The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: Live in New Orleans with Drew Brees, Tedy Bruschi, Warren Moon, and Kobie Turner!

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel have arrived in New Orleans for the Super Bowl!  3x SB Champion Tedy Bruschi talks about the Cassel-led Patriots.  Rams DE Kobie Turner shares his experience on 'The Voice' and his nickname, The Conductor.  SB Champ Drew Brees shares his memories of bringing a championship to New Orleans. Hall of Famer Warren Moon recalls his transition from the CFL to the NFL!  We wrap with Bobby's new jacket from Drew Brees and what's to come in the next few days! Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh.

We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free. Heart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free Agency, Combine, Pro Days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts, to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means. And how.

who really wins. Open your free IHeart radio app. Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHart podcast. We got lots to say. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt.

I welcome to the show. We are in a, is this a convention center? It looks like what. Or is this a stadium? This is where they play the game? It might be. I mean, it's big enough. When you look at it, I mean, I think this is where they put the floats for Marty Graw. For storage?

Yeah, for storage. That's what somebody had told me. You learned something new every day. I don't know that I trust that. But you know what? For this, I'll accept it. But they could have been lying to you. Hey, the craziest thing, and there's a lot here. Hey, who's the coolest person you've seen? It can't be one of our people that we interview, but you walk through and just saw.

Ooh, crazy. I saw Joe Montana. I, you know what, I saw Joe Montana over there too. And immediately I was like, oh, dude, there's 16, San Francisco. How do you not love Joe Montana? When I saw him, I said, that's Joe Montana. That's all I literally, it's all I said. Yeah, I looked at him, and I didn't even say that.

I was like, but mental note, mental note, that's Joe Montana. That's pretty cool. We have, oh, also, I'll say this. They know that you're such a big deal. They just knew you're Matt Castle. You didn't bring your wallet. I didn't even bring my wallet to this deal. I mean, I know security is very tight because they checked the car.

They did the dog sniffing and all that stuff. Let me come through, literally walked through the screening area, didn't check my ID, but gave me my VIP pass and told me where the green room was and let me walk right in. You had a green room? There's a green room over here. And they just said, hey, if you want a snack or water. And I was like, cool. Literally never asked me for any form of identification. You have that former NFL quarterback look about you.

They asked for three-eight forms of identification for me. They were like, we need to see a driver's license, a student ID. Checked you for lice? We have a... That's a whole different story. Because I got kicked out. Back in a day when they would do lice checks, I was sent home a couple times. That was humiliating.

Because they'd pull you out and it'd be like, Bobby has lice and I'd have to go home. Oh, I've had... My kids have... We've got that phone call before. And if there's one thing that my wife, for some reason, is absolutely petrified of. It is that the kids got lice. I was like, honey, they're little bugs. You put oil in your hair.

No, you would think that we had some, like, serious, serious disease or problem. They're related to bedbugs. That's a whole different story. We're here to talk football today at Super Bowl weekend. We're going to talk to Teddy Brucey first, who's coming on stage now. So what is your relationship like with Teddy? What kind of guy is he? So he's become one of my close friends, and he's one of those teammates that, you know, when you leave the game,

it's always about relationships, any team that you're ever on. and Teddy has been one of those guys from the time I got there in New England, 2005, until now that I can call. We talk about family, this, that, and the other. But he is a guy that I respect so much, what he's been through, the stuff that he does from a charitable standpoint, especially awareness in terms of the heart and the stroke that he went through as a player, but just a tremendous individual.

And if you ask anybody that's ever played with the guy, there's nobody that would say a bad thing about. guy because he's awesome because he'll beat him up or both probably both i mean there there is the bitter brew i told you that there's split personalities here there there's teddy brusky the man that you see out you know smiles very cordial with everybody and then there's bitter brew too many people around too many people come up and touch him at the wrong time oh man you better watch out all right he's coming up now uh here he is teddy brusky yeah we got lots to say i feel like i'm the middle of a family reunion. I know my place here. So Matt, you and Teddy, you guys have met before?

Yeah. I think we met before. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We go way back. Halloween parties, all of that stuff. Derby. Yep. Pranks. My guy. Everything. Now, when I first got there in 2005, I mean, Teddy Bruske is a legend. Well, first and foremost, one of the best leaders I've ever been around in my entire life, but also a dear friend of mine and incredible human. And I just love, I just love. You know, this is a lot of love. I'm just throwing it your direction. Do you have anything good to say about me here? Throw some love back.

He's asked before. I just want a little love here. It's okay, man. You're a good friend of mine, lifelong friends. Life long, man. Just locker room, castle came in and provided a lot of energy that we needed. It was like, dude, Tom Brady's sure you're probably not going to play. But, you know, we always be ready.

And then Tom went down. And really, I mean, to still go 11. and five with Matt Castle at quarterback was probably one of my favorite teams that I hold on to because in all of the Brady love that there is, you take him away and let's take Matt Castle. And he still, Matt still made us into a great team cast dog as we call him. Matt has talked about you when you're not around, which is how I know he really like, admires you and talks about your leadership skills. So when that happens, so Brady goes down and this guy who wasn't drafted, right,

hadn't started a game since high school. He, as the leader of the team, like one of the leaders of the team, what is your role then in making sure that he and the team are maintaining stability? Oh, I mean, specifically towards Matt? Yeah, when that happens. That's a whole thing. Okay. I mean, you know the role that he's in, all right?

So, which is the backup quarterback to Tom. And so does he still take it seriously? All right. Is he still doing things that are being? asked of him, all right, scout team, or what kind of a guy is he in the locker room, all right, is he a distraction, anything like that? I mean, all of that was, he passed every test with flying colors whenever he was on scout team, did the job, wasn't a distraction, was a great locker room guy, great teammate, and for a guy that you know, you probably won't be watching

play too much, that's what you want, you know, recognizing work ethic and who the person is. that's important because the backup quarterback position is unique. It's very unique that, I mean, when are you going to get in? You're probably never going to get in. But reality set in when Tom's knee got hurt and then Cass comes in and it's like, shit, what are we going to do? You know, shit, we're still going to win football games and that's with him. I thought the same thing.

I was going, when reality set in, I was going, oh, now I got to play and prove myself. You know, I've been hanging on for dear life for three years. and then all of a sudden that instance happens. And in a blink of an eye overnight, all of a sudden, you're the guy at the forefront and you got to go out there and play. But I was lucky enough to have guys like Teddy and everybody else in that locker room. We had a veteran group that, you know, really rallied around me and helped provide it. Yeah, I thought they babyed you at first.

They did. They helped me back. And you didn't need it. You didn't need it. I know. It's like, fella, can we let the guy go? I mean, why do we have him? 13 bubble screens in a row.

What are we doing, guys? No joke. That was the game playing against the judge. We'd make them, remember we'd spread them out, and we knew that Eric Mangini was going to go rain every time we went four open. And so all it was was immediately to get me the slip screen. We threw the slip screen probably seven times in that game. And I remember a team meeting, I think it was when Bill was like,

oh, he almost took accountability for it and was like, Castle, we're going to let you go now. And when we were on defense, we were like, finally, man. I mean, let's let the guy do his job here. And you ended up having a great year, buddy. Yeah. But you got a lot of time in that documentary, too, didn't you? You got a whole episode.

You got a whole episode. They made me look like Michael. They made me look like Michael Vic in that. They're like, oh, look, Castle had a different type of game. And all they showed was my running clips. I was like, I threw them all too. Well, what about it? Just on the defensive side, it can be mad or it can be a backup quarterback or just a situation that you did not expect.

Do you go to the guys be like, hey, we got to step up in a different way? We have to create points ourselves. Does that happen in a situation like that? Or, again, is it still just forward status quo? No, we didn't consider, I mean, I didn't change my game when Cass came in a quarterback because it's like, all right, I got to try and get more turnovers. I got to jump interceptions and I do that and I miss tackles. I think we had a mature enough team.

I mean, it's a team that went 18 and won the year before now. Okay, so we're still a pretty damn good team everywhere. and we still knew we could still win football games. So there was no panic or anything like that. And if we noticed anybody was panicking from a leadership perspective, it was, you know, just anything, just stayed calm and, you know, focus on the plan and just trust the plan. Do you still think about that 18 and one team?

Because we had this discussion the other day. He was talking about, well, he a-I'd me and AI messed up. AI lied said he had two rings. They said I had two rings. I was like, no, I don't have any rings. Really? Right? It said that. I was like, no, the one I went to, we were 18-0, and we went to that, and the Giants came out on top.

And is it something that you look back on? I was so proud of that team, just being a part of it, right? But at the end of the day, we didn't accomplish the end goal, which was to win the Super Bowl. Right. So, I mean, the championships are one thing that you win, but we won a lot, you know, and we are a lot of games where we won and we lost. and sometimes talking about championships, the first thing I'll talk about is the ones we should have had. Right.

And so, yeah, I think about 07 a lot, especially in weeks like this when the Chiefs are trying to get three in a row, which is something also that we failed at. We lost in the divisional round of the Broncos. But I respect sort of the plight of trying to do something that's never been done before. And I think that's what we're thinking in 07,

that we've got championships in the back pocket, but we're trying to win the championship. that like in a room like this where all these you see all these super bowl champions here and it's like oh yeah but you don't have this right you know yeah you ain't got this you know so being able to say that and so that was important that was important how we wanted to achieve that we made sure in captains meetings that bellichick wasn't going to take us out when it was debated if we were going to rest or not so it was like don't even think about taking us out because we want to win all of them you know but you're talking about the last game of the year against the giants and then 60 yeah that one and even the one before right right Like people were talking about resting probably at week 14 or something like that. Right. And it was like, don't do it. You should have to be clear here, Bill. We want to win them all.

So don't take us out. Final question. As you play in more Super Bowls, do, how is the anxiety changing inside of you? By Super Bowl four you're in, is it like, we done this. Let's go. Let's get it. Or are you still kind of hype, super hyped? Yeah.

You get hype, but there's no anxiety. There's no. anticipation. There's no panic for any big situation. You almost anticipate every single one, but I would say you almost expect to win every single time. You know, that's why I say that if Kansas City loses this one, they'll think about this one just as much as everyone that they've won because this is the one that would have trumped the others that they had. You know, I know they've got back to back, but this three in a row would be super special. So, no, the anxiety goes away. That's why on fourth and five versus the Buffalo Bills, they're just running a play. They're just

running a defense. But to the bills, the AFC championships on the line, it wasn't for them. Talk about Abbott and what you're doing with Abbott. Oh, yeah, Abbott Heartmates. That's what I'm sort of here for. Abbott's Heartmate is a new program that they've started to where, you know, heart survivors and stroke survivors have a community of people that can talk to each other. That's new. But my connection to Abbott is like two decades old because the heart device in my heart is an Abbott device. So after my stroke in 2005, I had a hole in between the two upper chambers and they said, we got to close the hole. So I said, all right, then they tell me about this Abbott Amplatser recruiter that they're going to put in my heart. And, you know, it helped me

complete my comeback after that. I played four years after my first stroke. So I would have loved to have someone to talk to, to ask them questions. And that's what really heartmates is all about. You can join Heartmates at abac.com slash heartmates. And there's a community of caregivers and survivors that you can bounce those questions off. Teddy, really appreciate it. You're the man. You are the man. I remember go back to that 2005 real quick because that was my rookie year.

And you were rehabbing coming back. And I remember it was a Buffalo Bills night game. Yeah. And that was the most excited, emotional moment that I've ever seen in my entire life. That stadium, when you got introduced, to run on that field. I still get goosebumps. Think about my wife and I,

Laura and I were talking about the other day, like people had crying, the emotion, the rally and the support from the team, the organization, but those fans,

it had to be a special moment for you. Yeah, it was a memorable time. You talk about anxiety. I had anxiety then, coming back from that. And my wife did too, she said,

all right, because we were at odds if I was going to come back and play. For sure. I mean, it's like, I want to come back. She's like, oh, no,

you're not. You're my husband and the father of my three children. You are not going back there to bang your brain against these other guys. And so we had to get through some stuff. But she gave me the three-second rule. And she's like, all right, when you're down, if you're down for more than three seconds, I'm getting your ass out of there. So don't stay down just so I know you're okay.

So all that stuff's in my brain coming back in that Buffalo game, man, and all of that. Dude, I played like 70 plays. You had 11 tackles. You were the defensive player of the week. No, I was like on punt team. I was talking to coach, like, dude, can you get me on punt team at least? It was like, no, you're back.

But yeah, that was, that was anxiety-filled game for me. Teddy, thank you for coming by. Thanks, Teddy. Good to see. My guy. All right. Okay. The 2026 NFL draft is here,

and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig, after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap. cap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now.

I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency. the Combine, the NFL draft, Pro Days, trades.

This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move? We got teams rebuilding.

It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real. what's noise and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Now we're going to go over to Kobe Turner and who's had a good first year, really good second year, but everyone kept going, you know he can sing. I didn't know if they want me to give him a record deal or something or if they just want me to bring it, which we talk about it a lot. And so I went and looked at him. Now, yeah, he can really go.

Oh, he's multi-talented. When you talk about him as a football player, like you said, he's got 17 sacks in his first two season and somewhat unexpected, so to speak, but he has really come on there. But then, like you said, you go research this guy. You watch him sing, and I'm like, this guy's got some pipes. I'm really interested to hear what he has to say when it comes to, because he's done some shows, hasn't he? Yeah, he did mass singer.

He's performed the national anthem. for like the Lakers and all these stuff. I mean, he's got a career coming up. And people come to me all the time. They're like, this person, my cousin can sing. And then I hear, I'm like, okay, for your small town. Like, yeah, but no, like he's legit. The question, as he comes up here now, but that year one to year two where they go,

that's the most of element. Is that more of a cliche or is that pretty true? No, I think it's true because you come in and you're, by the time you're done with your rookie season, you're running on fumes. but you've also been able to absorb everything that's taken place. You've learned from the veterans in front of you, understand the defensive structure. And then as you come back,

you hit the ground running in year two in that off season. You start to develop and you work on specific areas that you want to get better at. And you could definitely see that show up in his game this year because he was an alpha out there for that defense and they needed it. Here he is. Come on up. Here's Kobe Turner.

Kobe last couple nights. I do comedy music. We did a couple shows. We did Atlanta. We did Mobile. Then we came over here. Like, I'm funny, but I kind of suck singing. So I don't know if you're funny, but I know you don't suck singing.

Right. When did you start to actually be good, though? When did I start to be good? So my parents used to tell me that I used to be singing with BB and C.C. Wine and they'd be playing on the radio. And they're like, you were hitting all the runs as a kid. So I kind of just grew up. around church music and listening to that.

And so that's kind of when it really locked in. But, you know, your voice changes all the time. I think that all was solid in high school. But definitely once we got towards college, I was like, okay, I got a little something. I got a little something to me. Now, for the rookie show, was that something that any, like the rookie show is a big deal, right? Yeah. And so I'm guessing you got up there and nobody, probably a lot of those guys didn't know

the pipes that were about to be presented. The craziest part is the Rams didn't even have a rookie show. Oh, really? I was waiting for it. Literally, me and my fiance were sitting there like, oh, we're for going to blow this rookie show off the water. Like, you know, they better take a video or southern world for to kill it. And there was no rookie show. So I don't know what we're doing over there.

We've got to get that going. What's the biggest stage you sang on as far as most people are watching? Definitely mass singer. Yeah. I definitely think mass singer. That process is weird because you can't tell anybody. Right. They lock it down.

Right. You got to wear a big costume. soon. What do you do? Because they shoot them, and how quickly do they shoot the episodes? So the whole process probably takes, I think the first episode took about four hours

because everything was kind of going. And then as people get knocked down, it takes probably around three hours. But the hard part is, so moving in that costume, like everything takes double the stamina, double the HP. So on the last episode of the group,

they were like, give a lot of energy in the group, song. We pre-record the group song, but everything else is live. So I was giving a lot of energy dancing, but I was the first person up. So I'm backstage. I walk backstage and I'm just catching my breath for 10 minutes straight because I have to go out there and deliver like a solid vocal. It's just me live now. Oh, that's unfair. They got you. If you have to go for it. Yeah, that's unfair. And I had the biggest costume to everybody else just had like body suits and maybe like the wasp had a little thing on the back. Buffaloes were just in like a, it was basically a

body suit. And I'm carrying this big thing that has shoulders. You know, I have my head sticking up on top on these poles in the back. And I can't even, like, touch my own chest. Like, I can't move. But, but no, it was, it was incredible. And if you have a, if you have an NFL defensive lineman, why would you not put them in a big costume? Like, somebody's going to have to wear a big costume. It might not be me. They should have given you a break, though. Like, they were really dependent on your cardio in that situation. Yeah, they were. Well, let's talk about it on the field. I mean, you've exploded these first two seasons, 17 sacks. And you're Nick name, I love the conductor.

You come out and after a sack, you've got, tell me about the celebration, the sack celebration when you came up with it, when it hit your mind. Yeah, so I came up with it in college. We were dancing around in the locker room and I just started conducting a little bit. So one of the guys was like, you have to do it as a celebration.

So next game out, I get a sack. I think it's the safety. So I start conducting. And so it was, it wasn't as clean as it is now. But then the next game, I went to actually try to draw the Disney. ears and be like, it's Disney Channel or whatever. But the announcers were like, the conductor's conducting again.

So I was like, I guess it's sticking. So fast forward to my rookie year, my first game, I get a half sack, and I just start conducting like this. And one of my teammates, Stray Tomlinson, he's like, you got to slow it down. Like, you got to relax. So then Arizona game, I just, you know, breathe. And I have experience conducting. I've conducted a choir.

I've taken classes. My, you know, degree in college was in music. So it was like, okay, just be in that moment, gather everybody, prepare them with the breath, and then go ahead and go through it. And then the little throw by, I guess, is a nod to my fiance as well. I've seen the sacks where you dominate the guy off the line of scrimmage, you're on the quarterback, down. What's your best accidental sack where you're like, oh, I can't believe you went down? Like, you like, you flipped his ankle. Like, can you think of an accidental sack you got where you're like, I can't believe that just happened.

Yeah. So I think of, well, really, the first one on Brock Purdy this year, I really missed him. Like, I was falling down, but he went to go jump into the O line. And I just, like, had my hand on him, but I didn't, like, bring him down that time. So that one was accidental. And then I think last year versus the Giants, it was one of my two and a half that game. We worked at Interior Stunt. We're in base personnel.

They're out in 12B, and it looks like they're going to run the ball. Play action pass. We work a little stunt. And then Tyrod Taylor starts going around the edge. And I, you know, I'd like to consider him, I'm an athlete, but I'm not Tyrod Taylor fast. So I just dive out and I barely clip his ankles. And so that one was cool. But I've tried that same tackle on Conler Murray a couple times and you just, you can't clip his ankles.

His feet, he has two feet in the ground all the time because of how short his strides are. But I'd say those two are some of the accidental ones. Is there one guy that you'd say in the NFL, the quarterback position that you hate going up against because of the, your inability to get this guy down. or he makes you miss in the pocket, even though you're in great position. So I would say Kyler is one of the hardest guys to tackle, but also when you execute the tackling plan and when you're collapsing the pocket,

five is one, then it's a whole lot easier for him to tap because he can't really see around. And so if everybody's collapsing in, but there is one play, I mean, I come clean off of a stunt. This is our last game against him.

And I'm right there. And coaches are like, he likes to escape to the sideline, like he's going to try to scramble to the sideline. So he starts to bolt out, to the sideline, I flip my hips that way, and then he just does a little spin. So I literally spin in place, and then I think Fiss ends up picking up the sack. And I'm like, come on, like, that was mine.

So he's, he's annoying to get down. But once everybody's kind of collapsing in on them, you know, it's a little bit easier. Congrats on the first two seasons. Looking forward to next season and just seeing the growth. It's really cool. He sees one to season two growth. That's exciting. Thank you for the time.

Yeah, thank you. That's awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. The 2026 NFL Draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered. from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my

favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg, free agency, the combine, the NFL draft pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future.

This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season.

Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This next one's super cool for me. I spent a lot of years, 12 years in Austin and Drew Brees.

high school ball in Austin. Didn't really get recruited enough to go to a Texas or a Texas A&M. You know, goes to Purdue, but is a legend in Texas, is a legend here in Louisiana, New Orleans, because of the Saints. Do you have any relationship? Do you know Drew at all? I've known Drew for a really long time, not only on the field, but I've seen him at a bunch of different functions off the field.

And just an incredible person. And I used to love watching this guy play. I've got so much respect for him because even when you go back, when I first came in the league, he was with San Diego. Diego and how that whole situation went down when he got hurt and blew out his shoulder. Philip Rivers takes over. They really drafted him to take over for Drew prior to him leaving. And then when the situation happened, he thought maybe he'll never return, which would

have been a travesty, because we all saw what he was able to do when he did come back. But then to come here to the city of New Orleans, and I know what an impact he's made throughout this community, especially during Katrina and all the different stuff that he's implemented through his charitable foundation. He's really a loved figure here and deservedly so. Here he is. Legend.

Drew Brees. So I don't know what quarterbacks talk about when they meet. So I don't know. You guys do your thing. Is there like a secret handshake, quarterback, handshake? It's all love. All love. Just a general understanding of the grind.

and grind the respect for one another. It's funny because I think that other positions, they might be a little bit more competitive in some ways. And I know we're competitive, but once you're done with the game, we're always like, hey, man, what's up? You know, come up, give a hug, ask about the family. It's just, you know, it's the respect that everybody has for one of the other.

Was the jersey swap a thing as you were ending? Yeah, as my career was ending. Yeah, that became a thing. Did everybody want yours? It was annoying. Here's the thing. I did it a few times. I would rarely proactively go and ask for a jersey swap.

In fact, I only did it one time. And it was a Christmas Day game in 2019. We played against the Minnesota Vikings because my son, Baylon, my oldest son, loved Justin Jefferson. It was Jay Jetta's rookie season. And he's like, Dad, could you please do a jersey swap with Jets? And I was like, all right, son, I got you. because my son's birthday was coming up. That's amazing.

It'll be my birthday present. So I seeked out Justin after the game. I'm like, hey, man, you swap jerseys with me. It's for my son. Like, this would mean the world to him. So he autographed it, you know, to bailing. And I think the caption was, you hit the gritty.

And inside it. And literally that hangs in my son's room to this day. So pretty awesome. Can you imagine if you're Justin Jefferson, like you're a rookie. And Drew Brees, one of the greatest of all time, comes up and says, this is my first jersey.

swap ever. Hey, can I have your jersey for my son? And he's like, absolutely. I'd rip my thing and be like, that's incredible. Yeah, that's cool. How about the Super Bowl being here in New Orleans? You obviously had an incredible career here, but just the city and what it means to you. It means so much. And it just makes me proud, makes me proud of how far the city's come, especially post-Katrina. You know, it's been almost 20 years now. Hard to believe. But the way that the city continues just to respond, you know, through. adversity and the amount of resilience that, and, you know, we look at the, the tragedy of the terrorist, you know, attack on New Year's Day. And yet, I think this just, the city just has a way to come together

and continue to put their best foot forward. Man, just driving around town, God, the atmosphere and the energy is pretty awesome. Like, there's no city that can host a super bowl like this and keep it so tight, you know, like French Quarter, CBD, Warehouse District, like, literally all that is just walking distance. And then there's the Superdome kind of bordering, you know, to the north there. And then you got Mississippi River right here next to us. And so, like, man, we're just all in this, like, little melting pot together. And you got all the great restaurants and live music venues and event venues. And here we are in the convention center at Radio Row. And so, like, there's just an energy and a vibe to it. Like, parties and festivals,

that's what New Orleans does. Like, Marty Gras every year is ridiculous. Jazz Fest every year is ridiculous. So I think this is just what New Orleans really take pride in. And it's more so like, man, not only do we want you to show you a good time, but we just want you to experience what this culture is all about. I was at the Super Bowl in Miami when you guys won the game. The onside kick, though, to me, is my most vivid play memory. Did you know that was coming? Like, we're going out, we're going to kick an onside kick. Or was it a surprise to you like it was everybody else in the whole world? No, we wanted it to be a surprise to everybody in the whole world. We wanted it to be a surprise to everybody in the whole world. But we knew it was coming first meeting of the week of preparation.

Sean came at, look, we were playing the Indianapolis Colts, which everyone thought were untouchable, right? I mean, they really could have been undefeated up to that point because they had rested all their starters the last two weeks of the season, right? So, like, they were this indomitable force. Like, how are we going to stop them? So Sean knew deep down, like, no, we're going to have to steal a possession somehow. And so he had this idea for this on-side kick. Thomas Morsted, who was our rookie punter, but he was our kickoff guy, kind of had like this little, this unique little kind of side spin kick that, you know, just drifted past 10 yards. And, you know, we felt like it was a great advantage for us. So we nicknamed that play ambush,

right? Very, very aptly named. And so right at the start of the week, he's like, it's not a matter of if we're calling it. It's when. Right. So immediately you're just like, oh, man, like, can you believe we're going to kick an onside kick in this game at some point, right? And like, we kind of knew, look, Eni's going to come out. They played in this game three years ago. They're going to be comfortable. they're going to start fast. All of a sudden we're down 10-0. It was like, dang it, what happened?

But then we kind of claw our way back, and it's 10-6 going at a halftime, and we're about to kick off the ball. And, you know, so much of, like, being a great play caller and being a great coach is just timing, right? And Sean comes in, literally right at the start of halftime, and goes, all right, we're starting to be half off with ambush. And so all of a sudden, you're just like,

oh, here we go. I can't believe we're going to do it, you know? But then you're also like, it has to work. Like it has to work. It can't not work, right? Yeah. And then sure enough, we get the on-side kick after that scrum, and then we go down and score,

and then all of a sudden, like, the momentum just shifts, right? We were down 10-0-0. Now we're up 13-10 in the third quarter, and now you kind of have this glimmer of hope, like, we can beat these guys, right? You know, you were the ultimate competitor when you played, is now that you're not playing anymore, is it, do you miss it?

Do you feel like, you know, you miss the Sundays, you miss the locker room? I know all of us as players, once you're done, and you're out of that element in that environment, so to speak. But do you miss the locker room and the people and playing still? I do. And much like you, you know, you miss the locker room. You miss the fellows.

You miss, you know, just those lighthearted moments, you know. And also, in a lot of ways, you miss the grind, you know. Yeah, those are stressful moments in the preparation, you know, throughout the week. But there is this, there's this finality to the week of, man, we're going to show up on Sunday and we're going to see who prepared the best, right? We're going to see and then there's a winner or a loss, right? So you can truly define like you're a week of preparation by the result of the game, right? And you kind of build this process accordingly.

The other part is just that game day feeling, right? When you walk on the field and you know you've got this whole week of work and preparation behind you and you just go out with this feeling of kind of invincibility, like, man, I've done everything I can to put myself and my team in the best position to succeed. And now I can go out and relax and play this game. And who knows, like, we may do something today that's never been done before, right? Like, you kind of just had this feeling of power.

And so, man, it's hard to replicate that, you know, in any other line of work. But I think that's what you look back on with just so many incredible members. Final question. Then I'm going to ask about your jacket because I got to give me one of those. That's pretty slick, Jacket.

I think we can get to some. One of my friends is the head football coach at Purdue now. And I'm super excited for Barry, Coach Odom. Yeah. And love the dude. Now, have you had to be? any chance to talk with him at all. And how, and do you follow Purdue football to the point of, like, give him a few bucks? Like, I do Arkansas. Like, what is, what do you do there? Yeah, I've always

been a huge supporter of the Purdue football program and the school in general. I mean, look, I was a Texas kid. I never thought I'd end up at Purdue University. I didn't even know where Purdue was, right, until I started recruiting me. But very quickly, I realized what a special place it is, what an incredible college experience it is. And like, I had a chance to go there and play for a great head coach and Joe Tiller, throw the ball 50 times a game. Like, it just, it developed me as quarterback, as a leader, as a person in so many ways. I met my wife there, got an incredible education there. So I can't say enough good things or have, you know, enough pride for Purdue University. Man, this was a tough year for Purdue, you know, you go one in 10, really, really

struggled, like really, really struggled. And look, we're in a crazy time with NIL and transfer portal, right? And it's, it's become like who has the bigger budget, you know, to go out and, and, and buy players in free agency. That's truly what it's become, you know. And so I think we need to get back to kind of like the true essence and the purity of college football and that experience and like the development of what that is. Like that should be the opportunity for guys to go somewhere with a commitment. Like, man, I'm in this, right?

And I'm in it with the guys that I'm walking in the door with right now. And nobody's leaving. Like, we're iron sharpens iron. Like, we're going to get the best out of each other. And we're going to have to face failure and face disappointment. We're going to grow and we're going to develop through this. And by the end of this journey, we're going to leave here champions. Like that was our mantra when I got there as a freshman.

We were the last place team in the Big Ten when we all got there. And everybody was talking all kinds of smack about our recruiting class, right? And by the time we leave, we're Big Ten champs, right? So there's something to be said for that journey and then how that equips you to do things later in life. So I just want to make sure we're not robbing these kids, these student athletes of the right to develop the right way. And so, look, I love my university. Look, donated, you know, $2 million there back 10, 15 years ago and have a building named after me, right? That's more important anyway. That's more important anyway. But I will always support the

team, support the program. Every, every young man, young woman that comes to Purdue University, I want to know, man, we're going to put you in the best position to succeed in life because of your experience as a student athlete here on the field, but how we're going to develop you in the classroom and in the community. Like to me, that's what a college athletic should be. It's about character and leadership development. And I promise you that is at the forefront of what we do at Purdue University. What's up with the jacket? What's the Crown Royal NFL thing here? Man, this is a slick jacket. So this is a partnership crown roll has with starter jacket to create this awesome thing, which you guys are going to get. And it's for sale down at a pop-up in the French quarter. But all the proceeds from this

are going for charitable efforts. So it's going to the foundation for Louisiana, but also in partnership with my foundation, the Breeze Dream Foundation. Crown Royal has made a significant donation to our foundation to further our efforts with everything that we have going in New Orleans. We have job skills training programs. We're building affordable housing as part of a public-private partnership with the city of New Orleans, building health care facilities around the state and underserved communities. So we're continuing to try to do incredible things to impact so many people in this community

and Crown Royal is helping us to support that. I appreciate the time. Yeah. Congratulations on everything. Really good to spend some time. You got too. You're the man. You need to run for mayor here, bro.

I mean, you're on it. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosent.

Rosenthal on the free IHeart Radio app. Open the app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg, free agency, the combine, the NFL draft pro days, trades.

This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every movement. that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move?

We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This next one's pretty cool because Warren Moon is coming toward our stage now. I mean, Warren Moon is like the OG Gunslinger to me. Like when that's like when I'm a kid and I'm watching somebody just chunk, it was Warren Moon. So this one's super exciting. As a quarterback, what do you think of when someone just says Warren Moon? I mean, I kind of light up a little bit because I remember watching him throughout my youth and just, the way he played the game and also how the ball came out of his hand. I mean, he was a competitor, but when you go back and you think about his story,

he grew up in L.A., close to where I was, not really that close, but in L.A. And so you always kind of follow those guys and watch him, and he's one of those figures that, you know, that you say the name Warren Moon, and immediately he has reverence, right? He's one of those guys that you look at and go, what a stud. and I've known him over the years, and I've run into him at a bunch of different functions. It's always been a gracious, humble man, even though he's accomplished so much in the league.

Your functions must be awesome. Everybody's at functions. He's like, I know this person had a function. I never been to a single function where somebody was cool. You're here. I need more functions. Let's go function around here. Here he comes now, Warren Moon.

Mr. Moon, Warren. I don't know. Warren, Warren, Warren, Warren. Okay, just. I'm not that old. Fair not. what I would like to start with is, like what if they protected you,

like they protect these quarterbacks now? What if they protected you? Yeah, even, yeah, I mean, but now they're playing with flags on, right? I'm sure you had a few guys fall on top of your career, you know? Right. That doesn't mean I would have played any longer or anything like that, but I definitely would have felt better on Monday morning.

I mean, because some of the hits I look back and say, what the hell was I out there doing? Why was I playing this game? I remember the first time I left the game and retired. It was six months later the season started, and I was doing some sideline for Westwood One. And I watched the game from the sideline as just a regular person now for the first time. And I watched the speed and I watched the physicalness.

And I'm like, what in the hell was I thinking about for 17 years playing this game? You don't realize how fast it is and how physical it is to you get away from it. And I always tell people when they think the armchair quarterbacks, They could do what we do. I said, go watch it from the sideline and tell me the same. Yeah, because you can feel the hit from the sideline half the time. You're going, oh, my gosh. That was a collision.

Yeah, the speed and the collisions are amazing. So obviously you played in the Canadian Football League before you made that transition to the NFL. When you look back playing Canadian football, was it a wild adjustment coming into the NFL? Because there's obviously significant rules that are majorly different than what it is. The whole total game is different. I mean, we only have three downs instead of four. Wait, what? Yeah.

We have 12 players instead of 11. So you're reading an extra defensive back back there. It's almost like nickel all the time, even with three linebackers, and there's still nickel back there. Yeah, it's a different game. So you approach it differently because you only have three downs. So first down becomes a much more dominant passing down. And if you're going to run a ball, you better run it for a good six, seven yards. So you leave yourself and, you know, second and manager.

but I love the game up there because it was so wide open. And then when I came down here and started running like the running shooting that, that played right into what I had already been doing for all those years. And now you see the game of the NFL has become this wide open, four wide out, you know, empty backfield, five receiver type of offense. And the quarterback receivers become the dominant part of it until the last few years where the running back is starting to be inserted a little bit more importance into it. I want to make an analogy.

this may be the dumbest analogy ever, but growing up, I lived in the house for a long time. They tore the house down. Some other people rebuilt the house on the same plot of land, but they drove by, like, you used to live there. I'm like, I didn't really live there. I don't live in that spot, but that's not my house. Is that what it's like with the Titans with you? Like, it's not really the same house, but I mean, you kind of. It's a weird existence, not only for myself, but for all the guys who only played for the Oilers.

those guys for so long didn't have a team that they could identify with, right? They didn't have a reunion weekend. They didn't have a newsletter. They didn't have any of the things that we're able to keep up with the teams that we played for. I had other teams I played for, so I did have an identity with other teams. But I played 10 years of my career in Houston, and now all of a sudden they're gone. My number is retired on the ring of honor of the Tennessee Titans Stadium, which I never played in. And so it's almost like your career didn't exist in some ways.

I remember when the day I was having my number retired, I'm addressing the fans there in the stadium at halftime. I never played in front of those people live, you know? So I didn't know if I'm supposed to thank them or what because they never saw me play, but that's just kind of where we were because that's big business in the National Football League. When teams move, everything moves. You know, the whole identity and the whole history moves with it. You know, it's always amazing because I used to watch you growing up,

and you threw the most beautiful ball. And it was always tight, and I was always jealous of those guys that just had it, right? Did you have that from a young age? Was that something that just you were naturally gifted? Because the ball would just come out and your deep ball. I mean, the deep ball and the accuracy, which is always the hardest. Yeah, it was a lot of throws that went into that. No, it didn't happen overnight or it wasn't natural.

I practiced so much. I mean, I practiced into the night. I lived on a corner in my neighborhood where they had four stops, four street lights on each corner. And me and a buddy that lived down the street, I mean, I would just throw and throw to my mother finally made me come in every night.

So a lot of time went into it. There's no question about it. Because we didn't have quarterback coaches and stuff like they have today. I didn't get trained by a true quarterback coach in high school. I kind of taught myself to throw by watching different people and reading books. I read a lot of books about pictures, different pictures.

Like Nolan Ryan, he was somebody that I really looked up to and saw how he took care of his body and how he focused on his lower half and his core and different things like that. And then when I finally got into college, I had a college coach that really kind of helped me with the fundamentals of it. In your youth, did you play all sports and playing football? Did you play multi-positions? Growing up, I played all sports, well, basketball, baseball, football.

Baseball was probably my best sport, but it was boring to me, slow. Basketball was my favorite sport to this day still is, but I didn't... Pitch in baseball, though? No, I didn't pitch. I didn't pitch because I didn't want to wreck my arm. But I played shortstop and left field. And then in basketball, I was a point guard, but I just didn't feel like I was going to be tall enough to play basketball.

So football was always something that intrigued me just because, of the leadership part of it and being the quarterback, being the guy who organizes everything, who makes all the big plays at the end of ball games, so much is put in your lap as to be a leader. And that was something that I loved about. I loved to be the guy that had to make the play at the right time. You know, the last time I saw you, I think we were in Nashville at a Legends event, and obviously you're a part of that community. Can you speak about how important that is in your association with the Legends community for the NFL?

Yeah, with NFL alumni, that's one of the reasons why I'm here today is because we have this gear it up for cancer campaign. So we're trying to fight cancer and encouraging people to get screenings for cancer, especially for a colorectal cancer, which is the leading cause of death of cancer of all the different cancers. And it's a cancer where you can be walking around with it and not even know you have it because it's not really highly detectable unless you go get a screening. And sometimes if people wait too long, it's too late. So we're encouraging people to get out and get these screenings because we know how cancer has affected so many different people's lives, whether it's family members, whether it's the friends or whatever. And I just lost my God mom to cancer about three months ago. And I've got a buddy right now with brain cancer, another buddy with colon cancer. So it affects you in a lot of different ways.

And we just got to do something to get rid of it. But in the meantime, go out and get screened. So early detection is going to help you where you can at least fight it off. Final question for you. Can you give me a story about meeting a hero of yours? God, I got so many. I got a lot of heroes. I think one that really made me feel good about coming to the National Football League.

When I was coming out of Canada, I remember going over to the Pro Bowl to meet with a few teams over there when I was going through the free agency process. And then I was out on the beach one day, you know, after some of the meetings and all the Pro Bowl guys were over there. and I'm standing up against a tree like just admiring all the Pro Bowl guys that were on the beach. And the next thing I know somebody comes and kisses me on the back of my neck and tells me, welcome to the NFL. And I turned around there was Walter Payton. Wow. I felt so legitimized at that particular moment to have one of the greatest players ever play the game, not just any position, but play the game, to come up and welcome me to the league like that.

So that was something that really gave me encouragement that, hey, maybe you have a longness. We really appreciate your time. Massive fan of you growing up. And thanks for sharing your story with us. Yeah, thanks for having me. You guys are great. 100%. Thank you.

All right, man. All right. Thanks to Teddy Bruske, Kobe Turner, Drew Breeze, Warren Moon. Drew left me this jacket. It's pretty sick, actually. It's an NFL. It's got patches on it, Crown Royal. And here's the thing I'm never going to get a crown royal.

endorsement. I don't, you know, I don't drink. I've never drank. But that's a cool, Jack. What we used to do is keep our change because my mom drank a lot. So we had a lot of crown royal bags where we kept like a lot of change. And bullets. Yeah. All that was in those bags. And so maybe you can get us a crown royal endorsement. Yeah, you know what? I kid because I have had a few crown royals in my day. I've definitely loved the bags. I mean, how about the bag? Like you could, I use it as a golf bag at time where I put my balls and all my little accessories. Yeah, the little purple one. I'll be great little handbag.

My poser for wearing the jacket, though, if I don't want to drink. Like, I've never had a sip of alcohol. So I don't want to be the. That's incredible to go with that type of longevity, stamina, and also to persevere and not just say, you know what, I'm going to have one sip and see what it's like. I would like to have 1,000 sips from being honest. I am the, I'm known as the Matt Castle of not drinking. That's, yeah.

Well, I'm on the opposite. Superbly not drinking. Okay, look, here's what we're going to do. We're going to conclude this episode, but we're going to have other stars on in the next episode. I think even Jaden Daniels is supposed to come by, which is a heavy hitter right now. What's your plan for New Orleans tonight?

You know, I got in last night, and I was a little overwhelmed because I haven't spent a lot of time in this city. I didn't know where I was, where I should go. But I had a few buddies that called me and said, hey, there's this party. So I wandered down the street, found an Italian restaurant, went in there, had a bite to eat, and then met him. And it was in the French quarters, which coolest area ever. It's so unassuming on the outside. Then you go into these massive homes and you sit there and you go, this was what was inside,

like the opulence and the different colors and everything else. So tonight, it's enough. kind of open area for me. I don't really have anything planned. I think about that. I was like, oh, Matt's not going to know anybody. You kind of know everybody. Right. I'm going to put in a few phone calls,

do some work, and probably make my rounds tonight, for sure. I bet those are cool phone calls from people you met at Functions. Dang, I can't wait to go to a function one day. Do you have a function tonight that I can join you? I want to go to a function. Thank you guys so much. Please, if you're listening to this on any of the NFL feeds of the BiBone Show feed, if you don't mind, because not everyone will be on the feed.

these feeds that aren't ours, please go to the lots to say feed and subscribe to our show more from New Orleans and Super Bowl 59 coming really soon. Producer Kevin O'Connell, our imagery, are you imagery guy, Reed Yarberry, that's Matt Castle. I'm Bobby Bowles. We've had lots to say. Thank you guys. Lots to say with Bobby Bowens and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart podcast. For more podcasts from IHart Radio, visit the IHart Radio. Visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all

angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the free IHeart radio app. app, search NFL Daily, and listen now. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal.

I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement.

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