Jeffery Simmons NFL's elite Defensive star shares what he is still chasing, reveals what we don't see with Cam Ward, talks Cardell Tate, leadership, gets real about adversity, envy of Mike Vrabel and why Tennessee's time is now with new coaching regime.

"I'm not letting anyone stand in the way of me feeding my family." Jeffery Simmons One of our favorite times of year as we kick off The Pivot's NFL Training camp tour and we started our journey in Music City, with a team singing praises for their new coach, new logo and a new mindset... Ryan, Channing, and Fred sit down with one of the league's most dominant defensive forces, Jeffrey Simmons. The All Pro Defensive Tackle has achieved ultimate individual success in his eight year career but is still chasing that team goal, to win together. From overcoming unimaginable adversity to becoming a first-round draft pick and one of the NFL's premier defensive tackles, Simmons reflects on the journey that shaped him on and off the field. He also opens up about moving beyond the rumors and stigma that followed one mistake in high school, sharing how he rebuilt his reputation through accountability, perseverance, and years of proving himself both as a man and as a player. The conversation dives into the challenge of consistently performing at an elite level while playing on teams that have struggled to win, and what continues to fuel his drive every time he steps on the field. Simmons also discusses the excitement surrounding elite quarterback Cam Ward, why he believes Ward's talent and leadership can help change the trajectory of the franchise, and what it's been like embracing a new era under the Titans' new coaching regime, including the impact of veteran defensive mind Robert Saleh. He also talks about how he's been impressed with Rookie wideout Carnell Tate and what his speed and talents bring to the offensive unit. He doesn't shy away from the emotional side of football either, sharing what it was like watching former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel reach the Super Bowl after spending so many years together in Tennessee, and why that moment of watching his friend play in that game was bittersweet and brought on a sense of what could have been. It's an honest conversation about resilience, redemption, loyalty, leadership, and the relentless pursuit of greatness—on a team still searching for its breakthrough. 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.

• 0:00Fred Taylor?

  Go long.

• 0:01Speaker 01

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• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  The training camp tour starts in Tennessee, and we're kicking it off with one of the most dominant defensive players in football. Four-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons is about to join me, Freddie T, and Chan. We talked his unique bond with second-year quarterback Cam Ward, and why he's made sure that everybody in that locker room understands that Cam is the unquestioned leader of this team. He speaks to the mindset that turns him into a different breed the moment he steps between the lines. I mean, this is Big Jeff like you've never heard him. He explains his jealousy watching former head coach Mike Vrabel reach the Super Bowl in his first season with the New England Patriots.

• 1:12Ryan Clark?

  And then the conversation takes us back to one of the most emotional nights of his life, the NFL Draft, a moment that started as the happiest day he'd ever experienced before changing in an instant, leading him to shut off his TV and begin a journey that would define the next seven years of his life. Since then, Jeffrey has spent every season not only proving that he's one of the best defensive players in football, but that he's also the kind of man and teammate an organization can build around. This is a powerful conversation. We talk adversity, perseverance, motivation, and how his broad shoulders can carry the weight of a franchise. The training camps tour is stopping in Tennessee, and it's Jeffrey Simmons on the Pivot.

• 2:17Ryan Clark?

  Chan, you look cute too in your Titans gear.

• 2:20Channing Crowder?

  Man, you see how big this dude is? I'm gonna get on his good side. I saw him choke somebody out today at practice. I said, "No, sir, not me."

• 2:27Speaker 04

  I appreciate you wearing the colors. Somebody came in with that yellow and black on, you know.

• 2:31Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, hey, but it's the color of the podcast, though, Jeffrey. It's not anything about what teams I represent.

• 2:37Speaker 04

  I didn't say that. I just said somebody came yellow and black.

• 2:39Ryan Clark?

  I just want to make sure he'll put hands on me like he did old boy out there today on the field.

• 2:43Channing Crowder?

  Let's cut this thing in half, so we got Titans shit on.

• 2:46Fred Taylor?

  You had just said they had a pleasant practice. Was no fights.

• 2:50Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, it wasn't no fights.

• 2:51Speaker 04

  They kind of won us today. No punches.

• 2:54Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 2:55Speaker 04

  Don't throw no punch.

• 2:56Channing Crowder?

  They gonna get after it once the pads get on.

• 2:58Speaker 04

  It's gonna get real.

• 2:59Channing Crowder?

  I like it.

• 2:59Ryan Clark?

  Man, Jeffrey Simmons, man, welcome to the Pivot. We are really excited to have you. This is Chan and Crowder, Fred, Taylor, and Ryan Clark. Pivot fam, thank you for pivoting with us as usual. Hatch, you know, that's my guy. Got to play with him. One of the best dudes I know. I know you guys are extremely close. As well, you know, interior D lineman, made a ton of plays, very much like yourself. If you take 2025, in the last 10 years, only you and Aaron Donald were able to have a year of, I think it's 10-plus sacks, 16 tackle-for-loss, I think it's three forced fumbles, three pass defense. Right? That's a level of greatness of this generation

• 3:41Ryan Clark?

  that comes with a high level of respect. For you, Jeffrey, how important is it that you show up as your best self all the time to be included in some of those conversations?

• 3:53Speaker 04

  I mean, when I step on the field, it's not, for me, it's like, people gonna talk, players gonna feel the way they want to feel. It's one of the things to where, when I step on the field, I don't care about nothing else, but how can I be the best for my team? And my first couple of years in the league is, man, let me set a goal. Let me set a goal for 10 sacks a year. Let me set a goal, I want this man to tackle for loss. But it took me away from the main goal because once some game get going and it's fourth quarter, I don't have a sack, I don't have a tackle for loss. It's now I'm chasing plays, now I'm hurting the defense by jumping out of the gap trying to make a play. So as I got older, especially last year coming into the season, my thing was, how can I really focus on being in the moment?

• 4:38Speaker 04

  And for me, being in the moment was just, oh, you know, make the play when it is, celebrate my teammate, because I know I'm gonna get the slide. I know I'm gonna get double-teamed, triple-teamed. But when my opportunity come to make that play, you know, I can't not be ready for it. And it's like the one-on-ones, I mean, as much as I get double, I don't know when they're gonna come. But it's also, when that double team come, how can I create my one-on-one even with a double team? How about, how can I get to the center? We all know, most centers, they the lightest, the worst offensive line play center on our team. So it's how can I get to them guys on a different level to affect the game and affect the quarterback?

• 5:17Ryan Clark?

  I love that.

• 5:18Speaker 04

  That's just my mindset. When I touch that field, and I told, I remember being on the set with Armstead, it's like, I see red. If you got a different color on, it's red. And it's you in my way, and you trying to stop me from feeding my family. And that's how I play the game.

• 5:33Channing Crowder?

  Does it ever get frustrating being, one of the, he brought up Aaron Donald. You like the saps, the Reggie Whites, like you on that level, but did not have team success. Like you said, you want to stay in the moment, but you ballin', you All-Pro. But the team success isn't coming with even as much and as red as you can see that team success isn't coming.

• 5:53Speaker 04

  I mean, I can't lie, like it's not frustrating. I mean, that's the nature of us. We want to win. We want us to see as a team, because, I mean, you saw, I mean, like, even the times where you are successful, the team get more red. Like, it sucks not having a prime-time game. Like, that, it make me mad to see, like, two years in a row to where, I mean, I see some teams that with the same style, same record, not much success, but they still got prime-time games. So that pissed me off internally because I'm like, I know the type of guys we have in this building. I know that, like last year going to the training camp, I know what we got. I know how we practicing, like, but we not getting that success. So, yeah, I can't sit up here and say, nah, man, it's not frustrating, but that's also go back to being in the moment.

• 6:36Speaker 04

  When we go into games, like, yeah, we three and 14 last year. But I could tell you, because of myself, because of guys in the locker room, we never went into the game like, guys, we just got, we on a four-game losing streak, we on a five-game losing streak, we finna lose this game. We went into game with a mindset that we could beat the Seattle Seahawks. We could beat the New England Patriots, the two teams that was in the Super Bowl. I mean, you go turn on that tape, I mean, the Seahawks, we gave them hell. Like, you know, so it's just things in there next to where it was the guys in the building to not get to that point where like, here we go again, bro. Another Sunday, let's just go out there, give our best. Like, we going out there to win. And it's my job as a leader, as a captain of the team, to keep pushing it.

• 7:19Speaker 04

  Even though we not having success that last week, who know? We could turn the thing around and, I mean, season over with. But I'm still trying to preach that to our locker room because them tables gonna turn eventually, so.

• 7:30Fred Taylor?

  They've turned already, man. You got new era, new coach, new regime, new players, a lot of new additions. What's been the biggest thing you felt since Coach Sala has stepped in the building? And how has he challenged you guys to, like, raise the standard around here?

• 7:45Speaker 04

  I mean, I'm big on energy, not just with the game of football, life, like, telling my family, like, don't come over here with that negative energy. But, and for me, I hate to compare to coaches, like, I hate it to compare Callahan to variable. Every coach is different. I hate Sala to Callahan. And when I say it, I don't say it to compare. But when you walk into this building, the energy is different. The excitement from guys on the offensive side, like, they bought, I don't know what it is, I be talking to them in the meeting room, but they come out of the meeting room and locker room excited. You know, to Cam, like, Cam, like, the joy that, you know, I mean, early on during, you know, OTA, the minute count, the excitement that he had learning this offense.

• 8:30Speaker 04

  And I just feel like, man, the pressure is not so much on Cam. And I used to tell, like, I used to try to tell Cam that, but to see him take that next step and to see the push that Sala been talking about for us on defense, and well, I take that back, as a team. It ain't just defense, fast and violent. Is, that is all team, like, that's the team. He want the offense playing with fast and violent, the defense fast and violent, the special team fast and violent. So, I mean, he brought a different energy in the building. And when you walk into the building, I'm sure y'all that practice, y'all feel it. And, you know, my brother, he said, man, things just feel different around here. And I said, started, I mean, new coach staff, new logo, new uniform.

• 9:15Speaker 04

  I just, I just feel a newness around here, man. And I like how much, I mean, Sala, I mean, even Gus came up to me, Coach Gus came up to me today, like, you are gonna be held at the highest standard. And I hear it every day from Coach White Cotton, and, man, he's a maniac. Like, to get a coach to push, I mean...

• 9:35Speaker 04

  No offense to all my other coaches and like Coach T, he got everything out of me. But these like White Cotton, he different. Like I could just tell getting out the stack, the way he run individual. Like I love that. Like I'm not about to curse, but I love it because it's to a point where I know I still, I'm still chasing something and like I want to continue to be the best I could be and them guys gonna push me to be that, so.

• 10:00Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned Cam, he ain't had to put his hands on you this shit like he did last year, huh?

• 10:04Speaker 04

  Nah, we ain't got there yet. We ain't got there yet. Nah, nah, you know, you know, it's one of the things to where it's like, your kid, you mean, when they start walking, you like, get away, get out that kitchen, momma cooking, you know, don't touch that stove. They still want to touch it. And it's like, I used to mess him like, he was a young buck, he was a rookie back then, he ain't know. So nah, but man, when I say, like I just had to talk, it's crazy, I just had to talk with Cam in the weight room and not to really get into what we talked about, but it's for me, I could still feel that like Cam want to be, he want to be great. Want everything to be perfect. He asked him questions, like what I need to do or what I needed.

• 10:48Speaker 04

  And I told Cam, and I just shared it without going too much in detail, you have to demand. When you speak, when you say something, I don't give a damn. If it's me, if it's in front of the whole team, it's just the offense, everybody listening. I said, when you see guys like the Mahomes, the Tom Brady's, like, it's a reason why it's team success. Yes, Tom Brady, we can say the best quarterback and then they definitely play the game. But when you think about these teams that have all these success, I mean, we can say Jeff Simmons, you, you been here eight years, you the face. No, I told Cam today, you, this is your team. Like when you talking, you demand something on that field, off the field,

• 11:27Speaker 04

  we listen. And that's, that's the bigger thing. And I could tell that he want, he want to know that. He want to grow, he want to continue to grow. And I'm, I'm excited for him. I told him, I mean, we gonna talk smack, we gonna maybe get to fighting at practice, pushing, sure. But we in this thing together. I'm trying to win on Sunday. And it's my job, especially as an older guy, to continue to help him develop on that side of, of his game. And he going, the football stuff gonna take care of himself.

• 11:53Ryan Clark?

  You know, we played on a team that was heavy defense in Pittsburgh. But that's the job of a leader on the defensive side of the ball, to empower the quarterback that when they do stand in the room, the best player on the team is saying, nah, this is the guy. And sometimes you have to make sure the other people in the locker room know that you feel that way as well. And you mentioned Seattle, I know Chan got a question. You mentioned Seattle. The thing I remember the most about that tape too, is that of a lot of quarterbacks that played Seattle, he wasn't scared, right? Like he went out and showed that he belonged. And I think with that type of leadership of you telling him, nah, this is for you. And the level of talent he has and the want to, sky is the limit for him.

• 12:34Channing Crowder?

  Oh, kind of on that same, that same thought process. Do you empower Cam where if somebody was to disrespect you? They scared of you physically. You tighten ass up.

• 12:43Speaker 04

  Yeah, I, because I, I haven't saw no one disrespect Cam. But even on game day, like I mean, I seen Franklin with the coach last year. He posted something on Twitter, like if he do that against us, he gonna get his head or he gonna get picked off. And I, first thing, because I see him on Twitter, like first thing, I walk on the field, he the brother. So like, I'm like, well, cute doll when I see him. But when he said that, talking a little smack about my quarterback, that second time we played him, I'm going out to, when he running on the field, I'm talking smack to him, like, we gonna see what you about to do today. You know, but that just me, like I'm, I gotta say it. Me and Cam, we competing all, like we competing right now, going against each other. But on Sunday, he ain't mess with them, he's my brothers.

• 13:27Speaker 04

  I got they back. And so that's just my mindset. Like nah, nobody fin disrespect Cam at practice, other probably than me. I may say something to him. I may say something crazy to him, we might go back and forth, but I mean, he know too, like, I mean, even last year, the, the, the fight that we had at practice, I tell everybody. I mean, after that little push up that we had at practice, I mean, after the practice, he came and sat right beside my locker, eating a freeze pot. And we chopping up, laughing about it, like, you know, that just where for me, you can appreciate, you know, we not taking this, especially in your locker room. Your locker room gotta be tight. I mean, keep it tight, that's, that's something we talk about every day, keep it tight. And the relationship that we have in the locker room is just continuing to build and help us on Sunday. That why I say, you messing my quarterback on Sunday, we got a problem.

• 14:11Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that's some old generation stuff though. You're an old soul, man. Like we, me and Chan talk about it all the time. I want to let you go too, Freddie T. Me and Chan talk about it all the time. Like when we grew up, you could fight the homeboy, but you were still tight, right? Like you had, you had to get through that disagreement. Now, if anybody else came, no, we together.

• 14:29Speaker 04

  It's a problem.

• 14:30Ryan Clark?

  Right? It's a problem. And I love the fact that you have that mindset, but also Cam, to understand that we're competing at this, but when we go in this locker room, we're together because this generation is different. And to have somebody with that mindset at that position is extremely important.

• 14:46Fred Taylor?

  Most people look at their D tackle, their interior D lineman, as a guy just to go dominate on Sundays. But you're a leader and you, you speaking how you speak about Cam, going over there, pulling to the side, saying, no, this is your team. When did you realize that your voice could be more impactful than your play is?

• 15:08Speaker 04

  I mean, as, like I said, when you coming into the league, drafted first round, but you got guys like Jerel Casey in the room. You got guys like, you know, leading me, when I got in, Wesley Woodyard, like guys like that, Kevin Barra on that defense side. You listen to these guys talk. But the way I led, I didn't know how to lead. I think for me, my leadership was like, like, you know, cursing and really like, you know. But I remember it was two years ago, Denard, DC, he called us, he called me in. It was like the end of the year. And I knew they kind of talked about it because Cali had the same message for me going into his, after that first year. And it was like, we love your leadership, but how are you getting to certain guys?

• 15:54Speaker 04

  And like we said, this generation different. And when I was growing up, my brother ain't talk to me like, come on Jeff. Like it's like, I'm, me and him about to fight in the backyard, like, because you know what I'm saying? Like I'm, my uncle, like my uncle ain't talking to me like, hey Jeff, this, he talking to me like, you know.

• 16:12Ryan Clark?

  Get your little ass up.

• 16:13Speaker 04

  This is a different generation. So for me, I didn't, I knew how to lead, but it was, how can I really, I'm calling, I kid you not, I got notes in my phone. I'm calling D Ware, DeMarcus Ware. I'm calling my uncle because of course their relationship. So I'm calling him like, man, how can I really get to certain guys, these young guys? Because my type of leadership, it's not, it's not really getting to him. Like how can, it's like, when DeMarcus Ware told me this one thing, he said, give him a vision and not an outcome. And so, and I'm like, what do you mean by that? And it's like so much of, man, he like, you need to get your, but hey, bro, this is what I'm, this is what I expect. This is how we should do it. This is how things should go.

• 16:56Speaker 04

  And when I got back that next, that's going into the camp, I'm like, okay. When I started to do that, that's when I realized I starting to really get guys to say, like this what he mean. He not so much of, it don't feel like a, a tack. I feel like, I felt like a lot of guys, the way I was leading, certain guys felt an attack. Like I could go to Arden Key the last two years and be like, bro, you need it, like, I'm, I'm finna beat you, like, get it, get it together. But like certain guys to where it's like, this is how, this is how I gotta talk to this guy. The vision, not an outcome. So I would say it took me a minute to really realize that, you know, it's not so much of, sometime the, the, the way it's come out, but it's really just the message.

• 17:40Speaker 04

  But how can I get my message across to certain guys to know that it's not coming from a bad place? I'm just trying to win. And so I, I probably would say like two years ago, to where, when it really hit me, when I had that conversation with Denard and Callahan, to where how can you lead a little better and not so much of, I mean, he's got guys shutting down sometime during the middle of the game to where, like coach, this what I'm used to. Like that's how I try to get, this is how I would get going. Like some guy come to me and say, Jeff, get your, get it going. Like that's how, okay, next, next, next series, I'm going out there.

• 18:09Fred Taylor?

  That was the next part of it. I was gonna ask you, how has it helped you become a better player?

• 18:14Speaker 04

  As a player, especially with my leadership, for me is, I'm gonna go out there and practice hard, I'm gonna talk my smack, I'm gonna run to the ball, and I'm, I'm gonna do the things for me. Because it's like, you could talk about it all day for me. Like, I could go out there and talk. I could say this and that. I could break it down on the sideline before we attack the field. But when you turn on the tape and you see me not doing it, when I'm not doing it? Because I tell everybody, I'm in the bigger credit. I've been in the back of the media room. Before White Can even say something to me, I'm already jotting down. I need to do this. And because I'm watching the tape and I'm seeing, like, that's not my standard. And when I turn on the tape, when I'm not doing it? Like, that's what helped me as a player. Because I'm like, if I can't do it and Coach, and I know Sala gonna do it.

• 18:59Speaker 04

  Like, he put me on the board, like, do that. Because that's where, right there is just showing that I'm no bigger than any other guy on this football team. And that's just my mindset. That's keep me, I mean, you gotta keep me humble. And it's one of the things to where I never get comfortable. Like, that's just, once I get comfortable, it's time to hang them up.

• 19:18Ryan Clark?

  Go long.

• 19:19Speaker 01

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• 19:48Ryan Clark?

  Hey, you talk about, uh, keep you humble. There's a direct quote from Jeffrey Simmons that said, "My mindset is, when I'm on the field, I'm not like everybody else. I'm a different breed." What does that mean to you? A different breed?

• 20:04Speaker 04

  I mean, because I can't, I would say, it's just like the top 100. When you see them lists, and I, like, this past year, like, cool, I had a good year. But is, do guys really respect you as a player? Do guys, isn't it, I wouldn't even say it's so much respect, because on Sundays, you know who really respect you. It's the reason why they double-team you and they triple-team you. But for me, I don't go on that football field. When I touch that line, even at practice, like, some of my teammates probably hate me on the field. But I don't go on that football field to get, like, I don't care if you don't like me on Sundays. Because as I go back to, you're trying to stop me from feeding my family. I got it right here.

• 20:49Speaker 04

  My uncle got it, like, we can't feed the family. When I, that's the reason why I don't wear nothing right here. I make sure I can see, when I get in my stands, is feed my family. And that's all I could think about. So, it's, when I'm on the football field, yeah, we got first-down guys, we got second-down guys. But when nine, eight on that football field, you better double-team me. That's my mindset, is even if you double-team me, I'm going to play full-tilt when I'm on that football field. Like, I don't care what my record is. I don't care how bad we are as a football team, three and 14, three and 13. Last game against Jacksonville, we know we ain't going to the playoff. Who cares? Like, when I'm on that football field, I'm not just representing that name on the front. And we hear it all the time. It's what I'm, what is I'm leaving on it. That name on that back means so much more to me.

• 21:34Speaker 04

  So, it's like, for me, when I step on that football field, like I said, we could talk about it, but you gotta, like I said, you gotta, you gotta respect it. And that's just me when I step on that football field. I don't care who lined up across me, his own.

• 21:50Channing Crowder?

  You don't feel bad for them boys a little bit? We were watching practice today, and I don't want to call this number out, but you was rag-dogging this little child around. And I'm like, man, put somebody else on this big bouncer, because this is ridiculous.

• 22:05Speaker 04

  He my teammate, he my teammate, but I need him to be to his best in September. In order for him to do that, I have to push him, and he gotta, he gotta continue to get me better. But, I mean, no one gonna feel bad for me on Sundays. Or if they double-team me at practice and take me five yards, you think they said, "Jeff, you OK?" They ain't in the media, they probably in the media room high-fiving each other.

• 22:30Ryan Clark?

  Hell, yeah.

• 22:31Speaker 04

  And so, it's like, yes. Like, we all about protecting the team, especially, like, that's, Sala, he talk about it every day. Protect the team. That's rule number one of our team rules. But it's also, we play football. And I tell them, like, I tell our guys yesterday in the walkthrough, like, we having fun, we talking less smack. Like, I play football for real. Like, when I touch that line, like, I'm gonna give you my best each and every snap. And that's, that's the expectation, that's the standard. Each time we step on that football field, is to continue to get each other better. I mean, me doing that to him today or next week when his pads come on, he'll be ready for Week 1.

• 23:07Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, or he be quick. Hey, or he gonna be like, they gonna be like, he can't play. Clearly, he ain't blocked Jeff the whole camp. But like, that's the, you know, you said something, you are super honest, right? And I get a lot of flack for being probably too honest at times in life. You said that you were actually jealous watching Mike Vrabel win a Super Bowl. Why, why was that difficult for you to see?

• 23:40Speaker 04

  I told, I mean, I, because me and Vrabel have a great relationship. And then we still have a great relationship. He texts me, I text him, you know, from here to here and there. But it was one of those things to where, Coach, you were just here four years now. Like, I mean, my rookie year, we got to the AFC Championship. But it's two, one of those things to where, I mean, I've been here going on eight years. My last four years, I haven't been to the playoff. And so, when you see them things, it's like, this boy, he went to New England one year. It took one year. And you go to the Super Bowl, like, damn, like, why they couldn't be us? And that was my mindset. It was, like, is it fun, the game? Like, yeah, I'm jealous. But it's also one of the things to where, because I, my first couple of years here in Tennessee, we had, we had a squad. Like, it just, we didn't get it done.

• 24:24Speaker 04

  And it's one of those things to where, I would love to even just sit down, I mean, I haven't had that chance to ask him. But like, even the guys in the building, like, what was the difference? Like, what was the difference to get into the Super Bowl? Like, I mean, you, you was Super Bowl champ, right?

• 24:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I'm the only one in here, by the way, Jeffrey. I'm the only one in here.

• 24:41Channing Crowder?

  Put your hand point at me.

• 24:43Speaker 04

  But it just, like, for me, I want to learn, like, what it really take? Because, I mean, like I said, my rookie year, AFC Championship, lost to the Chiefs. That next year, played Baltimore, I think it was first or second round we got put out. Then you go get a first-round bye, you get nine sacks, and then the second round of playoff and lose. But it's like, to see him do that, like, yeah, Coach, like, yeah, that's what you do. You go get the whole, you take the whole Tennessee coaching staff, basically. Like, everything was the same. Like, the coaching staff that he took to New England is in, was from Tennessee. So, of course, like, I was, like, yeah, that was.

• 25:18Ryan Clark?

  You was a little hot.

• 25:19Speaker 04

  I was a little hot, you know? And then I seen my guy, Harold Landry, like, he giving me crap. D-line coach Clint at the time, like, I have all, that's, I had a relationship with them to be like, yeah, that's some bull crap. Y'all couldn't do that when y'all was here with us, like, whatever. But, no, it was all fun and games.

• 25:34Ryan Clark?

  Y'all was right there, though.

• 25:34Speaker 04

  We were, we were.

• 25:35Ryan Clark?

  Y'all was right there.

• 25:36Channing Crowder?

  They was holding out on you.

• 25:38Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, I know, right? But even with that, though, to see that, I'm sure it can piss you off. But a guy as good as you are, and to have back-to-back three and 14 seasons. And I don't ask this jokingly, I really want to know, what does that feel like?

• 25:52Speaker 04

  I mean, I don't come in with the mindset of, like, like I said, when I, when I walk into a building, like, I'm like, last year, three and 14, well, I'm gonna say, go back on two years ago. Because this feels different already. But like, when you come into a season after you have a losing season, it's like, my mindset and the what I'm preaching, that won't happen again. Did it happen again? Like, it sucks. Like, yes, it's happened again. But the way we trying to, like I said, going, coming out of camp last year, I didn't think that would happen. Like, I thought we was, really had a shot. Like, I mean, I don't know we, you know, had just, was there yet, especially with our roster. We still trying to, with Borghans and them, trying to build that roster.

• 26:37Speaker 04

  But, I mean, when we go in joint practice against Tampa, we got joint practice against Atlanta. I'm like, we don't have a bad football team. But then, you get into the season, like, I mean, a lot of them games wasn't one-score game. It's really close. But when you, it's like, what is it that's separating us? And I just go back to, man, it's the small things. Like, one biggest thing that we talk about right now, doing the small things. And our D-line coach, Coach White Can, gave a hell of a, like, like, he told us about Tiger Woods. I forgot exactly how many putts it was, but it was over a thousand-some putts, three feet out. And I think that he made like 98% of them.

• 27:21Speaker 04

  And when you think about them type of things, you think about the little things, the small things of him making that putt. You can, I mean, his defense, I mean, everybody know the Sala defense. You gonna know where this defense lined up every snap. You gonna know where we at up front. Tight end over there, he gonna have a three technique, he gonna be a shade, like, or two. Is how can I perfect my get-off? How can I perfect everything with my technique? Because they gonna know where you at, to still dominate the line of scrimmage. So, it's one of the things to where I never came into a season like, man, here we go again. Same coaching staff, we got a couple new players, like, what's gonna really change? Is, like I said, every time I walk into a, I'm breaking down the whole, is, let's go out here and kick these guys.

• 28:05Speaker 04

  Like, we finna win this game. That's gotta be, that was my mindset, and I was trying to bleed that onto the team. But it sucked walking to here. It sucked, it sucked, man. Like, going home early. And then it's one of the things where, I mean, sometimes you get, and I tell my family, like, I used to go home sometimes and just sit in the car after a game. Like, I don't want to go in the house right now, because I don't want that to bleed into the family. But it's like, it's hard, it's really hard, so.

• 28:33Ryan Clark?

  When you got drafted, Jeffrey, obviously, there were some old things that resurfaced. You get, you tear your ACL. And Vrabel's, in speaking to you, he said, "There's a difference between a bad human and a good guy that made a mistake."

• 28:50Ryan Clark?

  At that point in your life, you're dealing with all of those things. How did you focus on making sure people knew how great of a man Jeffrey Simmons could be? When you'd been a three-time community award winner here in Tennessee?

• 29:04Speaker 04

  I mean, it was one of the things to where, I mean, for me, when I came, of course, it started all in high school. You know, when you were a teenager, not a teenager, you were a teenager, you know, almost a grown man. And you make a mistake in life and I owned up to that. I owned up to that situation and for me is when I, especially when it happened, I felt like crap. Like I felt like crap, that whole, I couldn't sleep. It was like one of the things to where I really just made a dumb decision. And it's in that moment, it didn't feel like a dumb decision. Cause it feel like for me, at that time, it was like I'm protecting my family. I'm doing this and that.

• 29:45Speaker 04

  And when you, throughout that, throughout life, and I think when you could sit down and reflect. And when I think about when that happened, I'm especially training for the draft and getting, going through all these interviews. Top 30 visit and you sit there, you're just like, man, like, how, and like with the ACL, it's like. Now, I'll never forget going down there and when I tore my ACL, I'm like, I'm really not finna get drafted for real now. Like, you know, I'm thinking about all these things to where I gotta deal with them asking me questions about this past history. When I know that not who I, that's not who I really am. You would never be the media and it's one of the things to where, man, I'm looking, my mom had to take my phone.

• 30:26Speaker 04

  I'm looking, I'm like, I am on TMZ as a 17-year-old. Like I am on BET, like making headline news to where it's like, what? What for me was, I was kept asking these questions, like, what is it? Like what guy, what do you want, like what message are you really trying to give me? And the end of my college career, that training period, I felt myself pulling away from like what was really important.

• 30:54Ryan Clark?

  Really?

• 30:55Speaker 04

  And it was so much of, even, even in high school, like, you know, when you started, get out of, you're a five-star, you're feeling yourself. Man, I like, I stopped going to church. I started to get away from the things that really mattered, the foundation. And when your foundation and when, and it's the same thing about, and I try to teach, I mean, I try to preach with the game of football. When your foundation started to crumble.

• 31:23Ryan Clark?

  Everything falls.

• 31:23Speaker 04

  Everything in this falls. And so I feel like that's what got me back to the center because when I sat down with my uncle and when I tore my ACL, we had a conversation about was what happened in high school? Because of course I was dealing with that on the top 30 visit. Then I tore my ACL and I remember we sat down on that couch. We both was in tears and he, he the one broke the news to me that I tore my ACL. And I remember telling him like, un, like, I don't know what is it that God trying to tell me? And he was like, you gotta get back close to God. And for me, my faith, that's, I mean, my mom, my mom, my mom, my granddad was a preacher. We grew up in the church. My mom didn't let us miss Sunday school. Like we, like that's something I was like, damn, that's right.

• 32:07Speaker 04

  Like, you know, I really felt myself like doing things to not living right. And so for me, it was like, what, how can I get back to that place? And that's what really helped me out, man. Like get, getting back into where it's center, my faith in God is like, to this point, to this day, I'm like, people ask me like, why didn't you go back to school? I was like, God told me not, I got you. And I sat there and I prayed and I'm like, God, what do you really want me to do? Do you want me to go back to school? Cause at the time I didn't sign with an agent. So I was, you know, I'm a third year guy, I could go back to school. I'm sitting there having that conversation with my uncle, he's like, un, you think I should go back to school? He's like, pray about it, let's pray about it, trust the process. And at that point, man, I, that's been my motto ever since.

• 32:51Speaker 04

  Trust the process, be better than I was yesterday, control the controllers.

• 32:55Ryan Clark?

  Go long.

• 32:56Speaker 01

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• 33:24Channing Crowder?

  As I grew up, now being 40 something, I look back and I had trouble turning the switch off. Cause you, you play violent. We play violent positions and I got locked up for fighting all the time. And it was like, am I, is it translating? No, is, is, is, am I, am I off the field, like on the field? And I'm having trouble as a young, you know, as a 70, 80-year-old to control that trigger of when I should be this violent person. Did you ever feel that way?

• 33:52Speaker 04

  I never felt like that because I, I mean, for me, I'd never like, I didn't grow up just like, cause I didn't, I mean, you know, you have a couple of fights here and there in the neighborhood, but I didn't grow up getting in trouble. Like my mom didn't play that to, to, to, when we at school, it ain't no getting suspended. It ain't no, like we, we battled, was able to go down the road sometimes. Like my brother, my sister and them, like that's the reason why we so close because this is our friends. Yeah, that's your brother, but that's your best friend. That's the way my mom was trying to get us as a family, as a, as siblings. So I didn't never have a problem of, all right, Jeff, turn it off. Turn it off when you're not on the field, football field.

• 34:34Speaker 04

  Because I didn't, I didn't have to because I, I never went into a neighborhood or I never was a trouble kid. Like that was my, I mean, you, I mean, I'm sure every team, every team did their research. I remember my principal, when I was at the elementary school, I went back and did a visit and she was like, yeah, they, they came down here and talked to me. Like my principal from elementary school. And she would tell you like, I never got in trouble growing up as a kid through, through high school. I mean, I, I went to in-school suspension one time in high school, you know? And it was because, and I, my high school football coach sent up there. Because he was like, don't go on the football field, don't go on the, on the game field. He, that's one thing he, he cared about was the game field.

• 35:18Speaker 04

  And he always, he mowed the grass like three times a week. And he's like, don't go on the field. It was a Saturday and we wanted to play 707. That's my only time ever getting in trouble and going in-school suspension because he sent up there for going on the field. And so like growing up, I didn't, I didn't get in trouble. Like that incident that I had in high school was my first time ever getting in trouble. Like first time. And that was the biggest thing to where, like we just talked about earlier, that picture that got painted of one bad mistake. And that's why I tell, I try to tell my family, my cousins, my like, like then that's preaching to my, and of course when kids get older, like to preach to them, like that one mistake that you make could define or paint that picture.

• 36:02Speaker 04

  The reason why I came up with my foundation. It's like now I've got to really give these people a reason to know who I really am. Because I mean, people, when I first got in the league, I mean, I mean, I ain't no, I ain't no problem. That's the reason why that video probably got played again. Like this is the Tennessee Titans just got, that Tennessee Titans got, they just drafted. And so now it's like, oh, this who people really think I am. They think that. And so how, it was for me, for how can I really show these people who I really am? And that's, I mean, nothing I do in the community, nothing I do, and I tell people all the time, like, I don't do what I do in the community for the pub. I do it because this who I am, this, I really care about the people in my community.

• 36:45Ryan Clark?

  How much did, how much did that, how hard was that for you though, Jeffrey? To know that you aren't holistically that sort of person? But also know that our actions, whether one time or 10 times are our decisions. How difficult was it to know how you were raised? To know what sort of mother you had, to know your intentions, your foundations? And for people to feel that this is who they, who Jeffrey Simmons is? And it was even amplified because even with your injury, even with that, you became a first-round pick. And so now people were trying to slander you even more.

• 37:26Speaker 04

  Man, it was hard. Cause I, I mean, my draft now, you know what I mean? We, and it's, it still killed me to when guys get ready to get drafted and people bring up old stuff. Because I went through that. It went from an excitement moment in that room with my family to turning off the TV. Because he go to video all of a sudden, turn off the video, someone just turned it off. Cause as I got, I mean, I got the call, I mean, we waiting on my name to get called, but then boom, they go to ESPN putting up this video. The reason why I kind of got, still got a little beef with ESPN, but, but.

• 38:02Ryan Clark?

  Don't worry about it. Hey, it is not a sorry right now, coach.

• 38:07Speaker 04

  But you know, when you see that, like, when you, that's supposed to be a moment of happiness. And it still was. It's that, I'll never forget my draft night. And, but, I never forget that happening. Because, I mean, I've been out of college, that's three years from, I've been in college three years. That happened when I was in high school, before I even graduated high school. Now, this supposed to be the biggest night, excitement. And I'm sitting there with my family, I get the phone call, like boom, like, I'm like Tennessee, like, you know? But it was like, now is, this is what people really about to think of me. And I didn't know how to, I didn't know how people, even the Tennessee Titans was going to accept me.

• 38:51Speaker 04

  And it was to that day, that next day, I walked into a season ticket holder event. And I walked in that building. When I say I got chills of the applause, and that's, that was the, that day, of course, after I got drafted, they flew me out, they flew me from Mississippi to Tennessee. And I think that moment was, kind of helped me out. Because at that time, I'm like, I'm nervous, I'm like, I'm talking to my, even my mom, like, I'm telling my mom, like, I'm like, I'm nervous, like, because of course they came up here with me that morning, and I'm like, man, I don't know what to expect. I don't know if this about to be, how people going to accept me in Tennessee. But when I, when it happened, when I walked into that building,

• 39:32Speaker 04

  and people stood up and started applauding me, man, like, I, like a self, you know, it's like that relief, like, man, like this is what I needed. And so, that, that moment, man, I, it was hard. Like I said, I didn't know, running out the tunnel, my first game, like, that, I needed that as well, because like I said, it's one of the things where now Jeff, you, it's not, I can't, I mean, at that point, you know, I'm a rookie, so I'm like, I'm not, I don't really know as much as I know now by being in the community, so trying to get people to really see the person now. But it's like, now Sundays, it's like, go out there and play football. Like, I do this, like, this is what I do. I'm gonna show you guys, I'm a football player.

• 40:12Speaker 04

  But it still was that, that moment of trying to get people to see who I really am off the football field.

• 40:19Fred Taylor?

  And talking about draft night, you guys selected one of the most electrifying players, Cornell Tate. What'd you think draft night when y'all pulled the trigger to get him? Versus actually seeing him in person throughout these practices?

• 40:33Speaker 04

  I mean, I, I can't sit up here and tell you that I knew much about Cornell, but, I mean, going into the draft, I mean, I heard the name, of course, you hear names throughout the process. I mean, it was crazy, I was, I actually went to the draft this past year and was able to announce a pick, and as I'm going, I'm like, oh, we just drafted a receiver. I'm like, Cornell Tate. But, you know, I mean, I gotta go, I'm gonna go search on Twitter, Cornell Tate, I'm like, who is this guy? When you see the, the, the play style, and you see the explosive that he had, because I mean, what's the other receiver they got at Ohio State right now?

• 41:11Ryan Clark?

  Jeremiah Smith.

• 41:12Speaker 04

  That's who I knew of, like, I didn't know much about, like, I'm like, that's the guy. But apparently, he was the guy. They had two of them. And so, like, but, when you see him at OTAs, and you see him doing training camp, you're like, it's the reason why we drafted him. I mean, you throw that ball up to him, it's his. And the way he run routes, and his mindset, I mean, I, the other day, yesterday, I had to tell him, I said, no, Thursday practice, I said, hey, young buck, we got to say, I said, I got more touchdown than you, don't talk to me right now.

• 41:44Ryan Clark?

  I was about to ask you about that, yeah.

• 41:46Speaker 04

  I told him, I said, I said, I got more touchdown, because he started talking to this man, you know, when the offense get going, you make a play. He's like, go, go make a play. I'm like, bro, then I realized, I said, hey, bro, don't talk to me. I got more touchdown than you right now. So, but no, I, I, he another one, you know, when you got a young guy that don't mind talking a little smack, and because, I mean, that's confident, that's, that's what, I mean, I ain't mad at you, you could talk smack to me, but on Sundays, we, we together, and I, and I like that about him, and I'm excited, I'm excited for him.

• 42:15Ryan Clark?

  Better to score a touchdown, or to get a sack?

• 42:22Speaker 04

  I mean, sack is, sacks is what I do, like, I keep, I, I want to go out there and get a sack every play. It ain't meant an opportunity to come by the big man and get the score. So, I, I can't say, and if you were to say a sack to win a game in, to say we're going to the Super Bowl, I'm gonna pull a sack, I'm gonna take sack all day, because, hey.

• 42:41Ryan Clark?

  Of the moment.

• 42:41Speaker 04

  Of the moment, but to say, hey, day ball, hey, day ball, come on, throw me one. We gotta taste that touchdown, so.

• 42:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you, you've done it before.

• 42:51Channing Crowder?

  Who was out there with your, with your family, all the kids and all that stuff, and how you, you know, just, the, the, being a father? And like you said, once they start growing up, making them good people and all that, how great is it? Because you figured out how to make babies. We, we saw that earlier.

• 43:05Ryan Clark?

  Oh, Lord.

• 43:06Speaker 04

  That more than all my kids, man, you said them all my kids.

• 43:08Channing Crowder?

  You had a fleet of them, how many was out there with you?

• 43:10Speaker 04

  Nephews and nieces, man.

• 43:12Fred Taylor?

  He said a fleet.

• 43:15Speaker 04

  My nephew, my daughter, my daughter, I had, my daughter was the only one here today. But, but nah, to be a dad, to be, like, that's the reason why I enjoy doing what I do. Like, to be able to have my family at practice, like, I mean, it's one of those things to, I don't, I mean, I didn't touch, touch on it with other people, but like, to see my brother here today, like, that meant the world to me. You know, to his girl walking around, she got, they got twins on the way, she can, she do it anytime. But to, to see my family here, to see the bun and the, the little kids, my nieces and nephews, my daughter.

• 43:52Channing Crowder?

  Daughter.

• 43:54Speaker 04

  But nah, to see them running around with the face paint, like, that's, you enjoy that, you enjoy coming off the practice field, and you know, sometimes it may get a little rough at practice, and, you know, you don't have the best day, or whatever it may be, but to know that you still got your family here having a great time. To give them, give them experience that we didn't have growing up, like, that's all I do this for, and I'm grateful, I'm grateful to be in that position, so it's, it was great to have my family at practice today.

• 44:21Fred Taylor?

  What's in the water here in Tennessee? We do a lot of training camp tour shows. We ain't never seen that many babies and strollers. Boy, what y'all doing around here?

• 44:31Speaker 04

  That's, that's, it's a lot, it's a full team, we got a full team right now, there's, there's not.

• 44:35Channing Crowder?

  We got a lot of free time. I got you, I got too much free time.

• 44:39Speaker 04

  Talk to Sala about that.

• 44:40Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he got hate on.

• 44:41Speaker 04

  Sala, they was out, man, they was all at practice. They was all at practice.

• 44:45Ryan Clark?

  That was all his.

• 44:46Speaker 04

  They was all at practice. But nah, man, it's, it's, it's, it's good having.

• 44:50Fred Taylor?

  We always ask our, our, our guests, what's their biggest pivot in life? That's a moment you can look back on and say, because this happened to me and for me, I am who I am today.

• 45:00Speaker 04

  I mean, I, we kind of touched on it, I can only go back to the incident that I had in high school. I mean, don't get me wrong, growing up, I mean, you guys saw my mom out there, that's a strong lady. My mom raised five kids on her own, I never had a dad in my life, and me and my brother had to learn how to be the man of the house early. I would say that's kind of what a pivot, because like I said, that's a lot of adversity. To see my mom sit on the side of the bed, cry because she just got laid off, not knowing what's the, what's the next thing for her? Because she wanted to provide for her five kids. That hurt, especially when you look back on it, as a kid, you, you, you don't really understand what's really going on, but as you, as I got older,

• 45:42Speaker 04

  it's like, dang, man, we was on hood, no wonder, like, come, come around me to the wick office. Like, come get these boxes. I didn't understand that as a kid, I'm happy. Let's go get these series, these noodles, like, I'm happy to go get these things. And when you think back on it, like, when I continue to think back on it, and I was, remember sitting down and talking to Coach Whitekind, one of the things to where, when we get comfortable, we might as well just say we done. And I can say, Coach, like, Coach, you don't never have to worry about me getting comfortable. And, yeah, I got all this money, but I don't care, I don't want to get that feeling again, I don't want, like, yeah, my kid don't have to worry about that, but I don't, my, my son, like, I don't tell, like, no, we, we ain't doing that.

• 46:26Speaker 04

  Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, you ain't finna get comfortable because your dad got it. Because I don't want you to feel comfortable, because in this today game, like, this guy, Jalen Carter, I mean, he right behind me. You know, like, I'm, I'm on year eight, and I feel like, the way I continue to live my life is, whenever I get comfortable, then, I'm done. I, I go back to that, that, that situation that happened in high school. It taught me a lot, I mean, from, you ready to go to college, man? Like, I'm sitting in a meeting, I'm sitting in a meeting with the president of Mississippi State. I'm sitting in the meeting room with the AD, like, we're, we're going to have to discipline you, like, I'm like, does that mean you're going to suspend me?

• 47:05Speaker 04

  Like, now, for sure, this happened, now it's kind of, this, this is in July, and this happened back in April of last year, to where like, man, now this finna get brought back up to where, it's taught me so much to, and that's, that's the reason why I go back to control the control, focus on the now, focus on being better than I was yesterday. And it continued to help me be a better person, because all I could think about is, how can I be, how can I show people who I really am? And I, man, the second opportunity that I got, I mean, I sat down with Dan Mullin, I remember, man, like, you know, we're still gonna sign you, you still gonna be able to come to Mississippi State, and to get that second opportunity in life,

• 47:47Speaker 04

  I'd said I'd never take it for granted. And since that day, man, I was, I don't know, like, I mean, yeah, you know, you get speeding ticket here and that, but it's, it's, it's, you know, heavy foot. But it's like, for me is, how can I not put myself in a situation to not make that mistake again? Or to make any mistake, because I never wanted to get that about, that, that image painted again. And I'm all about, you know, like I said, I'm, I'm, I try to be a private person, I try to keep, like, my family, like, we try to stay as close as we can. And I'm really, like I said, I'm really close to my family, so I have these conversations with my family.

• 48:24Speaker 04

  Like, we not, when we, we go outside, we go to dinner, we go to a lounge, we, but you guys is not, it's not gonna be, hey, Dylan Bradley, liner, it's Jeffrey Simmons' brother. And so, that's, that's how I try to talk to my family, like, you not just, you representing me. And, and it sucks to say it like that, and I don't want them to feel like, we gotta be all modest around, but it's, it's the truth. And so, that's just, that's, I would say, man, that's, that's, that's what helped shape to be the person I am today. And it helped me be a better person, better brother, better son, and a better dad.

• 49:03Ryan Clark?

  Well, I'll tell you what, though, as we close this out, I saw that last contract, you might not be comfortable or complacent, but that bank account is.

• 49:11Speaker 04

  I need another one.

• 49:13Ryan Clark?

  Man, appreciate, that was awesome, man.

• 49:14Channing Crowder?

  Very comfortable.

• 49:17Speaker 04

  Appreciate y'all.

• 49:18Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he's green, that was a C's.