Mick Shots: Looking Back & Forth

studio at Ford Center. At the start in Frisco, Bill Jones, Everson Walls, and Mickey Spagnola in some an alarming site as I walked into the podcast studio, Mickey Spagnola, because there were no football players, no football equipment on the practice field here. What are we doing? Are we taking the week off? What's going on right there? There are so common It's like, is there the two and three Patriots? Don't need to practice? It was raining? Don't say that's bag,

Someone will take that out. Yeah it was what it was raining here this morning? Well, so do you think it might not rain in Foxborough? What was it? What happened the last time the Cowboys went to New England? I don't I don't think you want to mess up your practice trying to portray that rain. You can't fool them. Sun's out if you can believe the weather man, and it was supposed to in the weather women. And if you're gonna believe the weather, how you want to be

the weather person. It was supposed to keep raining during the days. So you can see you don't believe him, right, because now the sun's coach out, but it's supposed to and even tomorrow, so they may be indoors both days. Okay, in in the Ford Center, So we are practicing. They are proud that I can give you a good practice report. All right, care to hear it? Just let me know when you were. It was just about an hour and

a little over an hour ago. Or practice was open for the media to take a look inside Forward Center and we can get to that. And there's so much more to get to. We taped the Mike McCarthy show last night. I got some stuff from him to pass along as well. And I don't it's just a big week. When it's a Patriots, it's always a big week. I don't care what their record is. I do. I have to do another interview after the show. Bill let me know now so I can get my face on No no,

you're good. We're good. Good. Yeah, where the Everson Walls Victory Tour continues. Actually, Trey Von Diggs, Actually I saw what I saw what was in the background. It was the highlight film of Everson Walls interceptions, and I was thinking, during our show, instead of showing us, we'll just put that on the whole loop. Put it on a loop. Everyone that that's in the Hall of Fame that I

think doesn't deserve to be there. They usually had a show, right. Um, you know, I don't know if you want to compare if mix shots can't compare to those shows that they all, Yes, it does because they were like you know, ESPNS and all that kind of stuff. That's that's the whole key. Yeah, getting into the Hall of Fame, you gotta have some some Uh what do you How do you think Lynn Swan got in so quickly? Oh? How we long? Yeah? There you go. Yeah, I got a little bunch of them.

We can continue tomorrow. We're gonna have a list. Yeah I haven't now it's right here, right here, Walls list. You got to stay top of mine, all right. So you want to go inside practice and tell us what was going on? I will tell you. I think the most notable thing was it didn't look like Trayvon Diggs

was gonna practice. It looks like he's got a sprain left ankle so that they felt the retaped them during the game, the Giants game, and so at the beginning of practice he was working on the resistance chords and it didn't look like he was in practice because he was in tennis shoes, all right, and I didn't see a helmet around right. Um, we'll get that report here. And a wide receiver got were hurt were injured on

that particiar the same place, the same there. Yeah. And so as a matter of fact, when he was doing some of the resistance stuff while he was waiting his turn to get on the chords, he was doing his little side steps and at one point he took his left shoe off. So I'm guessing it's his left hand, just you know, just from experience of looking at the way you look at it, it's hard to he fell on the back of his ankle, but what was stretched

was the top of his ankle. Looked like that was, you know, really excited because he fell on the back of it, and it seemed like that's where the injury is probably on the on the top of it, so it looked like that he was not going to practice. But this is when McCarthy answered the question of the press conference. He just thought they would have to see a couple of guys what they go through, but he didn't think it was anything serious enough to keep them

out on Sunday. Uh, Zeke started off to practice the same way, but he was dressed and ready to go. So were not going to be doing this down Bishop thing to where he's going to be injured a few games. Yeah, that's right, Bill Street. Yeah, uh so so Zeke. But Zeke did it. Uh. And then they had two guys that have been on ir with designated to return and they started their three week period today, Sean McEwan and

Donovan Wilson. They were both out there doing uh uh individual drills during the special teams and fundamentals they did and then I think that was it for them. But at least they getting going. So that's so that's got a question on that. Yes, since the bye week count is one of those three weeks stump him. I don't know, because you don't have a full week of practice, so I would think it would not count. Yeah, because you're buying.

You're buying a fourth week here, you get practice, just get No, you got to give the guys four consecutive days off. So Thursday Thursday. See, you guys didn't have a good CBA. You know you did get enough time off. It wasn't enough of us, not loopy, you know, to where they say, okay, now we need to change. So generally what they'll could do is come in on Monday as normal after a game, have Tuesday off, do something

on Wednesday. And generally the way it's worked, at least when Jason was here, Wednesday was kind of a young guys practice. The guys that don't get to practice that much, they would get them out there and go through some practice players players, the practice squad guys can go out there also. Yeah, um, update on go ahead, Michael Gallop. What's going on with him and Gallimore? Uh? Gallimar continues to do rehab on the side. So like I said, you know, it's a z elbow. So he's running really well.

So I think those guys after after after the after the bye maybe after the bye man. Yeah, because Gallimore had to miss I think he had to did he have to miss six games. I can't remember if he was in that category. I don't think no, he because he was at training camp was Yeah, he wasn't a pup guy. That's right about Gallop. Gallop. I still think after the bye at the earliest Hill is the pup Tristan and the Hills the Trump guy, and he had to miss six six games, right for six weeks whatever.

I'm asking about Gallup because as we move on, you know, man trade deadline coming up. I wonder if no, no, thank you, thank you, because I do not want that to happen. In regards to the trade deadline. Here's the way I look at Michael Gallup. You're acquiring him in a trade, you know, because you haven't had him, and so about the trade deadline, you're getting him back, and so it's as if you just picked him up from another team. I mean, as a player, if I'm if

I'm him, I'm a little nervous, you know. I mean we're playing well, of course, but I'm not a part of it. I'm a little anxious. Yeah, I see Cedric Wilson getting off. Of course you al would have knew one more injury and then come talk to me. The Cowboys. If the Cowboys were one and four right now instead of four and one, and if I was Michael Gallup,

I'd be nervous, you know. And the other thing that stood out in practice when they were doing the offensive linemen were doing their little drills off on the side. I just wanted to ask Verson if he ever saw Ernie Stottner running a drill with a helmet on. No, never happened. I'm not sure that he played. He didn't. I didn't play in his Pro Football Hall of Fame

career with a helmon onze right, he probably he had leather. Well, dan Quinn was out there and doing the drill and he had a helmet on, by the way, and it wasn't like they were button heads or anything, but he was doing the uh oh, he had the pads in his hand and they're coming by knocking them down, and but he had the helmet on. That only happens with winning teams. Yeah, right, you do stuff like that. If you out there, you would like to say you wanted four.

And then the couch coaches out there with his helming on. Coach Hey man quis going them out. So that's the highlights of the practice that I think we got to see. Okay, very good. Um. You know the Mike McCarthy was talking last night in between taping the show that he breaks down this season into basically quadrants. Okay, where we're reaching

the end of the first quadrant here uh where? When you look at the Cowboys schedule because of the bye week next week, so you're you got six weeks, you got eighteen weeks basically, but you're I mean, I think

you're the last quadrant would be your playoffs. Oh so so you got the six Now he didn't say that, but I just read into it every five and the way the Cowboys schedule breaks down, the way he's got it marked off is Okay, we're ending the first quarter here at with this game because of the bye week, and then you're going through November, which is a five week and once as the way the Cowboys schedule lines up, you got Thanksgiving and then the following Thursday at New Orleans.

So that's a five game stretch, right, We're for your second quarter and then you're take it from there to the end of the season. Is your third quarter and then your fourth quarter. Yeah, the NFL just just trans transition into the dog days of winter. Yes, it is this season after Christmas, after Thanksgiving. Think about after Thanksgiving. We always had this stretch that we had to pay attention to. Now you got a couple of more weeks to deal with. That's the long days of winter. No kidding,

I mean it. I mean seriously, I've not had to schedule in front of me. I'm about to. But when you're looking at after Thanksgiving, this team has six games, three of which are in a row on the road. Uh huh. So after Thanksgiving you've got because the final regular season game this year is on January ninth, right, And so you're taking it all the way to then, and man and so I said, yeah, from a mental standpoint, I mean, that's only you have to break it up

just to otherwise it's too consuming. And as he said, he adds another quadrants. He said, he looks at it more from the physical standpoint for the team, and what he will do as they get into December, he'll shorten practice and make it feel like it's not as as burden as long as it is. Actually he's shortened today, Yeah, because they usually started eleven twenty or eleven forty, I guess, And they started it, and maybe that's also because he's the end of this first quadrant and you can, I mean,

I guess you can. Also you had the preseason Quadrant two, which last you know, from July twentieth until thoughts really played. That's right, but I mean you're engaged in stuff. So and speaking of having to play seventeen games, this is the seventeenth game this week, basically the extra that's right,

that's right in New England. Okay, yeah, that's the added game to It's what they did was they added a cross non conferency, a crossover game, and just where they sat in the standings last year, they did NFC East is twentying NFC East team in the Patriots, Yeah, playing AFC's teams, and the Patriots wound up in the same spot in the standings as the Cowboys did last year.

And then one other note on practice, So we now know that Leale Collins will miss the fifth game with the ruling that came down, but he has been eligible to be in the building and work on his conditioning. So he's been doing that I think a little bit last week and some and he'll continue this week and then he'll get the buy and a week of practice before the next game. So I hope he comes bag mad. He should he should be, He'll be four hundred and

thirty thousand dollars mad. Yeah, absolutely, because I think it comes back so angry. He just takes it out on the opposition. And by the way, and I know there's a lot of talk out there talk radio, well, why would they mess with the continuity on the offensive line? Just lets steal play because he's playing so well. And it's like, look, Lele Collins. The last time we saw him play a season, he had a Pro Bowl season, just didn't get voted into it, and he was on

the verge the next year. Unfortunately the next year got wiped out by the hip injury. And you saw off looking at what he did this year, right, So let's not minimize this guy's talent and saying, oh no, let's just go with steal because the Cowboys have done a very good job. Steel is improved in his in his run blocking, pass blocking. He's gotten helped. They've used those two tight ends and they're not always on his side.

They could be on the other side. But if they're on the other side, the defense has got a shift right, and so he doesn't have to worry about Blitzer's or you know, two guys coming at him. Let's not undersell Lele Collins and what he can do once he's on the field. I think he's been playing at a Pro

Bowl level once again until this thiscause. The way he was playing against Tampa, keeping that off, that defensive line out, allowing Dad to throw for five hundred jars or whatever he threw for that particul the game, no well, and when you look at the running run blocking, no one was really successful in that regard. So yeah, that's a wash as far as I'm concerned. But now he's been playing very well so and that ruling reminds me of

a saying Tech Shram had long time ago. I remember talking to him about a court case, right, and he said, you know, sometimes a judge should do what's right, not what's legal. And that's what happened in this game. He did what was legal. He didn't feel like the judge basically scolded the NFL from how they conducted this whole thing. But he said, because of the CBA and you agreed to have an arbitrator, I can't overrule the arbitrary, struck with the letter of the law, right, but from a league,

from a right and wrong. It was like, no, the NFL violated what they should have been doing in this case, but I can't overrule the arbitrator. So he'll miss his fifth game, get his game fine, and then be ready to come back nixt with the next game then against at Minnesota. And you know how I look at that gowboys just acquired Lyle Collins in the trash. I thought you were going to say, and there's another reason why I got out of loss. That too, that too, Texas, Texas.

Other thing was about court cases. They were talking about something going to court, and he was like, no, you want to get it settled, don't go to court. And it's like, well, why wouldn't you got to court? Go to court? And he goes, let me tell you. He goes, when they tell you that you're being tried or you're being judged by jury of your peers, he goes, they ain't your peers. That's good. Yeah, black folks know that we've been on that long time. All right, we're gonna

continue with more mix shots. And I got a mix shot for you too, Ready to go all right. I can't wait to hear this mix shot when we come back on me shots Honey, big news. Gary? Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only for new customers. So to get a new customer deal, I change my name to it Jackie Flash. Okay, But the best smartphone deals at AT and T are for everyone,

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spice up your next watch party. Bring Yokierro guacamole and be the game day hero. The Yokierro means I want and we know you want. Great fresh tasting, ready to serve guacamole for your home gating and tailgating events. Made with real avocados and the perfect blend of spices, it will be the star of any party. You can find us at your local Albertson's or tom Thumb in the Delhi section. If you can't find it, talk to your store manager and tell them Yokierro, Yokiero guacamole. It's game day.

You know what that means. First, kabob prep steak pepper Runnion steak pepper RUNI. Next, a counterclockwise lap around the road. Now the lucky grease stained jersey goes on, and lastly the dance you know the one. This is the game day ritual no matter where you are, whether you're traveling to the game or watching from your favorite vacation spot. FUCA plays to stay on hotels dot com and keep

the tradition alive and well. Hotels dot Com proud partner of the Della as Cowboys back back to mixed shots. Cowboy fans joined the NFL and supporting our nation's service members by wearing the latest Dallas Cowboys Salute to Service gear. Visit your Dallas Cowboys Pro shop or shot dot Dallas Cowboys dot Com. A fanatics experience to find the full assortment of salute to Service gear. That was a little flat there. I wasn't sure where I was. I wasn't

sure where that was going. A fanatic experience. It sounded like it might have been the first time you had read that. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he had no feelings. It shouldn't have had that. This common needs to come out. Oh there he goes. It's always into back. It's always the writers fitting back to the writers. Okay, it's time as we kick off this segment for the first mix

shot of this day. Yes, sold on. Did you know that Bill Belichick perfect had nineteen consecutive winning seasons until last year and he's second all time too, Tom Tom Landry with twenty And I also another note that Bill Belichick has won the most playoff games in NFL history with thirty one and in second place with twenty. There you go, Bill, Bill was going to open up his book to he was gonna double confirm. I. I was looking back at that seventy four season to make it sure.

The Cowboys were eight and six and seventy four that was the year, the one year in that twenty years the playoffs, but they had a winning season, that's right, absolutely, And I was part of eighty four. That was my first season. Yeah, that's why I didn't like it, was mickey. Yeah, all of a sudden, we look around. There's this little elf walking around bad looking. As a matter of fact, the game that decided it was at Miami. Remember Dolphins came from behind when To be honest, that game really

didn't decide it, right, we knew that the game started. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that just kind of they were just having I was standing we played as if we still had a chance. Yeah, I was standing in behind the end zone when Clayton was a Clayton that caught the touchdown. That's the second test down. He was to be a very good friend of mine. So I hear about this all the time, just seconded or second just like he hears even though he wasn't on the other side about your two interceptions.

And yeah he wasn't. Yes, that's correct, that's when they had just slow white wide receivers. But they still ran by me. So I as you see, Cephalo was no Jimmy. These accomplishments this year by certain people are bringing up historical markers for the Dallas Cowboys. There you go, that's just lets you know, we are a historical organization. So you look at the Patriots, what they have done over a two decade period, what the Cowboys did over a two decade period, I would say both of them are

pretty remarkable. Yeah, and the Cowboys was actually two and a half decades. Right. Well, I guess if you just look at twenty years from sixty five to eighty five, right, and guests who played for both of them, he's taken credits. Yes, that's hey, that's right, I'll take credit. That's correct. Okay. Similarities between coach Landry and coach Belichick, that's easy. Intellect, just straight up intellect. And with that intellect brought a lot of hard work on themselves. They didn't need anyone

to push them. I don't know who taught Tom Landry, you know his skills as a coach. Of course, he was a fighter pilot. I believe in the in the Air Force, but when it came to Belichick, his father was an amazing coach, so Bill was always there with him, so you just kind of knew where that was going. He was wasn't like he was some great player. I don't think he even tried to play sports, but he's always been around it, and I admired their command of all facets of the game. And that's why I'm always

talking about how that can help. I mean, that's just what I was taught by great coaches. There is no just offense defense. There is no just a quarterback versus you know, a defensive back. This entire team, whoever you play on. Any successful team I've been on, it's always been because we were strong at those three areas of the ball game. And that's why they have defense, offense,

and the kicking game because they all matter. You know. Um, It's interesting because you think of most coaches, most head coaches, they have either a background and eat on either the defensive side of the ball or the offensive side of the ball. Okay, he's an offensive coach. He's a defensive coach. And even though uh Landry was a defensive player or whatever, I mean, his innovation thirty seven career picks or something like that, by the way, and you can look up

his where going now. He had six picks six in a row in nineteen fifty. It was either fifty one or fifth consecutive game. It was the first six in a row. Pro Football Reference has games. If you'll look at his game his entire every day, Tom had six picks with the Giant. Hey, that's what I had with the Giant six six. It was either fifty one or fifty two, I think, man, And when you look at Tom's career, I mean, on a personal level, DBS, I think we were his least favorite position. You know. He

just never really showed us much love. He didn't really. I know he appreciate what we did, but it was never a point of a conversation. And when the conversation came up, he was shooting down. I guess he was just so afraid for us, you know. And when you look at one of the other things that he did, he invented the defense. Yeah, he invented the flex defense. Now, I don't know if you can attribute the Amba defense to Bill Belichick, but you can definitely attribute to flex

to Tom Langeman because that's straight up. He authored that entire defense for stopping the great Jim Brown. So I believe Tom was a player coach when he designed it because his uh he was. He was trying to help out the middle linebacker. Who was the middle Huff, Sam sam Huff. Yeah, Sam Huff was having problems with Jim Brown, and Tom said, don't well, I'll take care of it. And he designed the defense so that Sam Huff could always be there to meet Jim Brown in the whole

wherever he went down the line. How's your research? Landry had thirty two interceptions in his career, right, thirty one with the New York Giants and one with the New York Yankees. Wow, love it this first year and that was the first first New York Yankees, same team. I mean the Yankees must have folded or something. They ended up coming here, that's right, right, like fifty football yams. Yes, for one year. I don't even think they finished the year.

I think they got bought out and they moved back East. Okay, someone and there's people looking it up right now, but on Pro Football in Pro Football Reference the night I just clicked on on Landry's bio. The nineteen forty nine New York Yankees. And usually at the top it has previous season and next season. There's not a next season. Yes, the last year, Yeah they were done. Yeah. So uh and and that was the aa FC. Oh okay, so there's the difference. Yeah, so did you find his six

straight interceptions yet so secutive games? For I thought, that's what I read, But then that's first and what they're and what they're quoting now is since the merger in nineteen two. Okay, okay, that's why Don Bishop doesn't okay as much love deserve, thank you, thank you, I got he got all the love he ever deserved on our show the other day of Roses and Flowers can well, unfortunately the game logs are sketchy. Yeah, all right, don't

worry about And also he was a punter. Yes, so that's something else that you can attribute to his resume and and attribute to his knowledge of special teams. Maybe that's why he loved Danny White. Well, that could be because I tell you, people talk about Danny's a quarterback. I have always thought he was a much better punter

than a quarterback. And that is no knock on his quarterback game, right, because he saved us so many times with the fake punt, you know actors, if he's gonna just kind of run it, you know, run up and kicking and then he takes off. God, he did that countless times, which extended our drives. I don't remember it ever not working. I think it did once. Man thinking he told the story about one time. Maybe one time got on him. But to me, that's a great sence.

It's like all the ones that work, Hey, way to go, and it's like, now, what are you doing? The only reason, the only one we don't remember, but that we remember that didn't work with the no Danny no, which wasn't a punt that was that was a snap from Landry had eight picks in three different seasons in nineteen fifty one, fifty two, and fifty four, which was an all pro year. So the six in a row or either fifty one

or fifty should have given us a whole lot more. Yeah, well, maybe he realized how hard it was back in so if I took care of the front seven, I'd saved my back for But you know what, when the flex was put together, it was not made for a defensive back at all. Right, I think he's it must be a lot of self hate that he has because now on the serious point with the flex, and I try to explain to people all the time, they don't get it. But with the flex, it's made for the run. I

can't have a defense made for the run. In the past, it just doesn't work. So who's the sacrificial lambs the second day, whether it's the linebackers or whether it's the dbs, We're gonna be the ones that's gonna have to give up something in order for us to for the sake of the scheme itself. And when I came in, you know,

I was like, I wasn't paying attention to that. I wasn't going to give up anything, which is why I got beat sometimes because I'm gonna cover everything because that's just coming out of college, that's what you know, and as an acceptor, that's what you want. You're gonna catch every route. So as much as I was doing it a lot, and it amused Charlie Waters and Dennis Thurman, they had all kind of great nicknames for me because

you're doing something they're not supposed to do. Tom Madge's like, you need to stop doing that, Okay, just stop doing it. And he never really he just never gave you the credit as a defensive back because, like you said, this was all about stopping the run, yeah, and it was

not about passing. I remember when we were doing a documentary on Doomsday Defense, the first Doomsday one, right, and somebody was we were doing the interview and somebody asked one of the defensive backs about the flex and they go, don't ask me that. Yes to do yes, boy, that you've never told me that. That's very girl. I can't remember who it might have been clear for Charlie something

it was. It was probably Charlie because Charlie was always trying to fight for us in the secondary and then he wasn't gonna listen to myself, Dexter, Michael Downs and vine Fellow's not gonna listen to us. He might listen to Charlie or Dennis Thurman. Had a lot of respect with Dennis Thurman in the locker room. So you can talk all you want, you're not going to change the flex and until it was outdated by I would say the first team to outdate the flex would be the

Los Angeles Rams. He's still running, yes he is, and I'm still diving after him too. That was a nightmarish So, by the way, game yeah, not just game yeah, okay, right, yes, game eighty three three, I guess I'm talking about the playoff game. That's what I'm talking on the ice in the end zone. Both of the playoff games eighty three that was ice in the end zone in Texas Stadium, went out there in eighty five we were uh that was a which one was wild to shut out one

that I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. So, by the way, people are asking me yesterday about Belichick and what do you think he'll do, and I said, well, evanston Walls said, and so h McCarthy made mention to it that this will be the first time they see uh he was. He made mention of man coverage, and I didn't know if that was something that Belichick liked to do. Somebody said single safety high and then he would use man

coverage on the wide receiver he started out with. When I was in New York, they were we were perfect with the Tampa two. I guess it's kind of what they called it now, but I will cover two if you're depending on how it turned out, it's going to be a couple of four. And if you're going to play a coup of two or cover four, one thing, you got to have linebackers, athletic linebackers. If you don't have them, it ain't gonna work. And he's always that's

why Tampa. Yeah, that's why he's had it with lt and Banks and Pepper and Tampa headed of course with Books and those guys. So yeah, if you're gonna play a cover two a couple four, your linebackers have to be extremely athletic, more athletic than most because you have to get underneath. You gotta get underneath, you got you got not going, You have to get underneath. You have

to react to the short passes as well. Okay, Yeah, And they have been on the cutting edge of the last several years of using more dbs on the field than and other teams have followed suit. Now super Bowl itself, Yeah, we had Eric Howard was the only defensive lineman in the game for the most part. And that's the thing with Belichick, the way he's evolved over the years too. I mean, you can't you can't do what they've done over this longer period of time without without that imagine

this though, it's twenty two years with the Patriots. You know how long he's been coaching in the National Football League now, thick, go ahead, forty seven years. Nineteen seventy five his first year. How old was he? Probably right out of the academy, wasn't the an army or something? Yeah, that's what dad coach. Well, let's see nineteen seven. Let's see he is sixty nine right now, and so he would have been twenty three years old. Wow, And yeah,

seventy five. He was a special assistant with the Baltimore Colts in seventy five, and then a couple of years with the Lions, the Broncos, and then with the Giant starting in seventy nine as thus special teams coach, which, of course, which brings us two more of what Mike McCarthy had to say about Belichick's Patriots. When we come back here on mix Shots, that's Smoothie King. We are blending goodness to fuel your grayness. Every blend is crafted

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Smoothie King Rule the day. Hey Cowboys fans, ready to spice up your next watch party, Bring Yokiero guacamole and be the game day hero. Yokierro means I want and we know you want. Great, fresh tasting, ready to serve guacomole for your home gating and tailgating events. Made with real avocados and the perfect blend of spices. It will be the star of any party. You can find us at your local Albertson's or tom Thumb in the Delhi section. If you can't find it, talk to your store manager

and tell them Yokierro Yokiero Guacomole. The Cowboys Way, where sixteen Hall of Famers and five championships shows us what success looks like. Where turkey is always the second best part of Thanksgiving Day, where we are all defined by one single thing, the star. Where we as fans know it's our job to keep the tradition going. Bank of America is proud to be the official bank of the Dallas Cowboys and to support the quest of living life

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you think of that one? We had some PG. Yeah, I think he's better than when like a quick thing. Don't not as many commas in there? Not as many dot Dallas Cowboys dot com. All right? How big will special teams play a part in Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Well, as we were taping the Mike McCarthy Show last night, Uh, he made a point to me in a break that we need to talk special teams. Oh well, we know why the time up there and of course and of course he was not a part

of that, yes two years ago. But it's just it's what the Patriots do. And I think one Matthew Slater is still there. That's exactly right. And he was the guy that blocked the punt because the guys on the outside didn't do their assignment and left a gap. You know, as I look up Matthews Slater, if there was a guy to make the Hall of Fame who is strictly a special teams player, Matthews Slater might be the leading candidate. Not Kenny the Shark. Let's see, you got them on

that one, got them on. Now come on now, Bill, don't don't how many Pro Bowls has Slater made? I was I was going to say like three or four? Nine? Oh what I didn't think that sounded like Zeke the other day the interception record. Oh, that's a lot. All with the Patriots. Yes, yeah, that's amazing that they could afford a special teams player for me. I mean, that's the priority in two thousand and eight fifth round draft pick out of UCLA, of course, the son of Jackie Slater,

and of course and um Jackson State University. By the way, hbcuh go ahead, it would And so you we're talking father's son Hall of famers. Yeah, okay, um, but I mean, now, one, it's kind of one of those deals once you make All Pro, once you make the Pro Bow, and once you have that designation that you're only draft looking at

anybody else exactly, only drafted for special team's purposes. Not and take nothing away from Matthew Slater, okay, but it illustrates the emphasis that um Belichick puts on his core special team ever since. Asked where he lines up while on that punt block in twenty nineteen, he will was kind of halfway between the middle in the end. Yeah, and he came through a crease that they blocked the wrong way. I mean, it wasn't like he had this great play. He just saw that, Oh that guy's going

that way. That guy's going that way. I just come through here. That's the kind of heads up players, right, Bill likes. Yes. Okay, So how big is John Fossil's role in this game? Oh bones, let's go, we're thinking we break out the old. First of all, he don't get too excited, you know, that's his problem. He's like his special teams players. They called special teams players special teams players because they are special and sometimes they can

act a little special. Right, They'll do things if you go, like especially when it comes down in the ball on the gold line. I know people work on that all the time, but just see some of the biggest idiots. Just dude, why you're running so fast? You know. I mean, it's just some of the things that they do. And Fossil, to me, he's that guy that can really he can empathize with him and he can relate to them. So I just don't want him to think, oh he comes

better check here comes to Patriots. So let me do something over the top special. Just do your job. Okay, and keep and keep the Patriots from doing something something. Let's not get to and talking about guys running down like that. They run down like that on coverage and I see him practice it all the time, where okay, you're gonna run down his facial account and then break down, right so you can go with They forget that, They

just run by the guy. Yeah, it's like all sitting right there and all of y'all, you come and dive on that ball, that the one y'all right, right, you know, somebody's gonna slide and everyone's so, oh my god, how could that happen because of you? You're done it, my goodness, play under control. That's it. That's the team is. Let's do it guys. And the ones that don't know how to do it the best, they're the ones that have the best teams period because they are in tune to

doing it the right way. It's not just about hustle. It's about accomplishing something, and that's where the best ones have the best records. You know. The tough thing on special teams too, like in training camp, you can't you don't practice it live. You have no live sessions on special teams until you get into a preseason game and then it's like, oh, this is what you're supposed to do? Right? Well, how am I seeing people? Yeah? Why are they trying

to hit me? One other thing on Slater, the Patriots not only drafted him in the fifth round, they also traded up to draft him in the fifth round that they had Okay, yeah, because jacket Slater would be on Yeah jackets out there? Yeah, so good one yep. So special teams would be a big part of this one. Okay, So you think of Fossil's mindset going into this one, matching up against the team that's known for special teams. Whatever.

Now you're right. So coaching about dan Quinn, I mean he was coaching the Falcons and a super Bowl against the Patriots team, and he has every play in his head. In fact, he would have been a defensive coordinator in Seattle against the Patriots and a super Bowl also he has he has every play in his So how much how much to do coaches get motivated to face Belichick? This is one of those things where they didn't wait till this week to prepare it, right, right, you see

what I'm saying. They've been looking forward to this all. That's my redemption moment. Yeah, we're spending. We got redemption moment. We got mojole moments in redemption. As soon as that schedule came out. Okay, in the month of May, they stayed up late. Let's study Patriots. Why not. We're gonna put that to the side. We're gonna donate all that, you know, commit all that time to this. I'm gonna put some time to my Patriots. And they look at

it that way. Dude, I know that that you get more motivated if you go up against writers, the strong writers from the other team. Yeah, I'll show. I'll show who's the writer for the Patriots. They've they've changed over pretty much, just like everyone of the days. Could you kick his ass? I'm trying. I'm forgetting the guy's name. He had worked for UM for one of the papers up there. It's been The Boston Globe, and then he went over to Mike Reese. Is who I'm trying to think.

Ok Yeah, he impressed me as a young guy, and he's progressed and now he's either with ESPN dot com that's got the athletic so I think he's a nine time pro bowler. He is a yea, now he good, He's right. Let's think about this. He has to be the worst job in the world to be a beat writer for Belli and Belichick. Oh you know what though, I last year during covid U, they were you know, on back when we had periscope. Periscope went away in May,

and so I was following that was good thing. I followed the Patriots and so every morning at like eight am, Belichick's press conference, I get an alert the Belichick press conference, and I would listen to him. And actually there were certain days that he was really good in forthcoming in his press conference. And that was just this past year. That yeah, last year, and it was a bad year for him. You know, they went seven y nine and

they didn't have anything to hide because they were bad. Yeah, yeah, maybe. So you know what the funniest line I heard him and it was a it was at Super Bowl. So there's been so many I don't remember which one it was for him, right, uh. And it was in the probably the Tuesday media session, and so got the big room there and somebody asked them just inain question it was like and he kind of looked at the guy and he scaled and he goes, so you guys, He goes,

do you have this book of questions? And the chapter one is these are the questions you have to ask regardless? And you know what? He was kind of right, Yes, he knows that, you know. I think what I liked about Bill. First of all, he and LT got along extremely well. Uh we were I think we LT was late for the meeting in training camp and you just go from them practice field. I'm to the locker room

to the practice field. It's like half of our walk maybe twelve of them out and you have cause that also because the people are also trying to get in as well to come and see us, so you the cause would be with And this was at the stadium right that. This is at TIN in the camp training. I can't remember the university that we were at. All the rich people lived out It wasn't Offstra that was the judge. I think, yeah, it was where all the rich people and executives lived out there, all executives and

all of that. I can't remember this, but it was upstate in New York. And he said, hey, LT, come on man, everybody's been sitting here waiting. You said, what was what was the deal? LT goes traffic just because the cars actually with you. But I just thought that was an excellent answer, traffic coach. I was in traffic Bryant College, no training camp locations talking. Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was university hold on Pace was one of them all right before they signed.

They didna get it. They want it was, um, what you're you talking? Abod twenty five more rows? Here they go all over the place. Fairly Dickinson, fairly, Dickinson. There you go, We got all the answer, right. Megan used to hang his sheets out the window when he would climb down and sneak out from training camp, like, man, was this a jailbreak? Well, eventually, I guess it could have been well in thousand in thousand oaks. So they used to the dorms and then they had a media dorm.

I don't know if you were aware of that, but the media dorm was right across from the check in hut or whatever that was it security or whatever. So in the back of the dorm there was a little plaza patio and they used to stock the refrigerator with beer. Right, So after we'd go out at night, we'd come back, sit on the patio, and to the left of us was a softball field, and if you go there was a big field, and to the right was a dormitory.

Right when a parking lot. And so every once in a while we used to call them runners with some player would go from the softball field to that parking lot. I know exactly. I'm surprised more people didn't call us out. We would sit there and we'd see one and go and somebody goes, there goes a runner, and we go, hey, hey, hey, just yelling. The guy would run faster. The door of the car would open, the lights would come on, the guy would dive in the back seat, and the car

would take off. They were escaping for the night. Well you got la right down the street, I mean, come on, yeah, Well who's gonna stay in the dorm. When you see Irving Magic Johnson there is his basketball camp, he goes, hey, comy, hey, he knows me about cumming. We'll come to my play to night. Sure, No fo, no, man, we got practice tomorrow morning. No, don't worry about it. Me and the boys would be there or the guy. We made it. We're going through the little checkpoint and they would have

their bible and their toiletry kit. It's like just gonna be a lot long bible station rights and that was a John Wooden basketball camp that was on. The Magic would come as the guests, instructor or whatever. I remember interviewing him there right outside the gym. That's why. That's why I saw right outside the gym. Yeh. That old gym now is a warehouse for their UH play production group at the university. So they store all the props in that gym. Now, that's what it's turned out to be.

They still have the football stadium right there. They got a new football soccer field. Yeah yeah, all right, and the stands or the stands. I'm going out there, so I'm driving, Oh, go in, go walk. I went there a couple of years ago because the cafeteria is still the same. So that one year we were at training camp and we did a deal on training camp at Thousand Oaks. So Nate and I walked through, did interviews there and we went into the cafeteria and still the same.

You can down them steps either way right, and there was the big area and there was a lady there. I don't know, probably looked like in her sixties at least. And uh so we're looking around. She goes, hey, you guys know that the Cowboys used to have training camp here and this is where they ate. And Nate goes, yeah, I know, I know, and she goes, yeah, I used to serve him all the time. It's like, wait a minute.

We started doing the math and she had been working there for like over thirty years in the same lady. She's there serving you guys. She's the one that used to let me, uh she would mark me present for breakfast because I didn't want to go. She marked me present for breakfast, and I thank the Yeah. I mean, what do you do? When I left training camp? I bother some Jack Daniels or something drink he was now they getting mad at Lele College. That's the same she

was there. Well, I don't know if that was the same woman, but she had been working there since Cowboys. Pretty yeah, so that would be like, yeah, well you'll have to go see her when you go out there. Yeah, all right, and that will do it. We're seven minutes late getting out this edition of Big Shots, and we'll see you again tomorrow at one thirty Cowboys we had extra time. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.