Brandon Aiyuk: "I am taking it personal," the NFL Wide Receiver opens up on latest contract talks with Niners, clarifies social media posts & latest public exchange w/ friend Commanders QB Jayden Daniels & what NFL teams are on his short list for 2024?

One of the biggest NFL off-season storylines is the contract negotiations coming from the reigning NFC Champions in San Francisco and if their star WR Brandon Aiyuk, former first round pick, will still be a 49er heading into 2024 season. Since the week after the Super Bowl, his contract has been a hot topic with constant media coverage, rumors, and social media buzz. Adding fuel to the fire, there are speculations that Aiyuk might reunite with his former ASU teammate and close friend Quarterback Jayden Daniels at the Washington Commanders… And the Pivot in partnership with Fanatics uncovers the truth and cuts through the noise. In today's episode, sitting with the source himself, Ryan, Channing and Fred have a conversation with Brandon Aiyuk around what's true, what's not and ask the looming question- will a new deal be done before training camp ? Or does Aiyuk have his sights set on a short list of NFL teams he feels he can be the X factor on. Brandon explains the why behind the viral face time post of him and his long-time friend Jayden Daniels and why he's taking these contract negotiations personal while sharing his true priorities and mindset as he discusses what he believes he's worth, the significance of the big dollar-signs and how he handles the pressures of these high-stakes discussions under the public eye. With an unsettling sentiment and signs of discourse between the San Francisco organization and Aiyuk since the Super Bowl loss in Feb, Brandon is setting the record straight about his emotions around the loss against the Chiefs and sharing his true thoughts in his voice without any misconstrues. Aiyuk gives us his perspective on the state of the league, being the next domino to fall in the contract pool of wide receivers and sharing insights on quarterback Brock Purdy, his teammates and how much talent is on this 49er roster, full understanding the grass may not be greener elsewhere but he's not closing the door on reuniting with his friend and former teammate Daniels in Washington or dabbling with other teams, ofcourse with the Steelers being one Ryan hopes is on the list. Growing up in a 49ers fan home, Aiyuk has deep love for the team but also has openness to new opportunities. Tune in for an unfiltered conversation that delves into the heart of Brandon Aiyuk's current journey, his aspirations, and the roller coaster side of professional football negotiations. New episodes drop on Tuesdays 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. New York City, come meet us at Fanatics Fest NYC! We’ll be recording our podcast LIVE with some special guests, signing autographs, meeting fans, taking photos and more. We’re excited to be at FFNYC alongside some of the biggest names in sports such as Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Kevin Durant, Sabrina Ionescu, and more. FFNYC is happening August 16 –18, 2004 at the Javits Center. Visit https://bit.ly/3R0f8hn to buy your tickets now! ”GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER(CO/IL/KS/KY/MD/MI/NC/NJ/OH/PA/TN/VA/VT/WV), (800)-327-5050 or gamblinghelplinema.org (MA), Call (877)8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), or Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), (888) 789-7777 orccpg.org (CT), or 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), or 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), or www.mdgamblinghelp.org(MD), or morethanagame.nc.gov (NC), or1800gambler.net (WV) 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

  Look at him.

• 0:32Ryan Clark?

  Oh, this is the A. S. U. reunion.

• 0:33Speaker 01

  Hello, hello.

• 0:36Speaker 01

  This is a recruit violation. How y'all doing? How y'all doing?

• 0:39Ryan Clark?

  Well, what up, BA? Brandon Ayuk, second-team All-Pro. First-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers, over 1,300 yards, shoot. Damn utility, man. I mean, that's how y'all like him over there in San Francisco.

• 1:26Ryan Clark?

  Welcome to The Pivot, a part of Fanatics. This is Fred Taylor. This is Channing Crowder. I am Ryan Clark. The first question I was gonna ask you is weird now, right? Because you brought him with you. And I was gonna be like, man, you and your team have been extremely quiet, you know, throughout these negotiations. You guys haven't put anything out there. And then, you know, a little bit ago, we get a TikTok, you know what I'm saying? And you say, I'm laughing, but I'm crying for real. And you're talking to Jayden Daniels, second overall pick of Washington Commanders. And you say, man, they don't want me back. So what was the thought behind putting out that post and including that FaceTime in it?

• 2:05Speaker 01

  Well, first of all, that's my dog right there. That's my dog. We good friend. We talk on the phone every day. So just like we talked earlier, we're starting to get our own footage. We're getting our own footage, recording everything. Just enjoying the process. Just have my lady record her stuff, record everything that's going on so that I can look back on it. Because this is exciting times. It's stressful, but it's exciting. I want to have these memories. And that was just a moment that she caught that. Got off the phone with the Niners. They told me what they told me. I passed the information on to him.

• 2:31Ryan Clark?

  You said they told you what they told you. There's no way the Niners said, Brandon Iuk, first-round pick, all-pro wide receiver, we don't want you back. What was it exactly that they told you that prompted that conversation with JD?

• 2:49Speaker 01

  They told me that they didn't think that we're on the same page and that they didn't believe that we were going to. And that was about it at that time. But it's part of it. It's part of the contract negotiations, trying to sway stuff in either direction. So whether that's 100% true or not, I guess that's still to find out.

• 3:03Fred Taylor?

  The talks are, though, that they do want you. Are they far off from what you expect, what you consider your value to be?

• 3:13Speaker 01

  Throughout this process, there was times where we were super close or I felt like I was telling people like, tell my agent, let me get my suit ready. I'm ready to get it back to the Bay. I gotta get right to sign this contract. There's days and times, like in the past month or so, where you could say, yeah, we're pretty far apart. So.

• 3:29Fred Taylor?

  How much influence from the other guys? How much influence do their signings have on your market?

• 3:36Speaker 01

  I think a lot. I think a lot. But with that, I felt like when the season was over, I was trying to, I was back and forth with them every day. Like, my agent called me an hour. We get off, we're on the phone for an hour and a half, hour forty-five minutes, two hours. Hang up the phone. He calls them. He calls me back in an hour. We're trying to bang this thing out. And I wasn't worried about any other guy. I was just trying to get what I felt was appropriate for me at that time. That was the rush. That was the early on in the offseason. We couldn't come to an agreement at that time. And then on top of that, other guys decided to come. Or not decided to come. They got paid. Their teams rewarded them. The market changed and what the market is. So we weren't able to get a deal done at that time where other guys wouldn't affect the market and I could just do what I wanted to do. But even at that time,

• 4:21Speaker 01

  they still didn't agree with where I was at. So we really haven't agreed this whole entire time. And for the last month, we haven't said much at all. So.

• 4:29Ryan Clark?

  BA, I want a Lamborghini, but I can't afford it.

• 4:36Channing Crowder?

  And in that analogy, your ass is a Lamborghini. Are you comfortable? Are you comfortable being in the position? Like being where you are right now?

• 4:44Speaker 01

  In terms of what?

• 4:45Channing Crowder?

  Being that next guy, that next receiver. We talking about, who is it? A.J. Brown got hit him in the head.

• 4:49Ryan Clark?

  Justin Jefferson.

• 4:50Channing Crowder?

  Jayden hit him in the head. Jayden Waddle. Waddle hit him. It was all them guys that hit him in the head and you that next guy. Are you comfortable being there?

• 4:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure. For sure.

• 5:00Channing Crowder?

  Bro, you on ESPN every day. And they talking about your contract.

• 5:04Ryan Clark?

  Cause he the next guy. He's the, he's the star wide receiver. That's the next domino to fall.

• 5:09Channing Crowder?

  And, and being in that position, that's the position you've never been in in your life.

• 5:12Speaker 01

  Right.

• 5:13Channing Crowder?

  Is, is that, you good with that?

• 5:15Speaker 01

  I'm cool. I'm enjoying it. I'm having fun. I'm having fun. I felt like for the past four years, I kind of, you know, took a backseat to this guy or this guy or this guy or whatever and kind of just did what I had to do. And now I'm in a position that when I wake up in the morning, turn on the TV, they talking about me. I get on my phone, they talking about me. My mom calling me, they talking about me at work, whatever, whatever. So I'm enjoying, I'm just, I'm enjoying the process. I know at the end of the day, this ain't, this is, this is the time for me. Uh, this time period right now before the season starts and uh, to get paid and to maximize my value and uh, continue to show who I am as a player. But right now it's about, it's about one thing.

• 5:54Fred Taylor?

  I, I, we all think that you've done that. You've shown that who you are as a player. Uh, obviously you're the best pure or natural receiver on your team. Hands down, we know what Debo brings to the table. And certainly not a short change of him and his abilities. But from a natural receiver, a pure receiver standpoint, I'm pretty sure we can all agree that you're, you're the best on your, on your team. Uh, and you've earned, I, we, you've earned the right to be in that conversation, to be in the highest paid receivers in, in the game. Whether that's either by uh, the, the, the franchise tag, which sucks because it doesn't give you that long run, long-term security. But that's the, the 24 to 26 million per year.

• 6:39Fred Taylor?

  But in your market, based on your numbers. We would think that you would be certainly around that $30 million, you know, a year mark. And again, this is me just sitting on the sideline. I don't know the numbers, I'm not an agent. I haven't dissected the whole thing.

• 6:55Ryan Clark?

  You know ball, you know ball though.

• 6:56Fred Taylor?

  Respectfully, you know, I think you have that ability. Is there, and I think it also got blown out of proportion when the FaceTime with Jayden came out. I think if an OG can give you any advice, it's to continue to keep it away from the media. You can't negotiate contracts through the media. So allow them to do that behind the scenes and keep moving accordingly, keep working on your craft. Keep, you know, showing up or whatever you have to do. And hopefully, you know, they'll come around and cut that check for you.

• 7:28Ryan Clark?

  You have been extremely quiet, right? Ryan's been quiet as well in representing you. You guys haven't really negotiated in the media. And the first thing we saw was the FaceTime between you and JD. But whether it was the 49ers or someone else, it was leaked how much you were offered. Adam Schefter actually recently said they want him, but they don't want him at the price that he's asking to be paid. So when you are handling things the way that you are, when you are being professional about it, when your agent is being professional about it as well, how does it feel to know, okay, I'm handling it this way,

• 8:12Ryan Clark?

  but now they've gone to the media and put those numbers out?

• 8:16Speaker 01

  It's a little bit frustrating, especially when we're getting down to details like that. Like we're putting down exact numbers in negotiation, where that's talks between the team and my team. And we're trying to work through things, work through a lot of things. So for actual numbers and actual stuff like that to come out, I think.

• 8:38Speaker 01

  It's a little bit, I felt it was a little bit disrespectful, a little bit unfair to me. But that's part of it, that's part of it, it is what it is, it's a dirty game, it's a dirty game. So, I just feel like me, social media is a way for me, myself to leverage, me and my team to leverage myself and to leverage what I'm trying to get because that's the way to get the message out there, that's the way to get the facts out there, and the facts are the facts, so if I'm putting facts out there.

• 9:02Ryan Clark?

  February 12th, you said, "Don't forget what got you there." Your brother said, "Okay, this is probably why we're not gonna be here, thank you for drafting us." One of your best homeboys, he also wonders, "How can a guy that's all pro, over 1,300 yards, only have three catches in the Super Bowl?" I see that you and your woman, you and your lady are extremely close. Even she was like, "Man, this is the last time me and Bray might be up here." Right, so you yourself and all of your family members, all of your closest people that are connected to you had something to say or felt a certain way after the Super Bowl. What was it about that game that made all of you so upset?

• 9:48Speaker 01

  I think...

• 9:48Ryan Clark?

  Because they gave you mad all game.

• 9:50Speaker 01

  See, y'all all play, y'all play in Super Bowl, you play in Super Bowl? No, I wasn't gonna go there. No, no, no, no, no, I'm just asking, I'm asking. I have. You have? Two times. Mad, I'm mad. Mad, well, okay, so, and you won it? Yes. Okay, so, okay, so... I lost one too. You lost one too, okay, so, like, Super Bowl is crazy, the Super Bowl is crazy, the emotions is crazy, it's like two weeks of just emotions, the game is like crazy emotions, like, it was probably the best feeling ever in terms of playing football. And I think once you get out of there, different results than you were expecting the whole entire time for those two weeks, three weeks, whatever the case may be, you feel it a lot more than you could ever think.

• 10:33Speaker 01

  Even looking back to it now, I didn't even realize how just, how down, how down I was, how messed up I was. And it's just emotional, it was just emotional for everybody, and I think they felt that on me. My brother felt it on me, and he's just trying to speak out, he's just trying to speak out in terms of what he thought I may be feeling or whatever, but that's what he felt. And that's just, I think he asked valid questions.

• 10:55Ryan Clark?

  What's the, I know you're saying that's what he felt, so I'm gonna ask you straight up, man to man, you also...

• 11:04Ryan Clark?

  Posted on your story, don't forget what got you there. Are you telling me that that wasn't connected to the Super Bowl and your amount of targets? Because I had to watch the game again to analyze it. Brandon Iuk had some man to man opportunities, but Brandon Iuk was wide open. So when you say, don't forget what got you there, are you saying that that had nothing to do with the amount of times you were targeted?

• 11:28Speaker 01

  No, absolutely did, absolutely did. I get out of the, out of the Super Bowl and I just feel like you're throwing the ball to me five, six times a game all year. Went, I've been went for a hundred, six, seven times this year. I've turned 70 catches into 1,400. And then here we are right now talking about being paid, getting paid top dollar in this market, but I don't know. So this Super Bowl is tricky. We've moved on past from the Super Bowl.

• 11:58Ryan Clark?

  When you look at what you have been able to accomplish, not necessarily per reception, per attempt, per opportunity, it's tops in the league, right? To have 75 catches over 1,300 yards. I think you only had like 106 targets though. Right? Which says with getting a lot less opportunity than some of the names we've heard in the off seasons, the Justin Jeffersons, the A.J. Browns, the Amon Ra St. Browns.

• 12:27Speaker 01

  Dogs.

• 12:28Ryan Clark?

  You've turned, oh, all of them are dogs. But you've turned it, turned your opportunities into success in a different way than them. I think the way teams negotiate though, it's let me try to figure out how I can keep the best players for the lowest price tag. And what they're going to use is they're going to say, well, this guy has this amount of catches. You only have 75. So what you and your team have to prove is, yeah, that's because we're doing this, we're doing this and we're doing that. But when I get my chance, I'm as good as anybody in the league. And I personally believe that you've proved that.

• 13:03Speaker 01

  I was going, I was going to have, I had the numbers too. Number seven in receiving yards this year.

• 13:08Channing Crowder?

  But number 23 in targets. Have you ever thought about, because we know, and Kyle Shanahan is a damn genius. I know you know that, we all know that. But it's run heavy. We know, we know C-Mac gonna get the rock because they're gonna run, run the pass. If you was in a more pass oriented offense and you got, and you were top 10 in targets, do you ever think about what you could do?

• 13:32Speaker 01

  That's what we knew, that's what I'm, that's what I'm thinking about right now. I have so much more to give, I got so much more to give. That's why I'm like, when you go, when you talk, when you talk about social media and shit, quarterback right there.

• 13:46Speaker 01

  I'm thinking about what I could do with him. I'm thinking about if, if, if the Niners don't want me to come back to play with them, I'm thinking about what I could do. I know what I could do. So.

• 13:53Channing Crowder?

  And you, you could thrive as that X in a.

• 13:56Speaker 01

  True X.

• 13:57Channing Crowder?

  True X.

• 13:57Speaker 01

  True X. Put him over there by himself, one on one, and let him go to work.

• 14:02Channing Crowder?

  Best corners in the league on you.

• 14:04Speaker 01

  Let him go to work.

• 14:05Ryan Clark?

  I think Fred mentioned it earlier, talking about pure receiver. Anytime I was looking at the way defenses would play you guys schematically, you'd normally get the best corner because you were the route runner. You were the guy they used in that way. And then obviously, Debo was a move guy, CMC, George Kittle, y'all could line up in all of these different places. And yes, there is the thought, right? That if I go to a different place, I get to be the man. I almost was Channing's teammate for that same reason. Here I am, I'm in free agency, I'm talking to Jeff Ireland, he's saying, man, you could be Troy Palamalu. We'll let you do the roaming, you can control everything, you don't have to back him up. You can be the guy. And we're gonna offer you more money to do it. But it just didn't feel right to me. The grass wasn't greener.

• 14:50Ryan Clark?

  We see Patrick Queen right now, he watering his grass out in his front yard because Marlon Humphrey said the grass may not be greener. But that is a decision that you sometimes have to make. And I don't want to hurt your negotiating power in answering this question, but you've been to, to NFC championships. You've, you know, you've, you've been to the Super Bowl. Would you give up some of those opportunities to be the man, to continue to be an all pro receiver and win the way you have in San Francisco?

• 15:26Speaker 01

  I think I got here by. Taking risks, sometimes control risk, sometimes just saying eff it, going at it. Like Patrick Queen, we'll never know. The grass may not be greener, the grass might be. It might be greener, who knows? It might be greener, who knows? We won't know until it's all said and done, so all I could do is just, like y'all said, put my head down, go to work every single day, uh, pray, ask God to lead my steps, and go from there. Other than that, I don't know.

• 15:52Ryan Clark?

  How does a first-round pick end up at Sierra College in Juco?

• 15:57Speaker 01

  Just not taking, just not taking stuff serious in high school. Not taking, not taking my education, my academics, serious.

• 16:06Ryan Clark?

  But your parents are big on education.

• 16:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:11Ryan Clark?

  So what was that conversation like? Uh, you didn't play your junior year or?

• 16:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:16Ryan Clark?

  So what's the conversation like when your grades aren't good, and you have parents who are high achievers academically, and they tell you, man, the thing you love to do most, you can't do it no more?

• 16:29Speaker 01

  I was just, I was young, I was lost, I was confused. I had, I was worrying about some other stuff that didn't need my attention, and my parents, they kind of just, like you said, they, they had their own stuff going. They were like, you show like, if you want to head down that road, go ahead, head down that road, so, uh, it wasn't too much to talk about, uh, it was just whether or not I wanted to figure it out.

• 16:51Fred Taylor?

  We've never, on this show, we've never done this, so I want to do this, and take advantage of it. So this is a question for you two, because I'm gonna take a moment to cut the room in half this way, because Chen and I, we've never played in a Super Bowl nor lost a Super Bowl. Right?

• 17:08Ryan Clark?

  I like that.

• 17:09Fred Taylor?

  So we got, RC's always cutting the room in half. If we win a championship, he cuts the room in half. But you two have been on the losing end, and, and my question has always been, like, does it, does it suck to not make it, or to get there and lose it? Like, the feeling of it. Are you still going through it from that loss? Like, what's, what, what is it like to you? Do you still think about it?

• 17:31Ryan Clark?

  I'll let him go first.

• 17:32Fred Taylor?

  And for you, yeah, because we got two.

• 17:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, he matters way more than I do.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  I think, yeah, for sure, for sure, for sure. Just because I feel like, uh... I shouldn't have a Super Bowl loss. So I'm always, it's always on my mind. But at the same time, it showed me a whole new realm of where you can take this thing to. Because even playing in the Super Bowl, being at the Super Bowl, you don't really understand the magnitude of what you're playing in and what you have going on until it's really taken away from you. And too, it's not there for you anymore. And so I think it's given me a whole bunch of motivation. I think that's the new driving force and why I do what I do every single day.

• 18:11Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I mean, it just sucks. Like, I think I'd rather not go to the Super Bowl than lose it. BA told you before, bro, for two weeks, you focus on one thing, and that's winning the Super Bowl. And there isn't a second that you think you're gonna lose it. There's never a conversation about losing it. There's never a what happens if we don't win it. Every conversation is not just about winning it. It's about how you'll go with it, why you are better, why you should win it. And through all of those conversations, it never dawns on you that it's possible that they have more points on the scoreboard at the end of the game than you do. For us, and we talked about it on the show, you know, we're on our way to win it.

• 18:56Ryan Clark?

  Rashard Mendenhall fumbles.

• 18:58Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 18:58Ryan Clark?

  For them, it's Brock Purdy has an opportunity to throw a touchdown. Defensive back is totally lost. Nobody blocks Chris Jones. But like, that's the difference, right? The people who execute in those moments win Super Bowls, and you don't get them back. But back to that play, though, BA, how many times do you replay the Chris Jones pressure that made Brock Purdy throw the ball away?

• 19:28Speaker 01

  Nah, I don't too much think about that play. I think, I get that question a lot. But I always think about the plays and the opportunities that we had long before that one.

• 19:40Ryan Clark?

  So take me through this. And I've been wanting to ask this question since like, November 24th, 2019. Right? November 23rd, 2019. There's three minutes and 54 seconds left. The Arizona State University Sun Devils are playing a top 10 team, Oregon. They're on 19-yard line. They're up three points. And got a young, real skinny quarterback, freshman, playing for Arizona State, long-armed wide receiver on the outside. And 81 yards later, the Arizona State Sun Devils are up 10 points.

• 20:22Ryan Clark?

  Take me through the play of JD hitting you on a go ball late in the game to beat Oregon that year.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  Long, skinny dude over there, we got a little, and also our running back too. You know, Benjamin, my dog back there as well too. But, no, that was, that was, that was just a little glimpse of greatness, I feel like. A little glimpse of what was to continue to come for myself and for him as well. And I think it's just an undeniable connection.

• 20:51Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned you know what you can do with the, in the right place, the right opportunity, the right quarterback.

• 20:57Speaker 01

  And let me, and let me stop you there. I feel like right now, I'm in the right place, in the right spot with the right quarterback right now. But, we not on the right turn, so.

• 21:05Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. When you're FaceTiming JD, you're talking about him being your friend. If, and I know you never demanded a trade, if a trade happens and that place happens to be Washington, how great would it be to reunite with someone you're not only close to from a field perspective, but in your personal life, like Jayden, who is also that talented?

• 21:29Speaker 01

  I have one more meeting set up with the 49ers. We'll see how it goes. If it doesn't go in the direction in which we all hope for it to go, then it would be great, it would be great to link up with a great friend of mine, a brother, great person, teammate, and player that I feel could take my game to the next level.

• 21:55Channing Crowder?

  You, you reached out to us too, to come on. Is it something, it feels like it's something, just to me, it feels like it's something that you wanted to, wanted to get off your chest.

• 22:05Speaker 01

  Nah, I just wanted, I just, I've been watching for a minute, I've been watching. I was in there, I was getting ready, just listening to the theme song in my head, I just, I just wanted to come chop it up with you, I just wanted to.

• 22:15Channing Crowder?

  For sure. Like, the business side of it is a tough thing to be a part of for a young dude. And I know you're a first-rounder, you got bread, but this is, this is generational money. This is that, that, that, that craziness. Is it stressing you out, because you seem like you're cool with it, but it seems like, you know what I'm saying, it might be heavy on you, on your heart.

• 22:32Speaker 01

  It's heavy for sure, it's heavy for sure. I think for me, playing football, it wasn't, it was never, it didn't start off with, it didn't start with the money. I think the money was something that I got to see along the way. Like, being a first-round draft pick fell into my lap. First-round draft pick, fifth-year option, fell into my lap. And I think the situation that we're in right now fell into my lap. But at the same time, I don't think it fell into my lap for no reason at all. Like I said, I was a Juco product that went to Division One, to first-round draft pick, to second-team All-Pro. I know it's a lot more, I know it's a whole bunch more. And I just want to move forward. I want a team to, to look at me and value me as a top receiver.

• 23:17Speaker 01

  So I can go out there and continue to do what I do and show them every single day, the same way that I have, as I've been, that, that's in fact what I am.

• 23:23Channing Crowder?

  It seemed like the money shows respect. It seemed like you wanted the respect of being that dude.

• 23:30Speaker 01

  Top dog.

• 23:32Channing Crowder?

  That's what you want, that's what you, it isn't, the money, the money shows how much people value you.

• 23:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I, like, I used to tell them, I don't want them to say,

• 23:43Speaker 01

  we done overpaid this dude, and then I spin back around and...

• 23:49Fred Taylor?

  Nah. But we think you're, you're worth whatever it is you're, you're asking for. But let's go back really quick, because you mentioned top dog, top receiver, top quarterback. You, you mentioned Jayden a couple of times, you're, you're top dog. Did you, in your years back to ASU, did you see him being a number-two overall pick with his abilities?

• 24:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, he was a, like, he was, he was a, a true freshman coming in early enrollee. And we had guys on the team who were already, you know how it is, slated to be the next guy up or whatever, the quarterback at a big university. But I'll just, just from the, you ask him a true story, I swear, from the first day I seen him, I'm like, "Come on, let's go, let's get in," because I knew he was gonna be the one to take me where I wanted to go. And that's exactly what he did.

• 24:35Fred Taylor?

  What does he do great?

• 24:37Speaker 01

  Lead.

• 24:40Speaker 01

  Actually loves the game. Nothing is more important than the game. Throwing the football, he can make every single throw on the field. Throw the ball down the field, throw the ball intermediate with time and pace. Get the ball down when nothing else is there. Just a smart player, just a player that, that you want to have on your team for sure.

• 25:01Fred Taylor?

  If a trade did happen, you happen to end up on the commanders or whatever, I'm going in fantasy mode. And you guys were down a little bit, like, what would a play call look like to win the game? I mean, just go from there.

• 25:16Speaker 01

  Play call to win the game? Hell, I've seen this in person.

• 25:23Speaker 01

  I mean, that play, I think the play that you're talking about earlier was a play that is kind of, was our own play. Like, it was third and, third and some, we're about to get off the field, get the ball back to Justin Herbert. We got Faze on the outside. But I'm like, "Nah, let's turn this into stutter, let's turn this into stutter go." They didn't already jump the stop route earlier in the game, probably first or second quarter. "We need this one right here," so I'll lead a huddle, I'm like, "Just give me a little bit more time, we're gonna turn this into stutter." He's a hard bit. Drop back.

• 25:55Speaker 01

  Touchdown, ball game.

• 25:56Fred Taylor?

  You gotta love that, because Chad didn't talk about it all the time. With Moss and Brady, having that special connection, like, you just kind of look and you know what it is. Y'all got that same sort of connection.

• 26:08Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 26:39Ryan Clark?

  You know, even with that though, right, you're, you know, because I don't, I don't want to put you in the position of being somewhere else before you're somewhere else.

• 26:49Speaker 01

  Correct, right. Fantasy, fantasy. Right.

• 26:51Ryan Clark?

  You know, and so, and I've been, I'm so excited, I've seen it in person so many times between you two. I was, I would be excited to see it again, and it's basically the same colors I got to watch it in the first time, but you are on a team with really good football players. George Kittle, you know, years ago, he actually just restructured his, his last year or this year of his contract to add more money, but we've seen CMC get paid. Debo got paid last year. They draft Ricky Pirasol, who was also at Arizona, at Arizona State. And so you're seeing these guys get paid, you're continuing to add to the offense. Also Brock Purdy has to get paid. You saw what Trevor Lawrence got, why can't he get that? You saw what Kirk Cousins got, why can't he get that?

• 27:36Ryan Clark?

  Do you ever wonder how there'll be enough money for everybody?

• 27:42Speaker 01

  Nah, that ain't my, that ain't, I mean, that ain't, nah. Good answer. That ain't my business to get into. I got, I'm worried about me right now.

• 27:52Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 27:52Speaker 01

  And when I say I'm worried about me in terms of my financials, I don't know about what the financials they got going on or this person got going on. I don't know about that, I ain't, I don't know. If you can't afford a Lamborghini, you can't have one.

• 28:05Ryan Clark?

  No, that, hey, that is, that is the perfect answer, but, but in that, right, like, we've all been in contract negotiations. You feel like you've accomplished a certain thing, and the way that negotiations work is they tell you all the reasons why they can't give you what you feel like you're worth. And they tell you it's just business, when throughout the entire season, Kyle Shanahan is telling you, you're gonna win on this play. This guy can't check you. If we have you with this opportunity, this matchup, this one-on-one, we're gonna get you the football. How do you focus on not taking contract negotiations personally?

• 28:48Ryan Clark?

  Because it's hard.

• 28:50Speaker 01

  Are you not supposed to?

• 28:52Ryan Clark?

  I'm asking you. I took him personally every time.

• 28:54Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, I'm taking it personal. I'm taking it personal. I have a vision for what I see myself as, and you don't see me as that. Or you do, but you don't, you can't financially do it, whatever, whatever, whatever. I'm not sure. I just feel like it's no, it's no hard feelings, though, if you don't want to do it or you can't do it. I'm sure there's somebody that will.

• 29:15Channing Crowder?

  What about the hometown discount?

• 29:17Speaker 01

  Oh, he ain't doing the hometown discount.

• 29:19Channing Crowder?

  You know, you been there, you comfortable, got your locker there, you got your parking spot. You know, you take a couple million off.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  I mean, I mean, we'll have to see, we'll have to see, we'll have to see, we'll have to see.

• 29:30Ryan Clark?

  I think the question is, and Freddie could probably answer this better than I can. I was, I was undrafted, right? So all the money I was ever offered after my first deal was life-changing money to me. Like, no matter, no matter what it was, like, when we started talking about multimillion-dollar deals and guaranteed money and bonuses, all of those things were a new world to me. You know, like, my check after taxes as a signing bonus as an undrafted free agent was like $683. Like, that was what, like, that was what I got, right? This is real talk.

• 30:04Speaker 01

  Say what?

• 30:06Ryan Clark?

  What, what did he just say?

• 30:07Channing Crowder?

  You got 100.

• 30:09Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, because my, my signing bonus as an undrafted free agent in 2002 was $1,000. And then I made league minimum every year. Was Snyder the owner? That was, I went to the Giants. And it wasn't, it wasn't about who the owner was, it was about, I had no other option, right? Two teams called my agent after the draft. By the time he got off the phone with one team, they had filled their free agent spot, right? And so when I got to the opportunity, have an opportunity to sign in Miami, had some other visits set up. No matter what these people gave me, I was gonna be richer than I ever was. Right, so my thought was, what is the best possible position for me to be in? How can I be as happy as I can possibly be?

• 30:53Ryan Clark?

  And that decision was to go back to Pittsburgh. And the next year, we go to the Super Bowl. And the next year, I'm a Pro Bowler. And then, a year later, I'm a captain on the most storied franchise and organization in football history. But that was, like, that was my story. That was how things worked out for me. In negotiating right now, in your life right now, what is your top priority? Obviously, it's you. Is it make the most money? Is it be in the best situation? Is it for my family to be as comfortable as they possibly can where we live? What is your number one priority?

• 31:30Speaker 01

  Take care of my family, uh, and put myself in a position to be the best football player that Brandon Allie could be.

• 31:37Channing Crowder?

  Systems can make some players. Could you thrive in any system? I would say, I came out of a 4-3 where you just run through gaps. Then I went, and that's when the whole NFL went to a 3-4. You had to go hit them big ass guards every damn play. And I had to get bigger. I had to gain weight to play in that. I think if throughout my career, if I played in a 4-3, I might, I might have had better stats. I might have done more. Could you thrive in any system? Because now they got the RPO stuff. Now they got the Y. Now they got the, even the, the stuff that McDaniels, the Kyle Shanahan tree that you have already thrived in. Could you thrive in any system?

• 32:10Speaker 01

  I believe so. I believe so because, like I said, I'm a true X. Uh, and people say system. I'm in Kyle Shanahan's system now, but if you watch any of the catches that I'm getting, I'm beating guys in front of me. I'm beating man covers to get my receptions. I'm not settling in zones. I'm not, or maybe sometimes, but I'm not running across the field, running across the routes or shallow crosses. I'm beating guys in front of me to get the football, so. Yeah, I mean, I can sit in zone all day. I can run high crosses all day long. I can beat guys all day long. So it just, um, I don't want to sit here and say, yeah, I'm about to go crazy in every single offense. I know there's offenses out there that ain't worth anything. But at the same time, I know the value that I bring at the receiver position into a team.

• 32:53Channing Crowder?

  I was saying Miami, Tyreek, he led the NFL in receiving yards. But they criticize him because they say Mike McDaniel schemes up so much stuff. And it's same thing with Kyle Shanahan. It's that whole tree, who is it? Sean McVay, all them offensive guys. What do you say to the people that say guys like yourself that go crazy? Reek that goes crazy, uh, Pukun Nakua that goes crazy in those offenses that say, oh, it's on the scheme. It ain't on the guy.

• 33:18Speaker 01

  But like a guy like Tyreek, Tyreek is the reason the scheme kind of, like McDaniel went to go, McDaniel pulled up to Miami and cashed out for Tyreek Hill. Yeah.

• 33:31Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 33:33Speaker 01

  Because of who he already was. Because, because what he's going to bring and what he's going to add to this team. And that's going to make everything easier for everybody else. And I think sometimes, uh, people don't realize that as well, too, that he's receiving, this is, it's a, it's a, it's a throwing receiving game right now. So when these guys are out here and, and they're a threat like Tyreek Hill, then it makes it a lot easier for this, for your scheme to open up.

• 33:55Fred Taylor?

  Right. Coaches just reverse engineering their philosophies. I gotta have this type of guy that opens up everything else. But, you know, uh, just really going back a second. RC asked you, you know, like your purpose in playing the game. Uh, do you ever look at like the history of a game? You know, look at different players at your position and say, I want to be the best that have ever played this position. Even for your, your current team, uh, for the Niners, you got two guys that have played there that are in top five in NFL history in receiving yards. And Jerry obviously is the top of the top in touchdowns, yards, et cetera. Uh, and then To is that other guy. Looking at the history of the game,

• 34:39Fred Taylor?

  who's your, your, your top five receivers all time in, in the history of the game?

• 34:45Speaker 01

  I'll go Randy, To, Jerry.

• 34:52Speaker 01

  A B. Julio Jones.

• 34:55Fred Taylor?

  And Julio, that's a solid top five.

• 34:58Ryan Clark?

  So you are, and you are, first off, now, you're definitely a measurables guy. Cause you got three of the most freakishly talented wide receivers in that group. And then you got Jerry and A B. We just had A B. On the show. I would love to know, cause he's five ten, he ran four or five. I think he, for six years, I think he was the best wide receiver in the world. And the numbers said it. What is it about his game that you liked so much?

• 35:27Speaker 01

  You can't stop him. You can't stop him. Like, it might not look like the new game, how it is right now. But you can't stop him. He's, he's, he's taking the.

• 35:40Speaker 01

  However, he wants to get it done, he's gonna get it done. And I, and I watched him and Julio Jones. Those are my two favorite receivers, watching them go, go at it for years and years and years and go crazy.

• 35:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, they're both, they're both Hall of Famers and some of the guys that you'll be compared to right now when it comes to contracts. Have Hall of Fame trajectories, right? The way Justin Jefferson has started a career. Especially until being injured this year, he had the best numbers we'd ever seen.

• 36:08Speaker 01

  Crazy.

• 36:08Ryan Clark?

  Through that span. Amon Ra, St. Brown, obviously A J. Brown. And what he was able to do once he became.

• 36:15Speaker 01

  C D.

• 36:16Ryan Clark?

  C D, right? You look at all of these different dudes and when it comes to contract negotiations, that's who you're gonna be compared to. How does Brandon Iuk, who is an all pro, say, I know I'm not asked to do what some of those guys do. But I can and I should be paid that way. Because that's what you're asking. Not maybe the same amount of money, but you're asking to be paid in that neighborhood. How are you or how is your representation able to make that argument?

• 36:47Speaker 01

  In my opinion. In the Niners offense, do a whole bunch of different stuff like I'm an extended tackle. I'm going in there no matter who's Patrick Queen, I gotta go in there like we was just talking about. Go in there, Pat Roquan, hit those guys, hit guys on the edge and then at the third down, go in. First or where, take the top off the defense, come in and do all these things. So I think my value is to the team.

• 37:10Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  And when we talk about um these other teams, then we're talking about receiver value and putting up numbers and doing stuff like that when we, when we talk about moving in different directions.

• 37:19Speaker 05

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• 37:28Ryan Clark?

  Your agent uh said um that he got a call from someone in Arizona at the time when Nikhil Harry was still at Arizona State and he said there's a first round draft pick receiver at Arizona State. And he said, he told him, yeah, I know Nikhil Harry. And he's like, nah, it's this other guy, Brandon Iuk and uh he'll probably be mad at me. I called Jordan, his first um, his first training camp and in Arizona State. And I was like, hey, man, how you doing? And he's like, Pop, you know what? He's like, I'm doing pretty good. He's like, but I don't think I'm ever gonna play. And I was like, why? He's like, man, I can't stop BA. And I was like, well, what is it about? That was before you really got, went crazy.

• 38:10Ryan Clark?

  I was like, well, tell me why just because you can't stop him, you don't think you'll play? He said, because he from Nevada, they don't even play football there. When did you start to feel or did, or how long have you felt you could be the type of receiver to have the year you had at Arizona State, to be a first round draft pick? And now to develop into one of the best wide receivers in the entire league?

• 38:36Speaker 01

  Jay Carter, no, he don't got to tell me, don't have to feel bad, can't nobody stop me. But, but uh, I think I've always just had that mindset. I've always had that mindset. I felt even like you said, my junior, when I wasn't playing, my sophomore, freshman year, I always felt like on that grass on the football field is exactly where I was supposed to be. I always felt like it was me and I still feel like that now. That's just, that's just how I feel. That's just what it is. That's just how it's been. So I don't see no, I don't see it no different.

• 39:00Ryan Clark?

  He said, that's, he said, hey, he like, this is the actual facts of it. When I'm out there, I do not get stopped.

• 39:07Channing Crowder?

  But there had to be levels though, bro. There had to be levels, you know, you could be a, even coming from a Juco. So Juco to, okay, now I'm in D1. Okay, I'm balling in D1. He went crazy.

• 39:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:20Channing Crowder?

  Damn, first round. You gotta get in the first round. And Freddie's only ever first round here. But it's like, you kinda, you gotta kinda, I don't wanna say doubt yourself, but now I'm with the big boys. Oh damn, I can play with the big boys. And then now as a damn all pro, about to hit their ass in the head. Those levels of it, like, when did it, when did that, when did those different levels hit?

• 39:40Speaker 01

  Probably my second year in the league. Where I felt like, this is where I'm supposed to be at. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is, this is my, this, I'm a receiver. I'm an NFL receiver, a top NFL receiver. And then I just continued to put the work in, and put the work in, and put the work in. And that's how, that's how it ended up. But I think it was just the work, the work, the work. I feel like I've, I've put, I feel like I've been, I got so many hours, so many days, so many weeks ahead of folks, of work. That it just gave me a bunch of confidence. I just, I just, I just, I don't, I just, just the work, the work been put in, the work been laid. Too much work been put down.

• 40:20Ryan Clark?

  Did Juco coach said you were never late? You were always working. You were always present. What if you're, cause a lot of times, you don't just pay the player, you pay the, you pay the person. Right? And we ask a lot of our guys in the NFL, they want you to do certain things in the offseason, be certain places. But we see now, a lot of star receivers and star players don't go to the offseason. And in the offseason, they live somewhere else. How have you worked to cement or to show the 49ers? That nah, I'm a part of this organization. Like, what is your offseason like? Where do you live? How do you deal, other than this year, with the offseason program?

• 41:04Ryan Clark?

  Are you showing them you're the type of dude that's accountable, gonna be there, gonna be available? Even when you're not, when it's not mandatory you be there?

• 41:13Speaker 01

  Up until this point, I like, which was, which, it wasn't hard because, like I said, I live out there. That's where my house is at, that's where my family is at, that's where I reside, where I spend all of my time. So to go into the building offseason, that's the easiest thing for me. Like when I leave from here and head back to California, I'm going back to the building. That's the spot where I work out at, that's, that's just, that's where I go. That's just how it's been.

• 41:40Speaker 01

  My weight, the weight, the weight coach, my, shout out to my, my guy Dustin Perry. He said, put our weight program in the summer because you elevate these guys, you put, you push the whole entire program, even when we're not, even when we're not doing anything. And I felt like that was big for me. And that's a big thing that I, that I carry all the time is pushing everybody forward. I feel like I'm the tempo, the tempo setter, the one that senses tempo when we go into games, when we go into practice, when we go into meetings with my approach and the way that I love this game and the way I take it serious every single day.

• 42:10Fred Taylor?

  From Rockland to Reno, what is it, Robert McQueen High? To Sierra College, to ASU, to the big time, to the big league. We always ask our, our guests this question. And, and all of that, what, what has been your biggest pivot? That's that, that one moment that you can go look back on and say, without this moment happening to me or happening for me, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

• 42:37Speaker 01

  I would probably say my junior season of not being able to play football and not fully understanding, probably 17, 16 years old, a game that I've been playing for probably 10 plus years at that time. And them, them telling me, you can't play this season, you can't play this season. And to have the game taken away from me for a whole entire year, it was that feeling of understanding that I don't want that feeling anymore. So just doing whatever I had to do to be able to. Be on the grass.

• 43:05Fred Taylor?

  So you were ineligible.

• 43:07Speaker 01

  Ineligible.

• 43:08Fred Taylor?

  I've been there before. I was a freshman. And it happened to me. So they, they took away football for me, from me for a year. And I don't.

• 43:15Channing Crowder?

  Man plays, you couldn't read.

• 43:16Fred Taylor?

  I don't know how I got there. I, I could read. I just don't know how I got there. I was doing other shit. I, I really don't remember how I even got there. All I know is I was ineligible and I couldn't play. It was the worst feeling because I, all my homeboys was playing.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:32Fred Taylor?

  But you remember how you got there? Like, I, I really don't remember how I got there. Because I'm, I'm not a bad student.

• 43:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's the thing. That's the thing. I think it was just, like I said, just worrying about some other stuff.

• 43:44Fred Taylor?

  You chasing a girl?

• 43:45Speaker 01

  No, I mean, nah.

• 43:48Channing Crowder?

  You can't ask that question in front of that man, old lady.

• 43:51Fred Taylor?

  I don't, y'all been together for a while? I mean, he was in high school. No, no, I'm sorry. Not disrespectfully, but he was in high school.

• 44:00Channing Crowder?

  Can't do nothing around Fred. Goodness gracious.

• 44:04Speaker 01

  I was, I was doing everything I wasn't supposed to be doing.

• 44:06Fred Taylor?

  Nah, he was in high school. Elementary school.

• 44:09Speaker 01

  Right.

• 44:10Fred Taylor?

  I'm so, I'm sorry. I don't, I don't know how long y'all been together. That wasn't intentional.

• 44:14Speaker 01

  You straight, you straight, you straight.

• 44:15Fred Taylor?

  Y'all made me feel bad, bro.

• 44:17Channing Crowder?

  My first set.

• 44:18Fred Taylor?

  And now I gotta apologize.

• 44:20Channing Crowder?

  I bought a Rottweiler, a Hummer, Monte Carlo SS, and every color Jabo Jean that they made.

• 44:27Speaker 01

  Jabo's?

• 44:28Channing Crowder?

  Them was five back in the day, and then they wasn't five, and I weighed thirty racks. I gotta know. When you get this check, you gotta have something on your mind, brother. What you about to buy?

• 44:41Speaker 01

  I'm about to, that's the thing. Like, it's not even, I, I could buy what I want to buy right now.

• 44:47Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. But Jayden Best would do it, bro.

• 44:50Speaker 01

  I'm just going dumb though. I'm just buying everything I want to buy at that point. I'm saying, I'm about to get a new kit. New, no, I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. I gotta take care of my moms first. My, my moms and pops, they're back. I just left from them ATL. And so I'm gonna send them big, big old chump.

• 45:05Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I love it. I have a question. Though, your mom's a San Francisco 49ers fan. What was it like growing up in a household? That dressed you in red and gold? And I know I think you strayed away a little bit and it kind of found your own path. But for her to get an opportunity to see her son that she raised be drafted by the team she always cheered for?

• 45:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:30Speaker 01

  She loves it. She loves it. She loves it.

• 45:34Speaker 01

  Just the colors, just the...

• 45:38Speaker 01

  The team itself. She's a huge, huge, huge fan. And to see her son be able to accomplish some of the things that I've been able to accomplish in the same exact colors that she grew up screaming and yelling about when I was younger, it's pretty cool.

• 45:52Ryan Clark?

  How would she deal with you being in different colors in the NFL?

• 45:56Speaker 01

  No, she on my side right now. She don't too much care about them colors right now. She's trying to make sure her son is straight, so.

• 46:02Speaker 00

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• 46:32Ryan Clark?

  How do you feel about the Kansas Jayhawks? Because didn't they recruit you? Weren't you supposed to go to school there? Just in somewhere in Kansas when you were leaving Sierra College?

• 46:43Speaker 01

  I took a visit there. I pulled up. I pulled up.

• 46:46Ryan Clark?

  Well, what happened? How'd you end up at Arizona State?

• 46:50Speaker 01

  Herm Edwards, Herm, uh...

• 46:54Speaker 01

  His staff, they ended up recruiting me probably a couple of days before signing day. They said, "We're gonna throw you an offer." And a few days later, with signing day, I signed and took a visit afterwards. So, like I said, taking risks. Taking risks would put me in this position. I was at Kansas, took a visit, went to Tennessee, took a visit, Colorado State, took a visit. And those were my three schools. Finished visiting all those schools, and Herm calls me Arizona State. It's the biggest offer. It's Pac-12, Power Five. I'm going. And it's here we are right now, so... It ain't nothing to take a risk now.

• 47:26Ryan Clark?

  If you had to guess, we're gonna say guess, right now, what uniform is Brandon Iuk wearing in 2024?

• 47:39Ryan Clark?

  If I were to take a guess,

• 47:42Ryan Clark?

  probably, probably a Niner uniform.

• 47:46Ryan Clark?

  Probably a Niner uniform. I mean, if not a Niner's uniform, probably a Washington Commander uniform. If not a Washington Commander uniform, probably a Steelers' uniform. From your lips to God's ears, Steelers' uniform. Listen, they cut people. They ain't got nobody but George Pickens.

• 48:04Fred Taylor?

  Oh.

• 48:04Ryan Clark?

  You can't sell, why you gotta sell the man on it? They got, we got, we got two new quarterbacks, BA. You ain't gotta, you ain't gotta tell me. We got a new offensive coordinator. I mean, you don't want to go to Washington. They live in like, Virginia anyway. Then you gotta deal with JD all the time. There is no reason to be there. But Pittsburgh, you be a god. They don't treat, you see him selling, right? I see what you're doing. Cause I, cause we gonna win the championship. You think this is about to work? If, boy, if Brandon go to, if, we been making moves. If Brandon goes to Pittsburgh, we got George Pickens. Yeah. You got BA, right? Najee, Jayden in the backfield. Yeah. Friar move, Darnell Washington, number dogs up front. Aw, man.

• 48:48Fred Taylor?

  Hey, I'mma, I'mma tell you like this. Don't, don't, don't go too far ahead. Get out of RC fantasy world. Keep the main thing the main thing. Take care of business as business is being done, what's in front of you. And handle that, man, and uh.

• 49:02Ryan Clark?

  I have one more question.

• 49:03Fred Taylor?

  All, all of that stuff will come. All of that shit's gonna come when it's supposed to.

• 49:08Ryan Clark?

  When it's supposed to. I've watched you block downfield. You're one of the best downfield blockers in ball. You will get in there and, and search and dig out backers and dig out safeties, but there's a ton of Christian McCaffrey touchdowns where the guy running next to him is Brandon Aiyuk. And some of them, you blocking one guy, other times you're blocking two. Uh, and you said you're an extended tackle. I played with Trent Williams. I tell people all the time, pound for pound, he's top three most talented humans I've ever been around. Crazy. To play with. And he is physical and mean and everything you want in a player. What are some of the things, though, that you've learned from him being in the locker room with a leader like that?

• 49:50Speaker 01

  That's my dog. That's somebody that I don't like to throw around big bro too much, but he's somebody that taught me a whole bunch of stuff. Give me the game, passing on information, give me stuff that I could take and actually put and be of use to. I remember like, uh, it been times where my rookie year or my second year, I'm in the doghouse, whatever the case may be, and I'm outside in the parking lot, ready to blackout and go crazy. And he's like, "Bro, just trust me, cuz you gonna be in this position that I'm sitting in right now." He like, "Just leave it alone." Just, I was in the exact same shoes you were in. And stuff like that where he's just keeping your head on straight, guiding you in the right path, cuz you know, guys, to let you walk down that path that they know is gonna be detrimental for you. So, uh,

• 50:34Speaker 01

  somebody like Trent, um, being able to watch him as a player, um, and be, and just one-on-one, one-on-one type of player, but also the mentality and, and the game that he gives. Uh, so he, he, he, he's somebody that, um, I appreciate a lot, and I look to be that for somebody, um, down the road.

• 50:52Ryan Clark?

  You know, you talk about look that to be that for somebody. Your two best years are the last two years. Uh, seventy-five catches in one, seventy-eight in the other, a thousand yards in both years.

• 51:04Speaker 01

  Bike to back.

• 51:04Ryan Clark?

  Bike to back, as they say in Florida. Uh, that also coincides with Brock Purdy's ascension. It's tough to, you know, you were a first-rounder. He was a first-rounder. He was drafted high. All of you guys, you know, highly thought of coming to the league. I had kinda had that road of being undrafted and having to earn that. How was Brock Purdy able to add, to earn the confidence that you all have in him? What did he show y'all?

• 51:32Speaker 01

  Him and that dude over there, two guys that just come in and just, I'm not gonna say much. I'm gonna show you just everything what I'm about. Um, I think guys just rather just feel it. They could feel the confidence. They could feel the energy. They could feel the, the preparation. You could feel everything. You like, you could feel it. You could feel it's real, and the talent is real. Just, I can't say enough about that dude. He, he's, he's nice. He's nice.

• 51:57Ryan Clark?

  Do y'all get pissed off when we be talking bad about him?

• 52:02Speaker 01

  I mean, it is what it is. I mean, I don't know. What they say about him? What they say? What you say?

• 52:08Ryan Clark?

  Oh, what I say? Oh, so what I said when everybody got upset with me was that the quarterbacks that were left were Patrick Mahomes, at the time Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. And what I said, I didn't think it was bad. I said, I thought that those guys were more talented humans. And I didn't say that Brock Purdy couldn't play. I think he's a good player. I think he's a good player that understands and runs your system at a high level, and also puts the football where his best players can be their best selves. I think that's football. I think he's a very good quarterback. But I also thought that at the time, the rest of the team would have to play at a higher level than the other teams, because they didn't have a quarterback who, measurable-wise and athletically,

• 52:54Ryan Clark?

  was going to do things to take them out of that space. And then the next week was the Detroit second half, and I had to say I was wrong. But to that point, like, that was what I felt. And I still feel about that that way athletically, but that was the day where he took you guys to the next level. But, you know, you wanted this platform. Is there any message that you needed to get out about who Brandon Iuk is? Not the, not the player. We know who the player is. But as money starts to be leaked, as exact numerical figures are leaked, and it's almost seeming that some of the media, not your team, is painting you as a guy who wants more money than he's worth.

• 53:37Ryan Clark?

  Is there anything you'd like to say about the way you are going about getting what you've earned?

• 53:43Speaker 01

  In this, there's a, kind of like how the first round is slotted. Guys fit in certain, you go here, you go first, you get this, you go second, you go, you get this, and it's slotted. Now, you're not negotiating contracts. But I feel like when you do negotiate contracts, it's a similar thing where it's slotted. And right now, there's only a few slots left into where I could fall, and that's just what it is. So whether or not the team, and what I play for right now, wants to get to that number, and which is...

• 54:12Speaker 01

  I feel personally, no other direction to go than that. Um, and what I hope they would, and I hope they will, and I hope we can come to an agreement, just as I have since the end of the season in February, when it ended on February 11th, to now here, June, whatever the date is today. That's still the goal is to get something done. I got, I got a meeting set up by me with my agent and some representatives from the team on Monday. And we'll see what happens after that.

• 54:38Ryan Clark?

  Well, here's what I know. John Lynch knows good football players. It's the reason you were drafted first round. Kyle Shanahan knows good football players and especially great wide receivers. It's the reason you've ascended to where you are because they understand that getting you the football makes them a better team. And so whether it's in San Francisco, Washington, Pittsburgh, whatever team you play for, man, you've succeeded at every level, even with odds stacked against you. So for us, man, we rooting for you. I want to see you do well. Um, Pittsburgh would be the best place for you to thrive. Oh, Jesus. But, you know. Can we end that show this man, dog?

• 55:18Ryan Clark?

  This man, dog. Honestly, BA got, BA Orange is really for a 6'2" man. How, how awesome is it, man, now that, that you know Braylon gonna get older, bro, they really like sort of start to understand. Cause even if, because you the one in this one, y'all could have celebrated, but it would have been different. You know, that now that your son is going to get to an age where he'll understand like, this is what my dad does for a living. Cause Jordan was around like that for me, cause I had him early.

• 55:45Speaker 01

  That's clean. That's clean. But that's, that's the main thing I'm excited for. Like, like I said, I'm gonna be 3, 4, 5, 30 something, 30. I'm gonna, I'm, it's gonna be his turn. I'm gonna follow him around. I'm gonna chase him around when he's playing ball here, playing, doing this over here. And I hope, you know.

• 56:01Ryan Clark?

  That's dope. That's how it goes. It's also, it's just, it's just so fun too, bro, like, cause he's here now. Have him on the field. You could bring him to the facility when, when he's off, like all that stuff, bro. It's like invaluable. It just teaches those kids so much about work. Like you could tell them to work all you want, but when he sees you pull up and he gets to watch you do what you do for a living, bro, those are lessons that you can't teach him by just talking to him. You know what I mean, that's gonna be amazing, bro. Like, that's the one thing I did, because I had Jordan when I was 21. You know, when you have a baby that young, it feels like you can't understand it or you won't be a good parent. But on the back end, I'm excited for that. Yeah, it's awesome, bro.

• 56:41Channing Crowder?

  That's one thing I regret.

• 56:43Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 56:43Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, and I have no babies young.

• 56:45Ryan Clark?

  Because they was late, yeah.

• 56:46Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, because I ain't never seen me play.

• 56:47Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 57:13Speaker 06

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

• 57:24Speaker 07

  Ask your prescriber about Wegovy. Some agglutide injection, 2.4 milligrams a GLP-1. Call 1-833-4-WEGOVY or visit wegovy.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Wegovy. Why wait?