Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Former Bronco Nick Ferguson talks Teddy Bridgewater and getting Moss'd

Episode Date: August 12, 2021

Matthew Coller is joined by former Denver Bronco and current talk host at 104.3 The Fan in Denver Nick Ferguson. He breaks down the battle between Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater for the Broncos' QB1 and how it's impacted by the state of the organization. Nick also tells a great story about being the guy trying to tackle Randy Moss when he famously flipped the ball to Moe Williams for a touchdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TD Direct Investing offers live support, so whether you're a newbie or a seasoned pro, you can make your investing steps count. And if you're like me and think a TFSA stands for Total Fund Savings Adventure, maybe reach out episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collard here and joining me, former Denver Bronco, current Sports Talk Radio host in Denver at 104.3, the fan, Nick Ferguson. What is up, Nick? How are you, man? I'm doing well, Matt. How's it going for you? I'm doing okay. You're making up for all of my appearances on Denver radio when everything goes crazy here and there's offensive line coaches who can't coach the offensive line anymore and quarterbacks on the COVID list and everything like that. So I'm glad to have you on this side of things to preview Vikings in Denver preseason.

Well, it seems as though like things on your end are more of a circus than they are here in Denver. So it's glad to be on with you. Well, let me, let me ask you real quick before we get into it. Like how have you enjoyed your sports talk radio career? You're kind of like one of us now in a way, and you've been doing it for a little while and sort of settled into the job. I know that you did some coaching before that. I'm always interested in the perspectives of former players who have now sort of joined the dark side of the media because most of you guys feel like the media is kind of out to get you while you're playing, but then you see the other side of it. So I'm wondering about how you've felt about your budding sports radio career. Well, I really enjoyed it.

And it's funny that you put it that way, the dark side. It was something that I never said I would do or never thought I would do, especially playing for the New York Jets early on in my career and just seeing that feeding frenzy with that particular media and how they approach, you know, reporting on sports, more importantly, the football aspect of it. And we were not that great in comparison to some of those Giants teams. So we took a lot of flat. Now, the whole idea of being on this side, I do see things a tad bit different because Matt, there's still individuals who have it in for certain players.

That's not every person, right? Because when we, when you're playing, you hear that and you assume that everyone is the same. You group them in the same category, but no, you know, you have your people who are going to kind of go after players. You also have guys who are going to tell you everything is right with your team. Even when your eyes are telling you it is totally the opposite. So being able to kind of straddle that line where you're not really attacking players because a lot of former players think, OK, well, this is the model. You become you become an analyst now. Now it's about attacking attacking and a lot of guys forget that wait a minute

at one point you were in those same shoes and you knew how it was when people attack you so it's just kind of finding that happy medium where you can talk about the real things you see and not make it personal and from all the times that you and i have talked one of the things i like about your style is you're sort of analytical about it you bring the former player perspective but not the homer type of perspective because it can go too far either way. Some former players, like you said, we'll just rip everybody. And then some former players will not want to rip anybody at all. And it's sort of like, you have to learn sort of the journalistic style of being fair. So let's start talking fairly about the Denver Broncos who, you know,

what did John Madden say? If you got two quarterbacks, you got none. Do you have none Nick in Denver? Well, I'm not going to say that we don't have none. We have two quarterbacks and they can't be, you know, any different. Uh, Teddy is old, reliable. And Drew is what I call the mystery meat in the back of the refrigerator. Remember when your mom would have, you know, kind of makes food, and she would kind of stick it in the refrigerator, the leftovers. You put it in aluminum foil. Two months later, you forget what it is, and it looks like something entirely different.

That is kind of what Drew Locke is because we know he has the skill set to be a decent quarterback in this league. Arm talent is there, but he's lacking a lot of things. Ability to process information pre and post-snap. Footwork, decision-making, getting the ball out of his hands and making clean throws. So we were very optimistic, but the word that is used a lot, and you're probably here too as you cover this inner squad practice, is the upside.

Well, what does that mean, upside? At some point, Matt, upside must lead to production, and we have yet to see it. When it comes to Teddy, Teddy was drafted by the Vikings in the first round for a reason. He did a fantastic job filling in for Drew Brees when he went out. So we know what Teddy can do, but when we look at what happened in Carolina, Teddy wasn't set up for success. You have a new head coach. You had a new offensive coordinator.

The offensive line didn't play well. You missed Kristen McCaffrey, right? Your tight ends, they were not up to par. But what he did do, he did have two wide receivers that went over 1,000 yards and almost another in Curtis Emme. So he is over-reliable. You're confident in what Teddy can actually do. And I would dare to call him a game manager,

which typically has a bad connotation in our sport. But that means that's a guy that you can trust as a coach to go out there and do exactly what you expect him to do. Not turn the ball over, not put your defense in tough situations where they're giving up points. And I like that guy. Yeah. I think that, I mean, Vikings fans know exactly what you're talking about because Teddy Bridgewater

game managed them to an NFC North title in 2015. And then after he goes through the injury, I'm not sure that he'll ever be the guy that he was starting to become here. But when I watched him last year, I thought early in the season that Joe Brady's offenses were kind of fooling some people. But then as the season went along and by the time he played the Vikings, I felt like in a lot of cases, Mike Zimmer knew what was coming. And even a Vikings defense that had been struggling and made some mistakes in that game still slowed them down. And throughout that year, it seemed like they just didn't adapt enough of what their offense was

doing and defenses figured it out. And then it wasn't surprising that Bridgewater hinted at, hey, maybe they need to take some more steps forward with Joe Brady and Matt Rule and what they're doing. I mean, it's kind of like what happens with college guys. It takes a while for them to figure out the NFL game is done this way. You have Pat Shermer there and Vikings fans know Pat Shermer is a long proven offensive coordinator. He worked extremely well here in 2016 and 2017. I feel like Pat Shermer and Teddy Bridgewater are a really good fit together. A lot of the play action, a lot of the running game, and then there's weapons to work with to get the most out of Bridgewater. It just feels like a team that is more set up to have a game manager who relies on their defense, gets the ball into playmakers hands than it is to be

throwing drew lock out there and having the potential to have a great season if he's great. But if he's not then blowing up a roster that is really strong. Well, Matt, you bring up a very interesting point, and it leaves a lot of conversation here in Denver as far as the quarterback battle. Which guy do you want? You know what Teddy is. You know what the ceiling and the floor is for Teddy. With Drew, you really don't know. You're hoping and wishing that he's actually going to emerge and take that step forward we haven't seen it just yet and Drew this is the second year and Pat Sherman's system I mean you fire Rick Scangarello so the whole idea was well Drew was struggling because he was

trying to learn a new system and we were dealing with COVID last season but there are no excuses now this is your second year in this offense, and we need to see you take the next step. And when you look at Pat Sherman, both of these quarterbacks, there was a problem last year. And I realized this because I sit down and I chart plays. I was like, wait a minute. Pat is trying to make sure that he makes every read easy for Drew,

even though Drew, for some reason, doesn't take the route that he actually should take. And when you look at that as a whole, you say, well, where's his development for Drew Locke? And understanding that if you are Pat Sherman, you want to run 100% of your offensive scheme and you're changing it constantly because defenses are adapting every single week.

You cannot do that because Drew Locke is showing as though he doesn't have the ability to retain and recall information. So while everyone here was kind of attacking Pat Sherma, well, your scheme is kind of pedestrian. I'm like, well, if you have a quarterback that you can't operate 100% your playbook that makes it very difficult but now he has that guy with Teddy Bridgewater yeah it wasn't pedestrian when he got a 13 win season out of Case Keenum right I mean right exactly right I'm sure that they're seeing some of the same parallels I mean at this point in Teddy Bridgewater's career that's kind of what he is is sort of a a Case Keenum with maybe a little more talent than case has a little more accuracy case could be kind of all over the place the the thing that i've seen from teddy though that i wonder if this sort of is part of the debate in denver when i watched him with carolina

is he was always conservative by nature in throwing the football not enough down the field and that sort of thing in minnesota which we assumed a big part of that was Mike Zimmer. And the fact that they had Adrian Peterson lead the league in rushing, like you want it to be that kind of offense, but Teddy, I think has the accuracy to make more downfield throws. It's just, can you get them to believe that he can do that? Can you set them up to do that? And it feels like Denver has the weapons to do that.

Like Carolina Carolina also had some good wide receivers but I'm looking at this Denver offense and saying it's pretty stacked man I mean you should be able to get something more out of this than you got last year well yeah let's let's talk about the Minnesota days I mean you had Adam Thielen Rudolph, and you had a very young Stephon Diggs who was just trying to learn how to be an NFL wide receiver. Not the Stephon Diggs we see now with Josh Allen in Buffalo. So trying to keep things in perspective. And then you look at the Carolina Panthers. Once again, you have all these new faces.

You're in a new place. You're trying to get to know your wide receivers. And they were not as explosive as you would like them to be now that's not to say that in that Carolina Panthers offense they didn't take shots down the field because that once again is something that's talked about here in Denver he's not taking shots down the field I say those shots down the field have to be calculated Matt when we look at the run that Tom Brady made going to the Super Bowl and winning as a 43-year-old quarterback, let's take a look at the shots that he took down the field. They

were calculated. Tom never had a strong arm, so they had to find a way to kind of manufacture explosive plays. And this is what I try to tell fans here in Denver. If you look at any given quarterback, any given game, and that's even Patrick Mahomes himself, you're only taking three to four shots down the field. And I'm talking about 20 plus plays. Majority of your explosive plays start at 12 yards. Now you put the ball in the hands of your receivers and there's run after catch. That's why in fantasy numbers, we pay attention to air yards for a particular reason. So when I look at Teddy and I look at the situation in Carolina and I look at what we're dealing with here in Denver, you have more weapons around you from the wide receiver standpoint, tight end and running back. And it's

on Pat Shermer to create some of those plays and give Teddy an option to throw the dig route, to throw the corner route, 10 to 15 yard throws that your receivers can turn into 30 to 40 yard run, catch and run. Yeah. And in 2015, his intermediate passing numbers, and I know this is going back a while, it's just with Teddy's injury getting in the way, the sample size to look at the in-depth stats doesn't really exist too much, but the intermediate throws where he had a lot of accuracy was one of his strengths, especially if you got to like third and eight or something like that, his anticipation throws into the tight windows. He was doing all of that. And last year, it wasn't as much of that because I think Joe Brady was scheming up kind of all these crossing routes.

But then once teams figured out how to pass off those crossing routes, everything got more difficult. So it sounds like to me, you're leaning toward, they should probably go with Teddy. Absolutely. Here's the way that I kind of tell the fan base here, because there are a lot of individuals who listen to our show and think that we are heavy Teddy. And we're just overly critical of drew lock. I said, I just report on the things that I see. That's it. I don't throw anything extra in there. I'm just only reporting on that and put the thing about it this way. You are a big fan. You waited 40 plus years to become a head coach.

You've been with the Broncos three years and you haven't had a season over 500. The Broncos could potentially have a new owner come 2022. And every owner, I don't care who you are, Jeff Bezos, it doesn't make a difference. You want to make sure whatever team that you're investing in, it's constantly winning. And the Broncos haven't been to the playoffs in four seasons. So I'll ask you, if you're Pat Shurmur,

who wants to be a head coach in this league again, if you're Vic Fangio, who wants to retain your job, and you know the ceiling and the floor for both players, which guy would you choose? I mean, I would go with Bridgewater because I just don't believe in Drew Locke from what I saw. I mean, Drew Locke, I think I made this comparison last year, looks like sort of discount Ryan Fitzpatrick to me somebody who has somebody who's whose good games are really fun and who can throw it down the field and who's a gunslinger but at the same time if you operate on a play-to-play basis and you have a good defense and you have a running game and all that sort of stuff you've got a much better chance to be competitive than you do with the high variance. And if I was Denver last year, two years ago,

Drew Locke makes so much sense for a team that wasn't there yet. But when you have a roster like this and pressure, like you were talking about, I think you want to go with the proven commodity. And I also thought, I've talked to some people sort of who know people, that's the best way I can put it without saying who with Carolina, with Carolina, who have told me, look, that thing is a mess. Carolina, what they're doing. I mean, they traded what?

A second round pick for a quarterback from the jets who has never been good. And they decided to pass up on drafting a quarterback. Like the Carolina is not a very functional franchise. And so I think there's more in Teddy that would be reflective of what he did in new Orleans than what he did in Carolina. So I would go with Teddy Bridgewater, but let me ask you about the pressure on Vic Fangio because Vikings fans have a lot of respect for Vic Fangio with the defenses he put together with the Chicago Bears that frustrated the Vikings here. So are they happy with the job that Fangio has done there as a head coach and just looked at it as the quarterback position has not been solved?

And that's the problem. Or is it very much, hey, if you don't do something this year, it's, you know, time to go. Well, no, they're not too happy with uh Vic and Vic walks into a tough situation when a team comes off four seasons under Vance Joseph and you walk into that situation the pressure is on I mean here in Denver there's an expectation we're expecting to be in the playoffs every year even if it doesn't happen so the pressure is going to be in the playoffs every year, even if it doesn't happen. So the pressure is going to be immense for a head coach or any quarterback that comes here, because you just look at the history and the tradition of this organization. So I don't envy Vic Fangio right at this particular moment. And just consider this. When Vic took over, he had to accept a coach and take in a coach he really didn't want,

and Rich Scangarello, because John Elway wanted someone else. He wanted a Mike Shanahan. He wanted Gary Kubiak. He wanted Kyle Shanahan. But then there are certain people within the organization that was just like, no, we don't want Mike around. You know, Mike had a lot of power when he was a head coach. We just don't want him circling the building again.

So now, hey, let's go get a disciple of all those guys and bring him in. And you know this. No one likes to have anything forced on them. So the relationship was strained from the very beginning between he and Risk Ang a role. That's why the whole marriage now with Pat Shermer seems to give people a little more optimism that this team could trend in the right direction. But it all goes back to the quarterback position. And there's a reason there's so many people rooting for Drew Locke. That word upside.

When you look at Teddy and Drew, well, you know what Teddy is. Drew has so much upside that if he hits his pinnacle point, then, man, it's going to be lights out. But he hasn't reached that point. And they're holding on to their very last hope because they know this organization under John Elway, they have not done a great job, Matt, in drafting and developing quarterbacks. Over the past, I'll say, 20 years, you look at the Broncos organization quarterbacks who were drafted by the

team that won a playoff game. Do you know who that quarterback is? Do you have any idea? Tebow, right? That's right. He's the only drafted quarterback by the Denver Broncos to win a playoff game. So drew lock is in essence, the last hope for John Elway's legacy of drafting a quarterback. That's why everyone wants him to succeed. I say, you know what I want? I want to freaking win ballgames.

I don't care about that. I want to win ballgames. So Teddy gives us a chance. Fine. Hey, Matt, if you gave us a chance to win ballgames, stick Matt in there and see what happens. But I don't want to continue the losing season why we see justin herbert then we see uh derrick carr and also we see the fact that kansas city with patrick mahomes they're not going anywhere um my hands are too small to throw that

football the mitts are just they're just not big enough every so often during training camp of all sort of bounce over to you and you just give it to the ball guy or whatever and i've looked at that thing an nfl football it's not the football you throw around with your buddies in the backyard it is it is gigantic it's like i can see why you have to have like 11 inch hands or whatever because uh that that would not be me i don't think I could throw that thing 20 yards. So it's always funny when people like me, I'm like fairly athletic, and I pick up the ball and I look at, you know, Daniil Hunter and I'm just like, nope, I am not fairly athletic. Oh, man.

But you know what? Here's the thing. You brought up something very interesting that comes up during a draft evaluation when we talk about quarterbacks. And there's a lot of emphasis placed on a quarterback's hands size because you're thinking if you have a quarterback with small hands,

inclement weather, it could be ripped away from them. But there are quarterbacks who have played and have success in this league who don't have the ideal hand size. So the whole hand thing, you might have a shot. You might have a shot.

I want to remind you to go to SodaStick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. If you have not seen it yet, you've got to check it out. A couple of my favorite designs are the Duck Duck Gray Duck and the Randy Moss Goat, which you've got to see. All their apparel is screen printed here in Minnesota on super soft, super comfy shirts and hoodies. You will love it. We're going to hook you up with free shipping on your next order. By the way, use promo code Purple Insider for free shipping. That's SodaStick, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com.

Original Minnesota sports inspired goods. Code Purple Insider for free shipping. You might have a shot okay all right well i'll get i'll get uh the tire and hang it up in my backyard and start throwing through it and we'll see if it works out i think i should probably stick to podcasting but uh i okay i wanted to ask you something that i threw out there on the show for entertainment purposes only so don't get mad at me people this is entertainment purposes only I'm not saying this would happen. If you were offered as Denver a trade of Teddy Bridgewater for Kirk Cousins,

like right now, like leave Teddy here, take Kirk back home with you, would you do it? Heck no. No. Listen, I watched a game last year where there was no fans in the stadium and you guys were playing the Chicago Bears. And I saw Justin Jefferson in the end zone and you can hear it as clear as day. This was the luxury of not having fans in the stadium. And he said something to Kurt. Now, I can't really repeat it, but it was more to the effect of throw me the ball.

I'm open. And Kurt was holding on, holding on, holding on. And I was like, wait a minute. This looks vaguely familiar. Oh, I'm sorry. It looks like Drew Locke holding on to the ball. So, no, I think I will pass on this, Matt. You guys can keep your three-year, $93 million guaranteed quarterback

who hasn't really done anything for the Vikings organization. Oh, and by the way, because of that, he's now put the jobs of Coach Zimmer and his staff in jeopardy because this is a must-win season for you guys, just as it is for Vic Fangio. Well, the Denver situation sort of reminds me a little bit, in a way, of 2018 when they signed Kirk. Not that they were coming, not that Denver is coming off a great season, but just in you have a really good roster and it's sort of a win now.

And there's this final piece element to it. But I think the Rams are falling a little bit into the same trap of anytime there's a final piece type of deal. It usually isn't. It's just one of those things that doesn't always work that way in the NFL. It's like what we were last year or what we think we can be isn't always what we can be. I wanted to ask you though, as a defensive player, how does the quarterback impact you, of your own team? And what I mean is the quarterback is the center of the franchise at all times, right? Especially when it's someone who's highly paid like Kirk Cousins. And I feel like with this team, the leadership is sort of sprinkled Vikings. I think don't with Kirk cousins, especially this has been revealed over the last week or so. I think it permeates everybody,

but you can tell me if I've got that wrong. No, you're absolutely right. As a defensive player, I'm looking at my quarterback, not to be a leader, even though when a guy becomes a quarterback or the starting quarterback, they immediately take that C and put it on his chest and call him captain.

Even though they know that this guy isn't the leader you want him to be. But because we have lifted the quarterback position up on the pedestal, we make them that guy. I went through the same thing when we had Jake Cullen and Jake Plummer. When Mike Shanahan decided to pass the reins over to Jake Cullen and take them from Plummer, it was deemed as though he was the captain, but he didn't know how to lead. When he made a mistake, he sat on the end of the bench by himself. He didn't do what Plummer did. Hey, I made a mistake. We turned the ball over, get us the ball back. We're going to punch it in. We're going to punch it in for a score. Okay.

Jake Palmer became our guy. We wanted to play for him. It seems like in Minnesota, obviously, things have revealed themselves, and players don't see Kirk Cousins as being that type of guy. I knew Kirk Cousins that wasn't that guy when he was with the Washington football team, and I never played it down with him. It's just the way that he carried himself. I mean, you look to your quarterback and game time situations is a two minute drill.

We are down. We need you to move the ball down the field. He didn't really do it. Now, we know that Kurt threw for a lot of yards because Washington was trailing a lot of games. So they had to throw the ball to get back into it. But the big reason why we care as a defender, a quarterback touches the ball more than anyone on the field.

So you need to make plays, third downs, and score inside the red zone, because that keeps the defense on the sideline. It keeps us fresh. Then once we get out on the field, we know the opposition, they now have to throw the ball. They can't run the ball. Play action the opposition, they now have to throw the ball. They can't run the ball. Play action is not there because they have to pass the ball to move the ball down the field to stay in rhythm of the game. When our quarterback is turning the ball over or he gets in scoring position, we don't score against an opponent.

We need to score touchdowns. We're kicking field goals. That puts more pressure on us. So we don't like that guy. And this is what I brought up when we look at the Teddy versus Drew 50-50 battle as it's being promoted here in Denver. If I am a defender, I want Teddy. Yeah, he's not going to make the sexy throws and explosive plays are going to be every now and again. But here's what I do know. He's going to keep the chains moving. He's going to keep me fresh because here's what we do know.

Von Miller is coming back off of injury. Bradley Chubb is coming back off of injury. Our linebackers, that group is a little suspect. So we need to get maximum rest as though we can, so we can go out there and execute. This is why it's important, whether it's Drew Lock Teddy or whether it's Kirk Cousins. If you why it's important, whether it's Drew Lock, Teddy, or whether it's Kirk Cousins.

If you can't keep the chains moving and keep me fresh, I don't like you, Matt. That's not good for me, especially if I'm in a contract year. And so I think of this of how the quarterback impacts the defense from the perspective of like Jameis Winston and how good Tampa Bay's defense was, except for he threw 30 picks and then they finished whatever 25th in points allowed. It's like, wait a minute, that defensive talent and how they performed was not that bad, but he was turning the ball over like crazy. That's an extreme example. But there's also a stat breakdown on how aggressive quarterbacks are on third down.

And Kirk Cousins was one of the lowest in the league last year in terms of third down aggressiveness. He was down there with Alex Smith, Broken Drew Brees, and guys like Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield was at the top. Like the third down aggressiveness, getting extending drives, making big plays on third downs has been something that's been missing here. And I think that there is a connection. And there's also just when the pressure feels like it's on the defense all the time, especially where they were last year with so many young players,

it was asking a lot and they turned the ball over a lot in the season. So I could see that. And then when you don't have someone, like you said, who's sort of rallying the troops on both sides of the ball and is sort of his own guy like Cousins and he's made it clear that he's that way I think it does permeate the whole franchise so I have two more questions for you though Nick oh go ahead follow up on that yeah go ahead yeah I'll say this when we look at Kirk Cousins once again it's almost like looking at Drew Locke and Ryan Fitzpatrick when they throw perfect balls in space, it's a thing of beauty, right? And then they make certain throws that leave you scratching your head.

And we know that Kirk is not a mobile guy, right? So it's like the Vikings offense to kind of make up for that. Here's a screen pass to the left and the right to Dalvin Cook, right? It still counts as a pass, but you're allowing Dalvin Cook to make the plays that Kirk Cousins can't make with his feet. Case in point, that's why Kellen Mahm was drafted, right? Here's a guy, he has a strong arm, he just needs to learn the game from an NFL standpoint, but he is mobile. He can make plays with his feet. And if you look at some of the other teams around the league, they either have quarterbacks

that can actually do that or they make up for it in other ways. But you need your quarterback to do more than just stand and hand the ball off and throw the ball down the field. I need you to put pressure on the defense, on the perimeter by being able to scramble. And Kirk Cousins, I mean, if I was playing against Kirk, I look at him the same way I look at Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. I don't have to worry about these guys scrambling. So I can sit in pass coverage flat-footed because I know what you're going to do. Right. And the lack of athleticism, here's a crazy stat for you. I'm not sure if I mentioned this on the show before, but Teddy Bridgewater missed all the time with the knee thing.

He was a backup in new Orleans. And then he finally starts last year over the last three years, he has more rushing yards than Kirk cousins does. And I mean, that's kind of, yeah, that's kind of a crazy stat, but it, but it is true. I think Kirk is something like 23rd and rushing yards and over the last three years. And a lot of quarterbacks have cycled in and out. So that kind of tells you that that little edge is being completely lost with his lack of athleticism.

So he has to make up for it, not only by throwing the football, but I think in other areas. And we just haven't seen him really embrace, like I'm the leader of this team, put it all on my back type of attitude. And I think that for fans is what's missing for him, even though a lot of people I think want to like Kirk Cousins because he is a

good quarterback. Okay. So tell me what the record for the Denver Broncos will be this year. If they start Teddy Bridgewater. I got it at 10 and seven. I think that's a reasonable number going 11. Maybe that's a little too optimistic. I know I'm a very optimistic person, but 10 and 7, I believe, is doable. The first three games of the season are actually runnable, but there are no gimmies in the NFL. But just looking at the totality of Teddy Bridgewater's career, especially when he's healthy and knowing as though the injury

has definitely changed the way that he approaches the game. I think he's going to play the game smart, safe, something that people here in Denver, they don't like to hear. But to me, when you have a defense like you have, you have to allow them to work. So you have to score points

and put them in a position to succeed. So I'm going to go 10 and seven for the Broncos this season. I like it. I think if they have a top-notch defense and a game managing quarterback, you can do that. Even though the division is tough, I'm not sure that Justin Herbert just sort of continues to just go up on this upward rise. I think there are usually bumps along the way. But the last thing I wanted to ask you, I think that's a fair record. And that's what I have the Vikings at two teams that are really good, but also flawed. Last thing i wanted to ask you i think that's a fair record and that's what i have the vikings at two teams that are really good but also flawed uh last thing i want to ask you or i want to i want you to tell is the reason we know each other is because when randy moss went into the

hall of fame i started looking around for story angles and i was looking at his greatest plays and so one of them is when he caught the ball from Dante and flipped it backward to Mo Williams for a touchdown. The reason you and I know each other is because you were in the process of tackling Randy Moss on that play. So tell me the story of the famous Randy Moss lateral play. Well, thank you, Matt, for bringing that up. So it's right before halftime and everyone you're

aware of uh randy moss's ability and there was two things one you don't want to get moss and two you know they're going to try something right before they have to get points so we want to make sure we shut that down and keep them in front of us. So, you know, all week long, our edge rushers were told, don't allow Carl Pepper to get outside the pocket. Now, he wasn't a Michael Vick type, but he was still able to get outside the pocket, and he had a cannon for an arm. And on this particular day, we found out, or I found out personally. So he rolls out to his right, he gets outside, I think of Reggie Haywood, who was our outside linebacker on that particular play. And he just heaves his ball down the field.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking, okay, well, the first person I need to find is Randy. Where is he? Right. And make sure that he's in front of me and he's not behind me because he's a tall guy and he has basketball-like abilities. So it'll be like an alley-oop to him. So he's in front of me and I'm like, yes, the first part of the job is done. Here comes the pass. All right, he's probably going to out-jump me. So I'm going to allow him to out-jump me, come down with the ball because time is running out so now i'm going to make the tackle to send both teams into the locker room with the scores being what they are so as i'm tackling him

then i i notice as we're falling to the right side of the field he is preparing his arms to flip the ball and i'm thinking like who is he flipping the ball to okay whatever flip the ball all you want to right he's gonna fall on the ground and then all of a sudden as we're falling I see a Vikings jersey and these white pants kind of fly by and it's Mo Williams and I'm like no no oh man I can't believe this and Mo runs into the end zone now the interesting part about it going back into watching that play you have maybe three to four of my broncos teammates who are standing there all spectating right and now i essentially maybe in a non-traditional way i've been lost right because now i'm part of this play, part of this highlight,

part of football history, Hall of Fame history. And I'm thinking like, man, why did my teammates all stand and not do anything about it? And I tell you this, to this day, Matt, I get on those guys. I say, because of you guys, I'm part of this guy's highlight reel, right? All you had to do is do your job as a teammate, right? Jump on top of Randy Moss. No where more Williams is located, but they didn't do that.

So I've been part of not only Randy Moss history, but Minnesota Vikings history as well. And you can go back and watch it as I did for the article. And yeah, I started looking at the other Broncos players. As soon as you get your hands on him, everyone's like, Oh, he's tackled. He's all set. Right. And then Randy takes advantage. You were doing your job. You had situational awareness on the play. You knew if you let him catch it and tackle him, it would be the end of the half.

What was the locker room like immediately after that happened? Oh, see, see what took place in the locker room like immediately after that happened? Oh, see, see, what took place in the locker room was something I had never seen before because obviously it was a frustrating situation for the defensive side of the ball because we just gave up a score right before the half. And it was difficult because usually in a locker room, you have the offense on one side and the defense on the other side.

So there was arguing back and forth as to whose fault it was. And there was an offensive coach who was saying, gosh darn it, defense, all you had to do is hold them and not allow them to score right before the half. In which defensive coach returned with, wait a minute, why don't you guys worry about scoring points and you won't have to worry about what it is that we were doing. And then at that point, everyone's ears perked up like, Hey, what's going on? So we had an offensive coach in a defensive coach, both going at it.

And I'll tell you this, Matt, they had to be separated. Right. And I've seen teammates go at it, but I've never seen two coaches in that type of situation kind of go at it. But I was just like, wow, one play created all of this. But it wasn't just that one play. And that play was just kind of like the cherry on top that said, well, this game is getting out of hand for us, both offensively and defensively. But it is a play I would always remember. I'm sure anytime Randy Moss comes to Minnesota Vikings game, that play would be in the montage of plays for Randy Moss. Now, I did I did watch on when he was put in the hall of fame for the montage to see if you were there, you were not that particular play was left out. So you did not get you did not get mentioned there, but I will say Nick, the same thing that probably everybody

says about this is that if you play in the NFL, as long as you did, which was what? Nine years in the NFL? Ten years. Ten years. You're going to get mossed. You're going to have, right? I mean, these are the greatest players to play in the entire world. So you, but you had a great career. You were undrafted, right?

Undrafted. Undrafted. You play 10 years in the NFL and you're out there tackling Randy Moss. So a great career, a great post career that you're building here. So I'm glad that that play bonded us together as football friends, Nick, and I'm glad that we could get together and do this. And I look forward to our, our future interviews either way, whether I'm on Denver radio or you're doing this in the future.

Well, absolutely. With the two teams said to collide here and practice and play this weekend, we would definitely have you on to give us the Vikings part of what really took place. And maybe Kirk Cousins would do something a little fantastic that can put a smile on your face. Oh, we will see. We will see. As long as there's no more press conferences about vaccinations.

Speaking of which I've got to go talk to Kellen Mond. So great. Anyway. Anyway. All right. Thanks, Nick. Really appreciate your time, man. Appreciate it, Matt.