Jared Verse Rams defensive star on hating the Seahawks, Matthew Stafford named MVP, what went wrong for LA's loss in NFC Championship, advice from Aaron Donald, Keon Coleman thoughts and the one off-season change he plans to make.

“I take the blame on defense, we thought we earned it but it was a young mindset.” Jared Verse We love sports because it's all about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, but for the athletes who play the game, it's all the moments in between that truly impact one's journey and mindset. Heading into Super Bowl weekend, we look ahead to the big game with one of the most dominant young players in the NFL, LA Rams Jared Verse — the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year and one of the league's most disruptive young edge rushers. Jared joins The Pivot Podcast for a deep-dive into the chess match called professional football. The young star breaks down how film study, technique, and a relentless motor have helped him terrorize NFL quarterbacks, rack up pressures and tackles for loss, and evolve into a true game-changer for the Rams’ defense. We get into LA's last two season endings in heartbreak loss, going inside the mindset after his team's NFC Championship loss in Seattle as Jared opens up in a reflective and humbling tone about what went wrong, who's to blame and how to recover mentally from the disappointment. He talks about his MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford, leadership from Sean McVay and special advice from Aaron Donald that has changed his approach to the game. In opening up about this loss that still stings, and how this feeling will fuel his offseason preparation — from extra hours in the lab to the mindset tweaks that separate good defenders from great ones. Plus, he shares what it’s like to learn from and compete with the best: the time he challenged Aaron Donald to a brutal one-on-one workout, came out the other side exhausted but inspired, and walked away with lessons on grit, fourth-quarter toughness, and the habits of elite defenders. Jared also talks about the defensive stars he studies, the moves and counters he’s adding to his repertoire, and how guys like Donald, Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, TJ Watt and others helped shape his approach — even facing San Fran's Trent Williams on his welcome to the NFL moment and how it woke him up to another level. He also shares his thoughts on his former college teammate Keon Coleman's struggles in Buffalo and what he thinks will come of it all. From film breakdowns to mental insight to edge rushing philosophy, teammate dynamics, and how the greats build a game against the very best — this is one of the most personal, candid reflections of a top athlete opening up on the highs and lows of playing sports at an elite level. Pivot Family, thank you for rocking with us, we love hearing from you, please hit subscribe, like, and comment! Keep this thing rolling! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  Los Angeles Rams Jared verse was the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he wasn't always destined for this level of greatness. He was just a no star recruit out of Pennsylvania. He even had to go to the University of Albany, but it was the COVID stint at home that changed his life. Family adversity and a garage weight room sent Jared back to school unrecognizable. He learned that he could be a dog there, but he became a true pro at Florida State. But he understands he still has a long way to go. I mean, having Aaron Donald as a mentor and diving into film on Miles Garrett, Michael Parsons and TJ Watt, that's all helped him grow. But still, he's reeling from a loss last week to the Seattle Seahawks. He talks about his hate for that team, Keon Coleman, and what the Rams need to do to get over the playoff hump.

• 1:15Ryan Clark?

  Also, just so you know, Jalen Carter did not have on his chain. It's Super Bowl Friday and we have a young star with Super Bowl aspirations. So we appreciate you tapping in to a big game show with the Rams Jared verse.

• 1:50Ryan Clark?

  What up, brother?

• 1:51Fred Taylor?

  Big dog.

• 1:52Ryan Clark?

  What's up with you?

• 1:53Fred Taylor?

  Good?

• 1:54Ryan Clark?

  Pretty big dog. Pretty T, you step up to block him, you got him?

• 1:57Fred Taylor?

  Man, I'm trying to get this shoulder right here. Why are you going like? You gotta, you gotta try to do it when you're not looking, right? They say, they want you to chip the DN. You gotta take a chunk out of me. You can't just be hitting with the baby shoulder. You gotta really try to go.

• 2:12Speaker 03

  I ain't gonna lie, them chins don't be working. I don't remember Buddy's name, one from the Jaguars. He took my feet off the ground.

• 2:17Fred Taylor?

  Quinn Allen?

• 2:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, he took my feet off the ground. I ain't gonna lie, I ain't see it for nothing. He came right from behind the tackle.

• 2:24Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 2:24Speaker 03

  Next thing I know, my feet up in the air. It was bad.

• 2:28Ryan Clark?

  Hey, man, Jared verse, welcome to the pivot. This is Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark. Pivot fam, thank y'all for pivoting with us. So you look like a man that know how to shoot his shot. Did you have a conference with Puka on how to shoot his shot at Sydney Sweeney, though?

• 2:44Speaker 03

  See, I told him, I said, you gotta get her in person, man. Hey, you a big name, she a big name. Y'all gonna be in the same room at some point. When you get in the same room, that's where you guys shooting. Hey, over the internet, that's not gonna hit it. That's not gonna hit it. You don't got it like that, bruh. I said, you gotta wait till you in person with it.

• 2:59Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, absolutely, dog. I just wanted to know, did your mom ever get in the house when you was working out with AD? When you tried to lie?

• 3:06Speaker 03

  She wasn't even in the same state.

• 3:08Ryan Clark?

  No, what happened, man? He retired, man. He old, Jared, come on, bro.

• 3:12Speaker 03

  I know for a fact that's not his daily workout. There's no way in hell that's his daily workout. I almost passed out like three times. And like, I ain't gonna lie, I look bigger than I ever did after that workout. But like, there's no way somebody does it on a daily basis. I'm wearing the betty. That was insane.

• 3:26Channing Crowder?

  Speaking about your mom, I gotta end with Jordan. Your roommate at Albany. So I got some stories, bro, but he really said you a mama's boy. Speaking of your mama, she's your manager. Like, what is that like with having a mom that involved, but now being a grown ass man?

• 3:44Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, so my mom, she's got a masters of business, a masters of marketing. She does all that type of stuff. So when NIL kinda took over, she's on one that like steam headed my stuff. She got me a lot more money. She kinda negotiated my contract with Florida State and everything like that. So once I got to the league, it always felt natural to kinda help her, like have her help me and keep that, you know, that like relationship, a business relationship with my mom keep going.

• 4:04Channing Crowder?

  But how's that changed? Because I remember becoming the breadwinner. I remember making more money in a day when they gave my signing bonus. Then my parents made their whole life and I was, you know, I'm cool with my mom too, but that dynamic changes.

• 4:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, it definitely changes, but it's still like a, like at the end of the day, that's still your mom. And I know my mom, my dad, they had the best interest for me. So sometimes like there'll be a deal, I'll be like, no, let's take that. They'll be like, no, we can get you more. Let's, let's wait, let's wait. And sometimes it goes like that, sometimes it doesn't. But you still gotta put that, you know, trust in it because she knows what she's doing. My mom's done a million dollar deal, so I'm like, I'm not even gonna question it too much. I'm gonna let her do her thing. Yeah.

• 4:39Ryan Clark?

  That's such a blessing though, because especially in this NIL world, there are these parents who don't have that level of knowledge. And they're these hanger-ons and mentors or whatever they're calling themselves handlers. And they're putting these boys in bad situations. So it's not even just that your mother and your father love you in that way. They actually have a level of knowledge. And she actually has a level, a level of knowledge, which makes it totally different than what a lot of these young men are going through and have as a support system, man. Like you're extremely lucky, bro, that that's the background you come from.

• 5:14Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, a hundred percent. But going back to AD real quick, Aaron Donald, you said that's not something that, that's not the type of workout he would do every day. Right? But even in that moment, did it give you, you know, sort of a glimpse or a peek at what greatness looked like?

• 5:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's like at Albany, at Florida State, you know, even like my first, my rookie year of, you know, the league. There's not, I've never been like, you know, part of a workout where I was like, the person kind of lagging, like the person trying to catch up and stuff like that. I've never been behind in anybody. Where we run the sprints, where we on the football field, I'm always lifting the most. I'm always running the fastest. So like being behind him, like he starts everything off, everything he does is a circuit. So he'll start it off and you follow right behind him. He's trying to lap you. I don't get lapped, so I'm like, no, I can't let that happen. So I'm trying to speed it up and like go with him and like, he's catching up to me, but I'm keep pushing and stuff like that. Like really mental, like physically exhausting, but like mentally you like. Like day, but like from that moment on, my workouts changed. Like my workouts are a lot more intense. I'm sweating a lot more. I don't even like, I used to like kinda work out like a powerlifter. Like I do a set, get on my phone. I don't even touch my phone.

• 6:15Fred Taylor?

  He's an easy shoe in for a first ballot Hall of Famer.

• 6:19Channing Crowder?

  Is there, is, well, well, well.

• 6:22Speaker 03

  Alright.

• 6:22Channing Crowder?

  Well.

• 6:25Channing Crowder?

  So here I'm gonna say now, we can't, we ain't got no more shoe ins. Bill Belichick wasn't a shoe in. We ain't got no more shoe ins, Freddie T.

• 6:31Fred Taylor?

  I mean, I respect it, but.

• 6:34Channing Crowder?

  Nah, AD.

• 6:34Speaker 03

  He made his point.

• 6:35Channing Crowder?

  AD should go in 45 years, for sure.

• 6:38Fred Taylor?

  But is there anything that you've, you've taken away from, you know, speaking with him and just being around him?

• 6:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, so the one thing he, he kinda really kinda hammered into me was you only need three pass rush moves. All the extra fancy, you know, stuff, like you just leave that to everybody else. That's not you. You need a power move, a speed move, and a counter. He really got on me early on this season about my speed move. He's like, you're going power too much. You're going power too much. So throughout the whole season, I started hitting speed more and more and more. And I felt like like kinda last couple of games, I started hitting my stride with it, but that was just because it was him. Like I even asked him, you know, he does that cross chop all the time. I'm like, how you do that? He's like, hey, don't add it if it's not yours. Like it took me years to get it. Hey, do this instead. And I, you know, I do like a chop, you know, kinda pull through. He's like, that's your move. Right. Let's enhance that. Let's work on that. And I was like, I like that a lot. Like he like knows what's tailored to me.

• 7:23Channing Crowder?

  And with that, I joked before about playing with Jason Taylor, where I would ask him like, hey, I'm gonna rush off the edge. What should I do? He'd be like, just run around him. And I'm like, bitch, I can't run around him. Like you, you, your get off is better than my get off. So even sit, being with a guy, a Hall of Fame, one of the best defensive players in the history of football. How, how do you take that and say, like, you can't be Aaron Donald, but you, you have to take something from it? Like what's that transition? Learning from a guy that you're watching and like, he's one of the best ever.

• 7:53Speaker 03

  Me and him had a conversation about, everybody asked me about like the workout stuff, like probably about a couple of months ago. He's like, you tired of hearing that, right? I'm like, yeah, I'll be like, it gets whatever. I'm like, it'd be cool. He's like, nah, like I want you to have your story. Like I want people to talk about Jared Rice. And I was like, damn, that's real. He's like, like, but we gonna work on like getting you to your full potential. Cause he knows like what I'm lacking. Like, I mean, he's seen everything. AD been in the league a long time. He, he know everything I gotta do and everything I gotta, you know, achieve to be great. So just knowing I got like him to rely on be real easy.

• 8:21Channing Crowder?

  I wanna ask too, bruh. We all went from high school to college. Then we got in college and thrived. Once you left Albany, went to Florida State, thrived, you over here, double-digit sacks and all. And then I'll say personally, I'll say for me, I got to the league and I saw Zach Thomas and Junior Sayah play linebacker. And I was like, no, bro, I can't, I can't do what he's, what they doing. You know, it's they two Hall of Famers. When did you notice like that, oh, these dudes are footballers better than I'm a footballer?

• 8:51Speaker 03

  Honestly, it was probably when I really started watching like film, like really legitimately started watching film. I was watching Myles Garrett and it was his get off. And like you see, like he probably got one of the fastest get offs in the league just because like he know when the ball about to snap. I'm like, damn, like these dudes don't play about this. Like this, this isn't like a little game for them, but like they don't like anticipate. Like I'm used to just like a tackle being slow and I'll just react off him. Now these dudes are watching the ball and I was like, damn, I got like, there's levels to this and I gotta get up there.

• 9:18Ryan Clark?

  You know, you started out with early success. I mean, just the entire young defensive line, B Young, Fisk, you added Puna this year. Obviously you're there, you know, like the way that you guys have gelled has been great. And everybody's focused on this front four, this front four. Two years in a row, I feel like you guys have walked off of the field as losers of playoff games you could have won.

• 9:41Speaker 03

  I understand.

• 9:42Ryan Clark?

  Which was more difficult for you, walking off after you guys lost to the Eagles year one? Or this year in Seattle where your offense does everything they could possibly do to help you win the game? And you come up a little bit short.

• 9:55Speaker 03

  I'm not gonna lie, the Eagles' loss really killed me. Cause I'm like, like obviously I was talking mad, crazy before the game, I was doing all that. So I played a good game and obviously I think there's a couple of plays I could have took back and I feel like could have helped us. That one really destroyed me, but this Seahawks one, like it was like a little more personal.

• 10:12Ryan Clark?

  What was so personal about losing to Seahawks?

• 10:15Speaker 03

  Like they had division rival, all that good stuff, but like I genuinely like, I don't like them. Like I, I like, I got like a disdain in my heart for them, like I hate them. Like I, I don't like the Seahawks like at all, like there's nothing I like about them. I don't like their players, there's nobody I like about their style, like I don't like them. But when we played them, like the whole team's kind of like that, like we, like you can have your best friend on the sideline. You don't like them, like my mom. Could be wearing Seahawks colors and like that's my op that day.

• 10:40Speaker 03

  I just don't like, I did like a lot that game. I tried to, you know, set the edge, make sure we kept Kenneth Walker, you know, in check. Tried to get the Sam, got the Sam a couple of times, but then it's like, see like the throws he's making, you know, the errors we're making to put them in, you know, scoring range and everything like that. And I know we were that close because Stafford had an amazing season. Puka had a great season. Devante was doing everything he could. The O line was holding up. Our running backs were chipping and like our defense was doing their thing. Just know we was that close to being in the Super Bowl and then, you know, having a chance to win that, that one probably hurt a lot more.

• 11:08Fred Taylor?

  You don't care that this is all gonna be bulletin board material the rest of your career?

• 11:12Speaker 03

  They gotta see me for a lot more, so it don't matter.

• 11:15Channing Crowder?

  Gotta see me.

• 11:16Speaker 03

  They gotta see me for a lot more.

• 11:18Fred Taylor?

  Take us back like a little bit before the NFL though. Who was the best? Jameis, Jalen, or you?

• 11:27Speaker 03

  I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be honest, it's not me. I'm gonna be honest with it. It's probably, it's probably Jameis. That boy was dogging people. It was probably Jameis. But Jalen was, Jalen was up there too.

• 11:37Fred Taylor?

  Nah, 100% agree, but take us back to Albany. You know, starting out at a small, smaller college and then eventually transferring over to, to FSU. What, what was one of the biggest differences, you know, in that transition? And what were the, the key differences between Albany and Florida State?

• 11:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, it was obviously like the athletes are different, you know what I mean? Like you got these four or five stars. You got these top players in the high school, you know, going to this school. So like these guys are like naturally more gifted. The, you know, your resources you have at your school are a lot different. Like we didn't have like a in-house nutritionist at Albany. Like you had to go to like the school nutritionist and like that was kind of a whole thing in and of itself. But I think probably the biggest difference was probably like the physical capabilities and people's mindset. Like Albany was kind of like, oh, let's play football for a little bit. At Florida State, it was like, hey, I'm trying to get to the league. Like I want to change my mom's life. I want to change my dad's life. And that's something that like I always wanted to be around. Like I wanted to be around those people that like strive to be part of the greater things.

• 12:31Channing Crowder?

  That COVID break, like I said, I did, I did some research. They said you was, you was a little scrawny dude with Afro and just figuring out football. You like a wide receiver. And then you had a COVID break from Albany. And you came back and you was damn near double the size when you left. What did you do in that window to put you over the top? Because all my sources, what does Adam Schefter say? My sources were like, when you came back, everybody looked you differently. And then you left Albany with Florida State and balled out All-American, everything. What was that window like that made you a different player?

• 13:09Speaker 03

  You gotta stop talking to Jordan. But my, the first thing was, I just got in, went home and I was like, all right, like we got these next couple, I'm assuming months off, we don't know how long we're gonna be off. I'm like, I don't wanna go back to the same player. Like, I know a lot of people gonna go home, play the game and stuff like that. All your classes online, or you might have like an hour worth of classes a day. What you doing after that? So I started looking up videos on, you know, Google, like YouTube, what's good workout videos, all that stuff. My dad went and bought a bunch of weights, a bench, all that good stuff, put it in the garage. So he parked his car outside. All I did the whole bit was work out all the time. My dad would, I'd make my own breakfast. My dad would make lunch, my mom would make dinner. I'm eating like three, four, sometimes five meals a day, drinking protein shakes after every workout. Sometimes working out twice a day.

• 13:52Speaker 03

  And then I ended up, I went in at like 205 pounds. I ended up leaving around 240, 245. And when I went back, actually, one of our trainers who was working with me personally, thought I was a transfer. Cause I, I, I had like no beard beforehand. It was that, I had like no beard, I had an Afro. I had braces, I came back, braces gone, my beard's like full, my Afro's gone, I got like short cut hair. She's like, oh, nice to meet you, what's your name? I'm like, what's up playing with me? She's like, Jared? I'm like, are you actually dancing?

• 14:22Channing Crowder?

  And that boy came back, like he did 20 in the bank. By the time he came back.

• 14:28Ryan Clark?

  We in the yard, man.

• 14:30Channing Crowder?

  He came back, like he was in the bank.

• 14:32Ryan Clark?

  When you talked about at Florida State, right? Saying that they were playing, or you guys were playing to go to the league. A different mindset from Albany. When did you start to believe you could be, and not bigger or better, because I know being at Albany gave you a different hunger.

• 14:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:49Ryan Clark?

  How did that hunger, though, and the adversity you had to go through there, prepare you to know that you could become this?

• 14:58Speaker 03

  I remember the conversation vividly. It was one of my first, uh, my first year at Albany. I got into it with, uh, one of the older dudes. He was starting at my position. Me and him started getting into it, we're like arguing and stuff, because I beat him in a race. And like, I take everything serious. Like, I'm always going 100% of races, lifts, everything like that. Like, I don't do like the 80% of your max, anything like that. Like, we going 100, we going to the top. I beat him in the race, I'm talking all this trash, and he's like, "I don't know why you so excited. We both at Albany." And I was like, "All right, like, that's cool, that's cool. I'm not finna be here much longer. Like, I'm not finna keep going back and forth with you. I'mma show you, like, we not the same mindset." Like, I could just tell from his mindset right then, like, it's not, it's not that. Like, he thinks it's just like a stepping stone. Like, to me, this is literally a stepping stone to greater things. He's like, "This is the end zone now."

• 15:40Ryan Clark?

  When you hear that mindset, and you know that you guys are different, how did you continue to move at a school like that? Because I know for me, when I'm in a space, and I'm like, "Well, this person doesn't think like me."

• 15:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 15:55Ryan Clark?

  Now, we can't even have conversations. Because I know the conversations and the wavelength and the, the, the level I'm trying to get to, you aren't. We don't have that commonality. So for you, after you have a conversation like that, what's your focus and mindset of, "I'mma do this, I'mma do this, and here's my next step?"

• 16:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I don't know how much y'all know about Albany, but Albany's kind of like a party school in New York.

• 16:16Ryan Clark?

  So, New York, so the Giants would have training camp in Albany when I played there my first two years.

• 16:22Speaker 03

  Oh, so yeah, you know about it.

• 16:23Ryan Clark?

  Yup.

• 16:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, so it's like a little, it's like a little smaller city, where it's like a party school. Like, that's just, that's just how they are. So a lot of dudes on the team would go out partying and stuff like that. I ain't drink alcohol till I was like 21, 22. So at this time, I've never had a sip of alcohol or anything like that. So my day, I wouldn't go out on Saturday nights. My days where I'd go, like, everybody would go out on Saturday nights. Sunday morning, I wake up at around 7:00. I go grab breakfast, I go work out. After workouts, I go to the library, and I watch like film and stuff like that for like the whole week. Read a couple of books and stuff like that, go back to my dorm. By then, it's like 11:00 in the morning. Like taking a nap and then every day I was lifting like we had 6 a.m. workouts. I go do the 6 a.m. workouts and like after the practice I lift again because like my class didn't start till late. So I was like trying to like double up on lifts, double up on you know my readings and stuff like that, double up on film and like

• 17:08Speaker 03

  really try to push past that like I wasn't going out, I wasn't partying like I probably my freshman year of college went out maybe four times and like that just

• 17:15Ryan Clark?

  Do you think without that Albany experience, you are who you are now?

• 17:19Speaker 03

  No, I don't think I got the same hunger now. I think if I started off at like a big school, I wouldn't have the same hunger. I feel like I would have felt like everything was gifted to me.

• 17:27Channing Crowder?

  Was it size? Like was it just pure size? Because you a big ass dude, we joking about you coming in like you a big dude. Was it just getting the size that you were God blessed with and worked through and got in the gym? Or was there anything more to you being a two-time All-Pro and All-American and all that stuff?

• 17:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, no, it was genuinely just the size. Like I was just undersized out of high school. I wasn't really anything like crazy like I ain't gonna lie, it wouldn't have recruited me. Like I was like a 6'3", 200-pound tight end wide receiver.

• 17:57Ryan Clark?

  Oh, 6'3", 200 pounds. Hell, I ain't

• 18:02Channing Crowder?

  6'3", 200 though, RC. That's a, that's a bean pole.

• 18:05Ryan Clark?

  Jay, I ain't never been able to say that. Oh, 5'11", 165.

• 18:12Channing Crowder?

  We'll, we'll see what happens with him. But nobody recruited you? Nah. Because I, I don't want to badmouth Albany, but it's Albany. I never heard of it. I ain't know they had a school.

• 18:23Speaker 03

  Nah, so it was my, my late coach, Scott Dennis, he literally went out to a bunch of schools, tried to recruit me. We had like Syracuse came through, Temple came through, Villanova came through, all these schools were coming through. The only one that actually gave me that offer was Albany.

• 18:36Ryan Clark?

  And that's how you end up at Albany?

• 18:37Speaker 03

  Yeah, thanks to my coach.

• 18:38Ryan Clark?

  And you were jacked up.

• 18:40Speaker 03

  Huh?

• 18:40Ryan Clark?

  You were jacked up.

• 18:41Speaker 03

  Nah, I was tired. I was like, oh, yeah, it's over. They shouldn't have let me in the NCAA. It's over.

• 18:46Ryan Clark?

  Hey, you know, he did turn down both Florida and LSU though.

• 18:50Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah, transferring.

• 18:51Ryan Clark?

  Everybody makes bad decisions.

• 18:53Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:53Channing Crowder?

  What?

• 18:54Ryan Clark?

  And LSU.

• 18:55Speaker 03

  To go to the big Florida State, yeah.

• 18:56Ryan Clark?

  To the big Florida State.

• 18:58Channing Crowder?

  Man.

• 19:00Ryan Clark?

  Can you talk about that, Jared? What's the difference between Florida and Florida State? Because there's two Florida guys here.

• 19:05Channing Crowder?

  They don't act crazy now. I come, I get over in there too.

• 19:08Speaker 03

  Hey, there's a lot of space.

• 19:11Speaker 03

  There's not even that big of a difference. The only difference is like one's got amazing people, great food, a great football team, great basketball team, really be dogging the other one, the other one, Florida.

• 19:21Fred Taylor?

  Hold on, wait, wait, wait, wait.

• 19:22Channing Crowder?

  Damn right.

• 19:22Fred Taylor?

  You mentioned basketball and all these other things? You can't say that.

• 19:25Speaker 03

  You heard what I said, a basketball team. Now, y'all might got a better basketball team.

• 19:31Fred Taylor?

  You know Florida State's an all-girls school.

• 19:34Fred Taylor?

  I'm just saying. That's where they originated from, you're all-girls school.

• 19:39Speaker 03

  I ain't got no problem with that.

• 19:40Channing Crowder?

  It had something to do, because fam, you was right there. You was going over there across that tennis court.

• 19:45Speaker 03

  I don't know what you're talking about.

• 19:49Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 20:20Fred Taylor?

  Call conference. Did that validate the journey? Did it add pressure, or did it make you hungrier as you got ready to, you know, go into the NFL Draft?

• 20:28Speaker 03

  It literally made me more mad, because I was like, well, I didn't do enough to get Defensive Player. Like, I was like, like, all conference, like, that's a great honor, that's an amazing honor. Like, I'm, I'm super hyped about that, my mom was all happy about she's posting, I'm like, Defensive Player, because I spent two years at Florida State, I'm like, Defensive Player of the Year, that's something like, Jamar Johnson won it.

• 20:45Ryan Clark?

  Do you remember who was Defensive Player of the Year? Do you remember who was?

• 20:46Speaker 03

  He went to UNC, I can't quite remember his name. But he, he won it, and he had a great season, so I can't, like, take it away from him, like, he, he earned that. But I was just mad, I was like, I gotta be better. Like, I gotta, you know, step up a bit, like, more in certain aspects.

• 20:59Channing Crowder?

  But then, you did your thing with Rookie of the Year.

• 21:02Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 21:03Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah. But did that, did that, did that validate, did that validate, or overshadow all that upset?

• 21:10Speaker 03

  It definitely got it, like, it definitely got me hyped up, I was all hyped up, I'm, I'm the type of dude, like, I really don't get satisfied for much. Like, the second I win an award, I'm like, all right, cool, like, there's probably a better one out there. So now, like, my eyes on, like, Defensive Player of the Year. Like, now I'm like, all right, I want to get that, like, next year. Like, I want to keep pushing for it. If I get, if I get one of those, I'm gonna be like, all right, like, I want to get MVP now. Like, I want to keep going until I get, like, all the awards, like, stacking up to the top. Like, I, I don't get hungry for it.

• 21:34Ryan Clark?

  In Combine history, there's two players to run faster than 465 and...

• 21:40Ryan Clark?

  Have 30-plus reps on 225. Do you know who they are?

• 21:43Speaker 03

  Me and Miles.

• 21:44Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. When you look at Myles Garrett and what he's accomplished, I know you mentioned earlier, you know, you watched him get off a ball and all those things. He's playing in a place like, let's be real, nobody cares about, right? But every week you have to talk about him. Is he one of the players you watch or you look to that sets the tone for excellence at the position?

• 22:06Speaker 03

  Nah, 100%. I got about three, four rushes that I watch constantly. He's probably the number one. He's like the dude I watch every day. I'm like, oh, he got another sack this week. Let's see how he got it. He got six pressures. Let's see how he got every pressure. Let's see how he got these QB hits. Like, how's he working off these chips? Because since I started getting chipped, I ain't knew how to handle it. I ain't get chipped a lot at Florida State. Like, I gotta get a mountain, but like, we had dogs across the line. You had me and Fisk. Like, you put too much focus on me, like, Fisk is gonna eat you up. So like, I'm across the line. I'm trying to figure out how to work these chips. I'm watching Miles. I'm watching Mike. I'm watching Max. I'm watching TJ. Like, I'm like, how do they handle all these chips? How do they work off of them?

• 22:40Ryan Clark?

  How did you become such a student of the game, man? You talked about working out on Sunday, watching film. Who was it that sort of led you down the path of studying? Because that's not, that's normally something people talk about learning as they got older in the league. And you seem to have developed a process of doing that very early.

• 23:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was actually my coach at Albany, Bill Nestle. He told me, he was like, hey, like, you're stronger than anybody. You're gonna keep getting stronger. You're gonna keep being able to run through people. But you're gonna run into somebody that like you can't run through. And that's when you're gonna have to be smarter than them. That's when you're gonna have to figure out like how to work off them. So he's like telling me like, hey, you gotta start doing this. You gotta start watching a little bit more films. Start doing this a little bit more. Like, you can run through everybody, but like, there's gonna be that one person, probably Trent Williams, who you just can't run through every play.

• 23:27Ryan Clark?

  Was it Trent Williams?

• 23:29Speaker 03

  He gave me my welcome to the league moment.

• 23:31Ryan Clark?

  What was that welcome to the league moment?

• 23:32Speaker 03

  He ain't throwing to the ground or nothing like that. It was, they ran a, they were running like a sweep or something like that. He's trying to, you know, contain my outside shoulder. And he gets to me, like, we ran a bad play. I'm getting like into the B gap. He's trying to get me, so it literally went perfect for them. He seals me. I'm trying to break off. Usually like most tackles, I just throw out my weight. I try to throw him. He doesn't budge. Like, he's got his like hands inside. He doesn't budge. I'm like trying to move his hands. I'm trying to like swipe his hand. Like, I'm doing like three different moves. Like, I'm still seeing McCaffrey running. Like, I'm like, I'm like, but how do I do this? Like, I'm trying to move his hands. And I'm like, bro, get off me. Like, I literally said, bro, get off me. He starts laughing at me, like, Trent got a deep ass voice.

• 24:07Speaker 03

  He's like, huh huh huh, you funny, verse, you funny, verse. I'm like, what the hell? He's talking like through the rep. Like the play is still going on. And I'm like trying to get it. So then the next day we watching film. My coach like, verse, you gotta work off this. I said, coach, I ain't gonna lie to you, I swear to God, I tried. Like I tried everything in the book. Like you see me throwing my hands, like I couldn't do it.

• 24:24Channing Crowder?

  Verse, I gotta, I gotta tell you, cause you talking about dudes talking to you during the play. Jonathan Ogden. Remember J O and Ravens? He's a baby, he doesn't remember Jonathan Ogden.

• 24:36Speaker 03

  I know who you're talking about.

• 24:37Channing Crowder?

  Jonathan Ogden, bro.

• 24:38Speaker 03

  I remember watching, but I don't.

• 24:40Channing Crowder?

  I rushed off the edge and I'm doing like you saying. I'm swiping, I'm cutting, I'm flipping and all. He, and I'm talking about, the play's still going on. He said, young man, it's my second year. He said, young man, the weight room is essential.

• 24:55Channing Crowder?

  During the play, he told me the weight room is essential. He just rolled me past the quarterback.

• 25:01Channing Crowder?

  I said, boy, these boys is playing ball up in this level.

• 25:05Speaker 03

  I had to see him in that tone though, I ain't gonna lie to you.

• 25:10Channing Crowder?

  He said, the weight room is essential. But I was gonna ask, when you, as you, as you came, and you're a young player, but you made the Pro Bowl. Like you walked into this league, make, being a Pro Bowler. First year, second year, deepest rookie of the year and all that stuff. What's the focus on the future of your career? You said you want to get all the awards, but that's gonna take work. You talking about Lawrence Taylor, you talking about Jason Taylor, you talking about dudes like that. What more do you have to do moving forward?

• 25:40Speaker 03

  Like I'm a student of the game now. I think I gotta become a lot smarter. Like I was just talking to Micah actually, two days ago. And we was talking about, he's like, bro, like you are so fast, use your speed. Like even Micah, like you know, he's still recovering from his injury. He's got a long way ahead of him. He said, come to Dallas, he changed in Dallas, he said, come to Dallas, let's work together. I gotta start working with these dudes who like level I want to get to. Like I haven't spent enough time with Micah. I haven't spent enough time with Miles, I haven't spent enough time with Will. Like there's these dudes that are dominating the league that I'm, you know, starting to get to that level, but they all work together. They like they'll get and do workouts together. I gotta start getting into that.

• 26:13Channing Crowder?

  Does it bother you that?

• 26:15Ryan Clark?

  You have so many more pressures than actual finishes. Right, because I, I watch the film, right? And you watch the, so I'm always like, the way I do it is I watch the film first. And then I want to see if my eyes match the statistics, the numbers. And you'll watch a game and you'll be like, I'll be like, man, charity was all over. Then you go to the stats and you're like, but he don't have no sacks.

• 26:40Speaker 03

  Half a tackle.

• 26:40Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You be like, hey, and then you look and it's like, you know, uh, pressure pass win rate is high. And, but I was like, but damn, how difficult is it for you? Because we're talking about Miles differently because he's now the sack leader in a season. And he, he did it in lesser reps than what TJ did, than what Michael Strahan did. Because when he gets there, he finishes. How much are you focusing on having that impact of finishing the play at the quarterback?

• 27:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, like pressures is cool. I feel like for a rookie, it was a great honor, like to be like the top pressure lead, all that stuff. Everybody wants to finish the play. Like my, my coach now, you know, at the Rams, like he told me, he sat down, he's like, you gotta finish. Like, like you're doing amazing, you getting there, you gotta finish. Cause I'll get there, I might just miss a sack. They might just, you know, like Kyler Murray, like it's hard to get a sack on his air. We play a lot of running quarterbacks in the league. I gotta be better at just finishing, just grabbing them, wrapping them up, pulling them down, working better moves, because even like some of my pressure will just be off bull rushing the tackle into him. I gotta work off a bull rush. Like I got so much more I gotta do personally to just finish these plays.

• 27:49Ryan Clark?

  Speaking of the personal accomplishments, uh, you went to school with Keon Coleman. And I don't know if there was a more beloved human than Keon when he came into the league. And he's fallen on, I don't want to say difficult, because football is a first world problem. But to have an owner publicly say something about you the way that he did. The way that he had to deal with. What would be, I don't know if you talked to him or not. What would be your advice to him in a young career for such a talented young man like Keon Cole?

• 28:21Speaker 03

  Like at Florida State, he was probably the most loved person I've ever seen. Like Florida State's in Leon County. Leon, Keon, they during one of the games, they just started chanting Keon County, the whole stadium full. Like I'm like, but I ain't never been loved like this. I don't think my family loved me like this. He had so much love. So coming into the league and you know, having the troubles that he's had and especially with, you know, what his owners say, what they say, I'm like, damn, like that's tough, like what do you even do? But I know Keon, like I spent time with Keon, I've trained with Keon during the pre-draft process and everything like that. That's not gonna faze him. Like that's, that's not the person he is. It's not gonna be something that brings him down. It's not gonna be something that he crying over, you know, focused on. Like he gonna work past it.

• 29:02Speaker 03

  Whatever happens, whether he with them next year, whether he not, whether he go to a different team, he gonna go ball out. It's really just gonna make him hungrier and probably gonna bring out like who he truly is.

• 29:11Fred Taylor?

  You say you have to get smarter to become better. Your head coach is arguably one of the smartest coaches to ever coach the game of football. And he just got that bag. He just got a new bag, right?

• 29:22Speaker 03

  He deserves it.

• 29:25Fred Taylor?

  But to be able to inherit the team that he inherited after winning the Super Bowl, the youngest team in the NFL for multiple years. And to be able to have you guys back in the playoffs, back to back seasons. What's the one thing that jumps out to you about Coach McVay? Like what do you enjoy the most in playing for him?

• 29:46Speaker 03

  It's that he challenges me. Like he's, there's multiple times we got in full arguments in practice. Not that like I be arguing with my coach, I don't, don't go, don't give me why I be doing that shit. But like we'll get into like full, like full arguments, full like debates in practice. Just cause like he'll be like, you gotta be better in this aspect. I'm like, I did my job, what else do you want me to do? He's like, you're better than that. Like he'll like fully challenge me, like you're doing your job, that's cool. Do more, like you are capable fully of doing more. Like he's brought me to his office multiple times. He brought up clips of me doing exactly what he wants me to do and making the play. He's like, you can do this every play. Why don't you? Like, are you satisfied? And I'm like, And he really challenged me. I like that. Like he not gonna let me get full. Like he gonna make me sure I keep staying hungry.

• 30:26Fred Taylor?

  What does that do to you exactly? That he has this belief in you versus what you might have in yourself?

• 30:33Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of coaches that let like good players kind of get away with whatever. You get like some good players like you'll see in the league like will just start walking on the field, start jogging, they stop giving effort, but they don't call themselves out. Like they won't go to the sideline because they don't want to get off the field. He won't let that happen. Like he like he got full belief in you. He's like, you can give 100%. If you tired, we got great dudes behind me. Hey, I'll tag one of them in real quick. They'll go out there and ball out and hey, I'll go back in when I'm ready. He's like, just give everything you got while you're on the field. Because when you give everything you got, you the best player on the field.

• 31:05Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch. In Bev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 31:33Channing Crowder?

  This is something that we've argued about. Well, Ryan says it's harder to make it to like to be right on the verge of a championship and lose. Right? Like losing a Super Bowl sucks. Like even where y'all were, y'all were right there, one game away from a Super Bowl. It sucks. I've never been right on the edge of a Super Bowl. So I'm like, shit, I would love to be there.

• 31:55Ryan Clark?

  Mm hmm. I'd rather not go.

• 31:57Channing Crowder?

  He would rather not go to the Super Bowl than to lose a Super Bowl. I don't, I think that's crazy.

• 32:04Speaker 03

  I gotta disagree with it just because I can't understand that. Because I've been to playoffs every year. Not trying to brag.

• 32:09Ryan Clark?

  They, they, they don't, they didn't play for organizations like us.

• 32:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, we get it.

• 32:13Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 32:13Channing Crowder?

  Why you always do that when you get somebody out there?

• 32:15Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, they went like, they, they like sort of win, you feel me?

• 32:18Speaker 03

  Y'all was kind of there.

• 32:19Channing Crowder?

  No, no, I did, I did. Eight of 13. I made it eight times out of 13 seasons.

• 32:24Ryan Clark?

  Oh, that's a lot.

• 32:24Channing Crowder?

  That ain't bad, right?

• 32:25Ryan Clark?

  That's a guess.

• 32:26Channing Crowder?

  Jay made one out of seven or something.

• 32:30Channing Crowder?

  I made it once out of seven and then Ed Reed stole our soul in Miami. But that thought, but like Sean McVay, we love McVay. McVay, I do, like, we've been on the show. Yeah, we love McVay. We know he's, and y'all go to the, if you stay with the Rams, you're gonna go to the playoffs a lot.

• 32:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:46Channing Crowder?

  But being on the verge of it is what this organization and its head coach is gonna give you.

• 32:52Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:52Channing Crowder?

  But not.

• 32:55Speaker 03

  I can't, I couldn't do the not going, like even just in college, we didn't go to the playoffs. You know, I felt like we earned it, that's a whole different conversation, but we didn't go.

• 33:02Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. I would have rather have win. Y'all quarterback got hurt.

• 33:06Speaker 03

  We would have killed everybody in there. Our defense was horrible. I wasn't good.

• 33:11Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, I was good.

• 33:12Speaker 03

  We had like eight dudes get drafted out of our defense.

• 33:15Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, they were crazy.

• 33:16Speaker 03

  But I would have rather have gone and lost than not gone at all.

• 33:20Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 33:21Speaker 03

  That, that, I would have rather had that happen than that.

• 33:23Channing Crowder?

  But to that point of being, always being, and I would say Sean McVay's gonna get y'all close every time. You'd rather not wanna get there and not win than not be there.

• 33:35Speaker 03

  Nah, I'd rather get there and lose.

• 33:36Ryan Clark?

  No, I, I mean, so here's what I've heard. Teddy Bruski, who's lost a Super Bowl and an AFC Championship, said losing the AFC Championship was harder for him. He said because even as much as the Super Bowl hurt, he had a chance.

• 33:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 33:51Ryan Clark?

  Right, like you, you get to the dance and, and, and I do agree with that. I've only been to the AFC Championship twice and we won them both, so I don't, I don't know that feeling. I just remember walking off of the field at the Super Bowl and it's this realization that truly only one team matters. Right, like, they don't talk about the other team that got there. As great as they were, you were 12 and 4, number one seed, we're the number one defense in the NFL. Nobody ever talks about us, cuz you didn't win it, cuz you didn't seal the deal. And so I think it was that realization to me that when people always ask me about, is this season a success? I have a quick question, did they win the Super Bowl? Cuz if you don't win the Super Bowl, it is not successful.

• 34:37Ryan Clark?

  Shaun has talked about this game and Jared and said it hurt him more than any other loss he's had. Now, he's lost a Super Bowl. He knows what that feeling is like. What do you think it's gonna take for you guys next year to not have that feeling you had against Philadelphia, to not have that feeling you had a week ago against the Seattle Seahawks and actually finish the deal?

• 35:02Speaker 03

  I think, and this is just me being completely blatantly honest, I think it was a young mindset. I think it was my fault on the defense. I think it was a couple of our, you know, secondary, you know, a couple of our, I feel like our linebackers were 100% locked in. I think it was our fault as a defense because we're a younger defense. We have a lot of young dudes. We felt like we earned everything. We felt like, oh yeah, we got this like sealed. Like, all right, boom, we beat, you know, the Panthers. Boom, we beat Chicago. We're like, all right, Seattle next. And we all hyped up all week. We like, yeah, we gonna beat them again. We know what we learned from last time. And then when we started having trouble, you know, early on, they throw a big play, everybody's kind of like shit in the bed. Everybody's like, oh, what do we do now? Like, this isn't going the way we thought it was gonna go. They're not laying down. And when that happened, everybody kind of like started freaking out.

• 35:47Speaker 03

  We were able to kind of ground ourselves again. But because of our young mindset of, oh yeah, we think we earned it. Like, we think, oh yeah, it's a cakewalk. Like, this the league. Like, ain't nobody gonna lay down for you. This team can be 0-16 last game of the season. They not gonna lay down for you. They gonna go out there and try to get that one. So for us to kind of go up against, you know, even Seattle, like, they're not a salty team. They're a very good team. Very good team. Like, I'm not saying that. But like, our mindset was like, oh, we lost to them once. We beat them once. It's for all the marbles. And when we started having trouble, we didn't know what to do. Like, some of us on the defense, some, you know, I'm gonna take full blame too. Like, there was a couple of times, I'm like, but they running the other way. Like, I don't know what to do. I can't chase. Like, I'm not that fast. I can't chase them on the backside. What do I do? So when we had some troubles, we just kind of like mentally shut down.

• 36:28Ryan Clark?

  What did Sam Darnold, though, prove in that game? Because, listen, I'm on the other side of it. There was a lot of talk about, hey, He threw six picks against the Rams. Like, the Rams is kryptonite. I wasn't saying that, somebody else was saying that, you know? And I was like, well, he did finish the last game strong. Let's see what type of confidence he has coming into this one. What do you think Sam Donald proved in a game against a front four that's as vicious as any front four in the league? And finding a way to win the NFC Championship?

• 36:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, I told everybody, I think Sam's a good quarterback. I mean, he's obviously an NFL quarterback. He's in the Super Bowl, he led them to a Super Bowl. I think he's a very good quarterback. The six picks was his own situation. You know, the playoff game, I probably see it was his own situation. Like, I think he's a good quarterback. I think he took full advantage of all the mistakes. Like, I think he, like, he understands the game. That's what a good quarterback does. They're gonna take advantage when you mess up. He did that completely, and I gotta give him full credit for it. I got to him one time, I hit him, I bring him to the ground, I'm like, yeah, it's a sack. I see him throw the ball, I'm like, all right, whatever, it's gonna be off. I see it's a touchdown, I'm like, fuck.

• 37:32Speaker 03

  What can I even do to it?

• 37:37Speaker 03

  I get off the ground, because I'm on field goal block. I get off the ground, I look up, I'm like, oh my god. Like, go over there, gotta go for the block. And I'm like, like, that's the type of dude he is. Like, he can make those throws while getting hit. Like, he's a very good quarterback. So I proved, I think he proved that he, uh, he's a great quarterback.

• 37:51Ryan Clark?

  So who you got, Patriots or Seahawks?

• 37:54Speaker 03

  I hate the Seahawks.

• 37:58Ryan Clark?

  But you got a pick now.

• 38:00Channing Crowder?

  It is sold, bro.

• 38:02Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, Super Bowl pick though, dawg.

• 38:05Speaker 03

  If you beat us, you gonna win.

• 38:07Ryan Clark?

  So you gotta say, you gotta say.

• 38:09Speaker 03

  The Seahawks probably gonna win.

• 38:12Fred Taylor?

  It doesn't matter that, uh, you know, they're the ops, divisional opponent. You beat them once during the season, you lost a close one in overtime during the season, then you just lost in the playoff. You still think it's okay to say the Seahawks?

• 38:25Speaker 03

  I think it's okay to say the Seahawks. I think the Patriots are a very good team. They got through the AFC, but I don't, I don't know. I think the NFC was the whole team to beat. Like, everybody in the NFC was a team to beat. Like, whoever won the NFC was gonna be the problem.

• 38:37Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 38:37Channing Crowder?

  And, bro, with Stafford and McVay, that combination.

• 38:42Channing Crowder?

  It's proven. I think Stafford should win the MVP. Like, the numbers is, the numbers is, it is what it is. What, what is that like? Because Stafford probably could be your daddy.

• 38:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, that'd be old.

• 38:58Channing Crowder?

  So, from you, from you to Stafford, but just, just playing with Matt Stafford, seeing his preparation, seeing what he does, being damn near 20 years older than you. Is that weird?

• 39:08Speaker 03

  It'd be weird. I, I'll tell everybody the same thing. Stafford is probably the one human being I've ever met who I like, I'm genuinely cautious around. Like, he's not like, like, he's a nice dude. He'll laugh and everything like that, but like, I'll say a joke, I say a joke one time, he ain't laugh. And everybody stopped laughing.

• 39:24Speaker 03

  Like, he, he just got like that aura about it that like, all right, let's keep it calm, like. But like, knowing him, like, he's, he be in the office from like 6 a.m. to like 6, 7 a.m. Like, he be, he be getting after it. So like, you know, you know, like, no matter what it is, he gonna go out there and ball. Like, having that type of offense, you know they gonna put up points.

• 39:40Ryan Clark?

  We came to your practice, bro. McCollough, Kulkens there, Brenda Song is there. There's like different celebrities, different entertainers, actors, all of those things. Who has been the person that you've met through the Los Angeles realms or while in L.A. that was like one of those people you was like, okay, like, this is big time?

• 40:00Speaker 03

  It was, it might have been Brenda Song. Like, because that was like, that's somebody I watched like growing up and everything like that. Like, watched the whole Suite Life of Zack Cody, all that stuff. Like, you watch it on TV, then you got to watch like all her like movies and stuff like that. I saw her, I was like, is that actually who I think it is? Like, they kept hyping it up all week, they're like, I'm like, is that actually who I think it is? Like, it probably hurt. I ain't get to meet him fully, but I was sitting courtside one of the Lakers games. I'm, I'm like going to sit down in my seat, and like, scared, he stopped me, scared, he's like, oh, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm like, what the hell you stopped me for? Like, I'm on courtside, man, my, my feet on the wood, like, why? Why can't you talk to me right now? And LeBron gets up to go check in, and like, I think he might have recognized me or something. He looked over at me, just did like the little head nod, and I was like, like, all, all the girls around, you know, all the girls around, they're like, oh my God, does he know LeBron?

• 40:44Speaker 03

  Like, he said, here, the whispers, I'm like.

• 40:48Speaker 03

  I feel it. LeBron.

• 40:51Speaker 03

  I'm getting you after, man.

• 40:53Channing Crowder?

  When he walk off, for sure. He not even, he not even looking no more though. That's cool.

• 40:58Speaker 03

  Dinner, dinner tonight.

• 41:01Speaker 03

  I'll hit your phone, just let me know. But that was probably the one where I was like, yeah, like, I'm kind of tough.

• 41:08Fred Taylor?

  That is tough. Hey, Jared, it's always kind of awkward asking a younger person the biggest pivot question because you guys have barely lived life, right? But you have, I think, an amazing, unique story that a lot of people can kind of tap into, your journey. But looking back, what has been the biggest pivot in your life? Like, that's that one moment you can look at and say, because this happened to me or for me, I am who I am today.

• 41:32Speaker 03

  It's a bad situation to choose. I think it genuinely was COVID, though. I think because of the time I had being at home, because of the time I had, you know, with my family to learn my morals, my values to learn, this is really what hard work looks like. Like, I'm training every day, all day. Like, I go to the local college, NAU. I go train on their fields. Like, I think without that situation, I never would have had the time to fully grow into who I am, get all that size, get the strength and everything like that. Because, you know, college football, you might get a month off. So I think because of that situation, because of the challenges it brought to my family, not just, you know, me being at home, but my family, you know, as a whole, I think that's the reason I am who I am.

• 42:08Fred Taylor?

  Take us out.

• 42:09Ryan Clark?

  What were some of those things that your family went through during that time?

• 42:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, obviously, like, you know, we in the whole situation of COVID, like, all that stuff. But my mom ended up getting a new job, so she has to, you know, we had to move out. My dad, you know, my mom's job was kind of like, was kind of like a setting point. So my dad has to quit his job, go to a new spot. Everybody's moving, everybody's going all over the place. My sister's doing basketball. My older brother's like, or my older brother's doing his thing, my younger brother's kind of doing his thing. My family's all over the place. Everybody's kind of distracted, not knowing where to fully set their feet, where we gonna be at, you know, in the next couple of weeks. And then this whole time, I'm just over there working out. Like, I'm not focused on nothing besides working out in school. But because of that, like, you know, you kind of get closer to your family just because, like, you don't got nobody else to lean on but your family at that time.

• 42:54Fred Taylor?

  And I heard your two brothers on the way out, your two brothers and your sister can whoop your ass at basketball.

• 42:59Speaker 03

  They, my older brother hasn't beat me in like five years of basketball. My younger brother's never beat me at basketball. My little sister doesn't even know what it feels like to beat a basketball.

• 43:07Fred Taylor?

  She at UGA, bro. She at UGA, bro.

• 43:09Speaker 03

  You know why she feel the UGA? Because I used to...

• 43:13Ryan Clark?

  How you showin'? You said it was the one? Did Jalen give me your chain back? That was not my chain!

• 43:21Ryan Clark?

  I don't know why he had that on, man! That is crazy. There you go, it was not his chain, man. We appreciate your time, dawg. Thank you, fam. Thank y'all for having me. He said it was not my chain! That was not my chain!

• 43:35Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he did it, hey! For sure, bro. You already know what people was gonna think?

• 44:03Speaker 05

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now, it's your time.

• 44:08Speaker 06

  We go V!

• 44:11Speaker 05

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