pretty quick, you know, and

24:28

then I'd be good at it, and then that would build self

24:30

esteem and all that stuff. So I've always

24:32

wanted to be the guy who had the ball in his hands.

24:35

Right. If I'm playing basketball, I'm either the point

24:37

guard of the shooting yard. If I'm playing baseball, I needed

24:39

the picture of the shortstop, right, Like the list goes

24:41

on, right, Like I want to be the dude with a ball

24:43

in his hands. Who's going to win the game, right,

24:46

or who's in charge, who's in control of

24:48

the moment in the situation, right, and getting

24:50

people on the same page and all that, Like I

24:54

did that, Like that's arrive on that stuff, right. So I do

24:56

think there is some

24:58

some innate stuff that happens with that where

25:00

you can just see it in some kids, right, Like when you're

25:03

on the field, you're like, man, that guy's got some

25:05

natural leadership ability, right.

25:08

But so

25:10

much of what I learned through the years was from

25:12

having great mentors, from being

25:14

around incredible players, like watching guys

25:16

Like when I stepped into the locker room my rookie year, I

25:19

was staring at Junior Sayout and Rodney Harrison

25:21

on the other side of the ball, and I was terrified

25:23

of these dudes, but like also like

25:26

just profound respect because

25:28

these dudes were the first one there. They were working

25:30

their ass off, like during practice,

25:32

man they did not let anything slide

25:35

nothing, So like they set

25:37

the tone early as to this is the

25:39

level of expectation, this is the way that we

25:41

operate around here, and if you don't like

25:43

it, then get them out

25:46

right, like you had to get in line.

25:48

And then I'm alongside Ladanian Tomlinson,

25:51

right, and then Lorenzo Neil comes in, who

25:53

was an awesome mental for me. I had Doug

25:56

Flutie there, I mean, and then

25:58

you know, I'm playing for Marty Shaunhan, one of the

26:00

greatest coaches of all time. That I come to New Orleans

26:02

and it's Sean Payton and it's all the guys

26:04

like you and others that we played with that

26:06

I had a chance to be around every day and like woke

26:08

up every day wanting to go win for so like

26:12

you're so much of a product of your environment and

26:14

those that you're surrounded with, and they just bring out the

26:16

best in you. Like I've always felt like, what's the best

26:19

leadership traite, Like if you were boil it down, what's the

26:21

best description of a leader. It's

26:23

someone who can bring out the best in

26:26

other people. And that's done in a lot

26:28

of different ways, right, Like I would call

26:30

Marcus Colston and Darren Sproll's

26:32

leaders. Those guys, as you know,

26:35

did not say much, but all

26:37

you had to do was watch them work.

26:40

And if that didn't inspire you, then I don't know if

26:42

you got a heartbeat. Right, Like those

26:44

dude would come to work and work

26:47

their tail off, and like I was

26:49

so inspired by those guys every day. So I

26:52

just I feel like I'm just a product of being around

26:54

some great people, right.

26:56

I mean you say that and you can you know,

26:58

Marcus Colston nine went down in

27:00

our seasons called him the quiet Storm, But

27:02

it does say something for the guys who work and

27:05

talk and inspire, because you can be inspired by

27:07

watching anybody, you know, but

27:09

when you talk that talk and you walk that walk,

27:12

then like that's where, in my mind become a leader.

27:14

Like you can dub anybody a captain. I

27:16

feel like a captain is a patch. A

27:18

leader is something more Like it feels

27:20

like a leader is a rally point. And that's what I like

27:22

to be. Like I want to be a rally point because

27:24

I'm balling because I'm doing things the right way. Like

27:27

you look, you just gravitate

27:29

towards all right. Well, if he's doing this, I can push myself

27:31

to be more. So that's why you were a rally point,

27:34

like a leader. You know, there's certain guys you just look

27:36

for, like or the amount of work that he puts

27:38

in, I gotta put in more. Like you're

27:41

challenged me to be better, you know. Like

27:43

that's what I like. Like, Oh, we talk, we

27:45

talk about excellence. Well, that's why we're

27:47

being excellent because there's so many things that were

27:49

going on. But now that I got to this podcast,

27:52

what do you see from this first seven weeks

27:54

of New Orleans States football? And

27:57

how can that be cleared up and or get better?

27:59

How to assess us let's go with that work.

28:02

I mean, look, I think

28:04

I think defensively, you guys have been pretty

28:06

consistent. I think offensively it's been it's

28:08

been a bit inconsistent. I

28:12

think there's as you look at as you look

28:14

at every game you've played, I think you would look at and say,

28:16

man, there's no reason why you couldn't have won all

28:18

of them. I know Tampa Tampa got all out

28:21

of control, right, But but besides that,

28:24

I mean, you guys could be sitting

28:26

here at whatever.

28:26

Seven one one are. We could be sitting

28:28

at six and one.

28:29

Respectively, just right, So,

28:33

so you know that part is kind of frustrating

28:35

because, uh, I think

28:37

you know that there's more in the tank. Look,

28:41

I think all the pieces are there. Like it'd be one

28:43

thing if you were sitting here saying, man, I think you know

28:46

you've had some significant injuries or

28:48

you know you're just you're really missing some key components.

28:50

I don't. I don't think you are at all. I

28:52

don't think you're at all. I think it's

28:55

certainly as I look at it, like I look offensive

28:57

side of the ball. You know, Man,

29:00

when we go up tempo, I think we

29:02

are highly effective. I think

29:04

that creates a great rhythm for the offense. I think that's

29:06

when we are at our best. I think that was

29:08

shown in the fourth quarter of the other night. Right we

29:10

get down all of a sudden, we're up temple. Man, We're moving the ball

29:12

right down the field, and I'm probably it's

29:15

not like they were just playing prevent and letting it happen. I mean they

29:17

were. They were running the same pressures, they were doing the same stuff

29:19

they're doing the whole game. We were just a bit

29:21

more on point because we had this

29:24

rhythm and this slow going.

29:25

Sense of urgency. I feel like when we go when

29:27

teams go huddle up, it's either one

29:30

they're trying to slow the defense down or

29:32

two their desperation is kicked

29:34

in.

29:34

Yeah, I would. I would say this, man,

29:37

we have always been an offense

29:39

that had a lot of things

29:42

for a defense to worry about. You got Kamara

29:44

in the backfield, you got tight ends that are

29:46

explosed. So if you've got receivers all over the

29:48

place, playmakers that are

29:50

tough one on one matchups. Right, So I

29:52

still feel like that is the case, right,

29:55

Like I still see Mike

29:57

t being a guy who can catch seven or eight

29:59

balls a game. I see dudes in

30:01

Olave and Shaheed that

30:03

are like meets him and deverywhere

30:06

for us back you know in that

30:08

that that window from seven to thirteen

30:11

where like air raid, like

30:13

push the ball down the field. You

30:16

know when you get in the red zone. We

30:19

said it earlier in the in the in the show, Well

30:22

if if if Jimmy standing

30:24

in the end zone, I don't care who's there

30:27

or who's covering him, that that would be

30:29

a great that'd be a great spot to use him.

30:32

I mean, look, there's Taysom

30:34

Hill is like, I'm I'm

30:36

still amazed like everything that I see

30:38

from him, and I should know

30:40

better. I should know better because

30:42

I've seen everything this dude can do. And

30:44

yet I'm sitting there watching the game on Thursday night

30:47

and the guy was the tight end in

30:49

two minutes. He probably had thirty

30:52

five snaps at the tight end position, in

30:54

addition to quarterback, in addition to running back,

30:56

and addition all these other positions that he plays.

30:58

And it's still like, man, it's like he's

31:01

one of the greatest weapons in the league, right, And

31:03

so I think, like, if anything,

31:05

that would just get me really excited. And as this

31:07

continues to unfold, I think

31:09

with more of a tempo

31:12

and just kind of you know, creating the rhythm,

31:15

getting the ball into these playmakers hands in space

31:18

right, which we've got plenty of them, and

31:20

then just finding those matchup problems

31:23

that we've got them all over the field. I

31:25

think that we're in a great spot. I really do.

31:28

I feel like there's so much potential we have to capitalize.

31:31

Like now it's becoming you know,

31:33

we used to have those gotta habit wins. It's

31:36

becoming in that sense, of like we

31:38

have to be able to turn it on now, you know, and

31:40

you knows, as you've taught me over the years.

31:43

Leadership is so important in these in

31:45

these locker rooms, this locker room feel, it's leadership,

31:47

and it's these rally points that this is

31:49

where you take that Hey, okay with

31:51

three and four, this is how we go beyond that next

31:54

step. It's time to elevate, and it starts with the leaders

31:56

up top. So I appreciate you tune the number.

31:58

I know you got things you got to do. I wanted to talk

32:00

about pickaball and how your game is because I still

32:02

have yet to do it, but we'll talk about that in

32:04

another day. I just want to know it's

32:06

being a pickaball owner.

32:07

Will you get We've got to get the Saints

32:10

to build a couple of Pickaball courts

32:12

right there next to the indoor

32:14

facility, and we can get some

32:16

games going, all right, like a little

32:18

off season, maybe a little

32:20

Tuesday off day run around, you know, like

32:23

let's let's get this going.

32:25

I mean, you're already a pick aball team owner. How

32:27

much longer do I have to wait till I just hear

32:29

that ticker go across Drew Brees. He

32:32

miss, yeah, come on, I'm

32:34

just saying fine, say

32:36

no.

32:37

Yeah, Look, I like leaving it to the pros there.

32:39

You know, I'll just I'll just kind of, you know, just be working

32:42

behind the scenes here.

32:43

Okay, perfect. Appreciate you chopping

32:45

in, bro. So

32:55

there you have it. It's a round. I

32:57

just want to say a huge thank you to all my awesome listeners

32:59

for with me. I've got a whole locker room

33:01

full of my favorite interviews from season one coming

33:04

your way. But before I go, you know the drill.

33:06

Come on now. Make sure to drop us a

33:08

five star rating or review and hit that follow

33:10

button on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio app

33:13

or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also

33:15

catch us on YouTube on the official

33:17

YouTube page of the NFL. Until next

33:19

time, I'm out.