The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: Super Bowl Champion Ryan Succop

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel are joined by Super Bowl Champion Ryan Succop in studio. Ryan talks about playing with the Bucs and being teammates with Tom Brady. Matt asks Ryan about being Mr. Irrelevant and Bobby wonders if Ryan would've preferred being undrafted.  Ryan explains the sports that he played and how he found his way to football...and could've had a future in golf? Ryan reveals how he stayed warm in the cold and how he felt when he missed a short field goal.  Ryan always wanted the opportunity to kick, unless he was looking at high winds.  Which field goal is Ryan's most memorable and how did he feel about icing the kicker?  Bobby asks about playing under Steve Spurrier and playing golf against him.  While talking about locker room pranks, Ryan explains how one prank went further than he ever expected. Tom Brady was a great teammate and Ryan gives an example of his leadership.  Ryan had to come back from an injury and talks about going one on one against a returner. How is punting harder than being a kicker?  Ryan wraps up with why kickers are getting so much better on long field goals.  Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel is part of the NFL Podcast Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Search 40s and free agents and listen now. Lots to Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. We got lots to say to sell. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. Welcome, welcome. We did two episodes this week,

so if you're just hearing this one, go back and hear the prequel. That's what we call it, a prequel. Yeah, the prequel. The prequel. It's way before Jar Jar Jar Bean. This is the one with Jar Jarvinks. The sequel.

That's Matt Castle. I'm Bobby Bones. Glad you're here. We are going to talk to... Well, you already set them up. I don't need to set them up. So we'll just go to the interview now. This was awesome.

And it was a good one. Have we had bad ones? I don't think we've... We've had weird ones. Weird? But only if they're on... Like a... Not FaceTime.

Zoom. And there's like a weird connection. It can be tough. Yeah. There's a pause here and there. It can be just kind of... Yeah. Okay. Here we go with...

Ryan Suckup. All right, so this is your friend. Oh, yes, he is my friend. At least most days. You can introduce him then. All right. Today we've got Ryan Suckup. 14-year NFL vet. He also is a Super Bowl winning place kicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We are teammates for six years, an extraordinary human, a great golfer, a great kicker. And we're happy to have you here today, Ryan. Thanks for coming, bud. Oh, man. That's the best intro he's ever given anybody. But I didn't even mention, wait until you hear this voice. I mean, he could do...

He sounds like Josh Turner a little bit. I mean, it's just this beautiful voice that you could read children's books to. Can y'all make sure my wife listens to this? Do you sing? I would love to be able to sing. So when I was in Tampa, I would fly home. We'd play on Sunday, obviously.

I'd go to the team meeting Monday morning. I would catch a 12 o'clock Southwest flight from Nashville to Tampa every week to come see my kids come home for a day i'd be home 24 hours flyback practice and without fail you sit on southwest flight and they see you going to nashville you sit down you're talking to somebody random and within five minutes they're like oh man like are you are you a singer yeah yeah gosh i i wish i i cannot carry a tune at all i wish i could but they only get a bass voice yeah like you'd be like the um bop oh bop but that boy well i would need a lot of i'd need a lot of work uh then you went to

the super bowl champion with the bucks yeah Who's your coach? Bruce Ariens. One with Bruce Ariens. Wait, did you want with Brady? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. He was there, dude.

Yeah, we're a big Brady fan. We don't like Brady's backups around here, but we're big Brady fans. That's true. Those backups are a different story, but Tommy's awesome, man. So how many years were you with the Bucks before that season?

Oh, see, that's a great question. I timed it right. So I got cut. I played for the Titans. I just finished my sixth year with Tennessee. It actually was a pretty cool story, man. I had surgery on my kicking knee that season. just didn't come back from the surgery the way I wanted to.

NFL, we always say it doesn't stand for National Football League. We say it stands for not for long, right? They're always trying to find somebody younger, somebody that can do it better than you. I get cut at the end of that season. And my wife and I, she was like, gosh, I can't believe they'd cut you, man. You know, you'd had a nice run here, and you get hurt one time, and they move on from you. And so anyway, I got cut in the 2019 season in Tennessee. Sure enough, end up in Tampa two weeks before the season started,

and that's the year that we won the Super Bowl. Yeah, it's crazy. It worked out really well. It was pretty cool how it happened. Well, talk about that year, too, because that was a year you got picked up on a one-year deal. Yeah. And it's a make-or-break year for you, and you go out and you ball out, right? You don't miss a field goal or a field goal attempt or a P-A-T during the entire playoff run.

And it was an incredible run. But also, just talk about the pressures going into that season knowing, hey, I got to go out and perform. Yeah, it was certainly was pressure cast for sure. And you know how that is in the NFL when you're on a one-year deal. It's a prove-it year for you. You want to keep playing. But I'll tell you what was kind of unique about that year was when I, before I signed there, I was even a little nervous about signing because I was like, man, like, I hope I'm healthy.

You kind of have, you kind of play that game where you have some doubts and you're like, man, I think I'm recovered, but I haven't done this in six months. Like, and with Tom and that team, all the games were primetime games. You were always on the national spotlight. And so it kind of, it kind of made you better because it was like you were the pressure of it. I think guys, some guys either, you know, you can go one or do one or two things. when pressure happens. And for me, I think it really helped just increase my focus.

I did not want to be the guy. Like, I saw the way that Tom was working. I saw the way that he was practicing every day. And it was kind of like your dad. You don't want to disappoint you bad. That was kind of how I took it. And I was like, dude, this guy is busting his tail. Like, I don't want to be the reason that we don't win a game.

And so for me, man, it was a blessing. Had a great season. Obviously, the team had an amazing year. And that was really special to be a part of that year. When did you two start to play together? Actually, it was my first year in Kansas City. and it was your first year in the league. You got drafted by Kansas City that year as Mr. Irrelevant.

Talk to us a little bit about them being Mr. Relevant, because it's a pretty big deal. Did you understand what that meant when you got drafted? No. I didn't know anything about it when I got drafted. Then within like 10 minutes, I learned a lot about it. So they, obviously, I was the very last pick of the seventh round. Mr. Irrelevant had to, you know, very last got picked.

Well, they have a whole week for you to celebrate you out in Newport Beach, California, out by, you know, your Knitken Woods, Cass. And what I learned about it is that they actually, I say celebrate you. It's really to kind of roast you and toast you. And the problem is I'm already a place kicker. My last name's suck up. Like, they didn't need any more ammunition. And I'm just like giving them layups.

And so anyway, it was an awesome week. It was an embarrassing week. They have a parade for you out at the Newport Beach Yacht Club. You'll like this storycast. I don't know how much time we have. We have all the time. All the time, spread out. So I literally, they have a, the whole town.

and Newport Beach gets behind this thing. And so I'm sitting on a, they're like, hey, we're going to take you down to the Balboa Yacht Club. And we're going to bring you in on a boat and everybody's waiting for you at the beach. I'm like, this is awesome. I love this NFL thing. Well, what I don't know is that we're walking past all these like beautiful yachts, these beautiful sailboats.

And we keep walking past them. I'm like, which one are we getting on? And we pass all of them and we go out to the end of the dock. And I see this little dude in a little canoe with a like five horsepower Johnson handheld engine on the back of it. And I hear him coming around the yacht club, kind of like that, right? And I'm like, wait, I'm getting on that, aren't I? And they're like, that's yours. And so, because I was drafted by the chiefs, they say, hey, canoe, I had to, you probably

couldn't do this nowadays. I had the headdress on, the whole thing. And that was my grand entrance into the beach. And there's like a thousand people there. And here I am coming up into the beach in a canoe. It was really embarrassing. Do you have to go to that? You have to go.

It's mandated by the league. So if you're miserable. No way. I didn't know that. Yeah, it's put on. by the league. And I remember, I remember, like, going into Todd Haley's office. And I'm like, hey, like, because it's during OTAs. And I'm like the low man. I mean, I'm literally, I'm the last pick of the seventh round. There's already another kicker there. Like, I'm

scrapping and clawing. It's no guarantee that I'm going to make the team. And I'm like, hey, like, I know you're probably aware of this. Like, I'm not going to be here next week because I got to go to a relevant week. And that's like not the thing that you really want to go to tell you. Imagine Todd of all people? Yeah, I didn't really want to go tell my head coach that. But thankfully, like, he's like, no, we know. It's. It's mandated by the league. You got to do it. Like, have fun.

And it was interesting. It was a good week. I can't believe that feels like there's that, you get like a golden raspberry or whatever that thing is in Hollywood if your movie sucks. And sometimes they go and sometimes they don't. I figure that was like that. Like if you had the extra time and you were near, you just swung by. Right. I can't believe the league makes you go.

Yeah. It's mandated by league. You got to go. Would you just rather not been drafted? Not about Mr. Irrelevant in that, in that whole pageantry of that amazing event. But would you have rather than. they're not been drafted in general so you could have picked your spot? Okay, great question. So there's an argument to be made for that. And I actually remember kind of as the later round,

like in the, as the seventh round was going on, I had teams call and like, hey, we're probably not going to draft you, but we want to sign you as an undrafted free agent. And I remember being kind of nervous because I'm like, man, I've got three or four teams that are all good options. I don't really know what I'm doing. I got to make a decision. So for me, it was kind of a relief when they called because it was like, all right, I don't have to make the decision, which was great. And it really did work out. I mean, it was a great opportunity. I never would have met this guy over here if I didn't, didn't end up in Kansas City. And more than that, I think it was kind of neat because whether you really are an underdog or not,

like I feel like America loves the underdog. And so anytime they hear the name like Mr. Irrelevant, people are kind of like, oh, this guy, you know, they kind of want to cheer, they kind of want to pull for the underdog. So it was a cool experience and something that I'm really, I'm grateful for it. It was cool. Of those teams that called, because as a kicker, I'm sure that you're looking and evaluating everything, including environment, because Kansas City gets cold. Yeah.

Right? It's windy all the time. It gets cold later in the year. Was that something that would have factored in your decision for going somewhere else as a free agent? A dome. Yeah. Hell yeah. Give me a dome. Yeah, domes are nice. Yeah, I think it would have. At the same time, I was also looking at it like, hey, where do I have the best chance to make the team?

You're kind of looking, hey, you're kind of sizing up, hey, what's their kicking situation look like? And you don't really know because you're a college kid. You're 21, 22 years old, and you're kind of trying to guess it the best you can. But, yeah, I mean, I think if you, sometimes there's an argument to be made. If you're undrafted, you kind of have that decision. And maybe you can go somewhere that's a better fit for you. We think of kickers, unfairly, as the least athletic person on the team. But most kickers that I know were like dominant athletes until they got to college and they had to just focus on kicking.

Your senior year of high school, when you played football, what position did you play? Yeah, so I only kicked. No way. Talk about when the coach came back and got you because you weren't going to play football, right? Yeah, okay. So fair enough. So people ask, they're always like, hey, how did you get into football? And honestly, I played everything except football.

So I played growing up I loved, I played basketball, I played baseball, I played soccer, and I played golf. And those were kind of the sports I loved. And my freshman year high school, I was in North – I grew up in North Carolina, and football and soccer were both in the fall. And so I'm trying out for the soccer team and I'm, you know, whatever. I'm going to make the soccer team. And soccer coach is like all summer. He's like, man, you've got to go kick for the football team. And I kept telling him, no.

I was like, look, I said, look, I'm playing soccer now. I'm going to play basketball in the winter. And then I've got baseball and golf in the spring. But you were a super athlete. Oh, stud. Well, I don't know about that, but I love playing sports. I don't know how good I was, but I love playing. And finally, the week of the first game, he made me go to the first football practice.

So I went to my first football practice on Tuesday. The week of the first game? Yes, I went to my first practice on Tuesday. And they were like, hey, this looks great. And I had never played football before. I had kind of messed around doing it with my friends, like in the backyard. So I kind of knew what I was doing. And I'll never forget, we had a soccer game Wednesday.

We had soccer game Thursday. I go to the football game Friday. We played at Eastburg. it was an away game. I get to my locker like two hours before the game. I have no idea. This is when you had to wear the girdle

with the hip pads, the butt pads, the thigh. I literally am like asking one of my buddies. I'm like, dude, where's all this go? Like, I've never done this. How do you snap this in? 100% I'd never put pads on. And we won that game seven, nothing.

I had one extra point. And that's how we got into it. You never practiced until the first week of the first game. That was the first time I went to football practice. Was it weird to kick that shape? Not really. Like I think soccer definitely helped

having a soccer background. I would mess around and do it on the side with friends and that type of thing, but I had, like, absolutely not done at any, uh, at any, like, organized level. So that's how I fell into it. So you played soccer that entire season, while football season is going on, and just basically went to a practice or so, and then went out and played on the weekends. Yeah.

Yeah. I would go to, if I was lucky, I would get, like, one football practice a week because we'd have soccer games, Mondays, and Wednesdays. Awesome. So usually I could, usually I'd go to the Tuesday football practice, and that was, and then I'd show up on Fridays. When did you become really good, your senior year, to where you, thought, and maybe you never knew because you didn't play enough to know actually what was really

good. It doesn't like you'd been around a bunch of other football kickers. When did it start to happen where people were going, hey, you're good enough to actually play outside of high school? Honestly, probably after like my freshman year. I think I kind of realized like, hey, God's kind of giving me a little gift to do this. And maybe I should, you know, really try to refine this and perfect this a little bit. And I think I started going to maybe a camp or two, that guy after my freshman year went to a

couple camps and kind of thought, okay, if I, you know, if I work at this, maybe I could be pretty good at it. So I would say that was when I kind of realized. Was there ever a decision to be made to continue to play soccer? Because you were an all-state soccer player for what, three years? Yeah. Oh, you were a really good soccer player, too. Not just like a guy that went out and I'm good at soccer. I'm not great, but he was a great soccer player. Were you getting recruited for soccer as well? Yeah, I had some, I had some chances to play soccer in college. And I could have played somewhere small for soccer, but probably not.

definitely not football. But the one that haunts me is I love to play golf, and I had some chances to play college golf. And even like my first couple years out of league, we would go back to Charleston, South Carolina, the off season. And we didn't have kids yet, and I'd be playing golf four or five days a week. And I would start being like, man, I wonder if I should have done this. And my wife would sit me down and like, Ryan, don't you think about it. Don't you dare. You are in the NFL.

You are not going to go try to be a golfer. But that's the one that I always look back on because I just, it's probably because I just love the game. so much, but that's the one I always look back on and wonder. Were you a soccer? Were you a striker? I played center mid, yeah. I played center mid and forward in soccer. So you were also kicking the ball? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's wild.

Yeah. That football just kind of happened. Yep. And then it became your thing. I think of J.R. Smith, though. Like, you know, he played in the NBA, then went back and played college golf. Yeah. Like at like 35 years old.

Yeah. When you walked in, most people don't notice that the set that we shoot this on is actually a big golf simulator. And there's a huge screen. behind us and it just actually turned into a really cool place that we could shoot the show. And you said it almost immediately. And I was like, oh, you must play golf a lot. And Katzl goes asking him your hand.

Then you start, a good golfer like doesn't want to say he's good. That's like the general rule of the good. That's exactly right. Yeah. If anybody's ever like, I'm good at golf. And he's modest. Yeah, I know they're not good at golf if they say they're good at golf. But you kind of, you know, hemmed and hot about it.

What's your handicap? Oh, man. I'll probably about a plus two and a half right now. You're a plus two and a half. And he just got, he just got. He just got a coach to help him refine his swing at a plus two and a half. Refine what? Yeah, exactly.

Hey, so interesting enough, you said J.R. Smith just a minute ago. And actually, I think it's this hat I'm wearing. In the past year, there's a group that's gotten together, and they've started a golf tour for current and former professional athletes. So we've had three tournaments so far. Roughly 25 NBA guys, 25 NHL, 25 MLB, and 25 NFL. And J.R. Smith is one of the guys that plays. And it's been really cool.

We're coming up in 26, we're going to have a full tour, six events. If you play well enough on, you know, in the events, you are high enough on the money list. You'll qualify for a seventh event and then an eighth final event. So it's going to be like a true tour. And guys like JR that are really good players, we're all kind of grinding. And that's where I'm at. It's a dream come true for you. It's a dream come true, man.

I'm so fired up about it. And there's guys like, I love to play, but there's guys that are better than I am. And so it's like I'm chasing them. And that's why. He played like Marty, Fish at all? Yeah, so Marty played. He finished in the top five.

We just had an event in Alabama like a month ago. Marty was in the top five. Joe Pavelsky, the hockey player, won. Tony Romo's really good. Matt Ryan's really good. Mark Mulder, the pitcher. Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, all those guys playing.

Like Smoltz sounds like a small course at his house. Like in the back. Smoltz is actually, he's the commissioner for the year. He's the commissioner of the league. Of course he is. He really is. He's doing an awesome job.

He's putting so much energy into it. And guys like me, we're, like, all fired up because it gives us something to chase. And so we're, you know, we're fortunate. Plus you can win money, can't you? Yeah, there's a, yeah, there's a prize. Each tournament has, like, a decent, decent purse. Do you put your own money in? No.

Like a cash game. That's, because you're all rich. So that it was like a big, just a big cash game, but you call a tournament. No, yeah, actually, no, this is like they've got some sponsorship behind it. They've got some companies behind it. We're hoping that it gets picked up on, you know, one of the networks here in the next year or two. We'll see what happens there. but yeah it's it's there's actually like a pretty decent person guys are we're grinding man we're trying to

we're trying to that's cool that's cool and it probably scratches that itch to that that the competitive it's 100% that's like for me it just gives you something to work like literally yesterday I was out at the golf club of Tennessee working with uh Brian lackey working with you know swing coach out there like I'm trying to get better so it's uh it's fun hilarious the 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL podcast has it covered from all angles join me Greg Rosenthal and Jordan rodrig 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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.

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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. Okay, so talk about, you have that golf background,

and it takes a certain mentality of focus and everything like that, and you have such a specialized position picking the football. in big time moments. Do you think that there was any carryover from that background of playing golf and then the position that you played in the pros?

Yeah, I think so. I think kicking golf, you're kind of out there on an island by yourself. Like when you're playing golf, it's an individual sport. Kicking obviously is a team. I mean, football obviously is a team sport, but at the same time, like,

what I do is very like, if I make a kick or miss a kick, it's 99% of the time it's on me. And you kind of have to be able to deal with that, right? Like the pressure that comes with it, And so for me, I think they definitely go together. Believe it or not, a lot of the lessons I learned, you know, mechanically kicking a football, kind of relate to hitting a golf ball, the timing of it, the rotation. There's a lot of things that sort of go together where, you know, I think I look at a lot of

these golfers that are really good that are played in our events. A lot of them are kickers, quarterbacks, pitchers, guys that are like those rotational athletes that are used to timing it up. And I don't know, I think it definitely goes together. What about guys who psychologically have to be able to forget the last shot or the last kick? Because you can't have it affect the next shot or the next kick. Like I hear the similarities like in your brain as much as I do anything mechanically. Yeah, for sure.

I mean, I had to coach my rookie year in Kansas City and he was like, hey, like, if you kick long enough in the league, you're going to have some valley moments. And like, you're going to miss kicks. But what's going to determine how long you play is how do you respond after the miss kick. And so, like, you're exactly right. Sometimes when you miss one, it's really easy to, like, fall in that pit, man, what did I do wrong? Overthink it, overcorrect, and then it affects the next one. So that's something where you have to, I've learned, like, hey, you trust your technique, you trust your preparation.

And sometimes you're going to miss, but you have to go out there with the mentality of like, hey, I'm not allowing that to affect my mentality on the next kick. I mean, your rookie year, didn't she set the NFL record for most kicks made by a rookie of any franchise in any history in the NFL? I mean, it's a pretty good deal. How about this? I think it was the third week of the season. we're in Washington. We needed to rely on this guy. I think he had five field goals in that game.

We actually ended up getting the win. And so after the game, they come over to interview me. I don't know why. They should have been interviewing him. And for whatever reason, I have just a complete brain fart. And they're like, so talk about your kicker. I was like, yeah, Ryan Suckoff did a great job. I literally called him Ryan Suckoff three times.

And he comes up to me, hey, Cass, it's suck up. And I was like, son of a gun, dude, I'm so sorry. It is true. And what's funny is one of my best buzz growing up, his grandfather, who was like 85 years old. He would call me this. He'd say, hey, how's suck off doing? How's it? And so, like, it wasn't the first time I'd heard it, but it was a little more embarrassing when you're starting quarterback says it to the media, not once, but three times. So there wasn't a lot of interaction. Let's be honest, because they call themselves the specialist, right? It's usually the punter, the plays kicker, and then their snapper. They kind of do their own thing. And we don't, like, we don't spend a lot of time

and meetings together or anything like that. So early in the season, Ryan's there. And of course, I know who Ryan is, but then all of a sudden the moment came to say his name correctly, and I was like, I kind of know how to say it, but I'm just going to go with suck off. Yep, suck off, suck off it is. When you get to Kansas City and it gets cold,

the things change with how you prepare? Like, it gets cold at a certain time of the year, not just the city, but like November starts to start. Oh, it's cool. Yeah, it does. It gets cold out there. Yeah, I think the hard place. is like a lot of times that field out there would kind of stay frozen. Like you get into December because

at the time, I think they've changed it now, but they didn't have like the heating coils under the field. So you would go out and you'd have to like try to figure out what kind of plants you to wear because the field is literally frozen. So that was always like the hardest thing. And then obviously you're kicking a ball that is a rock. That doesn't help. You get no compression when your foot hits it. So it's definitely more challenging. But thankfully those heaters on the sideline are pretty nice, cast. Well, let's be honest, too. The kickers don't wear anything, right? They're always, It looks like they're wearing shorts because light, lighter. They're not going to put a bunch of pads or anything in there.

So I can only imagine how cold you get because you might kick once in the first quarter. And it might not be until the biggest kick of the game in the fourth quarter that they're asking you to come back in. How do you stay warm during those moments? You're just sitting by the heater. I see you kicking all the time on the sideline. I don't know what's going through your mind. No, I would definitely have one of those big park of jackets. You know, those things would keep you warm.

I'd go get one of those and stand right in front of the heater and just open it up and just take all the flame from those heaters, which actually worked and then just try to keep moving because you're right, Cass. It's like, man, you may have a kick in the first quarter and then you may not be up until the third or fourth quarter

so you got to stay in the game you know, obviously mentally but physically as well. If you miss like a 28-yard or do you feel like a loser? I've had some, yeah, I've had some bad self-talk over the years, you know,

you miss a short one. It's, you can be hard on yourself for sure. Like what would be the reason you would miss a short one? Honestly, most of the time, probably like a lack of concentration. Just not, like I remember I would always be the,

If I had a pregame where I didn't miss in pregame, like, you go out and hit 20 in a row and hit them perfect. Those are the games that would sneak up on you and you'd miss one in the game. Likewise, like the Washington game, when you were talking about, Matt, that went well for us. I remember I had like a terrible pregame. I was missing kicks left and right. And then it was like, oh, man, I better lock in. Like, I better lock in. And then you go out and have a great game.

So I think on a short one, I think it's just like a discipline of like really locking in and not taking it for granted. Is there an adrenaline rush for you when you get to the fourth quarter and you see the team in a two-minute drill and know, man, this might be a really big moment for this team. If we can go down and get ourselves into position, obviously you're like, get me inside that 35. Don't get me the 50-yarder, but get me inside the 30. But do you feel that energy inside of you? And how do you kind of suppress that as it's going on? Yeah, that you definitely feel it. That's probably the one thing I'm this. I was, I'm maybe a little different or maybe a bit of a sicker. I like that. Like, I kind of like that feeling of like coming down to the, it's a rush. Like, it is a rush that I haven't been able

to replicate anywhere else. Maybe this golf thing will, if I can get in contingent, maybe that'll scratch that itch a little bit. But yeah, it's a rush. And I think the thing that I had to learn like early on where I would mess up is I would get too like emotionally involved into it, right, like before it. And so one thing's I had to learn was like, hey, I got to stay really, really steady the whole time because if I get too high with the excitement of the game, then it's like my heart rate gets up too high.

Now when I'm out there for the kick, I'm not how I'm usually am in practice or how I usually am in the game. So, like, trying to keep that, you know, really steady was something I had to learn how to do. And, you know, the more that you do it, like anything, the more comfortable you get with it. And that was kind of a little bit of a learning curve for me for sure. Did you always want the ball, meaning did you always want the kick? Or at times, would you have rather they just scored the touchdown and you not have to worry about it. Most of the time I would want the kick unless it was like a 30-mile-hour wind day and it was raining.

And then I was like, man, let's just go ahead and punch this in the end zone. Like, those are the days where I would be just fine if we, you know, just scored. You kicked a ton of game winning kicks throughout your career, obviously. Do any few standout or any one in particular? Great question. Probably the one, actually, when I was here with the Titans, we were talking about weather. It was the coldest game in Arrowhead history. It was zero degrees at kickoff, and I think the wind chill was like 20 below, 18 or 20 below.

Our spit was freezing, but you would spit and it would freeze on your face mask. That's how cold it was. Yeah, if you took a shot of the water bottle and you missed, by the time you would wipe it off your beard, it would be kind of frozen in your in your beard. But anyway, I had a, and it also was sweet because Kansas City had cut me a couple years before that. I started my career in Kansas City. They had cut me, which is part of it. And long short, we had a, I had a 53-yarder with, I think, no time left to beat them. And that was like a kick where it was just, if you gave me that kick 10 times and I said to the time, like, as cold as it was that day, like, I don't know how many of those I would have made,

but it was just like, it was just the perfect one, man. It just timed up and was able to put it through, which is pretty cool. That was awesome. But didn't they call a timeout? So they tried to ice him. Yeah. And an icy day. On an icy?

That's double ice. But he kicks the first one and it misses, but they coach iced them, right? So they called the timeout. So then he gets the retee, boom, through the goal posted. It was wild. It was big. How do you feel about icing the kicker? Great question.

I like it. Like, if you call the time out, it allowed me time to go out and sort of, like, I'm a big visualization guy. and it wasn't going to make me any more nervous. Like it would allow me to go out, take my steps, visualize, make sure the plant, you know, where I'm planting is good, see what the wind's doing. It just gave me a little bit more time to prepare.

So I always liked it when I would get iced. If I was a head coach, what I would do, if I had a timeout left or two timeouts left, I would sit over there by the official and look like you're going to call it and not call it. That will mess with a guy. Does it mess with you? Well, you kind of see it.

So I had to learn not to ever look over there. So I had to get in my head. Like if they had a timeout left, if you allow yourself to play the game of like, man, I wonder if he's going to call the time out. I wonder if not. You're not going to be focused. And then he doesn't call out. You're going to have a better chance to miss that kick.

So that would always be my strategy. But like calling the time out right before the snap, like that one in Kansas City. Like I knew that he had called time out. And I'm like, well, I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to hit one because it's like you guys play golf. Like the second T shot is always easier than the first. Yeah. I'm going to go ahead.

I'm going to go ahead. I'm going to say. That's the second guy. He can play. Oh, gosh. I mean, I remember that day. That was a crazy day in the weather and everything else, but I was so happy for you after that game.

Is there anything better than kicking a game winning kick? Because, you know, like, you guys don't get all the credit in the world. And a lot of times, you only get credit for when you have a game winning kick. Or if you do something where you miss a field goal, yeah, 100%. They're like, oh, well, damn kicker. He's got one job. That's right. But when you do get it done, and, I mean, everybody on the team,

feels that and you're like I just remember coming out on the field on those types of moments and celebrating and what's that what's that feel like for you oh it is it's awesome uh because you're doing it like you know how it is like there's nothing like the locker room like the locker room is the the most awesome place man where you're you're doing it with your boys you're working hard together especially like on an away game a game winner on an away game where it's like just your guys in the locker room after the game the plane ride home that's just a like you can't really create that very main places so that's that's what you miss is like those those moments where you're just getting to celebrate with your boys.

And it is. It's a cool feeling for sure. Let's go back to college. You play South Carolina. Play South Carolina. Were you as a kicker? Were you like big man on campus, football player, as a kicker at South Carolina? I don't think so.

No. I mean, listen, the South Carolina was great as far as like the fans, they love their football team. They love, you know, they love support. And it was an awesome place to play. Had a great experience. But no, I tried to, I tried to lay low. I wanted to be, you know. Who was your coach there?

Steve Spurter. Spurrier. Oh, man. Did you have any communication with him? Like, do you talk with him? Yes, because Coach Spurrier is a huge golfer. And so he knew that I played golf. And actually, when he recruited me, I was actually getting ready to go to Auburn.

I got offered by Auburn really late. Coach Spuror came to my house, did the visit. And he's like, Ryan, if you come to South Carolina, he's like, I've always give my players that are good golfers, I always give him a chance to beat me. He goes, I've never been beat. Because Spurrier loved to play golf. And I was like, man, like, it's not the reason I went to South Carolina. To beat him in golf just because I want to.

But I was, I'm a stick too. Yeah, but I was thinking like, man, that would be cool to like play golf with the head coach. Long story short, I end up committing to South Carolina. I go to school there. I'm going into my senior year and we've never played golf. And I end up in the back of my mom, I'm like, man, that dog, like, he was just trying to get me to come here. We're never going to play golf. Well, sure enough, the spring game of my senior year, he comes up to me.

He's like, he actually called me sucky. That was my other man. He said, hey, sucky. He said, hey, what you're doing tomorrow? And I'm like, coach, I got, I got nothing. I mean, he's like, all right, he's like, tomorrow is my 60th birthday. 63 holes of golf. Why don't you play the first 18 with me and see if you can beat me?

I'm like, in the back of my eye, I'm thinking, like, man, I hadn't hit a golf ball in six months. Like, I'm in college. I'm playing football. But I can't say no. If I say no, I'll never get a chance. Man, I go out. I'm like five over through the first three holes. He's even par.

We're playing his T's like, I can't get dry. I'm hitting three iron off every T. You know, it's just like he's got it. Anyway, I end up like playing a little bit better on the back nine, get it, I think all tied up. And then I end up hitting a shot on a par three over the green, make bogey. he makes part and he beats me. Oh, no. You missed the game winning kid.

I know. And he beat me and, you know, that was, he loved it, though. He was competitive. He was a great player. And, yeah, that was cool to get to play with him. Did you get a picture of that day, like, afterward with you and Coach Berger? You know what? I don't think I did.

Oh, you missed. Yeah. That would have been a huge. Yeah, that would have been cool. Yeah, that would have been cool. I don't think I got a pick. Yeah. So locker room, like you said, is a very interesting place.

And I know that you and Dustin Colquit were, they were like two, prancers and they would do all this stuff in the locker room that nobody ever really knew about until you actually figured out the prank was on you. So tell me some of your favorite memories being inside that locker room, some of the pranks that used to pull on people. Yeah, well, let me just say Dustin was one of a kind. Tennessee, Tennessee of all. I'm sure a lot of people around here love Dustin. He was great. I think the one that comes to mind was the one that was kind of, you know, like the best pranks are usually like on accident almost. And I'll never forget, I'm driving into the facility. And in Kansas City, the practice facility, you kind of have the royal

stadium, you have Arrowhead, and then you have the practice facility. They're kind of all together. And I'm driving in one morning in probably about this time of year, probably in October, and there was a little field right across from the practice fields. And I look out and there's like a really nice white-tailed deer, like an eight-point buck out in the field. And I love to bow hunt and kind of, you know, enjoyed doing that. So I go in and tell Dustin about it. I'm like, there's a nice buck out there. Like, we need to set up a trail can. So when Matt and everybody else were in offensive and defensive meetings, you know, we had two hours before practice with nothing to do because we're specialists.

And we go down to the Bass Pro Shop. It's like 10 minutes down the road. We get a bunch of corn. We get the trail cam. We set it all up. And we start getting like, I mean, we're getting pictures of like beautiful deer,

turkeys, you know, you might have like the neighbor's cat on there show up. We're getting all these pictures. And guys started taking interest in it. So we would put the, we would print the pictures out of all the wildlife and we would put it on the board in the locker room because everybody would always be asking,

hey, what did you see last night? Because we'd go out and check the card. Well, I never forget, we're getting ready to play New England on Monday night football. And I'm eating pregame meal. And I think it was Brandon Albert.

You remember Brandon? Oh, yeah, Big Brandon. Was he from like Brooklyn, New York? Yeah, he was a New York kid. Yeah. And Brandon's like, hey, suck up, man. What else do you guys seen on that trail cam? And a buddy of mine, like 30 minutes before that had just randomly sent me a picture from like a random trail cam.

It was like going around the internet of a mountain line that had a deer by the throat, this nary looking mountain line. And it just like hit me. It was like that lightball moment. I'm like, Brandon, you're not going to believe this. And I pull up the picture and I show him the picture. And he's like, his eyes get this big. And he's like, you saw that out outside our facility? And so, and I just, I'm like, isn't that wild?

Like, I just kind of let it go. Well, sure enough, we go play New England. I think we, I don't think we won that game. Get back, you know, early Tuesday morning. Like, I go into work on Wednesday and I have like five or six guys come up to me. And they're like, hey, what's the deal with this mountain line? And so I'm like, man, look, like, don't worry about it. I'm like, man, these things, you know, I said, they're only, the only time these things are even moving is either at dawn or dusk.

Like, the rest of the time, they're just sleeping. I'm like, don't worry about it. And I know that the guys get there. They get there at sunrise. They leave at sunset. So, like, so Dustin's in on it. We got, we got three or four guys that are in on it. We're all, you know, sticking to our guns.

Well, sure enough, I'm driving into work one morning. And I start noticing in October, it's typically still hot. So you would want to park up against the tree line in the parking lot so that you would get a little shade. And I drive in one morning, I start noticing, like, nobody's parking along the tree line anymore. They're all parking, like, as close as they can, as close as they can to the door. And so then I sat there and watch them. And you know, you'd watch guys get out of their car. Not that they would like sprint, but you could tell.

It was like a brisk walk to the, you know, to the facility. They were worried about this thing. So Dustin and I, we thought it was hilarious. Todd Haley actually was in on it. He loved it. He thought it was hilarious. Well, sure enough, this goes on for like three weeks. I'm driving home from work one day.

And on the local sports talk radio, they start talking about how. Mountain line? Yes. First of all, they're like, we had lost like two or three games in a row. And they opened it up. They're like, if things aren't bad enough in the locker room, now, they have to contend with a mountain line that is roaming Arrowhead Stadium. So this gets on the news, and I'm sitting here and thinking, I'm like a second year guy, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is not good.

Like, I'm responsible for this. Like, don't be a distraction is what Scott Pioly would say. All the guys, don't be a distraction. I'm thinking, I'm a distraction right now. Like, I'm going to get, you know, whatever. Well, sure enough, the media ends up asking Todd Haley about it in the Friday press conference. He played along with it. Basically, it was like, yeah, I've seen the pictures of the cat.

I've told all the guys coming or leaving the facility, the buddy system is in effect. So this thing goes, this thing goes everywhere. You can still read articles about it, about the mountain line that was roaming the chief facility. The neighbors that lived in the area ended up getting concerned so the Department of Wildlife ended up calling the chief to find out to see the pictures. And that's when we had to tell them, hey, this is a locker room joke. Oh, wow. That's excellent.

It was, that was probably my, that was probably one of my prouder, you know, that was one of my prouder pranks. It's a great moment right there. Yeah. It was pretty good. They need the local news. I mean, it was pretty good. Fake news. Fake news.

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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you win the Super Bowl, you're in Tampa, you win the Super Bowl. Obviously, it's not as cold down there. Yeah. Is it weirder, is it even more harsh when you have to go somewhere cold when you don't constantly live somewhere cold? No, like, so people would always say like, oh, you're in Kansas City. Like, you get used to the cold. Like, no, you do not get used to the cold. Like, cold is cold. I don't care how often you do it.

So, like, even when I was in Tampa and we would, like, the NSC championship, we played in Green Bay, and it snowed like five inches that morning. And thankfully, by the time the game started, the snow had cleared out. But it was really cold and we were coming from Tampa. And we, like, I was fine. You know what I mean? It was still cold, but I don't think it necessarily would have helped to have been there all week to practice.

I just, I feel like it's going to be cold no matter what you do. What was the after party like for the Super Bowl? Well, it was all. It had to be epic. Mountain lions. Mountain lions. Hey, a lot of cougars running around those parties. Castle, you're not right, man.

So interestingly enough, the Super Bowl, it was in Tampa. We played the Super Bowl in Tampa. So we were like the first team to win it in our home stadium. And it was awesome to do that. But it was also the COVID year. So the Super Bowl party had to be outside. So because there were all these rules and all the stuff. So we had it at like the Tampa Aquarium or something on the water.

And I'll never forget, like, you're going to the, the Super Bowl gets over at whatever time, 11 o'clock at night. By the time we get over there, it's midnight. My wife is like seven months pregnant. You know, she's exhausted. She's been taking care of our other two kids all night. And we walk in, but my family's there. We walk in, and it was, I think Ludacris was playing, and Migos.

Is that? Yeah. Yeah. And so they come in, they're playing the music. We're all hanging out. And I'll never get. I look over my dad. I mean, he's probably 70 years old now.

He's just whatever, 67, 60. And, you know, here's Migos rapping. And I just see my dad. He's just kind of digging the music. And he's like, man, this Migos guy's really good. And I'm like, yeah, dad, he's awesome. But no, it was awesome. I remember we probably left the Super Bowl party at like 233 in the morning.

We were staying in a hotel because you stayed in a hotel the night before the Super Bowl, even though we were in Tampa. And I just remember it was kind of this like surreal moment because you get in at three, I'm wired. We just won the Super Bowl. Can't sleep at all. And then I have two young kids and they're up at like 530. just read it rock and roll. They could care less. They just wanted to go to the park. So at like 7 a.m.

We're at like some random park in Tampa just like pushing my kids on the swing and they could care less about the Super Bowl. But I guess that's what was sweet about it. Can you give me a Tom Brady story from that year? Yeah. Let's see. Okay, this is this is probably like, I don't know if this is one that's like exciting or anything, but this is Tom. And I always share this. Like Tom was unbelievable leader, unbelievable teammate, but I don't think a lot of people know like he is a genuinely good dude. And I'll never forget. He has guy, Alice Guerrero, who like takes care of all his tissue work, his nutrition. Like, he's been with Tom for like, what, 16, 17? I mean, when I was in New England.

He's been with him for forever. And Tom would always work with him really every day of the week, but particularly on Sunday on game day. And so Tom was, like, generous enough to let other guys work with Alex when he wasn't using him. And I'll never forget. I would always try to get the stadium, like, super early because I never wanted to, like, be in there and be in Tom's way.

And we were playing the Vikings my first year. I think it was my first year down there. and I get there at, you know, 8 a.m. for a 12 o'clock game or whatever. Alex is on. I'm on the table. Alex is working on me. And Tom came in early that week because I guess he was dealing with something. So he comes in to get some tissue work.

And I'm trying to get off that table as fast as I can. And Tom's like, no, no, no, no. Like, hey, hey, you're good, man. Like you finish up. I'm like, no, no, like, I'll come get your work. I'm like, I'll come back later. Like, I know where I stand in this deal. And Tom's like, no, no.

He's like, you guys take all the time you need. He's like, we need you to feel good. because if you feel good, man, that's going to help us win today. And I look at Alex and Alex. Like, you heard him. Like, you know, sit back down. So I'm laying on that table. Tom's just sitting there.

He probably waited for like another, I don't know, 10, 12 minutes while Alex is like finishing up. I feel super uncomfortable. But then like, sure enough, he's like so gracious about it. We go out. I think we ended up hitting a field goal like pretty late in the game, not to win it, but kind of put the game away. And that's just kind of who Tom was.

Like he was or who he is. Like he was so great to all his teammates. Like really like genuine humility. to let other people, I don't know, that story just always stood out to me, like, what a real leader he is to let somebody as low of a position as I was to sit there and him wait on me. I don't know. I just always, like, stood out. He always kicked me off the table immediately. And then, he didn't even need the table.

He was like, you off the table. You, I don't know your name. Yeah. Well, you guys also played the same position, Cass. That's true. But, like, even when coach were trying to put me in for a few reps at the end of a period, he'd be like, hey, I need this one coach. I was like, really, really?

Really, you just had the whole practice. Like, they're literally handoffs. That was also kind of his mentality, right? Oh, he didn't want anybody else to touch that position. And I understand it. He always said, you never want to see somebody else playing your position, which held true. That's how he got his job. Yeah.

Yeah. When you hurt yourself, yeah, your knee issue, Jeff's surgery? I did. I had surgery, yeah. I got to think that's as much physically as it is hard to come back, that mentally you've got to trust it again. Yeah. How difficult was that? It was hard because I was, the timing of it.

Like, I had the surgery probably five or six weeks before training camp started, and I was hoping to get back in time and it just, some things happened where it just didn't go the way I wanted it to. And so then you're like trying harder. And then you're like stressing harder. And then that's like the worst thing to try to heal and to recover is when you're stressed on top of it. So it was just kind of a culmination of all that because you want to get back so badly.

But at the same time, you're physically just not there. And that's, that was a hard year. I learned a lot that year. Did it take a minute to get the confidence back? Yeah. Like I tried to come back and play probably halfway through that season. And actually my first game. I had the worst game in my career.

I missed three, I missed three field goals that game. And then I played probably four or five more games that season. It just, like I just wasn't where I needed to be. It did not go well. And that was how I ended up in Tampa. And that was probably where I had some doubt going into that final season was like,

man, can I still do this? Like I'm, you know, I was probably 34, 35 at the time. I was kind of on the older side. You start kind of having those like real doubts. And so I think it was a blessing for me to get an entire offseason. You know what I mean? Like that happened in the middle of the season. I got five or six months before I had to do it again in when, you know,

when the bullets were really flying. So that was, it was hard. But talk about the psyche, too, because, look, there's only one place kicker or one, one field goal kicker on the team every year. And they're constantly bringing people in, especially as you get older, your salary increases, and all of a sudden they want to go younger. Talk about, like, just the competitive nature of that position,

because there's only 32 of you in the entire league. It's not like you have a backup and a third string guy that you can make a roster, do something like that. It's really one guy per team. Yeah, no, you're exactly right. There's one guy that's going to do it. And I guess that's what's so awesome about the position is that like if you can be that guy, like if you can show a team that, hey, you can handle the stressful, the stressful kicks or, you know,

they can count on you. You can stick around for a long time. At the same time, it's like that's where the pressure comes from because it does not take much, man, one or two games. And it's like, dude, they're moving on. So you have to, you have to be dialed in like every week for 17 weeks and then playoffs because it just doesn't take much for them to lose faith. Let's say you kickoff because you're a kickoff specialist too.

I'm assuming. Yeah, I did. I did from my first, like, probably my first 11 or 12 years I was doing it all, yeah. The guy breaks. It's you and it's him. What the heck's going on in your mind? Okay, so you know what I learned? And again, I was not good at this, like, early on.

But I figured out if you just get down there and get in the way, so like, if I would kick off and if I knew they were running out, I would try to high tail it down there. Because if I could be at the top of the triangle and just be a body, most of the time those guys would cut one way or another and somebody else would make tackle. But if I hung back, if I would, and they had space, like, I was going to embarrass myself because those guys move a lot better than I move. And I didn't want that.

So I would just get in the way, and I would just pray that they would go left or go right. And every now and again, you would have to just sit there and just kind of take it. Like, you know, like on field goal, we say to the linemen, like, die the slow death. Like, the offensive linemen are going to get killed on field goal. And I would just kind of have that in back of my mind.

Like, dude, just take it. If you just got to take one, just take one. And most of the time, they'd go one of the other way. So that was kind of my strategy. What's the hardest hit you've taken in that type of situation? Or did you always just basically never hang back and always just acted like you're in the way so that they could run for a touchdown if they had to? The hardest hit I ever took was actually in college. It was against LSU.

I was punning. And I out kicked the coverage a little bit. Trinand Holiday was the returner. He returned it for a touchdown, but there was a – it got called back for a hold. And I was actually like high-tailed to the sideline. did not see a guy, got totally blindsided, totally decleted.

It was one of those moments where, like, everything just went black for a second. And it was right in front the LSU bench, and it was, I think it was Ali Highsmith.

He was their All-American linebacker that got me. And I remember when I opened my eyes, he was standing over me like this. And I saw the, all the LSU bench just go, oh. And I remember thinking,

he was flexing on the puny. He was exactly what I thought. Seriously. And I was like, and I was like, you laid me out. Like, I'm the kicker, man. I'm the kicker, man.

That's like Archmanning of Sam Houston? Sam, you punted and kicked? In college, I did, yeah. Could you have been an NFL punter? Maybe. I think I was more comfortable kicking. I actually did have a couple of teams that wanted me to punt instead of kick, but I'm thankful I didn't go down that road.

Punning's hard, man. It's hard to stand back there, and you've got to have really good hands to mold the ball. I don't think I would have been as good as a punter. All right, three final questions. I go first. So I know Camlett a little bit. He's from Arkansas. Yeah.

So I spent some time with him. He made that 70-yard or preseason, which, is pretty unbelievable. Yeah. Do people just kick farther now? Or are the balls, like what's happening? Man, okay, so great question. It's both.

All right, the kids that are coming out now, like obviously, Cam is super talented. It's a combination. The guys coming up, they're better. Their training's better. They've been doing it at a younger age. They're better athletes, all that. At the same time, the NFL just switched the rule this year. So when I played, when I played, you know, like we had it so hard, Matt.

But in all seriousness, when I played, we would get the, you have the quarterback balls and you have the K balls. So the quarterbacks get their balls. They get 15 balls on Monday, and they have all week to break them in. The K balls, we would get six K balls for the game brand new out of the box, 60 minutes before kickoff on Sunday. And your equipment guy would have 60 minutes to break in six footballs. By doing what? Like dirt, rub, the brush.

You would try to break the seams in as best you could. So find like the corner of a table and try to bust the seams as much as you can. You're trying to break that ball in as much as possible so that when it hits your foot, you can get more compression because that's what's going to make it go farther. And so when you only have 10 or 15 minutes per ball, there's only so much you can do. So we were really kicking like pretty hard footballs. Well, now they changed it. And they get all the kicking balls. They get all 60 of them at the beginning of the season.

So they have the entire season to break them in. So like not only are the guys better, they are better. No question. But you are going to continue to see monster field goals because you give me a ball that you have... Is broken in? Is broken in? Or all week to break in. It's going to be a big difference.

Wow. Yeah. I didn't even realize that. I didn't even think about it. I figured it would be important. Because you don't think about kickers, quarterback. I was always the backup holder. Just, God forbid, like I had to go in there and fumble that.

Hey, you, me and Ben, we had a good little thing, didn't we? On Thursday practice. Oh, Thursday practice, they put me in there, and Benny would be the backup snap. Yeah, and usually he would always yell at me too. He's like, cast a little bit more to you, a little bit more. I was like, beat it, bro. I'm just trying to put it in the dirt where you just told me right here. I'm usually off my spot, but we'd make some good kicks.

Yeah, we teamed it up, man. We did our best. What was your go-to cleat? You know, I know that there's always two different cleats that you guys wore. I always told him he should wear like a cowboy boot with a spur on the plant foot. That would have been legit. Like just to add a little flare to the whole thing. We did always say, Cass, if we knew it was my last year and we were still playing together in Kansas City.

Because this would be well received in Kansas City. We were going to wear Lucchasey on the left foot. 100%. And maybe that would be my first sponsorship deal. And cleat it up? Yeah. And have you smoke on the sideline. And like a fine.

I feel a fine coming, though, if that was a case. Yeah, absolutely. Matt said he would cover it for me. I'd cover it. We just put the Nike swoosh on it. Last question. Kickers, golfers, tennis players, like anybody that's on an island, because you play, it's a solo sport. Like you said, it's not a solo sport, but a kicker's a solo sport inside of a team game.

Superstitions. You had to have them. You know what? Honestly, I know a lot of guys were superstitious. I mean, I knew guys that would like, they had to wear the same boxers every game or they had to eat at the same. place. Like, I don't know, man. I was never that way.

I would always, you know, I'd say a little prayer before the game. That's, you know, that was kind of my thing. And I'd just leave it up with the Lord and try to go out and be free. But I really didn't have like a had to do this or do that. I really wasn't that way. Okay, final, final question. Final final final question. Ever have a ball that's going in and for some reason it just hooks like crazy at the end?

And you're like, what the crap? Yeah, 100%. I remember one really, like I remember one really well that like I hit it. I looked up. It was going right down the middle and I was, you know, gave it a little one of these. Look down to give my holder a high five and I look, see, look on his face and I'm like, did that not go in? He looked at you and I looked up and it hit the right up right. And I was like, oh, that was a gut punch. So yeah, that most of the time you know, like 99% of the time when you hit a ball, like you know whether you made it or not. And that was one where I thought for sure I made it. And it was going

straight and it like took a right turn really hard. I don't know. I still don't know what happened. Okay, last last last last question. Okay, when a field goal is blocked, how much of it is due to the trajectory of the actual ball being kicked low versus protection breakdown? It all depends. Now I'll say this. Like my mentality was always like, hey, it's on me. Like I just think that's the way to be like, hey, I would never say that. I'd be like, dude, that's on you guys. Here's the thing. This was always my thing. Like, field goal protection, you talk to any linemen or tight-ins on field goal protection,

they will all tell you that is the worst playing. Like, that is the hardest playing football because they just get teed off on. Those guys, like, after every season, you better believe I'm going to the best steakhouse. I'm getting gift cards for all of them. Like, I wanted them to know, like, hey, y'all have a hard job. I really appreciate this. And the last thing you ever want to do is sit there and try to blame it on one of those guys because they're going to block for your next game.

So, like, my thing was always like, hey, it's on me. Because then they would, you know, they're going to have that mentality like, hey, this, he's, you know, he's not going to blame it on us. We're going to go out and fight harder for him. That was my approach. But there's no doubt. Like I've had, I've had balls that got blocked that like 100% were on me. I didn't hit a good ball. They were low.

Whatever. And then I had somewhere, I'm like, man, I hit that ball good. That would have been, you know. And so it's just part of playing football. It's just like other guys on their team, they're getting paid too. They make great plays. And sometimes it just, you know, they just, it goes both ways, man. So no more questions, but this is in parentheses.

This is my question in parentheses. We're down with all the questions in parentheses. If you got called today and they're like, the Titans, they're like, we know you're close, games in an hour. Like, where would you kind of cap out at? As far as like range. Distance, yeah. Distance range. Well, you know what?

I'm actually filming something here in about two weeks. So I'll report back to you and let you know. But I don't know. This is a good question. I hadn't kicked the ball in a long time. So I've been focusing on the golf. It would take a little time to warm that leg. Give this a range, all right?

Don't get it around the bush. You get a 40 yard or pretty easy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can still do that. I think I can still do that. I still try to like, you know, I mean, I'm not Castle over here on the tonal five days a week. Hey, bro, got to get it in.

Yeah, I try to stay moving a little bit. I think I could still. I think I do you're like a ripped. You're like a ripped dude. Oh, yeah. He's a freak of nature. Yeah, it's like him and I look like more in shape. How you doing, buddy?

Well, I'm working out. That's why I'm on the tunnel five days a week. It's just a couple of retired professional athletes. Yeah, us too are just retired. Look, I'm living my life to the fullest. Hey, we both got championships. I got a mirror ball. Hey, I'm super hungry.

He's got a Super Bowl ring. That's right. I've got three national championships, but that's way back. That's not even professional, is it? Bobby, I must tell you this. I don't know if you know this about Cass, but how long have I been doing this show? A year or two years? It feels like 10, but yeah.

It was a long time. Whenever this was like a year and a half ago, too, we're at our boys play baseball together. And I'm talking to Cass one day, what could you up to, man? He's like, I'm doing this and this. He's like, man, they want me to do this podcast. Some guy, he's, like, pretty big on, you know, country music and radio, and he's got all stuff.

And I'm like, who is it? And he's like, Bobby, Bobby Bones? I'm like, Castle. Like, you need to do that. Like, you need to go do that. I definitely didn't say, like, I said, dude, this. Bobby Bones. You know what Bobby Bones is.

Billy Jones, right? I'm like, Billy Jean-Castle. God, I love them. But sometimes, you know, these, we got to help them out. I've learned now. Yeah, yeah. That's why. That's why I'm here.

We really appreciate the time, man. This is been awesome. I'll let you end this, though. This is your guy. Oh, he is my guy. He's one of my favorite people I've ever played with. And I'll tell you, he's so humble and he's got such a great humility about him that he'll never talk too big about himself, but he was an incredible player, incredible teammate.

But also, when you see him interact with his wife, his kids, and anybody around the respect that everybody has in the community for him, it's just it's always something that you strive for. and I always tell people this. I said, if there was one person that I'd ever let marry my daughters, obviously not at your age now. Wow. But the type of person that you'd want to marry your daughters is Ryan Suckin. That's, there's nothing more.

Greatest intro and outro in the history of our show. Man, I need to come hang with you guys more. I feel better about myself today, man. Well, that's the whole point of this, okay? To lift you up and then as soon as you leave, we're going to tear you down. Yeah, we didn't even record this. Your wife just asked that we do this to build you up. Yeah, it's awesome.

Your microphone actually is not working. Ryan, thanks, man. I appreciate it, guys. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez 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.

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All right, that was it, Ryan. That was awesome. Have you played golf with him? Multiple times, and I don't like to. I like to watch him play golf, but when you play with him, he just makes you feel like such a shit golfer. Because he's so good.

Jinks, you owe me a Coke. Hmm. All right, I'll get you a Coke. Yeah, that's why. But it is, he's a sight to see on the golf course. And I'm not, I'm talking about his golf game. Is he, because he is so good, does he still make you feel worthy? 100%.

A great shot, Cass. Yeah. Great shot, chaos. Hey, you're all right. And I'm like, dude, beat it. Like, if I was that good and I'm playing with my buddies, I'm talking so much smack to you. Like, how you like that ball? Like, you know, I'm just, just a nice guy.

That's what I am. Yeah. You are a hugger. That's for sure. You better believe it. I have a friend named George Burge. He's got a couple number ones in country music. And he played golf at Texas, University of Texas.

That's a pretty big deal. He's awesome. But the craziest thing about him, because he's probably a plus one. Right. Because he gets to play a bit on the road. You know, he's out. But the craziest thing about him is he's such a nice guy when he plays and he roots you on so hard that even though he's so good, you like playing with them, which is a bit counterintuitive. Because you think if you were playing with somebody that was so good, you would feel so inferior that it would be bothersome.

I do feel inferior. You do. I play with him. But he doesn't make you feel that way, is what you're saying. Not at all. If anything, you're like, man, I'm just a couple swings by being like you, George. No chance. Never.

That's never the joke. Once I did a deal with a certain golf brand, and because I had a sponsorship deal with them, and I'm not a very good golfer. Like, I'm a 12. And so, but I like to play some, and I'll play a lot for a couple months. And I haven't played it all in like seven weeks. So, but I was doing enough. and I was playing some of the celebrity games at the time,

back when I was a celebrity. And they were like, hey, we want to, so I did a deal with him. And I said, hey, I want to do this series with our guy, Kevin, and we'll try to do like break 90, because Kevin was just like playing golf for the first time. And so they sent Kevin all these clubs. You got them fitted, like thousands of dollars worth the clubs.

Yeah. Whole thing, we never did the series. Oh, man. Can we pitch them again? Because I need three clubs. We just, we just never. I don't really know what happened. I'm not with them anymore.

That's not why. I wonder why. But we just never. Yeah, we filmed like one day, and then it just kind of fizzled out when we're on it. I mean, that's just the name of the business. I'm not even sure. Yeah, it's like, that's golf. Man, that's how you guys get free stuff around here?

It wasn't on purpose. No, that's awesome, though. And the fact that you got new clubs, that's. Oh, yeah, they're a plus. Yeah, I mean, can I give like a, like a. I wouldn't plug them because then if somebody's listening from it, they'd be like, no, I'm saying price range. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Price range. I mean, probably all together, about $3,500 bucks. Good. Good group of... Good group of clubs. We were supposed to do a... But they never even were like, hey, where's it at?

I think they just throw so much stuff out to the people they work with. And then I stopped working with them. That's amazing. My deal ran out. Well, we gotta finish something. Yeah, they forgot. Because I definitely need new clubs.

No, we're not doing... I'm not going back to them. I don't even have a deal with them. I was... Promote you in whatever capacity I have to. Bobby's already committed to the show. I'll say this. One final thing.

And don't do it now. You never change your Instagram name. That's how little you think of us. No, I think of you. And I asked. Because it's so weird, because who is M underscore Castle? Nobody knows. And when I'm like...

Who knows that? M underscore Custle 16. But if I was like B underscore B32 ONAS... It says my last name. If it said even Matt Castle, 16. But when I'm like, hey, I'm doing this show, you should watch. Here's a clip of me and Matt Castle. They're like a clip and me and underscore M Castle.

I don't think people know who that is. I think it's hurting us. All right. I'll get it together once again. I already went and talked to my social media. No, I literally talked to me. He's like, I think that you're the, where you're at right now, enough people know that this, when they come to this page, it would be this, that,

and the other to change it. So it's probably more to it than that conversation. But I swear on my love for my family that I did have that conversation. It's fine. I'm just saying when I tag you and stuff, I don't always hear. No, I have to write, hey, I'm doing the show with, I have to write your name, Matt Castle, parentheses, M underscore. And it looks like if you don't know, it looks like Cassell.

No, it does. It always has. I just changed it in my phone last week. Yeah. To one L. I have them in my phone as M underscore Cassell. All right, we're done. Thank you guys.

Thanks to Ryan. What did you call him suck off? I did. I felt so bad after. Thanks to Ryan suck off. That's Matt Castle. That's kick off Kevin. That's Brandon Ray.

I'm Bobby Jones. We'll see you next week. Bye, everybody. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHeart 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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.

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