Green Light with Chris Long - Zach Ertz! Jayden Daniels, the 2024 Commanders, Playing the Eagles & NFL Future!

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

Former Philadelphia Eagles studs Zach Ertz and Chris Long chop it up on Green Light! The fellas cover Zach's 2024 season with the Washington Commanders, Jayden Daniels' ROTY season and how the first year player handles himself like a vet, his relationship with Commanders coach Dan Quinn and his emotions after coming back to Philadelphia this past season. Enjoy the great episode with these two! (00:00) - Intro (2:35) - Jayden Daniels (9:45) - 2024 Commanders (17:55) - Josh Harris and Commanders Ownership (20:08) - Playing the Eagles (24:20) - Deebo Samuel on the Commanders (26:07) - Terry McLaurin (27:52) - $750K Game (29:55) - Tough DEs to Block as TE (33:00) - Being a Father (35:40) - Future in the NFL 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]‬ In need of sweet threads to vibe like Chris and the fellas? Check out https://greenlightpodcast.org/ for everything merch wise and then some! 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's YouTube Channel, where you can catch all the latest GL action: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWFAA-wuB7osdiAJyLOcw Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On top of that, with everything you've accomplished, like, I guess the question is, and it's baked into this whole conversation, is like, what's left for you? Yeah, I think I still love the process for me. I still love the practicing. I still love the opportunity to get better with the guys. And so for me, as long as I have that, I will still want to play. Welcome to the Greenlight podcast presented by BetMGM. If you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code Greenlight,

and you will get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. Here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using bonus code Greenlight. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. If that bet loses, you will receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets. Just make sure you use bonus code Greenlight when you sign up. Welcome to the Greenlight podcast. Thank you for jumping on today.

It is Zach Ertz, former Philadelphia Eagle and played last season in Washington. Former teammate of Chris is they have a great conversation. Zach talks about Jaden Daniels and what he's seen from the quarterback in his rookie season, the chemistry they had together, how hard Jaden works, and the fact that Jaden might be one of the fastest guys every time he steps on the field. Heard that from Zach. That's what he said. Zach also talks about what it was like to go back to Philly,

both in the regular season in the playoffs, see everybody that he used to work with, the memories. and what he's looking forward to in the 2025 season. A great conversation with one of the best to do it. Enjoy this episode. And we'll catch you later next week with a very special guest who just signed a big contract. Who could it be? We'll see you then.

This is a real treat. My very successful friend, Zach Ertz, is joining me. 34 years young. Just finished. What year did you just finish, Zach? Help me with the bio? 12. You want up me, you're sorry.

Son of a bitch. Possibly two up. Maybe. Yeah. Are you possible? Possible? Hey, what do you think, man? Are you a free agent?

Is that what I heard today doing my little research about you? Yeah, I'm a free agent. So I signed two years ago after everything happened in Arizona, like the just the desire to sign a long-term deal and want to really sign me to a long-term deal after everything that that happened in Arizona was low. So I was like, I'm going to go sign a one-year deal. You know, at my age, the need for a long financial commitment. at this point is we've been fortunate enough,

blessed to be in a situation where I just wanted to really go out there and have fun again, fall in love with the process again. Because for me, that's what football is about, you know, the day-to-day grind. It's not just those 17 Sundays during the year. It's the OTAs, it's the training camp. And I still love practicing.

I still love training. I still love all the stuff that comes along with playing in those games. And so for me, signed a one-year deal last year, had a great year, so much fun. And so now it's just, I'm a free agent. Everyone knows how I felt about my time in Washington. So we'll see what happens. Well, I got to tell you, it looked fun from the outside looking in. I know we texted

a few times. And you gave me probably the most valuable piece of information going to the season as an analyst. You were like, this guy's, Jane Daniels is really good. I don't know how many weeks it took you to tell me that, but like how quick was it for you to figure that out? Yeah, I think, you know, I've been around a lot of young quarterbacks. I've played with a lot of quarterbacks at this point. And you don't get drafted second overall without the physical tools. Obviously, you get drafted at high. You can throw the ball. You can put the ball wherever you want it. But it's how he was approaching everything else that was like, okay, this kid is going to be special. Like during the OTAs, he was the first. He'd be in there at 5 a.m. You know, OTAs don't

start until 9 o'clock. He's over there getting the script, going through the script, doing his VR goggles thing and running through it all. So he's getting so many, he had so many reps banked before even got to training camp. And then just his humility and desire to learn. I feel like it's so rare today. And you feel like the salty vet, but it's especially so rare with young guys. People come in and I'm sure I was the same way. I'm sure Selik would say Zach thought he had all the answers, didn't want to hear anything. But Jaden was like, he wanted my opinion. He wanted what I saw on certain things. And to me, that's the most fun part is creating that chemistry because you can't do it by just talking about it. And you can't just do it by just running the routes.

in order to create the chemistry with the quarterback, you really have to execute it on the field. I shouldn't even say execute at a high level or a poor level, a mess up, and then have the ability to talk to someone about it. Because if they don't want to learn it, if they don't want to talk about it, then you're never going to really reach your potential.

And so the thing I love most probably about Jaden and playing with him is that he just wanted to get better. He had no ego. He was just one of the guys in the locker room. And I knew early, early on how good he was going to be. Dude, I mean, I think it was maybe the Sincey game where he hit that ball outside the numbers and I just laughed. I was like, this guy's got an otherworldly, you know, he's got otherworldly armed talent, but he also seems to be so

calm and, you know, he seems to avoid the big mistakes, you know, which you see a lot of young guys not doing. How long did it take you guys to get on that same page you're talking about? Like, like any rookie, you know, I know he's light years ahead of some guys, but I always wondered this. And I figure especially at tight end because of all the unspoken kind of like communication that goes on between quarterback and a tight end finding a soft spot in a zone that type of thing how long does it take to really get that down is it weeks is it months do you look up halfway through the season yeah i think if you watch our film especially jaded and i really jaded in any of the skill guys you look at where we were to start the year to the where we finished the end of the year we

I feel like we were just scratching the surface. Like we are getting closer to our potential in the NSEC championship game as a quarterback tight-end relationship. Like we were so far ahead of when we played Tampa in week one. And so it really just is you can't replicate. You can't like just talking about it. You've got to have the reps together. And it's so much time on task.

And you see why guys like Trav and Pat have been on the same page for so long or Tom and Rob for so long. It's just because they have so many banked reps together. They have so much time on. on task that there's no surprising when there's a look that maybe you didn't game there's no game plan for because but we've seen that rep so it really doesn't matter what the defense is going to present and so we felt like by the end of the year we were on that same pace that we had we already knew what the look was going to be so he wanted me I knew exactly how he wanted me to run the route and I

knew exactly how he was going to throw the ball and like you look at the touchdown in that against the lions and the playoffs like the timing on that play was insane from a rookie quarterback like I got out of my break, maybe a step, and I was, like, reacting to the ball. And that doesn't happen with young quarterbacks, honestly. A lot of young quarterbacks come in and they have to see something open in order to throw it. Because in college, you just wait for someone to get open and then you throw it. You can make all the throws. But in the NFL, it's not like that.

Everyone is so fast. The windows are so small. The D-lines are so good that you have to be able to throw with anticipation. And Jaden can do all this stuff. He can run around, make all the plays. But he is an elite pocket passer. No question. And in the quarterback run element, you know, some of the biggest plays of the season on money downs are him pulling the ball on a read option or having an option throw the ball.

I mean, think about like the end of that Tampa game. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I'd hate to be that left end. For sure. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You're damned if you do.

You're damned if you don't. I mean, he is probably the fastest guy on the field when he steps on the field and as a quarterback. And so it's just like the talent, the athleticism, the talent, like, he doesn't look like he's running that fast until you look at the speeds after the game and he's sitting 21 and a half miles an hour. No way. Yes, bro. It's insane. You say he's the fastest guy on the field. I think if you just lined everyone up and said go, I think Jaden would be top.

I mean, it depends who's on the field, obviously. Right. If Tyreeks on the field or, you know what these guys are. I think he's good. Like, every time he steps on the field, he's top three fast guys on the field. Damn. And I feel like a lot of that. as alignment, the thing that probably would frustrate alignment a lot is that first step,

that stride. Yeah. You know, like, he's out leveraged you. Yeah. You know what I mean? You really have to play him outside end because that first step, I mean, it's like he takes a big step in a bucket four feet away. I mean, like, yeah.

I mean, we played the Browns like, I don't know, in the week five, week six. And they brought cover zero, had a perfect blitz. I think it was Jeremiah number six, blitzed off the edge, unblocked, probably the most athletic lineback in the league. league. Jada made a miss, ran for 40. And it's just like, I don't know what you do. And if you rush for a contain and just play high, he steps up and just sits in the pocket and makes a throw like he did against the Bengals, the Terry. So it's like, I don't really know what you do as a D-Lignment when you get that free rush. But I love the kid. So was there ever a moment where he actually,

like, could enjoy his own greatness in year one? Like, he seemed like the kind of guy that he'd do something amazing and then act like, I've been there before. I mean, that's kind of just who he is. I think that's why guys love him so much and love playing for him because it's never about him. No matter what he does, he never makes it about himself. We score the game winner against the Eagles on the last play of the game, and it's all about Jameson making the play down the middle. He throws the ball to Terry.

He's saying, what a catch by Terry, what a great call by Cliff. He's never making it about himself. And as a guy on the team, that's like, we know the quarterback deserves all the praise. Like, they're so important to every game. But when a guy is just like, no, it's not about me. me those are the guys I like yes bro whatever you need I got you yes no question especially when they're rookies yeah he made fans of us all pretty quickly I mean even as a guy who our podcast serves a lot of Eagles fans I couldn't avoid talking glowingly about the guy because he's not only a great

kid you can tell yeah but he's a great player and and for you man like found a youth huh a little bit uh you ain't done yet dude the last game of the year I think you went over a hundred and um I felt like you made so many big plays throughout the season. Did you have a favorite game? I think the Lions game was obviously special to be in that environment and to be as effective as we were on offense was pretty special. Those are the games that are fun. When you just feel like no matter what a defense is trying to do,

they really can't stop you. And obviously we know the defense's situation that they had without Aiden and how amazing of a player he is, how much we respect him. and kind of some of their de-leiman. But just to be able to go out there in that environment, it was one of the best environments I've been in as an opposing player, and just to go out and execute like that and make a couple big plays. And so there's so many, there's a lot of games, honestly.

But like you said, I did feel so good this year. Dan Quinn is just a phenomenal coach. He took care of me, like, unbelievably. He told me during OTAs. He's like, hey, I know you're like a big, you're going to kill yourself in practice if we don't take care of you. So you have no say in this matter, but you're not practicing on a Wednesday this year,

no matter what you want to do. you're not practicing on a Wednesday. At first, it was hard because it was like all the guys, it's week one or coming off a Thursday game. I had 10 days to recover. It's like, Coach, I can go out there in practice. Like, I'm fine. He's like, no, this is a long season.

We need you at your best on Sundays. It's not about Wednesdays. You and Jaden got so much good work in the offseason and training camp that this really isn't your decision. And in six weeks, if you don't like it, we can reevaluate it. And so for him, just to kind of take that off my plate as a player and say, no, this is the plan. I really appreciated that.

And I know a guy like you would do appreciate that as well. And just he's a great communicator. So authentic. And just you know he cares about you as a person, as a person. Yeah. You really get that sense. I remember visiting Atlanta before I went in New England. It came down to Dan and Bill.

And honestly, I loved just sitting there with him. You could tell that everything's about competition, like in a good way. You know, right down to like he brought that Pete Carroll kind of vibe down to Atlanta. And I wonder if you got a sense of that same thing up in Washington. Did he have a little basketball goal to start the meeting? Did he bring that up with him? He did not bring the basketball hoop up to D.C., but we did this bag drill every single day of practice.

It was like offense versus defense right after stretch line. Everyone had to run over. The offensive coaches were on one side. The defensive coaches were on the other. And it was literally just like four bag drills. And everyone had to go through it on offense and defense. And the winner, everyone knew who won. But at the start of the next day, that was.

the first thing up on the board. Hey, who won bags and who won the competition period for the day. And so everything was about competition for him. I think that's what makes him such like he's constantly finding ways that are unorthodox. Like everyone knows when you're going ones against the ones in training camp or OTAs like, yeah, you're going to go. But what about on a Tuesday in May or Tuesday on April 10th? How do you get these guys going? And so for me, he's just so authentic he was probably the best i've been around in terms of his weekly messaging um in terms of what buttons to push how to get what he wanted across each and every week and so yeah phenomenal so when we did it in 17 you were what like 27 or something like that that was my fifth year yep yeah and yeah still to me

you seem like a vet like you know you're not like some young guy like i that's why i feel super old looking and seeing that like you ain't even really that old yet but uh how different was it to go on this run and you know come up short but i'm talking about like just the process and how we're how can you compare you your job in 17 to your job in 24 because i know we talked a little bit about like hey like i'm the old vet now what's that like and how did that go i think it was it was too fold really you know in philly obviously phenomenal phenomenal group of guys and we had really the core of that team and 17 have been together for a long time that's right between kel's fletch bg lane myself um malcolm um even ronnie had been there malcolm and roncum had both been there for a couple years

um i want to say and so jp obviously and so i just felt like that team had grown we we had a stat like we took our licks the year before um we we i don't know if we finished last or second last in the division the year prior. And so we had just experienced so much together that when we were so calloused as a group by the time 17 got there, like we knew, we added you, we added Ligarrett, so we added guys that had a history of winning and understood what it looked like. But we also kind of knew like, hey, we're good players. Like, we've been going against each other for a long time. And yeah, last year it was tough. But we got some good players on this team. Carson was obviously a rising player in the league at the time. And so I think just

the cohesiveness, like I didn't really have to say anything because we had so many good leaders. Like I just kind of went about my business and did everything I could on and off the field to be at my best. And that's all really people I felt like expected of me at the time. Like I was just kind of the lead by example. Don't worry about Zach. Hopefully he'll be open on third down and then the red zone. But this year was a lot different. Obviously, we had like, I want to say like 60% roster turnover or 70% roster turnover from the year prior.

And so we kind of just built our. chemistry on the fly. We didn't really know much about one another when we first got together in April and May. And so we had just a few guys that had won a championship, Bobby on defense, obviously, myself, and then a couple Chiefs guys on the O line. But DQ really just empowered the whole team. Like, they were very deliberate in bringing in guys that really love the process, love football and love practicing. And if guys, like, enjoy that and make going to work fun and competitive. I feel like guys gel so fast. It's those teams that where you have like guys that have so many different interests or hobbies outside of football or their first one

ends, first one or excuse me, last one ends, first one out. They really just don't gel with. And so the chemistry on those teams that I've been on are really just like, oh yeah, yeah, bro, family on three, one, two, three family. Let's keep it moving. Whereas both those teams the 17 in this past year in Washington, I feel like dudes actually cared about each other. They were happy for the other man's success. So there was a lot of differences. but there's also a lot of similarities. Yeah. I mean, that Detroit game, to me,

it takes a certain level of fearlessness as a team. And I wonder how much of that is just being too young as a team, although y'all had some vets, and as you mentioned, some Super Bowl champions and people with experience sprinkled in, but like for a team that really hadn't been there, sometimes it's better to not know what you're getting into. For sure, for sure.

I mean, I think sometimes ignorance is bliss in that regard. Yeah. You really did. I mean, we, I think we were, Washington finished like four and 13 the year prior. So when we came into the season, I think we were picked like 29th, or we like the 29th best team out of 32. So expectations are so low.

We started out seven and two. And then we lost three games in a row, seven and two to seven and five. We lost to Philly. We lost to Dallas. And then we lost to Pittsburgh. Yeah. And everyone was just like, oh, this is the team that we thought they were. And so really played Tennessee.

I'm going that next week, going to Dubai with a win. And it was really just Bobby actually spoke in front of the team like, hey, well, this story that we're about to tell right here with these last four games going into playoffs is whatever we wanted to be. And so I think having a guy like Bobby, a vocal leader that's able to kind of take over a team meeting. And when Bobby, he's not a guy that's just going to talk to talk. I loved every minute playing with Bobby this past year.

And so that he just talked about the sacrifices that guys needed to make the last four weeks going into the playoffs. DQ's messaging was phenomenal that we're just going to take it one week at a time. And so, yeah, we had a lot of young guys. Obviously, the quarterback is young, but his poise was like, I mean, I didn't play with Tom, obviously, and it's probably not Tom's level, but you just knew, like, when you stepped on the field that Jay didn't expect it to win the game. And it was a, and so from that standpoint, like, if he's poised and he's not fretting

anything, then we're not going to do anything either. How much of it is the Josh Harris effect? I mean, I know, like, he's not making the plays on the field, Like, I can remember visiting Washington when I was a free agent and being like, no thanks. Yeah. Like, this is years ago and notoriously tough place to be a professional. Yeah, yeah. It seemed like that change fast.

I mean, like you said, Josh, I can't speak prior. Yeah, obviously. But I will say the thing that Josh was deliberated in is like, yeah, the facility is what it is. Most facilities are what they are. and maybe you, they didn't, they're not just redoing the facility in one year, but they did invest a lot in human capital. And so the human side, the people that they brought in, there was really no expect left that wasn't involved with people. Like they brought in Adam Peters, who had so much success in San Francisco. They brought in DQ, who had so much success in Atlanta in Dallas as a D.C.

And so like when you set the tone right off the bat with those two guys, the price. priorities were initially like symmetrical right away. They're synergistic right away. And then with your first pick, you bring in Jaden Daniels. And so you have the ownership and you have the GM head coach. And then you hit on the quarterback. It's like the culture is going to immediately improve just because of that. But the fact that they were willing, there was like there was nothing that we needed that they

didn't go out and fix right away. There used to be like a big, I don't know if you remember on your visit, but there was like a 1970s old school AstroTurf as well. the practice fields. Yeah. And so they spent, I don't know, millions of dollars to essentially tear it up in two months right before training, right after OTAs before training camp in that time frame. They tore it up and put a whole fresh new grass field in place of it.

Makes such a big difference, dude. It's like, the optics. On turf? It was an astro turf. Like, come on, bro. And so it's just like, just things like that throughout the building. The strength staff in Washington was phenomenal. training room was phenomenal and the coaching staff I looked so I think it does start at the top

you have to have organizational alignment in the NFL and it always starts at the top what was it like being on the other side of the Philly thing dude I kind of I got to imagine like super weird even if you try to make it like something else it's weird yeah I think so when I was in Arizona the first time they came to Arizona yeah and so that got a lot of the angst out like seeing like going against fletching bg and sleigh and some of these guys and hearing bg trash talk about the shot you uh yeah but you don't have to be i heard someone get you hurt you know how to put him in his place uh yeah yeah you know we love bg but it was just like a lot of the angst from that of seeing the guys was different but then going to philly that first time was hard uh and like

first person i saw off the bus was a miss kathy and just see like seeing people like that that you don't see every day there was really no opportunity for me to see her in the past few years. And just to be able to see her, I saw Troy in the stands, the janitor that we all love, T. Roy. And it's just like, you know, this business, like, it's such a relational business.

And so, yeah, it was hard going back there, especially that first time and seeing people that you haven't seen in forever, place that, like, I scored a touchdown at the end of the game in the first one. And I'm still getting, like, clasped even though the game was kind of out of wraps for them. Then the NNs the NNsie Championship game

back in Philly. It was going to be weird either way, honestly. If we won and we're celebrating there. I mean, obviously, that's the situation I wanted. But there's still a little piece of me that would have been weird celebrating the NFC championship game going to the Super Bowl in a place. I spent nine years, essentially. And then watching them celebrate was super weird as well.

And then, like, walking off the field and the fans are all happy. And I'm like, you're cheering for me and still loving on me. And so for me, everyone knows how I feel about the place. And so I wouldn't change the thing about it. I loved my time there. And so yeah. Were you, are you a Nick good? Because what trip me, what trip me out about this whole thing?

I'm going to say what I think. Let's do it. I think you're young. Like, Nick's young. You're 34. Y'all are like basically like two grown men in the same age group. Right? And like he's competitive as fuck.

You're competitive as fuck. And you're walking off the field and something happens. I mean, it's pretty much what happened. I mean, like, it's that simple. I just think the age thing, matters, dude. You know, like, if it was a 65-year-old coach, it's just hard to picture in my head. But y'all are two, like, peers almost. Do you know what I mean? I think the reason guys really love playing for Nick is because of how competitive he is and how much he enjoys, like, the day-to-day

process. And he's a coach that emphasizes competing as much as any coach I've been around. Going into that Philly game, like, I got hurt against the Saints the week prior. And so I didn't even know if I was going to be able to play in the game. And so like we get to Thursday, I can't even lift my arms above my head because I had an AC sprain on one side, another SC sprain on the other side, had the concussion in the game. So I was like, I didn't even know if I was going to play in the game. And so I was just like out there to try and make a difference, trying to draw some attention away from some guys. Diversion. Yeah. And just like if I felt good on game day. I should like, I felt like I felt like myself on game day, but throughout the week, I just felt horrible. And then after

the game, we win the game. And we've, we've had, I feel. I feel. I feel. I feel like, I feel like, I feel played him four times he's beat me three times um and so the one time that we won it was like a big deal like he's over there so that was kind of the thing like bro i was over there acting all cordially when you beat me like you kind of have to be on the other side and so you got to take the others out of it yeah we were fine we talked that night it was no big deal i think everyone blew it up just because of everything that happened in philly i was there everyone knows how i feel about the place and everyone knows nick as well so i don't think i think it was a big thing that's cool though it just goes to show like how shit gets blown out of proportion

sometimes. It's also perfectly understandable that people's emotions run high after a game that's like 45 to 43. Yeah, we scored literally the last play. That was the craziest game ever, dude. I agree. Y'all turned the ball over what, like five, six times? And still won and be the Super Bowl champions.

Yeah. We, we, yeah. Last two times. Just goes to show you. Goes to show you how good that team can be your team possibly next year. Let's say this. Debo Samuel, which I haven't even gotten to, was the big bombshell news this week. If you're on that team, if you're not on that team,

what does he do for that team? Either way. I think Cliff is so good at personnel matchups, like getting teams. And we probably had the most personnel groups in the league last year. We ran a true 21 with two backs. We ran 22. We ran 12. We ran 11.

We ran 13. And so Debo is just a piece. Like, how do defensive coordinators really account for him? Like, is he a true 11 receiver where he's a slot? is he a 21 running back? And like what personnel are you just going to play nickel every play against him? And then you can have another tight, like if you go like two tight ends, three receivers, do you just go nickel or are you going to have to go base if Debo's in our running back?

You could put him in, yeah, you can put him in the core. Yeah. So it's like I think that's just another piece for Cliff to kind of use and manipulate defenses. and Cliff so good at getting defenses to just kind of show who they are early and then attack them that way because you can't just attack a defense for 50 different, five different defenses. You want the perfect play against the perfect defense. And so Cliff is so good at getting those situations.

So I think with a guy like Debo, he's so versatile. He can do really everything that Cliff is just going to be able to really use him as a piece that I don't know if there's another guy like him. No. I feel like a whole generation. of guys was compared to him as many generation like five years worth of prospects where if you had a guy that you

were like hey we don't know how to use him and that's actually a good thing because he's got so many different skills like he's a Swiss army knife he's Debo. Yeah. You know and yeah I could see him getting some running back reps. Is scary Terry just like the greatest person on earth?

Like does he remind you of anybody that I would know? So you probably I don't think you play with him but he's the closest thing to AJ Green that I've been around in terms of his mentality. AJ Green didn't say, like I was with him in Arizona at the end of his career for two years. And this is a guy that probably first, maybe first ballot Hall of Fame, definitely

Hall of Fame. There's like first 10 years or 78 years in the league all over 1,000. I know Mike Evans has kind of surpassed that, but no one had done that up to AJ. But AJ, like, if the ball wasn't going to me, he's like, okay, whatever. Bob will come. I'm going to make my impact on the ball has come. Terry's the same way. You don't hear a word from him during the game.

You don't hear a word from him during the week about, I need more targets, I need the ball more. Even early in the season, he wasn't getting a ton of targets because we were just kind of, no one was really getting a ton of targets. We're just kind of finding our way. He doesn't say anything. And this is a guy that, I don't know exactly how many yards he went to,

but he set the franchise record for touchdowns this year. He's probably the best, like, awkward, contested catch receiver I've ever seen. Like, were the balls, like, off to your side or something like it's like a jump ball where he's going up there and catching it in his chest where it's like you've been coached your whole career to go up and high point it and terry goes finds a way but if you do high point the ball's probably getting knocked out because the dbs are so good um he's making diving catches where the ball just kind of sticks it's just like selflessness really sets its own for that building in my opinion he's the guy that's been there

through thick and thin um and he's the guy that doesn't say a word and he's one of the best receivers in the league that's awesome Yeah, he seems awesome. Your big night, man, I wanted to ask you about this night. A $750,000 night from Zach Hertz. It was Atlanta. That was a big one. So you go into a big game with playoff implications,

has come down right to the wire. And you go $250K for a game winner, $250K for 60 receptions, 250K for 600 yards. You rack up all these incentives, and you pass off. to be ninth all time on the list for yards by tight end, which it's news to me, man. You're pretty damn good, huh?

We got some stuff to talk about after football, maybe. And it was your mom's birthday. It was lovely. What a day, dude. What a day. What a day. It was a fun day, obviously, to have a game like that and pretty much a win in your end situation. It was so much fun.

And Jaden was just calling my number. I think I had, I don't know what the stats were. But just to make the plays when the team needed me, especially in that situation, as it was unbelievable. I mean, that's really what you want to be known for. Like, hey, it's third down. It's in the red zone. We need a play.

It's late in the season. Who are we going to? And you put in all that work throughout the offseason, training camp, practice to say, hey, when the season's on the line, who are we going to? It's either if Terry's getting a double team, it's going to Zach. If Zach's getting attention, it's going to Terry or the running backs or whoever it is. So it was just fun that night, that night against a good defense, two of the best safe. I mean, Jesse Bates and Justin Simmons were the safeties.

Yeah. So two really good players that have gone against in my career. And so it was just a fun, fun night. Obviously, the money was fun. I didn't know about it until after the game when Shepter told the whole world about it. But it was a fun night for sure. So some of that was news to you? I mean, I know I had those in my contract.

I didn't know where I was in the stats. Damn, dude. I'd have been like out of been coming through that thing on the bus ride over. All right. You talk about Bates and you talk about great safeties. Like let's talk about a defensive end that's tough to block. Who are the couple guys? What makes a defensive end tough to block when you do have to block a defensive end?

That's a great point when I had to block them. But I think the thing that's really tough, like the guys that are just going to stay in their gap to me. Like if you're just going to be a D-N or outside of that. linebacker and you're just going to stay in your gap to me i'm pre i think i'm just going to hold hold the ground like i'm not going to hang you hang on yeah no no tight end is just going to i mean maybe john bates i think john bates is a phenomenal blocker probably the best in the league is he really yes bro he's insane i've never seen a guy be so dominant in the run game in the past pro as john that's because guys have gotten so bad in like the game is less physical so like john bates they were

all like John Bates in 2008. That's true. And none of them were like out in the route. Like there were just some like big 300 pounds joke. How much is Bates way? He's like probably 265. I mean, Lee Smith and his prime was probably what, 300 pounds? Oh, Lee Smith, dude. Lee Smith was a good blocking tight end.

I love that guy. But I think he's a word. The D ends that are just kind of be really gap sound. They're tough to block, but they're not as tough to block as the guy that you really have no idea what they're doing. BG. Like, yeah.

BG will play any gap he wants to. There is no gap. Dante Fowler, watching him what he does to tight ends, like I'll have a panic attack trying to block Dante Fowler in a game. Because I love Tay. I don't even know if he knows what he's doing before the ball snapped. Like he is all reaction and he was going a thousand miles an hour. He was blowing plays up.

Yeah. And so like guys like that are just so hard to block because if you try and like just patty cake with them, they're just going to run you over. Right. Like if you're playing for the swim move or they're crashing the gap, if they do just play up the field, like, it's just going to look bad. Yeah. And then if you fire off and they swim the gap, you have no chance.

Right. But then you can catch them, right? You can get under their armpit every once in a while or? Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's easier. Yeah. That's easier you said than done. I mean, you look at the guys and Brian Burns is a guy like that,

just like really smooth, like doesn't really give you anything to hit. So they're actually smaller guys. They're actually not guys that. you think about being like real point of attack guys they're guys that like can get up and under you in my opinion yeah i mean the guys that are playing the sixth like demarkis lawrence like when he's playing in a six technique hit up like i'm not blocking him like i'm just going to try and get in the way and like cut him off backside but that dude like when he's healthy in my opinion he is like one of the hardest guys to block in the league regardless of outside linebacker defensive end like i've loved

his game for so long yeah because he is just like i'm going to beat you up every play and there's really nothing you can do about. He loves to use his hands and the front of his helmet. Yeah, and like he's bigger, stronger, probably faster than me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's an interesting one. Okay, and then lastly, I got to get an update on your personal life. You're now a dad a couple times over.

What? Three times. Three times over, dude. And I just think it's so cool because knowing you and Julie for long enough. Yeah. And knowing what she has had to do for most of her life. And, like, just being a female athlete and that not being on the table, like, that's just, it's just something we don't have to think about.

And for you, I'm sure, like, you couldn't wait to be a dad. Now here it is. How do you feel? Oh, it's phenomenal. It really is a game changer. It's some, like, the perspective, you hear about the perspective and everyone says, oh, it's the best thing you ever done. You really don't understand that until you have kids.

like when madden our oldest was born it was just like completely the whole your whole persona your whole perspective changes to like yeah I'm a good football player but I'm madden's dad first like first and foremost um and same with julie like seeing her have have our son madden and then nine months later playing a world cup and then a year after that have twins it's like seeing her as a mom is like I loved watching her as a football player a soccer player obviously um but just see her in this light as a mom is like so much fun, so rewarding, just having our crew together. It's so enjoyable. Just being able to go on a walk or go shoot basketballs on the sport court or whatever it is.

Just to have our crew together is so much fun. And like things that you really don't understand when you're 26, 27. And it's like, I'm just trying to get as many catches, yards. And like, I'm going to think about football when the moment I, like, every second of every day. And yeah, I still love football. I still care about football. I'm still exhausting the process. but the time is different now.

Like I have to exhaust more time at the facility because the moment I get home, I'm all dad mode. And so, like, I'm not going home and watching film and, like, being alone for a little bit. Like, the moment I get home, I'm hanging out with the boys. Oh, yeah. And so it's just finding that, hey, how do I adjust in this season of life and just getting to the facility a little earlier

so that when I can be home with the crew, like, I'm fully present. And that's, to me, that's what I want to be. I don't want to be the dad that's like, oh, the boys are going crazy. I'm just over here on my iPad trying to watch film. I really just want to be present with the boys. And so for me, that is another factor. You know, I'm sure you felt the same way as you got older in your career. Like the family side of the business, like you really have to take into account as you get older.

Because you don't want to keep uprooting the family for years and years and years. And for me personally, I can't, I don't want to and I don't think I could just do long distance either. Which is tough because you talk about one shorter deals for more, you know, like, I don't know what speak for you, but I remember at the end of my career, I wanted shorter deals because if I was in a bad situation, I'm too old to be sticking around there a couple years. No, I 100% agree. If I'm not having it fun and having to enjoy it, like, I don't, neither party wants us tied together for a long time. Exactly. And on top of that, with everything you've accomplished, like, I guess the question is, and it's baked into this whole conversation, is like, what's left for you?

Yeah, I think I still love the process for me. I still love the practicing. I still love the opportunity to get better with the guys. And so for me, as long as I have that, I will still want to play. The money to me is definitely secondary now. We've been blessed and fortunate enough to have that opportunity to have it be secondary, to go to a right situation and not just chase the highest paycheck, whatever it is. But I feel great.

I feel good. I still love playing in D.C. this past year. I really did feel younger. I felt more explosive again, felt rejuvenated. But I'm also not a guy that just wants to be out there to be out there. If I'm just going to be out there and play 30%, 20%, whatever it is, like, that's not, I want to be able to make an impact. I want defensive coordinators to have to like, hey, third down,

we got to account for this guy. It's not just the guy that, oh, 86. He was good years ago, but he's not good anymore. So for me, it's just as long as I love the process and feel like I can make an impact, I'm sure I'm going to keep playing. as long as Julie is okay with that. Yeah, that's a good thing to put on the end of the sentence there. But it's true, like, you know, it's not selfish to say like, hey, I need to be playing a certain role.

Yeah. You know, because like football's too hard. It's not like playing basketball for a living. No offense to basketball players, but like, like, I'm going to get hit every day. Yeah. And, you know, I'm taking years off my life. I'm not going to be doing something imperfect, you know. So.

And it's like when I commit to something. when you committed to something, it's like every day is a process to get better. It's not like something I just pick up in OTAs or like the process has already started. And it's a. Can't get away. For me. And so it's like if I'm giving every, I can't be, I'm, I will never be a guy that will just be like, hey, I'm going to pour 50% into this thing.

And then I'm going to expect 50% return on it. Like I'm going to be all in as long as I'm in this thing. And then when I'm done, I'm done. The kids do make it harder to keep playing. That's kind of why I got out. and so I just was wondering with you having three, like how many more. But it sounds like you still got it, bro. It looked like you still had it.

And I'm wishing you luck this year and beyond, bro. Maybe I'll see you soon. I'm going to be out your way. So we'll get together. I love that. You know, our brotherhood, our family is all encompassing. And you're a part of that. No question.

I miss hanging out with you in the locker room every day. It was so much fun. You had a blast. We see you crushing it in all aspects of life now. I wouldn't say crushing it, we're doing good, man. Good enough to get Zach Hertz on the program. Well, Wayland dropped 28 in the basketball game.

So, I mean, yeah. Genetics, bro, you know. Hey, best of the family and keep up the great work, dude. It's been a lot of fun. Keep it going. We'll talk to it. What is up? It's the Butter King Dairy Expert.

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