Salty Dogs Podcast with Demar Dotson

be the Eagles, who can forget again? I'm looking at the already Derek Boks dilready touchdown table day, Derek Brooks, the lost pariotal player in the national football Like there it is the Daggers in where you're gonna win the Super Bowl. We call them the Salty Dogs. Welcome everybody to the Sunny Dogs Podcast, the Soup number five. I'm excited. I'm glad to be bad. We are the Salty Dogs. And men boys. You just heard was Jeff Ryan and I am Scott Smith, and uh we you have a

special one for you. They're all kind of special, kind of when you only have five of them. Yeah, it's like if you have five kids, if you're on this show, it's special. No matter if this is a show, or how many kids you have to have before like they've become not special anymore. I think every child is special, Isn't that nice? So these are our kids, and today's guest is the first time we've had a current player. And if you're gonna get something, you want to tell stories.

Let's start with a guy who's been around here the longest and one of the great all time guys, just really way back he is. He's always been one of my favorites. And I like him because he wasn't drafted. He's the underdog. He's proved himself over and over again, and you know, I like that, and I'm gonna ask him about that because, um, he's got a really interesting origin story. So we'll get to that here pretty soon.

But let's just catch up on what's going on. First of all, we've had another game since the last podcast of preseason. Very long game. Yeah, delayed by an hour, and you know, Jeff, I know it's a preseason game. I know it. And we went in six and that's really what mattered. Basically, our starters, both teams played all their stars of first half, and just because of the lateness and the delay, coach Cutter decided not to send his stars back out in the second half. The Lions did.

The Lions did for a couple of series or two, and that's not there's that's not a problem for either side. That's just what it was. By the time that stretch was over, the Bucks were winning twenty seven six. That's what matters. Yet I'm sitting there in the press box and I'm getting so angry when they were coming back. I'm like, why do I care? It doesn't matter. But I couldn't help. But I was so mad because you're

in a competitive individual. If we had to fight for that bottle of water, you'd have me on exactly No. But I knew, like ten minutes after the game, I knew it didn't matter. Maybe it's because I knew I was going to rewrite the intro to my story. Yeah, And it's just it's just good to win, you know. And and if you ever take losing like it doesn't matter,

then then that's an issue. I know what happened. Remember last time we were saying we were talking about the two four no teams, the two teams that went oh in sixteen Detroit and uh and in Cleveland, last year and four season, so we said we need to lose one of these times. We didn' perfect. You did well enough to feel like you win, but you didn't win

well brilliant. The thing is, though, the team played really, really well, and and I'm not the only one, there's a number of people are starting to agree on this. What we saw was very exciting. Um, I don't know how good Detroit's going to be, but at the end of the day that it was their starters also, so yes, and so I did like that. You know, if you've got three wide receivers who were killing it all at the same time, you can get excited about playing them

all together. In the field. We have three quarterbacks who are playing really well, but you can only play one of them. You know, they're combined pass running for fits and Griffin and Jameis Winston is combined. There's six touchdowns, no interceptions, they're they're all playing fantastic, but only one of them is gonna play at the time unless we come up some crazy. But it is a nice feeling though that if something doesn't go right, you got someone

ready to go. And and Ryan Griffin it's just really impressed me. It's It's been very exciting to watch him play. He's got some good touch. You know, the difference when you see and this year it's Austin Allen. When you see that guy who's new and he might be talented to um, but he's new to the NFL into the buck system, and it's the level difficulty is so much harder.

And then you see Ryan Griffin. You know, Okay, he's never taken a regular season snaps, so in some ways he doesn't have a lot of experience, but he's got a lot of experience. When he's out there, he's in control and he's calm. And I know he's generally played against with reserves against reserves, and you have to factor that in, but he himself has looked calm and look like he can make the throws. And he also understood what the play was right. And then you get the

rookie at the end, he's thrown in there. It's tough. I'm hoping that Austin Allen gets a chance to play two or three quarters on Thursday and acquits himself nicely. I hope he gets that opportunity. He's putting tape out there for thirty two teams as people are find of saying this time of the year and that you only way is you have to You don't know who's watching. Ever, It's kind of like doing a show like this. You don't know who's listening. You know, NBC could be calling

you soon. Who knows. I think the mar is gonna be listening. Yes, I hope so. Yeah, he said he wanted to. He was. He was happy way at the show. Um. What else I liked from this game? The first drive. The one thing we hadn't done well to that to this point was run the ball. Ran the ball very well on that drive. It was all Peyton Barber and

he every single one of his runs is good. I mean every play on that drive except for one to gather Let's say, you know how many how many players in the drive looks like there was eight eight plays and drive. Every play had at least got at least four yards except one that got three yards. If you can do that on a regular basis, you're going to move the ball to score points. What I liked even more about it is it was an hour before. It was an hour delay, and they came out and they

started fast. That's what I like. All of our games. Our guys are starting fast this year, and that was so huge actually not just last year but for years now starting fast and and because and because of the disruption, and it is a disruption not only for the for the players. Something is a disruption for everybody. But it wasn't. It wasn't. I mean, we we were on the air

for an hour. Well, and I'm happy because I've got a couple of guys that will talk forever with with the Gene and d J and David there we've had on our show. Sure, And then we were taking questions. So it was fun in that aspect. But you know, you want to kick off. When it's time to kick off, you're ready to go. And and so I did like the fact how whatever Dirk did with you know, getting the guys focus for that period of time because you're just they're just sitting around in the locker room. Yes,

you know. Another problem with those like hour long delays before games is that the Bucks probably have the best Press Fox food in the league. It's certainly up there, and uh, that's a problem when you have an extra hour and around to eat. Yes, it's it's all good, but it was, But but all in all, it was a fun game. I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. Um, we've had a couple we've had a couple of guys go on. I R since the last

time we talked, Charles Sims, he's had rough luck. So I think about Charles Simms in that two thousand fifteen season when he was able to play sixteen games and the offense was good. He looked great, and so he's he's got skills, he's had some he's had some rough luck and it happened to him again. I guess I should say Charles Sims third, right, Yes, Pete, don't start that. Unless your father played in the NFL. There's only a

few that can go. As you know, the second it made sense for Kevin Winslow where yes, unfortunately he didn't, you know, play as well as his father did. Understates he's had trouble living up to he's had trouble just he just had the trouble living life. But that's a

whole other story. But no, I I yeah, I I don't understand, and I mean I guess, I guess you're paying respect to your father and all of that, but you know, I don't know your dad, So if you're the third, I'm not going to confusion with your But that's a salty dog. I was gonna say. I had to give you an opportunity to be salty. Thank you. I appreciate it. And then it keeps me going. A fortunate thing for Sergio Bailey, the rookie wide receiver who was having such a good preseason in camp, he gets

hurt in warm up. Scott, I watched it. I saw it happen. It was crazy because we were, you know, as they were starting to warm up. We're on the clock. Then, you know, we need to know when they're going to kick off. There's certain things in a broadcast that has to be done, has to be timed out. So I am looking on the field trying to figure out a couple of things, and I saw him go down, and uh immediately grabbed the binocular because I don't know who it was, and um, it didn't look good from the

get go. It clearly wasn't because that night and my heart went out for to him because Dirk Hutter just got done sane the week before. He was a guy that was standing out and so here's his opportunity to perhaps if he doesn't make this squad, perhaps and on the practice squad or someone else picks him up, and you know, it was such a flukey bad luck. It reminds me of and I was tweeting about this before the game. Reminds me of um Paris Warren at the

end of the two thousand seven preseason Uh. And he catches in the fourth preseason game, he catches the winning touchdown pass at the end of the game, flying over the goal line as he catches it, and but he's tackled in a weird way and he breaks his leg. I think it's crazy. And Coach Gruden came out and said he had done enough, he was going to make

the team. This is maybe a little bit different. I'm not sure Sergio had a great shot at making the fifty three because it's so deep there, but I think he had a shot at well, yeah, but I think he had a shot at maybe the practice squad, but someone else could pick him up. It's still such a bad luck because coach Cutter said they kind of abbreviated their warm up and they only ran four plays. They did some their stuff, but full team plays are in

four of them. It was them and it didn't. He was planting and it slipped and that was that ankle. I think, yeah, it just looked like he slipped. It's a shame. Silver lining for Sergio though, he got put

on injured reserve. This time of year, when guys, especially young guys who who were long shots anyway, get injured, you evaluate their injury and if it's determined that's gonna take six weeks to get back, they're usually waved injured, and then you reach an injury settlement with them that basically pays them the amount of time it would have They would have been paid until they got back, and

then they're allowed to go and find employment elsewhere. Um Sergio was actually and it's a new rule that allows us to happen, and I think it has to do with the severity of the injury. But he went directly to injured reserve so he didn't have to go through waivers, and he doesn't. He's not gonna be waived. He'll stay on injured reserve for the whole year, so he'll still be around, he'll get to rehab here, he could still

learn from his coaches. Uh No, he won't get it has to be on the practice squad and hone his game and maybe at some point he promoted, but he certainly will have a chance to heal and be back again next year. So it's it's a blip for him, but he was doing so well that hopefully we're gonna we haven't heard the last one. I do like that, silver lining. I like that. I like that a lot from the dark clouds of Friday night, but there was there was a fun thing, and that was the what

what would we call it? Six? It was a hundred nine yard not a pun returning, how yet, well we will that's why bringing it up. Yeah, I'm just uh, it's a field goal return. How do they I can't return up the missfield? Okay, they'll tell you's a hundred nine yards. It doesn't going to any stats, no, but it's an it was an electric play and it was an exciting play on what I was really happy about. We nailed it. When I say we, I say, Jean, he nailed it totally. And and I'm gonna let you

listen to it right now. It is. Yeah, it's really good. It's really good. You're ready, all right? Here it goes sixty.

Here's the spot. The kick is going to be short can be returned by Humphreys p frees Ros to the fifteen po Frees to the twenty Potfrees was to the left side of the Cowboy Huffres to the thirty five Humphreys to the forty Humphries to the fifty Parallels to the forty got a block to the thirty Huffres to the twenty Humphres to the Chad hop Frisba scar Hey touchdown Champa Bay one hundred of dine Yard sick returned by and I'm Huffrees. How about that bad portrayal? Oh man,

you're right, that was great that he was. It was funny because it was I have to give credit. It was a group effort because um you you you have to be watching the whole field. And for him, he's got a set up. He's looking at you know, it's a sixty three yarder. He's got to set up every the whole play for you and uh in his ear

and I'll and I'll give t J credit. T J was on the sideline and he goes Humphries underneath the goal post, which I saw, and I go to Jean in his ear, Humphreys under the goal post, for he's under the goal post, so when it comes when it came down, he knew exactly who was there at that time. And it doesn't get a gene call. That doesn't get any better, doesn't get anything. You probably know now, I don't know if you know at the time the sequence

of events there. Um, they called the time out and before their field goal and then before we're gonna they were gonna kick, we called a time out, and and your first reaction is, are we seriously I seeing the kicker in a preseason game on a sixty two yard or at halftime. But that wasn't why Chris Conti I assume, alertly on his own had gone down to field a potential missed field goal because it's an opportunity and someby should take advantage. So kudos to him. But coach obviously

recognized what was going on to call to play. But I mean called the time out and put Adam out there and the rest of his history, I mean, you cannot. I don't care if it's a preseason game, it's still electrifying and as alertly Greg Ahman of now, if the Athletic pointed out the previous week the Buccaneers practiced that specific situation in practice, and it's funny the different situations

they practice. Dirk made a comment after the game that they almost had one last year, but he but he got yeah, and but he came out and got hit around the thirty. But it was the same setup. So it's it's not like, oh, you surprised the Buccaneers on this one. It's funny that they you don't think about it, but they practice those those things will happen by accident. Uh,

they practice. You're up by six and you're it's fourth down, your backed up way by your own goal, and you get in punt formation, but there's hardly any time left in the game, so you might as well just take a safety so you can do a safer free kick because there's not much difference between being up by four and being up by six. That might happen once every three years to a team, but you still practice it

because when it happens, you gotta be ready. In the punter has to know he's supposed to take the snap and run over here. And I mean for that play to work, there's a lot of things that have to happen. Everybody has to do their job. Everybody has to and what was perfect and the whole time is Jeans doing the call. I'm going no flag, no flag, because I mean that was all I was looking for, and no flag once Adam broke free and you could see he was gonna make it. I was looking at all ours

so field trying to find that yellow. Yeah, that was that was fun. The reason that play works is because a field goal team has made up largely of big blocking guys and they're not good at open field tackling. Yeah, Dave pointed that out that yeah, he pointed it out that he goes, Yeah, once it goes, you got a better shot at it, and you only I know we're running a little longer. But the other thing I want to bring up, and we talked about this and you

actually tweeted it out during the game. If we run long, we can just we can just cancel the Mars part. Oh yeah, we don't need Yeah, sure that'll go that. That'll be a crowd please. Um. You brought up the fact that Mike Evans uh o p i um offensive pants interference and we talked about it and it was interesting because Dave Moore made a comment a he doesn't need to do that in that particular play. He does

not need to do that now. O. J. Howard also got called for that, and Dave had a great explanation. He said, that shouldn't that should have not have been a penalty because he didn't push out. He kind of pushed to the side because the guy was grabbing him and that's a big difference. And he in watching the replay, he barely touched him at all. That's what we are, are are you? And he told us that he told us what happened because he went and talk to the reff

and he's like, what happened there? And um, the guy says, from what I see you, you moved him too much. I have to your and so he's the ref basically told him, when you're ref and games with big guys with mismatches against smaller guys, and he referenced Gronk and the Patriots, you see the bigger guy and you see the smaller guy move a little more than you want to see a move, and you you have to throw

in his mind, you have to throw a flag. And probably a majority of the times that's correct, and the particular case on him, he clearly didn't do it. So that's going to be the big key for Mike Evans. They're going to call it on him all the time. So he and I don't know if it's just a habit, you know, just that automatic before he catches the ball,

he pushes. I'm a little bit more of an apologist on this than you and Dave are, because I think there's a lot of plays where the dB has his hands on him and Mike finds the ball first, and when he finds the ball, he's going, he's preparing to catch it, so he has to disengage the hands. He's not a lot of the times, I'm sure Mike Evans is pushed off, but a lot of times I feel like he's not pushing off. He's just disengaging and he's slowing down, stopping, and the dB continues going. So it

looks like he pushed him. This one. There was five of us sitting up there and we saw the replay and there was not a total agreement on whether it was a good call or not. So I could be wrong, they could be wrong. And that's the problem, and is that that he has to avoid the appearance and for at least for a little bit of time. He has to do that because they're going to call it on him. Yeah, it's just that's his Oh yeah, he listen. Mike Evans is a great receiver, and you know, I'm not downing

him at all. It's just it's unfortunate because he has made some awesome catches and I and I think some of those calls are bad. But it's just, you know, you know, perceptions reality that the perception is he pushes off all the time. He made a great catch there, absorbed a big hit, held onto it. Obviously it hurts. He was down for a while. Oh yeah, got caught right in a small on the back and I've had

back surgery and I cringed. In fact, my back hurts after Seriously, you could tell, you could tell how up said he was because that whole time he was down, I don't think he realized yet that the penalty had been called on him. And then he rolls over and he realizes as an O P I And it was like it was it was like that scene in water Boy where they give given the water at the end and he pops straight up. That's what it looked like, straight up. He was mad. Yeah, in fairness, I think

he should be. Yeah. Yeah, So so it's onward. Last preseason game and then uh, regular season begins. So yeah, you know next week will be when we're recording this. I doubt we'll talk at all about the last preseason analysts or with some rookie you made such a great unless an be talking about cuts because after the game, Uh, there may be some on Friday, but they have to be done on Saturday. I think maybe it's six Eastern time.

Get from to thirty to fifty seven players. It's not gonna be easy, especially at some places like linebacker and wide receiver, in defensive line and offensive line. So that's a rough weekend for everybody. Coaches don't like to have to cut these guys. But the important thing to remember, and I did this research yesterday, the thirty seven guys that were trimmed from the roster on that Saturday last year, twenty five of them. We're in trading camps this year.

So this isn't necessarily dreams. It's dreams being slightly deferred. In most games, guys will get another shot. We're going to use that. I'm sorry, Scott, your dream has been slightly deferred. Okay, well that doesn't In radio, we used to call that philosophical differences. We're parting ways, philosophic the difference. That's something new. I hope that never happens. Let's get dot in here. Yes, let's do that. We're gonna finish

up here. You've heard enough from us. Let's hear some great stories from Demark Dotson on our next second, the Salty Dogs. And welcome back to the Salty Dogs Podcast once again. I'm Scott Smith, and who there is? I am still Jeff And you're hearing a third voice now, the first current player we've ever had on our fairly brief history of the Salty Dogs Podcast. And it makes sense. It's the most tenured player on the team. Tomorrow Dotson, tomorrow.

Thanks for being here. You should I think you just called you old. That's what Salty Dogs. Oh all right, yeah, I can't help it. Yeah, keep moving there, you go. All right, we don't always we don't talk about just football in here. So I understand that you were until recently in the food truck business. Yeah, and tell us a little bit about that. I bought a food truck

about two and a half years ago. It was a barbecue truck and a good buddy of minds and he's a good barbecue So I decided to say, ay, you know you bibecue good. You know, I got the fun stuff, you know, put out a food truck. So we decided to go in business. And the food was good. But you know, somehow we just wasn't making no money. It's a lot, yeah, it's a lot more to it. So, you know, the money was I wouldn't say it was

coming up missing, but it just wasn't making none. So, you know, good product, you know, just probably bad, you know, management of the business that we were doing. What was it called? Did I have a clever name? It was on called feal licking Barbecue? Good that it was good? I did try it? Oh you did? Yeah? What's that thinking about it? That that food truck cost me a lot of money? Like, like, who loses out of money in the food trucks? The fastest way to lose money

is but a professional baseball team started start business. I started food. But there's a good way to losing money. Was it was it a struggle to try to find the right place to go with the truck. No, we had we had to actually we had it right there on, we had on there maybe one time. It was moving from there, putting on West Shore AGAINDA And I mean I think that was two good places I had it in. But you know, I just couldn't get couldn't get it gone.

It's all about marketing, and that's that's that's that's one thing. I had a marketing guy and I paid him and he wasn't He didn't do everything he said he was gonna do. So you know, I lost all on that. But it just came at the end of the day. I just it just wasn't making money. So I had to sell it. Well, now you know what you're not gonna do when your foot over and I sold it. I sold a truck for a faction on what I bought it for. Imagine that. Are you glad we brought

this up? I lost a lot of money and it Actually, you wouldn't be the first entrepreneur to start something and it didn't work. Your product was good, but it was really good. Product was real good. So you have to regroup. Maybe after you retired, you regroup a little bit. Think about it, because if the product is good, the product will do it. But you got to get the people there. Yeah, I'm not quitting on the bed and once on the time, I still want them a BUBLCA business, and I still

want to sold for a bitness. That two things that I still want. And and and I just know that I got to be there. If you're not in your business, watching your business, your business gonna fall through. And that's what I kind of realized. Yeah, you couldn't really do that with you. Yeah, and so I couldn't. I couldn't spend the time now, I couldn't be there. I couldn't do everything I wanted to. And you know it shows that it failed. You know what you got that's gonna

make it working a long er? Is you obviously have a passion for it. Yeah, oh yeah, that's important. Nobody he went to school. He went to the school of hard knocks. I can't I can't cook it, but I can show either though. All right, it's the final week of the preseason here. Um, you I'm sure are not going to play in that game, thank you. I doubt you're very upset about that. But you've been there before

I have You've been going into that game. I'm not sure right, it's gonna happen have so that would be oh nine was the first year, right, Yes, First of all, before we get to that, you were playing basketball at Southern Miss and you only played like two thirds of one season of football, right, and you're a defensive tackle, defense, tacker defense in so tell us how the Bucks found you. Well, we think about it. Scouts used to come to to our practicing and stuff, and make a long story short.

One of the scouts was dumb Green. He was a scout for the Temple Bay Buccaneers, and he came to my defensive line coach, you know, told me to go upstairs and take your head, and uh so I went up to his office and Dawn was in. Then the first thing he said to me said, man, you look at offensive tackle, you know. And Doum just kind of like took interest in me because you know, I was a raw kid, basketball player, big athletic, you know, and he just took me as like one of the projects.

So he took he took interest in me. He came down after prod and worked me out individual and then just stayed in contact with me. And then once the draft was over, you know, he called me up and it was like and The first thing he asked me said can you get the temple? And I told him no. Now imagine that. But but but the reason why you told knows you didn't have the capital to get it. Yeah, but but but but what when I think about the long run, like who tells a man you know, no,

I can't make it a town. But he could have said okay, well forget it then, but no, he could said holdo, okay, I'll call you back, and then calling back in and said, okay, I gotta I gotta take it for you. We're gonna bring you up. But its like you started negotiating. But that wasn't smart on that's funny. So so did any other teams figure out what's going? Or was it the Bucks? The other one that looking at you? The Bucks was the only one that gave

him an opportunity. So the fact that your coach told you to stick your head in that room, and that Don Green was there and took one look at your thought offensive tackle, those two things didn't happen. You're probably not here right. It was. It was a favorite and grace of God. I mean, I think that God had a purpose for me to be here. So I think you know, somehow, some way it would have happened because it was his well, but at the end of the day, that that that that's how I played out. It was.

So it's a it was a long, crazy story, but you know, I'm just glad that had happened. Were you ever skeptical about this offensive line thing or soon? Oh? When I first when I first got here, I didn't even bring clease the work out there, you know, that just did. I thought we're just gonna be doing like drills and stuff. So I bought tenants shoes they did, they did not. So when I go in there the first first practic, that's when we're doing two days for you know, on man account, so to get right for

the purpose. Yeah. So I go in there and and and you know, obviously I don't have no cliques. I'm saying, man, I'm in Trump. So I go in there and asked for some clicks. They asked me one side of the way, and man cutting me out and talked to me all kind of bad, called me everything, but but but a child of God, you know. And then they say, hell, I got some side six teens. I'm gonna throw you that. So I go out there the first practice, way outside

of the eight teams. Now I got these sides, six teams on my feet trying to play football, and I'm hurting and I'm messed up, and I come out out of the press. I can't do this. So what I did. I cut the toe out. I cut the whole toe at so my my toes taking out the shoes for the second practice, I'm not doing that and people stepping on my toes, my toes getting stuffed though. I said, I just rot to go out there my tenant shoes, so I would have had my tendance shoes for the

next three and did that. It took him that long to find you a pair of eight teens. You think they'd run out to the store at that point, man, I was unaptif agent. That's trying out the run to the story and give me no shoes. You're doing one of these You're not gonna be here. And that's how the Crypment guy talked Shipment to that. You know, I mean it was just cutting me out and killing me over here. Yeah, but you know that was Jim at the time. You know, Jim and I and I still

got gave Jim hell about that for a long time. Yeah, he own up to it, but I had to mess with him for years about that. But that's fair. What do you think about some of these uh young offensive London right now are playing out of position and filling in like a Mike ld King, Guys like that, depressive Mike, Mike, Mike doing a good job. Mike. Want of those hard, hard hat guys that that can play in a position.

He can play left tackle alway the right tackle, you know, and and he's not a prototype left tackle, but he's he's a guy that's gonna go out there and scratch, You're gonna fight on bite you. He're gonna do whatever he can to get the job done. You know, that's kind of guys you need on this on this team that you know it ain't gonna look pretty at all times, but he'll go out there and stick his head and nothing and he'll do what he need to do to

try to get the job done. So you know, you can't ask for too many guys like that, and it's not too many guys like that. So Mike, Mikeaels is a much needy guy, are you do you kind of just tell the guys, hey, just do what they're asking you to do. Just go out there and get it done. Yeah, especially um, you know, you know young guys like you undrifted fragents because you know, I was on drug fragent, so I got I got a heart for un drove

the Frasers. But you know, the think about it. You know, when I came in as undriveed Fraser, I mean I was hungry. You know, I was trying to do everything that I could to make people, you know, recognize me. If I had to punch in the face, I punched in the face, if I throw you on the ground,

thro going like I was hungry. But when I see undriving, I don't see that same hunger and that same determination and a lot of undriveed free agents that you know when I came there, you know, because I remember one one day in practice, you know, I was going to get games. Adams he was and I was starting to defense the end of time. Yeah, and we had one on ones where two you know, two rushes again and I locked them up and punched him in a face

and threw him and just to him. And the next day and team meeting, you know, coach put me on the screen. They do anybody to know who this guy is, you know, you know, you know from then. Oh, I was just trying to get my name because but you know, you see a lot of guys they undrafted for agent, and I'm like, man, well, e's the sense that I just I don't see it. He sounds like a salty dog those young kids these days, you know, I know, is it a generational thing or is it just a

certain group of guys that I wonder. I don't know what it is that I've been trying. I've been trying to get it. I'm I'm not a big talking so I don't I don't see a whole lot, so I kind of keep to myself, you know. But you know, I just looked from them and the outside, and I'm just looking at is that part though? If you go to college and you're in a college where where you're the star, so to speak, or you're one of the stars, so you get catered to, and then when you finally

get to the NFL, not hungry or not as hungry. Yeah, But I mean, if you're coming as an undrived for agent and how I mean, how big of a start? What's you? Well, you know what I thought it was. But you sometimes driving to work and shake your head and go, damn, I can't believe this is happening all the time, all the time. That's what keeps me hunger, that's what keeps me driving, you know, every day. I mean, I can't, I can't let out because I'm still a guy that came in through the bag though, so I

still think they might come. Man, I still think I might get fired, you know. You know, but hey, that's that's stealing back in my mind, you know, I'm I'm always thinking about that. Like, Man, I don't wan't nobody to ever say he don't work hard. I don't never want to buy to state. Man, he's not giving that a hundred percent. I don't want want nobody to say that.

Bat Man. Well, and you, it's not like you just had to fight that first year in two thousand nine to make that position change and they make the team. You have to keep fighting for several years because you have to keep fight until you got at least one good contract, right. I mean, you know, I didn't get my first opportunity start to two thousand and twelve. It was my first year I had an opportunity to to start you know, and once I got it, man, I just try to you know, fighting and took the life

out of it. But you know, every year from you know, two dollars nine and two ten, I got injured in two dollars ten in the preseason game and the fourth Pieceason game, you know, to mess and put me out for the whole season. So I had to come back that next year and two dollars eleven, improving and and and make this team all over again. So you know, I'm I'm I'm used to it. You know, I don't mind going on hand working. That's that's the way I started,

and I keep that same mantality to the day. This is kind of random, but this is an advantage or disadvantage to be six ft nine when you're trying to play offensive tackle. It's definitely a disadvantage, you know, but but it can be an advantage in the point of you know, you got long gone, so you know you can use your your lit to your advantage. But especially going to get short guys, it can be disadvantaged because, yeah, I always hear you get you're supposed to low man wins, right, Yeah,

and how do you get low on? I got that set my shorter. You gotta just you gotta bid, you gotta bed. I mean a lot of tall guys don't been well. You know what I'm saying. That's why you see a lot of you know, it's hard offense attackles a lot of them. You know, that's why the chaint over keep coming because a lot of them don't been well. And you've got guys that's short, that's coming around the edge. It's getting up on you. If you don't ben, it's gonna put you to the quarterback. You know. So is

it harder for you to to um? I mean, I know you effectively do it to solve them, But is it harder to block Noah Spence than say JPP uh Noah Spence type caliber type player? Um? I mean, I wouldn't. I wouldn't get I wouldn't say. You know, one is more tougher than all. I mean, you know both obviously one gonna offer a different challenge than the other one. But you know, as often attackle, you've got to be at a block of JPP type caudle player. You gotta

be a blocker. Um, I know what Spence type caliger? You just can't say, Well, I do good against JBP, and I don't do good against know what's you ain't gonna last, You ain't gonna be around too long that fourth season. Pret so you have to dress for the fourth game? Um I no, no, no, no, I don't don't know. I'm not dressing I don't think really unless you change it up. But you know, user typically it's not that you don't have to have to dress out. So your mindset now is the first game of the year,

New Orleans. That's that's that's the mindset now. Nothing else, nothing else, That's the only thing that matters. Got for I mean, you know, I mean all of us. You don't want to overlook this game because you still want to root your guys on. You still want to you know, you got a lot of young guys that's fighting for these teams and fighting out only for this team. You got thirty you know one other teams that's looking at this too, So you want guys to go out there

and play well. So my mind set one and yeah, I'm looking forard to on New Orleans. But I'm gonna see those guys on them, you know, because this is how I made my my my opportunity and the four pieces of the games. So you know, I want to tell those guys that, hey, this is where you make your living there right here, so go out and put on a good show. So, as a senior member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you've seen a lot. As we go into this season, you see anything different than you

haven't seen before? Um, I do. Wow. I'm not saying I don't know about never seeing for but I see something that I haven't seen last year. And I see a lot of focus, no, no, this year than I've seen last year. And actually we had hard knocks in hell and and and and even though you know everybody was raving about us and giving us all this big credit, you know you could just see that, you know, it just wouldn't hold a lot of focus because you had too many cameras in here, and people are trying to

do things for the camera. And I just had a feeling, man, go and test with all these cameras and a young team. You know, it's just it's just hard to you know, sometimes you just want to shy away from the cameras because guys want to be around it. They want to say stuff. You can see the camera over there and you know, and they coming around and now you're doing things that you know you typically could wouldn't do, but now you know there's no cameras around, there's no nobody's

giving us a chancing in hell to be good. So now God's just kind of hungering and locked in, and you know, they're trying to say, Okay, hey man, we got to really do it this year. The thing I keyed in on is you said we were a young team last year, so this year, almost everybody's back at it. A few more parts. The coaching staff has been there, so the familiar arty is there. So Scott and I will talk and sometimes you get so close to it.

But the last game, last preseason game, watching the offense play, it was exciting, he's yeah, and and you kind of you had your bets because you've been involved in this for a long time, and of course you're hoping for the best. But but I I think there is a different feeling. So I was just curious if you were feeling the same thing. You gotta prove it, but I gotta prove yeah, but you can feel it to you know, guys more locked in, you know, and and and and

and that's why. That's why I like about it and try to count with stuff. You know, it was a lot of physical. I think coach Man made it. I really something like in the in the off season, I guess John said something, boy, you know, tran camp was kind of soft for something, and I just ow, my goodness, man, what would he say something like that? Fun? So, you know, so so Coding made up in his mind like we're gonna make camp a little more physical this year. Nobody's

gonna call yeah. Yeah, And the camp it was, you know, it was a lot of competition defense, you know, defensive line, offensive line had a lot of competition, and it was a whole lot more physical training camp than its last year. So if the Bucks have a great season this year, you can just imagine how camp's gonna be next year. Yeah. I had had nothing. Yeah, speaking here in good shape, ready to go. Yeah, I'm doing a whole lot better.

I mean, obviously it's gonna be something that I'm gonna have to stay on top of, you know, doing the during the whole season, and you can't just don't let it go to waste. But you know, I mean overall, I'm doing good, good, So that's that's that's that's a good thing, Jeff. As you know, we're recording this on Tuesday, but it's really a Friday in a normal weeks football that we called that's Friday around here because everybody's practices over. Everybody gets to go fast. Let you go because we

kept you paying for you. How's your son doing? Do you know he's actually playing football right now? My son he's seven now, it's nine years old. He looks like he's he's five foot eight, um eight and pals and weast side three ten shooting. I saw him. I remember when he probably it was like three yeah, and I thought, yeah, exactly, that's why he's been trying my playing. He playing off taco tackle right taco. You know, he's in the fourth grade and he's playing with the sixth grade. So he

got my you know, so he excited about that. He's having fun. He'd been wanting to play for he wanted to play last and I was scared about letting the play. I didn't really want to play. I didn't want to play this year, but he was bugging bugg by it. So I said, you know, I just want to do it. Go ahead and do it, you know, so I tried to him take a man, said, listen, I didn't put on the hall man util I was twenty two years old.

So yeah, Well the good news is he wants to do it and he's having fun with it, and as long as that's the case, then it's all good. Yeah. Yeah, he's definitely having fun. So I guess he kind of want to fall in. You know, Dadda steps still doing text messaging and stuff. You're talking about the old office Lineman, like Davin Joe's Up and Donald Pine and jeffan Zoo

keeping all those guys down in touch with all them. Actually, I just take um daughter about a week ago, because you know, I got the you know news that he was switching off from left to the right Tigers. I told him like that. I told him, if you need any advice, then just let me know. I got you. Man. I just know that was a really tight group, and I like to see that. That was a great group. I mean, you know, I'm doing Jeman true Blood, Davin, Joe's Up, Donald and Per, I mean, Donna pan Zoo,

Jeff Faine, you know that group. Man, that is a great group of guys right there. That's that's why I learned a lot from those guys. Remember this conversation because in the next segment we're gonna answer letters and somebody wants to know about the most underrated buccaneer of all time. So there could be some names in there, like, okay, most underrated I get right here, who do you think the most underrated buck player? You just not gonna let

him go on. That's the only thing I don't think that's undervrated own Buck, like one of the most underrated Buck that would be that. That would definitely that would be my most underrated book. Like really Thumb, when you got a good guest, hang on to him as long as you got really that that was a great pro. I learned laugh from that guy. That guy was an excellent pro. I mean it wasn't a pro that came through here since Davn left that that can even get

no way an It wasn't near that. It's pretty much great all around, great guy, great pro, great player. Guy got told me how to get rid of the game as just a great pro. You gotta get him on one day. Yeah, speaking of great, you gotta get that. Speaking of great, you've been a great pro here. You've been a good guy. It's one thing me and Dot always go down the hall. We always say hey, and that's not always the case with with all players. You

guys gotta show man, I gotta watch listen to it. Yeah, we'll get you back on when we get into the playoffs. We'll bring this up and say you called it early house. All right, thanks tomorrow, appreciate your thank you, sir the Salty Dog and we're back here on the Salty Dogs Podcast, our last segment. Yeah, thanks Dot, it's good. You know I listened to this in our so called breaks are like two seconds long. Yeah. I don't think it's believable that we got Dot out of here in two seconds.

Oh yeah, it's the magic of podcasting. Yes, if I say it happened, it happened. Continue, my friend. All right, we have been talking for a long time, so let's zip through these questions. Okay, first one, gonna let you handle. It's not really a question, but I think it's important to bring up UM because in case you're piking this and you want to go back and find the links

to the other ones. Um Ronald or Vic email me in the middle of Wen said I'm having trouble finding a link to your podcast and sent him some help. But you tell everybody all the way, Well, there's an easy way to do it. If you have the Buccaneers app. If if you go to the Buccaneers app and you you download it, well you just open it up and of course in the first few days we will be sitting on we'll be sitting on the front page. Okay,

that's the key, right. You go to the bottom of the page and it says more, and you hit more and then it says podcasts. You hit podcasts and then it loads as I did right now, and there's the Salty Dogs, all of them. It's EASi to find on the laptop than the main side. Yeah, but on the app, Yeah, the app it works great, but it's also it's also on tune in. Tune In is a is a service that we find. Uh. If you subscribe the tune in you want know it's an app it and it'll go there.

Um it's on iTunes. Yeah, yeah, so you can find it, you just you know. But the fastest ways if you have the Buccaneers app, go to more to find it on iTunes. I found out that there's already another Salty Dogs podcast really like a Christian podcast out of like cancer. Well, I could see how people would get us confused overlapping. Yes, all right, like I said, we need to rush through these. I got three of the good. This is a two part question from Chris, but I don't think the first

part matters for the second part. Well, I'm not gonna do them both. Then Okay, how much of a chance is Todd m can have to call plays in regular season games and I'm not gonna continue the rest of it. He's thinking it's a good idea. I think. I think what happens there is that my personal opinion, and this is my personal opinion, is Dirk's going to call the place. I think what Dirk is doing is, um, you know the coaching has likes to come everybody together. They're basically

calling the same place. Yeah, it's the same place. Um, but but here's the danger zone. If we don't do really well, then everybody's gonna say, well then it's should be Todd calling them and they're going to compare the points scored in the preseason against Yes, yes, but it's not going to be. But but I I totally understand why head coaches who are offensive mind didn't want to

call plays. I totally understand why they want And it's important to remember that developing the game plan and having whatever chunk of players you're going to use that week is a collaborative effort between all of them, So they all all have a piece of it. They'll have little It's gonna not gonna be that big deal, all right. His second part was, do you think there's a chance that we see DeShawn Jackson lined at running back when

Bucks are inside the red zone? The Chiefs did it with Tyreek Hill last year and seem to be successful. I don't think so. I don't think the problem with our red zone last year was play calling, was just executing those plays. Yes, he's got so many red zone weapons that I don't think we need to get cute with DeShawn Jackson in the backfield. And why would yes, no, maybe returning uh punts and he did that, and he

did he did. Yeah, that's cool, al right. Next question from Bobby from l A Fantastic podcast last week, though, thank you, This is when we were just teasing, who do you think is the most underrated Buck of all time? My uh would be Brad Johnson. Yeah, he didn't get a lot of He didn't get any credit for the Super Bowl run. And if you look at his career, every team he was on, he got him to the playoffs, Minnesota, Washington, US. Of course he was a backup in Dallas, but his

career prolonged. I think that when he got hurt in the Detroit game and he didn't play in that Monday night game against Pittsburgh, we got we got wiped out. Shaun King and the other Rob Johnson played and they did not play well. And I'll share a little bit with you. I was doing um Jon Gruden's show then and John told me that he said, if we don't get the bull back, we're not gonna win. We need to get We need to get the bull back. And the bull was Brad Johnson. And he had a back injury.

He had a back injury and that was before social media that no one found out about it. He did. He fractured his back and that was kept secret because they wanted him to heal. And when he came when he came back, um um, he was all the difference in the world. So Brad Johnson's my underrat and you know what made that's so important that year we won. We won that game in Chicago, and another game went

well for us. I think it was the Giants beating the Packers or vice versa, and we got the first round by I don't think Brad was gonna be ready for a wild card game, No, and we smoked San Francisco at after he had time to come back, and he actually got hurt early in the game. He was bleeding from or something. Yeah, and he's a tough guy, but he but because of that, that's my undergrad I like that choice. I wrote about this last week and wrote about Carl Williams The Truth. Yeah, I bet you

didn't know. He's played more games than any other receiver in Bucks history. I did not know that. And then he's our all time leader in punt returns, and that in this he had five punt returns from two Only three guys in the entire league had five in that span. Well, we're gonna get him on the Salty Dogs, you know, like he had one more than Dion Sanders did in that span. So I don't think people realize that, but

I have since thought of. To me, the answer to this question is guys that I think more highly up than I think they're generally valued. And I've got two names for you. Joey Galloway, I don't think he got credit for as good as he was. And Donnie Abraham, Oh yeah, no question, don five picks every year. Yeah, yeah, I don't think Donny Abraham has ever gotten enough credit for how good he was. Currently, you gotta say Lavante David because he should have been in five Pro Bowls

by now question. And then probably the biggest name that should have gotten more recognition during his career, never went to a Pro Bowl, but he's in our ring of honor. Paul Gruber, Oh, Paul Gruber was was Mr Buck and he was so good, but he can never make a probable because he was on terrible teams. And then we talked about this last week. He finally gets on good teams and he breaks and breaks a leg and it's but a happy note. Yes I got one more, but I'm a save it. That's up to you. We'll use

it next time. I guarantee tease was from Kent, and I think I've teased that seas in a row. I'm keeping Kent listening specifically to have at least one listener. Everything all right, I appreciate that. Sorry, Kent, alright, very good. Well before you choke over there, i'm gonna say, since you did, thanks for this