TRANSCRIPT: Drake Maye On the Green Light Podcast With Chris Long
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Patriots quarterback Drake Maye recently appeared on the Green Light podcast with Chris Long, with Maye talking about his rookie season along with giving some good insight on some other stuff as well.
Here’s the full transcript from the interview from the New England Patriots quarterback’s sit down with Long:
So we don’t get a lot of quarterbacks, and I was really excited to hear we got one of the next great ones, in my opinion, in Drake Maye. Drake, how are you doing, man?
“Chris, what’s going on, man? Thanks for having me on. Hanging down here in Louisiana, can’t complain.”
You can’t beat it.
“Yeah, you can’t complain. Good weather.”
We had a gator out there. Did you see the gator that rolled up?
“I did see it. You got a sweet setup here now.”
Are you eating good down here?”
Yeah, eating pretty good. Yeah, good.”
Man, a lot I want to talk to you about, but number one is, oldest rivalry in the South, UNC, Virginia. What was your record against Virginia? I don’t know the answer. This isn’t a ‘got you.’
“I was two and one. So, I only played twice, but I was two and one. We were actually my last year, North Carolina, before I left, we were 10th in the country, and you all beat us at our place. It was a bad loss.”
That was a banner win for us, bro.
“I know. It was huge for you all. Coach, I’m a big fan. And then the oldest rivalry, we went to you all’s place. My first year playing, and it was a pretty good game. Like I said, it’s two kind of old rivalries.”
No question.
“Same type college town vibe. So It was always some good games. What about you against Carolina?”
Man, I think we did pretty good against Carolina. This is back in the day, but we took care of Carolina for the most part.
“There we go.”
You all have really upped your game. You’re a Charlotte guy.
“Yeah, right outside Charlotte, a little north. But yeah, went to high school right in the middle of Charlotte.”
So did you grow up a Panthers fan?
“Huge Panthers fan.”
Me too, dude.
“Huge Panthers fan. Cam Newton was my favorite. Steve Smith, Cam Newton, Big Jared Allen on the Edge, OG. I love those guys, man.”
When I was growing up, they were like… They were good when you were growing up. But this was back when they had [Jake] Delhomme and all those guys, Sam Mills. He’s got a statue outside the thing, and Kevin Green, all those guys.
“I was actually just at the Pro Bowl with Peyton [Manning], and I told Peyton that 2015 Caroline Panthers run, my dad, we had season tickets, we’d always go to the games. I love Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, all those guys, and Greg Olson, the whole squad. We went to the San Francisco Super Bowl. That was my first Super Bowl I ever went to, and Panthers lost, obviously. That was a tough one. I told Peyton, that was Peyton’s last game, so it was bittersweet.
Yeah, it was bittersweet.
“Yeah, yeah, no, bittersweet.”
Gosh, dude, I used to paint my face and go to the game. It was like a 12-year-old.
“Oh, yeah.”
And then we finally get to play the Panthers when I’m a pro. I get in a fight and I get ejected. They’re throwing bottles at me. I’m like, ‘Come on, I love you guys.’
“Was it in Charlotte?”
It was in Charlotte.
“Oh, how about that?”
Yeah, it was tough. But no, man, I enjoy watching you play. I know it’s hard as a rookie quarterback. I’ll just tell you this, and this isn’t any any indictment on who I think you can be, but I was like, ‘Do not throw him in the fire five, six games in,’ but you really did a hell of a job. The one question I have in that first game is, I had you down for 18 seconds after [Danielle] Hunter hit you. I timed it. Did it feel like 18?
“I saw him at the Pro Bowl as well, man. I told him, man, and I said, that was my ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment. Welcome to the NFL moment. Yeah, that was my moment. First start, Danielle, and obviously, Will Anderson, both of them coming off the edge. We were worried about them. Everybody in the NFL now has, the D-Lines… You all are coming off the edge, man. It’s tough for us QBs. I think every team we face, you feel like the D-Line is always good. It was a tough job for O-Lines across the league. They got such a tough job. But Yeah, I was definitely… I just threw a touchdown in the first half. We’re down 14-7. Get the ball in the second half. We got a chance to get back in the game. That first drive, I get strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter. He looks like a created player in Madden coming off the edge.”
He does.
“And [got] strip-sacked, I didn’t see him coming. And I should have got the ball out. Bad sack I took. I think the game was kind of … we were trying to fight back …
He looks like a GI Joe, bro.
“I know, exactly.”
He’s crazy. You’re not supposed to have muscles like that. What hurt when he hit you?
“Yeah, I think …”
Everything?
“You see me kind of looking … I was looking right, looking right, we had a little tight end, a little option route that I should have thrown. Probably got yelled at at the meeting for that not throwing it. I came back left, and he came off the right edge, and just kind of a little bit of a… I think it was maybe my shoulder. I think it may have been my shoulder, my right shoulder, which is not good.”
It looks like everything.
“I know. But one of those just… Yeah, that one kind of brought me back into, ‘Hey, this is what you’re in. This is kind of the NFL moment.’
Well, I felt like the first touchdown past you through was an absolute dot. It was like everybody watching was like, ‘Okay, he’s going to be all right.’
“It felt good. We were down 14-0, and we had a go route at the end of the half and try to take a chance on [Derek] Stingley. He was obviously a great player, so ended up fine. I’m down here, native Kayshon Boutte, so it was nice to get on the scoreboard and then had that coming out of the half wasn’t too great after that, following that up.”
Who was the most ferocious defense you played against this year?
“I think the Texans, they’re hard not to say them. I think played some other… I thought the Chargers, I think Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, they still got some kick in their stride, and they played well. Other than that, I thought actually the Jets were good. I think they were good. I think they had some guys kind of banged up throughout the year, but they had some good players.”
No question. Is there a coordinator you were impressed with having to prepare for?
“That’s a good question. The biggest thing, I think, what Sean McDermott and them do up in Buffalo, kind of what they’ve done in the history. He was obviously with the Panthers back when I was growing up, he was the DC there and kind of watched him go to Buffalo and how the defense has been for so long. They kind of do the same stuff. They stay in nickel personnel, and they keep it simple. But kind of what they do is pretty cool. Just stay in four down and make you beat it. They got a good nickel and they’re good up front. Von Miller’s still making plays on the edge.”
He’s still rolling. That dog will still hunt
“I know. I hit his incentive for him. My last, I played one drive.
Did you hit the incentive?
“Week 18, I played one drive. It was a third down, and I think he needed one more sack, and he got me on third down, I was out the rest of the game.”
Is he going to buy you dinner? I know, right?
“No, I should reach out to him.”
The other thing was, I thought you had a play that if they were giving ESPYs out for just one play … you know the play. Tennessee.
“Yeah, I missed Hunter Henry in the back before. It should have been a touchdown way before.”
Yeah, but it was more fun.
“I know, it was pretty sick.”
Talk me through starting with missing Hunter Henry. What was going through your head?
“Yeah, we had a bunch set to the right. We had a single guy backside and kind of came back. I had Hunter in the back, guy guy on the backline, in line, just in route in the back of the end zone. I had him. And from there, just trying to play in streetball. Mondre [Rhamondre Stevenson] ended up finding a seam, but really throughout the play, just trying to shift a little right, I ended up dodging a few guys. But really, I think Hunter was… I was still trying to find Hunter back there, and he stepped out of the end zone, Hunter Henry, and he’s kind of waving, ‘Don’t throw it to me. Don’t throw it to me.’ I can’t throw it to him now. He’s just kind of watching like a fan back there. We were laughing about it at the bus after. But then since then, we were just trying to make a play and found Mondre and gave him a chance. It was pretty sweet.”
What’s the biggest… I was a high pick. There’s a lot of pressure. It’s a big jump. And you’re taking over an organization that for a long time, they’ve been spoiled with great quarterback play. What do you think is the biggest difference that shocked you about either the speed of the game or the multiplicity of the coverages or the preparation?
“Yeah, I think preparation. I think preparation is part of it, and just you got to bring it every week. As you know, you can beat anybody with a good game plan. Shoot, we were up on Buffalo at half 14-7, and you can lose to anybody in this league. I think that’s kind of what the best thing about the NFL, what everybody loves it about any given week, you got a chance out there on Sunday. I think just a few plays, whether it’s turnovers or missing wide open guys, can make the difference in the game.”
“I think the biggest thing for me was just a different role getting thrown in there as a rookie and leadership-wise, as a quarterback, it’s with it, and that’s my personality to be a leader, just kind of knowing my role and coming in midseason and how to lead the guys in a different way was challenging. I think, as you know, just the NFL, it’s the best. It’s hard to beat the NFL, I think. It’s so many great players and so many great faces. I think the camaraderie is a little different than college.”
It’s a little different, right?
“Yeah, a little different.
Because everybody’s a different age? Some people got kids, some people are young, some people are still growing up.
“I’m asking guys to play cards after, say, ‘No, I got to go home to kids,’ and so I’m living up there by myself. I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll just hang and watch some more film.”
That’s the wildest part, man. It’s adjusting to everybody’s got a different dynamic. I don’t want to dox you, but are you in the Foxborough area?
“Yeah, I was right by the facility. I tried to stay close.”
Me, too. When I was there, bro, I stayed on, you know North Road or whatever it is?
Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. Oh, yeah.”
Those condos in the back of townhouses.
“Okay.”
You know, all the guys kind of live there. It’s kind of a college feel.
“Yeah, a little bit.”
Foxborough.
“Yeah, a little bit. Foxborough is a little college town, feel I like it. There’s nothing around to do. So it’s just be at the facility and hanging out with the guys.”
There’s no windows in that facility.
“I know, right? We’re actually … Mr. Kraft, and they’re building a new one.”
They’re are going to be windows?
“Yeah, I think this next spring.”
You go in there, you don’t know what time it is. Exactly. It’s dark when you go in. It’s dark when you [leave]. That was the hard adjustment for me. It was the damn weather and the sunlight.
“There’s no windows in there. And only window is when you’re going out for practice, and it doesn’t matter the weather we’re going out there outside.”
Do you still feel like Bill [Belichick]’s gone? You don’t know Bill. Have you met Bill yet?
“I have. Yeah, obviously. Back in Chapel Hill, Bill. I got to meet Coach Belichick.”
He’s the man.
“He was cool. Yeah, he was awesome.”
But do you still feel like his imprint on that place?
“Oh, for sure. I think the Patriot Way and the practicing whatever weather and lifting hard and lifting hard during the week and in-season, out-of-season, it doesn’t matter. We’re running sprints, running the hills. I think that’s still kind of the Patriot Way. The ‘hard work works.’ I think that is what his staple was and what he left in the organization. I think a lot of coaches, especially since we kind of stayed inside the Patriot, it’s a tree, as you call it, coaching-wise, we still kind of embraced that.”
You obviously got a chance to talk to Vrabel. How much time have you spent with him and Josh [McDaniels]?
“Yeah, I talked to them on the phone three or four times each. I think they’re both … first off, Coach Vrabel, he’s been a head coach somewhere else. I think that kind of maybe spices it up for us, kind of getting outside the Patriot tree, technically. But I think he’s still within it because he play there as well. He knows about the defense and all that. But being somewhere else and knowing what it’s like to have success and being in the playoffs for a different city, different organization, will be awesome. Coach Vrabel. He called me on the phone, and he’s been great. So looking forward to getting to know him. I think he will bring some toughness and coach you hard. We need to be coached. Even great players that we have and veteran guys, we want to be coached hard. I don’t know everything, especially me, trying to make a jump to my second year. You want to be coached hard. Coach McDaniels, offensively, he’ll bring that for us. He coached, I think, the best to ever do it and get a chance to, ‘Hey, this is what Tom was thinking on this play.’ And this concept could be pretty sweet to sit in there in the film room and say, ‘Hey, Tom was wrong a few times, too.’ It would be pretty cool to see that.”
Josh is an amazing coach. He was a coordinator in St. Louis when I was there for a year.
“Yeah, I did not know that.”
When [Sam] Bradford… Do you remember Sam Bradford?
“Yeah, I know Sam Bradford.”
And had a great year that year.
“I didn’t know he was in St. Louis. How about that?”
Yeah, he was in St. Louis for a little bit. And so I think you’re going to roll, man. But who’s next up for you all? You look at some of the young guys on your team. You had some exciting players. Who do you think is that next guy for the Patriots next year to step up?
“That’s a good question. I think we bought into two rookie receivers, I think Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker that were kind of feeling out this year, and they battled some injuries, but I think, hopefully, expecting one of them, if not both, to kind of make a splash this year. I think it’s really taking it upon myself. Those guys came in with me, the receivers and quarterback receivers, it’s my job to get them to football but also I think it’s their job and they know to get their stuff together, get to lifting hard and running hard and practicing hard.”
“It’s a different way to practice in the NFL. It takes something off your body, but you still expect to be full speed, expect to be in the right spot, expect to line up right. So I think getting the groove of that and getting the groove of the NFL life was different for all us, rookies, especially the new NIL space. We all think we’re rich coming into the league and really that money goes by fast. So I think this new space is good for us to kind of get a feel of, ‘Hey, you make this lifestyle, and we still got a ways to go and goals we need to meet.'”
Is it harder in the pros so far? With the offseason, you’re starting your first offseason. You’re all getting together and making sure you’re on the same page. You can build that relationship like [Patrick] Mahomes and [Travis] Kelce have. Me and Hamilton were just talking about that. There’s being in the right place, but then there’s, as the play breaks down, finding the soft spot in the zone and knowing where he’s going to break his route off and all that stuff. The thing us grunts up front don’t have to think about. We’re Xs on a paper.
“Yeah, exactly.”
But you guys are… You all are more artists when you really have that relationship. But I feel like in college, we’re all in the same place all year long. And now, with the geography people leaving and that thing, is it harder to get on the same page? And what are you all going to do to do that stuff in the offseason?
“Yeah, you make a great point. I think the biggest thing for me, I think there’s levels to it. I think kind of the first level is, ‘Hey, I trust this guy throwing routes on air. I know where he’s going. I know his steps. I know how he’s breaking off in routes, out routes. I know how he’s getting in and out of breaks. I think that’s the first level to it.’ And the second level was kind of one on one. ‘Hey, I like this guy in I’m one on one. I know one on one. I know where he’s going to be at in this route.’ That kind of comes from routes on air. And then when you know ‘Hey, on this route,’ I think that’s when you can level up, ‘Hey, in this zone coverage.’ This is where I can expect, ‘Hey, you can sit in this zone. You got a sail route, 15 yards sail route. It’s a trapped corner in cover, two. You can sit there and don’t run into him to throw a pick.’ I think little things like that is what you see in the Mahomes and Kelce do such a great job of. Then you get into the option routes for different guys, for Kelce. I’m sure he’s got post or corner here or, ‘Hey, I can break it off high or flat.’ I think that’s different levels. Like I said, I think I said I was in an interview with the Patriots up there, I said, ‘Feeling the guy out.’ [Laughs] But really, I think the biggest thing is, yeah, you got to know what he’s thinking.”
I did see that.
“Yeah, thinking on the same page.”
I knew what you meant.
“Yeah, exactly. So it falls in the same tree. But I think that’s really, I’m serious, feeling the guy out running routes and knowing where he’s going to be. It comes to … there’s levels to it.
Yeah, no question. Hamilton asked me to ask you. I said, What would you ask Drake Maye about a coverage? And he said, ‘All right, ask him if we’re mugged It’s up. Everybody’s in. You got the backers and the A’s, you got your man beaters, and they bail out to play two. Where are you going with the ball?’
“Probably check down.”
Check down?
“Yeah, probably check down. That’s what they’d want me to say. I’d probably still try to take a look at one of the deep shots.
Take a look?
“Yeah, take a look.”
Just a peek?
“Take a peek. So I think, ultimately try to get to completion.”
How much has Peyton Manning. knowing him. meant to you? Because I know you did the Manning passing academy.
“Yeah, the camp down there. Yeah, the camp’s huge. I think the best thing about it is all these camps nowadays, they just come out here and, ‘Hey, go play your little flag football.’ And down at the Manning camp, he brings in us college guys, quarterbacks from across the country of all different types. I know, shoot Jayden Daniels was down there. Michael Penix was down there with me. Quinn Ewers was down there. It was a bunch of the top guys in college from my last year playing. We’re coaching these kids hard. We’re doing our own drills. We’re doing five-step drops under center, teaching these kids how to play under center, play action from the gun, seeing two high coverages, one high, and then at the same time getting a chance to mingle with these guys and hang out with them at night and throw with them during the day and all these different things. What a great experience to be down there with the Manning crew, two of the best Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. And I think they’re the best thing about them, they’re one of the guys. They call quarterbacks, special fraternity. And I think it’s special what they do, and it’s fun to be a part of it.”
Is footwork a big adjustment? Having to pay a little bit more attention to your footwork? Is that one of the things that in college is not as emphasized? Or is there a jump at all? I thought one of the things that made Tom great was his pocket mobility. It’s not like he’s as athletic as you, but he was always able to climb and find the soft spots.
“He was the best at it. I think … it was just a simple drop. Sometimes he just, one step and slide back, a little slide drop, and kind of sit there. And his pocket mobility and his feel in the pocket is one of the best. He’s so good at getting the ball out and not taking sacks and finding the right guy. It’ll be fun to watch him in this system, what it was like, and, ‘Hey, this is what Tom took the drop.’ I think it’s huge timing your feet up with the routes is big for me. It’s big, something that I feel like I improved on this year and continue to take kind of the next step inside a new offense to take some from this past year and take some into something in this new offense. It’ll be fun.”
Have you gotten a chance to really… You talk about being a leader. It’s hard when you’re young because you’re like, and I don’t mean this, but you don’t have a resume yet, and you’re building it. And the way I’ve always been is like, ‘I got to be playing well to lead,’ but you all are in a position where you have to lead no matter what. Was it hard for you to find the space or the opportunities to really get on a guy, being a rookie, that thing?
“It was challenging, I think because I felt like coming… I think the sixth game was my first start, coming in the sixth game. And I think maybe the fifth game, we were one and four, one and five. And we lost to the Texans that game, and I felt like it was my time to step in. ‘Hey, this is our spot in the season where we need to make kind of a run to get a chance to make the playoffs.’ I felt like I didn’t really have that title yet. Having Jacoby [Brissett] in the room, he was the best.
He’s the best.
“He’s the best. He was the best veteran I could ask for to have been there in the room with me.”
He could run for President.
“Yeah, exactly.”
We used to call him President.
“Exactly. What a teammate he is.”
He’s just awesome.
“I think for me, having him there and learning how he prepared, how he handled guys in the locker room, when he stood up to say things in some meetings and when he didn’t, and when it wasn’t a good break out of the huddle in a play in practice, he’d bring the break back. And little things like that, you take on for the rest of my career and always be thankful for, hopefully, get him back in New England.”
“From there, like you said, it’s a tough challenge to be in the pregame before the huddle or being there at halftime as a rookie. We won one or two games, and coming into it, I think it was tough for me to find that. But I think that’s something I could take a next step into next year.”
Who are the vets that you really gravitated towards this year? Besides Jacoby, because obviously –
“Jacoby was the number one. Obviously, Hunter Henry was great in the tight end room. Him and Austin Hooper, those two guys, two veteran tight-ends that would help finish just some play calls, some long play calls for me in the huddle. They’re smart guys.”
Are they long play calls?
“Yeah.”
Are they like [John] Gruden long? You know, when you heard Gruden grilling Chris Simms on the call, and it’s like 30 seconds long.
“Yeah. Oh, yeah. Some of them can get …”
Give me one that’s not going to give any game.
“Yeah. So let’s go like, ‘Hop the Gun, flood right.’ We’ll go ‘Hop the Gun, flood right, slope. Let’s go two scat, Y, butcher. We’ll go Z, colt, and we’ll can it three scat.'”
You want to can it? Three scat?
Hop the Gun, flood right, slope. Two scat, Y butcher, can it three scat is kind of…”
See, I would gone two scat.
“Yeah, there you go. There you go, exactly. So you’re just flipping the protection. It’s a simple pass play we have.”
What the hell is Butcher?
“Butcher is just a concept, a frontside concept. It’s like a high-low.”
Okay. All right. See, I play Madden, and this is still fresh to me.
“Hey, Madden. Some of Madden …”
You play Madden?
“My dad used to love me playing Madden. He said, ‘Hey, if you’re going to play any video game, try to play Madden, you can see coverage, see routes.'”
Your dad’s smart.
“Yeah, my dad, he played quarterback.”
I learned more about coverages after football because I just had my hand in the dirt. And then I pick up the sticks, and I’m like, ‘Man, now I know what coverage is.’
“What do you like doing on Madden defense-wise?”
I’m double mugging you.
“Are you double mug?”
I’m double mugging you. But if you get on my edge, then I got to change it up.
“What if they go empty?”
If they go empty, I’m not going to double mug you. I’ll probably go Sugar Weak and run like, cover two drop and see if you can hit the honey hole. If I’m playing you, I’m a little worried because you got a good arm. But if I’m playing certain guys, I’m going to make you…
“So you’re one of those Madden players, you wait to see the formation before you pick a defense?”
For sure.
“Oh, wow.”
I mean, are there guys that don’t?
“I’m just making sure what type of player you are.”
I’m not a total new…
“I’m not making sure what type of player you are.”
I’m an elite three, all right?
“There you go, okay.”
You believe LeBron’s [James] a top 100?
“I saw he just won his what, like his thousandth game or something? Some milestone?”
I’m casting some doubt on that. Can you imagine being the best basketball player in the world and having enough time to play that much, Madden?
“I mean, you got time. I think you got time.”
I guess so.
“I think you got time.”
I guess so. It’s not like football where we’re in meetings all day.
“In basketball, you get a good workout, but I’m sure I heard LeBron gets in there early for game days.”
What are you running on defense?
“I try to play man in Madden. I think it’s a little overpowered. I think man coverage is.”
It’s too good.
“Try to use the robber, the linebacker.”
I love robber.
“Yeah, maybe throw in a dime safety in there.”
And then I dropped the end. The more guys in coverage, the better.
“Do little pre-snap adjustments. I’ve seen those guys down in the red zone that drop everybody.”
Oh, yeah. It’s so annoying, dude.
“Exactly.”
What do you think about the virtual reality thing?
“Yeah, it was a cool addition. I think we got into it a little late…”
So you did it?
“Yeah, we got it up there in New England. It was great for them to get it for me. It was a cool addition. The best thing for me was just learning the system. They put all the plays on there, whether it was red zone or I would do the two-minute list a lot. It was just kind of easy pass plays that we had every week, two-minute, and see different coverages. You can change it to cover three, cover two. You can change it to any coverage, which I would do to try not to know the coverage, but you can try to change it to mix up the coverages and go through our plays. There’s a setting where you can even throw it and simulate throwing it, but I tried to stay off that just to not be throwing it.”
You might hurt yourself throwing nothing.
“Yeah, you’re throwing like a Wii remote … Have you ever seen the Wii remote, the Numchuk?”
Yeah, I know. Yeah.
“You’ll hold that little button, like you’re boxing, to move the joystick.
Yeah.
“It’s like something like that.”
So you grew up on the Wii?
“Yeah, I grew up on Wii and GameCube.”
You make me feel old. I was on the Nintendo.
“There you go. Yeah, we play the Game Cube. We still play the Game Cube a little bit.
Game Cube? He’s talking about Gamecube.
“Exactly.”
Hell, yeah, dude. Well, here’s my burning question about the Pats. I think you all should wear those reds every game.
“Those reds are sweet, aren’t they?”
Aren’t they sweet?
“They’re sweet. We’re 0-2 in them, but I thought we played pretty good in them. But the reds are sweet. I think they’re maybe coming out with a… Maybe is what kind of the fans are wanting some blue, some throwback blues.”
Oh, really?
“Those would be sweet.”
I love the reds.
“The fans are wanting it, so I think that’d be pretty sick.
Do they ask you all what to wear each week? Because they used to ask us, ‘What do you all want to wear this week?’
“Yeah, usually. But the reds, they only brought them out two games. I think that’s the maximum.”
They can’t do it. It’s like the Kelly Greens with the Eagles. They should be wearing them every week.
“Exactly. those are sweet.”
But I got to say this, UNC had some sweet uniforms.
“We brought some throwback whites this year that were sweet.”
I hate to say that.
“I think Carolina Blues is one of the best. It’s hard not to beat Carolina Blue.”
Who’s your favorite Carolina player of all time?
“Carolina player of all time. How about that? Are you talking football-wise?”
Yeah, it could be anything. I mean, I know some basketball players you know.
“The OG legend, LT – Lawrence Taylor. It’s hard to beat Lawrence Taylor. Getting to know him kind of as he’s gotten older and still playing golf a little bit. But other than that part, kind of recent years, I think Eric Ebron. I love Eric Ebron. He’s a great dude. He’s awesome. The best personality. What a guy.”
So he’s golfing? You guys are on the sticks a lot.
“Yeah, I play a little golf. Oh, yeah.”
You’re pretty good?
“Eric plays them, too. I try to play some in the offseason. I drop them, kind of once July comes.
Here’s when I knew I would like you. When I saw the video of you and your brothers or when your brothers were busting your balls.
“Oh, yeah.”
And you’re getting emotional. But they’re just… When it was like, Come on, you’re about to cry. And he’s like, ‘What’s up, bitch?’ I’m like, Hey, I’m one of three, so it’s the same damn thing. How cool is that to get to go through all this stuff with them?
“Yeah, it’s awesome. You probably know, those are my three best friends, and grew up getting bullied by them growing up, and them flipping the switch and supporting me and coming to games and wearing my jersey. It’s a full circle moment. It’s pretty sweet.”
That’s amazing, man.
“It’s hard to beat.”
That’s amazing. Are they down here this week?
“They are. The oldest one, Luke, still plays basketball. He’s overseas in Japan.
Yeah, because he’s still playing.
“He’s overseas, still playing.”
He used to terrorize us.
“Yeah. I tell you what, Virginia was tough, though, in basketball.”
We’re a basketball school, now.
“The defense, defense they gave North Carolina problems.”
We lost Tony Bennett, though.
“Yeah, he hung them up, but he was a good coach. Do you get back to any games? Football games?”
I like watching them on the couch, man.
“It’s the best seat in the house, isn’t it?”
And it’s 10 minutes away. But it’s like Sunday, I’m not going to go to the game. I want to go home, so I’m going to watch it on the couch.
“Watch it right here.”
Because when you’re at the game, and I love people, but they just want to talk to you.
“I know.”
And so I don’t know if your parents are like this, but my dad, when he came to games, when he did get to, because he was on TV, was he would warn the people in the suite, ‘I don’t want to talk.’ I just want to watch it.
“My dad was the exact same way. Don’t talk to him. My mom hates it when people come and yap their ear off the whole game. Like, ‘We’re here to watch the game, not catch up on what your kids are doing.'”
Well, dude, Congrats on everything. We enjoy watching you play. We hope you come again and pop on the podcast. But also congrats on the engagement, man.
“Yes, sir. I appreciate it. No doubt. No, I know. She’s over there. She was just talking about going to the Super Bowl. ‘I want to go to the game.’ I said, The best seat in the house is on the couch.”
Absolutely. He’s a couch guy. I can tell he’s a couch guy. This is what I like to do.
“Couch, and yes, she doesn’t like me gaming, but she’ll be all right.”
Hey, well, guess what? One day you’ll be 39 with three kids and you’ll have a man cave, and your wife will let you play man.
“There we go. That’s what I tell her. I said, I ain’t changing. That ain’t changing.”
You’re never going to grow up. Dude, congrats on everything.
“Thanks for having me on.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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