Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkis told me to always make it easy for the customer. That's you alive person will always be here to answer the phone. We're here till midnight, seven days a week, so you never have to take off work, and it's the same prices in the daytime. We're the ones you want to call. We're the ones you want to call. We're the ones you want to call. You're gonna love these people. I guarantee. See gotta Morrish Jenkins dot com.
It's time for a Happy Half Hour with your friends Kristen Balboni, Miles Simmons and Will Brian. That's right, it's that time of the week. It's the Happy Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins, Kristen and Will in the in the regular raid Oh area where we record and Miles in the Booth of Shame today. What's up, Miles? You know what? I really deserve to be in the Booth of Shame today? Not only uh did I you know weird Maclamore lyrics last week in reference Brick and Morty,
but I was definitely late. So that's what happens. You get put in the booth of shame. Now, it's okay. We've all been running around. Uh, that's what training camp is, That's what this time of year is, as we're gearing up and as wild as everyone's schedules are right now. Well, it's nice to have this business and to have football. We saw football on our TVs last night. We're all running around like crazy, gearing up for a season. So
it's nice to have some sense of normalcy. Yeah, it was nice just to actually come in the stadium today. You know, I actually have to hop off here before the show is going to be finished. But last night time, you know, oh sorry, yeah, big timing, you guys. You know if Myles was I'm just kidding. Um, I was working on something else and then I lost track of time, and that's why it's crazy. As Kristen said, Um, but last night, you know, we we had the Panthers practice
all access. I got to to watch it from home. Um, seeing it on on on the big screen, watching you know, some aerial shots of the stadium. It felt good to to watch the Panthers on TV. Again. Um, it was. It was really cool to kind of to see all of that from from the fans. Perspective and and and see the stadium lit up. You know, it's felt so so long. Um. But obviously you know, christ and you were a big part of that broadcast, Miles, you were
here last night. UM. What were the things that that you guys took away outside of the fact that it was really loud. Yeah, well that was one of the biggest things I I took away. So for anyone who didn't watch, I was on the sideline for the broadcast doing interviews with the players and coaches, and of course the the noise was a big thing, the fan noise
that they were pumping in. Um, which I want to get to, but I do just want to kind of walk everyone through the process of me getting to be on the field, because there's a lot of stuff about who can be around players and coaches, how far away have to be from them, etcetera, etcetera, And so they're these tiers and for the most part, Miles and I are not allowed to to be very close to the
players at all. You know, we're in a part of the building where they can't be, and so we have to you know, see them from a distance and cover them from a distance. So yesterday, for this broadcast, I was moved up into what's called Tier two, which means you can be closer to the players. You can be six ft away from them. You still have to be safe, but you can move within the same circles that the players are moving in. And it was just for a day because that Tier two space is very very small
per NFL rules. Tier one is the team Tier two or you know, it's a lot of people like GM, Marty Hernie or doctors. There's some communication staff to make sure that the players all get to their media obligations. So it was very small and I was very lucky to get to be a part of that for one night because that's the first time I've met a lot of the players and coaches in person um, so that
was great. As we go into the season, the NFL has released rules on sideline or orders that they will not be on the field for the season, will get to be in what's going to be called a moat, and I think that's the first row from what I understand. Yeah, so I'm gonna be the moat reporter, not sideline reporter,
but media. A certain amount of media will get to be in this first row, almost like an operational zone, which is still great, great access, great view, but that's probably the only time that I will be on the field at all this season, so it was a cool moment for me. And of course a lot of work went into making sure that it was done safely, and there was a lot of operational stuff, a lot of COVID testing, So I was very glad that it all worked out and that I was allowed to have that
access for that one night. Um. But yeah, the the noise was the big thing for me. I don't know will how it sounded on TV, and I would love to find that out, but they had it pumping in at the NFL prescribed decibel, I guess, and it is quite loud, um, which is good, you know, it's it's good.
It definitely adds to the vibe there, the energy there, but it is it was a learning curve trying to make sure that, you know, I wasn't yelling into my microphone, which I'm sure I was at a certain point, but then you have to be a certain amount distance away from the players and coaches and so they're like, I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I got that at least seven times last night. Which is I mean, it's all you know, everyone is doing their best, and it was fun and
everyone had a good time with it. So there's a lot that we learned about this, this whole other layer of making sure that you could do all the stuff. But honestly, even just the fact that we were able to do it and in the midst of everything going on in a safe manner was really cool. And I also want to say, and Miles, I would love to hear from you about this. And I don't know how it came across on TV. Well, I thought the energy in the stadium, it's weird to talk about energy when
there when there's no one there. But with the music going, as well said, with the lights going, the fake crowd noise, um, it didn't feel it didn't feel terrible. The energy was pretty high, if you can say that. Yeah, i'd agree.
I mean it was kind of it's I think weirder to hear that fake crowd noise when you're at the practice field, because when you're the stadium, sounds kind of like white noise at the practice field, right, But when you're at the stadium, it's kind of like, Okay, there's somebody shouting from like the five hundred section, and you can't really make out what it is that they're saying, but you think that there's somebody shouting up there, but
you intellectually know that there's nobody else in the stadium. But I think that just that feeling of, oh, yes, you hear some ambient noise, Yes, there are people around, it makes you think that there are people around even though there aren't. And so I think what you're saying about the energy is absolutely true. I mean I noticed players were dancing, they were really getting into it before
everything started. And Matt Rule has talked about this, The team that creates its own energy the best is probably going to be the one that wins games this year because you're probably not gonna have crowds in most places that you're playing. So if the Panthers can keep that same energy, as the kids say, throughout the course of the season, then that there might be in good shape.
I think that's such a good point about bringing your own juice, and we've heard that a lot from players in their press conferences, and as you said, Miles, Matt Rule, but really getting to see the players in that environment last night, they are so locked in and that's something
we all know. But I think sometimes we and the media can create these narratives of like, how's it going to affect the players if there are no fans there, things like that, where we say we can't imagine a world in which they can play at that same intensity, or they feed off the crowd, and certainly that that is the case in some instances, but they're so locked in. They are so locked in, and it really kind of speaks to their ability and professionalism that you have to
think that's how it is all the time. They block everything out. That's what they're good at to play the game at this extraordinary level. And I definitely got that sense last night. Now, do I think the energy would have been much better if fans were there? Absolutely? Of course, of course the players want the fans to be there
and help them out. But I was really impressed, like Miles said, of they brought their own energy, and we all have to think that they'll be able to do that all season if there are no fans allowed there. And honestly, until the you saw the drone shots with the actual empty seats, I couldn't tell. You really can't tell on TV that there's anything different until you see like there's literally no one there. I mean, I couldn't.
I couldn't tell that. It felt loud until Joe Brady came to talk to you and you could literally see him from the one angle, like leaning like I can't hear you, you know, and like from from the TV it sounded like because obviously you're talking to the mic. He's talking to the mic. Every everyone's mic sounds great. But then he's just like, I can't hear you, you know, like you could. I could just feel like the frustration
or just like the you know, through it. It was like, man, you know, I wish you could get because it looks from the angle it looks like you guys were closer than you actually were because of like the angled shot like over kind of the shoulder, it looked like you were right next to each other. And then they showed another shot. It's like, wow, you guys are really six
seven ft apart. You know the magic of television. It's incredible about to hit them angles, baby, if you think about it, you know, six ft is the height of an average or slightly taller than average guy. It's not that far are away. It's a good distance to do an interview from Um, if you have to have these guidelines, if it's quiet, it's just that I think it speaks more to how loud it was there than how far
apart we were. If they and they did a couple of times bring the crowd noise down the entire way, uh so that we could hear each other. So you know, it all works, um, But I I like the crowd noise, actually, I really do. I have to say, though, I did hear one. Like you said, it's kind of ambient noise. But we were in the practice field last week, Miles, and I just heard you know, you can't really hear
too much, you hear you know whatever. I heard this one woman go whoa yeah, just in the middle of it, and I was like, who ay, who recorded that? And b I should have been asked to do that, like hey, just give us a big woo yeah you know, or I'm sure you know, I'm sure it was taken from previous games. But I was like, she just you know, that was her time to shine and she did well.
I have one question for you guys, since the we got so unlucky by literally seconds that you know, we had to go to Marshal right before the field goal. So what happened at the end of the practice. I will be honest, I could not see it. Miles. Oh, we'll just let it live in mry now made the field goal. Yeah, yeah, he made the field goal at the end of the game or the end of the drill, the two minute drilling. So the offense one. Mr Jenkins told me. Mr Jenkis told me. Mr Jenkis told me
to always make it easy for the customer. That's you alive person will always be here to answer the phone. We're here till midnight, seven days a week, so you never have to take off work. And it's the same prices in the daytime. We're the ones you want to call. We're the ones you want to call. We're the ones you want to call. You're gonna love these people. I guarantee. See got a Morrish Jenkins dot com you hear something overheard. So we're about to hear from Will Greer, who spoke
this weekend um about what he learned last year. But you know, after we we talked last week about Teddy Bridgewater talking about to his backup quarterbacks about being ready and being honest about how he wasn't ready in that game where he had to come in in Los Angeles and you know, in the Saints lost, and then he was ready for the next five. Absolutely, that was the That was the biggest adjustment for me last year is just learning how to handle day in and day out
again me against me. That was something that I failed miserably at last year. Um, But I think that's where you make the biggest jumps of learning from your failures. And and and I failed last year at that. I mean straight up was bad at um at being a backup. And like I said, I learned a lot from it, and uh, you know, film I ready to go this year. I think it was so refreshing and so incredible to hear Will be so honest about what he was really
going through last year. Here's a guy that was an all star in you know, North Carolina high school football, you know, went and had a you know, a big career after transferring to West Virginia, and all of a sudden, he has to be the backup, the number three quarterback.
He's not even dressing on on Sundays, and all of a sudden he's thrust in there into a starting role at the end of the season, and you know, for him to be really honest about his preparation, about the way he went through it and now to be like,
that's not going to happen again, you know. And I think that that speaks vibes about who he is and what this team and this culture, and you know, the quarterbacks, Teddy Bridgewater, you know, the offense Coordina and Matt Rule, like all of them coming together of like, this is not just Will, this is everybody. Everyone has to be ready this year. And I think that was a really really nice honest take on on on growing and learning. Yeah. I appreciated how candid he was, and as you said,
well it started with Teddy last week. Um, just everyone just being honest about their own journey. And I really appreciated Will coming in and saying, yeah, I was not up to my own standard last year and I wasn't ready. But that's what I've been working on and it wasn't good enough. And here I am working every day. I worked all off season to be ready for that opportunity when, um,
when the time presents itself. I absolutely love that. The interesting thing I think about these quarterbacks right now is just how candid that they've been and well, you just mentioned it right. We heard from Teddy Bridgewater the same sort of thing last week, and now we hear the kind of thing from the backup quarterback and Will Greer. So I think it will be interesting to see how this thing progresses and how these guys are able to
function as quarterbacks. All Right, we gotta say goodbye to Will now he's off to a big meeting, leaving us here in our little podcast in the dust. It was nice to have you. Money happened at me. Nice to have you while we could. Our next SoundBite that we really liked this week is from Shack Thompson and Miles.
Jack gets asked a lot how he's gonna either step into the void created by the absence of Luke Kickley and Thomas Davis, or how he's going to try to assume that role or how he's gonna play without them there um and what that means for him. And I really loved his answer to the media this week. He said, look, I just gotta be me. I just gotta leave by example.
That's what Luke did. Luke wasn't a raw right guy, but when he needed to speak up, his presence was felt, and that's kind of how I followed in the same way behind him. But me and Luke had a little conversation. I'm like you, I'm not TD, I'm not Luke, I'm Shack. So he told him to go out there and be Shack, play like Shack. So that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna play like Shack. I think when players talk about authenticity, UM and being genuine, that is some of the most
important things that you can have with leadership. And so when Shaq is talking about the fact that he can't be those other players, he has to be himself, I think that speaks to a level of maturity that he has, because sometimes when people are leaders they just want to go out and imitate the people that they've seen before. But you have to be able to take what you've seen and know some things are gonna work that those other people used to do, and some things are just
not gonna work. Becau is I am not those people. So you have to be authentic and genuine to yourself in what it is that you're doing. And I really like that Shack has the maturity to know that. Yeah, And speaking of authenticity, UM, I just have to say this. So I got to talk to Teddy in person for the first time yesterday, and I think this is something that we all know and consents over the media zooms or our conversations with him, even though they're not in
person or seeing him out on the field. But boy, boy, is he a magnetic person and you get why he uh is the leader of this team, and so much of that is his authenticity. And we talked about that a little bit earlier in the episode with what he talked about with the quarterbacks and how that led to Will Greer being authentic this week, and we just talked about it with Shack and as you said, it's such
an important component of leadership. But in the excitement of last night and talking about everything going on with the fan fest and then getting to our favorite sound bites, I almost forgot. Yeah. I got to interview Teddy in person for the first time yesterday, and I just want say I get it. I absolutely get it. What is it? I mean, because I've not had the chance, unfortunately, as strange as it is to actually have a conversation with him in person, it's hard, it's hard to explain. It's
just the thing. It's he's got the it thing, and it's a very quiet, direct confidence. I would say, I think that that's it. There's a lot of confidence there. There's a lot of yeah, I did, what do I What can I say? It? He carries himself like a QB one right like that's and I think across the league, I've talked to former players about this. I've talked to current players about this. You know it when you see it, right, It's almost not to do this, but it's almost like
the Supreme Court standard for pornography. You know it when you see it. Yea. So it's one of those things where you can walk into a room and sometimes you can pick out if you know nothing about what the team is, you can pick out, oh, that guy's the leader. If you're walking around the Carolina Panthers, and we can see this even from a far at practice, you know that guy's a leader. They don't need to have numbers, they don't need to have jerseysm whatever. You know, the
quarterbacks wouldn't necessarily need to work green. You can just tell, yeah, that guy is a leader. And I think when you have that, that's the foundation that you can then build upon and it can come across in different ways, right, you can identify who the leader is and and one person might be over the top, and or when one person might be giving those big speeches. And I didn't get a lot of that from Teddy. But he listens to everything you have to say, answers questions by really
thinking about them. He's very direct and authentic, as as we said. And I just see that going. I mean I probably spent three minutes with him, but I can see how that gets the other guys to buy in. You know, he's a he's the most competitive UM. He's going to study the hardest. He was out there for what an hour and a half after the practice was over last night, So he's setting that example. He's reaching out. I mean, he took the time to listen to my
questions and really thoughtfully respond. So I just pictured that with all of those eyes that he was building the relationship with over text in the off season, you know, actually genuinely caring about his teammates, trying to make them better, trying to implement Joe Brady's concepts with those guys like Robbie Anderson when they were doing UM their own form of training down in Miami together. You just really see you really see the leadership come through in a in
a very small amount of time. I was like, oh, yeah, I I got it. I got it here right well, especially, I mean, look, if you can see it in that short amount of time, imagine what he's doing. He's spending that much time around That's my point. Um, I think it really came through. And so I was like, oh, I get why all of these players immediately flocked to him and and wanted to be a part of this
thing that that he's taking over. Now. Yeah, um, so talking about a fan fest and and everything we learned, we of course want to share undoubtedly the most important sound bite of the week with you, and that was at the beginning of the broadcast. I had Coach Rule on and I started to to ask him about this practice, and he said, you know, thank you for asking me that question, but I want to address the social unrest that's going on in our country right now and how
the Panthers are handling it as a team. And this is what he said. I think I have to take this opportunity to know. Today I had a chance to talk with some of the members of our team. Um, following the you know, the shoot, the Jacob Blake shooting, and and there's a lot of raw emotion and hurt and anger on our team. UM. You know, I think a lot of our guys wanted to make sure that you know, they wanted to stand with the NBA as the NBA has made the decision that you know what,
today is a day to step back and stop. Um in the end, and talking to our guys, I think they felt like, um, they want to do something impactful here moving forward and come together and and really do something that that that makes it change, because something has to change. And UM, you know, we we thought about all the kids in Charlotte, you know, some some of whom are going to school right now at the Virtual
School and looking forward to seeing these guys play. And our guys made it to see going to come out here and play. But I just want to say this for me as a as a white American male, to hear from some of our players about the numbness, the rage,
the perpetual anger, the fear. Um, I think all of us have to take a minute and and and and and think about what's going on in our country and and listen and um, I listened today, but it's time to take action as well, and so um, I'll choose to stand with our players as we move forward and do something really impactful. But tonight they felt like it was it was the best thing to come out here and practice and and show the Carolina Panthers fans what
they've been doing. They've been working really hard. So Miles, that was how he began our interview. And I didn't know it was coming, um, but I really really appreciated him starting things off with that because it is incredibly important. And I appreciated him sharing with everyone the conversations that were going on with the team because from from what I heard, it was it was a big, are emotional conversation that they had before coming out to practice. Yeah,
and that makes sense. I think where we are as a country right now is an inflection point. And I think we could have said that a couple of months ago, and I think we thought we were at that point a couple of months ago, but then things like this keep happening. And when I say this, I mean, um, police shooting a man seven times in the back, and so as a black American man myself, when you continue
to see these things happening. It's it's so disheartening, and it is so frustrating, and I think it's hard sometimes to concentrate um and tell your white head gave voice to that after practice and he said, you know, when he was asked, how hard is it to focus on practice today, I've got what we said in front of me. We don't necessarily have that audio because it was over a virtual press conference, but he said, it's extremely hard.
It is because a lot of us we have children, we have younger cousins, siblings, family members, and we know that it can easily be one of them at any point in time, it can easily be one of us. And constantly having every time on the news something like this happens. I'm showing my twelve year old, my six year old even done to my three year old, what
exactly is going on in this country? And I'm having to conduct and I'm excuse me, and I'm having to talk to them about how to conduct yourself when you encounter law enforcement. I think it's just downright wrong to have to have that conversation with your children because you feel like they're targeted when they go out into society
and in this country and in the world. So that's what the players have on their minds, and I think we all need to understand that at this point in time, it's hard for them to know what exactly is the right thing to do. And I think when you see the NBA players striking as they did, I've been starting with the Milwaukee Bucks, and you gotta give them a lot of credit because this is basically happening in their backyard. And then it extends to the rest of the games
yesterday and as of right now is recording this. We're not necessarily sure exactly what's going to happen with the rest of the NBA season. But I think what to your white said said that was really interesting. To your white head said that was interesting, is you know he doesn't necessarily know what it means what the players are going to do later. You know, they could they strike,
he said, he didn't want to say yes. He didn't want to say no. So we have to continue to think about what it is that the players are really trying to express, and that's the police brutality is wrong, social injustice is wrong, Racism is wrong, and there is no middle ground on this, and it's a it's a question of right and wrong, and I think we have
to be able to understand that. And UM, yeah, it's like I said, I don't want to make this about me, but on a personal note, it it's it's hard, it's frustrating,
and it's sad. And I think that when you see what happens to one person and then you see another person go out, a white seventeen year old go out and allegedly murder two people in the street and then get to drive all the way home to Illinois before that person gets rested the next day, that is Uh, it's frustrating, I think, to say the least, end it is disheartening, and it is it's hard. It's hard to deal with and it's hard to think about. UM yeah,
it's hard. I appreciate you sharing all of that, UM, because you're right. I can't. All I can do is listen. I can't understand. I can't put myself in in your shoes or anyone's shoes who who is black. I can't. All we can do is listen, UM. And I just want to know from you, have you been heartened by the dance that athletes have taken over the last few days or hearing tire talk the way he did yesterday. Yes, Um, I think it's great what these players are doing, both in the n b A and in the NFL and
Major League Baseball. They went on strike in some places, um. But I think at the same time, it's also why are we asking our athletes to do this? Because our elected officials won't do the things that we believe that they need to do in order to create a truly just society. And I don't think it's fair a lot of times that the players have to do what they
have to do, right. I I just don't think it's fair that players, I really feel like they have to go on strike in order to make in order to craft this message that what is going on is not okay. And I think that's a lot of pressure to put on athletes. And I think it's very commendable that they want to use their platform in order to shine the shine a light on social injustice and racism and systemic racism and all these things that are happening in our country.
But like I said, I don't think it's fair, and I think that we'll be better off once once are elected officials and those that aren't elected UM do what they need to do to create a more justiciety, and we're not relying on our athletes to say, you're not listening to us, You're not hearing us and what it is that we want, and so because of that, we are going to stop playing. I don't think that that's fair. I agree it's it's not UM, but I am glad that they are doing it so that we are having
those conversations. And Miles, I really appreciate you having this conversation here and and giving us a little insight into how you're feeling and how it is for you. And you know, I thought to your gave us a good insight into how he's feeling last night, and so I appreciate you doing that here with us today because again it's it's not fair that you have to UM, but
I appreciate it. And I think, unless you have any more final thoughts, I think that this is a I don't want to say a good place to leave it, because it's not good UM. But again, I just really appreciate you you being honest about what's going on, because it is a microcosm of what's going on in the sports world right now and what's going on in our country, so thank you so much,