NFL Wide Receiver Zay Flowers talks about his Baltimore Ravens being the AFC's #1 Seed, shares why QB Lamar Jackson is the league's MVP, and brotherly bond with OBJ.

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast With a first round bye in the postseason, the rookie wide receiver sits with Ryan, Channing and Fred to talk about his journey from childhood to an underestimated WR in college to now breaking rookie receiving records this year. Zay and Channing share a special history as Channing was one of his high school coaches and was able to see his talent at an early age as well as play a strong role in keeping him out of trouble. Channing coached Zay at a private high school, and despite the adversity Flowers had faced, he kept a smile on his face at all times. Chan and Zay reminisce about some of their stories together as Chan shows his pride for the future star. One of 14 children, Zay lost his mother at 5 years old and also lost his brother when he was in high school, which he never let that escape him and always used it as motivation to represent his 8 brothers and 4 sisters in all he did and show the utmost respect towards his father for all he instilled in him growing up. Last April, when Zay walked across the NFL Draft stage, he made a tribute to his entire family and how each of them played a role in his opportunities. Learning commitment and sacrifice from his father, working hard and being grateful for each day is the biggest thing he takes from his childhood and can't put into words his appreciation for his father holding it all together. Now, Zay has found a second family with this Ravens squad, and their Super Bowl aspirations are alive and well heading into the playoffs. Zay details what it's been like learning from OBJ, Coach Harbaugh's leadership and being grateful that Lamar is the one drawing up their plays and executing his offense's success. He shares with Chan, Fred and Ryan a glimpse of some of what it's like to be in that building and what it's like inside the huddle on game days, opens up on what the next few weeks will be like and why he is so confident this Ravens team is the one! Zay's dad’s 4 a.m. wake-ups and years providing for 14 children is undoubtedly paying off, and Zay is on a mission to keep proving his haters wrong and making his family as close as ever. The Ravens are off this wild card weekend and await hosting the divisional round next weekend. Make sure you subscribe to The Pivot and catch new episodes every Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET and Fridays at 3:30 p.m ET on YouTube, with audio available on all streaming platforms including Apple, Spotify and Amazon. 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-like 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.

• 0:32Channing Crowder?

  What's up, man? What the talk, bro? That what I'm saying? Damn, bro, you the man. Look at these people. Shh, I'm trying to get up there. I'm trying to get up there. I'm trying to get up there. Man, from damn U-School. Crazy. It's wild, ain't it? Crazy. You know when it went crazy? I had to. I told you. I told you. Back in the day? Back in the day. You seen it though. Remember that Heritage game though? Heritage game? The state championship? Yeah. Yeah, man. That's wild, bro. And now you went up there? Went by quick though. You go by quick. Went to Boston College and broke every record that can be broke? Yeah. And just kept doing it? Got you. You had a long path though. Yeah.

• 1:10Channing Crowder?

  Hey, it got me to where I need to be, where I wanted to be. You love me, my knee still hurt. From the day I broke you? Yeah, from when I tried to teach your ass a lesson. I was trying to tell you, you done get out there. Did you understand? That I was trying to show the other kids that I can cover Zay? I can cover anybody? And broke you down. Why ain't you just let me cover you? Because I can't be covered. I'm not being covered by nobody. By nobody. You can't release inside, and you release inside. Shh, I give it to you, hey. You ain't gonna be able to. If you say that in the game, you gonna be like, hey, you can't release him. I'm going wherever. I'm finna win. Wherever you want to go. Yeah, I'm going wherever. I'm about to win. Pride of you, baby. We right here.

• 2:10Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, man. Goddamn, Zay.

• 2:12Speaker 02

  I seen you at the draft.

• 2:14Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, we did the whole first round of the draft.

• 2:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, go, I quit.

• 2:17Channing Crowder?

  It's funny, though, you knew.

• 2:19Speaker 02

  I told you.

• 2:19Channing Crowder?

  That's the funniest thing. I be telling people the same story.

• 2:22Speaker 02

  I told you.

• 2:22Channing Crowder?

  Like, since he was in high school, he was telling you.

• 2:24Speaker 02

  I got 14 brothers and sisters. One of us had to do it.

• 2:27Channing Crowder?

  You knew you was got to go to B.C. and do what you did.

• 2:29Speaker 02

  Yes, that's why I went. I was in Boston College to play corner. I was about to leave my junior year. They was like, third round. And I was like, nah, I ain't no third-round receiver. Let me go back one more year.

• 2:39Ryan Clark?

  Y'all done going down memory lane, or no?

• 2:42Speaker 02

  I'm not, man. I'm sitting here like a happy uncle.

• 2:44Ryan Clark?

  Oh, look at us. We won a state championship. We would have won two state championships if Zay wouldn't have got kicked out. That's coaching.

• 2:52Speaker 02

  That's the truth.

• 2:53Ryan Clark?

  That's coaching.

• 2:54Speaker 02

  I couldn't control Zay. Hey, you know, sometime when you going, that adrenaline going. I was too high. I threw it. I'm like, it was already broke too, so I threw it off. Quit. I had to let him see my face like, whoo, get out of here. You out.

• 3:08Ryan Clark?

  Man, welcome to the Pivot. Zay Flowers. This is Freddie T. You know Chan, Coach Chan, Unc, OG. I'm RC, man. We appreciate you coming through. Know it's a busy season, so that means a lot to us. I know it means a lot to him. I'm so tired of hearing Zay Flowers stories. I don't know if y'all ain't have nobody else good on y'all team. He'd have talked to us about how you shook him at practice, how he was trying to show out. He knew them knees was bad. It's 18 surgeries in. He ain't had no shot. But I do want to sort of talk about, like, your story. People see you now, one of the best rookies in football, one of the top receivers in the league. But it had to start somewhere.

• 3:49Ryan Clark?

  You come from a house of 14 kids, growing up with your father. And you talked about how competitive you had to be in that house. How did growing up like that, man, help you become the competitor and the dog that you are?

• 4:04Speaker 02

  You got older brothers. You know how older brothers treat you? Like, they used to have us wake, we would wake up, probably what, 7:00, 7:30? We wake up early in the summer, so we go outside to play. And then they're hyped it all like, oh, JoJo, you can't tackle Zay. That's my little brother, JoJo. He was like, you can't tackle Zay. You can't beat Zay in a race. Then JoJo competitive too, so they just boosting me and JoJo up all the time. And then they put my other younger brother in it. Then we'll go play against the older, like, we'll play against our older brothers in football. Play against them in basketball. So I was always playing against older people and just, that's how I learned how to play. Like, competition, you just want to win.

• 4:38Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. And when your mom passed? Because that's when I got to youth school, they gave me the rundown of it all. And they were like, yeah, you know what I'm saying? He was one of the dogs, the little, they call him the, the, the green dots, the yellow dots and the red dots.

• 4:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:51Channing Crowder?

  The red dots are the problem for the team. He was a red dot. And they told me the story and they told me everything that laid out, man. And they're like, this kid got a drive that you'll never believe. Does that come from when your mom passed? Does that come from your dad that had to raise 15? Like, when, when, when your mom passed and your dad took over and all that stuff? Like, that story, I'm so intrigued by.

• 5:15Speaker 02

  When my mom passed away, I was young. I was like five. Like, I remember because I was there. Like, I remember everything that happened. But I don't really remember, like, I don't got, like, the memories of, like, all right, me and my mom in the car, like, we just going to do something, you know? It's just like that one last memory I had of her. But it really come from my dad, though. Like, all the stuff I seen my dad had to do just to get all of us prepared to go do what we had to do. Like, he made sure we always ate. He made sure we were always on time for our little league games. And then he disciplined us too, like, made sure everything, like, he didn't want us acting no type of way. So that all built my character. And then my brothers and sisters played like the role of making me laugh. Like, I'm always having friends, like, I got somebody around me all the time.

• 5:58Speaker 02

  So like, having my mom, like, pass away, it kind of like brought everybody closer. It kind of like, it jelled us so good that you wouldn't even know that our mom passed away. So that's what kind of like gave me my drive.

• 6:11Ryan Clark?

  You said you did have, uh, two memories.

• 6:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:15Ryan Clark?

  Of your mom.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:16Ryan Clark?

  How old were you, man, when you stopped peeing in the bed?

• 6:21Speaker 02

  I was probably like... When she gave me that whooping, my mom gave me a whooping of good, man. Too, I was probably like three, three or four. I ain't wanna go, I end up hiding behind a chair in her room. And she already knew it was me, she like, "What is that, Zay?" And I just remember getting a whooping, then just going to sleep, that's all I remember. You know, once you get that good whooping, you going to sleep. That the last time you peed in bed?

• 6:45Speaker 02

  Yeah. Three years old. When the last time you peed in bed? Last week.

• 6:51Speaker 02

  Hey, well, you might go get checked out.

• 6:54Channing Crowder?

  Small bladder, large urethra. Just slide out sometimes.

• 6:59Fred Taylor?

  He needs some depends, Zay, much like you, man. They can depend on you to catch everything. Y'all caught that?

• 7:05Ryan Clark?

  Doesn't mean I have to like it, cuz I caught it though.

• 7:08Fred Taylor?

  I know, bro, like, show me some love, man. Nah, seriously, you've come a long way. You know, people look at you and the things that you're doing now and say, "Man, this guy, this kid was an instant star." But it wasn't always like that. When we were just in the green room back there, you mentioned that you were like, recruit 1,069 or something like that.

• 7:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:28Fred Taylor?

  In your mind, it wasn't what you thought you were as a player.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 7:32Fred Taylor?

  How big of a chip did that allow you to put on your shoulder?

• 7:35Speaker 02

  I mean, it put a chip on my shoulder too, cuz I was playing against the players that was like ranked, what, top 100 in the country. We had Kenny, we had Josh, they both was five stars at the time. So I'm like, I just gotta go get mine, like, I know they ain't that much better than me, like, so I just went to work. I just tried to grind for everything I wanted. I don't even know how to explain it, bro, it happened so fast that I just, just fell in love with the grind and just kept doing what I was doing.

• 8:05Fred Taylor?

  What would you tell high schoolers out there now that chase these rankings? Do they really matter?

• 8:11Speaker 02

  They don't matter at all. Like, I'll tell them, "Don't even chase the logo on the helmet." Because you just chasing what, what somebody else, what, what somebody else was doing at another school, not what you can build. That's why I went to B C, so I could have a chance to build my own legacy that break all the records, be the first round, first, first round receiver from there. So I was just trying to build my own legacy in a different way, in a whole different state.

• 8:35Ryan Clark?

  You were the second wide receiver to be an A P All American. Like you said, you ended up being a first round pick out of Boston College. What was that transition like for you? You a boy from Florida, you know, and now you're in Boston. It's a different culture. It's a different climate. There's a lot of things you have to adjust to there. And you come from a huge family. Like you said, you had built in best friends.

• 9:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:02Ryan Clark?

  Your entire life. What was that transition like when you went to school?

• 9:06Speaker 02

  When I first got there, I was like, yo, what the hell I'm doing in Boston, bro? I don't know what I'm about to do up here. Like, I'm just looking out the restaurant. My dad and my, the coach was talking. And I'm just thinking, I'm like, looking at the restaurant, like, yo, what the hell did I get myself into? I don't know where I'm at. I'm up here by myself. Then, once I see my dad leave, walk out the door for the last time, that's when I knew it was real. Like, you gotta be a man. Now, you gotta go get what you want. And you up here by yourself. I mean, it's a difference when you grind with people around you and when you grind by yourself. Like, once you learn how to grind by yourself, I feel like, like, nobody can stop you. Like, you got all, you got all the confidence you need. Because you, you just doing it by yourself. Nobody tell you to do it. Nobody get you out of bed to go do it. It's just all you.

• 9:48Ryan Clark?

  T A is my little homeboy, is my, like, my little bro. I remember hitting him up when my son was a freshman in high school. And I was like, hey, man, I want to fly you out. And you can stay at my house. I just want you to just come train my son for a weekend. Like, I'm his pops. He's always hearing my voice. And so it was following him that I first learned about you. Because he would always post your stuff. When did you figure it out that you could be like that, though? I mean, there's always the confidence to have. And you're saying, don't pay attention to rankings. But they're there. They are there for a reason. It's because they believe the potential of those athletes is greater than the ones ranked behind them. When did you start to feel like?

• 10:29Speaker 02

  I say at that point, though, like.

• 10:30Ryan Clark?

  Really?

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Because some people can run out of juice. You, you see people all the time, that's five stars, go to schools, and run out. Then there'd be somebody like me, two, two star, that'll come out of nowhere and end up going first round, so. It's just late bloo-, it be people that's late blooms and some people that just start off early, that just got it naturally. And some people gotta learn it over time. And I wouldn't say I was one of the people that had to learn it over time. I just had to, I say, like, develop myself. Or like, get stronger during the process of what I was going through. And each year, I got better. It was like right timing for what I needed.

• 11:05Channing Crowder?

  Interesting when you ask about B.C. and the transition. Cause we were at youth school. If y'all don't know, youth school was a private school in Davie, Florida. It's like thirty racks a year to be there.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:16Channing Crowder?

  Is that your ass one paying thirty racks a year?

• 11:20Channing Crowder?

  So, no, we had scholarships and things like that. But they go get the, you know, the better players, they recruit. And, you know, we go out there and, um, now it's all legal. Now the jokers, they, they.

• 11:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 11:29Channing Crowder?

  Motherfuckers be playing four schools in four years. Now, everybody jumps around.

• 11:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:33Channing Crowder?

  But coming from where you from, and then going to a youth school, and see, like, seeing that side of life, seeing the friends you had, seeing the difference in that. Because a lot of young kids, now, a lot of young, young black men coming up.

• 11:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:45Channing Crowder?

  They gonna have that opportunity, the opportunity that you had. And to transition to that, did that, did that help you a lot with life? With interaction, with communication, with different things?

• 11:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, that, that helped me with like, cause I'm coming from the hood. So, when I'm coming from there, I'm going to youth school. Like, when I first got there, I was getting in trouble. I was getting tensions, I was getting like.

• 12:05Channing Crowder?

  I remember.

• 12:06Speaker 02

  Like, stuff like that, but, like, it, it taught me how to, like, play both sides, like. You can be yourself, but at the same time, you can still be able to talk to everybody in the room. And have everybody understand what you're saying. So, being around that, like, that group, like, put me in a whole different mindset about, like. Alright, yeah, you wanna be a football player, but what you wanna do after that? Like, earlier than I was supposed to, I felt like. And that's what helped me, like, always, like, have a smile on, like. Just do what you, do what you do, be yourself, and just play ball. Cause everything gonna follow along.

• 12:42Fred Taylor?

  You also had some adversity and challenges in high school. Your brother was murdered.

• 12:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:47Fred Taylor?

  During that time, what were some of the more difficult, like, challenges for you?

• 12:52Speaker 02

  When my brother passed away, just getting over that fact, like. Because I'm thinking like, alright, God took my mom early. So alright, he gonna keep all of us together for a long time. So and that, my brother that passed away, he was like the brother that, he kind of like jail all of us, like laughing, smiling, playing around, everybody asking where he at. Like every time he come by, it's a party, basically. And then when that happened, that kind of like, that kind of, that hurt everybody, like in my family. So just, just getting over the fact that, that that happened and somebody close to him was the one that did it. Yeah, just getting over that part for real. That was the toughest part for me.

• 13:30Ryan Clark?

  You were five years old when your mother passed.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:33Ryan Clark?

  Now, being of age to be able to understand losing someone, how did losing Martin affect you?

• 13:41Speaker 02

  It's just that I'm, I'm more conscious of like where I'm at, like about being smart. Like now, if I go out somewhere, I'm probably like, I'll duck off, I'm gonna be chill, I ain't gonna do too much. I'm just gonna be with my people wherever I'm at. And then get in and out of there at home, ain't gonna cause no problem, no scene, just do what I gotta do and go. It ain't really changed me though, it just made me be more conscious of everything around me.

• 14:03Ryan Clark?

  When you lost him, it was football season, right?

• 14:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:05Ryan Clark?

  And you scored, and what was it, the jump out and jet dance?

• 14:10Speaker 02

  Oh, the jump out of jet, yeah.

• 14:11Ryan Clark?

  Oh, oh, jump out the jet dance?

• 14:12Speaker 02

  Jump out the jet, yeah.

• 14:13Ryan Clark?

  So when, you know, when you score and you have an opportunity, just in that moment to do something your family loved, something I'm sure your brother loved to share with you, and you get an opportunity to honor him with that dance, what was that feeling like for you?

• 14:30Speaker 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.

• 14:59Speaker 02

  It was just, because at that time too, I started, that's when the year I really started like playing good too, so, and then I went through that. And then just having, being able to be strong enough to go play in the game like the next day after that, and then scoring, and then I caught a pick, I had a pick six to that game. And then hitting the dance, it gave me a little bit of light, like, like he watching me like, we gonna be good. Was Coach Crowder a good coach? He was a crazy coach, bro. Everybody called him crazy, man, like, man, crazy, like, I just, we was just talking about the story, he probably in here, where he had the kids. So, you know, you school, like, it's most people rich out there. Everybody on scholarship, it ain't gonna be that many of us, it's gonna be like 10.

• 15:40Speaker 02

  Like, we understand what he trying to do, but all the other kids out there like, hell no, man, ain't doing, they went home and told on this man, like, bro, this man got us out here punching concrete poles. Bro, the kids like 14.

• 15:54Ryan Clark?

  Chan, what was the concrete pole supposed to do?

• 15:57Channing Crowder?

  Had to get they punch right, get off the line and punch, so I had them stand by the big light pole, the big concrete pole, and when I punched it, the light on the top shook.

• 16:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:06Channing Crowder?

  And when they punched it, their hands started bleeding, and I was like, yeah, I don't know if this is the right group of people to have punching these poles.

• 16:15Speaker 02

  The men were crazy, man, jumping all over the field, but it was like, it was a coach that we needed though, like, that energy, because we ain't have no other coaches, every, all our other coaches like, like modest, like, they ain't gonna say too much, they ain't gonna do too much, they ain't gonna jump around. He came, that's why all the energy changed. Did he ever come to practice lit? Nah, I don't think so, not that I know of.

• 16:35Channing Crowder?

  I ain't come to practice but once a week.

• 16:37Speaker 02

  I wouldn't have them know though, even if I knew, I was probably just like, nah, man. Yeah, let it ride.

• 16:43Ryan Clark?

  We got an opportunity to sit with you after the draft, and Chan was, man, you could see the pride, and just when you walked away, him telling stories about the person, the young man, it wasn't about the player. We had all seen the film and understood that. You know, you mentioned earlier, we were walking through the hallways, dependent.

• 17:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:00Ryan Clark?

  With your siblings' names and your mother's picture. What was it like, man, to have that moment of being drafted, but also have that representation of the entire family with you?

• 17:12Speaker 02

  It was just like, I having all my people with me, like, y'all couldn't be with me up here, but I'm gonna have y'all somewhere, like, front and center, right with me, because it wasn't just me that just went through all this, it was all us. Like, I put the work in for it, like. But I noticed everything that we all went through. Not just me, my dad, losing my mom, my brothers and sisters, losing my brother, losing my uncle. So, I just felt like putting that chain on and having that up there, walking across the stage with that, it just made me a little bit more, feel more safe, like I know all my people with me.

• 17:42Channing Crowder?

  Love it. And say, we all went through it. And you at a elevated level, because we talking about the numbers. 14 brothers and sisters, the hood, hood on your back.

• 17:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:54Channing Crowder?

  You're now the patriarch of the family, because you're a millionaire. Like, is that intimidating? Because I know when I first, when I first knew, like, when they say, I tell the story all the time, my first check was $588,000, third round, signing bonus after taxes. And I sit and cried and smiled and cried and smiled. Then I told the store, I went to the bank and deposited the little $588,000 check. And the girl on the other side was very excited to talk to me after that. She was like, damn, bitch, you got money. But being that, like, overnight, we talked to you after the draft. You all the same, you the same Zay I'd known for years. You all excited, but then life kicks in. And now you've really become the patriarch of your family. Honestly, because finances, the finances, like, it's been less than a year, bro.

• 18:39Channing Crowder?

  And you've stepped to a different level in life. How are you navigating that?

• 18:43Speaker 02

  Before I even, like, sat on the show with y'all, like, when I got dropped there, L, L texted me, Lamar, that's who I call him, L. So, he texted me, he was like, yo, you might want to change your number. Like, you might want to just do that right now, because everything gonna change, bro. Like, people gonna be coming at you, who you ain't talked to in years and stuff like that. And there's been people like that, but, like, I'm strong, I stand on my faith, like, it's me and my family, like, I got my brothers, I got my dad, and we riding on that. Like, I ain't gonna give them the money, like, you feel me? I'm, I help put them in position, though, like, if I got a connect that my brother like, that's something like he like to do, then I put them on that.

• 19:27Speaker 02

  Like, my little brother, he wash cars. And I got him like a little, little pressure washing and stuff. He got a whole bunch of stuff like.

• 19:34Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 19:35Speaker 02

  Just, nah, he just go around Baltimore, try to find something to do, like try to wash the cars and make money off that. And I just like invested into it with him, like I let him put me on the flyer like that. And be like, alright, this is Zay brother, and he'll probably go try it out. So it's just little stuff like that, just to be able to help him out, put him in position, but not give it to him.

• 19:52Fred Taylor?

  Exactly, from 1069 to two-star receiver, to Boston College, to first-round pick, to Super Bowl coach saying, "I love Zay Flowers, he's great. He works hard, he comes to work every day, he's great." Add it to, he's A-plus in every way, really, to breaking all the Ravens rookie records, receptions and receiving yards. Sharing the locker room with former MVP, and soon to be MVP possibly, L Lamar Jackson, and then Super Bowl champ, who you might consider big brother, OBJ. What were those conversations like? Like, how did they help you in your maturation and your progression throughout your rookie season?

• 20:35Speaker 02

  O took care of me more like, kinda like a bit bro side, like, he gonna, he gonna help me put together a plan to try to keep my body right throughout the season, because you know he dealt with injuries, so he was like, he just ain't wanna see somebody else in his position go through something like that, so. He tried to help me get on the schedule and take care of my body. And then he also like, you know, he big on God too, O big on God, O and L like real big on God. We pray right before the game, we do like a little prayer with all the receivers. And it's just like, the group, like the group I'm in with the receivers is like, like the bit brothers to me, like, they ain't gonna try, try like trick you out or nothing, they just gonna tell you how it is and go straight up with that, like,

• 21:19Speaker 02

  "Bro, like you the one, like you gotta go make the plays." That's dope. "This job gonna be on you, like go make that play because you that guy." So just having them like believing me that way, it just made like my job easier than easier to believe in myself.

• 21:33Fred Taylor?

  Not only that he believes in you, but he believes in the entire team. He recently said it's the best team he ever played on.

• 21:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:39Fred Taylor?

  I mean, this is coming from a guy who won a Super Bowl with a damn good LA Rams team. How does that make you feel?

• 21:46Speaker 02

  The LA Rams team was legendary too, right? They had what, Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey. Cooper Cup. Cooper Cup. Stafford. Stafford, OBJ, that. No, they were nice. I just think he just get a different vibe from it because. Like how he is in the locker room, like, like I said in there when we was talking, like, it's like, it's a brotherhood. And we all gonna tell each other straight up, like, we ain't gonna sugarcoat nothing, like, "Bro, you gotta catch those, you don't drop those," like, "Hey, L, you gotta be on point," like. We all gonna tell each other, we, we, we not looking at each other like, "Oh, that's superstar OBJ," or that's like MVP Lamar Jackson. It's like, we all playing little league, like, every time we step on the field, L tell us, "Play like you playing in little league, we gonna find you and we gonna make the plays."

• 22:29Channing Crowder?

  I don't wanna ask about that too. Do y'all have scramble drills for a guy like Lamar Jackson? Because y'all, whenever the play breaks down, bro, I watch it on TV, let me know if I'm wrong, you motherfuckers just run around.

• 22:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:41Channing Crowder?

  And that motherfucker will flip that bitch 40 yards under it. Is it like, is it rules to, "Okay Lamar done embarrassed 17 people in the backfield, now he about to run?" Or y'all just say, "Shit, I'm gonna get over it."

• 22:52Speaker 02

  Like, it's, it's kind of both, honestly. It's kind of like, cause we, we practicing in practice, but in the game is different, cause once he break out on a scramble drill, he, he can go left, and then he'll run back right. So you'll be running this way, and then you'll start running back this way again. Or he'll just take off, now you blocking. So you never know what you really gonna get from him, so I just say, "Stay alive." I, I look around, as soon as I see him about to break, sometimes I can get caught up watching him, I ain't gonna lie, like, "Damn, he just did that?" I can't believe, sometimes I'll be like, "Damn, how he did that?" But, sometimes I just turn around, "All right, green grass, green grass, go find green grass," and I know he gonna find me. Like, he just, he gonna put it up there, any type of way he can, throwing it across his body, underhand, however he gotta get it there, he gonna get it there.

• 23:36Ryan Clark?

  This is Zay Flowers, NFL professional rookie record-breaking Ravens wide receiver. I wanna go back to like sophomore Zay Flowers, Virginia Tech, 2 catches, 100 yards, which you had, I think you had like a jet sweep or a reverse for a few.

• 23:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:54Ryan Clark?

  When Lamar Jackson finally recognizes you on social media.

• 23:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:58Ryan Clark?

  What was that like for you?

• 24:00Speaker 02

  I mean, you know, we from the same city, like, Brock County, it ain't, it ain't, we ain't too far apart from each other. And, so to see somebody like, from down there that was doing what I was trying to do, cause he was already what, MVP at that time, right? And to see him, like, just like, notice it and like, it kind of like pushed me a little bit more like, oh damn, like he, at least somebody noticed, like, we from the same era, so he kind of like, got a vibe of like how I grew up and what we went through and how it is down there for everybody, so, just seeing that and having that come through my phone at the time was big, I would have it.

• 24:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, so now is, you know, it's L. That's where you get tight. You just don't even call him by that whole name. Still a nickname? Yeah, you just call him L. And you be like the only person to call him L, don't nobody else call him that, that when you real, when you real tight, you know, you, but you mentioned, bro, you like, bro, he does some things that, as an elite athlete, as a point zero one percenter, are even amazed by. Everybody believes, I believe, I'm sure all three of y'all believe, he's gonna be the MVP again. He's gonna be the first person to win it twice by the age of 26. When you are out there on the field with him, what is it that he can't do?

• 25:17Speaker 02

  That man can do everything, like, like, with the best of them though, he can do everything, like, I don't even know what to say, cuz like, he put it on film, he put it on film, like, week in and week out, to the point where, people will try to find the smallest thing to pick out, and say he can't do, just because he doing it at the highest point, at the highest level. And just being on the field with him, bro, it feels so easy, like, we start at 25 yard line, right, they kick the ball off, we start at 25 yard line, and then three plays, we in the red zone. It's probably three crazy plays he made already at the beginning of the game. And then you look up like, damn, we got to that red zone that fast? Touchdown, we off the field.

• 25:59Speaker 02

  Or it's just like, alright, he about to take over the job by himself, or he demanded it, like, he got a handle, everything we doing, like, bro, he be like, just play you, bro, like, how you play in Little League, how you play in high school? Play exactly how you play.

• 26:11Ryan Clark?

  For the people who try, like you said, the people who try to critique, and pick Lamar Jackson apart.

• 26:18Ryan Clark?

  And you said he has a hand in everything. How involved is Lamar Jackson in what the Baltimore Ravens offense is?

• 26:27Speaker 02

  He's super involved, like, they give him a lot of leeway, like, to change up the calls, to change the runs the opposite direction, to give him the receiver his own route, or check into a different route. I believe that gave him more freedom in his head where like, alright, he got more options, he got more people he could check stuff to, that he know gonna win, that he know gonna win over here. So, it's really about who he want to throw the ball to, because I feel like everybody on our team winning on their routes. Or, we can hand it off to Gus, or we can hand it off to Key, or we can hand it off to Justice, or L can run it. So, it's just like, they gave him the leeway and he running with it. Like, he doing exactly what he's supposed to do.

• 27:04Channing Crowder?

  Do you ever do what you did in high school? Where you go tell the quarterback, "He can't cover me"?

• 27:08Speaker 02

  No, not yet, not yet.

• 27:10Channing Crowder?

  You never go tell L?

• 27:11Speaker 02

  I got the OGs with me, the OGs gonna be like, "Ay, Smiley, you tripping, you tripping." So, I did go over there, sometimes I would be like, "Ay, L", like, I'd just shake my head, like, "That was one on, that was one on, you could've gave it to me right there." And he'll be like, "We good, we good." Then we'll come back to it, like, the Bengals play, when I caught that deep post, he missed me and I was running back. And soon as I was about to say something, he was like, like, "Don't make no movement, don't make no, I seen you, like, I seen you open." Soon as we ran the next time, let it go.

• 27:40Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 27:41Speaker 02

  Like, he confident in us, we confident in him. So, I think that's why we all clicking so well on offense.

• 27:46Channing Crowder?

  And then also Harbaugh, man, because a lot of people, like, what, 15 years?

• 27:51Ryan Clark?

  16.

• 27:51Channing Crowder?

  16 years?

• 27:52Ryan Clark?

  He came the year after Mike T.

• 27:53Channing Crowder?

  And most guys, now you see the guys that do offense, call the offense, a lot of head coaches call, call the side of the ball.

• 27:59Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:59Channing Crowder?

  Harbaugh was a special teams coach.

• 28:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:01Channing Crowder?

  And he is a Super Bowl winning, you know, coach, you know what I'm saying?

• 28:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:06Channing Crowder?

  And he's so successful, one of the longest 10-year coaches, him and Mike T. What makes him so special?

• 28:11Speaker 02

  I say, he care about his players, like, he'll come up to you and talk to you one-on-one. He'll talk to the practice squad guys one-on-one, like, they on the team, like, one of my friends on the practice squad, he called him and just talked to him, like, yo, like, "You had a good week this week, keep doing what you doing. I seen a lot of progress." So, just doing that to your players, it make everybody like, I make more confident, or like, just believe in what you preaching, or what you teaching. Because if you got a coach that ain't preaching what he teaching, then nobody ain't gonna want to play for him. And Harbaugh live by his word, so. All these players love playing for him.

• 28:44Fred Taylor?

  Sixteen games in, in a young rookie career. Who are your toughest defenders, your toughest cornerbacks you face?

• 28:51Speaker 02

  I'm gonna go.

• 28:54Speaker 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 like 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.

• 29:23Speaker 02

  And Jalen Ramsey and Denzel Ward.

• 29:26Ryan Clark?

  Denzel's nice.

• 29:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, he good, he fast like. He gonna put his, self his position where he know he fast enough to where he can cut off like certain routes. And play like, cause you know, he gonna run down all D balls. He gonna, he gonna run with everybody. He full three speed, so he just play at a, at a leverage where he know like, alright, I'm weak at this spot. I'm gonna tap right here, I'm gonna play to this. And then he gonna break on it fast like. His brakes super fast and Jalen Ramsey, I ain't see, I never seen him in person. That was my first time like lining up on the field. And I was like, what the hell? I was like, bro, why this man so tall?

• 30:02Speaker 02

  I was like, what the hell? And he had though like, the first time I ran my route, um, I ran like a, a love of the game, just a regular go. So I just like, kinda like, I tried to give him like a little release to see where he was gonna go for. And he's just wire me all the way to the sideline. I'm like, I gotta keep my space from him, I can't let him put hands on.

• 30:20Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 30:20Speaker 02

  So every time after that, I'm just speed releasing them, I'm just running them, running them, running them. But I say those like, those was the top two.

• 30:27Fred Taylor?

  You haven't seen Sauce yet?

• 30:29Speaker 02

  Nah, not yet, not yet.

• 30:30Fred Taylor?

  Talking about tall?

• 30:31Speaker 02

  Not yet.

• 30:31Fred Taylor?

  Oh my goodness.

• 30:32Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, he taller than Jalen.

• 30:34Speaker 02

  He taller than him?

• 30:35Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:36Speaker 02

  How tall he is?

• 30:37Ryan Clark?

  He's 6'3".

• 30:38Speaker 02

  6'3"?

• 30:38Ryan Clark?

  Uh huh. When I played and played for Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Pittsburgh was, was the game.

• 30:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:44Ryan Clark?

  Right, it's, it's getting, it's, it's different now, it's, it's a different rivalry, but I know y'all still feel it. I actually wanna go to a game that was recent though, in NFC, you guys played San Francisco.

• 30:55Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 30:56Ryan Clark?

  Two best teams in football, and they still are, no matter how y'all whipped them, it's still the two best teams in football. But they also talk. So that week, they're talking, Florio.

• 31:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:07Ryan Clark?

  He's talking, so you scored a touchdown. And you know it's Christmas time and you give them, you give them the Grinch celebration. What was the decision that that was gonna be the celebration that game at that point, other than the fact that it was Christmas?

• 31:22Speaker 02

  We was coming to prove a point like, not to say, like, everybody know we good, but like, how good were we like? Like Mike Florio was just saying they gonna come in there and steamroll us like, like Ellis said, like, we, like, we all prepared the same and just for him to come disrespect us like that, like, we not doing what everybody else doing. It was crazy, so we all took, we, we took it away. We ain't gonna say we took it away, but we did a little bit. That's what really made us go a little bit harder. And the celebration was just like, we all trapped, we taking it over, like, we taking all y'all stuff, we taking, we taking the fans stuff, we taking the referees stuff. Whoever, we taking it.

• 31:59Ryan Clark?

  It's a little hard being a Pittsburgh guy to, to see it, cuz my guys ain't living like that right now.

• 32:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:05Ryan Clark?

  You know, but I, I love the closeness of your team. I love the way y'all all ride for one another. And just listening to you talk about the locker room, it reminds me of what our locker room is. Like Chan's been to Pittsburgh with me. Fred has, you know, like, we have a relationship that's lasted a lifetime. It's transcended the locker room. But what really brought us together was winning the Super Bowl, bro. You know, that, that sort of journey, that sort of, of adversity, and then coming out on top. When rookies go to the Super Bowl, they think they gonna go every year. That's not the way it happens.

• 32:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:43Ryan Clark?

  You guys truly have a chance to do that. What do y'all have to do to capitalize on this moment, this team?

• 32:51Speaker 02

  I just think we can't fall into the hype, like, that everybody pushing behind us and, and just fall into, like, not doing what we used to do and, like, not executing and, like, messing up the small stuff, not doing what we usually do because we think we at the top of the league. I just think if we do the same thing we been doing and play with our heads down and use that same motivation that Mike Florio was saying and all these other people at that time and play our game, I think we'll be alright.

• 33:19Channing Crowder?

  You talk about the Steelers, Pittsburgh, and the Ravens, just, it, it's hard-nosed football.

• 33:26Ryan Clark?

  Is it the perfect place for you? Cause we talked about your pad, we talked about how you came up. We talked about like, are you in the perfect place for Zay Flowers?

• 33:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, I ain't gonna lie, the Ravens probably was the best fit for me. Like, as in like, not even saying like, just football, just like city wise too. It's like, it's ducked off, it's like, I'm chilling and ain't too much to do. I'm locked in on what I gotta do and we winning. So it's going perfect for me. And in the building, everybody genuine, like, you know, I'm a genuine person. I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna do like all that with everybody. So when I walked in the building there on my like pre-draft, like during the meetings and stuff, we ain't even talk about football. Like, it was just, nah, they acting by family, we played basketball, ate. I hung out with some of the coaches.

• 34:13Speaker 02

  So that was probably the only place where I felt like, yeah, I could see myself like playing there for a while. And then like every other place, it was more, all right, football, let me see what you know about this. Let me see what you know about that. Like, kinda put me to the test. And I'm like, like, bro, I've been playing this for a little minute now. Like, I think I, I think I know what Cover 2 look like, I think I know what Cover 3 look like.

• 34:33Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 34:34Speaker 02

  Like, if y'all wanna know about me, I'm playing with y'all. Like, just learn about the more than about the player than just about playing football.

• 34:41Fred Taylor?

  Zay, you guys have secured home field advantage. Have you thought about what you'll be doing during the bye week?

• 34:47Speaker 02

  I'm recovering, I'm getting right. Cause I already know we got that, we got a little stretch, about like two or three weeks till the Super Bowl. So I'm getting right, like, I ain't even playing, like, no, I ain't going outside. Practice home, practice home, that's all I'm doing.

• 35:01Fred Taylor?

  Love it.

• 35:01Ryan Clark?

  You are very young for this question, but you've lived a lot of life, man. And to be, you know, a rookie in this league, you've been through a lot of things. We always ask the biggest pivot. What moment in your life has affected you or has helped to make you what you are today? If you had to point to the one thing or the two things that have been essential in Zay Flowers or Zavion Flowers becoming, becoming this Zay Flowers, what do you think it is?

• 35:32Speaker 02

  I, I think it's seeing my dad get up every day and doing what he did. Cause it's hard, it's hard to feed, if you got a kid, it's hard to feed one kid.

• 35:41Ryan Clark?

  Yes.

• 35:41Speaker 02

  And if you got 14 of them, you gotta think about what you gonna do every day, how you gonna get that money and how you gonna... Like, put food on the table, how you gonna keep the lights on? So just seeing him go through that every day, like, his Monday through Friday, basically, he get up at 4 a.m., go to work, he'll get off probably at 5. He'll probably have like an hour and a half rest till he gotta take all of us to practice. Pack all our bags in the truck, take us to practice. After practice, come home, cook dinner, get back up at 4 in the morning. Then like on the weekends, he'll take like 10 loads of laundry to the wash house. I'll usually go with him, like, that's why I'm a morning person, cuz him, he wake me up early, I go wash the clothes with him, bring him back.

• 36:25Speaker 02

  He'll cook breakfast, take us to football games. And he'll sit out there all day, cuz you know he got kids at 6, all the way to 16, so he out there till the last, till the last, the older probably. So just seeing him go through all that really just, like, made my work ethic go up and just made me wanna put him in a better situation and put myself in a better situation.

• 36:45Ryan Clark?

  When you got an opportunity to gift him the car, man, what emotions were you feeling at that moment? After seeing him do all of those things, and then still be in a position to be like, nah, there's certain things I don't want you to do, but to finally be able to give him a gift that he earned through the way that he lived life for y'all, what were the emotions you were feeling?

• 37:07Speaker 02

  I don't think it's a gift that can cover for what he did for us or how he took care of the family or my brothers and sisters. I just, I just wanted to get him something, like, to show him like my appreciation, cuz he was always running through cars too, like he'd switch cars, like buy and use cars. So I was like, let me get him something that's fresh, that's his, like he gonna be, he gonna be good for a little bit.

• 37:29Ryan Clark?

  Nah, man, I love that, bro. Best of luck down the way, man. I think y'all are the best team in football. And all I'm gonna say is this, do not miss. Like, when you got an opportunity to win it, bruh, like, are you talking about going on the bye week and getting together and rehabbing and recovering? That's what you do, because, man, it is hard to get it. It is hard to win one, and it's a lot of great players and great teams that never win a ring. So, focus up, bruh. I wish y'all boys the best, man. Thank you so much, Sid.

• 37:58Speaker 02

  I appreciate it.

• 37:59Channing Crowder?

  I'm gonna go to the Shake's by the night if you wanna come.

• 38:00Speaker 02

  Where you going?

• 38:03Channing Crowder?

  He said they buy we get.

• 38:07Speaker 02

  Don't get me on that.

• 38:09Channing Crowder?

  Did y'all read that cover? No.

• 38:17Channing Crowder?

  I can go to this place, I can go to the spot on the field where it was.

• 38:21Speaker 02

  Don't try that in the mud though.

• 38:22Channing Crowder?

  I said, I was tough. I was tough till they started talking shit.

• 38:27Ryan Clark?

  How'd your mom pass?

• 38:28Channing Crowder?

  Piling up in the park or not?

• 38:29Speaker 02

  We was at the park, we was at the park. It's like a little, this park called St. George where we grew up playing and like doing all that. And my brothers was playing football, we was out there playing football, we was having like 11 on 11. And my brother started fighting. It was like right after the hurricane, I think it was Andrew that came through Florida in 2005, right? Which one was it?

• 38:50Channing Crowder?

  That was Wilmore.

• 38:51Speaker 02

  Wilmore, Wilmore, Wilmore, yeah. It was right after that hurricane, so it was like stuff laying all over the park like wooden boards, like you know that little wooden fence? Those was all broke all over the ground, so when my mom came out there, me and JoJo ran home to get her like, to tell her our brother was fighting. So she came out there and she was like arguing with somebody about the fight. And she was walking backwards, then hit her head. Yeah, fell over like one of the little wooden, the little wooden sticks.

• 39:19Ryan Clark?

  Wow, so y'all, y'all were there when your mom?

• 39:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, we was like right here, like we was all around. And she was just walking backwards and talking.

• 39:26Ryan Clark?

  Wow. This, was it, did it happen out there, like was it over there or was she, did they have to get her to the hospital?

• 39:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, but the ambulance took like forever to like come, to come get her. So she was probably out there for like 30 minutes.

• 39:39Ryan Clark?

  Damn.

• 39:40Speaker 02

  And then, and the hospital was probably like five minutes away. Like Broad General, like right there.

• 39:47Channing Crowder?

  Oh, y'all was at, uh, that little park there, right by the police department?

• 39:50Speaker 02

  You talking about, uh?

• 39:52Channing Crowder?

  That was the park?

• 39:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, right over there.

• 39:54Channing Crowder?

  By the little power center.

• 39:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 39:56Channing Crowder?

  The hospital right there.

• 39:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:58Ryan Clark?

  That's crazy.

• 39:59Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:00Ryan Clark?

  Just that fast, man?

• 40:01Speaker 02

  Quick. Damn, it was my brother friend, my brother. That's why I ain't go to NC State. Cause my dad said it was bad luck. Cause my brother got killed like right over there with, like one of his best friends. Set him up.

• 40:12Ryan Clark?

  So your brother was at, he was at NC State?

• 40:14Speaker 02

  No, no, he was just up there. He was living up there for a little while. And he used to come back and forth. So he used to come back and forth. And he used to bring the, um, the person that used to be with him to the house. He used to come eat with us and stuff. Then went back up there. He like, kinda, I think he set him up to like try to rob him. And then, my brother tried to like to drive off, but he forgot the man was in the car behind him and the gun went off.

• 40:38Ryan Clark?

  Wow.

• 40:38Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 40:40Ryan Clark?

  Damn, bro.

• 40:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:43Channing Crowder?

  Man, they come in, they come in every day smiling.

• 40:45Ryan Clark?

  I know, now, now. I ain't never seen him. Right, and that's what I was, I was thinking about that when he was sitting there, man. Dude, full of joy, man, full of life.

• 40:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:52Ryan Clark?

  What you think about too though? Growing up with those brothers, like, and sisters, like they still living, man?

• 40:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:59Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean? Pop's still living. Pop's still working.

• 41:02Speaker 02

  Nah, it make it easier though, for sure, being around them and having them.

• 41:05Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 41:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, having a lot on too, it just make it easier. You don't even think about it as much. It's just like, you just go on, you laughing, you just doing the next thing.

• 41:13Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 41:14Fred Taylor?

  You were number 11, right?

• 41:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, 11 out of 14.

• 41:16Fred Taylor?

  And you were born on 11?

• 41:18Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 41:18Fred Taylor?

  So why didn't you choose number 11? Why you chose number 4?

• 41:22Speaker 02

  I think I was the fourth youngest. I'm the fourth youngest. Yeah, that's how I got it.

• 41:28Channing Crowder?

  Man, pop was doing some fucking.

• 41:31Speaker 02

  I lie. Jackrabbit.

• 41:35Speaker 02

  Back to back, back to back.

• 41:37Channing Crowder?

  Pop was doing some fucking, boy.

• 41:39Ryan Clark?

  About to say, God.

• 41:40Speaker 02

  Damn, that's you.

• 42:07Speaker 05

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

• 42:18Speaker 06

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