Green Light with Chris Long - Green Light Exclusive with former Seattle Seahawk Cliff Avril

Episode Date: December 19, 2019

On this week's Green Light Exclusive, former Seattle Seahawks defensive end, Cliff Avril, joins Chris Long to talk NFL Playoffs, Seattle Seahawks run to the number 1 seed and home field advantage, and all-time great defenses. About Chalk Media: Following the unfiltered voice and vision of Chris Long, Chalk Media is the interactive online community for you, the intelligent and humorous sports fan. Driven by access, Chalk delivers a unique perspective that cuts through the canned talking points and provides a variety of content from your favorite sports and entertainment celebrities. Here at Chalk, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we are rooted in challenging the perception of professional athletes. We embrace the “real” with a unique combination of humor and intelligence. Chalk is a community with a voice beyond 240 characters that brings a perspective and vibe to a traditionally brash and boastful sports media space. Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more. Nothing is off limits at Chalk - 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. 🌍🏀🏈SUBSCRIBE NOW ⚾🏒⛰️ http://bit.ly/chalknetwork Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joining me on Greenlight is one of my good buddies, you know, a classmate of mine in the NFL draft, one of my favorite players, Cliff Averill. Cliff, how are we doing? By the way, Cliff is, I should intro them correctly, not only 74 career sacks, Pro Bowl, Super Bowl champion, but KJR 950. That's where you got your show now in Seattle. Yes, yes, yes. I got a sports talk show that I've been doing here for like the last year, year and a half now. Just talking football, man. Just try to figure out this transition thing, man.

Don't get like you. No, dude, that's what old guys say to each other on the phone or when they run into each other. I'm trying to get like you. That's what we said to. I said it to you. We're getting old because we're starting to do that shit. It really is good to have Cliff on, you know, obviously with Seattle in the race and actually first right now in the playoff race. We know how lethal that can be for the rest of the league if they get home field.

Nobody knows better than this guy. What was it like rushing in that stadium? I was always jealous. Unreal, man. It's unreal. You know, obviously, you know, my background coming from Detroit, then coming to an atmosphere like what the Seahawks have and the 12s, first and foremost, they truly, truly believe this whole 12th man mantra.

Like, they feel like they're part of the team with that. And that's why they turn up when you come to the games, man. And it's unreal. You know, it's the closest thing you'll get in the NFL to a college environment. You know, you go to the Penn States and all these big universities with 100,000 people and going crazy. Like, that's the vibe you get here in Seattle. And, you know, as a pass rusher, you know, getting that split second to be able to jump off the line of scrimmage, man. That means a lot.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I got a lot of sacks at home that they want to say due to the crowd. I hated to watch it because it was always against us. And we won some, well, we didn't win many games up there. but we we used to hit Russ a lot, but you guys used to always tee off on whoever we had

because when you have that little split second and you can't even like I'm talking about it is the loud, it's the loudest place in the league, right? You don't buy the arrowhead and the New Orleans thing, do you? No, that, I mean, they get loud, don't get me wrong. They're pretty loud, but nothing's messing with a night game here in Seattle, primetime game. Yeah.

And you couldn't hold a conversation with somebody standing too. You can. And it's perpetually the same weather in December. it's 42 and raining and like light rain and when we played you guys was always hey we keep it close we keep it close and there was always that one turnover in the third or fourth quarter that fucked us over actually earlier on this pod um i was talking about uh the beast quake in that year but you weren't there yet were you there i wasn't good you were still in detroit do you have any Detroit memories that that do you have a great Detroit memory or something that you remember about

Detroit and look back fondly because I know the teams were struggling. I was in St. Louis, we were both kind of on Midwestern teams that were that were having a rough time. And I just remember seeing you playing through a lot of tough situations. Was there a high there? Man, you know what? For me, throughout the process, it was honestly just my mindset was don't be the reason why. Don't be the reason why we're losing so many games.

Don't be the reason why, you know, this organization isn't able to. to get things going. But I would say, you know, we had one winning season. We went 10 and 6, and that was a season where I got to watch Calvin Johnson just be great. Just be this MVP caliber, this Hall of Fame caliber player. And the one play that comes to mind, this happened a few times that year, but Calvin was just out there mossing guys in the end zone. And in particular, against the Cowboys, you know, he went up like three or four times and just, I'm talking about. two, three, four people are wrapped around them.

Right. And somehow he leaps above everybody and snatching balls left and right. And for me, it was just impressive because he was a part of that 0-16 team with me as well. Yeah. Where it was, you know, we all know the NFL, right? Nobody wants the stigma of being 0-N-16, being winless or whatever. Coaches coming in. They're trying to, you know, completely tear up the locker room and bring new players in.

So myself, Calvin Johnson, a few other guys, we were just, man, hey, we're not going to be the reason why you guys continue to lose. We're trying to keep our jobs and different things like that. But seeing him kind of, you know, show me essentially the way of being a pro through that whole process and still out there dominating to the fullest. Yeah. Was impressive stuff. So just seeing him.

I'm not sure what's harder, Cliff. Sorry, I'm not sure what's harder is playing on a losing team or being on a great team because they both have their challenges. And I think a lot of people they think it's easier than it is playing on a great team. And I got a taste of that late in my career. You have to make certain sacrifices.

And you guys, when you got to Seattle, you went from this team where you were trying not to be the reason and I was the same way in St. Louis. And by the way, the year you went Owen 16, we beat you guys on a fake field goal. That's the only reason we didn't go 016.

I remember. Yeah, we hit Daniel Fells on a fake field goal to beat you guys and we just miss history. But by the way, when the dolphins, everybody was talking about they were going to go on 16, they were the worst team in the league. By the way, I'm sure you knew this too. We know shitty teams when we look at them. That team's bad, but they're not as bad as some of the teams we were on.

And our point differential was actually worse through eight games than the dolphins' first eight games this year. So you and I have PhDs in shitty football. But when you get to a good team, you're part of that historic game. group. What was it like being, you know, with the LOB behind you and that great defensive line up front? What do you, what are the sacrifices you have to make on a great defense? Oh, man. I mean, the list is long, honestly, especially when you come from what I, we're just talking about being on a crappy team, right, where you need to be that guy, right? You come to Seattle, man, and one of the main reason I sign, you, you as a past freshman,

you would understand this. One of the main reason I signed with Seattle was because of LOB, the guys on back in because I knew I'd get a split second longer to be able to get after that quarterback, right? So coming here, man, honestly, like, for me, it was like, how do you fit into this defense? How do you, how are you going to, to make plays in a defense full of elite athletes, right? And my thing was the sack fumble. Like, I had to find ways to get turnovers, right? Because that was our big thing. We need to get turnover. We need to get turn. Well, as a D-Liman, that's the only way you're going to get them. You're not getting interceptions or anything like that. So I just, I just focused more.

I mean, I used to do it anyways, but I focused more on getting sack funnels. And that was my way of contributing to something that was already so special, right? So, you had your thing. You had your niche, yeah. And just trying to find that niche and finding, figuring out how I could play a role in this defense. Dude, when I tell you, it was so hard making plays in this defense. Because everybody's making them. If you miss a tackle, you probably wouldn't get another tackle the rest of the game.

Right, right. And, I mean, you're talking about Bobby and KJ and all these guys, like ball hunters, bro. Yeah. So it was just hard. And again, just finding my little niche, which was getting sack fumbles. And that's kind of how I played my role in this whole defense. Yeah, absolutely. And for you who rushed on the left side a lot, you know, you were great at top-down rushes

where, you know, you'd get that jump, you'd hook the rip or you'd swipe or whatever it was you were doing to get that top hip. And that's the way a guy in the left can get those sack fumbles, you know, because the guys on the right, they always have the blind side. That ball is just sitting out there. But for you, you did a great job of that. With that D-Line group, was there one player that was the most underrated? I know I didn't, I didn't warn you that this is, this is a question.

Was there one, was there one guy that just didn't get the credit he deserved? I think the one guy, honestly, it would be KJ and myself, honestly. KJ. Wright, who has, I think, been elite for a long time, but never really got the recognition. I mean, the outside, outside linebacker position is always going to be hard if you play in a traditional, you know, four or three type of space, because you're going to get guys like Von Miller and all those guys that play in a three, four. But also myself from the standpoint of, I mean, outside of my peers, nobody really knew who Cliff Aver was, right? And every year, year and a year out, my man, every year, year and a year out, you know, I'm consistent as far. I was consistent as far as for, you know, getting sack numbers and different things like that.

But again, the sack fumbles. I mean, during our 10-year career, I want to say I led that in that span. attack fumbles. You know, so I would say us too. You know, my family and friends, they would always compare me to like a Jamal Crawford or somebody like that. Yeah, I like that. Everybody, their peers, everybody, like their peers know, but. But the fans don't necessarily know, which was crazy to me. And I think that was part of, you know, when you were in Detroit or when I'm in St. Louis, like people don't pay attention to us. But even when you got to a great place, there were so many great players, including yourself, that sometimes they overlooked the guy that hasn't been there forever.

and you being the new guy. And also, you're a guy who for the most part was, you know, put your head down and work. And, you know, so you weren't hearing from you as much you hear from like a Mike or something like that. And by the way, we both still keep in touch with Mike. Does that group keep in touch pretty good? Is there group techs firing off? Or is that group kind of gone their separate ways? Oh, man.

We were pretty close-knit group, man. And, you know, you had Mike B as a teammate as well. Mike B will make sure he keeps in contact with all this guy first before. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, group text, everything. But collectively, you know, all the guys from Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Cam Chastel, I mean, the list is long. All of us keep in contact. All of us, you know, during the offseason, we try to go on a vacation together.

We all go to dinner. We do different things together because we were much more than just coworkers, just team mates. I mean, we were all really close guys. I mean, our wives hang out, kids do things together. So, yeah, I think, and that showed why we were so good, honestly, is because we were genuinely friends. We actually were cool and not necessarily just teammates or coworkers. Absolutely.

It's rare nowadays, and we had it in St. Louis with a group that stayed together for a while, to keep a group together for a while and for guys to put their egos aside because we all have them and to try to work towards the same objective, and that ball can be all of ours. You know, that quarterback can be all of ours, and we got to work together. The Seahawks, ironically now, you know, fast forwarding and you get a lot of good looks at them. Their strength has not been on up front on either side of the ball. What gives there and what do they have to do to kind of mask those problems going into the postseason?

Because when you look at it, they're near the bottom of the league and getting sacks and hits as far as the percentage is concerned. And Russ is getting hit and sacked at a very high clip as well. Yeah, no. I mean, it looks completely different from those heyday. see hope days when you talk about LLB and the defense being kind of the core of of the team now it's completely different Russell has to carry the team you know Russell it's it's all on Russell and how they move forward up front they haven't necessarily been playing well especially on the defensive side of the ball due to injuries due to um you know a lot of different things you look at clownie

and Ziggy who they expected to essentially replace myself and Mike B and Frank Clark and all those guys but it's unfair to them, one, because of the standard, and then two, it's unfair because both of those guys, you look at Clowny, Clowny didn't get here, but four days before a game. Right. Yeah, that whole new system, old new schemes. So people are, they just think it's put your hand in the dirt and go. No, no. It's the whole thing behind that.

It's a technique. There's the philosophy, everything behind that. So, and then Ziggy, obviously, he didn't play much a year before due to injuries. And then you're like, oh, we expect you to come give us 12, 13 sex this season. extremely hard to do. So those guys, unfortunately, you know, were behind the eight ball going into the season, and they haven't necessarily been able to pick it up because of all that and on top of injuries as well. And then on the flip side, you know, you look at the offensive line, those guys were the strength of the defense and then guys started getting hurt. They lose Justin Britt, who I think played a major, major role. We all know. The center is basically the quarterback of the offensive line. Yeah, not just that. He's a guy who can play guard too and can kick around. Exactly, exactly. A guy you can move around. So, Losing Justin Britt, I think, has hurt them a lot. Not saying Joey Hunt can't necessarily do it. But the O line, they need that quarterback.

They need that guy to direct traffic. They need a guy that can trust in the middle to be able to make all those calls. And I think losing Justin Britt plays a big role in how they've looked in the passing game. Rushing-wise, I mean, Carson just rushed for another thousand yards. So obviously, the O-line plays a big role in that as well. But as far as for the passing game, Russell looks like he's ready for his life from time. I know he does. and that's been historically a thing there.

You know, like I remember playing against you guys and thinking about the old line was like coached to be aggressive. You're going to get a full day's work. Like Brenno and me used to just battle. But I was also going to beat him a lot in pass pro. Like that was the tradeoff. You guys were great in the run game. Tom Cable set a tone.

But, I mean, that's never been the thing. But then when you couple it with on the other side of the ball not having the presence up front, it gets to be a little much. Now, they're number one right now, and they're 10 for the last 10 at that field in the playoffs. So they get home field advantage. Well, first of all, I'll ask you what happens week 17 against the Niners? And then if they get home field, if they get home field, do you like them getting there to Miami? Yes, yes.

I mean, as far as for advantage, there really is an advantage of being here in Seattle. And every time they've had the number one seed, they've gone to the Super Bowl. Now, I haven't necessarily won them all, obviously, but they've gone the last three times that they've been the number one seat. So, yeah, obviously, that plays a big role. Week 17 is going to be the difference maker, man. Last time they played them, they didn't have kiddle, you know, but they're also banged up right now as well.

You know, obviously Sharm and a few other guys are banged up. So although those are my guys, Richard Sherman and some of those guys over there, I wouldn't mind seeing them not play this week 17 as well. So the Seahawks can get that number one seed. I do think they can play with the best of them. them though. Seahawks had their identity this season is interesting because they haven't blown anybody out. Last week, they had a chance to blow out the Panthers and yet they still made

it a tight game. They found a way. And they found a way to make it close, right? And that seems to be their identity. They can't necessarily blow teams out because of the way the offense is laid out. But also the defense isn't necessarily their strength as it used to be in the past. But they are so battle tested, obviously. They're battle tested. They go down to the wire. They truly believe you win the game in the fourth quarter. And I think that in itself will allow them to make a run in the playoffs. Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, like if they get there, this will be, well, a lot of it is because Russ has taken

the team and put it on his back, which is interesting because there's an entire another dynamic to, you know, Russ and who he felt comfortable being when it was a defensive team. And now it's kind of his team. But I would say that this would be. the least good. I'm not going to say worse, the least good version of the Seahawks we've seen make a deep postseason run. This team has a lot of warts, but

they've been able to cover them up because they're well coached. Russ has played out of his mind, and I think it's just a scrappiness to the Seahawks that has resonated culturally through the years. I do worry about them because of their pension for

implosion. They do turn the ball over at some bad times. And their four biggest games this year. They spotted the other team points on defense and special teams. The Saints, the Ravens, the Niners, and then there was one other recently. I think I was the Vikings game. Oh, yeah, the Vikings.

So they're giving up, they're spotting teams' points, and you can't do that in the playoffs. I worry about Chris Carson because Rashad Penny started to come on, right? Then he gets hurt. The thing I worry about Chris Carson is he likes to put the ball on the ground, and in the playoffs, do you have to worry about him in big situations giving him the rock? Yeah, he has had issues early on, and then it kind of sparked up, it came up again. I want to say probably like three or four weeks ago as far as for him putting the ball on the turf. But it's one of those things, honestly, is you have to deal with it.

You know what I'm saying? It's like he's going to get you 100 yards a game. You're going to get like this past week that's a 1030. He's awesome. So it's like you kind of got to take the good with the battle in a sense. But I do think he's figured it out. You know, the first three or four games, he had like four or five fumbles or whatnot. And then he went about six, seven weeks without it.

And then, again, it came back up. But also, I think with losing Penny is a big hit because he was just starting to figure things out. He was just starting to get things going because a lot of people around here were starting to call him a bus. And again, like I said, he was starting to figure it out. And that could have been great one, two punts. So now it boils down to, you know, CJ Procise, who he fumbled, his, The first day, yeah, the exchange. Yeah.

And that's exactly that stability that Penny was giving them in the depth. It's going to be a fun ride no matter what in the playoffs. I like them as much as anybody. I think the team that San Francisco least wants to see, I think they could be a team that beat San Francisco three times in one season. And I can't remember the last time that happened. But it feels like 2012 to me. It feels like that kind of rivalry, which is really cool.

And we had a lot of those in 2012 and in those years in the NFC West. I want to hit you with some quick hitters before you go. Loudest moment you ever heard at Seattle. Ooh, loudest moment. I wasn't here for the Beast Quake, but I would say playoff game against Drew Brees. I got a sack fumble. Mike B caught it and House caught it. And that was like some intense stuff right there.

That wasn't Mike. That wasn't Mike Bennett on a bicycle, was it? No, no. That was after the Green Bay game. That was Green Bay. Yeah, that was after Green Bay. But yeah, that would probably be the loudest that I've heard it and been a part of, for sure. What does Michael Bennett do after football?

Oh, man. He can do so many different things. So many things. You know and him, right? He could do media if you wanted to. This man is teaching at the University of Hawaii during the off season. Being a man writes books. Who knows?

He can do all of that. You know what I joked with him because he wrote that book What Makes White People Uncomfortable? I said, You need to write a book that says What makes white pass rushers uncomfortable Because you need to stay in your fucking

Rush Lane, dude. Hey, Hey, have you ever seen a wider three technique than this cat? Oh, no, no. So, I'm like, I will say him being in a wide three

helped me out a lot. Yeah, because you can always play off of them. You have to be a speed rusher, though, the right. Yeah, exactly. I used to explain to him. I'm like,

Mike, you know, like, I know Cliff and I, you know, we're kind of same draft class, all that stuff. And there's parallels, but I'm 34 years old. I can't run the hedge like Cliff in Seattle right now. You got to give me a little space. Okay. So how about your favorite road city to play? Oh, man, favorite road city? This is going to be a little different. But I would say the Panthers, honestly, because, one, it felt like we played them every single year I was here in Seattle. So it felt like a divisional opponent. But also the fact that, you know, it was close to home. I lived in Charlotte, obviously, but then my mom could come to the game.

My wife's family could come to the game. So it would always be a great family affair at the house the night before the game. Nice. Okay. So best offense to tackle that you played against. Best offensive tackle, I would say is Joe Thomas, man. Yeah, that guy's pretty good. And I would say the reason why he was just so doggone patient, bro.

Like wouldn't give you hands, wouldn't give you anything. And I'm sitting there as a pass rush. Like, give me something so I could knock him down so I could just run right by you. And he would jump to snap count right along with me. So it would frustrate me. Yeah, he's out in front of you. It's like, it's crazy. I played him once.

Who is mine? Probably the guy played in practice a lot because I consider, if I play, somebody over on the other side. I was like so right-handed, meaning I wouldn't want to play on the other side. Like I felt drunk over there. So like, I went from being a decent rush.

Yeah, to be like average, bro. Just flailing, like not even feeling like I did. But Tyrant Smith is probably the best left tackle I've seen. And then on our side, I got to go against Lane Johnson, a lot of tail end of my career every day. He's the best right tackle I played against, in my opinion. I mean, the guy's technically and athletically, the whole nine.

How about the best shit talker on the Seattle team? Obviously, I play with Richard Sherman, Mike B. You know about Mike B. But Mike B at so high pitch. You're like, is that big scary dude saying, is that who just said that? Yeah, but I would say Mike B had some one-hitter quitter line. Yeah, oh, yeah.

Although it's high pitch, he's very clever. So he comes out. I'm like, where do you like, first off, where do you get this from? And then secondly, bro, he's about to snap the rock. So I would say Mike Big. Really? I've seen him just stand up above the line of scrimmage while somebody's audible and just start going in on there like their girlfriend or wife or something crazy like that.

That's ridiculous. All right, before I let you go because I almost forgot I didn't slide this one in on you. I did warn you before for the people listening. I would not fuck my friends over. Josh Gordon, do you have any take on this? I mean, Josh is obviously suspended indefinitely. We know as players a different side of things than the fans do. Yeah, man, I feel bad for him.

I mean, obviously everybody's all football and all this other stuff. Obviously, the man has an issue. You know what I mean? And he's dealing with some demons and different things like that. So for me, it's just more so I just hope he gets the help, man. You know, hope he gets the right people around him and not a bunch of yes men or people that just are okay with him kind of going down this, this road. I just think he needs to get the right people around him again and just get the right

help and screw football, man. Exactly, dude. Let's get him on the right path to be just a good citizen of the world, you know what I mean, and just getting him on the right path. It's unfortunate. Obviously, you know, you would love to have him on your team, but more so than anything, man, let's let's collectively as a football community try to get him on the right path to do right for himself in the rest of his life. And I think that reinforcement comes from the goal at the end of this isn't to play football again. It's to be well. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I agree 1,000 percent. It's all about

him being the best human being he can be for himself and society. You know what I mean? Hit football. And I don't know the details that this was out of this, this was out of the Seahawks hands, correct? This was, he failed tests. So, but I want to believe that that Pete would have done the right I think Pete seems like a guy who cares about his players. I could be wrong. I never played for him. Yeah, no, no. I think Coach Carroll, if he knew or whatever the case may have been for sure, I definitely

think that organization in general, honestly, and you know about the NFL, most organizations don't care about any of their players. But I can honestly truly say, at least from my perspective and how things played out, they would have tried to do the right thing because that's what they did with me and some other guys. So I think they would have definitely done the right thing by Josh. This is on Josh. This is on the NFL and, you know, him failing tests.

You know, once you're in the program, bro, they test you probably, especially someone like himself. He probably gets tested, you know, two, three times a week. Exactly. And for some guys who have arrests for anything off the field for the people listening, if you've been arrested for something off the field that had to do with drugs or a DUI, then you get tested for, like, everything. Like, you could come in with a little booze in your system from last night and fail a test.

No question. You know, and it's not just weed that guys fail test for. Listen, there's plenty of guys in the league who smoke weed. I've talked about it at length. You know, the Josh Gordon thing is way deeper than that, and I hope he gets well. One chance for you to, I want you to plug your charity stuff. You do a lot of great work in Haiti and elsewhere. Yeah, man, you're part of my motivation too now.

My God, dude. I've always paid attention to what you and what your organization's been doing. But the Cliff Abrell Family Foundation, man, we created this. thing about seven years ago. It's gear toward, the mission is geared towards juvenile diabetes, so I do a lot of work with JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I've helped them raise

over 250,000 over the last few years, but also do a lot of work in Haiti, man. I'm Haitian. That plays a big role in why, obviously, with the diabetes, but we built the elementary school out there which I'm extremely excited about. The house is about 500 kids.

You know, we built over 25 homes out there as well. We do football camps. We do a wide range of different things in Haiti. Also here in the Seattle market, we do a lot of different things from health fairs to, like I just said, doing different things with JDRF and in the Odessa Clinic as well, which is a clinic that I support. I'm actually taking some kids shopping tomorrow for Christmas, you know, just giving back to the community, man.

We're so blessed. We're so fortunate to be in a position that we're in and playing the game of football and all those different things. So it's all about giving back, man. But what was the stone to make a difference in the world? And Cliff has certainly done that

for anybody listening and check out his stuff. I can honestly say he's a walk-to-walk guy and was a great player and now he's great on the radio. You can catch him in Seattle on the radio as well.

So thanks for joining us, Cliff. We really appreciate it, man. Yeah, appreciate you having me, man. Of course, dude.

It won't be, dude. I didn't want you, I didn't want to have to like, you know, like we haven't fully bloomed yet with the listenership. So I didn't want

one of the greats to come on the show for 15,000. We're trying to drive listenership up. So tell your friends to listen to Greenlight Pod too, Cliff. Hey, I got you. I got you. Like I said, make sure you say the last time. No, we got you. You're going to be out there Super Bowl, man? Yeah, I'll see you. I'll see you Florida. All right, Lay. I'll see you out there, my man. Good, dude. All right, take it easy.