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This is the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.
I'm your host Tatum Everett and the Vikings were victorious down in Jacksonville. A twelve to seven victory over the Jags improved the Vikings record to seven and two. We're now joined by Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips.
One day removed from the victory.
And Harrison, you know, the time possession was a wacky in this one. We were just talking before the podcast about how that can.
Affect the way that you feel.
You know, they had the ball for forty two minutes, the offense did, and then you guys were just kind of waiting to get your chance.
I mean, what is that? Have you ever been a part of something like that?
I mean, I'm sure there's been some games that we've heavily won the time of possession, but yeah, it's you feel a little more fresh, for sure. I don't know if there's too many defensive players complaining about how they how they feel today now. They were very physical snaps because the style of the game, a lot of you know, twelve personnel, you know, tough duo, double team type stuff in the trenches. But you feel a little bit better
not being out on your feet that much. And then you have to be able to mentally stay locked in when you're on the sidelines and there's a timeout and a long drive and a halftime and a court. You got to be able to then keep the body repped up.
It almost felt like you guys shined during the sudden change plays like those drives where you had you know, Sam Darnold was in his three picks. Afterwards, you allowed no points two point nine yards per play on those drives. I mean, it was incredible what you guys do. So despite hanging out there on the sidelines for a little while, you guys were able to get in there. And how does that work, Like, how do you kind of mentally get ready for those moments?
Yeah, I mean I think that that's something we've had built back in OTAs and some of the way that they built our roster. A lot of guys on our defense have a reason to have a chip on them shoulder ben counted out before, or have a lot to prove, And so that's just kind of.
The identity of the team.
And with Flow's leadership, you know, he has his coin sayings like you know you don't seek comfort, and uh, we don't want to comfort seeking group. We want to have a group that runs into the burning building.
And so when those.
Huge moments and momentum shifting plays happen in a game, we want to go in and put out the fire immediately.
And so there are a lot of times where we'll.
Take the field in those moments and their smiles on our faces like dang, this is that Like, if you want to be an elite football player, you're gonna make a play right now to help this team win. So, yeah, that's as unfortunate as those situations are when they come up. We have a group that's not like tucking your tail. They're putting their chin up and poking their chest out, saying like I can't wait to stand up in this moment.
It just said something that kind of caught my attention.
A lot of guys who feel like they've been counted out, How did you guys talk about those things.
How do you know that about one another?
What?
You can't have unique results without unique relationships. And so the unique relationships that we built when you're sitting in the sana, or when you're on a road trip, or when you're in Cleveland for a week with joint practices and golfing in the off season, you know, things just organically come up. You know, what's your family structure, Like, oh, your mom and dad's still in the picture, how your siblings?
What you know?
Tell me about high school? Oh, you didn't get recruited or this this school flipped on you. Or you thought you were going to get drafted here and you got
drafted there. They just kind of organically come out. And I think the easiest way to relate to one another is through shared adversity, because everyone in their life has gone through something, and yeah, just through those kind of small organic And sometimes we'll have players get up and introduce themselves or say where they're from and tell a story about themselves, and you know that that also gets a chance to be vulnerable and learn more about other
people's why why they play the game and why they dedicate so much of our life and sacrifice for this, and yeah, you know, you've you know a lot of our team, so you probably know some of those individual stories themselves. But yeah, it's nice to look to the guy next to you and know that he's not just out here to try to make another statistic or something like that. He's out here because he loves the game and what it does for he and his family.
Yeah, I mean you mentioned that a little bit in some of your postgame interviews about this defense being a selfless group and how instrumental that is to success. How much does that play into it because you guys are obviously out there and you are getting there.
I mean, guys are leading the league in takeaways, like.
There are stats out there, thirty sacks on the year, there are stats like there.
But how do you convince or how does everyone.
Get on the same page as far as like, hey, we need to be selfless in this because it's not always the case in this league.
I think it's because of how close of a group we are.
You know, if you're just colleagues with the guys next to you, and you're just coworkers out there like, yeah, I don't really care if I pissed this guy off for this guy. I mean, this is my job and this is what i have to do to make a living. So I'm gonna go make sure and I go get mine. Well, when you're out there with your family and you're out there with your brothers, like the people that you love, you don't want to let them down and you don't
want to, you know, have to come back after. Yeah, you know, you might have a hero play, but then the three other ones that you did the wrong thing, we got gashed on, and now we're not tops in the league. Now we're we're losing football games and we're playing bad defense. And so I think we just have enough guys to understand like, yeah, there's a few moments and a few times you can kind of shoot a shot or get a little more aggressive through your responsibility.
But for the most part, we don't have a group that's like I'm going to get a sack today no matter what the freak happens.
You know what I'm saying, I'm gonna catch a pick. I don't care what I have to do. I'm jump every out until I get one.
Well, great, you got burnt four other times, or sweet every time you swum out of a double team they ran it for two hundred fifty yards, but you got your sack.
We don't have that.
Group, so that's really awesome.
Good.
I mean, the results are still coming though.
I mean, you guys had three turnovers on the final three drives of that Jaguars game. Had you guys before that, we're all talking about we got to turn this ball over.
Like, was there that conversation on the sideline.
Yeah.
I think a lot of times we were just like, all right, this is gonna you know, we think this is going to game that we have to win on our side, Like let's let's let's make the takeaway, let's make the stop, let's just keep giving the ball back into the offense's hands, especially when we got the lead there towards the end.
But yeah, that always comes up. Coaches are running up and down the sidelines, veteran players too. We gotta take the ball off these guys. We get it. Wet. I got a turnover. So thankful with the way it ended.
Yeah, one of those was your fumble recovery off the botch snap a chuckle it on that one. That was a pretty cool moment when you see the ball get loose like that, like what's your first reaction.
I mean, I don't know. Yeah, it happened really fast. It was like a gap scheme.
I think they were going to run some type of trap counterpass, and so we also had a pressure on so I was moving, I was moving a different direction. The center was trying to get to me, so we crossed. I see the ball kind of pop up, and uh, obviously it kind of came right to me.
So it would have been very embarrassing if I didn't end up with that football.
But we got the football, and yeah, you know, you can call it what you call it.
It was.
You know, Jesus took the wheel there for that.
Yeah, well, I think that there should just be a different category for like three hundred pounds plus.
We shouldn't have the same standard.
Maybe not so sprightly like not. So I don't know, a light.
Footage, keep it nice in my wheelhouse. Trying to heart a hamstring out here, That's very true.
But you know, I am looking back, and if you know, each week when you watch the film, you go back and you stay up late at night thinking if I had this play back or this play back, what I could have done. And I'm just thinking about when I saw that Jaguar mascot in the end zone, and you just keep me up at night last night, I'm wondering, would it have been worth it to just totally take him out, deck him.
I mean, Cam's going for the celebrations of the year.
I'm sure I would get fined physically put hands on a mascot, But like he tried to stop the selly and then we were all kind of clustered after that, and I just I think if I could play it over again, I would have played it differently, and I'd been on Sports Center today and I would have been fine tomorrow.
I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think that the Jaguar's going to do anything to you, but I wouldn't want to be on your bad side.
Yeah, I know it just yeah, what could have been?
You know, what could have been? He is a little bit of a troll, though he is a bit I liked.
I think it was cool. I didn't think it was cool.
I just when he was in the end zone and I was trying to hand him the football, so I was like, Okay, if he if he plays along, if he if he takes the football, and maybe I could then tackle him. So I was trying to put the football in front of him and he wasn't. He wasn't taken. I was like, all right, so he's just kind of doing this thing. I'm sure they have strict instructions as well, but yeah.
So that before though, that was he was like really up in there. And afterwards, Kevin O'Connell was very fired up in his speech about you guys, especially on defense, just talking about how the whole team though never flinched and the attitude of like this is the one that you're never going to forget. And to me as like a fan or not a fan perspective all the way, but just from the outside looking in, I was like
one that you'll never forget. Like I'm when I think of that, I think of those like major moments like throughout the season or you know, a big dominant win over a tough Texans team or the win over the.
Forty nine ers rate But like, why would he say you'll.
Remember this one the most after you know what heuckspired on the field.
I think because it takes a full team.
You know, there's gonna be times in a season where one or two phases of the football game aren't going the way that you want it, but you build a team the right way.
Uh.
It's not a PingER for finger pointing outfit. It's it's you know.
Guys understanding, like all right, hey, there's been.
Weeks that we gave up a handful of touchdowns or a handful of yards and our offense then answered the call every single time. For us, this is one of those moments where, hey, things things are kind of going the way they are defensively, we gotta we gotta do this ourselves. We got to you know, help our brothers out for all the times that they helped us out,
and special teams plays a role in that. Other times there's you know when you look at starting field positions and field goal percentage and punts and all these great things. So I think you look back on it almost to like the Raiders win two years ago, shutout to say that like there's we don't have to be you know, we've thought that we had a model of how we win football games. You know, you strike first, go up early in the first quarter, a point differentials insane, you know,
protect the football, win the turnover battle. And when you don't do those things, you could say like, dang, if this isn't our you know, we found our recipe to win and this isn't going the right way and we still want So that allows you to say, like, Okay, you know we have a mentally strong group that's able to find find ways to win even though if it's
not exactly how we plan it to be. And I'm sure that that's why, you know, Ko mentioned it's something you can look back on, just that all of us as a team can have increased confidence knowing that if the games aren't starting out to the way that we've seen repeated success before, we still are in every every game.
Yeah, no, that's that's just a great point. You mentioned the special teams. Parker Romo for four. I mean, the dude, the dude has ice in his veins.
I mean that was.
Incredible, and I mean he was the only one to score points in this game after seeing the defensive scored so many points. Defense scores so much points in this one or throughout the season the offense has been scoring and now Parker Romo.
Yeah, it's incredible.
It's just one of those stories you love to hear, like, even if you're not a fan of sport, just like you know, this guy's been a kicker for fifteen years or however long and loved the game and worked his butt off and set goals and thought that those goals may.
He fell short.
And then sure enough he gets his number called get in an NFL football game. And I mean, obviously not but single handedly you know, quote unquote when when.
That game he didn't fluedge.
Yeah, and moment that we just joked today while we were in the lift. I don't remember who I was joking with or whatever, but like, this guy forty five years from now on the golf course is going to be talking about this game like there's no doubt about first time rookie. I'll go nail four for four And yeah, I'm just really happy for him. I cheer for those moments. And again, you talk about a team that has players with chips on their shoulders and things to prove, and he falls.
In that category.
I kind of feel like he was an unsung hero of this season. He'll always be like an unsung hero of this season for his performance in that one.
And I think that's a word.
If people use a lot to describe what you do, they're in the middle. So is there any kind of relation to that, Like, do you kind of understand maybe where he's coming from a little bit?
I guess.
I guess we'll have to see how the trajectory of the season holds out. But I know that, you know, we won a football game, and wins are very hard to come by because of what he did for us yesterday, and I'm glad that he gets his moment like yeah, for being an unsung hero. It's nice to I asked him how many text messages he got.
I think he said two hundred and eighty eight.
Oh my goodness.
I said, I'd never had two hundred and eighty.
Eight, not even after the draft day.
I thought, that's why I said, I said, my highest ones are a draft day, signing my contract here, and then signing my extension would have been the most.
But I wasn't. I wasn't in that those numbers.
No, it's actually funny you mentioned that because I wanted to bring this up at some point during this conversation. I remember you coming in here after you signed the contract here, and you had said to us how important it was to sign that second contract, like what that means to you and your family and your accomplishments, and
then in September you get that extension. What were the feelings like comparably, because I kind of wanted to ask you that because we've talked after the first one, but not after this one as much.
Yeah, you know, both situations were highly emotional, and not only positive emotions. For when the first free agency came you, I was under the impressions that I would never get to free agency because I thought that I would remain in Buffalo, and so there was that dang, I'm saying goodbye to a really cool chapter of my life. And there was that part, and then Minnesota was super happy and positive stuff. So there was that kind of contradiction.
And then with this last one there was the you know, kind of long talks from when the season finished last year going into the last year of your deal. There's
nothing guaranteed. We like you here, but you get you know, your age is a thing, You're playing well, but you know, there's just so many conversations and your agents and your team are telling you one thing, and then the vikings are another thing, and then you start throwing values in the situation where my agents say that if you do what you we think you're gonna do you play how
you're supposed to play. We see you at this number, but the team sees you at this number, so you know, for when it finally got done, there was a huge weight lifted off my shoulder, but there was still that battle of different emotions of like, well did.
I did I leave some money on the table but not the money on the table.
But ultimately the difference in dollars is easily surpassed by being in an organization that I love, cities that I love, around a team that's doing incredible things, led leadership that is absolutely fantastic, and so like, you can't put a price tag on some of that stuff. And then yeah, I had set goals for a monetary amount of what I wanted to get from this game to set up future generations of my family, and hopefully playing this out you can do that for me.
We've got to take a quick break from our conversation with Harrison Phillips, but he agreed to return afterwards and we are going to talk a little bit more about the Titans matchup on Sunday, his work with his foundation, the Harrison Playmakers, and what Salute to Service means to him.
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You are listening to the Minnesota Vikings podcast and we are here with defensive Tackle Harrison Phillips and uh you guys are now three and oh.
In the AFC South.
You're about to wrap up that whole AFC South tour on Sunday against the Titans, and for that sweep. I know it's a little early in the week and you're not going to watch film n till later today, But what do you know about this team?
I mean, well, okay, so this will be our last AFC South opponent.
Yes, these guys, I know this their.
Identity playing them in the past, like their physical They want to set the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, and they have some unbelievable all pros at the positions uh to set that temple that that are those aggressive mindset of people. So I know that for us it's going to be how we respond as a team. I know defensively we've joked about not being out on the field as much, but on the other side of the football, being out on the field more than they have this
entire season. So how how quickly can we address the recovery, get our bodies back, get a plan in place so that we were able to go down I mean a road game against a team that every time I see them or watch them when they've been on there, they're fighting, and they're fighting and their clawn and they're scratching and they want to win. And so you know, I'm not sure I didn't get to watch yet how the quarterback
play happened from this last week. I believe will Levis was starting for them or but I know that again, like anybody in this league is in this league for a reason, and any given Sunday is a saying for reasons.
So you guys kind of know what it's like.
Even if a team is two and seven, which the Titans are heading into this one, you can't count any of these people out.
I mean, you never want to say, like you play to the level. We want to have a Minnesota Viking standard. We play to that standard. We don't if there is a team that we are more talented to, you wouldn't want to play at their level. And then against the good opponents play good. You want to play Minnesota Viking standard football every single game you play. And so that's probably what our messaging should be this this week is it's the most important week of the season because it's our next week.
It's the next game.
That's why it's the most important one, and we just have to be our best version of ourselves.
Why do you think that becomes a narrative in the media, Oh, well, they're playing they only play up to their competition, or they play down.
Like why do you think that becomes a narrative?
That's a good question.
I mean, I would just I think that came up a lot in twenty two.
When we had all those one score games, Like.
Everything was one score, three points for that. And I mean if you just look historically NFL football games, I would say seventy five percent of them are one score game. So like we just were in the norm for what happens in football. And I don't know, it's just an easy way for probably for media to put reasoning to
things happening in football. But and I understand, you know that they're just trying to get a check, get a click, get you know, you get the get this exclusive story, that the hot take.
But yeah, I don't know.
I'm not sure I can see you doing the media in the future.
Maybe we just.
Talked about we were talking about Belichick, and we were talking about coaches who say, like.
You know, don't listen to the media.
And now in the media and yeah, right now, my initial impressions are probably higher than some of my teammates because I've seen how much great media attention has come to my playmakers through Harrison's playmakers, and so I'm a little bit more reluctant to have positive relationships and some of my teammates.
With the media.
But yeah, I mean, we'll see how it all plays. I think Paul Allen does a good job. I'm not necessarily coming for his job. I want to play for a little longer.
I think great, though, I mean he's gonna I mean, he's going to retire eventually.
Yeah, the hot tub takes are getting a little.
But there are so many former players who now do like the color commentary. You don't have to like to do the play by play. But I mean, I don't know, do you want to make a play call.
I think it's a highly competitive market. And I think that you talked about what my role is here as unsung hero.
I don't think so.
I don't know if I can compete with some of these franchise players.
When I beg, I really beg to differ.
I think you see some of these guys out there who were analysts, and maybe maybe you make such a huge market here in Minnesota, Like one day you come in as a color analyst, or you can work with us at VANNA afterwards.
Yes, yeah, depends on where you in a shake call home at.
The end of the day. It depends on what salary you're offering. Yeah, I will look.
I love this game and unlike a lot of other professions. For example, if you if you're in sales and you work in sales for twenty years, you learn a lot in that profession that you can transition into many other fields.
You know, you maybe became.
Excellent and excel, or you know how to set up business like you just you learn a lot of qualities that can parallel to other professions.
In football, it's not necessary.
I can break down coverages and offensive schemes, and I could talk your guys' heads off, talk circles around you when it comes to football, but that doesn't translate to anything.
Outside of football.
And so that's why the transition when people are done with the game, it's so difficult. So long story Shortsy, I'd love to lean in to those strengths and that those things that I've learned over my long career of playing football since a little kid, and not just completely cut myself off from the game.
I mean, I love it to death. So coaching, we'll see what life looks like. We'll see what we'll see what life looks like at that.
With coaching, the schedules just as hard.
It's not more hard, it's harder.
And the way that even in my short time playing, how the NFL player has changed, I'm not I'm not sure that as the new wave of players coming in with n I L and however those the new player is if the coaching style that I'd want to have would be receptable, I might not be a very liked coach now, kids and stuff like that.
Little league I'd love to love t ball coach and would't that be great? Yeah?
Well, you can tell that you love being around that age group and being around those guys. You see that with your love from playmakers and what you're able to do, and you mentioned them a little bit already. What's the latest with with what you've been doing with your with your foundation.
Well, I got to give a shout out to our our unified team that we sponsor Hacer Bikes.
We've got some playmakers on the team.
Big Dub in Jacksonville, Big Duve got to see him at the hotel the night before game, and they're celebrating, having a beer, you know, making sure that the club that they were going to go to that night was vetted, you know, make sure they have a good time. Yea. But yeah, you know, I have my Thanksgiving turkey drive next week, so me and my Harrison's Playmakers will be handing out two hundred meals and Thanksgiving turkeys to our
veterans at the VA. And you know, that's always a really fun one because it's my individuals with developmental differences and special needs giving back and serving in their own communities.
A lot of times people think that, like the children and young adults that I work with are the charity themselves, but no, they're actually just like you and I serving in their community around the holidays and then as like a thank you to some of them and stuff, about a month later, I'll be taking one hundred or one hundred and fifty Harrison's Playmaker's Christmas shopping.
It's not the shopping and shields. Yeah, they always love that.
And what's really cool about it is that, you know, we'll give them a gift card. I think it's a one hundred one hundred and fifty dollars gift card I'll get for each of them, and it's up to them. I've done a lot of things all year round where I've asked them to do challenges or community events or like my Thanksgiving drive, bring in donations, and so the Christmas one is like, hey, this is a thank you for all the great work you've done this year. You've
always answered the challenges I put out. And however, you know, when you're shopping, here's also a wish list of some items that other people might need.
And I think last year.
We chose Warrior Dog Rescue, and this year we're secondhand hounds, I think. But so we'll have a list from a nonprofit organization here in the Twin Cities and they're say, hey, these are the ten things we need the most. And so I'll give this playmaker his one hundred dollars one hundred dollars gift card and he can go spend all of it on his legos or or on her Barbie
dolls or whatever. And so sometimes when you see him checking out, you'll see someone say, you know, by themselves a ninety dollars gift and then like one dog treat or you'll see someone by themselves one small little socks and the other ninety something dollars on the nonprofit. It's super cool to see that and let them make that choice for themselves.
Was that your goal when you created this, like to to provide a sense of community between your playmakers that they are giving back, Like?
Where?
How did that idea originally?
I just think that for people who don't have a direct link to someone with differences other than like, oh I saw them in middle school or high school or something like that, there's sometimes a sense of pity or a sense of I don't think these people can do many things they're not like is just a negative connotation, and I really didn't like that.
I want some of the best.
Relationships and some of the most caring and loving people that I've ever met in.
My life have differences.
And so I was like, what is the easiest way to try to flip this perception to some people out there that you know ignorantly have no idea how amazing and special these people are. And so I thought that the number one way to shut up these haters would be to say, these people are so capable and such amazing civilians that they are serving and giving back in
their own communities. You think that they need all these programs and all this help and stuff, and sometimes everyone needs a helping hand, But the vast majority of my playmakers are the first ones to volunteer and the first ones to sign up to do something. And so that's where that thought first came to me, is like, I think the easiest way to show the world my playmakers can kick is that they will go out in the community.
And do things and stuff.
We'll clean up a park, We'll meet up at the VA and handout meals, We'll bring in donations for animal rescues, We'll do a bunch of stuff to show the world that, you know, I'm so good.
I can take care of myself and take care of.
Other peoples, and I'm a benefit to our society.
You mentioned doing the VA work and this is the Salute to Service Month for the NFL.
What does this initiative mean to you?
Both my grandfathers served in the military, and you know, if my life had won a different way and sports wasn't my outlet, I think that that would have been an option for me. I just have an extreme amount of gratitude through my years in the NFL, working with
the organizations I do. I've got to sit down for hours with World War two survivors, with Vietnam survivors and talk to these people and hear their stories and hear what it's like, and it just gives you such a perspective and such a gratitude that I can play a childhood's game. We can sit here in a podcast studio and BS talk for a couple of minutes because people sacrifice their lives and fought for our freedoms.
And the things that they've seen.
Some of the stories that people have opened up to me about gave me just an incredible perspective on life. And when I'm in the thick of it, when it's a full padded practice in week eleven and my body frickin hurts and I think that I'm going to war, this isn't going to war. These guys really went to war, and they and they fought for the freedom that I
have to be in such a great country. And so this the Salute to service also is complete side note, but the Salute to Service gear is always the coolest gear.
Every single year. The artist.
It's nice, but Yeah, I wear that gear with honor, and I make it a mission every week to find the military people at our stadium and at our games and I shake their hand, looking in the eyes and say thank you for your service.
That's amazing. Well, thank you for doing that on behalf of the Vikings. That salute to service game will not be until December first, when the Cardinals play the Vikings at noon as of now at us Bank Stadium, So looking forward to that one.
Thank you so much for time, Harrison.
You didn't have to give this all of your free time, but I really appreciate it.
No, it's always good to come on and give the give the fans here in the Twin Cities a little content. All love you, we love we love them.
I promise you, promise you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Of course we are so happy and honored to have Harrison Phillips on this week's episode of the Minnesota Vikings podcast. We thank you as well for tuning in. We record this every week. You can find it on our podcast channel wherever you listen to your podcast, and please check out all of our preview content on Vikings dot com, the Vikings YouTube page, or the Vikings app. The Vikings are back out on the road against the Tennessee Titans from Nashville at noon on Sunday. Thank you so much
for listening. We'll see you at noon for that kickoff on CBS