OverDrive - Gallimore on the relationship between offence and defence, representing Ottawa in the NFL, and the football culture in Texas

Episode Date: February 7, 2026

Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Neville Gallimore joins the show to discuss the relationship between offensive and defensive players, what it’s like in the gym on an NFL squad, growing up in Ottawa and wanting to represent his city, and the football culture down in Texas.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. We've had an offensive tackle on here. We had Devin Hester on.

We've had Luke Wilson on. We had Robert Turbin on. We need someone representing the defensive side of the ball here. Some real players. Neville Gallimore joining us from. Ottawa, Ontario. 613, man. Absolutely. How are you doing, Neville?

Doing fantastic. I'm happy to be here. It's great to see you, man. It's great to see it. How do you feel about the offensive players? Like, they peacock around here a little bit, too, and they think they're... I mean, but that's what comes with the territory, right? You know, offensive guys are always going to be the flashy. You know, they got to flex. The defensive guys do the dirty work, you know, kind of come in looking rugged.

Still clean, but, you know, we don't need as much glorious offensive. guys. Absolutely. And we had Orlando Brown Jr. on yesterday. Yeah. And he was like, I don't like anyone on the defensive side of the ball. How does the mentality work defense to offense, especially on the line of scrimmage where you live?

You know, in the trenches, man, like, again, I went to school in Orlando, so I understand it's coming from because I don't like the old line either. Not a big fan. I get they got a job to do, but, you know, and it's in the trenches is us versus them, and you know, but the beauty of it is when we're on the same team, you get a chance to, you know, to compete.

But it's NFL, man. Whenever I see Olawn, you know, he's in the way of the money, so he got to get away or get through to him. So it's a love-of-hate-hate relationship. Yeah. Appreciate what they do, but you got to get out the way. He was talking about having everybody at his house, like, the defensive guys do their own parties and get-togethers and then the offense, or is it all together? We do, we do party separate.

But fortunately, I will say, be with the, be with the Colts, man. It was really cool because I was a team where everybody kind of bobbed together. It was actually the first time I seen the legit O-line and D-line, you know, hang out together and have each other's backs. But obviously when it's on the field, it's war. So it's kind of like, you know, two different territories coming together, you know, for a common goal, but they want to step on the field practice, you know, as us versus them.

Where's the kicker in all of this? Is he even like a thought process? Like Luke jokes about Luke Wilson's. Like, I didn't even know the guy. Like, I didn't even like the guy. I hated kickers. Like, you just expect him to kick field goals. And look, I say this, man.

I got an appreciation for kickers because at the end of the day, it's kind of like when you, when you make the game winning field goal, everybody loves you. Very important, man. Yeah, you can go 10 for 10. But again, now you go 9 for 10, everybody want to kill you. Or if you can have a great game or you can not, you can go about 15 weeks. and not miss a single field goal and then you miss one everybody sending you death threats

it's actually a pretty tough job you gotta be consistent and to be honest I feel like for them it's about being consistent when it matters the most right so and I feel like again I got a newfound appreciation

because their job is on the line I feel like people don't talk about as much their job is on the line probably more than anybody else is two men's field goals you know you're in the hot seat yeah and they'll cut guys like halfway through the season

go find somebody It's aggressive. It's aggressive. Neville Gallimore with us, the Indianapolis Colts, Ottawa, Ontario boy. We love hearing that. We'll get to that in a moment. But, you know, we're joking with Orlando about kind of the behind the scene stuff. And I'm always curious what it's like in the gym when the big boys get in there. Like, what's the weight room like mid-season when the linemen come in on either side of the ball? What's that, what's that energy like in that room? It's different, man. And I feel like that's why I translate on the field because I know, like, You know, for me, being with the coach,

weight room is just different. It's one of those things where it's all fun in games, but guys are just throwing, like, real heavy weight around. And that's what you love, right? It's not one thing to compete on the field, but when you get into that wave room, literally you look to your left for right, or you go and find out,

because I know that defense officers lift at different times. But, you know, I know with the coach, they put like a little score card up top, who, you know, who lifted the heaviest, who generated the most power. And it's kind of like, that's unspoken rules. Like, you know, you can't lift them out.

lift us. You can't let them show more explosiveness in us. And, you know, that's kind of what it is. But it's a big deal. Like, I'm talking every day we lift, like, we're trying to, we're trying to get after it. And I'm talking whether it's beginning this season, mid-season, even end of the season. If there's a workout involved lifting heavy weight,

like, again, it's still us versus them. Crazy. Well, and you're in Indianapolis, and obviously Lucas Oil hosts the Combine every year. Were you at the Combine your draft year? Yes, I was. Okay, what's that experience like where, like, it's got to be nerve-wracking, all the scouts, all the GMs, all the coaches.

Stupid questions. Yeah, like everything you got to deal. And you know the 40 time, what kind of weight you put up. All that kind of stuff, they're going to bring it up all the way until the draft. You know, the funny thing is, like, it was, I feel like anything to interviews is probably the most nerve wracking for me because the comment for me was like playing football. I feel like there's no thinking. Just go out, run, go lift, go do the stuff that you've been trained to do your whole life.

So for me, like, running, testing well, that wasn't really a big deal for me. for me it was more so you're meeting with 32 different teams. They're asking you questions that, you know, from back when they were in fourth grade, fifth grade, you know, they're digging into the archives. And for me, it was kind of funny because I'm like, how do you guys find the information?

Yeah. You know, especially coming from Ottawa. You know where I went to the first school I went to, you know, from Woodruff Public School to Pleasant Park to, you know, all the things I've done. So that was kind of like good. Fortunately, I got a pretty good, got a clean

clean leg so they didn't have to worry about it too much well and Dallas ends up taking you so was Jerry Jones in on all that yeah I mean I feel like fortunately you left like you know I was I was good he didn't ask me anything too crazy

I mean fortunately you know me being from Oklahoma it was right up the street so it was about two and a half hour drive so it was a great experience for my time out there in Dallas you had a good time playing for the Cowboys yeah like it's got to be crazy being from Ottawa which is You know, there's a good football history there, obviously. But then to be basically at the epicenter of football in Dallas, like what was that transition like?

And you went to Oklahoma, obviously, which is a great college and great football. So even going from Ottawa to Oklahoma, it was like night, night and day, and then you go from Oklahoma to Dallas, it's just on a whole other level. Because, again, Texas, you know, arguably, it's the mecca football, right? So when you, the fans, like, you walk out your house, you go to the store, like anybody who knows football, which is pretty much. When you see, like, they know who you are, you know, they know who you play for. But the fans out there, man, they die hard.

Like, you know, me being, like, living in Texas, like, you know, everywhere I go, you know, people still remember. Like, hey, man, I remember when you're in Dallas and do your things. So it's love. It's a different type of ballgame. And, again, like, Ottawa, the sports, special football, it's solid. But, you know, Texas, anybody to tell you, man. It's just different. Yeah.

It's just different. So when you're growing up in Ottawa, like, at what point did you start dreaming of the NFL? Like, you know, when did it ever? become a reality like obviously you got to do college first and you end up going to a powerhouse school right but like at what point in your life did you realize okay i think i got a chance to really do this you know i'll say like you know five or six just like any kid you know i jim were going to the nfl and obviously i was a basketball guy once upon a time but i will say i want to say it was about ninth grade um i was playing for his aAU baltie that my brothers were all part of a

Phoenix, Otto Phoenix. And I remember I told my brothers as well as my coach, Coach Waterman, I pretty much told him like, hey, man, I feel like I can go very far in this football, and I feel like I can really help set the tone for the city. Because for me, it was about, obviously, it was about getting a school paid for it, but it was about really kind of getting an opportunity to show that, you know, a kid like myself from Ottawa, like we have ballplay, is an opportunity to really represent my city and really just kind of, you know, have my dreams, but the dream for the city and, you know, those close to me come true. So I feel like when that opportunity to present itself, you know,

ninth grade was when I was like, you know what, I think I can do this, but I'm going to devote everything that I possibly can to make sure that, you know, this dream comes true. Were you always, like, the biggest and the strongest? Like, at what point did you, you know, as a kid, were you oversight? Like, what was the projection for you? I think most would say I was. I was always kind of, you know, the biggest one of the group,

always run for my size. And again, I think from when I start going to camps, you know, in America, I want to say it really kind of took my love for the game to another level because I know the first time when I, I think the first camp I went to was like a national underclassman. And it was like North Jersey Palisades. And I think it was like the first time I was like, man, I wasn't the biggest, wasn't the fastest. And I was actually seeing guys that were my age that were already getting recruited. And I think for me it was kind of cool because, you know, Because, you know, again, come from Ottawa, where you see these kids, you know, going to the 7-on-7, these big camps, you're kind of like, man, like, you kind of wondering if it could be you. So when you get to see these kids face-to-face, and you still got to see, like, okay, there's an opportunity for me here.

Obviously, the climb will be a little bit, you know, steeper just because being from where I'm from, but I knew there was an opportunity if I put everything where it needs to be. So your whole career in the NFL, the rules have been the rules in terms of protecting the quarterbacks. You don't know another world or another life in the NFL. Right. But there used to be another world where like a lineman would break through and you could kill a guy if you wanted to. Yeah. And most of them wanted to, defensive linemen or ends or whatever. Like how, what's that mentality like when you feel like, okay, I got this guy.

He's just got the ball off. Like they ask a lot of linemen and defensive players to like protect the quarterback. How challenging is it to do that and avoid a 15-yard flag every time you break through? It can be very challenges because, you know, we're competing, right? You know, a snap of the ball, you know, you make a movie, be the guy clean, and you see a clean shot. I mean, every D. Laman is kind of like a – your first instinct is that I'm about to go kill this guy. And sometimes you get caught up and you might get a 15 yard,

and, you know, sometimes they may call a little bit close, but I feel like it's just one of those things where, you know, that's where our game is at right now. And, you know, some guys can afford. Ford Define, whatever, you know, and some guys, you kind of got to think twice. So for me, you know, as a competitor, shoot, man, any opportunity to get a chance to kill a quarterback, I'm going to take those chance, but obviously nobody's, you know, you play this game, that's what comes with, it's going to be violent, you're going to want to, you know,

make somebody feel you, but it's never intentional. Yeah. She's business. Absolutely. It's business. That's where it goes, man. It's business. Well, Neville, we can't thank you enough for popping by it.

Noodles here's in Ottawa, what, every other day, basically? Yeah, I call the senator game, so it's, I'm there. Shout out my senators, man. They're doing the thing right now. I'm there all the time. Absolutely. It's great seeing you, man. You got to pick on the game here before you get out of here?

I'm just excited to see good football. Okay. Yeah, you know. Obviously, I don't want to, you know, the Coles, I wanted us to be there. So since we're not, you know, I got friends on both teams, I'm just excited to see good football, good D-Lon play as usual. I'm excited to see the D-Line dominate on both sides of both sides of both these teams. Neville Gallimore of the Indianapolis Colts from Ottawa, Ontario.

Great seeing you. Thanks for coming by. Great seeing you, man. There he is. A big handshake guy. Big handshake guy. Yes, sir. Thanks to Neville. I'm Dylan Playfair. And I'm Tyler Smith.

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