Games with Names - Dudes on Brian Dawkins (with guest Patrick Chung)

Episode Date: April 4, 2026

We're covering legendary safety Brian Dawkins! Gronk, Julian Edelman, and Patrick Chung discuss what made Brian Dawkins so great and some of their favorite stories.Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1, including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports most consequential driver's strike and plenty of other mishapsed scandals and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent, dumpster fire for more than 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Lori Siegel and this is

A Mostly Human, a tech podcast through a human lens. This week, an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. I think society is going to decide that creators of AI products bear a tremendous amount of responsibility to the products we put out in the world. An in-depth conversation with a man who's shaping our future. My highest order bit is to not destroy the world with AI. Listen to Mostly Human on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian, Michael Mancini.

My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is love trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ten shots five. City Hall building.

How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. A shocking public murder. This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I scream. Get down. Get down. Those are shots.

A tragedy that's now forgotten. And a mystery. That may or may not have been political. have been about sex. Listen to Roershack, murder at City Hall, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Dudes on Dudes. I'm Julian Edelman, and we're bringing you one of our favorite segments from the show talking about one of our favorite dudes in the NFL. Let's go.

So this is what we do, man. We just break down a dude and determine, you know, that we talk about what type of player he was. And today, that you're our guest. you know and we're thankful for it. You picked who we're going to be talking about, and we do an AI synopsis about the guy, so I'm going to hit it off with the AI synopsis. Here we go.

Oh, then. Standing at six feet and weighing 209 pounds, this hard hitting safety was selected, 61st overall in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft. From Jacksonville, Florida, he started three seasons at Clemson University. Over a dominant 16-season NFL career,

he was a first team, all-pro selection, four times and is a member of the 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Also, he is the only player in NFL history to record a sack, interception, fumble recovery, and touchdown reception in a single game. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get on, Brian Dawkins. Brian Dawkins. What is the first thing that you think of when you hear of the name, Brian Dawkins,

and why did you pick Brian Dawkins? Patrick Chung. Football player. Football player. He can cover. He can tackle. He's stuff. He can play a linebacker.

He can play safety. He can play in the slot. He can. But at the same time, he's very reserved and peaceful. You know, I don't like to talk too much. Rastaman. Yeah, I don't like to talk too much. Like you fight Chung, but he was like pick you up after he whipped your ass.

Yeah. And that's pretty much what I'm with him. So pretty much the same size, almost the same pick. just kind of everything, you know, like he's just, he can blitz, he can tackle, he can hit linemen, put him down, put tight ends down, and, you know, just a very reserved person that can tap into his Wolverine. And, you know, that's, that's why I kind of describe myself like him, just kind of a, just football player. I wasn't the fastest, the quickest, or anything. It's just, I just loved football. I just played hard. You told me I can't do this shit. I'm going to show

you I can do this shit. And if I can't do it, At least I'm going to show you that I can. There's no giving up. So I didn't, there's no giving up with Brian Dawkins. You ever meet him? I met him one time. I was on a, um, a, uh, visit in Denver. And he was at the table.

He's eating his lunch. And I sat and I talked to him. And we talked for a little bit. And he was the same thing I'm saying. Very calm, very reserved and very, like, educated, intellectual and talking to him how, you know, how football should be outside of the field. But then sometimes. I watch football, I'm like, this guy is trying to kill people.

Like, who is this person? Like you said, I'm sleeping and I just wake up and then I just want to go kill somebody. You got that hit. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that's why I would describe myself like that. You know, it's just kind of, yeah, he had a good game. Like, that's what boosted my career is that one game in Miami. Yeah.

Same thing that happened to him. What, you explained that? Oh, when I had two block field goals, a block field goal, block punt. pick six in one game and I don't know how many tackles. Against Miami on the road. On the road. That's what people were like, who is this guy? And that was my rookie year.

And I remember that. That was your rookie year. And I remember as well, Coach Balochick called us all out and why he took us and why everyone else skipped on us. You remember that? No. Yeah, it was the team meeting right before. He was like, I remember he gron.

He went by. I remember he coming me. Yeah, they didn't want you. You had a visit to Miami. They passed on you. We grabbed you. I wanted you here. And he went on about every single starter on our team and explained why he wanted him.

Why he wanted you? Why you're here and why everyone else passed on you? And like it made you feel good. I remember that. It was right before that game. And he's done that multiple times. He's done a few times. And that was when Miami was pretty good.

That's when they had the Ronnie Brown year two years before. They were like Florida. Danny, Brandon Marshall. Yeah. Brandon Marshall. They were a good football team. Who was that slot receiver? Best.

Jervon Best. Devon Best. Yep. They had a good team that year. Did you watch a lot of Brian Dawkins' highlights growing up? I did, actually. Yeah? Yeah, I did.

That's the one person I did. And so my mom always always is messing me because her last name is George, Sophia George. So when I was growing up, my favorite player was Eddie George on the Oilers. And she was always telling me, that's your uncle. Because, you know, my mom, Same name. My family is just a total clown.

Yeah, yeah. A total smart ass. So the whole time, like, this is my favorite player. Favorite player. It's like, that's not your uncle, bro. I'm like, what? I mean, watching this man forever. Right?

So my whole time growing up, I was an oily fan. Yeah. I was an oily fan, Eddie George fan, and then switch to Brian Dawkins, just the way he carries himself. And, like, you know, I just liked him. I liked him a lot. He's one of the hardest hitters. I got lit up in 2009 when we went on and played Denver.

that. He's one of, he hit me so hard. I saw like a star for two weeks. And like he like was so polite about it too when he hit me. Like he lifted me like it's kind of like I was saying with you like he asked if I was all right. He's like you need to play a young fellow or something like that. Like he was just like it's like you said in between like some of these guys like the Brian Dawkins, the Troy Palomalus who do prayers every four every play. When they are in play, they are in play, They're not like prayer type guys. They're like just straight want to kill you guys. But also pray that you don't get hurt when they hit you hard.

Yes, yes. Those are the scariest guys to go over us. And like it was kind of like a trick that they would use. It was a tactic because they would absolutely level you. And they'd be like, hey, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Because usually when you get leveled like that, you freaking get all amped up that and be in the adrenaline starts flowing because you got to protect yourself. And you're like, I'm going to get that bastard back.

Yep. But he gets up and he comes to you, oh my gosh, I'm so. And you walk away. You're like, oh my gosh, you were so sorry. I don't want to hit him back. You're so right. It's so true. And the next time he fucking lights you up again.

And I'll let you up again. Oh, I've done that so many times. It's okay. It was an accident again. And I'm like, this, I wish you'd just talk shit to me. Like, so I can go after him and get pissed off. But, man. Bro, when you're talking about crack blocks, yeah.

There's sometimes receivers come in. I'll grab them. And, you know, receivers don't like they're rolled up. Yeah. I don't want to see anybody hurt. Yeah. So I'll, I'll grab them, I'll pull them towards me.

Hey, hey, hey, watch your leg. Because the play's gonna be over. Yeah. Like, oh, thanks you, man. And the next time, I'm like, ha ha. Ska, shit, shit, do, boom. Eat this, bro. And now it's like, hey, we're just friends at last play.

Like, no, we're not friends anymore. I just don't want you to get hurt. Call it a day. So you're right, bro. It's a total mind fuck. It really is. Yeah, totally. Where does he get his nickname, the Weapon X?

It's Wolverine, I think, right? Was it Wolverine? Yeah, he has Wolverine's action figures on his locker room. That's what it is. It is. Where's that rank among cool-ass nicknames? That's up there. Weapon X.

Weapon X. That might be the best one. That's had separate Weapon X locker. Nameplate and all. When I hit the field, I'm not Brian Dawkins. I'm Weapon X. Inscribed on his 2017 Super Bowl ring instead of his name. This guy, bro, his, the Weapon X locker was to the right of his locker.

I remember. He just sits right here and he had his own lock. Bipolar. Two different personalities. Jekyll and Hyde right there? That's crazy. That's lethal. That's lethal.

That is lethal. So we're talking about BD, obviously. There's plenty of other hard hitting safeties in the game. Let's get your ranking of the top, you know, three or five safeties that you would say are the hardest hitters in the game. Mount Rushmore of hardest hitting safety.

We're not talking about the best players. We're just talking about a wide receiver. lines up out wide and he's going to run a shitty route because he knows he doesn't want to run towards that safety and he doesn't want the ball because he's going to get absolutely smacked. I'm going to go with one right off the beginning because he went to the University of Arizona. I know him well. Chuck Cecil. He was an absolute menace out on the field.

Really? Chuck Cecil? I don't know that is. You don't know Chuck Cecil? Oh my gosh. One of the hardest hitting safeties in the game. They started making the rules change because of him. Really?

Yeah. He was back there. He was, I don't know, Zach, years that he played. But I still, he's coaches at the University of Arizona now, and I meet him. I mean, when I dab him up, I'm like, bro, like, what the fuck, dude? Like, guy is a brick wall. Really? Holy shit.

Brick wall. I'm like, I would never want to get hit by you. And now I understood why those players all got knocked out. And whenever he level him, yeah, he probably missed plenty of times because you're just running full speed. Oh, yeah. But yeah. Once he hits you, that's it. Game over.

So who's your Mount Rush for? That dude, Landry, they used to, play big dude from Washington number 30. Yeah, he's going to knock me out of the Jets. Yes, so sorry for that, Julian, but yeah, he'll let you have it. Dude, his arms were bigger than my thighs. Yeah, the dude's a savage, bro. He got popped a couple times.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you know what you mean. He got a couple eight games suspensions. But, hey, you freaking here. He made the wood.

Yeah, he did. I'm trying to think, I know he don't. So, damn, I named one you don't like. Who? that Landry knocked you out. I don't dislike. He hits hard. That's fine.

No, you respect it. I think there's a guy that he's hard hitter. T.J. is a hard hitter too and that kind of hurts you a little bit. So I gotta say that.

Fuck me up. I know. Fuck me up. I know. I fucked me up. TJ Ward. He'll miss. He was fearless.

Yeah. The common denominator about all these safeties always say they were so fearless. They didn't give all fine F about their body. You had to be like that. Sean Taylor.

Sean Taylor. Oh, remember when he laid out the punter? He is in the Pro Bowl? Oh, my God. The punter, because I was from Buffalo. And obviously Buffalo sucked for so many years. The punter was the most favorite player on the roster of the Buffalo Bills. He goes to freaking the Pro Bowl.

Mormon was his name? Morton. Morton. I forgot. Brian Mormon. It was on the sideline, right? Yeah, it was on the sideline. Brian Mormon.

and he got absolutely level by Sean Taylor. It was the biggest hit I've ever seen in Pro Bowl history. He got up like a man, though. He did. And he patted Sean Taylor on the back after it was like, bro. They'd be fighting. What the heck? Last guy.

All right. Keep it going. Isn't it Devin McCordy? I need to throw laughing at that one. Deb didn't hit. That's, he covered. He covered. You know what, though?

You know what I'm going to say this? Devin would tackle in the open field. You would tackle it. You know what I say this? And people are going to be. like you're stupid. But if he caught you, it hurt. A hetty bow.

He hetty bow? You're right, dude. If people don't know that, he hitty bow, if he caught you, that's going to hurt a little bit. Yeah. We got to get some highlights of Ronnie Lott over there.

Oh. At Waters. I ain't, Jesus. But we'll take your list, John. We'll take your list. We'll take your list.

We'll take your list. What about Earl Thomas? Earl Thomas. Earl Thomas. Earl Thomas can hit you. Cam Chancellor could have. Oh, shit. You know what?

Cam. Cam Chancellor. I'm sorry about that. I forgot about that, man. He knocked me out too. Hey, yeah. You're a homeless. You just put a list out there that Julian and I got knocked out by.

Ed Reed would be in there too. That was your whole entire list. Hey, put Cam up there, bro. I'm sorry. I forgot that, man. So let's get back to Brian Dawkins. First and Only's. He's one of the first and only to be in the 2020-20 club with 20 sacks,

20 interceptions, 24st fumbles. The only person alongside to him, my new teammate, Charles Woodson, shout out, Charles. You're co-worker. My co-worker, Charles Woodson, baby. Only players with 35 interceptions, 35 force fumbles. This guy's elite. He's got elite stats. Hall of Famer.

Became a Hall of Famer with Randy Moss in the 2018 Hall of Fame class. It was him, Randy, Erlacker, Ray Lewis, T.O. First Clemson player inducted into the Hall of Fame. name. Look at that Hall of Fame class. Randy Moss. Erlack or T.O. T.O. and Brian Dawkins. That is a fucking class. That's crazy. That's a Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame class right there. Big time. It really is. All five of those names are headliners. Headliners. And then the Eagles, who you played for, retired his number 20 jersey in 2012. Did he have like a presence in the Eagles

locker room when you were there? No. He was gone. Gone. Yeah, he's gone. But was he talked about? Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's everywhere. Yeah.

Yeah. He is, he is the Eagles, pretty much. Yeah. Him and Donovan McNabb and Brian Dawkins. They were the Eagles. He still flies out and does the shit like the pregame. Yeah. All right, let's determine what kind of dude Brian Dawkins is.

There's five categories. There's a stud. Someone's had the pedigree. He's been the guy's whole life. You look at him. You're like, that's the fucking stud. A freak, someone who is not human. Randy Moss, for example.

You look at him, he's too tall, too fast, and he could get out of breaks and he jumps too high. Dog is someone who's relentless, motivated, physically and mentally tough, probably went a different road, but got to the area, got to the top. A Wiz is someone who is innovative, he's got an intellect, revolutionary, clutch, did something crazy, and then the dude. He's the guy who's the glue guy in the locker room, always has the positive attitude, always calm, cool, and collected.

I can only pick one? he's going to have multiple things, but we have to stamp him as one. You can talk about how he represents a couple of the categories, but what mainly represents Brian Dawkins? My first initial was dog. What round was he drafted? Second. He's relentless, very motivated because he's, you know,

he's deep into like Christian and just very motivated to motivate himself and, you know, self-growth and physical and mentally tough, like dog. But then I look at like always, always positive. The locker guy is calm, cool, and collected. I mean, this is a football. It could be all of them. He fits all five categories. And that's why he's a Hall of Fameer.

The Hall of Fame guy fits all five categories, basically. And he's also like a stud because he always, was the standard. Like Brian Dawkins from day one was always a professional. Yeah. He was a guy, you know what I mean? That's a tough question,

man. I mean, he has an alter ego. If you have an alter ego, you're kind of not like, like, like dudes do. Like, are you?

Yeah, he's. Because like, you know. Yeah, two different people. Like someone walks up to you, like, yeah, like talk to my alter ego.

I think he's either a stutter dog person. That's what else. What about a freak though? Jules, you just took the fucking words out of my mouth. I'm like, just mixed stud and dog together. What about a lot? I was thinking freak though. The guy looks freaky, strong as a heck.

He's freaky strong too, but like he's not, he was five, what is he? Six foot? You know, he's not one of these. So he was like, like, six. Like Cam Chancellor was like a freak looking. Because he was like six four. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, okay. What are you leaning on? Chung? I'm gonna lean on dog, but stud and dogger would be like one A one B. That's what I would say. So on these smart.

He's athletic. He's well-rounded, but he's also motivating. He's physically and mentally, mentally tough. Like, not everyone can love a dog on the team. Like, people, some guys, like, see a dog and they're like, man, fuck him. But that dude is, you know, like, did anyone ever say that to, I think his own team, like he was probably, I think he's the stud. You look at Brian Dawkins, and that's like the pedigree of, this is how you want your

fucking safety to be. Yes. He's vocal when he has to be. He's a pro. He's always done the right thing. You know what he can do whatever you ask him to do on the defensive side of the ball. Yep, yep. He can go down, blitz.

People watch and pay attention to it. He can blitz. He can force a fumble. He can have an interception when the ball is thrown to him. He can cover in zone. He can cover in man. I mean, you got to be an absolute, you know, stud. I think what Julian is saying is the younger people would rather a stud.

So they look at him like, I'm going to do exactly what this man is doing. A dog is like, you can have the dog in you, but still be an idiot. Yeah. A stud is like, I want to be like him. So I get what you're saying. And Stugs get replicated. And even you, Chung, you wanted to replicate your game. Exactly.

After, after Brime. Yeah. So, yeah. All right. One, two, three, stud. With dog tendencies. Thank you. Hey, well done.

Well done. Thanks for listening. Catch brand new episodes of Dudes on Dudes. on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and everywhere else you get your podcasts. Ready for a different take on Formula One? Look no further than No Grip, a new podcast tackling the culture of motor racing's most coveted series. Join me, Lily Herman, as we dive into the under-explored pockets of F1,

including the astrology of the current grid, the story of the sports most consequential driver strike, and plenty of other mishaps, scandals, and sagas that have made Formula One a delightful, decadent gumster fire for more than that. in 75 years. Listen to No Grip on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Lori Siegel, and this is Mostly Human, a tech podcast through a human lens. This week, an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. I think society is going to decide that creators of AI products bear a tremendous amount of responsibility to the products we put out in the world. An in-depth conversation with a man who's shaping our future.

My highest order bit is to not destroy the world with AI. Listen to mostly human on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice in someone, correct? I doctored the test ones. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing.

Greg Gillespie and Michael Ranini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trow. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 10, 10, shots five, City Hall building.

How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. A shocking public murder. This is one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics. I scream, get down, get down. down, those are shots. A tragedy that's now forgotten. And a mystery. That may or may not have been political.

That may have been about sex. Listen to Roershack, murder at City Hall on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.