Former Pro Bowl Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson Joins Shawne Merriman On The Lights Out Podcast

One of the best linebackers to play then came through there and had a long, great eleven year career. UH. Talking about the Quel Jackson man UM. We give some great stories because we both came in as freshman. He coming up from Florida. UM, he had an opportunity to go to a lot of schools as I did. But one of the things we get into he was he wasn't offered by Florida State. You know, you're talking about one of the best linebackers to come out of state

of Florida wasn't offered. UM. And then we talked about a little bit of of of our college UH college time at the University of Maryland and some some really funny stories and just all around great deal. One of the smartest linebackers I got a chance to play with in my in my lifetime of playing sports as I was leven years old. So here we go, Man, this was gonna be good. To quote Jackson, But what what's

going on? Man? Everything good? Yeah, every everything is good man, just uh, you know, trying to settle down with the pandemic and do the family thing. And we just got back for the holidays from skin and I called myself being a little snowboarder. Snowboarder now you see that snowboard back there. But yeah, things have been good, man, you know what. I've been very blessed and you know, making the best out of this pandemic situation. You know, it's crazy.

So I didn't snowboard. Um, I snowboard at one time when I was playing, you know, during during a career, and I always had this thing in the back of my head like to not snowboard because you can get hurt. So I had no idea you can get like a serious injury or none of that snowboarding until somebody told me. I just had my knee surgery and uh, I think it was. Oh wait, so in oh nine, I was out there and I had a brace on and somebody told me and said, yo, listen, you can you can

really get hurt a c LS stuff. Yeah, it's no joke. The first time, the first time I trying snowboard was about three years ago, and bro, it was an epic. I bruised my tailbone. I couldn't sit down for a month and a half. It was awful. But it's definitely something that you know, it's challenging, but once you figured out,

it's fun, man, very fun. Yeah. No, And so you said during the pandemic, right, so you're you're back at You're back at home in uh in d C. And you know, it's it's kind of I was just back there with the family to like probably about two but you know, two months I got to go back and see my grandmother. She was gonna with me if I came in town. Yeah. Yeah, So I came back there and I wanted to go and buy and see and

see locks and see everybody. But I think at the time they were, you know, kind of shut down to the school too. So for those of you guys that don't and I want to go take it all the way back. Man. We we came in to the University of Maryland and look, and I'm gonna throw it out there. I'm gonna say it. So our first day what happened was at the University of Maryland. We end up going there. Uh,

the quail was supposed to be my roommate. And the quail didn't want to roommate with me because he was like, he wasn't gonna get nothing done because I was. I was out. I was I was out. Yeah, and I was, you know, from from the city, and I grew up twenty minutes from the campus. So I'm off campus and I'm in d C clubs. I mean this. I mean that, I'm always moved around. So the quail told me, he was like, man, I gotta get up. So the quail, actually, I think, went to the coaches like, man, I'm not

staying in the road with him. I couldn't. I couldn't. There's no indictment on you. It was like, listen, let me let me lay it out for you. So here I am this, this, this, this, this quiet you know, competent only in football, type of kid from a small old town. Don't really, I'm very orderly, I do what everyone says I should do, and here I am lights out. This guy. The first time we had a chance to speak in front of the whole team as freshman, he

tells everybody he's gonna be a top fifteen pick. I'm like, who is this man? Who is this guy? And behold it was the truth. But back to that point, well, here was the thing. I was like, man, you what you had is what I wanted. I was like, man, this guy had confidence, he he was he knew what he wanted. He would tell the coaches what he would and would not do. You knew your ability before they even had a clue. So but I knew I couldn't

get anything done. If I was gonna be roommates, I was gonna do exactly what you were doing because I wanted to be the cool kid man. I wanted to follow everything you wanted to do. And I knew I just that wasn't my land. That wasn't my land at the time. But no indictment on you that that was a smart decision that you made. You're the things in my life that I was like, you can either go to this way or the right way. And that was

one of them. That was one of them. You may got hunting grand but I was like, I couldn't do that. And you know what because you know from from the city, right, I grew up twenty minutes from the campus, so I'm used to the fast pace. I was already in you know, d C. And I was you know, so I was kind of so now that was that was good man. But yeah, for me, that pace was I was homesick. That was I was not used to the pick. That's what loud for me to go to uh University of

Maryland because it was a different pace. It was you know, everything was moving a hundred miles an hour, and if you can survive in this area, man, you can manage anywhere else close to New York. What have you? And you had it all. You were grown man before a lot of us. Man, you were on a different level. So you know, it's crazy because you were one of

the best best players coming out of Florida. And I remember, and I don't know if it was during that Florida State game that we played, what they talked about your story and that in Florida State not offering you so at the time, right, because you know, normally your best players aren't supposed to leave to state. So I took a lot of flak for that because where I grew up, well, let me go back a little bit my high school.

If you graduated high school, um, from the particular high school that I graduated from, you were either going to the University of Florida or Florida State. And so for me playing football, that was like the pinnacle to say, hey man, Florida State offered me, and I'm going there to play football, so that in my mind I was only good enough Florida State offered me. And when they didn't offer me, and you know, Maryland was there, and c State was there, LSU was there, I trust me.

I had enough places to go to to to play ball to feel confia. In my mind, Florida State was the was the pinnacle. But when I left, when I decided to go to Maryland, first of all, I want the football school. It was on the hills, as you know of the Orange Bowl Freegan's first year. UM, so I wanted to go to a place where it was up and so I canna be part of that legacy. I just didn't want to be a fly on the wall sort of same, but uh yeah, man, it was.

It was definitely one of those you know, you mark the calendar type games because they looked over me and I always took, always kept that with me, whether I played Florida State or Nolan, Illinois or what happened and

and that's and so to that. So you you walk in and I'll never forget, you know, our freshman orientation that we had, and we were stacked like they you know it was we were had, We had so much, We had so many guys to come in and they already I mean they went to the Orange Ball, they got they got blown out by I think with Florida

right the year before. But people don't understand and when't when I talk about Maryland now and our defense and the people that played there, that we we had probably top five or top ten defense in the nation, but we was never talked about like that. And so you know, I go down the lines of all the guys that we played with, uh that end up going pro and you got you know, you me, Dominique Foxworth, Brandy Starks, kershaw E, j yep E, j Henderson, Joe played Uh yeah,

we had Josh Wilson. Yeah, Josh Wilson, there's a long list of guys and uh that defensive we would have first, we would have cream of the crop. Like you knew that right, Like we would have first um um the first way. The next recruiting class after they had that success, so they got like the best of the best and we started the winning tradition in Maryland. Again, I don't take anything away from the guys that were there before, but freed and found a way to to to maximize

those guys potential. But we would have first, you know, recruiting class to put Maryland on the map. And like you mentioned, there was a ton of guys not only to play in the league, but have careers in the league. Listen, you would when when when you had to hi of your career, you were up in m d P m VP of the league and you had him a school with Maryland which the last two years only won five games.

Yet we have seven, eight nine guys go off and play and have a career in the National Football League. So I always say, listen, we had a quarterback situation that was much better. We would compete with the best of the best, no doubt about it. And it's and it's funny. So I end up. You know, I ended up. We came together, but I left earlier, Like I knew you said before, Like I knew that I wasn't gonna

be there long. I just had this thing and and I was probably a little cocky, little ass, you know, back then, but it was more like um to me. And I look at it now and it was it was like manifesting that that's what I was gonna be. I had that in my head. But I'll never forget. I came up the first card that I bought. Remember that when I came back to campus, and so I bought a G five hundred. Yes, the G five hundred

I just got. I declared, I knew I was coming out of school, and I remember driving the G five hunted back up on campus and you and Will and everybody was dead man. And it was cool for me because I knew, I knew y'all were coming. I knew y'all were coming right after, and I was like, man, this is dope, man. Everybody out my boys I played with, and I'm driving back up on campus with a brand new five Hunter. Have no idea the impression you left on all of us. Man, when you told us you

was coming uh driving around. Man, just the like the fact that I didn't know anybody being from Florida small town to stand the other I didn't know anybody that I was close with that was doing it the right way and living like I wanted to live. You were that when you picked me up and let me sit in that pass to see I'm like, man, this dude made it. Man like you got it. But man, that was that was just a That was a good time. Man. That was that was when things were were pure and

and we worked hard. We worked hard at Maryland. We worked and most people, man, and that I tell people all the time. So the reason why I started off like I did the NFL is because you know, we practice this for us at Maryland. You know, because you have arning on offense. You know at tight end you had Stefon Hire your left tackles and running back Bruce Perry and then Josh Allen right after Josh. Right after that show, we are practice where C. J. Brooks offensive

line and all these guys. Our practices were to me were hard and sometimes in the games because we would clash, we would do full goal we were hitting, we were you know, just all the time. And so when I got to the NFL, I remember that our defensicordinator the way you phillips at the time way Phillips like, hey, by the way, go make a play. And I was like, hold on what because I remember I played in the system where everything you did had to be fitting in

the system, and our practices was hard as hell. When I got to the NFL, it was easy. Yeah, you know, I had that similar experience because on the physical standpoint, physical side of things, I was, I was groomed, and I was ready. It was the go make a players Like wait a minute, that coaching me not to play like a robot, Go make the play. You're paid now to go make a play. So that really I had to really retool my way of thinking and playing the game, which I wanted to do in college. But I really

didn't know how to tow that line. But somehow you figured it out. I remember, I remember, uh was it coach seems? I mean they would go they you would dry and crazy bro dumping out of gaps, going to make plays and ship. I love it because I played similar. I was like, if you go make a play that's gonna mess up the map. So now I can freeball it, I can get in on the on the play. You know, it's funny what you learned in a year or two in the league as opposed to being in college and

being coached a specific way. And once you realize you're getting paid for something, it's about production period, hard saying. And so so you you get drafted, um, you second in a second round and and you get drafted by Cleveland. So when you're sitting back watching them, now like Cleveland. And so when y'all there, I think it was oh

either oh six, oh seven. Y'all had had a pretty good year oh seven, And I always that was my biggest fear of man getting drafted by somebody that was gonna play well overall, because it's like, you can you can be out there killing me. I mean, you were leading leading the league in time. I was remember looking up and I was like, god, Dad, I was walking everybody, tell everybody in the locker room and said, yo, look at Quail, look at this. Crazy. So the numbers were off.

The charting is crazy, but because you know you're in Cleveland and it's not winning a lot of games, do you look at the Browns now the winning How how that team would have been if y'all got that same exposure.

You know what? Yeah? I do because later in my career, when I was released from the Browns after eight years, I go to the Colds and it was, you know, every time you walk around the building as banners of this, you know, conference championship, this Super Bowl doesn't rememorabilia that subconsciously have you thinking like, you know what I need to prepare to win here? That they only do one thing, they win here. So absolutely, and the success I had, I made the Pro Bowl the first year there, and

it was because of my play didn't change. It was we had more exposure. We were playing more meaningful games, and we were winning meaningful games. And you know how it goes if you're on a if you're a better player, a great player, a good player on a really good team, you don't get the notoriety. So I do think about that. And there was a lot of guys, you know, Joe Hayden,

t J. War you know, uh, just a slew guy. Yeah, who was the beast in your opinion that people were not like Sean Rogers, Sean Roy, John Rogers, the d tackle. The most athletic guy I've ever been around. I played, I hoot with him one day. This guy was three hundred thirty pounds, could do a three sixty wind mill dunk. You know what I'm saying that he was freakish. He played maybe fourteen fifteen years, but he went from Detroit

to clean up. And he's one of the those guys that if he was with New England or one of these winning teams, he would have been a household name, if not shooing Hall of Famer. So you know, you play that game here and there. But you know, Cleveland, I love what they're doing now. I think they figured out what Baker Mayfield, what his what his strength saw. Uh. They run the football, they set up the pass through

running the football. They played great defense, and you know what, they got a bunch of first round draft picks, a bunch of young guys who were just scratching the surface and just learning how to win. What was what was the two differences between the organizations? Like you know, for me when I from leaving the Charges, and the difference was that we won a lot of games, right, and

so people came to the we were just hot. We had lt and Philip Rivers, so people came to the game to see stars, and we were kicking everybody's ask. But when I went to Buffalo, they wasn't you know, when I first got there, they wasn't winning. They were like oh and six, oh and seven. But you still had sixty five thousand or how many people at the

games and wanted twelve degrees outside and no shirts. They were still going crazy and in the city was like showing you crazy love, like you felt like a second or third cousin. In Buffalo, it was just a different atmosphere. What was it difference like when you left Cleveland and Cleveland hands down, no offense to the Coats fans, but

Cleveland hands down has the best fan base ever. There was no reason for that that fan base to be optimistic about the upcoming year because there was nothing looking forward to here. They hadn't made the playoffs in eighteen years. So what I can tell you about that experience every opening day, every eight games that we would play, it was sold out for probably the first two quarters. When they realized we were getting my ass kicked, they would start to boo and leave and all that. But they

always showed up. Man. They were they were passionate, hard working people and they deserve a winner. Now you go to the Coats, where it's a given that you're winning, right, It's like you're walking into a situation that's foreign. And this is the one thing. This is when I really really I was with a different organization. Choke with Gonald. That's my guy. He was my head coach at the time I played. I played for his brother John as a fan. That's my guy. He approaches me one week.

This is probably like the maybe fifth six weeks of the season I'm playing. Well. He was like, hey, this is what I want you to do. We were winning trackers at the time. They would track us how the distance that we would run and the velocity to be and all that good stuff. He was like, listen, on Wednesdays, I want you to take a day off. I was like what me being me, I don't know any better. I'm from Cleveland. I didn't get days. I'm like, no,

I bro. It took them three weeks for them to force me not to practice, and when I started doing that, they gave me two days off Wednesdays and Fridays with my days. Well, I'm sorry Wednesday and Wednesday and Fridays with my days off, and it was just like bro I was rolling and I understood the benefit of it.

So if I can compare to two they experience from a fan standpoint, Cleveland gets to not but in terms of overall, you know, um, you know, longevity on your career, definitely the Coats man and I love both experiences because I had a chance to play my first I know I'm running on, but it was my first to to playing the postseason. Uh, you know, we get to then FC Championship game, I end up sept Tom Brady, which

is the goal. So that so so that I want to talk about that, man, seriously, I wanted because that was a big deal that and you were part of that whole, that whole thing that that went down. Now it was it was crazy how it happened. I mean they won the game, Frances Square, Listen. You know when I intercepted that ball, I did not think in a million years it would it would just evolve intil this deflate gate scandal that what what was going on with

Brady deflating balls and this, that and the other. I had no idea. So did you what what did you did that feel? Because I wish make you know, I always try to bash the bash tom Brady of Bash Patriots because it's fun. It's fun for me. I'm not gonna lie. It's just fun for me. I love it. But what did you Could you feel a difference in the ball as soon as you touch it or try to throw it back to the ref. So what what happened? The only thing I remember is the plate. How it happened.

I knew in the red zone Grunt was a big target. He goes in motion. We had a cover set up to where if he's in my zone, I had the man turn with him. He runs the scene route and I knew tom Brady being the goal. If my back is turned to Grunt, that ball is coming. This is what's going through my head. I'm running with Grunt, my back is turned to you know, Tom Brady. He throws it. I turned around and I catch it. I catch it. I realized the intercepted. I'm on cloud nine. I handed

to the equipment guys. They write my my my initials d Q five two on it. That was it right? So what I had done? I set up a driver because we played like obviously, you know AFC Championship game is late. So I set up a driver once we got back to Indy because it was gonna be late if we want it was gonna be a party on the plane whatever whatever. I was trying to do the smart thing. So the driver picks me up. I use

them all year. So I'm sitting there, I'm I'm pissed and you know, we lost and just sad or whatever. And the guy mentioned he was like, hey, did you know, Like what what you're talking about? He's like, did you know? I was like, what are you talking about? Turns on the radio. I hear all the spill about you know, the ball was under deflated. This that I had no idea, bro. So this was above my pay grade. So the coats let me be the skategoat for all this talk about.

I was the one to to say the ball was underinflated, like you know as well as I do. I'm a linebacker. I don't touch the football like that. I don't know, I don't know. I wanted to put that ball. If you can see this fire pit over here, I wanted to put that ball on my mantel over here. Say I intercepted Tom Brady. But it just the story just kept running and running and running. And the one thing that I talked to Chuck about after the fact, I was like, listen, y'all put me, y'all let me. You know,

y'all didn't take take the fall. Ye take the fall for this one last thing I said about that. So one of my ages, younger guys around our age, he got married um in Boston. After that, I was the only client that was invited to the wedding. He didn't tell anyone of my name. I'm there, kind of you know, incognito. Uh. The the wife's um, his wife's uncles or whatever. Starts drinking. We started talking. They was like, you look familiar. I'm like, nah, nah,

I don't you know, I'm making up stuff. He was like, no, no, no, did you play for the Coats? They figured out who I was? Dude? Do you know I had to leave because they were they were threatening to jump me at the wedding. Bro no way leave, no way, Bright it was. It was no job. I couldn't go back to Boston, Bro, I could not go anywhere in Boston. And and that wedding, bro it was it became it became a situation I

had to leave. I had to leave, Brot. I know I feel you, but you know it's crazy with that. It's because of the story the way it was. And I never I thought about hitting you up and asking you about it. But I'm like, at the same time, you know, I wasn't in the media, you know, I wasn't trying to find out an inside inside school. So it was more like, I mean, I know everybody hitting them up, and it was it was I want to hit you up as a joke. Like you know, Tom

Brady's balls always always inflated, right, Like I wanted. I was like, Yo, how's tom Brady's balls? You know, I wanted to like play around, But I always thought that you were the one, like they took it to them and said, hey, this ball is inflated. No, so I learned through the years or what have you talking to, you know, equipment guys here and there. Apparently, and I had no idea before this story, bro Apparently, when it's cold, it's better too for the receivers to catch a ball.

If the ball is inflated, it feels like a brick. But when you deflated a bit, you can actually squeeze it and puncture it so you can grip it and throw it better and all like, I had no idea, and they let the coach let me kind of just hang out there on my own. They knew I could deal with it. When I got to the Pro Bowl. That's the only thing anyone wanted to talk about. Hey, listen, I was. I was. I had some cloud for about a couple of months there, and I enjoyed it. I played.

I had fun with it. You know, I have fun with it, no, no doubt about it. But one thing I've been trying to get get to is that football. I have not received that football. They collected it for the investigation. It's got my name and number on it,

and you know that ball is in the sphere somewhere. Man. Man, That's that's just kind of crazy to me, man, because um, for one, you know, and I always and I always say that too out and that's why I played against the best and I had my best games against Tom Brady, against Peyton Manning all these guys, because you want that memory of Hey, I did that to the best. So

surprised it. After all, have you tried to reach out to anybody and get the football or yeah, I had when it when it um probably the next year after man, I had my agents on it. I was looking at attorneys here in d C. That I was using every resource I could possibly use to try to find this ball. And what was given to me was the NFL has it. It was an investigation, that was it. No one said anything to me about how I can retrieve the ball.

But I tell you this, if that ball ever comes up, it's in permanent market d Q five two on it. So that's that's how you can verify because I guarantee you when Tom Brady goes in retirement, that ball is going to resurface. Somebody's gonna try to sell it and make a ton of money off of it. We'll see. To be honest, man, you know, I think that's something you should maybe reach out to Roger Godell or somebody

to get that ball. Because I the investigation over, they already made a decision and everything's already happened, and then old so and you know they got it a evidence five six. You know it's it's somewhere and evidence, So why why not you know, giving back to you. That's kind of crazy to me, you see the footballs I have back here, so I could all my interception turnover balls. I collected them over my eleven years. So you know,

I got a two year old son. Now when he comes into you know, the weight room, I got my ball scattered around. He gets to play with him, and one day we'll be able to have that conversation. I want to be able to tell him your dad was pretty good. He actually intercepted one of the greatest quarterbacks that ever play the game. So you know, we'll see that, we'll say that's and he always donna look at you like dad, right, so he's not looking at you know,

like the Quail Jackson, one of the best. You know, you always gonna be dad to him. And then by the time that he gets old enough to start playing ball, he's gonna be looking back and like they're gonna have some new streaming service something else, and they're gonna look at They're gonna look at us like we're all like we look at VHS, like how we look at VHS. Then they're gonna be looking at us. Yeah, man, yeah,

it's crazy. How times U a passing of buying. Man, the things that we enjoyed growing up, you know, as as an after thought. You know, my wife got on me, uh some months ago when I decided to buy a DVD player because you know, we got all that, you know, during the pandemic, we got all this time. I got all these boxes around here. So I'm going through boxes. I'm finding you know, Dave Chappelle, you know DVDs, the Dave Chappelle skids we used to watch in college. We

want to talk about that. But like all the little, you know, little DVDs and all, I was like, you know what, let me go ahead and buy you know, DVD player. And she thought I was crazy. And then two days later we lose power. Guess what we're doing watching that DVD player? You know what I mean? So I always, I always keep a DVD player because every time I moved to a new spot and the cable and everything that I sit up, yet that's the only thing I go back to. I got my Martins. I

got my Martin's DVD. So if if if the cable take a couple of days, get cut on, always for a day or two, I always go watching Martin. They're old school man, your old Can you understand what you know? Now that you know, everything is is internet base and you know that, which is good. We all we all subscribed to that. But sometimes you just need something that you know that's going to be consistently in work. Yeah, you know it was talking about you, talking about your

some man. But I was always tell people that the two smartest players that I played with is you and Steven. I played with Stephen Cooper out there in San Diego. You know, smart have you have you? Because yeah, you had to correct me. All. I had to listen out that because you know I wasn't listening to you know, you gotta get me, you gotta get me right. I was gonna go make a play. But have you have you have you thought about getting into coaching or or

doing something back in that in that field? Oh yeah, it's what I know. It's my comfort zone, man. And I'm a I'm a giver, I'm a helper. You know. It's funny. You know, I tried to reach out to i MG Academy today and it's a place that when I had my two pet tears, it was a place that basically I was at my lower. It's a lower and they built me back up man. And and if I can help another individual. I have thought about getting into coaching, um, whether it be mentorship or something in that.

In that regard that the problem is I like my time, I like my flexibility, and that's the that's the that's the sacrifice you gotta make at the pro level and at the collegiate level. We decided to go that route. You gotta move your family, you know, you gotta be fully committed. So I'm trying to finest that little scratch your mind, but also have my flexibility. So it's definitely not off the table by any mean. Yeah. I always thought, man, that you, at some point in time was gonna make

a great coach. And I'm I was surprised that locks And called, because you know you're back at the cribs. Is like, hey, man, you know I need you up here because I know what you'll be able to do for the rest of the players. Right, So lats and night we listen, we talked all the time, Man, and I told him I was blunt, I was straightforward. Well, I was like, listen, I don't want to travel, you know, so I wanna, you know, uh have a space where

let me come up like this year. If it wasn't a pandemic or you would have saw a lot of myself at Universe in Maryland. It's fifteen minutes from here, you know what I mean. So I wasn't asking for him to hire me to do that. I was like, give me an opportunity to be around a program. Let me show my work, Let me show how I can help guys, show guys how to how to watch film, how to be a pro and and have fun, you

know what I mean. And I think I couldn't finess, you know, being in this In this game, you need a lot of different characters. Then you figure out how to be a problem solver and and and all these good things. So I think that's a real asset of mind, and I can help young young men, especially because you and I we had that mentorship. That's someone that we respected, that was fresh out of the game. I would have listened to everything they had to say, and it wouldn't

only it only benefits the program. So it's definitely not off the table. Lotses is doing a heck of a job, you know, trying to recruit and build this program back. I would tell people all the time now, and we talked about it, and I think that people are starting to see it more because he's a head coach. There is his recruiting power. Oh, I'll argue with anybody in the country likes to me, Mike Lotsley is the is

the best recruiter, best recruiting in the country, in the country. Yeah, when when I was he was the first person to to to offer me a scholarship. When he offered me a scholarship, it was like a domino effect. Everybody else came along. And the difference I tell everyone, the difference between lots and every other recruiter that was dealing with me. Lock is a good judgment. He's a good reader of people, right,

and he read that I needed some attachment. You know, I needed to know if I go, if I leave my nest, say where I've never been on the plane before. I need to be comfortable with at least one person that I've been talking to throughout this recruiting process. And even when he left. You remember the first year we got there, he left and went to Florida. The year after I was ready to transfer and follow him, he talked. He talked me like, you know what, you made the decision,

stick with your decision and all work out. You're a heck of a player, and we've always been close ever since. Not everyone's doing that, man, yep, I was the same one because I was. I was behind my freshman year and my sophomore year behind Jamal Cockran, and I was like, not against them all. It's a perfect position for him and that Leo position. You five ten, five eleven, two hundred and sixty pounds and cocks strong. I said, that's the perfect ready for lights out. Merriman, man, you wouldn't

even You were a play maker. You were not going to play and be stagnant. You told everybody was gonna be a top ten, top fifteen pick of the draft, and this ship came true. You know what I looked. I looked back at that ship and I'm like, man, what, what the hell was my problem? I don't know what I was on, dog, I have to be honest. I was like, man, I don't even I don't at the time because it's it's one thing to have confidence in yourself. But I because I really did think that in my hand, Yeah,

I felt that way. But I look back on it, like, who the hell actually comes out their mouth and say it? You might think it but nobody saying. I'll get chills thinking about it. Because my rom my first week or two a camp I called my own, I'm like, um, you know he was so bi exciting. Hey man, how are you doing? You're killing ship? You're doing I'm like, nah,

I can't get off a block. This ship is hard, man, and somehow, Bro, for you to say what you did and have a bulls out on your chest and then stand up to it and then have instant respect and be a top what what what'd you going? Twelve in the draft and then your first two years you were behind a diesel strong you know, jamal cocked like that.

You can write a book about that, bro, I'm telling you you can write a book about it, because that ship doesn't happen unless you you you you're strong up here, bro, Like I don't listen. I don't know if I've ever told you, but that takes a strong individual to do that. People would have just shut it down. I appreciate it, man, But I tell people that was that was some good times. And you know it's funny. We all we all got

kids now and everybody's older. But you know, any time like we you know, came back to the to the crib, and I see you. We went out and we still talked to old big head will curse yalladline back, and we also played with and everything good man. I gotta get out there when his whole pandemic. Uh slow down, get out there and see y'all man, and then uh, well, you know we should do at some point maybe you know, and talk the locks that maybe on the off season

or have a summer camp up there. We're just working with guys man for like a whole week or a a few days and have a long So I'm completely down with that. That would be cool. And if you come back in town, Broke, I got enough space here at the house, will be stay at the crib, man. Like I said, I'm fifty twenty minutes away from the university. You don't you ain't got about no hotel. Man. You stay at the crib and you stay down in the in the basement. I got the pool table over here,

I got the drinks over here. I got the gym. I knew you like the gym. I got I got everything, man, My dude, my dude, Hey, I appreciate you coming on man, and all love over here. Dude, and I can't wait to see the fan absolutely hit me up with your town brother. I will man, I will appreciate you. Yeah. Thanks guys for tuning in to another podcast, another lights Out podcast with me Sean Merriman. And that was cool. Man. We we probably, honestly, and I'm not joking, we probably

could have talked another hour. Uh some great stories someone we kept off the air. Maybe maybe we'll maybe we'll come back on to really get into it. But it was just cool here for the first time about the whole um the fleet gate with uh with the Patriots. You know, he was the one that caught the interception and it was the ball that uh that he caught the interception interception if they found out that that was

the exact ball that was deflated. And also get my man to quote Jackson back his uh the football the investigations over in the NFL, You guys done everything he needed to do. Uh, he got he got his kid one day. You want to show his son that he caught an interception from from Tom Brady. So well, let's try to get the quote Jackson's ball. But anyway, thanks guys again, that was fun, man, It was it was good talking, um, you know, to an old teammate, but

more importantly a friend. Uh that we're still talking close to the day and talking about our times at the University of Maryland. So don't forget to subscribe. You guys really leaving some great reviews. I think we just went over uh you know, a few hundred thousand downloads, all thanks to you guys. Man, So I really appreciate that.

We'll keep it going. We'll come back next week, keep dropping some bombs on you guys, So thanks for your support and keep leaving those reviews and makes you downloaders