The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Eagles Punter, Houston Native Braden Mann Talks Preparing For Super Bowl

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will face each other Sunday for a Super Bowl rematch in New Orleans. The two teams concluded the 2022 NFL season in a fight for the Vince Lombardi Trophy that saw the Chiefs edge out the Eagles 38-35. The Chiefs are looking to become the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl three consecutive years. Jalen Hurts provides a local connection as the Eagles quarterback was born in Houston and attended Channelview High School, but there is another Houstonian for the Eagles looking to earn his first Super Bowl victory. Braden Mann was a kicker and punter at Cy-Fair High School before playing for the Texas A&M Aggies. Mann was then drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft and then signed with the Eagles in 2023. Super Bowl LIX will take place at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, and after a snow playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams, Mann is excited to be punting with a roof over his head. "The prep doesn't change throughout the week," but "I love playing indoors," Mann said. The job of punter is not easy. They attempt to make up for the shortcomings of an offense but are only recognized for their mistakes. "If I'm on the field, something went wrong," Mann said. "It's fun to have that challenge." However, Mann hopes to take advantage of his opportunities to swing momentum and make a play in the upcoming Super Bowl.

All right, if you need a reason to root for the Philadelphia Eagles a little harder than the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, our next guest is going to be the reason why. He is a fighting Texas Aggie, Syfair Kid, and is the starting punter for the Philadelphia Eagles. Braden Man is with us here on the Matt Tomas Show of Ross. Braden, it's Matt and Ross. Thank you so much for joining us. How crazy is New Orleans right now? Hey, guys.

yeah, thanks for having me. It's already crazy, and we're still like six days, five days away from the game, so I can't imagine what's going to be like the rest of the week. All right, we're going to fanboy with you for a few minutes because you get to take us through parts of your world that we don't get to be a part of. First of all, what's the plane ride like you guys got into New Orleans a couple days ago? Is everybody kind of cerebral or is it as a party atmosphere already? No, it's definitely not a party atmosphere.

Some guys are a little more quiet or, like, get really, I don't know, into their music on the way there. Some guys play cards. So it's just kind of a relaxed environment. Definitely saving the party environment for hopefully the way back after the game on Sunday. Absolutely. Hey, let me ask you this. Is it okay if I call you the second greatest punter in A&M history?

Is that all right with you? That's an honor. Yeah, I know who you're talking about in front of me, and that is an honor to even be behind him. Did you, now you had a, I was talking to your dad yesterday. You have a soccer background, but you were just as much about football as you were anything else, correct? yeah definitely yeah but i played linebacker like my whole life so and uh i was looking at some of your highlights uh at a and m and then obviously a couple teams in the nflb what was it like settling in philadelphia and more importantly

tell me how awful it can be with that field when it's like 23 degrees there's sleet it's a frozen field i mean how how much longer does it take you to get prepared for that as compared to say a normal like a 70 degree day yeah it's definitely a little different i mean Growing up in Houston was, I didn't know how spoiled I was for the weather until I left and went to New York at first and then Philly. And ever since I settled down in Philly for the last couple years, it's been awesome. I've loved it there. It's been great. The weather is still not kind to us, and we had that snow game in the playoffs this year against the Rams.

So that was a bunch of fun. Hard to get used to, but it was really cool to be part of that games. So as a Philly resident, the fan base, do they, you know, like they love you when things are going well and they'll buy your meals and then they, they will make you, they'll charge you double when you lose. I mean, is it as passion as the city as we think it is? Oh, yeah, it is as passion as one can get in the fan base. I mean, I've been pretty used to that. Like, you know, the A&M fan base is passion just like it.

So it's been really cool. And they're so into the games. What makes the environment there are so cool? I mean, I played at Philly not playing for Philly before, and the environment was so cool just to be there. It's kind of like when you go play, you know, an SEC game somewhere else. It's just everyone's so into it. And the culture there with the fans and the team is really awesome.

Braden Manworth is here on the Matt Thomas Show of Ross as he's joining us from New Orleans. So you hear about the Eagles in the off season and you hear that Sequin Barclay is now a teammate. What was that like here in the news of that and obviously getting the home a little bit and more importantly the way he has dominated your team's offense this year? Yeah, he is truly incredible. He's been awesome since day one he's gotten here. I think he signed, or they agreed to terms the day after I agreed to terms to my deal, my new extension. So it was cool, a cool couple days, and I was like, I don't know how we got Sequant, but I don't know how the Giants of them come to us, but, you know, we'll take it.

And he's obviously just been an incredible weapon all year. And, you know, the offense kind of runs through him. And it's been cool to watch him have the historic season he's had. Do you and Jaylen Hertz talk much Houston at all, or is it just all about Philly life now that you're Eagles? No, yeah, we'll definitely talk about Houston a little bit. We grew up on kind of different side of the Houston, so a little bit different there, but we know quite a few of the same people and have played a few of the same teams. So he's probably two or three lockers down from me in the locker room in Philly.

So, you know, every now and then we'll talk about some Houston stuff. Or, you know, if we go down in Texas for a game, we'll talk about places to eat and stuff like that. How was the last couple days of media attention? Any strange questions thrown at you, anything like that? Oh, strange questions. Yeah, there was a bunch of things. bunch of just like fun questions i think i didn't get any of like the really weird ones no one's trying to get a uh a funny clip of the punner usually so i didn't get any of the crazy questions but

um yeah just a bunch of fun stuff i mean you know just some random ones like what's the best gatorade color and you know all all kinds of just weird funky stuff so what is the best getterate color i'm assuming it's got to be green right i don't think of that i actually was told the green one's really good i think it's the uh purple riptide rush but they said red now I'm like, I've never had reg. I'm allergic to it. I just didn't even know that red is even good at all. Wow, that's crazy. Braden Mann with us here on the Matt Thomas Show, Ross.

He's the punter for the Eagles and will be on the field. When you found out you're going to the Super Bowl, that's cool, but they have to do it indoors. How much is easy as your life, and that could be for any specialty member, but just tell me about the differences in your preparation when you have to worry about a 15 to 20 mile per hour swirling wind. Yeah, I mean, it's the preempts. doesn't change about the week really besides you know just knowing that i won't have to deal with the elements um it is it probably gives me a few hours but i extra sleep the night before for sure um i die i love playing indoors it's awesome i played at the uh um at the saint's place this year

for the first time and it's a really cool saying being so i'm pumped for it uh ross with you here in houston as well brayden in and it's funny can you just kind of give us a window into life as a punter to where if your name is in a headline tomorrow, that means you've done something very bad. Like, you can do your job perfectly 100 times in a row, but that one time there's something goes wrong, that's kind of when your name pops up. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of a funny job to have

because if I'm on the field, something went wrong, and that's a pretty funny way of looking at it. You know, if I'm coming on the field, the opposing fans are either cheering for me or, you know, our fans aren't too happy with the team. So, yeah, it's an interesting spot to be in for sure. but, you know, it's once going out there, it's not really about trying to not mess it up. It's just like, what can I do to, you know, hopefully make a big play and kind of swing the momentum a little bit?

If we're on fourth down and we can have a big play on punt team, that is kind of a swing of momentum. So it's fun to have that challenge for sure. And to keep like punts consistently, is there, what is the way that you do that? Is there like a song you sing to yourself or like a one, two, three, this? Like, what is there something that you do to try to kind of trick your mind into being consistent? I just I honestly just punt all the time and try to keep it a relaxed environment. I punt probably more than I would recommend to anybody else. I just can't like stop, you know, trying to, like you said, be consistent with it.

But I try to keep it a relaxed environment when I'm practicing and just, you know, yeah, I'll listen to a bunch of music and just have fun with it. And hopefully that transfers to the game so that when it's in the game, I'm hopefully in my mind in the same relaxed environment that I am in practice. Braden got two last questions for you. How often do you have the conversation with Nick Siriani about, dude, I can throw the football. Let's go. Give me a shot.

You know, I don't bring it up too much. I think he saw it. I threw one when I was with the Jets. So last year they let me throw one against the Cowboys, which was fun at their place. That was all week, he was like, we want to run this. And I was like, hey, you already know, if you give me the green light, I'll do it. So we had some fun with that one last year for sure. I don't know if I'm getting it in with the quarterbacks and really letting it lose,

but I'll, you know, just throw some balls around for some fun. Seriously, if you could throw a pass on a fake punt in the Super Bowl, you would be a legendary status. You understand this, correct? That would be sweet, yeah. I'm not going to count it. Hey, maybe. If you throw a pick six, you're doomed for the rest of your life.

So I just want to make sure there's both ends of the spectrum on that. Right, yeah, no doubt. You're either going to be a hero or a villain for sure. All right. So the last thing, how many tickets do you get? I know mom and dad are coming, which is cool. Is there a fight for extra tickets? How does it work with you and your teammates

that you guys are trying to get your family and friends and girls all in the stadium? Yes, I mean, some guys, I know one of the guys from the Chiefs, I think he bought 30 tickets for his family and friends. So that was why that's the most I've heard of people buying for it. I mean, I'm sure there's some guys that are just an extraordinary amount. But yeah, I got my parents, my wife, Kylie's coming, and then my sister and brother-in-law, and then my wife's parents too are coming. So it'll be them seven there.

It'll be a bunch of fun for them, and they're kind of coming up for a few days and hopefully enjoying the festivities. And when do you get to see them, and when do they, like, basically close down the operation? And I guess you guys will probably change hotels. It'll be like kind of a super secret message the last 24 hours. Yeah, I'll get to see them a couple days before. We have some events that families can come too with us. That'll be fun just to hang with them. And then, you know, like you said, 24-hour-to-four-ish is kind of when we all just go back to our normal rhythm of a game.

Hey, Brain, we'll let you run. Thank you so much for joining us. First of all, congratulations. We've got to Houston kids in the Super Bowl. You and, you know, I don't want Jalen getting all the Houston love. It's got to be you, too. So you're going to get some this week from us, for sure. I appreciate it.

Thank you. And again, I've gotten to know your folks a lot. Your dad since next to me at Rockets games and is a great friend on the stats crew. And so it's a great opportunity to see him how proud he is of you and your family. And your mom's been a volleyball coach for a long time. And I know her through my daughter's volleyball career. So it's kind of a little six degrees between us. And so we wish you and your entire family a great time in New Orleans.

Awesome. Thanks so much for having me on. I appreciate it. You got it. All right. So Braden Man joining us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. Thank you very much for Braden. joining us the starting punter for the Philadelphia Eagles.