0:03

The following presentation of the Jaguars

0:05

Podcast Network is presented by by star

0:07

credit. Maurice

0:15

Jones. Drew stands tall among former

0:18

Jaguars, ironic in a way that

0:20

the five ft six running back who's slid

0:22

to the second round the stick

0:24

of the two thousand six draft because

0:26

of his height, remains to this day not

0:29

only one of the most beloved Jaguars, but

0:31

one of the NFL networks best analysts

0:33

and a guy who commands the attention of coaches,

0:36

players and fans alike. This

0:40

is perspective, the inside story

0:42

of the jaguars first twenty five seasons

0:44

told by the people who built the franchise

0:47

from the round up. This is

0:49

Maurice Jones Drew. There

0:53

is also irony that the smallest star

0:55

player the Jaguars have ever had is

0:57

also the biggest champion of the smaller

1:00

market in the NFL. The record

1:02

speaks for itself. Only one playoff

1:04

season in the last twelve years, missed

1:06

opportunities in the draft and free agency

1:08

that have magnified struggles on the field,

1:11

and a less than full stadium in Jacksonville, combined

1:13

with an now annual trip to London that fuels

1:16

the fires of misinformation about the city and the

1:18

fan base and their credentials as a football

1:20

town. Maurice works at the NFL

1:23

Network and lives in Los Angeles, where

1:25

he doubles as the color analyst for the Rams and

1:27

their radio network. But it's clear that

1:29

no matter where he lives and no matter who signs

1:31

his check, Mojo is a teal

1:33

blooded Jaguar through and through. My

1:36

connection with this team is I think it's less

1:38

about like the team in general, but

1:40

it's more about the people who are in the building. Um,

1:44

It's more about the people outside the building. It's more about

1:46

the city. Uh. Coming here at

1:48

twenty years old, you think you

1:50

know everything. I learned a lot of

1:52

lessons here. Um, But

1:55

it's completely different than any other place I've ever been

1:57

to my lightly. I've been to minnesota've been to Green

1:59

Bay, I've been too obviously Oakland

2:01

was the last year I've been all these places. But this

2:04

is a family. This this you know.

2:06

When I came here, Wayne Weaver ran

2:08

this organization, he ran in like a family.

2:11

I remember going to the Christmas dinners. I

2:13

remember seeing the wives and the players

2:15

hang out, and to me, that was that's

2:17

what football is. It's about creating relationships.

2:20

And I remember seeing the security guards every

2:22

day who would smile even I mean after some of

2:24

the worst losses that we had, people will still come and say

2:26

maybe you did a great job, or hey, you guys can

2:28

do it like it was. It was a family. And that's to me,

2:31

the most important thing that you can

2:33

have here. Um, when

2:35

I when I am on TV and I'm talking about it,

2:37

and I'm not talking from a

2:40

place where people are like you know, where other people

2:42

might have a bad my

2:44

my situation here in two thousand

2:47

twelve was strictly financial,

2:49

and I said that in the press conference. It was strictly

2:51

a financial move. It was. It had

2:53

zero to do with me not liking people. I

2:56

love the people here. I always will love the people here,

2:59

regardless of how how it ended when I left,

3:01

or how it was when I was here. I still

3:03

love the people in this building. I love the cooks,

3:05

I love the janitor, I love the

3:08

security guards, I love the people in the streets

3:10

that when you say hello after games. I love the kids.

3:12

I loved everything about this place because

3:14

I grew up here in the way people treated you and then the

3:16

way you treated them. Um,

3:19

that that to me is the most important thing. And

3:21

so when people always ask, hey,

3:23

like what about jackson Like you know nothing about Jacksonville

3:26

because you've never been there. You don't know what it's like there.

3:28

You don't know how the people, the people will give you the shirt

3:30

off their backs. You know, Dan Edwards,

3:33

his daughter, his daughter

3:35

was our our babysitter at one point

3:37

in my life, Like, if I wanted a date night, I

3:39

would call his daughter, or I'd call other players on the

3:41

team to come watch or drop our Like

3:44

you can't do that everywhere else. And it's not as

3:46

if you know, you know, and

3:48

again I don't know every other relationship,

3:50

but this wasn't just one player that would call to come watch

3:53

my kids. It'd be multiple players. It

3:55

wasn't just you know. I remember

3:58

walking by uh the

4:00

uh, the ticket office and people

4:03

just having it like, hey, how are you Like it

4:05

was a family atmosphere here, and that, to

4:07

me is what saved me because

4:10

again again a kid coming from Los

4:12

Angeles having a bunch of money thrown in

4:14

his pocket, like I could have made a ton of mistakes, and

4:16

I didn't make a ton of mistakes, but the people here protected

4:19

me and they allowed me to grow

4:21

and be who I was, and and that's the most important thing.

4:24

Talking with Maurice, the connection is clearly

4:26

durable, nothing contented, and

4:29

it won't ever end. It's also clear

4:31

that his love affair with Jacksonville and it's professional

4:33

football team began almost as soon as

4:35

he put his feet on the ground. But we did thirteen

4:38

years ago. Well, I remember

4:40

first getting the call and thinking, I'm going

4:42

to Florida. I tryed to Miami. All

4:45

of Florida is the exact same and so

4:47

uh so we land, you get off,

4:49

you walk on the tarmac. Uh,

4:51

I get met by I

4:54

forget who it was at the time, but

4:56

uh picked up and Mercedes

4:58

weren't on the same flight because I'm from Francisco, he's from l

5:00

A. So we end up meeting here. But getting

5:03

here, there was so much potential

5:06

I saw um And it's funny to say

5:08

that at twenty years old, Like I saw a potential. But like,

5:11

the people were nice, everyone

5:13

was excited. Uh. They were excited

5:15

to have us here, which is crazy

5:18

because we got drafted by a trojan usc

5:20

trojan. Uh. But we just wanted

5:22

to come and play. And at the end of the day, when I

5:24

when I first got here, I was nervous.

5:27

And so when you're nervous, you kind of put on

5:29

extra I was nervous

5:31

because one, I'm not from Florida.

5:33

Uh. Two, I was nervous because I

5:35

got drafted in the second round when you had Fred Taylor

5:37

here, and I didn't know how he was going to react to it, because you've heard

5:40

horror stories. I actually talked to Aaron Rodgers

5:42

about his situation, what Brett Farve and

5:44

how that wasn't the best early on um.

5:47

And then three, just being

5:49

you know, young kid half away across the country,

5:52

out your family. You're just nervous. And so when I came in, I

5:54

had to put on this this persona,

5:56

this this fake false

5:58

attitude as if I'll be fine, I'll be

6:00

fine, I'll be fine. Um,

6:03

and it all went into it all broke down when the first

6:05

day of O t a s or Mini camp. I

6:07

think we had it first and uh And in May, the

6:09

first week of May where I met Fred

6:11

Taylor and I was so

6:14

nervous to meet him because I don't know

6:16

how he was going to react. And I

6:18

went up to him. I remember going up to him. I remember sitting

6:20

in the locker room, not talking to anyone. You're seeing

6:22

guys like Marcus Stroud, Big John, Mike Peterson.

6:24

They're laughing, having a good time. I

6:27

could barely understand what they were saying because I wasn't from the South.

6:29

Um but um.

6:32

I went to talk to Fred and I walked

6:34

over to what Before I got to Fred, excuse

6:36

me, I saw Greg Jones and I was like,

6:38

what am I doing in here? Like this is

6:40

this is not a place for me because you're seeing the size

6:43

and those type of things. But I walk over

6:45

to Fred and I go, hey, Fred, like, I'm Maurice, Nice

6:47

to meet you, Like I just want to come and

6:50

learn everything that I can from you. And

6:53

Fred was like, oh, man, I already

6:55

saw your highlights. Man, you're good. Like we're gonna use you in these

6:57

type of ways and we're gonna do this, We're gonna do that. And

6:59

that really then made me so much more

7:01

confident in my abilities because he was like,

7:03

Hey, this is what you do well, and

7:05

these are some things I saw you struggle with or you need to

7:08

work on or you need to improve on. And then literally

7:10

that whole offseason we worked

7:12

on being more patient, We worked on, you

7:14

know, all the little things. And so when

7:16

I came in here, like especially coming from l A

7:18

where it's bright lights, and we were the man and

7:21

we were a big team and we did really well. Um

7:24

to have a guy who had been so successful

7:26

in the NFL to come in and say, Hey, this is what we're gonna

7:28

do together, it really helped me out

7:30

a ton. And so once I got on the field, and the one thing I

7:32

always tell people that Fred told me that I'll never forget.

7:35

Um. I think it was one of the one of the first practice

7:37

I struggled in and he was like, dude,

7:39

like, why why are you pressing? Like this is like Pop

7:42

Warner. The same moves that they have worked

7:44

in Pop warn they work here. Trust me. And

7:46

that was my mindset for the rest of my career was that

7:48

this this was just like Pop Warner youth football, that,

7:51

um, you go out there and play the same way, like,

7:54

trust me, the little move that you did in Pop Warner is gonna

7:56

work. And it worked, and they just kept working on

7:58

and on and on and so, Um,

8:00

that's where the confidence came from, is practicing

8:02

against that tough defense, learning

8:04

from Fred, learning from Kennedy, pola Um,

8:08

you know, being able to be put in certain situations.

8:11

Um, telling myself every day like

8:14

I'm competing with one of the better running

8:16

backs in the league. Uh.

8:18

You know, my mindset was always trying to come in and be the starter,

8:21

but to go in there and learn and compete like that.

8:23

The confidence kind of this came out and then that matter

8:27

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that it's your money. All loans up

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to to approval insured by n c u A. They

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put it all together in two thousand and seven. The

9:08

golden era of Jaguars football is generally

9:11

regarded as the Coughlin years and

9:13

it's best team bunch

9:15

that went fourteen and two. What the

9:17

two thousand and seventy may have lacked an overall

9:19

talent, it more than made up for with

9:22

huge personalities that shape

9:24

as fun at season and the Jaguars

9:26

have ever had. Two thousand

9:28

and seven was a special year just because

9:32

I think it all came together for us as an

9:34

organization, as a team that one year. Um,

9:37

two thousand and six, we were close, Uh,

9:39

go to Kansas City, had a chance to win

9:41

in Kansas City. If we win in Kansas City, we make the playoffs

9:44

and we I think, I forget what we lost by, but we lost.

9:46

So that that kind of that off season. I remember

9:48

a lot of the guys we went on a vacase and they

9:50

were like, look, this is the year. Everyone

9:53

go and work hard. Everyone do what

9:55

you have to do. Come back and let's go. Let's go and take this thing

9:57

over. Um. So two thousand seven we

9:59

come back. Uh. Granted, you talked about we

10:01

talked about Chris Naoli, we talked about Vinnie man

10:03

oh Y, we talked about Brad Measter. We

10:06

had a Tony pass shows that year. UM,

10:10

and so it was crazy

10:12

to see Kalif Barnes and left tackle who

10:15

doesn't get enough credit for blocking

10:17

Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis by hisself.

10:19

When we would go on those games, we would never

10:21

slide the line. We would slide the line the other way

10:23

and he would have to be one on one with either Dwight Freeney

10:25

or Robert Mathis. And so we knew going

10:28

in that we had an opportunity. And that year was it

10:30

was a little weird because that's the year Byron left, which

10:32

gets cut right before the season. UM.

10:35

And I remember Mike Peterson UH

10:38

having a team meeting saying like it doesn't

10:40

matter, you know, we can't control

10:42

that, and that was something that was really

10:44

important for us to hear because we were a young

10:46

team. Now that I look back at it, like

10:48

I think Fred might have been twenty seven,

10:51

Mike Peterson might have been twenty six seven

10:54

ish, and I'm twenty one UM

10:56

at the time, so I'm thinking these guys were like

10:58

super old, but they're young, you know. UM.

11:01

And so to have that leadership

11:03

from our leaders who say, we can't

11:05

control what's going on over there. All we can do is control

11:07

our play on the field, and if

11:09

we believe that we're a playoff team or a

11:12

championship team, will go and show it. And

11:14

so uh we start

11:16

we start running. UM. I would

11:18

say a year we played the Falcons where

11:21

that was the year Big got in trouble. We played the Falcons, We got after

11:23

them pretty good. Um

11:25

we played, Uh, David Garas are

11:27

starting quarterback, We're rolling, David gets hurt.

11:29

We're going to Tampa and beat Tampa. And we I think

11:31

we threw the ball seven times or eleven

11:33

times, um, and we It was funny.

11:36

I remember going on the field and I

11:38

remember them uh talking about being nine

11:40

on seven, which is like a run inside run drill,

11:43

and Uh we did. We wanted to see if Tampa

11:45

was ready for Tampa was a cover two team. They wanted

11:47

to play West Coast offense. Did they were they able to handle

11:49

smash mouth football? And we

11:51

went out there and Quinn Gray as our quarterback and

11:54

and he threw Uh. I want to say, one touchdown

11:56

to Matt Jones. But other than that, we ran the

11:58

ball seventeen times in a row. At one point we

12:00

were gonna impose our will and everyone and

12:02

obviously everyone remembers going into

12:04

Pittsburgh, beating Pittsburgh in the

12:07

regular season, and then once

12:09

we got to the playoffs, I never

12:11

saw the intensity I now

12:13

I then understood why the playoffs were the playoffs,

12:16

because practice was so intense. I mean, guys

12:18

were tackling each other and man,

12:21

we were hidden and we were doing everything

12:23

to make sure that we understood. You know, during

12:25

the regular season, some guys would stay here and you

12:27

know, hang out, some guys would

12:29

go places. In the playoffs, everyone stayed and

12:31

watch film. Everyone knew

12:34

what was at at hand. And so

12:36

to go into Pittsburgh and and and then

12:38

beat them a second time, a team that was

12:41

built like we were. Uh, I wanted to

12:43

be physical, run the ball, bigger

12:45

quarterback, Um, all those

12:47

things are going there and beat them way we did in that fashion.

12:50

Um, it was nice. And then to be

12:52

honest, going to New England was even that week was

12:54

even crazier. And that I think that's when I

12:57

realized, you know, that's

12:59

when I gained a lot of respect over the

13:01

years for New England because I was so tired

13:04

that week. I think I was going to be at like six

13:06

o'clock every night and so

13:09

trying to just get my energy. I've never played

13:11

into January before and never been there, so I was

13:13

doing everything I could to keep my energy up. Um.

13:15

I think everyone else was doing the same thing. Practice were

13:18

even more intense. Um, we're

13:20

going to that game, but we were rolling. We we had a you

13:22

know, a couple of mishaps here, but we had an opportunity

13:24

to win the game and it just didn't happen.

13:27

But that team, it was so many

13:29

little things that went on throughout that year, um,

13:32

that we overcame. And that's part

13:34

of the you know, always tell people, you

13:37

know, there's a little luck involved

13:39

when winning a championship. It's not you

13:41

you are a really good team, but there's a little bit of luck

13:43

involved. You're healthy, which is one which

13:45

we were that year. Um.

13:49

You you don't, you know, Mike Vick goes out

13:51

so we don't have to play him and against Atlanta,

13:53

we we have some different other teams. We knew

13:55

we were a good team. We lost to the Colts twice,

13:57

but we knew we had him beat in Indian

14:00

up and we knew we could beat him. Um.

14:03

But I mean there were so many little things that went on, like

14:05

so many uh a little adverse situations

14:08

that we're able to kind of use his motivation

14:10

to get better. Um,

14:12

you know, it made it so special even

14:15

til today, Like, um, I would I would

14:17

anytime I go to Hawaii, I go hang out with Chris Naoli

14:19

and Benny Mana Ya rest his soul, and

14:21

and those guys.

14:24

We would just talk about life, right,

14:26

we talked about football. We talk about those times.

14:28

I remember being here in two thousand seven, a young

14:30

kid um going out and

14:33

Chris Naoli would like pick me up from my house to drive

14:36

me to work because it meant that much to him, or

14:38

you know, his his wife would cook for

14:41

me. Or I would go and eat at certain

14:43

people's houses because I didn't have I didn't have

14:45

I wasn't married at the time, I didn't have when to live. I was living

14:47

by myself, so I was eating like Sonic Burger

14:49

and stuff. But they knew it was so important that

14:51

they'd be like, well, you come over and get a home cooked meal. Right.

14:53

Those little things are the things that made

14:55

that team special. I had to hang out with Fred

14:58

and we we go and watch tape, and we go

15:00

and do certain things like we just

15:02

we just were a complete team at that point.

15:06

They came back to Earth in two thousand eight, and

15:08

in early two thousand nine, everything

15:11

changed. The Jaguars released Fred

15:13

Taylor and elevated Jones drew to

15:15

the role of feature back. It

15:17

was the opportunity he craved, but it

15:19

came at the expense of the teammate he loved. His

15:22

relationship with Taylor helped the transition

15:25

and set the stage for three incredible

15:27

years. In two thousand

15:30

eight, we we had

15:32

a championship team, but those

15:34

adverse situations that we had in two thousand

15:37

seven that were able to overcome, we

15:39

weren't able to do it because of you know, the

15:42

NFL is so different than any other level

15:45

of football or other sport because money

15:47

comes into play, and so we had some

15:49

moves there that people couldn't we

15:52

couldn't get over, we couldn't overcome,

15:55

and so we had a lot of injuries, we had a lot

15:57

of thing and it just wasn't a good year for us. Uh

16:00

Um. I remember in two thousand and eight

16:02

being in Lake Tahoks. I just

16:04

had my first son and we

16:06

were going to Tahoe as a family, and

16:09

I got a call from my agent saying like they just

16:11

released Fred and I was like, what are

16:13

you kidding me? And so I merely

16:15

text him like hey, man, like is this true? Like what's going on?

16:17

He was like yeah, you know, Um,

16:20

I appreciate everything, Like

16:23

you know, if you ever need anything, call me,

16:25

and I'm like, I'm going to I'm

16:27

about to I'm literally about to leave Lake Tahoe

16:30

in two days and I'm going to Miami. So I'll see you in

16:32

in like three or four days and we'll talk about it. Um,

16:35

and I get down there and again,

16:38

you know, I'm I'm supposed to replace him. There's

16:40

all these different things that are going on, and

16:43

yet he was still willing to be that

16:45

mentors to me, like still pushing me

16:47

when we're training in Miami, still doing the little things

16:50

that we had did from the day one. And

16:52

so it was it was hard for

16:54

me to be able to rationalize

16:57

or be able to understand that, you

16:59

know, like how

17:01

to how that happens, Like you just

17:03

got released and then you're still willing to the guy that

17:05

they're putting in your place. You're still willing to help out. Um.

17:08

But you know that's what Fred, That's who Fred was.

17:10

And so I trained that offseason

17:13

understand that I had a high there was expectations

17:15

set on me at this point. Right, you got a new tough contract.

17:18

Um, Fred's gone. What Fred

17:20

had did in the past, right, ten thousand yards,

17:22

all these big seasons, like I had to go and

17:25

be able to either match that or surpass that.

17:27

And so that was my that was my goal, my personal

17:29

goals, UM, and that's

17:31

what I trained for. Uh. Granted, obviously

17:34

the team goal is to win a championship and we would

17:36

play to do those things. But that

17:39

that was a time in my life where I really didn't

17:41

under I didn't

17:43

understand, you know, I felt like we had

17:45

all we needed was like one more piece. It was

17:48

like, just keep Fred, We'll figure this thing

17:50

out. We have one more piece. But the organization

17:52

wanted to go in different ways, and it was what it was.

17:54

But the reason those three years

17:56

were those three years that I had after Fred, was

17:58

because there was I

18:00

always knew that he has set a standard in

18:02

a bar for running backs and that I had

18:04

to to either uphold it or lifted even

18:07

higher. And that was to me

18:09

the most important thing I can do. Um

18:11

to do my job to the best of my ability, no

18:14

matter if you had eight or nine guys in the box.

18:17

You know, I was sitting meet with the offensive line and Brad

18:19

Meester was still here, Benny Man and I

18:21

was here for a little bit. Oocha knew Wharry was here.

18:24

Um, we had a passials

18:26

was there for a second. I mean, we had a bunch of guys

18:28

that you know, we ended up drafting Eugene Monroe

18:31

and Evan Britten, and I

18:33

was, you know, as a whole we were trying

18:35

to at least I

18:37

was. I wanted people understand, like the standards still

18:40

the standard, right, Like when Fred

18:42

was here, you could have put fifteen guys in

18:44

the box. We were still gonna run the ball when you

18:46

know, And it was because the way offensive line was gonna block

18:49

it was the way I was gonna run. It was the way

18:51

that David was going to check into the right play,

18:53

like everything had to be the same,

18:56

and so uh those years

18:58

going into it, it was all about making

19:00

sure that I didn't um,

19:03

that I did not mess up

19:05

what the the running back

19:08

the running backs of Jacksonville have set from all the way

19:10

back from James Stewart to nature.

19:12

Means. I was Fred Taylor to

19:14

myself and then too when I left,

19:17

I said the same thing that the next guy like, you

19:19

know, like this is Denard Robinson, Like here you go,

19:21

like you gotta make sure that you do it this

19:23

way because this is what the standard is and

19:25

so um, but you

19:28

know it was. It was some

19:30

good times man like, like I mean, there's so many

19:32

stories you could talk about that. I remember um

19:35

in two thousand and eleven when we won the Rushing Todd

19:37

And I say we because the receivers really were

19:39

selfless blocking on the outside like fullbacks,

19:41

and Greg Jones was here and in our

19:43

line and we were seeing nine and ten guys in

19:45

the box every week. It was there was no there like

19:48

it was. It was just like, hey, this is what is gonna

19:50

be. And I laugh now because

19:52

I see these guys complaining about having loaded boxes

19:55

and I'm like, yeah, that was the everyday thing

19:57

for us. That was everyday thing for us. So

20:00

it's uh, you know, those years were

20:02

real special for me. More

20:05

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20:44

A passionate football player, Jones

20:46

Drew was also a businessman, and

20:48

he could see the change was in the air. After

20:51

a two thousand ten season which fell

20:53

short of the playoffs. It's funny

20:55

how this, you know, the the NFL

20:57

lambscape and landscape can change. Um.

21:00

I remember again in two thousand eleven, we're

21:03

going into the season and we

21:05

cut David Garrard the week before the season or the week

21:08

of the season, and it was like, oh

21:10

no, all right, well we did this last time. This has a chance

21:12

to work. The difference was we didn't

21:15

have the personalities in the locker room that we

21:17

had in two thousand and seven the last time we did

21:19

it. So my

21:21

as a leader on the team and as one of the older people

21:24

on the team, it was my job to corral everyone.

21:26

So I we had a team meeting and

21:28

it was like, look, well it doesn't

21:30

matter, we have to go out there and do our job. And

21:33

so um that year we drafted

21:35

Blaying Gabber. We had the lockout situation.

21:38

There was so much going on in

21:40

this building, right there was there was the rumblings

21:43

of the team being sold. There was all type of

21:45

stuff going down, and so you're

21:47

trying to you know, people, I want to

21:49

people talk about distractions like that

21:52

is the craziest thing I've ever been

21:54

a part of, because you don't know if

21:56

the team is sold, if you're gonna make it, because

21:58

now it's it's a different owner wants

22:00

to do whatever he wants to do. You don't know if the

22:02

team is gonna be moved. Yeah, family

22:05

stuff you have to worry about. I mean, there's everything

22:07

that goes into that. On top of now, we gotta play

22:09

football without our starting quarterback, right

22:11

and I still feel to this day if David would have played

22:14

in in two thousand and eleven, we probably would't went to the

22:16

playoffs and made some noise because

22:18

we were close a couple

22:20

of games. But going back

22:22

to the season, you know, Luke McCown uh

22:25

is our starting quarterback. UH play

22:27

really well in the first game when the first

22:29

game we go to the Jets and

22:31

he throws four picks, And I knew in that

22:33

situation what was gonna happen. I already knew,

22:35

Like if he didn't play well, Blaine Gabard

22:38

was coming in and we're gonna play with this rookie quarterback

22:40

who still he

22:43

had the armed talent, but still didn't understand

22:45

that the NFL landscape the game of football

22:47

because of what he did in high school and college. He played

22:49

in the spread offense. So it's a little bit different.

22:52

Um. But again, it was

22:54

one of those things where I was like, hey, like I

22:57

I still have to uphold my end of the bargain to Fred

22:59

Taylor. As an organization and as a

23:01

team, we stopt to uphold our our

23:03

ore into the bargain is going out there and putting our best

23:05

foot forward. And we did. We did everything

23:08

we could. Um.

23:10

You know, we again we ran against eight

23:12

nine in boxes. Um.

23:14

You know, we did everything that we had to do to try to put ourselves

23:17

in position to win, and we we were, and we

23:19

lost a bunch of games by close scores.

23:21

So it wasn't like we were getting blown out like we did against the Jets.

23:24

UM. But you know, that's part of it.

23:26

Like it was, it was just a lot of outside

23:29

noise that kept seeping into what we were trying to do.

23:31

UM. After at the end

23:33

of that year, I remember or towards the end of that year.

23:35

I remember, like every day and practice,

23:38

the offensive linem be like, how many more yards we need

23:40

to win this thing? How many more yards we need to win this thing. I

23:42

was like, I don't know, I don't know, but let's just keep

23:44

rolling. And I end up either

23:46

hurting my hip flex or in like week eleven, and

23:48

so I couldn't practice anymore at this point, and

23:52

the offensive lineman would be like, yo, you're playing

23:54

in the game right, like this is the

23:56

one thing that we're gonna do. If we don't do anything else, we're

23:58

gonna win this Russian time. I was like, I got you. I'm gonna playing

24:00

the game. And I would get here like five of the

24:02

morning, get treatment all these different things. I

24:04

would try to run some days it wouldn't work. Uh,

24:07

really didn't get going until running back

24:09

to like week thirteen or fourteen late

24:12

in the year. And then I remember the morning of

24:14

the last game, le Shaw McCoy's up uh

24:18

or he was I think he was gonna be active, but then they

24:20

decided to make him inactive and so but

24:23

we still we had won the rushing tile

24:25

the morning of the Coast game, but we wanted to get the

24:29

the single season rushing record, and

24:31

so I remember warming up to get

24:33

the day of the game and pulling my Hamshire

24:35

and warming up and I was like, oh,

24:38

this is crazy, and so I

24:40

hurry up, I run in and I go talk to Mike Ryan. I'm

24:42

like, you know, I think I either pulled my Hamshire or a tour

24:44

it or something, but like, we need

24:46

to get this thing fixed because I have to play um.

24:50

And only only people that knew were

24:52

Mike Ryan and and uh melt

24:54

Tucker. At the time, there's only two people that knew. So

24:57

we get in the game. I think we might

24:59

have been like currently around. We might have been

25:02

sixty yards a hundred and sixty yards away or

25:04

something, which was it was like a tall task, but we knew

25:06

we could do it, and I think we got one sixty

25:08

nine or something that day. But the

25:10

smile on those guys faces on

25:12

everyone from the receivers,

25:15

the offensive linemen to the coaches, that

25:17

that's what it was all about. It the end the day was like, regardless

25:19

of how bad this season was, we were able to hang our hat that we're able

25:21

to win the rushing title in a season

25:24

that we had a ton of things, team being sold, coach

25:26

being fired, had starting quarterback

25:28

cut week one, all these different

25:30

things going around, we were still able to salvage

25:33

something UM and it

25:35

was it was awesome. Now it

25:37

goes from being on the high of highs too.

25:40

During the off season. During

25:42

that season, we were in the contract talks, uh,

25:45

possibly during another extension, UM,

25:48

so that you know, I

25:50

could retire a Jaguar,

25:52

like be a Jaguar forever. That was something that was important

25:55

to me. UM. But like

25:57

as we were playing once a team sold,

26:01

UM, we stopped communicating. And

26:03

I think that was the biggest issue that I had

26:05

with the front office at that time, was

26:07

that there was no communication. UM.

26:10

So you know, after the season, I

26:12

made it clear and I don't

26:14

think people will know this, but I made it clear, like I wanted

26:17

a new contract. We we had

26:19

we had I want to say, we just

26:21

won the rushing title sixteen hundred yards.

26:24

Uh. The year before that it was through and

26:26

so whatever in the year before that was thirteen. So it was that

26:28

the numbers were there, um, and

26:30

that we were facing things that no one ever faced

26:32

before. And so I was like, yo, like it's

26:35

time to start rewarding us for the things that we're

26:37

doing, um in these adverse

26:39

situations. And so I made

26:42

it clear that I wanted a new contractor

26:44

I wanted an extension, um

26:46

going into that going into that off season, which I

26:48

didn't think was hard because it wasn't like we

26:50

had a ton of money. There was a lot of you know, there wasn't

26:52

really many people out there. Um,

26:54

so uh,

26:57

we're I remember my agent going to the combine

26:59

and him talking to the front office and the people

27:01

in the building, and you know, they kind of

27:03

like they never just they

27:06

tried to make it like the elephant was the room. Never just wanted

27:08

to speak on it, like, oh, well, this guy is doing

27:10

well, because my agent had a bunch of other guys on the team, and

27:12

this guy is doing well. And I am like, well, you

27:14

know, like I know, Maurice has talked to

27:16

you. Um, he's really

27:18

adamant about getting this deal done before

27:20

it's you know, it's all said and done. All we

27:22

got some other things we gotta do, and

27:25

you know, we're we're we'll work on it all right.

27:28

So, uh, at that point, they hadn't

27:30

hired coach Malarkey. They were waiting on hiring finding

27:32

a coach, um, I think, and

27:34

then they hired coach Malarkey and some different

27:36

things, and UM, what upset

27:39

me more than anything was that they went out and paid

27:41

some guys in free agency that had

27:44

UM I

27:46

don't I don't know how to say it, because they just they

27:49

just didn't put they the

27:51

numbers and the stuff they had done. The production they had

27:53

had nothing compared to what I did at that point, and so

27:55

that frustrated me. Was like, okay, you can give

27:58

you know, the whole adages take care of home first,

28:00

Like for some reason, we forgot about that, and so

28:03

we had guys in our building that should have been paid,

28:06

obviously myself included. UM,

28:08

but you go out and paid get these other people all this other

28:10

money, and then

28:12

you know, one guy gets hurt, another guy ends

28:15

up playing a little bit. It just it just

28:17

it didn't. It didn't feel

28:19

right to me, and so I told him, I'm like, you

28:22

know, I understand the whole argument

28:24

of honor your contract, but at the same time,

28:26

you have to understand where I'm coming from as

28:28

well as a players that we're

28:31

we're going out there running against. It

28:33

doesn't matter who the receiver receivers were

28:36

else outside. It didn't matter anything, Like you could

28:38

have had Randy Moss team when you played Jacksonville

28:40

like they still do today. They're gonna load the

28:42

box and do their job. And so we

28:44

didn't have a lot of communication throughout. There

28:46

was some you know, I there's some things that people say

28:48

like I better do something or this and

28:51

that, and if you know me that that's like the worst thing you can tell

28:53

me because I always do the opposite. Um. And

28:55

so it just it went from

28:57

being on the top of you know, see

29:00

the rushing title, to the miscommunication,

29:02

the not really just telling me as a as

29:05

a man or as an adult saying, hey, you

29:07

know, we're not gonna redo your deal. I'd rather you

29:09

just something we're not gonna do your deal and you have to come in and

29:11

give me, give us one more year and then we'll talk

29:13

about it instead of just not talking

29:16

to me. Period. And it went from that to

29:18

the holdout. Um.

29:20

Finally coming back from the holdout, which you

29:22

know, was one of the toughest things I've ever done because

29:24

at that point, my my oldest son was just understanding

29:27

football and learning football, and every day

29:29

he would say, I thought you love football, Like why don't you

29:31

want to play? And all these things, and I was

29:33

trying to explain to them how it's this is. It's just not

29:35

it's not like youth football, high school

29:37

or college. This is this is a business, and you

29:39

know there's a part in business that that kind of uh

29:42

takes over a little bit. Um. But

29:44

then coming back and and I actually being

29:46

in the Russian Leader for a couple of weeks

29:48

and then breaking my foot and

29:50

and it was crazy because I

29:52

come back and I'm in great shape,

29:54

I'm running, I'm having I'm doing a great you

29:56

know, we're we're doing a great job. Even though we weren't winning,

29:59

we were we were getting better. And then

30:01

we go to Oakland, the team that we should

30:03

have beaten, um, and

30:05

the first play someone just

30:08

lands on me wrong on my foot brakes and a half

30:10

and that was it. Jones

30:14

Drew saw the transition from Jack del Rio

30:16

to Mike mclarkey in two thousand twelve, and

30:18

then Mike mlarkey to Gus Bradley inteen.

30:22

He transitioned himself from Jacksonville to

30:24

Oakland in and then

30:26

from playing to broadcasting shortly after

30:28

that season ended, his body no longer

30:30

able to withstand the punishment it dealt

30:32

out weekly to defenders on his way to the end zone.

30:35

He left with eighty one career touchdowns,

30:38

the most in Jaguars history, and his sixteen

30:40

hundred and six rushing yards in eleven

30:42

remained the franchise's single season record

30:45

at nine and eighty yards from scrimmage

30:47

is also the team mark. Along the

30:49

way, countless memories were created,

30:52

from his taking a knee at the Jets one yard line

30:54

to set up a field goal and kill the flock, to

30:56

that touchdown run against the Patriots where

30:58

he seemed bottled up then it floaded

31:00

from the pile to his incredible yard

31:03

day with two eighty yard touchdown runs

31:05

in Tennessee. The list goes on

31:07

and on and on. Someday

31:10

in the very near future, he'll be recognized

31:12

for his incredible commitment to Jacksonville on

31:15

and off the field, and it's another

31:17

moment he can't wait to share with

31:19

his family in Jacksonville. Uh

31:22

Man being put in the Ring of Honor would be

31:24

one of the top things that uh,

31:27

you know, it's it's it's hard

31:29

to think about. Earlier this month, I

31:31

was put on the ballot for the Hall of fame,

31:34

And I never would have thought that because at the end of the

31:36

day, I played because I loved it. I

31:38

played because I was around the right people, and I

31:40

love the people I was around. UM. But to get

31:42

recognized later in your career for what you did

31:44

when you're playing is is one of the best honors you

31:46

can have, UM. And to be able

31:48

to put up next to Fred Taylor, guy that I you

31:50

know that I love, Like when

31:53

when when when Fred wasn't number one,

31:56

I was hurt for him as much as I wanted

31:58

to be number one, like it hurt me because

32:00

I know I saw what he did every day. Now granted I didn't

32:02

see Tony Boselli and what he did every day,

32:04

but I saw Fred played through injuries.

32:07

I saw Fred get up here in the morning and all the

32:09

stuff that he did. And so that was my

32:11

personal connection with him. To be able to be up

32:13

there with with him, Brad Measter, all

32:15

these like like it to me, it's like it's

32:18

just like it just feels like it. UM.

32:20

I'm trying to think of the word, but it's it's not even

32:23

accepted or except it's just like gratifying,

32:25

like all the hard work we put in together

32:28

for the guys that I played with. It came

32:30

out for something and and and you know, I know what I

32:32

mean, lots of my family I know me and a lot to my

32:34

friends that are in this city. Um,

32:36

and my kids for sure love it. But

32:39

uh, I can't wait for that day to come. And it'll be exciting.