Green Light with Chris Long - Aaron Donald! On His NFL Career, Retirement & Life After Football! Stefon Diggs Traded to Houston, Women's CBB & Ad Men!

Episode Date: April 5, 2024

Aaron Donald & Chris Long, two former Rams, discuss Aaron's career in the NFL, being the greatest all time on the defensive side of the ball, his decision to retire after 10 NFL seasons, their time time playing together with the Rams, memories in their DLine room and Aaron's life after football! We also discuss the Stefon Diggs trade, how it affects the Bills and the Texans, the Titans quietly making moves and stay around for some Ad Men at the end of the show. (00:00) - Intro (1:50) - Hello and Women's College Basketball (6:34) - Potential Teams for Hard Knocks (10:30) - Stefon Diggs Trade, Bills Future & Texans Frontrunners? (28:11) - Jordan Mailata Signs Long Term Deal in Philadelphia (38:00) - Aaron Donald Reflects On His Legendary Career, Decision To Retire & Life After Football (1:27:52) - Ad Men + Most Trustworthy Green Light Members Want your Green Light Merch so you can look exactly like Chris and the fellas? Hit the website below and get kitted! https://stores.kotisdesign.com/yotehouse/products Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: ‪[phone]‬ Send any Talent Search submissions to: [e-mail] Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWFAA-wuB7osdiAJyLOcw Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm so complete. I'm so happy, you know, with the success, with the relationships I was able to build, you know, coming into a great D-Line room at St. Louis with you guys. Like, you know, I couldn't be, I couldn't have been set up no better than what I was, bro. Honestly, I always tell people that, man, like, they had the D-line room. I had to have Coach Woff, you know, one of the greatest defensive line coaches, my opinion, to do it. Well, of course you think that. He let you do whatever the fuck you want to do.

Welcome to the Green Light podcast. You know it was wild. We were just hanging out in Studio J. And all of a sudden we thought we heard a goat, a goat walk around. And then a goat walked in. And that goat is Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald joins the show today.

He talks to his former teammate, Chris Long, about his decision to retire, walking away from the game. He's accomplished everything he's wanted to. One of the best to ever do it. He goes in depth on his career and what's next on the show today. We also talk about the Stefan Diggs trade, what teams might get hard knocks this year. And we have a little fun with some admin and mailbag questions at the end of the show.

Please enjoy Aaron Donald. He is a blast and a half. He opens up with Chris. They have a really good time together. Enjoy the show and enjoy the heck out of your weekend. Your dog? I'm a dog. All right.

So give the hello, dog. Cleveland, Ohio. Hello. Why? Gamecox, Wolfpack. Huskies, Hawkeyes. Women's Final Four stars tonight in Cleveland, Ohio. Somebody told him to Ryan Rissillo.

He probably doesn't know. He's probably watching two teams vying for the playing game. Oh, can you believe the Thunder? The poor guy, he just always ends up on these awful announcing sites and everything yesterday. Like, it showed up on my timeline. Awful announcing, Ryan Rissillo turns off the women's game. He just gets painted as this really bad person with. regularity.

Yeah. At what point do you look in the mirror? I don't know, but... Who's the common denominator? It's that talentless hack. Anyways, yeah, I just wanted to say this, man. I watched the game the other night, like everybody else in America. Like, it's so funny to me, everybody's like, I am shocked that I was watching a women's game.

You know, like, they're kind of like telling on themselves. I'm watching because it's fucking entertaining. Like you give me a Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese out there. I'm going to watch. You know what I mean? You give me a Beckers out there. I'm going to watch. You know,

like stars make the game and they've done it for women's basketball. I haven't reviewed the numbers of the metrics. Obviously, the ratings were better than like baseball ratings. That's 4.3 million. It's awesome. And it goes to show you what happens in today's day and age. If you have stars that have personalities,

people want to talk about Angel Reese's personality like whatever I mean it's a net positive for college basketball and um you know it's the it's the culture clash too it's the cornfields in the bayou that that's how you could have wrote the fucking article

LA Times guy you didn't like milk and cookies and dirty debutons kind of stepped in it a little bit um how's I wonder if that was one of the 12.1 million people watching But I just think like you think back to and I wasn't alive when this was, well I was alive, but I wasn't cognizant of it. But the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson thing, you know, Indiana State. You weren't alive. That was 1979.

Yeah, I wasn't alive. You know, like, but I wasn't alive when they were coming up in the NBA either. Like, you know, like, or I was alive when they were young in the NBA. And I felt like there was always like, and I think a lot of it stem from that, that collegiate clash. highest rated college basketball game of all time to this day. Yeah, it's the white guy who grew up shooting through a milk crate attached to a backboard in Indiana. And then, you know, Magic Johnson. And it was like, hey, the white dude, the black dude, like they don't get along.

They don't like each other, much like most of America. It just became these lightning rods that seemed like culturally. And, you know, everybody's taken aside and everything. Like, I felt like a fucking clan member bet in Iowa the other night. You know what I mean? But I just felt like Iowa was going to win. You know, I got it at halftime and I was like, hey, listen, listen, I'm betting the Hawkeyes' second half. But I think they've done more for their sport than almost anybody.

You know, like if you look at other sports trying to, trying to catapult themselves into the upper echelon of like American awareness, I think women's basketball, and I don't want to take anything away from like the Rebecca Lobos of the world or the trailblazers. because women's basketball has always been dope. Yep. But like, this is really cool when you've got everybody huddled around the TV to watch these two players and it's because they're great

and they're great at the right time where we get to know these players and there are sound bites and you get to see their personality a little bit. I think it's awesome. And I really admire both those two young gals. And you know who loves it even more. I know what I was supposed to say gals.

I can say gals. Hold on. Big How is a real big gal guy. He says gal. Yeah. Just, you know, not all he says. who's probably most fired up about the spectacle that is

Caitlin Clark and the Clark Reese matchup is the 36 and 0 South Carolina Gamecocks who don't have to hear about their perfect season. Right, exactly, yeah, yeah. They're not in the press clipping, so they're going to be the odds-on favorite to win it this weekend. And it's easy to root for Don Staley. Yeah, Virginia's zone.

So, I mean, I'm psyched to watch the final four both sides of it. You know, like we've got a lot to talk about, and we will as we come out of that thing early next week. You think a big drop-off in ratings for these next games? I don't know. I want to watch how somebody else defends Caitlin Clark. I'm going to keep tuning in. Yeah, you know, I know a lot of people painted Malkie as this,

this, like, beautiful woman. Yeah, the people painted her as a beautiful woman. But she was supposed to be like this tea party gal, you know, like that she's like an all right chick but she seems to hate white people because she put haley van lith on katelyn clark the entire game i feel like that a stick haley van i feel like that's the equivalent of like if basketball were like smoking cigarettes okay you like cigarettes smoke the whole pack you like basketball guard katelyn clark the whole game the whole game and you know the hands up thing like just that's how good she is uh there's no way around it

she's hitting shots like people in the NBA. It's crazy, dude. And I love her attitude. She seems to be cool as shit. So does Angel Reese. So, and they don't hate each other. You can tell they don't hate each other. Yeah, no.

This is something that we... They don't even know each other. That we regulars project into situations. What about Mokke's Dap before the game? Oh, Malky had a smooth dab coming into the game. That has to, is that... Ice, dude. She was smooth.

That might be the new, what-up big dog, you know? I think of all school. Like you have to have swagger to be associated with LSU. Like that's one of the swagiest schools. You know, like their whole coaching staff, swaggy, their whole team, swaggy. Brian Kelly is not. Yeah, you're right. But that's, but he recognized that he had to try when he showed up on campus.

They put him in a little spinning camera thing and he was, he was trying to be cool. He looked like an AI version of himself. He gave it a shot. I was like, is this a deep fake? So anyways, can't wait to watch that. What do we have to talk about the NFL? We first, before we get into the digs trade, guys, who do you think should be on Hard Knocks in season this year?

They came out and said they're going to do a whole division, which is fine. I won't be watching it. AFC South? Why? Well, I like that, for one, I want to see what Jacksonville is going to do with Mack Jones. And he's from down there.

So I think they could get really good content of him kind of coming home and being down. Can you imagine expecting good content out of Mac Jones? But maybe he's going to be in his own element. Maybe he's a real Jacksonville guy. You know, fucking Massachusetts in Boston can take you out of your element. If you're not used to being in that atmosphere. He did get picked up by his mom at his first press conference.

See? Did he really? Yeah. They were like, are you going to live at home for a little while? And he's like, I'm actually being picked up by my mom. See? And if everyone love fucking, what's the little Italian boy in New York? If they love that story, why can't we love it down in Jacksonville?

I feel like I imagine Mack Jones' parents is having a lot of money. I'm with it. Do they have a lot of money? And I think people with a lot of money in Jacksonville is interesting to think about. Okay. That's interesting about any other draws for the AFC South besides Mac Jones. I mean, obviously we didn't know even. Jacksonville.

Let me just give you a jazz to finish your pick. Obviously, Stefan Diggs being going to Houston. I think he's a guy that his antics. His brother can drive to the games with signs instead of tweet. Exactly. But also, too, I think his antics are going to change. They're going to be done. I think he's in a situation where he has guys that, hey, if you're tweeting or you're sub-tweeting me,

there's probably going to be a guy waiting for you in the locker room the next day. Like, hey, like, what's good? Like, rather than just, ah, that's Stefan Diggs. So we'll get happy honeymoon Stefan Diggs. you'll also get in the AFC South, you'll get a really exciting Titans team, which I think will be exciting. Yep.

And then you get Anthony Richardson and Jim Ursay. Yes. Like Jim Resey is not going to be able to stay out of it. No way. So actually, you make some good points on the AFC South. I was going to go AFC West. I think AFC West because you get Antonio Pierce,

you get Max Crosby, you get the Raiders. I think it's going to be an interesting season. In Vegas, to get Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes during the season would be amazing. probably a pimple on their ass. So I don't know how much pull they have with the league.

What divisions got? I'm going low-hanging fruit, Homer Call. I'm going at NFC North. Definitely the NFC North. Because you get Caleb Williams? Absolutely. Possibly. Yeah, I think it's...

You get Dan Campbell. But then you get Matt LaFleur. Almost played for a Super Bowl, Matt LaFleur. Okay. But I think he evens out Dan Campbell a little bit. Maybe. I like Matt LaFleuror. Is there any possibility that the bears do not pick Caleb Williams?

Is there any any possibility? Well, I just, I just taped an interview with Montez Sweat. Okay. That's coming out early next week, okay? And I asked him a question about, you know, whoever they're going to draft. And to paraphrase, he was like, what do you mean, whoever we're going to draft? So he's on the team. So I do think they're going to draft Caleb Williams.

Okay. Yeah, I do. and it's going to be a really interesting fall. I mean, and if they have cameras around the building, it's going to... As in autumn, not as then he's going to... Yeah, yeah, no, no. I think it's important... Who are they going to bring in to be his backup?

What do you mean who bring in? Tyson Baygent, my man? But you got to bring up that. I think you got to have a vet. Who is that? Brett Ripon. I think that's a really important... I agree.

I agree. And that you haven't heard of money about. Bring Chase Daniel out of retirement. Bring Alex Smith out of retirement. Hell, Teddy. don't retire one of these guys bring ryan fitzpatrick out of retirement okay let's talk about the digs trade because we got aaron donald coming up and i love talking to a d man like he's just i'm i'm obsessed with the guy he could be such an asshole but he's just such a down-earth awesome dude and uh that's coming

up in a couple minutes the the the stefhan digs trade what day did that happen i'm all out of source like yesterday was that yesterday i think so jeez it's a few i feel feels like five years ago. It was a long day yesterday. Wednesday for the people. Wednesday for the people. Stefan Diggs trade to the Houston Texans to break this trade down. Obviously, the Texans get digs and they get a 2024, six round pick as well as the 2025 fifth round pick. The bills, all they get out of this is a 25 second round pick, okay, which is actually the Vikings pick. So if you can follow along Vikings and Texans did a deal. Vikings, we wondered if the Vikings would trade up.

That could still happen. But you're looking at the Vikings second round pick in 2025. That's next year. So they do get something out of it and it could be a high too. But more than anything, the bills wanted him gone bad enough that they were willing to eat 30 plus million in dead cap this year. they were going to owe him less to play football. Part of this is like, hey, see you later. I'm tired of you.

But part of it is also, you know, we want to be in decent shape in 25. Okay, I think if you look at the bills and we'll talk about them in a second, there's going to be a lot of pressure on young players this year and Brandon Bean and Josh Allen. That's the way it should be. If you look at the Texans, Carpe Diem, man. Not a lot of people do it. The Texans are in Carpe Diem mode, man. And they are seizing the fucking day.

They're looking at things like Justin Herbert in L.A. and they're saying, hey, we don't want to go through this thing where we waste this, this talented QB's rookie deal window. And so they are throwing the kitchen sink at success. And I think that is, if you do it sequentially and obviously the number one thing you have to have as a quarterback worth doing it, it is something that is advisable. And, you know, we see it all the times with teams missing that window. They're going to make sure if they miss.

that window, it's on the quarterback or the coach. Because they've got a collection of enough great players that they're adding to this roster. You talk about the defense, the way they've retooled and improved at positions, whether it's Hunter, Autry, mixing offensively. I mean, Singletary was a great, great option for them, but mixing a better back, 27 years old, coming off a thousand-yard season, like DeNeil Hunter, you know, replacing Grenard, Autry coming in, replacing Rankins, adding Al-Shayor and at the, second level at backer, a guy that D'Amico Ryan has history with. I've been before they made this trade. I said there is dangerous anybody in the AFC. You add this trade. I mean, there's a lot of

people with that same knee-jerk reaction. I don't want to get out over my skis and assume that Stefan Diggs is the thing that's going to bring you Lombardi because he didn't bring it in Buffalo. But I will say, you look at this wide receiver core, you look at the options they have. Now they have three vertical threats and they're all built differently. You know, and I actually think Nico Collins, me and Maker were just talking about this. I think he's probably better right now than the Stefan Diggs. I don't want to let the second half of this season and everything that went into that cloud my judgment of Stefan Diggs. But I think Nico's a really, really good player and you add, you add Stefan Diggs to this mix and they are dangerous. So the situation

in Buffalo got ruined. I mean, it just like you could see it unfolding before your eyes. A year, two years ago, they were, they were playing Sensi in the snow or whatever it was. And I can, the picture of Diggs, like, berating Josh Allen on the sideline. And a lot of times, like, that stuff is, it's okay. It's good. You know, like the back and forth is good. But it kind of felt like it was a little personal. And it went a little bit too far when you've got like Stefan's brother, Trayvon, tweeting about, you know, get him out of there, that sort of. And of thing and digs making little comments and that sort of thing and it just all culminated with what happened in the second half of last season right um and it also culminated in his last i mean the last

big ball that he could have caught he dropped you know it was the irony of one one year you're yelling at your quarterback and he puts it right on the money in the playoffs down 2823 to patrick mohomes these are the differences between josh allen being taken seriously as a generational quarterback or people saying he's always going to be overrated because he can't beat patrick mohomes i thought he did everything he could down the stretch to to to put them in a position to win that's an example of stephan digs not catching the football and uh you know like heavy is the head that wears the crown you're supposed to be you know a true number one you're supposed to be a top 10 receiver i don't know where people would put him now after the second half of that season um and of course

his tenure in buffalo ends with him saying you think so you know if anybody knows that context with that, like, you know, somebody was was asserting that Josh Allen will be fine without without Stefan Diggs. And his response was, you sure? And I am sure. I think Josh Allen's going to be fine. I believe this. And I also think that like it's a reasonable expectation that Josh Allen can make the people around him better. That's what great quarterbacks do. That's what Patrick Mahomes did this year. I'm not comparing him to Patrick Mahomes, but he's a step below him. Well, you can compare those wide receiver rooms now. You can compare the wide receiver rooms now.

And I don't know if I'd take this wide receiver room over the wide receiver room that Patrick had to work with last year. I mean, they've got, now they have Curtis Samuel, who had a really nice year in 2020 with their coordinator, Joe Brady. So maybe there's some. Also, Curtis Samuel, who's he ever caught balls from? You know, like he's going to get better playing with Josh Allen. Now, he's probably a two.

You still got to find a one. But I really like Shakir. Shakir, I think, can do some of the quick game stuff that Diggs did. I think the offense runs through the tight ends now. At the middle of last year, if you looked at it, and I think if Stefan Diggs is asking that question, the answer is the second half of that season because he caught 34 balls for 315 yards. And yeah, you might say, well, he got a lot of attention to free things up.

But I can remember after Kansas City played, I think it was Eric Reed was like, we didn't even have to double him. like you know um six and one they went over that span so i i chalk that up to joe brady coming in saying hey this is just conjecture but i chalk it up to being like hey get it out of your head that you got to get this guy a certain amount of touches all this yelling he's doing on the sideline all this behind the scenes you know receivers do this is pollicking for the ball fuck that we're going to run the offense and we're running through the tight ends and if digs catches 34 balls for 315 yards and we're in the dance like that's how we're going to get there and that's what happened and

i can remember debon mccority saying this he was like i almost feel like they're proving that they can win without josh or without stephan and and they're they're almost like actively proving that so i mean like to answer the question could he be fine without stephan digs i don't know if it's going to look the exact same but i know kirk cousins found you know justin jefferson i don't know they're going to find it justin jefferson but he was just fine without digs when they replaced with Justin Jefferson, I'm not saying that they're going to go get somebody of that caliber, but I do think if you look at the picks that they have, now in 2025, they have a one, a two, a two, a three, a four, a six, and a six. Okay. And if you look at this two, they just,

they just got from Houston. You know, it's going to be a high two. If you believe that Minnesota is going to struggle this year, they haven't found their quarterback yet. I don't necessarily believe that. They have an option now because next year, if you believe the bills are going to be good. They're going to be picking it towards the bottom of the first round. That's what they expect to do. They're going to have a two right after that. Maybe five, ten picks after that. You could, you could, you could predict, maybe. In that scenario, is there a scenario where they say, hey, we'll part with our 251 to go to go get T. Higgins or go get, I don't know, Brandon Ayuk. There are guys out there right now that I think are equal to Diggs. Like,

if you go get T. Higgins, he's a different player. but you've got that big possession 50-50 ball guy, which you really haven't had there. I mean, Gabe Davis never turned out to be that guy. And then you have Shakira, who can be your lightning quick guy. Did you get the ball quick two on the perimeter RPO's, quick game stuff? And I think you slide pieces around. And if you can make a trade like that or trade up in the draft and find a stud,

then we're back in it. But listen, what could happen this year is the bills could take a step back and we could attribute it all to digs. And that might not be the case. you know because they lost a lot you know they he's going to be Mitch Morrison mitch morse Mitch morse is a center that he's worked with his basically his entire career you know and a number of defensive pieces Gabe Davis you know like these are changes that that it does take some stabilization so they might take a step back but it might not be all digs and i also think

josh allen is that fucking good so if you're asking me the question can josh allen win without you know a dynamic number one and the second and half of last year he was doing that. Josh and Kincaid's numbers going to go up significantly this year? I feel like Kincaid is about to be a star and you said this earlier. You were like, I wonder if he's going to be the guy on all the programs

and the posters and like yeah, it was evident when he came on the scene. They were like, okay, we've got Knox and we really like Knox but this guy's a true receiver. Like he just, he is a route running, skilled catcher

of the football. And so I think he's he's your he's your guy and while they stabilize and figure it out outside they can run the ball they can they can attack the middle of the field with the tight ends and uh and you've you've still got in my opinion next to patrick mohomes the most special quarterback in the NFL like i love joe burrow i've never seen josh allen get up slow you know what i'm saying and what he brings you in the run game like it's it's a different threat every time he touches the football so i factor all that and I also look at his armed talent and what he's been able to do.

To me, if you're drafting quarterbacks in the NFL, I go to my homes, and then there's some distance, and then it's either Josh Allen or probably C.J. Shroud because he's younger, and he doesn't have the durability issues that Burroughs showed,

and I know some people are thinking I'm smoking a crack pipe doing this, but it's an inexact science. If we were talking about drafting quarterbacks, I don't know where you guys have draft Josh, but for me, he's near the top. Diggs is also known as Mr. Steelea Girl in the locker room.

Is that true? Yeah. Really? I think it was when he was in Minnesota. They did a survey of his teammates of, hey, who would you not want your sister to date? And 100% of the people in the locker room said, Stefan Day. He's a pretty little motherfucker, dude. You know, little guys like that.

You got to worry about short kings like that. But the good thing, the good thing about Houston, I think there's a plethora of girls down there for him to choose. Yeah, so he's in the strip club culture down there is huge. Strip club culture is huge. It's huge. you go there for lunch and dinner and to hang out. So I think he'll have a big, I don't know what his situation is. I think he'll have a big talent pool versus coming from Buffalo.

And he had a lot of drops last year. You can see him dropping some singles on the dance floor. And I'm a big fan of Diggs, man. Anytime I've been around Diggs, he's super cool. So I'm not one that's like he's a bad guy or like, he's a wide receiver. He's fiery. He wants to be the man. Like when you reframe the motivation, like all his.

all his fire comes from wanting to be the best. I mean, he wants to win. He wants to compete. So I think maybe a change of scenery is good. And I think it also speaks to the fact that Nick Casario and Domingo Rines believe that C.J. Strauss is a big enough guy that he's a fucking adult in the room to where he can, he can handle this thing, which I think he's a huge vote of confidence. I also think they took shots at T. Higgins.

I think Keenan Allen was probably their first choice. but I think they arrived this conclusion that we got to get this deal done now because after a certain date in the calendar, you're going to have to eat more of this salary. You do it right now, you're actually paying less for Stefan Diggs than Buffalo. Stefan Diggs has the highest cap hit,

dead cap hit of a non-quarterback in the history of the league. Do you assume that the organization mentioned this to C.J. Stroud before it happened? Like, hey, what do you think of? Oh, yeah, of course. I think he's at that point, you know, know, like where he's a big part of the decisions they're making. And, um, and I also think like when you look at the bills, it's not all Stefan Diggs's fault that they're in the position they're in.

Like they really went for it. They paid von Miller on the wrong side of 30, a bunch of money. He got hurt. He came back. He hasn't looked the same. That's a huge cap hit. Like there's a bunch of guys that they made decisions on and the, you know, the chickens are coming home to roost a little bit. And Brandon Bean has got to have the best draft he's ever had. I mean, that's it. He's got to get in the bunker right now and figure out how he can draft guys that can help this team right now

because that's what it's going to take this year as they write the ship. And then if you can get to 25, you catch a breath, the cap situation is a little bit better and you can make the moves you need to make. But Josh Allen's salary just hiked. You know, we've seen with other quarterbacks

the minute their salaries convert into more, you know, of a cap hit right now, like there is a, different kind of way that these teams operate. Have a great draft, but only two picks in the top 1,25 at the moment. That's why I think they got to make a move. I really do.

I think they take this capital and they go make a move. And if you traded, if you're a Bills fan, now take out all the losing starters and everything that happened in the first week of free agency. And you told me, hey, Diggs is going to go. You get T. Higgins. Diggs is going to go, you get Brandon Ayyuk. We can win with that, you know? I really do believe that.

The thing that they have going against them is the AFC in general is loading up. Look around the AFC. Look in their division. I think Miami takes a step back. But I think the Jets take a step forward if Aaron Rogers stays healthy because they added a lot of pieces. They're a big boom or bust team with some of these injury concerns they have on these free agents they brought in. But if you really are honest with yourself, the Jets have one of the better rosters in the league. And another team here in the division of Houston that I think got a lot better was the Titans.

I am really excited to see Dernard Wilson coach in there. Dynard was with me in Philly. He's been around Jim Schwartz. He's been around McDonald in Baltimore. I think he probably runs more of McDonald's scheme because if you look at like the guys they have in the front there, they're more of an odd front group. At first I was like maybe they'll run more of what Schwartz runs. But I think it'll be a combination and they'll run it out of an odd front.

They'll probably run more cover three. right because they have the corners to do it they have a really good secondary now you could argue they have the best secondary in the division so this is going to be the toughest test for for CJ Straub if things fall right for the for the Titans on the back end it speaks to the fact that they're confident will levis you know um amy adam strunk came out and said you know when it was time to make a change at head coach she listed all the things they were excited about and in that that that listing She had very specifically and a young quarterback that's really exciting. You know, like she mentioned Will Levis, which means they believe in Will.

They are, they're trying to win. They're trying to reload. And although you might not agree with the fit on somebody like Tony, Tony Pollard, you might argue that Calvin Ridley was an overreach or whatever, I think they're trying to get better. And I love the Sneed pickup. O'ousie is going to have a lot of pressure on him because the third guy in that secondary when they play Houston has got to guard one of Diggs, Tank Dell, Nico Collins.

And if you put Sneed on Nico Collins, you know, somebody not named with Jerry Sneed is going to have to hold their own against the Stefan Diggs. It's not going to be an easy thing. But I think with McCreary, there's still some safeties out there, right? Like Justin Simmons and guys like that are still out there. They could really have an all-star secondary. And they've got the guys up front, starting with Jeffrey Simmons. I'm excited to watch the Titans play, man. I think they've done a great job this offseason.

Ran Carthin, another one of my guys. we had him on the show when he got the job. But they have burn it down and they made a quick turn towards success. And part of it is finding a quarterback that can play in the bottom half of the first round, which the luxury most people don't have. If you can find that guy, you can flip the switch quick. And if they think Will Levis is one of those guys and you found him in the bottom of the first and he sat for a while, you can be right back at it without tanking.

You know what I mean? because they were not a dumpster fire the last couple years, even though Vrable had these cold spells and everything. They're competitive every week. Good news for Eagles fans. Jordan Maelada just signed a big extension, tying them to the Eagles through 2028. This is so cool.

I'll never forget being at a diner. I was coming out, I was camping and got out and didn't have service, so I didn't know who the Eagles were drafting. And I was on the team at the time. And I was really interested to see. It was like day two. and actually the last contact I had was I was texting the GM to be like are you drafting a fucking DM or a DN I'm going in the woods like just tell me now like if I come out and I find

out I lost my job like this is going to suck we did draft jobs way and then I came out and we're at the diner and I'm looking at the TV because of this tiny TV and there's this footage of this giant rugby player and he's just bowling people over and they got his specs and he's 68 360 and it dawned on me as I'm taking a bite of my hash browns that this motherfucker and me are going to have to run into each other a lot and it was not easy practicing against this guy and it was really fun watching him turn into like a premier tackle and I got to give a ton of credit to Jeff Stoutlin that dude is one of the best coaches in the NFL period and the work he's done with that group you know developing stars into superstars but also turning a rugby guy into a guy that can make $66 million via extension on the best

offensive line in the NFL, the Eagles, great guy. Good for you. See him at the... Great singer. At the buffet at the win. And I had just finished and I was getting up. First of, that was the first time me seeing him in person. And how big he looked at the table he was sitting at, I was just like, I, bro, he's, it's a Zach Edie situation. Yes, like he's, but, but he's also tall. Uh-huh. Like, yeah, he's wide. He's tall. He's tall and wide. Yeah. But what I'll never forget is there was the special French toast, Ube, banana French toast.

And I remember before leaving, I can hear him saying out loud to his wife that, yo, this is the best French toast I've ever tried. And I, like, on my way out, I wanted to, like, turn and be like, yo, it really is. Because it really was. It's one of those things. I'll never forget it. There's a big glob of, like, purple, whatever on top of it.

So it looks like, oh, is this going to be good? And it was literally one of the best things I've ever tried. Well, now you can buy as much eBay French toast as you want. Ube. Oube. Don't say EBO. eBay. You can buy French toast on eBay. Before we get to.

to Aaron Donald, do you want to explain to everyone why you're dressed like a substitute math teacher? Oh, well, it really? Substitute math teacher? Prominent real estate agent. Cool teacher, though. Yeah, cool teacher. Cool teacher. Take your pick. This is how I dress now. Really? Yes. Oh, wow. Buttons all up and down your shirt. Yeah, well, the thing about it is like, number one, I want to project professionalism and success. Okay. Number two, most importantly, I don't like to sign what I have to wear every day. So I went out and got this Lulu Lemon button down. I don't usually wear button downs. Lou Lou. And it doesn't feel like a button down. Are those kind of stretchy? Are those little bit more than ACP pants? Yeah, I'm like Mr. Lulu right now. I got, I got the

whole point is like Steve Jobs, if you, uh, if you study Steve Jobs, the biggest key to his success was he wore the same thing every day. And so I'm going to wear the same thing every day from now on. We'll see how long this lasts. I've gone through a couple fashion phases here. Remember I got, But you know the key to that is it just saves you more. It just saves you more. time because you're not thinking about it. Exactly, dude. I spend at least five minutes in my, in my closet. That was the best thing about going to private school. You had to wear khakis and a polo every day. No, it's not, it's not a lot to choose from. You just put some khakis on. You pick a polo. You go to school. It's called decision fatigue. Hey, man. Yeah. You were wearing a hoodie

every day with sweatpants. Yeah, but then you got to like color coordinate your hooties and sweatpants and your cut off sweatshorts and, you know, like now it's just like, hey, white button down or like this pattern. Okay. You know? Stripes. Yep. Yeah.

So know what that means? The Merse department got to get on it. We need the green light button. Button down. Green light button downs. And maybe some green light. Can we get some green light? Can we do a collab with Lulu?

Oh, for sure. Okay. Oh, hey, I got a Lulu connection. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we did stuff with the bar. Southside? Yeah. I remember that.

They don't do Lulu on Southside. Mm-hmm. So anyways, here's a, here's a, here's a, Aaron Donald. I love talking to Aaron. I'm so happy for him. Like, I caught myself with tears in my eyes. Like, out of nowhere, when we turned on the Zoom and he's, you know, Erica, his wife, who's awesome, she used to work at the Rams, like her dad coached and she worked at the Rams and she was like, we talked about it in the pod, but like his wife, one of the dudes, like, used to just sit in the train of room bullshit with us and they end up getting married and now they've got this beautiful

family a bunch of kids and uh i'm just looking at this guy who's got the world by the balls could do anything he wants to do could keep playing football for another five 10 years but he understands that like there's a lot more to life than than football and you know we're getting on the zoom and i'm meeting his youngest son and you know i'm seeing the baby and like i just kind of welled up for a second because I've watched this kid grow up. You know, I watched him grow up when he, when he, when he came on campus, so to speak, in 2014 when he got drafted by the Rams. And I'll never forget watching him work and saying, man, I really admire this kid. And I also always felt for him because I know that he wasn't always the alpha. I know growing up, he talks about he was a chubby

kid at one point. He wasn't, he's quiet. He was the youngest kid. He was like, and he just turned into this monster but he's never used it for the wrong reasons he's always been a great dude a great teammate a great worker a great representative of his team and a great representative of the NFL and to watch him stick the landing right off into the sunset look at his beautiful family that he's got and and just like the happy place that he's in i'm so happy for him man so really glad to get the interview big shout out to erika for setting it up she kind of runs his his his his his his his his his his his saying as she should. So you got to go through Biggie. But yeah, Aaron Donald. And then we've got a little fun on the back half. We're going to try our hand into some NCAA admin. So stick

around for that. Enjoy the interview. Hey, y'all. Greenlight has official merch like this hat right here, like the one on my head, this dad hat. Love this hat. I'm not even a dad hat guy, but this thing fits great. This this hat right here fits great. We've got Hoodies, we've got, by the way, this hoodie's like super comfy. I mean, it's like soft, plush. It's not the type of hoodie that's going to get stiff with one wash. And the shirts, too, because I'm a big comfort guy, okay? You got like this white shirt here.

You got the shirt with the logo, the Abbey Road looking logo with Dr. Faxe smoking, presumably a blunt, Kyle carrying Cowboy Reed, making driveling a basketball, which I've never seen him actually do. And me carrying a football. And then you've got the black shirt here, too, with the logo. So stickers, hit the link in the description in the video, below the video, actually, and make sure to tag us on social media showing off your green light merch. It's quality, quality threads here, okay?

Wouldn't do it any other way. Dude, hey, I just said it offline, but congrats. Dude, I just got a little bit. emotional watching you and Erica and your kids walk around in the back. I mean, like, seeing you from day one being a kid, like rolling up on campus, so to speak, in Earth City, you know, like kind of green, but but not that green. Like you were kind of a, but the fact now that you are a family man with a bunch of kids and you've said after 10 years, I'm done, dude. There's much more to life than football. I'm just so proud of you, man. I'm so proud of you. I appreciate you.

It went fast, man. I remember coming in as a rookie, you know what I'm saying? Like, and 14, everything just flat. I remember all y'all saying, like, I remember older guys just saying, like, how fast it go. And at the time you hear, but it's like, it flies, man. I feel like it was just yesterday I was just coming in as a rookie, trying to learn everything, trying to get comfortable. So to go 10 years, had a career I had, bro. and be able to leave on top of my own terms, happy, satisfied, full, complete. No second-guessing nothing, man, it's a blessing. That's what you said.

You were full. Isn't that what you told McVeigh? Yeah, I'm full. That's what he said you said. I'm full. I just ain't want nobody to think it was like no second-guessing. Like, it was like it is what it is. I felt like, you know, there's nothing I didn't accomplish that I didn't feel.

And from the game of football, I feel like from an individual accolade standpoint, from a defensive player, I experienced every how you can experience, every award you can experience from team success. I experienced everything you can experience from the team success and was blessed to play this game and make a good amount of money doing it. So, you know, you take a toe on your body after a while. You know, preparing every single, every day,

people don't understand what going behind the scenes, you know. So it was all year around with me. So I was just tired, man, I was full. Tired of doubles and triple teams too. But it was just, you know, it was time for me to just, you know, walk away and, you know, to be able to do that in 10 years and accomplish what I accomplished and feel what I felt from this game, build the relationships I built from this game, man. It's like I'm so complete.

I'm so happy, you know, with the success, with the relationships I was able to build, you know, coming into a great D land room and St. Louis with you guys. Like, you know, I couldn't be, I couldn't have been set up no better than what I was, bro. honestly I always tell people that man like they had a D-line room I had to have coach Woff you know one of the greatest defensive line coaches my opinion to do it um well of course you think that he let you do whatever the fuck you want you wanted to do it just it was just I'm just happy bro I really am happy man I just talked to Woff the other day he's you know he's in I'm sure he's called you a bunch but he's in Europe last like two weeks ago

you know i was on the phone for like two hours so you always are dude well my last an hour i'm pretty sure yours last two hours you don't let you all the vote errant errant i got a new idea for a chop club there you go get to the back get to the back um no but like dude you know you you referenced the group text um there's a bunch of guys in there there's like kendall eugene will the whole gang you know i don't want to forget anybody there's like 10 guys in there Laranitis in there. We let one linebacker in there. But I'm watching this interview of you and Erica, and she did a great job, by the way.

It only took her 10 minutes, 40 seconds to get you to cry. And all I remember, now we can laugh about it because you're goaded and you got a ring and everything, but is when you had the audacity to cry on national TV, she had a single tear. And I think you guys lost a playoff game or something. and like you were sad you were legit sad and i was sitting back like i don't want to bother big fella but i opened the group tax and do yeah yeah and the group text they are filleting you over crying dude i'm mad as that it's the same day as the game yeah but but um that's crazy

was that nuts or what was that too far from those guys i was mad as hell too i was gonna um You know, because I was hurt. I had the rib injury, so I was disappointed myself because I couldn't do more to help the team. So that definitely, you should have seen me in a shire to after that game. I'm in there like, you know what I'm saying? I was hurt. I was so hurt. The best place to cry.

They can't tell how much you're going to. I mean that shire, crying like a baby. It's just couldn't stop. I'm like, what the hell? And then you look at your phone. You see, I'd be people laugh and thinking it's a joke. I was a little, I was a little upset with that. But, you know, you know, football is emotional sports.

Yeah. You got your loads, man. I cried. I cried like a baby after. I didn't know I didn't know I was going to cry, but after what I was pretty sure was going to be my last game. Because when I went into that last game against New Orleans when we played in the playoffs,

and we came up short. Like, I went in the locker room and I was like 50-50. Is this going to be the last time I put a helmet on? Like weird thoughts like that, dude. Like, I've been doing this every day. Sick, stuffy, congested, uncomfortable, sore. I put this fucking helmet on. and it's made me who I am,

and now I might not put it on ever again. It's a weird thought. Yeah. And then I get in the locker room, and I just start bawling. Yeah. And I guess I was like, now I know it's over, you know?

Did you know after the Detroit game? Yes. Because, you know, again, I'm a guy that's emotional. I definitely have to playoff loss. You know, I'm usually mad, upset. But after the game, bro, I was in such a good spirit, bro. I was proud how we fight.

I felt like we didn't start the game off well as a defense. Incredible. Did nobody. quit. In my mind, bro, we was going to win that game. I ain't think we was going to lose that game at all. And the guy was playing hard to the last play. You know, I was proud of him. You know, and I knew it was not going to be my last game.

So, you know, just looking, you know, Erica, the family was there. So I'm waving at the family in the suite up top. You know, just fans saying, yeah, I'm waving at the fans. I hug my D-line coach. I hug, Kev or Chapel guy. We're walking off the field. And I got smiles. I'm just taking, I'm just absorbing, taking it all in, bro.

And it's like, this is the last time that, you know, I'm going to have his shoulder pass. on and get the, you know, experience walking off of NFL football field. I went to the locker room. I remember hugging Sean. He said, that's it. He said, that's it. Remember walking in there, giving, you know, just, you know, embracing a lot of people,

players, telling them how much I appreciate them. I remember taking my shoulder pads off for the last time. That's when it really just, like, hit me. I'm like, damn, this is the last time I'm going to ever do this. And I remember getting on one knee, taking my, time my spike, about to take my spike off. And I thought about, like, this is the last time that I'm ever going, like, in a locker room I'm gonna be lacing, unlacing my spite, taking it off. This is just the last time.

My eyes started while I had to catch it real quick like this. Not again. Not again. I had to catch it real quick like this. You caught the tear. And I'm like this. And I'm like, you know, you gotta just let it just let a zor for a minute, wipe your eyes. Uh-huh.

And just fin of just taking it all in, man. So I knew it and I, you know, I took every last moment of it in, bro. And it was, I feel like I did it the right. way, you know, when I wanted to. I'm just happy. I really am happy. Well, you should be, man. And I got, I told you, I was doing the same thing just 30 seconds ago when Erica's

walking across with your little, little dude. And I'm just watching you go through this stage of life. And like, anybody who's in that D-line room, we're all just so proud of you because you know, we watched it from the beginning. And, you know, when I heard you retired, you know,

my text to you was nothing happened on accident. Yeah. And you know, and you know what I mean by that because there's a lot of guys that had your talent maybe not quite your talent but they didn't have your work ethic and the question that made you tear up was about your dad yeah why are they so inextricably linked your work ethic in your dad who you are and your dad because he's the one that gave me work ethic you know he's the one that you know as a as a 12 year old kid that grew up lazy was going through a little chubby stage he's the one that you know that grabbed me and took me down to the weight room he's the one that you know that grabbed me and took me down to the weight room

He's the one that I remember as a kid, all the motivational things he was saying to me and told me how everything was going to play out if I put the body at work. He told me how my body was going to change if I put the work. And he told me the success I would have playing football doing the work with nobody's watching. When everybody else to sleep, you're working. So, you know, to see that everything come full circle, man. It just started from a wait room right in the basement, just working on my dad. I just wanted to be strong because my dad.

My dad was strong. I wanted to have muscles because my dad had muscles. So, and then now he was in the room with us. He was right behind the camera. So it was a lot more emotional, man, to be able to. Oh, yeah, he was there. You know, just tell my story and, you know, him be there. And, you know, you think about that, you go back into the past, and you remember no moments, man.

And it just, it's just kind of warm your heart up. And, you know, you know, how emotions be. So, you know, he, obviously, both of my parents played a huge role, my older brother, my older sister, you know, my family members that played that played a huge role. But as far as when it comes to work ethic, and the way I am, the way I was structured from how I was as a professional,

I definitely would get that credit to my dad because, you know, he always said, lifting weights ain't going to just change the way you look. And, you know, it's going to change the way you cure yourself in your everyday life. It really did, bro. It really did, you know. And it's kind of like, I'm addicted to working out.

I still work out every single day now. I'm in a weight room every day. So what's it look like now? civilian workout look like for you. It's pretty much the same. Anything that's different is I'm not on the field with my trainer, Duane Brown. I told him, I'm not running with no spikes. I'm not cutting.

I'm not going none of that no more. So you ain't got to worry about me hitting you up about that no more. So it's just strictly running. I mean, in a weight room, probably do some cardio, do some bike cardio. But that's it, bro. You know, every day doing something to just, you know, make me feel good because I like to look good, you know, so. One of the biggest things for me was, and I feel like it's not a negative,

but to be afraid is okay. Be afraid of failure. Be afraid that somebody's outworking you. Be afraid that you're not going to be good enough. And I mean this as a compliment. You always seemed a healthy amount of insecure. Is that accurate? What you mean when you say that as far as...

Afraid to fail. Afraid somebody else is doing more than you. Well, yeah, that's 100% sure. Because a lot of people, even early in my career, you know, I always felt like I was always a hard worker. And I started following people like, you know, A, B, when he was with the Steelers, his prime. And I feel like I have a good workout. And I'll be seeing his stuff and I'm like, all right.

And then he'll post something else for like a second workout that day. And like stuff like that was I'd be like, damn, I feel like he outworking me. You know, it wasn't just my position. I didn't want nobody to feel like they was outworking me. So I was like, sometimes I follow guys in the lead that was having success that I just want to see what they was doing, how they was working, you know. Because if I felt like if I had a great work, I'll feel good. I'm at the house. You know, I'm done for the day.

As far as working out wise, I'm looking at, they're doing a second work. I'm like, oh, no, I got to do some more. So you always find things that motivate you, bro, to push you, you know, because, like, I tell people all the time, when you make a name for yourself, you can, you cannot allow yourself to be satisfied. You cannot allow yourself to be comfortable because now your job get 10 times harder. Now you've got multiple guys, teams trying to game plan and just stop one player and not allow you to do your job.

So if I was to let myself be satisfied with what I was doing or what I accomplished past years then I wouldn't I the future wouldn't be as what it is today you know my mindset was always that year is over now I got to make a name for myself all over again so um that was my mindset bro just to keep just if I felt as much out work me I got to do more I got to do more I always trying to find ways to do more until you know I was able to accomplish everything that I wanted to accomplish in this game and it's like now it's like okay what's now what's what's motivating you now let's try to get another Super Bowl ring you try to get motivated by that but um when you when you accomplish everything you get to feel every high and you feel like, you know, if you were to lead this game today, you'll be

happy. And, you know, I was able to, you know, do the things I was able to do in a short matter of time, you know, in eight years and just, yeah, actually two years was just a, um, a blessing to trying to, you know, duplicate that again as far as one and another Super Bowl didn't do it. But, um, I got to enjoy it, man. I got the, um, this last year was just having fun. I knew it was going to be my last year, so I just took it all, man, coming in. just having fun bro and i just i just wanted to enjoy like if that was a kid playing it like i was 12 13 years old again so yeah i texted byron to be like yo did i miss anything these last couple years like give me something good to ask you know errin and he was like he played with a different

kind of passion this year and it was so interested to me because you said you know my passion is you know that's when i'm not as passionate about playing the game um that's when it's time to walk away So at the end of the season, when you say, hey, I don't have as much passion right now. I've identified that. Where does that show up? Is it like I don't enjoy meetings as much anymore? I'm not as hungry. Or what is it?

Because I know what it was for me. I'd be curious for you. So for me, after this, like, I don't have to urge as far as, like, if you, like, I never liked camp. The only thing I didn't like about football was, was Pam. It was camp time. And I was since high school from college to the pros. I never liked camp. Even you don't like camp.

It's too. I'm consuming. It's just, you wait from your family all damn day. Yeah. I like working, but it's like all the extra. She let us just get her work in, do it. Let's go home. Like, all the, you don't, you're not done to 8 o'clock at night or 7 o'clock.

Busy work. Come on, man. They used to keep us in those meeting rooms for no reason. It's for, I remember we first moved to St. Louis. We was in a damn living in the dorm for like a month. I'm like, stuff's a, you know. I just was never a fan of Cam, bro. So I just don't have.

I had the passion, thinking about having another camp, I'm like, there's no way. That's why my two holdout years was, like, I was loving that. Like, I don't got a new camp. I just trained. I'm with the family now, and I come back with the season. I actually enjoyed that. But I just don't have the passion to go through another, I'm going to thinking about the season and to work, all the things I got to do to keep my body up to keep, I just

don't got the urge to do it no more. So the passion to play the game is no longer there. So if I was to come back, I feel like I'm just coming back for a check, you know, And I can't disrespect the game of football like that and just play for money. You know, I never was that guy. I can't be that guy now because if I was to do that, I wouldn't be the same player that I wouldn't be here. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's funny because, like, people ask me, hey, you missed the game. And for a couple years, I really did. And now, like, yeah, I'll miss it on Sunday. You know what I'm watching? Like, the competitor in me is like, I can make that play. Even though your body is like, no, you can't do it. But, like, the whole thing is, if you're not willing to do all those things,

you can't miss the game. Yeah, exactly. You know, like, it's not, it's not fair for me to say I miss the game if I'm not willing to do all those little things that you, you and I are both saying, hey, at this juncture, no moss. Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, training camp or, you know, for me it was meetings and, you know, some of the politics of, you know, football and all that.

But, like, is there anything about retirement that scares you? Not really. It's just not knowing as far as, and when I say not knowing, it's more how I'm going feel when the season's actually around. Like in my right now I'm like I'm happy I'm at peace I'm got the development company going on Donald development group where you know we got 30 units that we're working on Pittsburgh on Hunter Street in Pittsburgh which is there's some meetings to potentially you know get some more projects coming our way so we got the ready brand that's doing amazing that got ownership in so 8099 solutions so I got things that I'm focusing on things that

I'm going that that got to the point where we got an income coming in but as far as knowing what's going to happen when a season come around and I'm I'm not on the field. I'm not a part of it. I don't know how I'm going to feel in my head. I'm like, I'm going to be happy watching on TV or watching the stands and that, but I don't know. So it's just, for me, it's just not knowing how I'm going to feel, really, because you never know into his time, right?

You ever thought about the movies? Yeah. So that's something that you can make, you see this. I know, dude. Last week, I was the one who said, hey, this guy needs to be, he needs to be an action star. So we go, I'm going to do. something obviously you guys need to take some classes and it's a process but um that's something down the road that I'm potentially um looking for looking into doing too so doone three

yeah I'm working hey Chris I'm just working man you know we still got to make an income we got to keep it going there still got bills to me bro I hear you bro I'm working for my kids and my kids and they kids so yeah man generational wealth bro so man that's awesome you find the ways to keep, you know, any opportunities that come my way, I'm all ears, I'm listening. And if it makes sense and if we can make something happen, then, you know, that's what I'm, I'm just working. So that's awesome. Well, did you get any cool, like, text that blew you away after you retired?

I'm sure you got, like, a million, but, like, something that blew you away or somebody reached out to you, that you were like, damn, that's awesome. A lot of people reached out, bro. It was like, I know a lot of, through social media, a lot of people reached out. There was so much stuff when it came out. Like, you want to see everything, but it's just was so overwhelming. It was so much. you couldn't even see it.

So a lot of things that, like, my brother showed me or my wife had to show me as far as, like, you know, LeBron reaching out, you know, Magic Johnson reached out. The fight, Duran reached. A lot of people that, you know, there's great players and great Nate eros and did a lot of great things reached out. Just to congratulate me on my career that was like, you know, it's pretty special, bro.

Like when you think about, you know, how many people reached out, you know, Warren Sat reached out, a bunch of guys. Well, when you start with LaBron's out, It's like, yeah, my buddy LeBron pushed out, dude. Like, you're pretty damn famous. So, hey, now that you're retired, dude,

I feel like it's time to let some of the secret sauce out of the bag, so to speak, here. Tell me something nobody knows about Aaron Donald's game plan, how he rushes every week, now that nobody can adjust to it. Well, that's, you know, coming back this fall. But it all comes, it depends, bro. Because for me, the way I go into a game, it's all about my film study.

It's all about what I watch on film West. You know, you got guys that don't got an anchor. You know it's going to be a power game. You can be able to work your power pop and then switch it up. Now he's guessing he's going to panic a lot because he ain't got an anchor. So now he's going to lean a lot so you can hit with like, depends if he's a high hand punch or low hand punch if you got your swipes or your chop cleft. So it all depends.

The guy I'm going against the way I study him. You know, there's reach you see it, and you'd be like, oh, this is going to be. You know what type of week is going to be, you know, if you get the one-on-one opportunity. So, my game planning was always different because I knew I was going to have two or three guys. So it was more, you know, I'm watching, I study the guys. Then I got to go to my D-Line coach's room and break down for him to figure out different schemes we can do that,

you know, help free me up and to try to get them one-on-one. If I can get at the nose tackle position, if I'm a three-tech, or if I need to bounce to the end of trying to get a one-on-one. But I started to go to the end. they started to always bring a tight in or a back to chip. So it was like, you know, you always had somebody follow on you. So that's like later in the career, that's what it became, just trying to find a way to define one-on-ones.

But it all depends on a film study. It's like, it's like so much. It's not like, for me, it's not a simple answer, you know, so, you know, because there's a lot that go into, you know, game planning and getting ready for an opponent. You know, you know that. Yeah. So. Well, it's like a catch-22.

You got so good. than like it's good to be a certain amount of good where it's like hey I'm good at what I do but then when you're better than that they start making it harder you know and you just mentioned all the things that go into like for me I go and I know I get some chip or whatever and maybe some slide but I was working on winning one-on-ones and you're working on basically some sequence of of you know a thought process of am I getting slide you know how can we line up to get the slide somewhere else or can we occupy the guard can we bring a back or down to try to free you up can we move you outside that's stressful it makes your job complicated i guess i'm wondering like

was there one team that always had a good plan philly i hate a plan against philly kelsey his little fast-ass always ran full he would snap the ball and run over right now and just i'm like bro you got some good guards let them work you don't got to help him every time i'm not let you you run the game i'm like every single plan every time i played this Eagles, bro. I really never really got no one-on-ones. I probably had like one or two during the game and that would be it. If you don't win any one-on-one at that time, you're done. You're going to get doubled and triple team for the rest of the game. It was always Philly. I felt like, early in my career, I felt like the Saints had a good game playing. They were always

slided of protection and they were always had the tackle choked down. So before he jump out to the end, he's going to punch me, close up the B gap and get out of the head. Now the A guy's closed because the center slid. Now, You know, they're trying to just grab it. I usually got to try to work off that. So that's two teams that popped in my head right away. And then, like, the last few years, I think the 49ers did a good job and keeping me out the game as far as if that's running the ball away from me

or just keeping things away to the point where, you know, you even trying to chase things down from the backside or, you know, just trying to find ways to get the one-on-ones. When you do get the one-on-one, you know, they can get the ball out quick. So those are the three teams that popped in my head right away. so. When you talk about the Rams now, because now you're in a unique position where you know so much ball, but when you're a player, you can't really weigh in on your own team like that. But looking at the division and, you know, San Francisco and what they got going on, what do the Rams have to do to continue

to hang in there? I mean, I think you've got one of the best quarterbacks in the league as long as he's healthy, so that's a big one. But what do you think the Rams have to do to keep pacing that division? What's the key to beating the Niners with regularity? I think they got a great offense. We got a great offense. I think they just add it as far as beefing up the officer line to help with the running game and protecting staff. I think they still got some key pieces at Robert Seaver. They still got Cooper Cup.

They still got Puka. They got Robinson. They brought him back. So they got some good pieces on defense. I think we got good guys on the edge, but I think we can help with some edge help. And I think they did a good as far as bringing some corners in and some guys in the secondary to help. I think they're in a good position right now, bro. If I was to say one thing the Rams need, just a little bit of help with right now,

I would say just the edge rusher, just getting an extra edge rusher that some guy that got some experience or find a good guy in the draft that can get it done because you see what we did in the draft last year, nobody expected us to be the team, and a lot of the rookies end up making names for their self and dominating. So if you get another piece like that, that can help on the edge. I think the Rams is going to be a great team. It's going to be fun of watching. I'm excited to watch the Rams play this year. I know I'm not going to be out there,

but I just feel like they're going to have a lot of success, bro. I really do. I think they got all the pieces they need, add a piece here as far as on the defense as far as the edge guy, and then I think they made some moves to help him get better. Kobe Turner, he reminds you anybody? I mean, like, the kid can play. Yeah.

I mean, he certainly had a good draw playing next to you, but I think he's going to be all right on his own, too. Yeah, Kobe's good. He wants to be great. He asks a lot of questions. He's always, you know, if it's a text message or whatever it is. Kobe, I love Kobe. Kobe's just Kobe. He's just him. He ain't going to let nobody change him. He's not going to act different because he's around somebody. He's just going to be his self. And that's what I love about him. But he's a guy that love football, bro. He love playing. I think he continues to get better. Like I told him, now it's time for you to, you know, they're growing to that leadership role, you know, because you're the guy on the D-line now. You know what I'm saying? You're the guy. You're the name. So you got to keep working. You got to bring guys along with you

and you just don't allow yourself to be satisfied and allow yourself to be comfortable. That's the only the best advice I can give to, you know, young guys because that's what I did. I just never allowed myself to be comfortable and I kept working. And, you know, the things that came from that, it's things that is bigger than anything you ever dreamed.

So I think he's going to be a good football player. I'm a great football player if he keep working. I think he had a hell of her career. He should have won defense. a rookie of the year, in my opinion, for what he did as a nose tackle. You know, everybody, he don't understand. He's not a three-tech. He's a nose-tackle that had nine sacks. I was three-tech. He was nose-tackle. They could be like, the slag came to me, but when you get the one-on-one opportunities, you pose a win, and he was winning him. So, I mean, found the way to

get itself better and end up with nine sacks, nine and a half, sacks, whatever he had as a nose-tackle as a rookie in the league. That's like, that's special, bro. So he just keep building off that. He can be pretty damn good. So. That's super rare, man. And then Puka actually told me about some great advice that you gave him. It was a story where you guys were in the wait room. And he was in your room. You said move.

No, listen. Move again. Hey, by the way, by the way, dude, that is the favorite dude I've interviewed. Yeah, I love Puka. Bro, I was like, I wish I'd play with this guy. He's like a 10-year event. Yeah, but he told me that. He was over my house and, you know, we had a couple of drinks.

He ended up telling me, I'm like, I only remember. I probably was playing with him if anything. You probably being nice. That's not my personality to be like that. No, it's not. Anything I'd be like, move your ass out the way. You know, because I'm playing around with them or so. But I really don't remember it.

I remember I worked in there a couple times when the rookies was in there. You know, I probably said something funny like that to him, but I'm probably just messing with him. What do you think about him, man? Like, when did you know he was as good as he is? Because he is a beast. You know, you see a little glimpse of it at camp, but you know, that's camp. You know, I'm over guy. You got to show me doing game time.

And I think he started to get real consistent. He started off the first season, like with Seattle, and he had, like, a good-ass game. He's tough. He was playing tough, breaking tackle. It was just, you know, he's a football player. You know, that type of player you want on your team, a tough guy that, you know, that play hard, that play tough. And then from the first game, bro, and then he was just consistent. You know, then the Colts game went, I think we ended up going overtime.

He ended up making a game when a touchdown for us. And he's just been a consistent player since day one. And then he just got better and better and better. And that's like, God, I didn't expect him to be, you know, the player he was this year. But, you know, in my opinion, to be honest with you, that's probably for any position, me personally watching, that's probably one of the best working performances from any position that I got the opportunity to watch. because, you know, you usually see young guys that play and, you know, they fall off a little bit. But, like, for him to have, you know, stay as poises he did through the whole season as far as, like,

he became, like, kind of a household name as a rookie. And, you know, he didn't change. He stayed the same person. He kept doing the same things every single week, bro. And it's like, if he stay like that and he stay hungry and he keep any, and if he want to be great, in my opinion, I think he can do some things that never been done in this league. but he's just got to keep working. But he was fun and watched, bro.

Like, I really enjoyed watching him all the wars he was able to, you know, surpass and things, records he was able to break as a rookie. Man, I was just so proud. You know, I'm 32 years old, so I was the old guy on the team. Like, everybody was 24, 20. I'm so, you know, they playing different music in the locker. I'm like, wow. I feel old as hell.

Like, I'm like, that's how we, that's how we, That's how we felt when you were playing like Skelly Whistle. I felt so damn old, man. I'm like, damn. But, man, it was fun to watch them young guys, like, coming to their own and make their own little name for their self, become their own player. You see them out of confidence and their little swagger changed a little bit,

but they stayed the same. But it was just about that. Once you get that confidence, bro, it's like, that's all you need, in my opinion, in this league. You had that confidence. You know you can do it. You can dominate. Well, it's way different.

Like, he came onto a team that was very good. good. Like you came into a D-line that was very good, but the team wasn't very good. So like you come in the door right away and there's like a standard, which I think it's probably the most interesting thing for you coming to league. You saw it all. You saw like what it was like to not be doing things correctly. And I'm not saying Fish is great coach, but we were not doing things correctly at that juncture. Like we just, yeah. Yeah. So yeah. So land on the damn bags where the offenses out there probably not even paying attention. So there's little stuff like that that if you want to be a championship team. It's about discipline. It's about structure. You know, like, I love fish,

too. I enjoyed them. But I think we just had a lot of young guys that, you know, we just had a little bit too much freedom at time. Some of the young guys. Yeah, that's what it was. You got to be a little bit more strict, a little bit more structured with young players. What made Sean McVeigh great to you? Because I'm sure when you first met him, you were like, who is this guy, dude? He's like 30 years old, the whole thing. But he seems like a hell of a football coach. Obviously, when they talk about the X's and O's to the game, from my officer standpoint, that's like I, it's like no other. It's a member of what plays that he's able to remember every little moment of that play

and explaining it to in great detail. Even he had been in our meetings and he had learned our terminology and we'd be out there. He knows exactly what's going on. Like, no, you're supposed to do this and he'll be out on the defense too. So as far as the knowledge of the game, man, he's a genius when it comes to that. But as a person, bro, like, You know, you want to have good coaches that's good on the field, but, you know, that care about you way more beyond football for me, bro.

It's like, you know, you got, because we all, man, we all got feeling. We got a lot of things that go on outside of football that sometimes can affect you with work, you know, and to have a coach that care more about what's going on outside of football than on football for me, you know, that, that means a lot. And that's why our relationship is how it is. You know, I really love Sean. Obviously, a great coach,

but he's a great person too, bro. And when you got a coach like that, that you got a good close relationship with, you know, going out there and trying to play on Sundays, you want to win for a coach like that. So he's just a hell of a coach, a hell of a person, man. You know, we got a relationship that's going to last forever. Talk about relationships.

You talk about everything that goes on outside of football. And shoot, we've known Erica a long time, dude. Eric, like Earth City days, man. But everybody always had a great deal of respect for Eric. because she was like a football gal, you know, and obviously knew her dad and everything, but I never would have thought that all these years later, you guys have this beautiful family.

We would have never thought neither. That's just how it happened, bro. Tell people this story, because I don't think a lot of people know this story, man. It's kind of like a football, like a fairy tale. We talked about this last night, man. I say it sounded a little cheesy because. It's okay to be cheesy, dude.

Nobody's going to call you. We were always friends. We were just like, you know, Eric, she's like the, she's like the homie. She's like, she was just, we were just cool. You know, it was time we just, she started helping me around the house a lot as far as I was moving. So, you know, I was doing everything by myself. So she had helped me as far as if I'm at the new house, if I can't be there, she would go down there for me and let the cable guy in and put the new cable, upset everything up. And then we just hang.

I'm talking about, I promise you, like, when I say we were hanging, it was just like hanging with the homie, you know, we'd have a couple of drinks. We just chill, vibe, talk. And it just came something that they end up happening every day and we just really got to know each other, bro. We would just be talking all for like all day, just hanging with each other. You know, it became, you know, every single or every single day.

Having out one time you don't see her, it's like, damn, I'm starting to like, Eric, I kind of miss her. I want to text her, but I don't want to, you know what I'm saying? But I'm like, damn, I want to mess up her friendship. I'm like, damn, I wonder what she's doing right now. And then, you know, she ended up testing you. You'd be like, oh, I wish you wanted to come over and hang. And then it became that, bro, and I promised me and her was talking for, like, months.

And it wasn't nothing sexual, nothing at all, bro. And it was just like, like, that how you, a relationship, you want to get to know somebody. Like, I never been in no stuff like that. So it was an old-fashioned courtship, bro, I promise you. And we just, and just naturally just grew in love. And it was like, that was my, that's when you knew that was like, I was like, that's my soul. Just somebody that made me a better person. She helped me with a lot that was going on in my life, bro.

And it's like, you know, when you got a woman that, you know, that best. as you make you a better man, make you a better person, bro. Like, I feel like we got like a power couple. You know, we got so much great thing that's coming. And, you know, I'm blessed to have her. Yeah, I see that. I see power couple. I do.

And I think what helps is, you know, with her dad coaching and her being around the game, she also understands what it's like for you. Exactly. You know? So it's a different, it's stressful, man. Like, like there are times during my career where I had lows. And, you know, I know for you, you probably had a couple of them, but you do a good job hiding it.

Having somebody like that really helps, you know. A million times, like, sometimes when I felt like, you know, it was a lot going on. I'm like, bro, I can't do it no more. Like, I'm done. I don't want to play football no more. Like, I got too much stuff going on. I got to go back here.

I got to, you know, going back and forth with Pittsburgh, because that's when my two oldest kids was in Pittsburgh. I'm all the way in California. So it was a lot. And then, like, having somebody to be able to talk to. to you know to comfort you you know you as a girl you still need that love and that comfort too so um she is my wife took me to godzilla versus king kong last night and i was like oh thank you i needed that like little stuff like that mean a lot can go a long way you bro so yeah we're soft

man godzilla king kong suck by the way yeah but godzilla minus one is incredible okay okay so anyways I'm going to ask you a couple quick questions and let you go, but the first one would be, did you see that L.A. Billboard they put up. I'm sure you've seen it. Yes, I've seen it. How cool is that? That's dope. That's dope as hell, man. I ain't see it in person, but I've seen it on the pictures and all the fans sending it, man. That's pretty dope. Is that the one that's a legend live forever?

Yeah. Yeah, that's dope. So they're not in L.A. in the city. I don't know where it's set, but the picture, I like the picture. I like the, it's dope, man. I'm going to climb up there and spray paint William Hayes. Oh, that don't do this. Right next to you. Okay, you, man.

All right. Hey, who's the next you? Is there a next you? Well, I hate when people say the next you. It's going to be the next. Well, I'm fucking saying it. Who's the next you? I don't know, but I think, like, in my, like,

when I did the interview with Erica, like, I think that if you want to say the next guy that's that defense. Who's the next guy? I would say it's right now. I think it's T.J. Watt. You know, I think if you talk about a guy that's consistent, like been doing it year and a year out consistently that's going to get you 15 sacks or 13 sacks.

Damn, 22 sacks consistent. He's the guy that been doing consistently. Interceptions every year's touchdowns. Like, his stats be ridiculous every single year. So I feel like he's a guy that, you know, he's that guy to me. I know you got Michael Parsons that's coming up. You got Miles Garrett. you got a bunch of, you know, good players, but in my opinion, from, like, from

at the time I seen T.J. White and the lead from the first time I seen him to the last year, he's consistently been dominating in his lead. So just a lot of respect for him, and I think he's got guys. I never thought we'd be having a conversation when we say, is he better than his brother, you know, which just goes to show you how great he is, just that there's even a conversation, different positions, different players. They both, but the two brothers is even like top tier guys like that. That's special. That's different.

Yeah, it is, man. So the Steelers, did you ever fantasize about playing for that team? I know you were one team guy. He took a lot of pride in that. But, like, I'm sure sometimes you had like a dream where he were running out of the tunnel at Hinesfield. I would say before I got drafted probably, I would be like, you know, it would be dope to play for my hometown. Because I grew up a Steelers fan. Maybe even like probably like my third year in the league.

when I was, you know, we were still, we wasn't a good team. And then it was about time to start talking about contract stuff. And I ain't really know if I was going to stay with the Rams. 16. Because I wanted to find the game. I wanted to win. I wanted to be on the team.

So that probably, you know, I flirted with that idea a little bit. Maybe I could go home and play for the Steelers. But that was it. You know, once you let out of value yourself and, you know, it's hard to, you know, have a routine. You know everything where everything is at, be with a team, build relationships,

and then you've got to go. somewhere and start all over again. For me, I just, that never was something that I wanted to do. You know, even people are like, you don't want to at least have one year with your last year and be with the Steelers? I'm like, I'm like, why would I want to go somewhere for one year and just, I understand it's my hometown, but I'm like, to me, I just, I just don't, that's don't turn me on and do that.

Yeah. What was the lowest you ever played at and what was the highest you ever played at? I'm talking about 265, 300. Is that the range or what? I ain't never touched 300. So my first two years I played at probably 280 to 285. My third year was around 270, 275. And every other year, I played at probably 260, 267 sometimes.

In 2018, with my lightest year, I played that whole year probably around 250 to 260 that whole year. I was 258 in the Super Bowl in 2018. What, dude. I was 2508 as a defensive tackle. in the national football league. In the Super Bowl, I weighed 258. That year, I was playing, I was playing at 250 to 260 that whole year. How did that, how did that feel? How did that feel? Hey, you know, I work out all you. I know, I know, even, I always keep my strength, bro. I got, like, I got to live in the way. I got to feel the weight. I just bring my body up

my second hold out back to back. All I'm doing is working out every day. Fresh legs. You know, so that's all I was doing. And like, my body, that's my body. That's my body. That's When I got like a six-pack, my body started like 18, that's when my body really changed. So I don't know, bro. And then we were going a lot of teams out, so we got the opportunity to rush a lot. So it just felt like fast as hell.

You know, it was just fast, quick. Use a lot of quickness. What do you think about Rahim Morris and how he's gonna do in Atlanta? I was a big fan of how y'all's defense played because listen, some of those guys, I didn't know much about him going into the year. I mean, no knock on them, but it was, you know,

you were there and you had a couple pieces, but there were a lot of guys that he had to get playing, and I thought he did a good job. What do you think he's going to do as a head coach? I think he'll do great things. I love Ryan. I think he's a hell of a coach, bro. He makes it comfortable, and he make it fun, but he motivates you.

When it's time, when it's time, he knows with the right things that say to, hey, you're in that meeting. You know, when you're laid, shaking, you get the chills. You're like, you're ready to run through a damn wall for this guy. So he's that type of coach, but he makes it fun, bro. I think he's going to be a great head coach. I even watched their team meeting yesterday. I think they posted a video on the NFL with his first team meeting. I listened to the whole thing.

I like, you know, if I were playing for Roy as my head coach and he came with, I'll be ready to play for him. So I think he's going to do some great things, bro. I think he got some good pieces on his team that have some success, man. I'm just hoping everything unfold the right way for him. Yeah, I'm rooting for him too. All right, well, this is a good one. I'll ask you one tough question, and then we'll finish with it.

with a good question that you'll be happy to answer. Okay. When I asked Reggie Scott to tell a story, it's a story I already know, and that's the story of you were moving a guy's face mask with your hands in a football fight. I wasn't there for this one. I just missed this one.

There was a time, I feel like people didn't know not to fuck with you. Like, I watched mic'd up from that Lions game where you were getting held a lot, like, and it was like way, back. It's your rookie year. That's my second year. I'm out,

or second year. I'm out there fixing your jersey. It's like, because people are holding you so much. And I heard you say to a guy, I'll give you one more, I'll give you one more chance. Yeah,

don't touch me. Like in 2024, if somebody hears that, they're not going to touch you again because they know what you're about. But back your second year, I feel like there was a time where people tried you.

You had guys tried that they know or they seen and they just didn't care. What did they not know, Aaron? I think, you know, people understand I'm an alpha male. Like who I am, I've been this way my whole life. If you ask anybody from Louis to middle school to high school to college to the pros, nothing changed about the way I played a game, nothing changed about my attitude, nothing changed about, I don't, don't disrespect me, don't do nothing disrespectful

because I can't allow myself to feel like you're trying to pump me out. Like, bitch me, I'm an alpha male. I can't help it. So I think a lot of people think this is a, some, they don't know. It's not an act. It's not an act. This is who I am. It's compulsion.

When I've seen you get fucking mad, I can't help. It just, it just, it just, it just, it's just not, it can't help it, bro. It just, you know, sometimes the time you get so mad, you block out and then you be like, damn, man, what the, man? I'm like, man, he shouldn't did what the fuck he did. You know what I'm saying? There's three grown men on the floor. What happened?

You know what I'm saying? So, that's just who I am, bro. It's just, you know, you got them guys that's going to try, you're trying to hold, and then you get the whoop in their ass and then, you know, they're start learning, but... I know exactly what you mean, bro. I wish William was on here. He'd be like, yeah, I used to do that to you, Aaron.

We'll always talk like he'd be... Remember one time, man. We've been at St. Louis. You know, we'll always play nonstop, bro. And we're in St. Louis. We're in an equipment room in the back, and he's trying to wrestle. He tried to, he grabs me. You know, I'm still, you know, I like, I like playing.

I play with you. I guess out of it. I grabs him like this, grab him by his neck. He's like, I'm done. He's like, I'm done. I said, quit playing. That was the last time we ever tried to wrestle with me again.

Last time I tried to wrestle you, I threw all your shit in your locker and you picked me up like a kid. I was in a cast. I was really mad at you. I know you were. But you took all my stuff out of my locker and threw it.

I'm like, that was disrespect. But you were, you were disrespect to me and you know my code because I'm an alpha male too, Aaron. I got a code too. I've just not as strong as you. I take all your shit off your hangers, all these out of your locker

and throw it on the floor. I'm like, oh, that's it. Hey, I feel bad. bad about that. I really do I apologize to you 10 years later, bro. Because I, you know, when he picked me up, when Aaron picked me up and he was kind of mad and I could feel he was kind of mad like, you know, like, I was like, all right, fuck this, man. I'm too old for this shit. He's too strong. But, but I just, the face mask story, the reason Reggie brought it up was because he said that in the case of an emergency, and he's, of course, the head trainer for the,

for the ramps, who's great, great trainer. Also, we, we shout it up. Byron Cunningham, who's the man as well. Shout out to Tyler Williams is in Minnesota. But Aaron ripped the guy's face mask off in a fight, like the face mask and had him looking like... I'm going to tell the story to you. Tell the story. From what I remember, it was the...

It was our first year in, in L.A. We was out, like, Orange County. No, Oxnard. I'm not. We at Oxnort. It's OTAs. And it's not even my fight, bro. It was Gene and Gray was fighting.

Of course. The scary-ass fight. I'm like, yeah, you know, Gene. They, they're not going to fight. And this big, big offensive line, man, I think he was a rookie, just comes over and, like, try to, you know, try to touch Gene while he's trying to fight. I'm like, no, we ain't going to do that. They got their own little situation, but ain't nobody going to jump in and touch nobody.

So, you know, and then he tried to fight back with me. Other things happened like this. And then somehow his face mask came off. I smacked him two times. with it, boom, in his head and just do it. And you threw it? Yeah, I just do it. I just do it, bro.

And no, everybody's okay, you know? Then it was over. It's not like you hit him with a helmet. You hit him with a face mask. All you see, he still got his helmet on with no face man. And he turned around. This shit just looked like. He looked like one of those old school football people.

Exactly, bro. It's just, we just smushed. No cage. Just helmet on. That shit. Reggie said that he made you the designated guy that if you ever had to like really access somebody's face on the field like in the case of an injury that they would get you out there to get the face mask on do you remember when we fought

the cowboys in oxnard yes i do you're talking about the one that was i remember that i remember we whoop their ass i remember it didn't we had beers on the bus after it was the best shit ever dude the cowboys they came i remember it bro it was like so much it was like a fight there fight there you think it's over then somebody come grab somebody thumb to the ground and it come out Happen all we about the fans on the fence. Dude, there's footage of us on the fence and there's Rams fans leaning over the fence getting shots in. That's probably the craziest bra that I was ever a part of, bro. Dude, there were people running like a medieval battle in the middle of the field.

I didn't know who to hit. I was just running through like, and there were cops on the field. Anyways, that shit was crazy. Okay, last question for you. Got some good fighting stories. I didn't want to impress you to tell too many of them. But I like the way you were like, I can't help it. I'm an alpha.

I mean, that's exactly what it is. Like, you just can't help it. Any advice for the people making your Hall of Fame bust? Do you want a certain haircut? Would you like this smile? Yeah, I want this smile here. This smile right here. I want this face trim everything, this first name, just like this.

Just hold, hold still for the camera for a second. that that's what that's what we want Aaron Donald has featured on the green light pot April 4th 2004 how long are you going to go without crying there I don't know again you never know until you know what I'm saying I don't know bro like emotions is emotions I don't know if it's going to be you know whenever that time come or leading up to I just you just never know into it to that time come

but I'm pretty sure that I'm a I'm a cry like a baby for sure I know that so okay who are the guys you don't want in the front row so you don't have to make eye contact with them. Shit, you, Will Hayes, Eugene, Sims, all you're going to have us in the back? I can see. I can see right now. I can see it, bro. I already do.

I already do. We'll be there, man. And I love you. I'm so proud of you, dude. I appreciate you. Just like, you did everything right. You did. And you got a beautiful family.

You got a great future. It's just getting started. So if you ever need advice on being washed up, I can give you that. Congrats, man. I appreciate you. You know, it's all love. I love you to death, bro. Like I told you when I text you, like, you was a part of me being where I'm at, you know,

that coming to the D-Line room I came in to have you, to have Robert Quinn, Michael Rockers, Kendall, Will Hayes, Eugene Sims, like, they're coming to a group, a good group like that, bro, and y'all make me. you feel how I felt and like I felt like y'all motivating right away like y'all seen it y'all like bro you got the talent to be something special know and and to hear that from guys that you know you watched on TV and that it was a plant that played in this league already that seen it and you know it's motivation bro it's like motivation and y'all and y'all motivated me more than which y'all by just saying them little things like that for me to have that confidence to go out there and do

that bro and like um forever love y'all but we well we were right we're locked in my life man we were right weren't we? Hey, broken clock is right every now and again or whatever they say. And you know what's cool about you is we feel like we're a part of your journey in a way that like, hey, you're going places we didn't get to go, you know? And when you do things, we feel like we're a part of it. And so it's a two-way street, man. We love you. We appreciate you. Enjoy retirement and I hope you come back soon, brother. I love you, bro. Love you, man. So we're going to kick all the little admin here. You fellas feeling pretty good about the ads you bring to the table. Listen, if these ads suck, I really do blame melatonin and marijuana.

Because that, I just didn't get to this till late last night. Yeah, no. A little sandbagging. Are you still going to blame them if it's good? Yeah, I'm going to give them credit. Praise B to melatonin, three milligram nightly. they say it gives you weird dreams it does for me marijuana takes the dreams away i haven't i haven't dreamt in years i have four okay oh faith family football fellowship i don't know which one to start with can i read you one please to get started it's the final four everybody's going fucking crazy it's like oh it's pandemonium flash flash bulbs guys shooting a throw some freshmen.

He's about to let it go and bang, big fucking boom! You know? Car drives onto the court, flips over, a bunch of clanking. Guy climbing over all these cans gets out.

It's Bob Huggins. Uber, the official sponsor of the NCAA tournament. That's good. That's good. That's good. That's a good ad. I apologize to Bob Huggins. He kind of had it coming. He did have it coming.

And then I guess his daughter got on social media and was like, that's a misrepresentation of what happened. 32 beer cans or whatever it was. Just kind of like he likes cans. The alibi was he just likes cans. He just likes collecting cans. This wasn't his first five cents. Yeah, he's like one of those old school people.

You know, you throw into that. What? Just throw Zion and soda cans in that somehow. A Zion, yeah, Zion out. He's just following Zion Williams. He's following Zion Williamson around. All right. Go ahead.

All right. Highlights of Caitlin Clark draining threes on Haley Van Liff, left, right center from 25 feet, from 28 feet, from 30 feet. You understand? Haley Van Liff shrugs her shoulders, overmatched and frustrated,

and looking to the sideline for some help. Keep at it, Haley. says her coach Kim Mulkey announcer Caitlin Clark scores 41 points as Iowa heads to the final four hard cut Kim Mulkey sits down in a leather chair

in front of an American flag Kim Mulkey says just because something isn't working just because something is fucked up beyond repair doesn't mean you should change it understand stick to your guns I'm Kim Mulkey for the Second Amendment

Oh my gosh That is crazy That's pretty good Yeah stick to your guns That's fucking good Oh I was on the edge of my seat Yeah

Remember I fell out of my seat yesterday? You did You did It was during a Caitlin Clark Conversation Yeah Yes it was You guys were showing me a shot she hit

And then I just fell out of my chair Something like that Yeah All right I'll pony off that one A little bit I hit the ground I was embarrassed I got one

You got a full family packed with their bags, just got off the plane. They're about to go to their first March Madness Games, enjoy the weekend and the festivities. They're at the rental place, and there's a mix-up with the rentals. And State Farm commercial, like a good neighbor, State Farm is here with the family, Alex Caraband from... Who is that guy? Yukon. And standing with them, and when they talk to the agent, they ask him what's the problem? and they ordered a caravan. Oh, that's pretty fucking good, dude.

That's like an actual ad. Yeah. That's fucking good. Yeah. Yeah. All right, I'll give you one that would actually happen. Matt Damon walks out of his house. He's got somebody there doing a paint job on his car.

I don't know why they're doing it as drive. He's like, yo, what's up? Painter's like, you know, Matt Rule is painting his house red. He walks home from practice. The painters are all there. There's a head painter. He's like, nice job. Beautiful.

Matthew McConaughey. Red House, yeah. Yeah, Matthew McConaughey. He's painting something. He needs something painted. Okay. And the painter's like, what's up, Matthew? Because you can't call him Matt.

Hard cut. Hi, I'm Matt Painter. Of Matt Painters. We don't just paint. mats. Yeah. His name's a Matt Painter. He walked right into it.

That's good. His business would be so niche. Yeah. You know? But there are tons of mats out there. You know? Guy named Kevin's flipping through the white pages, yellow pages. We're still old enough to know the

difference in the colors of the pages. First day of practice, basketball season, yeah? Raleigh, North Carolina, Insta State. Kevin Keats looks at his clipboard. O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, O'Connor, Michael O'Connell nervously looks around at his new teammates. All of them knew themselves. He doesn't mean me, does he? I'm Michael O'Connell. He keeps saying O'Connor. Kevin Keats scratches through the name O'Connor on his clipboard. Hard cut, six months later, ACC tournament Washington, D.C., announcer. And Michael O'Connell's miracle three-pointer. Since NC State into overtime, a win over Virginia and into the ACC tournament championship game,

hard cut Greenlight Pod, the guest is Kevin Keats. Fellas to tell you what I sure am happy, we have Michael O'Connor on our team. Hardcut. Hi, I'm Kevin Keats for NIL in the transfer portal. You don't even need to learn their fucking name. That's good. Matt, what's your onion allergy called? Allium.

Allium. Okay. Matt Kingston has got an onion. She's a fucking loser. Garlic and onions. That's a tough one. All right? All right.

No season. So Matt's like, what do I do? Get it anywhere. It's fucking smoothie king every day. So he wants to go out and eat. He looks, he's Googling, what do you do about an allium allergy? All this shit. Hard cut.

He's in McDonald's. He orders a Big Mac, everything on it. Onions! Bill Raffery is sitting next to him. Hard cut to a steakhouse. He's like, I want to the food. the steak, you know, with, you know, Marsala or whatever the fuck on it. This is good.

Onions! It's Bill Raftree. This is good. Bill Raftery for Allium Awareness. Yes. Which day. Yes. Which also falls on Easter.

Yeah. Raff. That's good. It's really good. That's a good. That's a good ad. Sometimes. It's good.

It sometimes falls on Easter. Okay. All right, ready? You're ready? You're ready? They're just dead. Okay, you ready? Yeah. Hey, I'm Paige Becker's. The U is silent. Hey, I'm Mike Shoshiewski. Most of the letters are silent. Hey, I'm Dwayne Wade. The Y is misplaced and also silent. Hey, I'm Major League baseball player Chaz Jizam. Ain't nothing silent around here. That's pretty good. That's pretty good.

Which isn't exactly true because the last name, Chisham actually has a few silent. That's the entirety of the ad. All right, I have one. There's a woman. She's in court. RD.N.

Yep. And she's being prosecuted. And she's being cross-examined. And it is like the, the, the, the moment in this trial. You know, everything hangs in the balance. And she says, God is my witness. I didn't do this, Your Honor.

Your Honor, the defense would like to call a special witness to the stand. Yo, I'm God, sham God. She'll do that shit. Hey, is somebody accusing you as something? Do you need a special witness? I'm God Sham God. Providence is God Sham God,

serving the greater providence area. And God's gonna sign an affidavit that he was present for all these things. Okay. Yeah, he's God, Sheriff God. God will perjure himself in your defense. Yeah, dude. Okay.

You get it. Shut out God. All right, I got one. Okay. Seeing Zach Eadie outside of someone's house, arms extended inside the house, the wife of the house opens up the window, and it's just Zach Eadie's midrifts showing

with his shirt up a little bit, And she's just gawking at his abs and cut. He's outside. And he's cleaning the gutters. And it ends up being a gutter clearing service that doesn't use ladders. I got one. But fucking Baltimore Bridge, it's all fucked. there's helicopters

there's a mayor the clans there because the mayor's black it's an inside job Alex Jones is there we need somebody to help restore order Zach Edy just fucking lays down and he stretches out

all the way across the river and he just and everybody's like oh we're good now I like it He's a bridge. All right, people are out playing golf. Tony Bennett's out playing golf, and he's got a bunch of his players with him and so on and so forth. And there's a group behind them, and they're right behind them.

And, you know, like, they're kind of looking at him. And the other guys in the foursome are, like, coach, should we let him play through? We're moving kind of slow today, and he's like, nah. and the ad is for snickers or ping hungry yep not going anywhere for a while

or ping but they post the best score right they win the golf game and everybody's like I hate watching this take lessons I got one more Eadie you start with that

same viral video and everyone's wondering like how your commercial was going once he goes in the room everyone puts their ear to door see what's going on boom they're in the room and they're both eating a bowl of Edie's ice cream. That's pretty

good. That's actually a good ad. Yeah. I like that's good. All right. Bunch of bridges follow. Manute bowl fucking Sean Bradley. Yes. Fucking

Luke Gar's Is this another bridge one? Are they all bridges? Yeah, we're, what happened with all the bridges? Oh, nothing. Oh, okay.

Tall people just solving infrastructure issues. You know? Bridge falls down. You don't get, you don't call tall basketball players. You call Jacoby Reset. And Gardner Minshu. Yeah, bridge quarterback.

There you go. Good. Bridge quarterbacks. Good. They all just show up. Baltimore Bridge falls down. And it's all ten of them together. Yeah.

It's not one. You get ten together. There's 15 of these motherfuckers, dude. They fix it. For now. You need a small bridge fixed at your farm. There's a walking bridge over a creek. You Doug Flutie rolls up.

All right. Play a quick little game called Who Do You, trust. So pick a member of the Greenlight team, anybody that's on Greenlight, any producers, any talent that you would most trust in the following scenario. I'm going to go to you first. Read. Pick your outfit for an important night out. Reed. Bullshit. Yeah, dude. We dress kind of the same. We do dress kind of same. Well, I changed. Yeah, I know. I don't. We used to dress the same. Yeah, I know. Hoodies and sweat. You know, and you understand my, my, uh, aesthetic, you know? Making. My wife doesn't understand my aesthetic. Who do you trust?

To invest the majority of your money. To invest the majority of my money. Like a blind trust. You know a guy likes real estate. I'll just get Gus to do it. Chris. I'll get my money. Okay.

Kevin, who do you trust to keep an important secret? Oh, making for sure. Lay up. Really? Yeah. Dude, I've gone to the grave. I've got to, here, I'll tell you a couple of them. I've gone to the grave.

I trust most people in here, but. Who do you trust the least to keep a secret in here? I have an easy answer. Kyle. Kyle. No, it's not like, and he would tell you. He would tell you. Kyle, the future of mankind depends on this.

Sorry, had to. Do not. Five minutes later, I'm in the other room. That's a little bit. I'm hearing it. that's funny all right Nate who do you trust to land a plane in an emergency situation everyone that shit's easy no it would be it would be Kyle he's in his little flight simulator does the simulator Nate does a simulator all right Chris who would you trust to give your eulogy

oh Kevin Kevin can make anybody feel better and that's the spirit of a eulogy to make all the people feel better that are mad that I'm dead. I appreciate it. And you would be great at it. Thanks. Because honestly, you find the good in everybody. So, Kevin. Makin, who do you trust to do your interior decorating at your house?

I'm going to be hurt, bro. I'll be hurt. I mean, my interior decorating, I really could have negotiated some of that. Chris. Yeah. Dang, getting pressured? Like, every answer? Well, it's true, though.

It's true, though. He has a passion for it. I got a passion for it. I think I have someone else on the crew that we're not throwing in here. Who is it? Is my guy Bo? Oh, Bo, yeah, Bo. I heard Bo is kind of an interior.

That's perfectly acceptable. Interior decorator, man. He put his gloves in his... In his... In his... In his... In his... He also loves it.

Kind of an idiotic move. Sorry, bro. I try to throw you in there, man. All right, Kevin, who do you trust to run the ox cord on a long trip? Like, who do you trust to pick the music on a road trip? Nate. Oh! I love it.

Headache. What? What? I appreciate that, man. It's just that I get the migraine. Yes, that makes me feel good. All right, Nate, you cannot consult with this person beforehand. Who do you trust to pick out weed for you at the dispensers?

Oh, Chris. I would do a good job. No, because Chris's thing is winning doubt. He's going to get the most expensive stuff. Most expensive. Like, that's just like, when it's too hard to do. Oh, that vape thing, Fred. Remember when we got that?

The vaporizer thing? Oh, the volcano? Yeah, volcano's sick if you can actually like keep up with the maintenance. No, you can't. Stoners can't keep up with maintenance. Like that's, it's a, it's a, it's a volcano. oxymoron trying to like you want to know a crazy story the only time i've ever bugged out marijuana was using a volcano and like sitting down i might fire mine up again tonight

i'm having this conversation i took i was playing call of duty and i was hitting the bag by myself and like i finished like two bags like too quickly just playing the game every time dying because it doesn't feel like immediately and then sit me into a world win you can hear silence yes Yes. Yeah. Chris, who do you trust to take care of your kids for a month while you're on vacation? Kevin. Kevin.

Kevin. Macon, who do you trust to get a kill on a hunting trip? This means kill an animal? Yep. To get a kill. Might be shit out of a look. I guess the cowboys? I think that's the right answer

I know He's not much of a killer I mean Yeah I've never I've gone hunting I've never I'd rather I'd rather you watch my kids

Then get a kill I'd rather watch your kids I get a kill as well Kevin Who do you trust To cook the meal For an event you're hosting Me

Can't choose yourself here Aiden What That is the worst What? He's 22 years old. Hey, I'm going out on a limb. What?

Yeah. You want DoorDash? Yeah. Yeah, dude. He's from the generation that, like, doesn't even work. I'm not having my best pod today. You know what I mean? I'm just kind of.

Bro, I've worked for your catering company, bro. Yeah. I, hey. Wow. That's crazy. That is crazy. I'm kind of hurt. It's all good, though.

Nate, who would you trust? Wait, wait. I'd choose Nate to get a kill on a hunting trip. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Like Rambo type shit. Yeah.

And I guess I'll have him cook it. Yeah. We'll be all right. Because he is into like the outdoors now. Yeah. And that all costs sort of shit. All costs. Yeah.

It moved. Yeah. Nate, who would you trust to coach your daughter in youth sports? Oh. This is going to Matt. Matt's, I think Matt, I think Matt would teach my daughters the fundamentals the right way and would give a great baseline into like a makings of a great athlete. I have a question.

Sure. How do you go about planning a theme for your kids first birthday? You really don't have to do that. We were talking about this earlier. The kid's not going to remember it. You can wait until the kid selects the theme for herself. In the in the black community, birthdays are cherished and they are celebrated especially for kids. Right.

And so first birthday is coming up and my kids at almost seven months and themes, questions of the sort are starting to be asked by my girl. So what's her idea? So one of the themes that I heard thrown out by my girl was first down. And I thought, I didn't say this, but I thought it was a little. Average life expectancy is over 80. It's one snap, dude. It's one snap. I mean, it's not a first down.

It's really not a first down. It's like, it's literally you got three yards on first down. Yeah. You know, it's been an awesome year. Yes. But you don't want the kid to start to think like, hey, this is like a big chunk play. It really should just, this should be like quarterback center exchange. Yes.

That should be the team. Yeah. People taking snaps. Get Jason Kelsey to show up. Yeah, exactly. Because that's what a first birthday party is, dude. Okay. You know what I mean?

You got a lot of time. And right now, I got to be honest, you're seven months in and you're playing the first birthday party. That's something you do like two days before, first off. Right. Secondly, it feels like you're taking shots, like you don't want to stay on schedule. You're just taking shots here. So maybe it should be kickoff.

Coy's kickoff with the new rules. With the new rules. Nobody's going to understand it. I think this is a battle you don't want to go after here. You concede. You can cede. But you guys all have kids over one. So what did you guys do for you?

What themes do you guys remember? Well, it's what Makin said. No theme, just a smash cake. Smash cake. Smash cake. And then wash the kid off in the sink. Yep. Okay.

Get a ton of pictures. You're going to find frosting like a week later, dude. Yeah, you are. It's guaranteed. It's like sand. The shit's like sand. The first down. Big balloon one all the day.

Respectfully, please. I mean, you know, you got along with, as parents, too, I don't want you thinking it's the first down. It's like, you just ran out of the tunnel. Right. Coint off. Yeah. It's awesome.

You're stretching. Yeah. wait until it's third and 17 and your kids signed up for two different sports in the same season we got practice on Wednesday Friday two games on Saturday what there's no good call there's no good play call that's a shot it's a shot there oh it's a shot scheduling yeah well he's kind of he's it's like I want it for the kid he does he wants it more than me he wants it more than me he wants Wayland to be Stefan Curry. And I'm like, you know what? It'd be fine if you were, if you were the guy at Alabama with the mustache, I'd be fine with that.

Yeah, if I was Grant Nelson. Yeah, if I was Grant Nelson. The other day, Waylon, I had a stern conversation with him. I actually called Kevin after because I felt bad about it. But Waylon had like the best day ever. Got taken out of school, went to like a water park, had kids over to like six. I'm trying to get a workout in. He comes in. I've had a long day. so I kind of was in a bad move, but he was all pissed off because he didn't get to choose some of the activities. And he was basically, as I communicated to him acting spoiled. And I explained to him that he is very lucky. And this is the type of stuff that you're going to see a lot of kids, that there are temper tantrums that are spoiled brats, and they're going to grow up and you know what they're

going to turn into? And I didn't really have the question answer in my head yet, like fucking assholes. But he goes, Draymond Green? great answer and I was like okay I go no I was like you won't even be

Draymond Green like in my mind I'm like Draymond Green made it bro but I was also like man you really are paying attention to sports like you have it in your head yeah that is funny what times he's going to bed man

they don't play till later I know he watched a lot of YouTube of basketball. Those are the YouTube don't let them watch. The other stuff not so great. Hey, we got practice 9 a.m. Saturday. Do we really? Yeah. Are you serious? That serious. Is there a game?

No, there's no game. Just to practice. 9 a.m. We got rained out the last two weeks. We talked about practice? Talk about practice. It's good for the kids. Not a game. All right, take care. We'll talk to you after the weekend.