Green Light with Chris Long - Matthew Slater! Retirement, Patriots Memories, Special Teams, Jerod Mayo & Tom Brady!

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

Green Light becomes a Patriots Podcast! New England Patriots former All Pro Matthew Slater joins Chris to talk the Patriot Way, Special Teams, Tom Brady, Super Bowls, Jerod Mayo taking over for Bill Belichick, Matthew's retirement and memories with the Patriots. Chris starts the show with a light recap of his trip to the Bahamas and his love of water slides. (00:00) - Chris on water slides in the Bahamas! (24:00) - Matthew Slater on retirement, Patriots memories, favorite teammate, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola fighting for Tom Brady's attention, Jerod Mayo taking over for Bill Belichick and handling introducing the game of football to his kids Check us out LIVE in Austin, Texas this weekend at South By Southwest! https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2024/green-light-with-chris-long-to-join-sportico-sxsw-podcast-stage-lineup-1234768328/ 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/c/GreenLightTube1 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 guess what I'm wondering is, who sucked up to Tom Brady the most in that receiver room? I mean, that was easy. That's Julian all the way. I mean, he followed him around like a little puppy dog early in his career and then, you know, would do whatever he could to endear himself to Tom. Welcome to the Green Light podcast. Hey, thanks for being around today. If you're a Patriots fan, you're going to love it. It's one of the greatest Patriots of all time.

not a Patriots fan, but you love football. Enjoy some in-depth football talk from two great football minds. Matthew Slater joins us. The Patriots All-Pro special teamer who recently retired, he's going to talk everything from Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Randy Moss, to the kickoff rules, to the most important players on special teams, to every part of New England Patriot lore. Chris and Matthew go through it all. Enjoy the interview. We start off with Chris recapping his trip down to the Bahamas. He had a good little time. I've got a little rest relaxation. And he checked out his favorite thing, the waterslide.

Enjoy it. If you're in Austin, Texas, you want to come by and say what up? We're going to be at South by Southwest this weekend on Sunday at the Four Seasons's podcast stage. Please come by and say hi. We'll have some cool interviews for you next week. See you then. Bienvenito de Nuevo, Cowboy Reed.

Hola, machos. Cavaleros. Yeah, do you know what that means? You said, hello, how are you doing? I said welcome back. Oh, welcome back. Gracius. How was Mexico?

Mexico was amazing. We were in a small surf town, Sayulita. I'll give everybody the inside scoop because Sayulita is amazing. It's just north of Puerto Vireta, which is where Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson were vacationing at the same time. We were down there. Really? Yeah. Dakota Johnson kind of stalks me.

Chris Martin's with Dakota Johnson. Yep. I don't even know who that is. Dakota. Don Johnson's daughter was in 50 shades of. Shades of gray. Never saw 50 shades of gray. It's probably a good thing. I didn't either much. But yeah, so they were down there. We went whale watching one day. We were surfing plenty. We found a hidden beach. Do you see any whales? Yeah, oh yeah. Okay. Found a mama and baby as they're making their way, you know, south.

Nice. Hiding from those killer whales. But yeah, it was great. Yeah, how is, how about you? You were at the beach too. Yeah, beach was good, man. Beach was good. I'll get to that in a second. First tell people About South by Southwest. This isn't going to be a long pot. We're going to be a lot of information out. Yeah, so this weekend, we're leaving Saturday. We're heading out to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. We're going to have a nice little time.

Might have a couple of interviews for you down there. We will be on the stage. Do we? A couple big ones. But we will be on the stage. And if you're in Austin, Texas, if you're hanging out, you can come see us. It's going to be at the Sportico podcast stage at the Four Seasons Terrace. So if you just go into the Four Seasons Hotel, right downtown,

off their main entrance. I'll even give you the address. It's 98 San Jacinto Boulevard. Follow the signs to the terrace. You'll see the podcast stage. You'll see lawn chairs. But first, meet me at the dumpster with a dime bag. Because you bet your ass, I am not traveling into the state of Texas with any marijuana. I don't want a guy with a bucket hat putting me in his car. That's probably, that's a good call. Yeah. We, yeah, we don't do that. One of the mailbag questions about the Bahamas was, did you bring your drugs or find some there?

And that is the age-old dilemma when you're traveling abroad. The correct answer is, of course, do not bring drugs abroad? 100%. That was, we were on the beach, and like every five minutes, like peddlers would come up and like, hey, do you want this painting? You want it? But a guy's nose really itches. Every three minutes.

There was a guy with a really itchy nose that just. Yeah. Yeah, everybody's nose is itchy at the nightclubs there. I'm like, no, do you have any zen? Anyways, the question was, did you bring your drugs or find some there? I don't know. I thought about it a while, and then I started Googling Foxhill Prison. You know, it just be me, Sam Bankman, and 600 guys with TB, and fucking, you just,

just every, any, any letter disease is, you can find it there. No, seriously, Hep C.T.E. You, you, that. Boys, welcome to the Fox Hill Prison, the final alphabet disease. We got Chris Long, former defensive end, who is here with his young family and tried to smuggle in an eighth of marijuana, but we take that very seriously here in the Bahamas. So we're going to, we're going to welcome Chris Long. who has chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

That's what I would have to say the first night. I would have to do something to make them believe that I was like a live wire, honestly. Or I'd have to be like chief and one flew over the cuckoo's nest. The first night I got to do something drastic because not just all the inmates. By the way, it's like in Fox Hill,

I know I'm just, the question was about drugs, but maybe I'm like yours, you're smoky for forest fire. when it comes to bringing drugs with you to the Caribbean. Bahamas is not the right island, okay, from just reading a little bit about it. Foxhill Prison, not good. Six to a cell, six by 10 cell.

I just imagine the Bahamas prison guards, the Bahamian prison guards, they're not going to like me very much. You know, when you go to a nice resort, and there's a bunch of resort workers, and for the most part, they probably don't fucking like. like you white guy from the states they know how expensive everything is there they know how

wasteful the guy's kids are they know how brady the guy's wife is they they're tired of fucking seeing it fox hill prisons just i mean like being a a worker at a at a nice resort in the bahamas is just basically like being a prison guard without without the use of excessive force if you fucking if i ended up in foxhill prison They would do things with a nightstick to me that have not been done before. And I wouldn't blame them. I would beat my ass for all the investment bankers and fucking finance bros that have Grayshire Island for what feels like at eons. And I would take it all out on me.

Apparently they have buckets instead of toilets. People just shitting in buckets. That doesn't sound like something I do at all. I'm very civilized. I'd rather just go to my luxury resort, hollow out a carrot, and make it a pipe, and smoke shitty weed out of it. Because that's what I did. How'd you find this shitty weed? I don't want to talk about it.

It wasn't that bad. You know, there's always the offhand chance that's laced with crack cocaine or something. But, you know, nothing to make the trip a little bit more interesting. I did bring which is not as not as scary to travel with no because I don't even think

there's like a real law for that right in the Bahamas I don't think I'm admitting to breaking international law well you had to have it in the United States well don't be a pussy

it's not gonna hurt you to it's not gonna hurt you to Google it Matt they're not gonna to kick down your door tonight disturb you and your girlfriend is that how you think this works I don't think there's anything wrong

with homas or weed really here's here but here's here's here's here's here's here's here's legalize it decriminalize it everywhere because here's what we've got going on the irony of the situation i'd probably be able to find some pretty fucking good weed in fox hill so you so i got to travel like if i want it i'd have to suitcase some pot or something like that to get it into otherwise i got a chance smoking possible shirm like in the Bahamas flipping out,

running through walls, going down the water slide on angel dust because you guys can't fucking decriminalize marijuana. You know, the alternative is me just bringing some really good weed down and maybe the problem is

not as many spirits, not as many rum runners. If I've got that loud on me. All right, anyways, here's the deal. Here's the deal. I don't gamble with my family's vacation. That was a very important vacation to me and my family,

and I just want to say this. Probably the highlight of my trip, other than the few highlights that I'm about to mention before getting the interview, when I pulled the carrot out of the fridge because I was out of papers, and my wife looked at me like she could not believe that she married me.

And when I went upstairs, 10, 15, minutes later and she smelled that Reggie Miller that gentle sea breeze took it right from the upstairs porch back down into the in the great room there lovely lovely property wait why did you use a carrot rather than an apple because I don't like doing the apple thing man and I well I didn't have any apples okay so we didn't have any apples so if I wasn't going to go buy rolling paper somewhere in in Nassau, then I definitely wasn't going to go get an apple somewhere. I just dealt with what I had. You know that when you have a slab of knives and they're all stuck in there,

you know, fine cutlery, we had some fine cutlery. We also had that fucking poker-looking thing that people put like through a prime rib or I don't know what they do with this motherfucker. But that's what I had to use that to puncture and then hollow out this carrot. How long a process was that? Oh, the care was this long. How long a process was that for me? Like five to ten minutes.

You should have seen my wife when I walked back downstairs stone to the bone. She looked like she had just finished up a 64 ounce glass of haterade. It's a great feeling engineering a piece. Oh, fuck yeah, especially when your wife looks at you said, maybe he could live without me. You know, maybe I could leave him for the weekend and he'd be okay. I was so proud. You want to talk about like when man took his first. step on the moon when I got this carrot to work for me I could do no wrong where's the

carrot is the carrot in the trash here's in the trash can with the rest of the in the weed is it a code break to give your dog the apple so nobody knows I used to like sneak my weed in high school and I would use the apple and then to get rid of the evidence I'd give my dog the apple oh you can have your dog eat the apple no problem no problem no problem dog doesn't know my dog eats shit you think your dog was worried about smelling a little bit of bong water, so to speak, in there. Okay, and then Dan B. asked, how was the water slide? Because everybody knows

when I go on vacation, I like to hit the water slide. I like to go fast in my underwear. That was your destination right after you talked to Bo letting her on Tuesday. Couldn't wait to go to the water slide. One of the two water slides was shut down. Luckily, the one that has a dark tunnel was not shut down because I love that one.

And I probably went down at 14 to 17 times. Now, day two, they opened up water slide, too. and I hit that one too, but it just didn't hit the same. Okay, so had a great time at the water slide. The best part of the trip, other than hollowing out that carrot and just stunning on my miserable wife. No, I love you, Meg.

You're the best. We had a great trip, but my favorite part of the trip was when Luke was going on the water slide. Luke has really good eyes. He spots things. Like he spots bald eagles. He spotted a golden eagle the other day, kicked my door down at home like just saw a golden eagle I'm like bro okay so anyways comes down the

slide and in this slide he's moving shoots down into the water comes back up and he can swim but like he he's not a swimmer to where like I don't feel I got to feel I got I feel I I feel like I feel like I feel like I got to be down there you know so I'm watching the whole thing and he goes he comes up for air he looks around he goes back down under the water and I'm like what the fuck could be under there He comes back up with a $100 bill. Okay? I said, holy shit, buddy. He's swimming over to me with $100.

I was like, get back there. We need to go. There has to be more. If you don't do, you drop a couple hundred dollars in the water. You don't just drop $100 in the water. It's a nice resort, too. So he goes back down there, and we counted $440 that we found at the bottom of that pool. Okay, and we were going to keep it until I found an Amex, and that just made it too personal.

You know, like I know who I'm stealing from. Then you got the name. so there's something you can do. I look around the resort and I'm like, everybody here seems to be doing very well. So you just gave back the Amex, right? Because there is a finder's fee. Well, so this is the thing that I felt weird about

because my first thought in all honesty was like, okay, this is one of those moments where like karma kicks in. So like even if this guy's the biggest rich asshole in the world and can afford to lose like $500 going down on a water side, which I'm sure he was a really good guy. Okay, but good people lose money too. even if this guy could be you know Saddam Hussein I'm going to return the money because this is about karma

this is like one of those moments where you're being tested right so I call my wife over I've got to help with my other son and I come back I'm like what did you guys do with it well we return the money I said yes she said yeah I said what do you mean yeah she said well we kept $20 as a finder's fee I was like are you fucking kidding me I was like, yeah, give it to the boys. You just watch your Goodwill meter go, I said, you did that.

I said, just so you know, I'm not getting hit by a bus. Might be you home girl. She's not getting hit by a bus. You're not going anywhere, all right? She's not going anywhere. Her husband's got ingenuity. Engineer qualities. I don't know if you've seen the videos of the guy

he's got like a pet bird that he sends out and he picks and he finds like money this bird like finds money bird yeah and you've got looks like money bird he's your money bird that is my money bird that is my money bird that dude is so fucking lucky we are going to send him to a casino as soon as he is up age people are going to you know how people are way too into the league you know sports i'm going to be way too into getting him to like run numbers for me he is uh he's just got a gift okay um yeah Uh, only art that I want to review. Well, I saw a couple things in my travels. I saw Octopus Murders, which was very interesting.

I told Matt about that. Probably check that out, but probably don't watch it stone. You're probably going to want to pay attention during this show. There's a lot of details in four episodes. Also watch Chimp Empire. Oh, that's what Nate was recommending. So Nate has been recommending Chimp Empire. Kyle has been recommending Chimp Empire.

Everybody's been recommending Chimp Empire. And it's basically, it's a show on Netflix that follows around a lot of chimpanzees. And, you know, I'll put it this way. Being a chimpanzee kind of sucks. They almost have it all figured out. These motherfuckers live in the jungle, the most beautiful place in the world. They can get by on anything. Eating other monkeys, like, they do.

Oh, I know. You know, just kind of like, they're like the raccoons of the jungle. And so they really haven't made. Like, the one thing that gets them is. they're fiercely territorial. They cannot kick that territorial instinct. So they just end up living these very stressful lives when they could be chilling.

They could have it made in the shade. They could collaborate. And they're being exploited by Netflix. It's unfair labor practices. They don't get paid. They didn't get paid. You're going to give the guys names, but you're not going to pay these chimpanzees.

But here's the problem. They're so territorial. They don't work together. They don't get anything done together. You know what their entire life consists of? Honestly, if they became here, human beings like right now and they became Americans I don't think they think shit was that weird because all they worry about is the border if you watch if you watch

a chimp empire half the time they're just walking around in a fucking circle killing other chimps on site okay these guys can hold stuff they can they can communicate they can emote, they can groom each other, they live in the jungle, but their lives are fucked up because they're too territorial and they're worried about the border. Kind of sounds like, sounds like, you know, sounds like the one thing that we got it made, but we're just so fucking territorial, everybody's so tribal. And that's the one thing I noticed about these chimps too. We're not that much different from the chimps, are we? No. We just have playstations and fast food and shit and Quicky Marts and fucking

sex shops. These chimps are, they're very simple. You know? They are about grooming and securing the border. If that's a show you want to watch, have at it. Okay?

Matthew Slater. Matthew Slater is how do I do this without sounding like myself the thousand other times that I've talked about how awesome Matt Slater is. There are some people who

make you feel like shit about yourself and don't even try. And that is because some people are just better. They are just better human beings. They are more resolve, they have more conviction, they have more stick-to-itiveness. They're just

they're just discipline and selfless and honestly matt slater is like poster child for that kind of guy that you want to be great friends with but also you spend half the time like wondering like is he just that much better because he is like as a human being he is that kind of guy and i always talk about this there are so many amazing guys that play in the NFL that nobody gets to focus on because all we focus on is the bad news the bad stuff but when somebody like matt slater is somewhere long enough especially like in New England, you get to know certain players. And I know Patriots fans know the guy a little bit more than everybody else in the NFL. But I think the one thing that everybody feels when they look at Matt Slater's career is respect.

Special teams, and I say this talking to Matt in a second, it's like the Wild West. I mean, you know, it is literally the hungriest football players in the country trying to make a living, trying to stick on a team, oftentimes being the last guy on a rock. And these are the people that Matthew Slater, not only the kind of person that Matthew Slater was when he got in the league and had to continue to be, because he wasn't a position player, essentially, as a patriot. I mean, he was a wide receiver, but did not get a lot of game action playing wide receiver. The reason people are talking about him being in the Hall of Fame is because he was so great at his job for so long. And that job was special teams. I mean, it was a few different things on special teams,

but he survived in the hungriest environment in pro football, in the hungriest pro sport in America, in the hungriest environment within that sport for over a decade, well over a decade, as an older player in a special team's room, which is becoming increasingly rarer in the NFL. So you have to have equal parts,

you know, kind of like, hunger, prickliness, competitive spirit, and also, you know, that kind of stick-tuitiveness that I talked about, that caginess that, because Matt Slater wouldn't get any faster. It looked like you could still play, even though he shut it down. But, you know, every year it had to be harder and harder. And those footsteps behind you, when you think about the mental struggle of, like, trying to keep your job in the NFL, had to get louder and louder for him. I mean, I don't know how loud they were for him last year. But being an older guy running down on puns, I mean, it is not an old man's game. So I have so much respect for special teamers and a ton of respect for Matt Slater and obviously

he retired this last week. And I think what's interesting about him is like a lot of guys came and went. He really saw that thing through to the bitter end. Now, I don't know that that was intentional for him, but I know that he wanted to play one more year. He talked about that in the interview. It's crazy. He could have avoided the iceberg. Anybody could have seen what this year was going to look like. Maybe not as bad as it ended up being, but the fact that he opted into that thing, it was like, I want to finish strong, burn the ships, whatever happens happens, finishing that way. He definitely went down with the ship, man. And that was a true captain, somebody who I really enjoyed playing with and was a great leader. So here's Matt Slater. And then,

We will be back early next week with some more. And if you are in Austin, come hang out with us Sunday, 6 p.m., central time, local time. 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 hat right here fits great. We've got hoodies.

We've got, by the way, this hoodie is 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. Fax 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 uh stickers hit the link in the description in the video uh 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 this has become a patriot's podcast i mean don't say i don't love the pets i got i got steve bellichick on one week and now I got newly retired, one of my favorites, Matt Slater. Matt, what's up, dude? What's going on, brother? I really appreciate you having me. This is awesome. This is incredible.

I mean, like, I don't get to see you talk much, you know? Like, I know, I know you personally, but people don't hear you talk enough in long form, so I'm psyched about this. Well, I'm looking forward to it. Anything for you. Let's stop it, buddy. Stop it. I just, okay, let me, let me start.

with this because we've kind of we've talked about this obviously you just retired um when did you know it was time yeah uh yeah that's a good question i think uh last off season as my wife and i were thinking about this season we kind of decided that this would be it you know based off uh where i was physically where we are as a family you know we have four kids and um you know she just needed me home more. I wanted to be home more. So we kind of made the decision last year that this would be the last go-round. So, you know, it gave us an opportunity to really enjoy the season, enjoy the, you know, everything about the football process. And, man, it was, it was, other than being 4 and 13, it was really fun. Other than that thing, which we can talk about, but I want to talk

about the emotion, man. And I guess part of that probably has a lot to do with how the, you know, the games are going on the field. Like when you think about an ideal one more run, that's not it. But there's probably a lot of beauty that you found just in going through the motion, so to speak, and finishing the season. I mean, like, I know it's tough, but when it's the last time doing this or the last time doing that, was it emotional for you? And did you find joy in doing that?

Yeah, you know, it was very emotional. It was tough. I feel as though as I've gotten older, I've become softer. So it's hard to hold a front and to act like you're doing okay. It was certainly hard. That last game, that last week were very tough. My parents were in town. My brother was there.

My family. So, you know, I tried to take it all in. And I was just overwhelmed with gratitude. I mean, I never expected to have a chance to retire from the NFL. I just always assumed the game would be done with me before I was done with it. So just super thankful. It was emotional because, you know, this is a game that I love. And you know the feelings that, you know, we've talked about it.

Just what this game has meant to me. And so I'm just super grateful. Was the last game a little extra surreal because of the snow and the fact that it was the Jets? And it was like people were speculating was Bill's last game too. Yeah. It was kind of like the perfect storm, if you will. You know, just it made it extra special. Southern California kid playing his last football game in a blizzard.

You know, I was really hoping that it wasn't Bill's last game, but, you know, that was certainly in play. And that gave certainly me extra motivation to go out there and try to perform well. So, you know, it was a special day, you know, playing against a team that we don't like. very much but they got us unfortunately but you know nothing but but gratitude and positive vibes about the whole thing so with with retirement staring you in the face buddy you know i can't remember exactly what i asked you a week ago but i was in some effect i was like are you afraid you know uh because it is it's scary as hell i mean it's you only know i mean you know so many

things but you know one thing really well man and you know the routine that we get into the teammates the just the whole way of life it changes and i wonder how much you've lamented that or how much you've thought about it yeah you're absolutely right and and i think for me just being so routine oriented um for the last 25 years in terms of playing football i always had a very clear path forward um i knew what to expect for the most part. I knew where I had to be, what I had to do. And certainly professionally, this is the only profession that I've ever known. So I think for me it's just the unknown, right?

Like, I'm not sad about retiring. I'm not sad about the way things ended for me. It's just the unknown. Like, okay, what's going to be next? How am I going to be able to use my gifts? Am I going to be able to use my gifts? Am I going to be, you know, satisfied in what I'm doing? Am I going to be able to be present and accountable for my family?

So there's just so many unknowns that makes it challenging. But, you know, that's where I just kind of rely on my faith and trust, hey, let me just take things one day at a time and see how we go. All right. So let's say it's Sunday, 24, like some Sunday in October. You know, you've already been to church. Where's Matthew Slater watching games? like how do you picture that going oh gosh well you know probably in my basement somewhere

with my sons uh yelling at the tv like every other fan um you know it's it's definitely going to be strange wild dude strange um i'm i you know i'm sure i'll have mixed emotions um you know it'll be it'll be definitely um kind of like a double-edged sword but i look forward to it you I look forward to not having my knees hurt, not having my neck hurt, not having all these things hurt, and just enjoying the game that I love. Obviously, I'll be pulling for the good guys and hoping they can turn things around. But, yeah, it'll definitely be a weird feeling. I got bad news for you.

Everything still hurts. Don't tell me that. Is that the way you picture it? Is that the way you picture it? All right. So this is some of the things, your neck, your knees, that everything. what are you going to miss? What are the little things that you will miss about clocking in every day at Gillette?

Yeah. Being with the guys. I mean, honestly, that's what makes the experience, right? Just the people that you share that locker room with day in and day out, the bonds that you form, there's no place like a locker room. I love it because you can get 53 guys that are totally different. in almost every other walk of life, but they come in that locker room and they find coming ground and just the laughs that we share, the shared struggle.

I don't think that you can really find that anywhere else unless you're in the military or unless you're, you know, firemen, police officer, something like that. So I'm going to miss that more than anything. You know, I'll miss the grind. I'm a little bit crazy in that I enjoyed the grind of football. I enjoyed preparing. I enjoyed competing. I'll certainly miss that, but I'll miss the guys more than anything.

You miss Ted in that kitchen, too. The Pat's had a really nice food setup, is what I remember. Hey, I'm going to tell you this. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm the cheapest guy in that building, and I would get those meals to go every night, every night. And I'm not just getting a meal for me. I'm getting a whole fam double bag. Oh, yeah.

So I got to find a way to, like, keep my. like key card active, maybe talk to RKK and get some of those meals going. Do you think Mayo will do a good job of bringing guys back? I feel like Bill liked having guys around the building that used to play, but he was kind of selective probably about who, you know? I feel like Mayo with his youth and, you know, a little bit of an effort at a fresh start as hard as is to follow Bill. I think one of the things he'll probably do is it'll be lively in there.

Do you think the Patriot Way changes? You know, like, there's a lot of people wondering what is the Patriot Way? Can it survive a coaching change? Right, right. Well, that's a great question. I don't think the Patriot Way changes philosophically. Maybe the way it's applied and executed changes. But, I mean, all those things in terms of like doing your job, working hard, putting a team first.

I think those are principles that you can apply in almost any arena, right? And certainly it would be smart of Gerard to continue to try to work towards those principles. Now, you and I both know Gerard. Like, he's going to be different. I mean, he's going to be laughing, joking, having a good time. And that's fine. I think he needs to operate within his strengths. But I do think, like, look, the last 24 years, that place,

place had a lot of success. I don't think you just want to burn it to the ground and forget what was done there. So he's got to find his kind of middle ground and go from there. And then, you know, in terms of bringing guys back, I love that he hired High Tower. I think that's a great hire. I mean, the guys will love high. And I hope that he continues to like engage guys from the past. Not live in the past, but just, you know, have those guys around and show the young guys what it looks like. yeah it's super cool to be able to like walk into work and see like hey i know when i was in philly bryan dawkins was in all the time you know coming in uh with y'all there be greats former grates kind of walking through the halls sometimes and some of them were on staff so i think that stuff's

really important um how about with mayo the demarcus covington hire um i know you've been around him what's this guy all about uh and in general how do you think mayo is going to going to handle that staff if you had to guess at it. Yeah. Well, I love the DeMarcus hire. I really do. And the thing that I think DeMarcus does the best is just he has tremendous people skills. He does a great job of investing in guys in terms of just relational equity, earning their trust,

learning about them as men off the field and outside of the building. And I think he really shows his players that he cares about them. And that's going to really set him up to have success. Football is the relationship business. There are plenty of people who know X's and O's, but can you connect with guys and motivate them and bring the best out of them? And I think you can. And then in terms of his staff, I mean, look, this is a whole new staff.

It's a big staff for once. We never had big staffs while I was in New England. And there are guys that are, you know, from different trees. And I think that's good, right? I think it's good to kind of go outside of the box. incorporate new philosophies. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and I think a lot of good coaches in this league with good ideas.

So I love what he's doing. I just hope it all meshes together, and I guess we'll find out come the fall. Yeah, no big expectations or anything. That's not how this works. Dude, that's just crazy. The guys like our age, we're three guys in the same draft class, okay?

It's nuts. You, 10 provosts later, at Mayo, getting a chance to take the keys to the Ferrari, dude, and drive it down the road a little bit, and we'll see. So it's crazy. It is wild. And there's more young coordinators now, like Baltimore's hiring a young guy here. It's, it's really cool to see guys our age have real power in the NFL. It really is. And I hope they do well with it. I really do. Well, I mean, Bill always had really tenured guys on his staff and I think like right now I'm getting to watch that I don't know if you're watching dynasty at all the uh the new documentary about you and your teammates and possibly a little

bit about our team in 2016 I haven't gotten that far but just some of the characters man ernie's the first one that pops out that people always want to know more about and I feel like maybe you can tell us without well now that it's all shut down maybe we can just talk about it but What did Ernie do exactly? Like, describe what Ernie, because I know he is a powerful man and a powerful football mind. I mean, Ernie is like the Oz and the Wizard of Oz, right? It's just like this strange character, strange figure, nobody really, see, when I got

to New England, nobody introduced me to Ernie. It wasn't like, hey, this is Ernie Adams, he does this. I'm sure you had the same experience. He just showed up. and one day he's coaching me on the field, one day he's whispering in the corner to Bill. And I'm like, what does this guy do? But I think the more time I spin around Ernie, I was like, there isn't anything this guy doesn't know about football.

Like any question I would have rule related, football history related, you name it, Ernie could address it and it was no problem. So to me, Ernie might be one of my favorite figures in Patriot, just because the mystery that surrounds him, I'm glad that people are getting a chance to see what he meant to the success there in New England, because I think he really contributed a lot behind the scenes. You know, Ernie, I can't help but laugh every time I hear Ernie talk. It's like, yeah, yeah, you know, like it's just, it cracks me up.

It's so, so funny, but, look, I love Ernie. Ernie was really good to me during his time there. And like I said, he's the man behind the man. I mean, I think he informed Bill. I think he advised Bill in a lot of ways and really helped our team be successful. Who was a guy through that run that you think didn't get enough credit as an assistant? You know, because we know about SCAR. You know, Ernie is kind of that shadowy figure that everybody respects because, you know,

he's the headman's right hand. And then, you know, there's a lot of other guys. Josh got a lot of credit offensively. But who do you think maybe didn't get enough credit on that staff? Well, I think there are two guys. One guy kind of does credit, and that's Ivan Fier's. I think that he is the running back's coach. And at one point in time, the receiver's coach,

he had to really deal with a lot of interesting personalities and bring them into the fold. and I think everybody on that team respected Ivan, the passion that he brought to the game, just his discipline approach, his regimen. I think everybody appreciated Ivan. I think his value oftentimes get overlooked. And then another guy that I'll throw out there is Chad O'Shea.

Chad O'Shea was the receiver coach. And, you know, Chad's having to deal with guys like Randy and Wes to guys like Dola and Jules. and everybody in between. And I witnessed him firsthand, essentially babysit Jules for two or three years. And I'm like, God bless this guy. He is insane because Jules was out of his mind. And Chad found a way to keep him engaged, keep him going, keep challenging him,

keep him improving. So I really think Chad doesn't get half the credit that he deserves. Yeah, Chad was a great guy, great guy to just run into him in the hallway. He had a lot of coaches like that. When I was there, it was Dable and Chad, and there were just a lot of fun guys, man. And not everybody's the same. You know, like, I don't think everybody's personality is the same. I think sometimes, you know, you try to bring some of those principles somewhere else and it might not work out.

And maybe the guy's trying to be Bill a little bit too much. I said this to Steve last week. I was like, you're the perfect guy from Bill's tree because you're trying to be the opposite of your dad. Right, right. But you know, everything that they know there. But I think, you know, when I look at. your situation, and I'm sure towards the end you were like a player's coach too, like a player coach as well.

Like you're on the field making plays, but you're also helping young guys. You had a really unique seat at the table because you weren't expected to get reps in the wide receiver room, right? Like, and you were a veteran and somebody who was respected almost immediately. But I guess what I'm wondering is, who sucked up to Tom Brady the most in that receiver room? I mean, that was easy. That's Julian all the way. I mean, he followed him around like a little puppy dog early in his career.

And then, you know, would do whatever he could to endear himself to Tom. So by far and away, that was Julian. Jules is obviously a suckup, but there was kind of, there seemed to be like a Mendoza line or a cutoff for guys that could go on vacation with Tom. So there was like, there are tears of your relationship. It was almost like the bachelor. you know like was there ever tension around that that Mendoza line where guys were like I want to be on vacation with Tom it's like only these two guys get to go why can't I break

into that next level of friend group oh yeah I don't I don't think anybody was was expecting to break through that was kind of one of those things if you get the if you get the tap on the shoulder you're honored and you're like man I'm just happy to be here I know again I I can't get on this guy enough, but the one guy who really, like, cared about that was Edels. I mean, he was always, like, he was so hyper-focused on what does Tom have going on. Who's with, you know, Gronk was there, Dola was there. I wasn't there. Oh, why was Dola there?

Oh, my God. Don't let Dola have any experience that Jules didn't have or he's going to lose his mind. And just for the record, we used to call those two. they used to argue like who's Batman, who's Robin. It's sitting in the meeting road, and it'd be like, who's Batman, who's Robin? And I would just like to settle that debate for all the time's sake. Dola is clearly Batman. Better looking, smoother.

Dark, handsome. Yeah, I mean, it's like, it's better. More masculine. It's not even close. I was going to say there, neither of them are big, big guys. So do they really have Batman, you know, like stature? I guess they don't have Batman presence, right? I guess not.

But if you had to pick one and those two, it's definitely Dolla. They're going to be mad. I think Gronk might be Batman and they're Robin. Yeah, that sounds better. Yeah, that sounds better. I mean, they were both so, they were both so great at what they did and they did so much dirty work and they were so tough as you know, like they're two of your best buddies. And, you know, I feel the same way about those guys. And, you know, I've watched Dolah in St. Louis get an injury that they said only happens in car accidents.

Whereas sternum had to get popped back out and the guys ready to assault the athletic trainers because they won't let him go to the game. They'll go back in the game. They got to go to the hospital. And you know, Jules is really tough. What was it about evaluation of guys or what they valued in that room in New England? Because it never felt like you went after the Big Fish. You did with Randy. But it felt like you were like, we can make it work with guys who aren't, quote, blue chip guys.

That's right. Look, Randy's the outlier. Randy's the outlier in every room he's ever set in. We'll make that clear. But, you know, I think for so long, Bill and the staff really prioritized toughness, both mentally and physically, over maybe talent. And, you know, we won a lot of games with guys that were considered lesser players in terms of their measurables.

But the one thing, and people who know the game know this, is that you just cannot measure a guy's ability to execute when the pressure's on, a guy's ability to be consistent, a guy's ability to do things that he doesn't want to do, but he's willing to go in there and sacrifice for the team. When you have a team full of guys like that, it really sets you up to have success. And we had so many of them. I mean, not just at the receiver position, but at every position, at every level, on all three sides of the ball, you had guys that were, hey, maybe.

maybe not the most talented, but they were tough and they cared about football. And then there was 2016 where we did have Chris Long and all these high flyers, and we were talented. Uber talented veterans is the way I like to frame. Yes, that's what it was. Yeah, I used to win that race up the hill all the time. You guys were like, this guy's so fat. No, Nenko used to make fun of me.

He said I was running like I had concrete in my boots. that's what happens when you play in St. Louis for most of your career, buddy. Oh, gosh. So what's it like being friends with Tom Brady? Like, for somebody who's not friends with Tom Brady, I mean, I am, but I'm talking about people at home that don't know what it's like to know Tom Brady personally and talk to him every day. Like, what's it like being his buddy? I mean, he's honestly one of the nicest people I've ever been around. I would say the most humble superstar that I've certainly ever met.

Just down the earth doesn't take himself too seriously. I think he loves his friends well. He cares about the people that care about him. And that's always impressed me about Tom. For someone who's achieved so much and gets lifted up so much by our industry, he just keeps himself level-headed and humble. And he's giving me so much great advice over the years about just life and outside away from the game of football that I really appreciate.

So, man, just think of him as your everyday buddy that you can count on and that you know always is going to have your back. And that's what I think I want to think of Tom. What's the most off-the-board thing you could see him doing in the next 10 years? Oh, I don't know. I don't know. I think at some point here, like, because, look, Tom's tapped, obviously. You don't play 23 years in pro football without being, like, tapped.

So I think at some point, like, he's going to need an outlet for that, and he's going to do something. Like, my man's running 40s. Like, why are you running 40s at 46 years old? He can blow your hand me off. He can blow your hand me off the bone. Like, he's going to start doing something just to get that competitive edge out. Yeah.

And who knows? It's going to be funny, though. It could be an extreme sport. We'll see. My lasting memory of you besides being obviously one of the greatest special teamers ever, one of the best teammates ever, and somebody I always say, if I had to leave the country, I would leave my kids with you. I don't know if you would like that, but seriously.

They're welcome. But my real lasting memory of you and your legacy in my book was the single greatest heads, tales call in Super Bowl history and one that changed my life forever. The guy we were just talking about Tom Brady, getting ready to go into overtime with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 after the 2016 season, the year that me and Slate played together. I can remember when we won the toss, me. High Tower, Alan Branch, and Niko grabbed our helmets,

walked over, set him down on the bench and took a seat and said, we're not going back on the field. That's how great that guy was. And you allowed him to have the ball first. So what went into that moment? Are you like, do you

think about your heads, tails calls the night before games? Do you have one in your back pocket? Because that was huge. I'm a heads guy. I mean, I have probably called heads at every coin toss I've been a part of. And it's simply because my dad did that when he played. So I remember being

a kid. I was like, Dad, what do you call on the coin toss? And he said, I call heads. And I've called heads every since then. And I like you, when I looked over and I saw that thing, said heads, I said, we'll win the Super Bowl. We're done, bro. We're winning the Super Bowl.

Like, there was never a doubt in my mind that we're going to win that game. And what a feeling to have that guy on your side with the ball in his hands in that moment. That was incredible. It was incredible. As a sidebar, there's also some people that talk about 2015 when you deferred in overtime. And so I want to give you a chance to clear your name.

Can we clear that? I just, I appreciate you allowing me an opportunity to clear the record. We haven't, we hadn't even really like hung out yet, but I got your back in 2015. We went, I'll rewind this back. 2013 we played Denver at home in a, you know, windy game, a lot of weather. We go to overtime. Bill tells me we want to kick the ball off or we want to defend this in. Okay, great.

You know, we win the game. Boom, we come over there. It was unconventional, but we win the game. So in 2015, same thing happens. We go to the coin toss. Bill says, hey, we want to kick the ball off. I said, all right, great. So the only thing that happened in that was once we won the toss,

Cleet Blakeman knew our selection. So he said, you guys want to kick? I said, yes. And as Cleet was going to speak to the Jets players, I said, hold up. Do we get to choose which end? And, you know, me, I'm kind of an animated, like, dramatic type of guy. So my face was looking to have the mic on, and they hear me saying, well, don't we get to choose? but there was never any confusion.

Oh, no. There was never any confusion. We wanted to kick the ball. We wanted to kick the ball. Yeah. Then, you know, you got Sims and them up in the booth. Oh, he made a wonder. And I'm just like, people, do you think that Bill Belichick would let me screw that up?

Uh-huh. And then go down the road and call the biggest coin tosses and, you know, our franchise is history? Yeah. No. He knew what. happened. I knew it happened. The uninformed announcers with the half cut out mic on Cleek Baceman set me up as the fall guy. You got set up, bro.

That's what happened. And then at that time, you know, Steve Harvey had messed something up at the, the Miss America. So they got Steve Harvey's head on my body. People are sending it to me. I'm like, what is going on here? It's ridiculous. Well, okay, what's the thinking behind just kicking. Well, you know, I think he was thinking weather in that game, like, all right, they're not going to drive.

We stop them and they have to punt. It's not going to be a good punt. Then all of a sudden, we're going to be set up with field position. Unfortunately, yes, we kicked a field goal and we went. No, no, no. Here's what I'm going to say. They drove.

Here's what I'm going to say. I am so glad I'm hearing this because I had to take this year, the Jets were playing the Giants in a ugly game. And it goes to overtime. Now, if I was the Giants, there's no question in my mind. The DeVito-led Giants,

and this is early DeVito, not when he got hot, that I am, the Giants received. I am kicking that ball off if I'm the Giants. There's no way I'm going three and out and punning the ball to the Jets at midfield to set up a short field. They're not also, they're also not sustaining drives. So your best chance to lose that game

is to receive the football. Exactly. And people fried me for that. I was glad that hoodie agrees with me on this. Right. I mean, look, the hoodie's with you all the way. Okay, and so is Slate.

Absolutely. I don't question the hood. Okay, well, let me ask you this question. They're talking a lot about kickoff. They're saying they want to change it. I'm hearing a different thing every three days. What do you think's going to happen? What do you think should happen?

Yeah, you know, It's really disappointing that this play is being jeopardized. You know, you've heard a lot about, you know, spotting the ball or doing this, that, and the other. Now I'm hearing about the XFL kickoff and maybe doing that. And really, you know, here's my thing on this. And I can say this because I'm no longer an employee of the NFL. But this is CYA all the way. I mean, they're trying to do what they can to minimize blowback.

from players, from the public in terms of like head injuries, right? And they're going after the, this is easy pickings, the kickoff, which in their mind, you know, the rate of injuries higher on there. There's some debate around that if you look at the raw data and things like that. But I'll say this. They're an inherent risk with football. You know that, I know that. All of us have signed up and agreed to those risks.

There are certain things that needed to be taken out of the game that we have taken out of the game, but this isn't one of them. You know, you're going down a slippery slope. What are you going to do next? Take out the ISO lead where the fullbacks running up in there like a battering. Yeah, I know. Everybody gets in the gun on fourth and one out. But it's like, all right, where do you stop this? And for me, it's just, you know, I'm concerned that eventually they're going to do away with the play.

and you really changed the game and it's unfortunate. Was it just a little too brutal when you got in? I mean, you came in and they had the wedge, right? Oh, now that, I'm glad they took that out. Look, we got a 10-yard running head start, which, okay, fine. But then you got your wedge buster who's 205, 210 pounds, running down in the two, 300-pound guys like a raging bull. Yeah, dude.

and they're all the hungriest guys on the damn roster. Exactly. That's the thing that's so unique about you is, like, you had a very established role on a team and played for so long, but you were in the room full of the hungriest guys that had the most to lose, and none of them were like you. Like, when you're, I always tell people, you want to, you think football is tough, go play special teams.

Yeah. You know, because all those guys are fighting to survive and running as fast as they can. Who has the hardest job, you know, on the special team side of the ball? Is it just punt return, or is there another position that people aren't thinking about? I mean, to me, it's probably a three-way time, right? The punt returner who has to stand back there, look at the ball in the air, while guys are beaming down on them and make a decision as to can I make a play or am I going to get decapitated?

And I've seen it happen both ways quite a bit. The gunner, who's on the outside, is being double-teamed all the way down the field by two of their best athletes, their fastest, strongest guys. Two guys from Florida. That could just roll. They could just roll. Florida chasing you all over the field. Oh, my gosh.

And then maybe the hardest job, you know, people are going to laugh when I said, is kicking the ball. Yeah. It's being the kicker. I mean, you know, when you go out there, all eyes are on you, you have a chance to, in a lot of cases, put points on the board, win a game, lose a game, and maybe you haven't kicked a ball in 30 minutes. Yeah. And now, of a sudden, you've got to go out there and win a game, and it's 20 degrees,

and, you know, the whole season or the whole game is on you. No, thanks. I don't want that job. It's almost bath time, slate, so I guess I'll ask you a question about the kick. Do you think that they'll be able to play football? And if so, how early? Because you and I are both second generation. I think we have unique experiences with our dad's playing,

but also being in one piece. You know, your dad still looks great. My dad still looks great. They both look younger than us. That's crazy. It's crazy. But not every outcome is like that. And, you know, like I know you kind of alluded to,

hey, there's an inherent injury risk. do you think the kids should play? Well, you know, my approach is going to be similar to what my dad's was, and that's put them in everything other than football, especially early on. You know, I don't want them to fill the pressure of having to do what we did and follow behind my dad and I, and I also don't want them getting hurt at the young age.

I don't think that you need the contact at, you know, seven, eight, nine years old, you don't need the contact. Now, if they want to play later in life, I'm going to support them. I'm not going to push them, but I'll support them and, you know, help them any way that I can. The unfortunate thing is that my sons love football, especially my oldest too. Like, my four-year-old can tell you all the stats and the teams and the guys. And so it's going to be hard to really get them not to play. So, you know, we'll see how it goes.

My wife is hoping, like heck, that they don't. But, you know, we'll see how it goes. Yeah, you sound like my parents. They said anything about football, and we're going to let him go play football because the first day he's going to come home, a little bloodied, and he's going to be like, I don't want to do this anymore.

And they created a monster because I liked it. I wasn't very good at it. Right. You know, that's just kind of what we got to deal with it. On top of it, people are going to expect our kids to play. Yeah, that's right. And that's the hard thing, I think, is, you know, what's harder than that decision is how you,

you shape their childhoods being sons of, you know? Yeah, that's right. That's right. All right. All right. So I got, I got three quick hitters for you. Okay.

Then we'll get out of here. All right. Tough as loss in that Super Bowl run. And it could be a Super Bowl. It could be one of the five playoff games. I don't think you realize how hard it was to get back up that mountain. Losing to you guys in 17. By far.

Look, I mean, you guys are a great football team. Yeah. But we had an opportunity to win that game. Yeah. We had an opportunity to win that game. The better team won that day, no doubt. But we had a chance to win three in a row there. If we win that, you know, that was two in a row and then we won the next year.

So that would have been special. And, you know, I thought we played well enough to win. It's one thing when you get in those games and you don't play well. But we played well enough to win and just wasn't our day. You did play well. I always say this, and I said this to the other guys, like, I feel like not to take anything away from the defense that year, but the biggest mismatch on the field was our offensive line was like it was the Monstars.

And then your D-Line just wasn't a great rush group that year. And so I was like, if we have the time, we might be able to score. I was going around the facility all week asking guys on offense, how much can you score? How much can you score? because I think Brady's going to get after us at some point. Do you get the Jason Kelsey thing? Like with everybody, do you get the magnetism of the guy? You would love him.

I don't know if you ever. I know you think he was after that Super Bowl. I have always admired him from afar. I think he's a tremendous ambassador for a game. And I think he's just a fascinating character. And I'd love to get to know him. But I think he's so fascinating. And you talk about everything that this game.

game should embody and that you hope a player embodies. I think he embodies it. And then what he's done off the field to move the game forward, right? I think it's been tremendous. Like him and his brother in their podcast, I think is awesome. I think they're very authentic. And I think they're real. And people appreciate that.

But yeah, man, I was hoping this guy was going to play to the wheels fell off because he's got football left in him now. He's got football. So, you know, it was a sad day to see him retire, but I wish him well. And, you know, he's got a big fan in me. Well, that's cool, man, because I know the Eagles are a sore spot. Let me ask you the inverse. Favorite Super Bowl win?

Favorite Super Bowl win? That's like asking me my favorite kid. But, you know, I think that that 283, I mean, it's hard to top that, right? I mean, 100 times we lose every last one of them. So that was really special, and that's something I'll never forget. All right, last one. You played for one team. You played with a ton of guys.

I'm going to ask you one guy you wish you played with. That maybe you wondered one off season, is this guy going to be one of our mercenaries? I wish I could have played with this guy. Well, you were on that list for a long time, so I was able to check that off. I think, you know, people, I don't want people to take this the wrong way, but one guy that's always fascinated me, and I've loved, loved watching is Aaron Rogers. You know, and he's a different guy. You know, I know him and I are very different people with very different interests.

But I think it'd be just an interesting experience to be around a guy like that. Obviously, I have a great appreciation. probably other than Tom, he's probably my favorite quarterback ever in terms of just the way he plays the game. So, yeah, I'll say Aaron Rogers. He's must-see TV, man. I mean, I used to watch Tom throw the ball and be like, I'm watching history every day at practice.

Right, right. And I think in the same vein, the freak show nature of Aaron's arm to be able to watch that every day in practice. It's unbelievable. Yeah, so. All right. Well, you never know.

I mean, maybe you come back to the Jets next year. If I come back to the Jets next year, I'll be looking for somewhere to stay because my wife will boot me out of his house. I love it, man. Hey, congrats, man, on just a kick-ass career. I mean, you're just first class, man. Love you, and...

Love you, too, man. Yeah, this is going to be a great, great experience for you figuring out what you want to do. I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to it. All right, man. Well, thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me.