The Bobby Bones Show - Lots to Say: Week 1 Recaps and Fmr Pro Bowl Ben Jones

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Bobby Bones and Matt Cassel dive into the Top 3 things from NFL Week 1!  Matt is surprised the Giants have to already consider starting Jaxson Dart.  There are positives from the Cowboys loss and Matt talks about handling CeeDee Lamb's untimely drops.  How will the Chiefs rebound to face the Eagles in Week 2? The Colts and Raiders come out of the gates strong.  The 49ers could be in trouble with so many early injuries.  We'll learn a lot in the Bills/Jets game in Week 2 and what are the other most interesting games?  Fmr Pro Bowl Center Ben Jones drops by the studio and talks about watching football instead of playing.  Ben recalls getting calls to play in his first year of being retired.  Matt asks about Ben's journey from high school to playing center in the NFL, including a life threatening injury.  Why did Ben prefer playing inside on the offensive line?  Ben looks back to meeting Derrick Henry and blocking for him through a 2k yard season.  Bobby wants to know about spitting happening between players. Ben relives some of his worst injuries before looking back to playing at Georgia and when he knew it was time to retire. Bobby wraps up with some important advice for Matt on social media.   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. Yeah, we got lots to say. Now here's Bobby and Matt. Welcome to the show. That's Matt Castle.

I'm Bobby. We're so happy we had actual football games. By the way, before we get to the NFL slate, Tal was week number two in college. Week number two was great. I mean, we went up to Michigan State. We're playing Boston College. I got to see my old coach, Billy O'Brien, got to do,

when he comes into stadium, I got to interview him, give him a big hug. You know, that was a nice moment. But then the game turned out to be an incredible game when double overtime Michigan State ended. But that's what you love about college football because you just never know what's going to take place. I didn't think I'd like Bill O'Brien.

I do. I had him. He was on the show last year. So I spent half an hour with him. That's a really cool guy. Awesome guy. great personality. Fantastic laugh, too.

I guess I wasn't that funny to him. No, you never got to laugh. You never got to laugh? Well, we were talking ball. Who knows what you're talking about? We were talking ball. Like a defining but chin too that really brings it home. But I mean, hell of a coach.

We have a special relationship because when I was in New England, he actually was a wide receivers coach. So there's a different dynamic there than when he's maybe your office coordinator head coach. So we spent a lot of time. And obviously, early on, I was running scout team. and he would be doing the cards, and I'd always throw it to the wrong guy

because they'd circle people on there and make you force it into coverage. And I was like, I'd never throw that ball if I was playing. So I'd just throw it to who I wanted to. And then he would get yelled at because I wasn't doing the right thing. Then he'd yell at me. It was hilarious.

But we had a good time doing it. Yeah, I wouldn't make him mad, I don't think. Oh, it was hilarious. You can't because you're a large man. It was hilarious. All right, now we're going to go back and forth, as we often do. Let's go from threes.

I'm still trying to come over the name. Three three things. Is this from last week, looking ahead? what we're going to do? Yeah, I think it's always moving forward. Yeah, moving forward. We're doing like, I do my three, you do your three.

My three, your three. Yeah, but I don't have a good name for it. Like three threes, 33s, 33s, doesn't matter. You go first. Three for three? You go up. You're number one. Okay, I think number one for me, looking ahead is,

are the Giants truly committed to Russell Wilson? Are they going to already make the change? Because Brian Dayball was noncommittal in his press conference right after, then came out this week already and was like, we're going with Russell Wilson, but that leash is going to be so short, and it's unbelievable that we're in week two, and they're already talking about making a quarterback change to Jackson Dart.

And I know that Russell Wilson struggled, but why not start the kid right off the jump? You know how I know Russell Wilson really struggled is because Malik neighbors didn't want to play anymore? 100%. And not only that, he wouldn't even high five, Daveau. Did you see that interaction, and Dayball's trying to come up and, like,

dab him up and that has to there has to be something behind that and I think that's exactly it. So two things, when you talk about the Giants, I think, table's probably going, this could be it for me.

Right. I've had the run. Didn't work out with Daniel Jones. Didn't work, we could go through the last few years with the Giants. I mean, he didn't have his own quarterback

when he started there with the Giants anyway. And so if it doesn't work this year, it may not work at all. And as fair as that may not be, because I think Jackson Dart is the guy. Right. He's the future. You probably want to play him, have some success, even if it's later in the season, so you can show you're actually building something positive.

So I understand why you want to make that switch, that flip now. I agree. And you've got also a defense with four first rounders that drafted well. They've got dudes. You said Malik neighbors. You bring in Jackson Dart. They've got a pretty good offensive line. But for him, he's got a win now.

You can't let this thing continue to play out with a, quarterback that's not the future of your franchise. And for, as you said, and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said, if he wins now and shows progress and promise that this, as we build this into year two, year three, that we might have something here, then everybody in the organization, the fan base, they feel better about it. But if you go and wait six games, seven games, and you're dead last in that difficult division, and there's not a lot of promise, I mean, you might get fired.

I think with Jackson Dart as well, or any rookie, it could be insert. whomever rookie. It's going to take one, two, three, four, or five, however many games to just get them to baseline. And you need to get them there so you can get them above so you can show that there is promise. If you wait until week four or five, that's going to be three jacks in our game before he probably feels comfortable starting. If you do it now, that way, when you get to week eight or nine, he may actually be in the groove and you can show that, hey, we're the giants, we are now going to win some games. It can be panther-esque like last year. By the way, They suck week one.

They were awful. That might change your mind. Denver didn't do much better. I'm a big fan. But with the Giants, I feel like for him, for his job safety, the quicker they can switch to Jackson Dark. And the quicker they can have success because they're not going to be a team that wins a lot of games this season. But if in that second half, they can go over 500, let's say in the last eight games, they go five and three. I think that's enough to give him another year because they have a quarterback that he drafted.

of course and it's week one right now but people don't understand a lot of times this is a 17 game season so exactly what you're saying you're going to go through your bumps and bruises with a rookie quarterback it's just the nature of the beast as he learns how to be a professional he's got good guys behind him with james winston

Russell Wilson who will take on that mentoring role but help him grow the back half of the season is where you want to see them start to win games put people away and you say wow look at the development that we've had So I'm going to take yours. I'm going to roll it over into mine.

The Cowboys and Giants are playing this week. Yes. Cowboys look pretty good. Hell yeah, they look good. The Cowboys look offensively like a team that could win some games. Now, I don't think they're going to win 13 games this season because I don't think they have the defense to do it. But the Cowboys, especially Dak, look great.

I mean, this is prime cowboy letdown game, though, is my point. Because Cowboys are like a five-and-a-half-point favorite going into this week. They should win. Every part of them should win this game, especially because we have no controversy in New York with the quarterback. Is it Russell Wilson? It's not going to be for long. This is classic.

Okay, we feel good about the Cowboys. This is their week to... And that's the thing that they have to guard themselves against. Because last week, all the different noise on the outside of the building was about Parsons. They just got rid of their most prolific pass rush. Which they did. But where does that take them?

They're basically thrown away. season not realizing they've got a high octane offense and Dak Prescott was hurt last year and he's a guy that can play this position at a really high level what you think about them or not he wins a lot of ball games and then to go out there and yes they lost the game but that was a competitive ball game and now you get an opportunity to go back and have another divisional game right off the jump and you say you need to go out there and impose your will on another team and win this game convincingly, because I think that puts a lot of the other, all the noise, it

quiets even more down. And that's really what they need to do. If they go out and trap the bed this week and it's a loss to the Giants, now everybody picks up again in the banter. And it's in Dallas. And it's in Dallas. Yeah. I'm not a Cowboys fan, but I'm hoping, I like to see a team that's told, hey, now that you made this decision, A, is going to happen, and then B happens. Oh, 100%. That underdog kind of, you're in. idiots and then go out and prove everybody wrong. C.D. Lamb did not have, he had a good game, stat-wise, but did not have a good game in when he needed to make a catch.

He missed some opportunities. Three drop balls. 100%. One of them was real bad. He could have changed the game. Pivotal. Did you ever have a wide receiver that was awesome, but made like a couple inopportune drops, and you just had to go, bro, like, I know you got it, then you.

But what do you do as a quarterback? It's such a hard thing because, you know, when you have a number one wide receiver like C.D. Lamb, that he's your dude. He's going to, he's going to constantly be the guy that you go to. And unfortunately, you know how competitive he is, the pride that he takes in his position. Otherwise, he wouldn't be where he is. And those things happen, right? They happen. And sometimes it costs you the game. And it's just the same thing as if I'm a quarterback and you're driving late, you miss a throw, you throw an interception. You feel that. CD Lamb feels that.

He's going to come back, work harder, do all that. So it's hard to go up and be like, dude, you've got to get that. He understands it. You don't even have to say it. The biggest thing for me always is a quarterback in those situations is to go up and be there for the guy and say, hey, dude, I believe in you. If we get another opportunity, I'm coming right back to you.

Because you've got to help them flush that out of their system so that they're not thinking about it come the next series. Were there time for you purposely went back to the person or your wide receiver that made a drop just to say that? I'm coming right back to you. Duane Boe, we're in Kansas City. I forget who we're playing. Drops a critical third down.

And so we go off to the sideline. You can tell he's pissed. And coaching staffs, and all that stuff. But I'll go up to him and I'll say, hey, we're going to get another opportunity. And right off the jump, I'm coming right at you.

I need to stop saying right off the jump because I've said it three times out. Right away, I'm going to come back to you and throw you the football. And that's exactly what we did. And he goes up and he makes a big play. And then we go down. So that number one,

wide receivers never going to stop being your number one wide receiver. It's just that it's not a lack of focus. It's just sometimes it happens. Yeah, that was disappointing because he played such a good game. Right. And he found ways to get open all game long. That drop that would have flipped field. And again, it's been a week and a half now, but that's brutal.

They could have won the game. He easily could have won that game. Yeah. So they for sure will lose to the Giants. That's just how the Cowboys work. I'm not a cowboy lover. I'm not a cowboy hater. but man, if they don't, if they actually beat the Giants and they win a game, they should win,

possibly we have a different Cowboys team than we thought. Yeah. And that's exciting because the NFL needs. They need the Cowboys to be good and relevant. They need a competitive Cowboys team because it makes the NFL more fun. It's like the NBA needs the Lakers to be in the mix. Yes. Because it makes the league more fun.

So I'm rooting for the Cowboys, although I know Dave was a boy. Dave was my boy, for sure. And I hope that he does well and has all this success. I just think they're in a bunch of turmoil right now. and it's very interesting when you look at their schedule, their division, and their quarterback situation. Yeah, that division is terrible. Because the commanders are going to be good.

They're going to be good. The Eagles are obviously going to be awesome. Yes. And if the Cowboys are okay, that leaves the Giants to just be the little brother. Yeah, and that's the thing. They have dudes to go out and compete. Now they just got to go out and compete, but that is a difficult division.

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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. All right, you're up. All right. I looked, obviously we all watched the Chiefs game, right, against Chargers. Chargers ended up winning that game. I thought Herbert had an outstanding game.

But looking forward, you also saw two of the Chiefs' wide receivers go down, which is critical because they didn't have much of a passing game. They didn't have much of a running game other than Mahomes, and now you're going to play the Eagles. And so it's another challenge right off the start of the season where you've got... Someone said right off the jump. No, why? You see that?

I thought about that. Some would say it right off the game. Somebody would say that, but not I, not I. I believe it's going to be a really interesting matchup to see how they overcome, one, those injuries at the wide receiver position, but also they're going up against the Eagles, and it's going to be a game where Mahomes is going to have to have some magic,

but I do believe that they're going to have to get the run game going in order to help take some pressure off this past game. Yeah, Hollywood Brown is going to be the number. number one now. Going to have to be. Thank God he's healthy. I mean, he missed last year. And she rises to come back to, what, week six?

So six games suspended, back in week seven. Xavier Worthy. Xavier was out. And you saw the doctor, or he malved it. We saw him go, that does not look good. Yeah, it was a dislocated shoulder.

Yeah, that's what it was. Yeah, they didn't say how severe it was. At least I haven't heard yet. Kevin, have you heard how severe it was? because all I heard was just like it's just located doctor. Yeah, they just said it's like a day-to-day thing and he'll play with a brace. Wait, he's going to play?

Possibly. If he does, it'll be with a brace. But Andy Reid said it could be like a day-to-day, see how the week progresses. I would say the benefit of that is he's a burner anyway. He has. So if anything, you can set him out wide, throw him one or two, and he has to keep the defense honest.

Look, we're not going to throw you the ball because you can't reach above your head with the brace, but run really fast and clear it out for Kelsey on the outside. on the inside. Just go. Just go. Yeah, rough game week two for the Chiefs after losing week one. It is. I mean, from a scheduling standpoint to go out there and play, they're in Brazil. Yeah, that's terrible. And you had to play one of those games. Yours wasn't Brazil. Your was not Brazil, London. And they said that, I believe that the Chiefs were the away team in that game. And so Todd Blackledge and Noah Eagle did that game last year. And they said that the away team stays about an hour and a half away from the state.

just the so from a travel standpoint to get the same versus the home team that's right across the street from the stadium that's a big deal so you're dealing with all these different elements and then to go out and lose to a division rival and come back and play the team that just absolutely smoked you last year in the Super Bowl it's a tough scheduling to say the least I'll go again I'll go Joe Burrow needs a big bounce back game they did win but that's because the brown's they have what like 140 total yards or something like that offensively Well, Burrough specifically was 14 for 23 for 113 and a touchdown. And I was talking to kickoff Kevin about this. And I was like, I cannot believe the Bengals won, except for they're playing the Browns and the Brown's Brown. They found a way to lose. Missed two field goals. Kevin made a great point.

The Bengals don't win week one or week two. The stats are mindboxed. So this is actually big for the Bengals. Yeah, they're always awful week one or week two. But it sometimes comes back to Biden. did last year. Yeah, so my bounce backs are, Burrow needs one. Now, they are playing Jacksonville.

I don't know that we have an accurate measurement of what Jacksonville is. They beat a bad Panthers. The funny clip at the Panthers game was Bryce Young watching the football, which helmet is the one that has the ball in it up on the screen in the middle of the game. They have him just watching it. And then he goes down, throws a pick like the next play. It was a bad pick, too. Yeah.

So I don't think that's what made him throw the pick. But the timing was terrible because that one. went viral. And I like Bryce Young a lot. And did they have a full weather delay too? Yeah, for like, which was awful. Almost two hours. Yeah. And those games rolled into the four o'clock. Yes. So, you know, the big bounce back needs to be burrow against Jacksonville. If the dolphins are going to bounce back, man, too, it was terrible. It was bad. And then you talk about another wide receiver that was upset. We had a discussion about him last week, Tyreek Hill, about why isn't he a captain? He's the most talented guy on the team. It's stuff like that.

The sideline antics, the screaming at the coach, all that stuff during game day, becoming a distraction. That's why he's not a captain. And that's something that's going to be continuous until they start to perform better because that was awful. But how awesome was Daniel Jones? We talked about him. I'm a big Daniel Jones guy. I've been made fun out for being a big Daniel Jones guy. I just think he can do it all. I think he can run. Again, don't confuse the pigment in his skin for somebody that's extremely slow. Yes, he can run. He is athletic

as all get out. And I don't think week one is the absolute litmus test of what he's going to do all season. No, name him. Come back for the year right now. Yeah, he was awesome. Tua was not. He went 14 for 23 as well. For 114 yards, a touchdown and two interception.

Two interceptions. Now, they're playing the Patriots. Patriots, not a great game. Kevin, those are your boys. Yeah, it was tough to watch. What did you think? Yeah, what did you think? I thought Matt could obviously speak on this a lot better, but offensively, he threw it, Drake, I believe, 46 times, but it just looked very boring still. Everything looks boring.

And then I watch other offenses, and I'm like, dang, that looks fun. And I know they don't have like a Derek Henry or anything like that, but it just looked like offensively, it was a rookie quarterback still back there that Josh McDaniels didn't trust. Yeah, you know, so much of that system, too, when I was in it with Josh McDaniels,

and you've always seen it. It's a possession passing. game, right? So it's going to be intermediate routes. It's going to be screens. And then you're going to take your shots. You're not always wanting to throw the ball 46 times. I think a lot of that was the fact that they were behind and needed to make up some ground late. So you're kind of put in this two-minute mode where you've got to go throw the football. But Stefan Diggs, I would say, is their number one wide receiver. They've got Douglas as well, who had a catch for a touchdown. But Diggs, when you watch him, he's a really good player. I mean, he's a good route runner.

He's not the guy he used to be. And so he's not surrounded with that one alpha that you need to go out when it's one-on-one and you need him to go win that battle for you at the quarterback position. I don't think they have that dude right now. And that's a hard part. And then what about the run game? I mean, the run game was just non-existent, which was the most surprising part. And Will Campbell had a bad game.

He was hurt. I get it. Yeah. He was playing hurt. Yeah. And I get it. I'm not blaming him. But the offensive line just they did a lot of turnover there.

and week one, there was nothing to show for it. Yeah, and that's, it's still week one. You know, and it's still a new system and all that stuff. And the Raiders came out and played a heck of a game. And Gino Smith, man, I love Gino Smith. I love how he resurrected his career in Seattle. But to go out with a new organization, week one, and play the way that he did, I think that the Raiders are going to be a lot better than people give them credit for.

So I know we've done two. I'm going to go do my third one before you do your third one because I want to roll up from this conversation to that. in that Brock Bowers, I don't know where he is injured, and George Kettle's out for weeks now. I was going to say those are two massive injuries. What's the latest on Bowers? Because the last I saw, they were speculating,

it might be an ACL, it might be nothing. Do you see anything, Kevin, on Brock Bowers? No, I just see Carol saying, we're just going day-to-day with it. Yeah, well, Kettle is out. Yeah, Kittles out. He's in I-R now. That sucks.

Gosh, it sucks, too. Kittles on I.R. with a hamstring injury. He suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday, sees an opener over the Seahawks. He only played 21 of the 76 offensive snaps. He caught four balls for 25 yards. And he will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks. Now, the good news is this is the 49ers next four weeks.

The Saints, they can win. The Cardinals, probably. The Jags, probably. The Rams are going to be a bit of trouble. Yeah, Rams. But I think, and also you're looking at Brock Purdy. I mean, he has two injuries. He has two injuries.

They said Fred Warner was banged up. They also said Trent Williams is banged up. That's an incredible amount of injuries that take place in week one. It's also like last year for them. Right. They had all the- Last year, everybody was hurt. I think the good thing about pretty shoulder injury, it's the wrong shoulder.

Because I think his left shoulder is what's hurt. It was the other, it was his other injury that they were worried about. So, yeah, the 49ers moving forward, they have a favorable schedule if they can. If they can field a team? Well, they only did. Because Christian McCaffrey was on the injury report. saying that he might not even go. Luckily, he did.

He played really well. They played good. Caught a bunch of balls, ran a bunch of balls. But yeah, they only did eight guys to beat the Saints. So, given another week.

Yep. Cardinals, they could probably play 10 on 11 to win that. Cardinals are a better football team this year. Maybe. Huh? Maybe. They,

who'd they be? The Saints. The Saints. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, maybe. Barely. That's what I said, maybe.

This week, Let's see. We got the Cardinals. Who are the Cardinals playing? And the Panthers. Yeah, Cardinals should win that one. Oof, the four Panthers. I pick them with my favorite team and then that's what they do.

Of course. Of course, that's what they do. But it is going to be the battle of the small quarterbacks. One quarterback will reign supreme. The battle is small. Of the small quarterbacks. Very athletic. Yes.

What's your final point? I think this weekend, another intriguing game for me is going to be Bill's Jets. because when you watch that game that Justin Fields played, he looked like a completely different quarterback going up against Pittsburgh. And you say the same thing about how Pittsburgh looked,

but for that organization, for them to come out and play that way right away against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense, and he was making throws, he was doing it with his legs. I just want to see if he can do it again against another really good opponent with the bills. What's the best game coming up this weekend?

Hmm Seahawks and Steelers looks interesting Nobody cares about those teams here Like it's nobody's Brandon's wife That of the count She's like second-dress

So you know We're always drawn to like Our teams But I'm curious to watch The Seahawks and Steelers play Just because they both had Seahawks did not win Right

But I feel like that's a little bit of work in progress There's a whole lot of new parts up there A whole lot of new parts And how good is Aaron Rogers because his arm is still freaking great. That first sack, I was like, okay, they're about to run him over. He can't move. He got hit a lot.

He did get a lot. He got hit a lot, but I'll tell you what, the boy can still sling it. I guess it's Commander's Packers. That's probably the best game. I was going to say Commander's Packers would be up there a must watch for me. Yeah, and it's a Thursday night, so we must watch it. Yeah, and the Packers, I mean, let's be honest, that Packers' defense, that front looked good before Parsons showed up. But he shows up, they can go offensive.

they've got some skill. Jordan Love, I mean, he's a good, really good quarterback, in my opinion. So then you got Washington. When you watch them, they got weapons all over the field. Jaden Daniels. That guy's a freak of nature. He's a freak.

He looks like they get broken every time he drops back because he's small. He doesn't. He's very Kevin Durant. And he makes everybody mess when he runs to football. He can just flat out rip the ball anywhere he wants. Yeah, he runs around people with, it's like a deer. He is deceivingly,

extremely fast. Extremely fast. Because I know he's fast, but I was watching him outrun angles this last week. And Debo looks good. Devo, you saw him with the, he looked like he maybe,

you know, maybe put on a, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's put on a, yeah, yeah. Maybe he was an all-weight uniform. Maybe he's wearing more pads. Who knows?

Yeah. Yeah, he's got rib pads on, hit pads on, but I'll tell you, he can still run the rock. You wouldn't know something to happen to me. So I was talking about this on the show today on the Bobby Bone show,

is that I got a call from someone, and it was a San Diego number and I answered and they're like, hey, someone's trying to buy four different purchases at Home Depot for $55,000 this year. It wasn't. And so I'm like, oh God, well, the night before my card had to be canceled

because someone was using my debit card. And so the night before, I got an email and I said, is this you using the card? And I push no. Boom, we canceled the card immediately. So I get that call the next day and they're like, someone's trying to buy four things

at Home Depot. It's not going through. Is this you? I'm like, no. Except they know a little too much. meaning they know my bank, they know the type of card it is, they know my home address, they know my cell phone number, and they have my card number.

And so they're like, hey, we're calling from your bank. All of that is enough to make you think that it's legit. And so I'm like, yep. And they say, hey,

we need to verify that this is your account. So we're going to FaceTime you and are you able to get into your account on your app? Let us know how much, you know,

so they face time me. I'm half asleep because I had fallen asleep at like 3.30. It wasn't feeling good. My allergies are killing me. So I answer the FaceTime. And they're like,

if you just log on your app, and I'm like, there's no way. And I say to them, you're trying to scam me. Yeah. And they're like, no, so. We're not trying to scam me.

I'm not going to do this. And he gets like sassy with me. And so all of this has been running through my head. I'm like, how did they know my phone number and my home address? Yes. Because if you just get a credit card number or a debit card number,

you don't have all the other information. You just use that and you use the CVV code and you buy until they shut it down. So I just found out what happened. So I went to buy something online that I buy a lot of and I googled to get to it. Razors. Something similar. Something that I have to buy it. And so it was a new product and I googled and so I went to the site and I bought it.

And I remember not going through, not going through, not going through. Turns out they had set up a full fake site. And so the reason it wasn't going through is when you type in your name, you're a address, your credit card. It goes to scammers who have set up a fake site to, like, mimic what the actual site looks like. That's scary. So they had all that information, which is crazy all day long in my head. I'm like, how do they know my home address? Turns out they didn't know my home address. They knew my business manager's address because it's all my bills go. But they were like, you're at this address. And I was like, well, they do know that. So my bank does. But that's what

it was. They set up a complete fake website that looked exactly and seemed exactly like the other site that I got there from Google. That's really scary. It was crazy. And that's what I was doing with today. Well, at least you didn't give them all your information because that would have been. Well, you know what they did? They said, how much is in your checking account? And I told them. And then they were like, okay, this also could be your savings. How much is in your savings? And I told them. And they're like, wow, we've got an elephant. We got an elephant. Let's go, boys. Like, FaceTime them now. FaceTime them now. We'll get way more than $5,500 from Home Depot. But that was scary. I was like, how do they know all of this? But it turns out that they created a fake

account, a fake website to look like the site. Yeah. I don't normally get the phone call from American Express. I do. American Express, I do. Yeah. But all the other stuff is going to my business managers. I was like, I did have to cancel my card last night. So it all makes sense. But it makes sense because they were using it last night. And then they were calling. Yeah, to verify. Hey, how much you have anything to?

You ever been scanned? Huh? No, I've just had the, well, I've had similar situations. I get a lot of text messages like, if there's this amount on this credit card, please call so we can. And I'll, and I'd call my business guy. And I would say, this spammy's like, absolutely. I just checked all your accounts.

Nothing's wrong. Anything like that. But every now and then they'll get a whole. hold somehow of your credit card and you'll have these random purchases. I forget the last one. It was. It was like a $2,600 deal at Target. They went hard. They went hard in the paint, do they said? Yeah, grab the skateboard and the rollerblades. From the jump, they went hard. Haven't you ever been scammed? No, I haven't, but it's funny you bring this up because I think we're in the middle of one right now, too. My wife got a letter in the mail from her work. She stopped working

because of the kids, letter in the mail from their work that's like, hey, sorry, we accidentally paid you like 12 grand over, which happens because they try to figure things out. And then so she was like, well, can you provide evidence? They've been going back and forth. And ever since she asked, can you provide evidence? We haven't heard back for them. Because they asked you need to pay this within five days. Why would they do that? Twelve grand in five days? Like, yeah, that's a scam. That sounds like a scam, right? That's a scam. And then she was like, oh, well, can you, What about this? My PTO?

Did you guys put all this in? And they're like, oh, actually it's like nine grain. And she's like, well, can you show me evidence of where you got the nine grand from? Having her back. Yeah.

Scam. Brandon? Scam, right? Yeah. Oh, Brandon's been scam. Brandon proudly has been scammed. You saw it. It was right away.

It was a heavy nod. And then he's like, thank God the microphone doesn't work. Yeah. Don't really want to tell you what I gave away. We're going to come back. All right. Your buddy's going to come in.

Yeah, Benny Jones. One of my favorite people ever. So you and Benjohn's play together. Funny guy? Really funny. How big is he? Speculate. I mean, he's got to be 6.3.

He probably played at 3.15. I think that was what his weight was set at, but as soon as he would starve himself the day before weigh in, so he'd make weight, and then he'd meet me in the breakfast area, and he'd have like four plates. So probably jump up to 320 pretty quick. Big old boy. All right. We'll come back and do that next.

The 26 NFL Draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all. 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 Podcast, 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.

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. We got lots.

We actually had football. What an exciting week. Seriously. Football's back. It was an incredible week one. It was. And we had Ben Jones with us. I thought I think we should clap our hands.

Big Ben Jones, baby. Big Ben Jones. The great is right. Why don't you introduce your friend Ben here so everybody can have a proper group? Okay. Ben Jones, one of my best buds. He's somebody that grew up in Bibb County, Alabama. Sounds like a wrestler.

Yeah, it does. He kind of was a wrestler. Let's be honest. Actually, he ended up going to Georgia, All-American at Georgia. It gets drafted by Houston in the fourth round. gets traded what in 2016? Free agent.

Not even a free agent. 2016 comes to Tennessee Titans. I'm blessed to be there, be his teammate. He was a pro bowler in 2022, and a guy that's just an Ironman played through so many different injuries but was the anchor for every offensive line. But I'll also say this about him.

As a teammate and as a human, he always made it fun. He was always there for everybody. And he's a guy that brought the locker room together. The great Ben Jones is here. Ben Jones is here. My wife saw Ben walk by the window and said, a large man is here.

I said, well, that's my cue to go down to the studio. Ben, how are you, man? I'm great. Happy to be here. And when my guy called me the other day, I was like, absolutely, I'm here. So what's it like when football starts for you? Yeah, I look, you look forward to it.

It's different now that you're not playing. I'm like, man, I can sit back, enjoy it. Look at different schemes. Look at, hey, how they're attacking defenses. because you still have that in you as a player. But now you're like, man, I don't feel bad after games. I don't hurt. I can wake up the next day.

I'm like, man, this feels awesome. How many years you've been retired? This is going on your three. Are you missing it less and just enjoying it more? Are you shifting over there? 100%. Definitely the first year out, you miss it. You miss everything, the hurt, the ache, the grind.

Now I'm just like, I can enjoy it with my family. I coach high school balls. So I kind of scratch that itch that away. And now I can Thursday, night, Sunday night, Monday night, I can sit down and actually like, yes, I can enjoy football. Well, let's talk about your first year out, right? You were undecide whether or not you're going to go back and play. And so you were staying in shape, which is hard to do to stay motivated in the off season when you don't know the end result is actually going to be signed. But I remember

sitting down with you at breakfast, right? We're sitting down at breakfast and all of a sudden, Ben says, hold on, this is my agent. His agent's calling him because Miami had both of their centers go out. So this is what, week 8? It's like right around Thanksgiving. and somewhere around there. Right, right. They happen versus the Titans. Center towards ACL first drive. The backup center popped his calf midgame.

They're like, hey, you want to come down this week? I'm like, let me think on it. So this is like not at the beginning of your first year out. This is in the middle of... This is the middle of my first year. So I've been training that whole year after I've been out. And I'm like, all right, I'm golfing with Matt like once a week, workout three days a week.

It's hilarious. And the season has already started. Oh, yeah. It's like week 12. Got it. I think it was four games left. There was four games left. So I all of a sudden go on and look at who they're about to play.

It was like Baltimore Ravens. It was the Jets. It was Dallas. I was like, bro, I don't know if you better tell them to hike up the money. Pay me more. Yeah, I would sit there going, you sure you want this? And then having to also talk to your family, like, it's a crazy circumstance and how this all comes about because they obviously need you.

But at the same time, you have a family there that's getting used to having you home, right? No doubt. What was that conversation? Like, honey, maybe. I was like, hey, I got a call from Miami today. She's like, she gets quiet. You're like, you're like, you there? She's like, what, I need to tell my Christmas?

I'm like, hey, it's going to be all right. Let's talk through it. I haven't said yes. She's going on worst case already. Oh, yeah. When I call her, she's like, oh, he's gone. Is she crying? No, never, not my wife.

She is not emotional at all. She's just thinking through it because that's the first thing. She's trying to make sure everything works. That's what our wives do. they literally do everything for us when we play from everything in the home life bills I'm talking about they run the show and she was like oh I'm going to have to go back

in the grind mode it was going to turn into camp for her so she had to get her mind right if I wanted to take that next steps and take the job with the Jets or not the Jets that was pre-season yeah it was Miami for Miami I would assume though it's pretty quick you have to give a yes or no especially mid-season because they've got to make a decision because they're only calling you because it's quick we got to find somebody to fill a gap

yeah they played Monday night and they called me Tuesday morning while I was sitting in the country club eating some breakfast, about to go play around, and they wanted me on a flight that evening. And I'm assuming you said no? I said no. I was like, as it came down to it, I was like, hey, what am I chasing? Can I win a championship with this team? Is it worth the risk to put my body through more harm?

I just had shoulder, elbow, all fixed that offseason. I'm like, do I want to go back there and risk that? And is it, what is it worth? Like, do I need the money? No. do I want to go out there? If I'm sitting there and it would have been the Chiefs or someone like the Eagles, I'm like, I might have chased it.

I might have tried one more time just to get that ring. But I didn't think Miami could win it right there. I saw the four-game stretch they had. I'm like, I think it's better off for me to stay right here with my family. Did you ultimately know when you made that decision that that might be the final time that you stepped on a field? Because at that point, you kind of, you had that opportunity. But again, it's always one of those difficult situations

because, you know, maybe this is the... I think if they were calling to say, like, hey, we need you to be a backup this week, not to come in right that week, start week one versus the Ravens or whoever they were playing that week, I'm like, oh, am I in shape? Have I been training hard enough? All that's going through your head. Am I putting myself at risk for my wife and kids at home? Like, is it worth it?

And I'm like, if this would have been the Eagles and be like, hey, let's bring you as a swing guy, we want to build some depth before the playoffs, I've been like, yes, I'm coming. But right there as a starter, I'm like, I don't know if my body is physically ready yet for the ground that I might have to do for the next four to six weeks. Let's go all the way back to your high school days. Did you play center in high school? Also, what other positions that you play? Yeah, so I've had a crazy journey through the O line. So in high school, I started as a freshman, left tackle.

My brother was the quarterback. Next year, his senior, I was the center. and me and him are totally different. He is all ball, all time. Mr. Keep me in line, like, held everybody on the whole team accountable. Like, I had a bad snap. I'm walking to the sideline. I might get punched in the face.

In school, if I did something wrong, I would be having to call my mom at home. Like, hey, I got to fight at school today. Hand the phone to my brother. Hey, I got in the fight in school today. She's like with her, each other. So we fought literally all the way through college. Like we were best friends. He was my father figure.

My dad passed when I was 10. So he was our rock. He was the reason why I went barefoot before every game because he was so superstitious. And I carried that on all way through high school, college, and pros to kind of show him like, hey, you turn me into a man. You're a guy I look up to. And that was one of the key things. And high school played everything. Center guard, tackle, defense, kick, punted.

I could, I was literally, all right, if you want me to do it, I'll try. Pretty good athlete. Not bad. Play baseball. Basketball, wrestling. Weren't you a state champion as well in wrestling? Can you imagine getting in the ring with this guy? And you're like, I don't know.

I don't know whether. I think I wouldn't. The big bear. It's like wrestling and a bear. My kids call him the big bear. Did you like wrestling? I did. I wrestled.

So 10 years old, my dad passed. Then I get hit in the head with a baseball back like six months later, had a crane anonymity, didn't think I was going to live. How that happened? I was at a high school baseball game. I was behind home plate and I went to walk out to the outfield bleachers to get some money from my mom. As I'm turning the corner, boom, get hit with a bat with somebody swinging as I come around the dugout.

Oh, you walked into it? Walked into it. Never saw it. Oh. Oh, do you remember it? Oh, I walked over to my mom crying, and she told me to sit down and take deep breaths because she thought I was, she thought I got. You didn't go to the hospital right, right?

You're from the south. You're like me from the south. That's what you do. No doubt. Take some deep breaths and past the concussion test castle somehow. So shocking. Shocker. Pass the concussion test.

Always get through that one. Then I started getting sick, throwing up because I had the blood clot. or blood hematoma pressing on my brain so it's making me sick. So I go in there, I have emergency surgery, and the doctor's like trying to hold me down because I wake up from anesthesia too early, and they're like, hold me down two hand. And he moves his hand. He looks, I'm cut ear from ear. Little did he know two weeks before that I hit a bar barbed fence on a bicycle.

So I was super glued up that my mom super glued me up because she didn't want to take me to the doctor because I had a baseball game that night. Just a different way of living in the South down there in a small town. I think I was meant to play football, not baseball, another sport. I think I picked the right sport. So when you got to Houston, though, your first start was actually at guard, right? Yeah, I started my first three years ago. And who was your first start against?

And was that a wow moment for you? Yeah, first start, a load of Nata. Oh, gosh, from the Ravens. The biggest human being. Lockout the sun. First of all, I'm like, who is this? I can't say his name. I wasn't on to say his name because I didn't want to mispronounce it.

He's the largest human. I remember firing off and hitting him like, he's got to. don't move. I'm like, who is this guy? I'm like, yeah, don't mess with those guys. Yeah. Did you know on tape he was going to be as difficult and as large as he was, or was that you have to experience it in person to actually understand it? Yeah, you see him on tape, but they had him, Mount Cody, Terrell Suggs, all these guys. They all just looked to you. I'm like, oh, he's just normal. Then you walk up to him, I'm like, that's not normal. Then they used to line him up off the ball and give him a five-yard head start. Yeah, I'm like, then they were like,

He said, oh, we're going to formation this so he's not on you. Where do you think he went? He went to the rookie every snap. For the next six games, I got him, Kyle Williams, Dominic Sue. I'm like, oh, y'all all just want to pick on the rookie over here. Not the 12-year pro bowler on the other side. Leave me alone.

Was that a bit overwhelming your first X amount of games? You were getting the best of the best because they were probably like calling dibs. I got the rookie. No doubt. And so you're like, was there ever a question like, I don't know if I can do this? No, back then I'm like, I was just excited to get the opportunity. I was having to block JJ Watt every day in practice who had 20 sacks every year. I'm like, man, if I can somewhat block him in practice, I can block these guys.

So I think going in practice versus him kind of gave me the confidence that I can go out there and do it on Sundays. So they go ones and ones? You would work out against him? Oh, so in the NFL, it's a little different. Like, veterans get a lot of days off. So I would come in and take all 10 reps of scout team, then turn around and do, I was a starting right guard. take three reps at starting guard, three reps at center, three upset left guard, so all of them could get a break. But I would take 20 straight plays while they take three.

Got you in shape, though. Oh, I could play all day. The hardest part was practice. Well, if you were to pick a position, would you have rather played guard or did you like center more so? Oh, 100% center. Why? I'm a strong guy. I like making the calls, and I don't have to block those freaks on the edge. Like, I don't, don't give me a guy who's six, six and can tie his shoe standing up give me the biggest strongest fat guy out there sign me up who was the biggest like resting a bull who was the ultimate gap filler that you played against oh vins will for it because he was i couldn't tell if he was touching me or the guard that's how wide he was he was just 380 pounds in the gap i'm like you're not going to move him so i'm gonna it's like

dancing with the bear i just try to cover him up and not let him make tackle but because you're not going to move him he's that big he's doing his job but you didn't have to worry about him past blocking, though. How pissed were you when they took up the backside cut blocking drill? I mean, with that rule where they said you're no longer allowed to cut. Because, I mean, I remember back in the day when we first came in a league, if you're running an outside zone, they just are cutting at their legs, and they're just getting after these guys, and they hated it.

But what I would do is back them off a little bit. But then all of a sudden, they said, no more of that. There's too much risk of injury. Yeah, that's probably why I was starting at guard because I could care less. I didn't watch pro football growing up. I grew up in the South Sunday. You went to church and you went to Grandma's house and went fishing. Like, didn't watch pro football at all.

Like I watched Alabama, Auburn, Georgia. Other than that, didn't watch TV. So I was like, who are these guys? I'm blocking, didn't know them. And I was like, I didn't care. I didn't cut. I cut anybody. Like, some people are, hey, you shouldn't be cutting him.

I'm like, who is it? I'm just going out here. I'm just doing my job. This says, cut on the plate? I'm cutting you. And some of it was that don't cut them, what, out of respect? Yeah, they're like, hey, this guy's in your 10. like, hey, you probably don't want to make him mad.

I'm like, make you mad. What are you mean? I'm trying to win here. He's always mad. Yeah, like, I didn't know the difference between college and pro and how to practice. Like in college, I treat it every day like a game. I didn't care if you were starting nose guard, starting lineback. If the play I was supposed to cut, I cut you in practice, didn't care.

Yeah. If you did that in pro practice, they would run you. They would fight you. I'm like, why are you so upset? Like this, I'm practicing like a game. They're like, no, no, no, that's not how we practice here. So you spent a few years with the Texans before you went over to, or you came over here where we are to the Titans.

You said you left as a free agent. What, like, what was it about Tennessee that made you come? Definitely Matt Castle being here. I was there. I wanted to be there. We came in as free agents together. Yeah, we did. It was a big selling point.

But the biggest thing was I wanted to be the leader of the room. I was going to be the oldest O-Linman in our group at year five. I wanted to run the show as the offensive lineman. And they sold me the dream of like, We're bringing in to Marco Murray. We're changing the culture here. Like, we're going to run the ball. We're going to pound the ball.

We're going to go back to being a tough Tennessee team. Who's selling you that dream? John Robinson and Mike Malarkey. They're calling me like, I'm like, guys, y'all are the worst team in football. Y'all have the first pick. I just won the division in Houston. And we always like, hey, stat game versus Tennessee. Like, we're going to go down there.

We're going to play hard. We're going to win this game. We're going to run the ball for a lot of yards. I'm like, why would I want to go there? But they sold me that dream. and I was like, man, I want to do something different. I want to get back closer to the home. And I was like, I'm in. Let's go.

And that's one of the things that I always appreciate about you because a lot of people don't understand how much goes into playing the center position. Obviously, you take on those big guys that he's talking about and the matchups that you have on the inside. But it's the mental side of the game, especially for a center. Because as a quarterback comes up to the line of scrimmage, we're trying to set protections, but he also was my eyes and ears at the line of scrimmage

where he's communicating constantly to these guys. And I remember Ben, you would always have your own meetings too with these guys. And we'd go in for third down, which is always the most pivotal down for situational football to keep the drive going. But Ben would run the meetings. Talk about, like, was that just something that you knew that's what we needed? Or because you took a lot of pride in that. And you were a leader of that room. And that showed every single day.

Yeah. It's only so much you can hear from a coach. For me, I'm like, if I made the calls, if all my guys saw me at there at 4.30 in the morning and staying like doing all these extra meetings. they trusted me with anything. I could have told LeWan or any of the other guys to do anything. They're like, absolutely. Ben knows it. Like, I could have made a check in there like, no question.

Juan's like, absolutely. Because he is not there in the morning. He's going to show up and do exactly what Ben tells me. He's like, absolutely, I'll do anything he says. And I kind of built that out of respect. And they're like, hey, he's going to do all this stuff on the tape. He's going to be here every day. He's going to practice every day.

And he's going to play in every game. They knew I was going to be there no matter what injury I had. And I was like, hey, I'm going to do it a certain way. and I wanted to build a different kind of culture here. You blocked for Derek Henry? Absolutely. He ever run up you? Did he?

I think that's why everything got fixed on my right side and everything else. If you didn't move your guy, he moved you. And that was the thing. Like you got the way or you were going to get ran over back? The 26 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'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 podcast. The first time you saw Derek Henry and you saw he was going to be playing with you, what were your thoughts? Crazy story. So my brother was a strength coach at Alabama. I was coming home from my rookie year in the league, and I walk into the baseball strength coach in the strength department.

I see a guy leaving workouts, no shirt on. I'm like, is that Dante High Tower? He goes, no, that's that new freshman that we just got here, Derek Henry. I was like, oh, he's 18. I'm like, that is a grown man. Then four years later, he's on my team, the quietest human being.

But me and he is like my brother. Like I talked to him at least once a week. We're so tight. Our families are tight. And he's literally one of my best friends. I mean, he had 2,000 yards that one year. What was it like being a part of that? And what kind of gifts did he get you?

I know he got you. I know he's a gift giver. He is the man. He takes care of us. He went to every O-line dinner with us. He might be a little late, but I saved his seat beside him. I knew he's only 12-ounce fillets. I would get his meal.

He'd come in, he'd eat, talk a little bit and bounce. but he was going to be there to eat them steaks every week. And just an unreal guy, but that was special. Like, we had goals. He would set goals like, hey, what do y'all want if we get this this year? The rushing title. I get 2K. So every week, you never saw Derek get up off the ground by himself in the game.

We were picking his butt up, however he was. We would pick him up, get him back in the huddle. Like, hey, you got one more in you. And it was special. Like, you're chasing greatness. Like, how many 2,000-yard rushers out there are? It's not a lot. And to be able to do that and accomplish that, that's like an O-Liman's dream.

And he did. He hooked us up every year from Rolexes to every kind of device in your house. I got Pac-Men machines. I got them all. You name it, we got it from him. I mean, he and possibly Sequin, but he is the only for sure running back first round Hall of Fame right now in the NFL. Sequin will get there.

But that's a Hall of Fame guy. No doubt. How long until you realize? one that, listen, he's big and he's fast, but he also would have the longevity. Like he's talked a lot about spending money, investing money into himself. And I think that's probably a big part of his success. He is so dialed into all his routine from his diet to how he takes care of his body to how he takes care of massage and prep work.

It's every single day. Like you can see him in the off season. Everything is built off of, hey, when am I going to train? Who's going to do my massage? Who's going to do this? He is so dialed in that well, and he's been doing it his whole career. And a lot of guys do it when they're later trying to add a couple years left in their career. For me, I was like, a guy that big, that strong, that physical, to really only miss a handful of games with a broke foot, that speaks highly of how much he cares.

And a lot of guys, once they get paid, they kind of relax a little bit. I feel like he's been out to try to prove it the whole time. How excited were you when he finally got that opportunity to go to Baltimore? because it gave him that that set a new standard for Baltimore just to potentially go win a Super Bowl. Absolutely. That's what you're sitting there wanting,

and we're talking through it, and you want to see his career, just keep climbing. And we're definitely Ravens fans at our house. We watch him every Sunday. He's on my fantasy team. Like, he is my guy. And he's in the perfect scenario.

You got Lamar Jackson met there. So if you want to dial in on him, good luck. You got to stop Lamar too. Let me ask you about spitting. because this past weekend we saw it a couple times. Yeah, we did. Like change games, the trajectory of games.

Because I don't think the Cowboys would have been able to run as much of the middle had that not happened after the kickoff, right? And then secondly, we saw in the Florida game. Like that lost them in the game. I feel like offensive and defensive linemen are probably spitting a little more just naturally. Is that the ultimate insult that somebody spits on you? Absolutely. That are a slap. We saw that too, though

With Kelsey Slap, but I'd say a spit is just so disrespectful Yeah Some spitting's gonna happen just naturally, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's an obvious Hunk tour. Yeah, that's

It's kind of gross, but... But more than gross, it's like you're... It's disrespectful. You were disrespecting me too much face. Yeah, that's pretty bad. Yeah, I give you that. That's pretty bad. I'd been thrown out the game with him if he spit on me.

Does that happen that we don't see offensive and defensive line because again the proximity is so close. What we were able to see with that was there was a good amount of distance. That was a strong spit. The camera's on them. It's him going up to all the Cowboys players spitting on deck. Is that happening, though, a little more with the interior offensive defensive lines and we just don't see it?

I think it's more of a respect. Like I blocked, say, Avery Jones at the Jaguars for 22 times over 11 years from, and I knew it's, I played with him at Georgia. knew his family, like his whole goal was to get a sack on me. We fought every single play like we hated each other. But soon as a game overhugging, talking about his family, you got to have some respect. This game, you got to play in between the whistles you play as hard as you can. But it comes down to, hey, are you a good person?

You got to respect others because you're setting an example for not on your family, your kids. Like, you are a rollout. Everybody is watching. What do you want to be, what do you want to put on tape? Like, yes, if you're a hard player, that's great. But don't be disrespectful. But who didn't you respect? Because you know that there's players.

Like, you've got respect for most players. At least you're giving them the benefit of the doubt. Yeah. But there's those dudes. Oh, yeah. Like, man, he's a day. I'm saying, yes, sir, to some people, yeah. Like, when you play, say, Sue, you don't wake up the sleeping giant.

Like, hey, if it's, you're playing a noon game. Like, hey, you're playing against Tennessee. And a lot of guys probably ain't watching Sue. Like, you're not doing anything extra. Hey, you good, man. You get up off the ground. Like, hey, you good there? You good?

You're not trying to wake that giant up. up during the game. Do you remember when he cold cocked DeMarco? He punched DeMarco in the face in the game and they didn't catch it on TV. I'm sitting right there and just released the ball. You saw it too. I'm like, DeMarco, I got to block you. Stop. Leave him alone. It's almost like you don't want to get Hulk Hogan mad because when he starts shaking his head. Oh yeah, you don't want that. And when he doesn't feel the slaps anymore, that sounds a bit like what Sue might have been like. Yeah, you don't wake that giant up. Yeah, he's nice, the certain guys on the thing. But then you know who to talk to. Like you get a Dean Laman who's a rookie in there trying hard.

I'm like, who are you? Yeah. You on Peace Squad? Congratulations. I'm glad you made it up today. So you know how to poke the bear on some of them. Aaron Donald. What was he like going against?

He's one of those guys you're like, it's not the fact that he's going to run you over. You just couldn't touch him. Like you'd go and punch and you'd be like, where to go? Like how did he possibly get in between both of us? Like he was like Houdini out there. I'm like, it's no way he's on. fit in between this little crack. He would find a way, and he was

the most dynamic physical freak that you ever play. And he could go every play and talk smack with the best of them. Like, he let you know, and you're like, I know, I know you're good. We're going to try to double team you and slide to you every time. We're going to slide the protection to you every play. And you knew, like, I'm like,

thank goodness I wasn't the worst old alignment at that point in my career, because he didn't come to me. I'd get some like, some little noseguard who had no business being on the film. I'm like, yes, I'm blocking you. You can deal with Aaron today. I don't have to block you. Good luck. The physicality of your position, a lot of people don't appreciate the offense alignment

because they're usually not the focal point of what's going on, but you guys constantly play through pain. How many surgeries have you had? And talk about the one your collarbone. Yeah, your collarbones coming out your chest. Yeah, that was fun. Yeah, I've had

multiple hands, knees, ankles. They took out my labrum, did everything to my elbows. Collarbone, it still, it gives me a little trouble. I'm a golf swing, definitely. I get it caught in a twist, and collarbone comes through, sticking in the back of my throat. All the fans and reporters think I have the stomach virus, because that bone is sticking the back of my throat, tickling it, making me throw up. No way.

Yes. Listen to the story. So they had a, I come to the sideline. It was on third down, thank goodness I didn't have to come out. I come to the sideline. I'm like, hey, my collarbone's out, and they're like, what do you mean this out? I'm like, it's poking through. they're like, oh yeah, it's in the back of your throat.

Let's get this back in. So I'm like trying to put it back in place on the sideline, and they throw it back in. They're like, all right, can you snap? So every time I would snap, it would pop out and hit me in the back of the throat. So I'm like constantly throwing up because. It's a gaggery slacks, right? Yeah, 100% you stick your finger down your throat.

You're going to throw it. Imagine a bone hitting the back of your throat. It's going to make you throw up. So I'm like, my wife's in the stand, my mom's there that game. She's like, has been sick? Like, what's going on? I wish I was sick. I wish I had the stomach back.

Anything other than my clavicle hit. Yeah, like so, and I had that point, I had a streak of starts going on. So I'm like, I'm not coming out. So all the next week, a couple weeks of practice, I couldn't snap it. I just hand them to the football and go out there and practice. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to tough it out during the games. And it's going to just keep poking out, just figure it out during the games. Leisure.

You ever have a quarterback that's so nervous. You can feel his hands trembling under center. Oh, yeah. We had one of those. I'm trying to think he was like. Because I think that's what I would be doing. I think my first game would be like, oh, God. And I don't want to be to see it, but the thing in me that shows when I'm nervous, my hands.

We had a quarterback that. It was on P Squad, and I think he was going to get elevated. Like, I never took snaps with him in practice. And they're like, how was he? I'm like, besides him just give me a butt massage the whole practice. You kind of were excited by it. I'm like, oh, what is we got here? This is new.

This is a new territory that I've been down here. But, yeah, I could see. For a quarterbacking center, it's a different relationship. Like, how many guys walk up and just, hey, let's put your hands right up on somebody's butt. Let's get intimate now. Yeah, so I feel like some quarterback's taking a little different other. So I always try to lighten the mood. No telling what I would say or do to them.

But it always made it the relationship better as the years went on. You two played, right? We played it. We played a good moment. Too many good moments. The thing that I remember most also is the locker room and the banter that Ben would create. So he's legendary. If it's your birthday, he knows it's your birthday.

So what he does is he comes up and he'll go to great land. to smash you in the face with a birthday cake. Well, it happened to be... Or anything. Anything, basically. So you could go through countless guys in the locker room, and they all have been smashed by Ben Jones. Two of my favorite.

Well, one was me. I was walking in. I didn't know my wife, of course. Text message, some of my buddies, like, hey, it's Matt's birthday. Make sure you celebrate. They distract me when I come in. Next thing I know, I get just massed in the face.

And I'm telling you, I thought I broke my nose. My eyes are watering, and none of the cake actually sat on my face because, dummy here, it was a frozen cake. I thought I got out of the refrigerator section. You had it out of the ice cake? No, it was a refra. It was one of those refrigerators. That's a old-scale public cake. It's like hit me in the damn face with a brick.

So I thought I broke my damn nose. My eyes are watered. I'm like, what the hell? And he filmed it. And then the other one, tell them about Arthur Smith. So me and Arthur Smith, we had, we went at it. like OC, like, he's like, you can't get me. I went links and bounds to get him.

I got him at a law office one year on his birthday because he was like on a holiday. I snuck into his own house when he was the Atlanta Falcons coach. I figured out when he was getting back into town, I had drone footage on different maps. I'm like, all right, that's cameras there. I staked it out the night before to see if he had motion lights at his house. I'm like, all right, he's FedEx. He's going to have some kind of security that's going to set off something. I army crawled through the trees, through his house.

He had a broken sprinkler head, which he should have thanked me. I helped him out there. I fixed the sprinkler head for him. Got in there, looked in there, doggy door in his house. His wife's like, what are you? So he's sitting on the couch. It's like 11.30 at night. I come running full Superman over the couch.

And boom, hit him right in the face on his own couch. He was like, how did you know I was even in towns? Like, I'm everywhere. Nobody is safe. Nobody is safe. Nobody. Bobby, once your birthday? Yeah, no, I don't have one.

That's the thing. I no longer have a birthday. Was it always Georgia for you? Were you always going to go to Georgia? So that was a big thing. My dad went to Georgia. Once he passed, I was like, if I could ever go to Georgia, it was a 100% lot for me. How many stars were you? Three star. So I was literally, I had no film, nothing, my senior year. I literally, whatever school I went and took a visit to, they offered me. So I was like, I really want to go play at Georgia. So I went to Georgia camp. And literally, they didn't know who I was.

I lined up and went 20 straight reps and won. And at that point, I didn't even know who the coaches were. And they were like, you can do another. I was like, how many damn times you want me to go? Like, you got, I've already beat these guys three. There's no 20 play drive. I was like, I've already beat all these guys three times. They're like, all right, all right, we'll take him.

We'll take him. Then the next week I went to Alabama and kind of the same thing happened. And that was the thing. Like, I was like, all right, I got the two schools I wanted. I'm done. They were like, hold on, keep it alive for your recruiting stuff. I'm like, George are off of me. I'm going there and I'm going to be there in six months.

Yeah. So 20, 2010, 2009. When did you go to Georgia? I went there, oh, wait. So I was there with Staff. You were there with Staff. Marino? Yeah.

Stafford. Was Rick's your coach? Yep, Marriott was coach. Were you there all your years with Rick? Was, did you ever play with, who did you, it was on the defense side of the ball? Gino Atkins, Rashad Jones. Gina was a stud. Justin.

Yeah, you guys had some dudes, huh? Yeah, we were loaded. Did you love college? I actually had a blast. It was the best four years in my life. And you lived in a house, too, with, like, how many. any dudes. It was five of us. Five guys. Were they all on the football team?

All football. Walk-on's everything. We had... I can only imagine that place. Oh, the Mount of Dairs, and they always said, I would say, who won't? I remember trying to do the Super Troopers, like, chug the bottle of syrup at like two in the morning. That is 100% fake by Super Troop. They had to be Coco. It's no way you can chug a bottle of syrup. No, but you would try. I tried. I tried. I tried. I tried it. Yeah. There's no chance. I ate preying manis. I ate bugs. I ate

night crawlers. That's this. Country-ass bumpkin in you. So my rookie year, here you go, Cass. So they would pay the most outrageous

amount of money for anything you would do. You're saying the rookie year in the league? Yes. Oh, yes. I'm like,

I was dirt broke. I'm like, cheap as I can get. I'm like, you're going to pay me 10 grand to eat that? Like, drink my piss?

Absolutely. There you go. They're like, hydrated in the fourth round, right? They had a little money. Yeah, but if you're going to pay me that,

I would have money. Like, if somebody offers you you $10,000 I'm like, oh, you want me to drink hot tub water? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. You want me to eat a cockroach and let it run around my mouth?

Yeah, sure. I live my whole rookie year off of cash. My financial advisor was like, hey, did you lose your credit card or debit card? I'm like, no, sir. He's like, you haven't spent money. I was like, oh, I've got cash. Yeah, I got a side gig. I'm not going to be broke, guys.

I'm going to, I'm going to make this money last. I'm like, I'm not going back to that farm in Alabama. I'm going to make this NFL money last a long time. Did you do well with saving your money? I put it away, put it. put it away and now I get to spend a little bit I guess then you got married and then it's going out and I have Amazon at my house every day 100% yeah so when did you know it was over for you playing yeah uh I think when I had three concussions in one year and you have to come home and make that

you look at your wife and kids and like hey I could probably keep doing this then I sat down with a variable in his office and he was like I can't be responsible if something happens on your on the field and I got to call your wife because he loves my daughter. My daughter was always in his office. And he was like, as your friend, like, I know you're going to keep playing until I have to drag you off this field. Like, I can't be responsible. He's like, you need to retire. I'm like, let me make that decision on my own and let me train and figure it out. But I respected him for that. And that was one of the thing. I'm like, hey, somebody else is telling me this. Should I really honestly be playing?

He played for such a long time. I was like, is he looking out for me at this point? I'm like, at the time, I'm like, I was just mad. I was like, no, I want to keep. keep playing. But when you think about it through those times, you're like, man, he's probably right. You were with variable, obviously, as your head coach, but you're also with him in Houston. So you guys had a long, long relationship. And what is it about him that makes him such a good football coach? I think you can relate to him. He cares about it. He's out there living it with you. He's out there at practice, doing every drill with you. He's coaching you through it. It's not just like, oh, it's coaches, players. He holds the coaches accountable in front of the players. The players

accountable. It's no question that you can't ask him. And he's the same to everybody. Like, he's going to treat me the same way as the other guy. And he's going to rip everybody. So nobody was safe in a meeting. Did he also love on you? Absolutely. He knew, that's what you give him credit, like having family at practice, having everybody there to support you. He knows when you're having hard times, like, say, when my granddad passed, he was like, hey, go get away from football. Like, go home, see your family. you can take off of OTA, like, don't worry about it. I'm like, no, I really want to be here.

He's like, hey, he meant a lot to go home and spend some time with your family. So he understood stuff like that. Or kid was in the hospital all night. He'd be like, Ben, you've been in the hospital for all night, hadn't slept. I'm like, hey, how about this? I do practice. Then I leave for meetings.

He's like, sure. If you want to be here, that's fine. I can't technically kick you out of the building, but he would try to give you breaks. And he understood that, hey, you have a family at home. And it's not always football. I know that you guys have stayed close too, and he's even called you and tried to get you come up, be his own line coach. What don't you think are some of his challenges now that he takes over the Patriots?

Yeah, I think it's to build that relationship with those guys because it takes time. Like, you got to trust him, you got to show them your method, and it takes winning to show it works. Because sometimes you're like, man, this guy's crazy, like this method, how can this work in a weekend and week out? But it takes a group of guys believing in something. And once you start winning, you're like, oh, this guy's crazy. This makes sense. Like, he is looking out for the best of us. He is all in for this.

So it just takes a little bit of trust and know he's got the best interest for you. What are you doing now to scratch the it? Yeah, I'm coaching some high school ball at Innsworth. What does that mean? Even though he goes to FRA with me. Yeah, yeah. I'm confused. So it's basically another school.

Your daughter goes to one and you're coaching another? Okay, fair enough. So the reason behind that through that year off, when I was, struggling, trying to figure out what's the next step. Tim Houssaback was the guy one that reached out to me is like, hey, I know what it feels like going through this. You're kind of feeling lost. I know you still want to play and stuff, but he's like, hey, how about you just come

out to spring practice and just hang out and see if this scratches the itch? So I literally went out to spring practice just to help for six practice. I'm like, oh, it was fun. Didn't think I was going to get into high school football, went off for the summer with the family at the beach. Then I came back. He's like, hey, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm back home.

Kids are in school. like, well, I could really love you in the booth to help out on Friday nights. So I'm like, sure, I'll come on Friday nights to help out. Then it turned into, hey, well, you want to help with some run game and give us some insight on that? Now I'm there every single day in the box, helping Matt with the run game. And it's just a cool dynamic. Him and his brother got to work with his father last year, he passed away this year,

and he was like a rock for me. Like, he'd been through it. He knew you've seen a guy who lives a certain way, raised his sons, he's. He's out there with his grandkids, and it really opened my eyes up to what a family looks like and how to do it together and do it the right way. And you're also now covering, you're on the radio now, buddy, your radio personality. Welcome to the wild side. Yeah, no, I feel like when I played, I stayed as far as possible from the media.

Of course. Because all I cared about was winning, and I hated the media. I'm like, all that could be is negative. Like, nothing good could come from this. Like, all I care about is winning. I don't care about it. What anybody else thinks about me? all the people I care about was right here in this room.

Probably would have helped a little bit if I'd have been, they just saw this side of me and got to see how much I actually enjoyed playing the game and how much I cared about my teammates, but I didn't care what they thought. Do you find it difficult to criticize at times? Now that a lot of people are gone, it makes a lot easier.

Yeah. Yeah, you still have that passion because you don't know what's going on in that building. Like, yes, I'm quicker to say, like, hey, hold somebody accountable up top. Like, hey, I know Cush. Cushingberry of their center, like, know him as a good dude. Like, I know Jeff on the other side.

I know Luke Stocker, their tied-in coach. Like, no, I'm not going to talk bad about those guys. I know how hard they work, but it comes down to it. Like, you got to win games, especially at the Titans. Like, you got to, something's got to change. Like, you can't do the same thing over and over and expect something different. But I hope they get on track. I think they got a young quarterback there that's going to turn it around.

He looked dynamic. I think he's special. Yeah. I think he's going to be special for him. Ben, we really appreciate it coming by me. This has been awesome. I enjoyed it. All right, Ben Jones.

Thank you, Ben, Ben Jones. Great appearance. The man. All right, thanks to Ben for coming in. You know, I was going to read a social media. He doesn't have one. He doesn't have one? No, I couldn't find anything.

I was going to ask Castle the same. He's definitely on social media. Maybe he's got a burner account or something like that because I see him scrolling on that stuff. You never change your name. I'm working on it. You don't have to. No, I need to.

M underscore Castle. 16. Like, people don't even know it's you. Like, if I tag you publicly, they're just like, I don't know who M. Casol is. Or if it was like... Well, that's what most people think

unless they know you. Yeah, that's true. So what were some of the tags that I need to do? Don't remember. It's just my advice to you as somebody who lives in this space is have a social media handle a name that most people will know it's you

whenever they see it. No one knows M underscore Castle is you. Okay. Is it 16? Does you have a 16 or 16? Yeah, 16. I don't know. So if I change.

You don't lose any followers. Don't lose any followers. I don't have to get a new blue check mark. I would have your person do it, though, because you'll end up killing your whole site. Somehow you'll get scammed. It'll all be a disaster. Oh, if I try to do it. There's no doubt about that.

I have no idea what I'm doing on those things. Definitely have them do it. Yeah. But this is the last time I'll recommend it because I think you're really good at what you do. And I think that is an element that is being underserved. thank you. You're looking out for me. I'm taking this seriously. I am, even though I'm smiling at you because you're making fun of my stage name. But I do need to. No, it's not a stage name. I don't even know what it is. It's a handle. Whatever the hell it is, guys. Come on. I didn't have social media until like three years. No, I know. And that's my thing. I think some people would love to follow you if they knew it was actually you. Like when I tag you and stuff, people are like, I don't know who his partner is M underscore Castle. But if they were like, oh, Matt Castle quarterback. That's it.

That would be cool. That makes more sense. Let me Matt Castle QB or something like that. Okay. It is available. Well, you better get it again before. You just do it real quick here. Well, I don't know if that.

Oh, no, no, no, that is. Have your guy do it. And then before this post. Oh, dang. Oh, yeah, there is charges right now. $6,000 for it. So much. That's M. Casal 16.

That's kickoff Kevin. That's Brandon Ray on Bobby Bones. Thanks again to them for coming by. We've had lots to say. Goodbye, everybody. Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcasts. For more podcasts from IHartRadio,

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