Talkin' Cowboys: Daniel Jeremiah 1-on-1

NFL Network. Also Man, His podcast is amazing. He and Bucky Brooks and moves the sticks. He is a color commentator for the San Diego Charges. The one and Only Daniel Jeremiah. How are you, DJ? I'm doing great, Heck. I appreciate you having me on. Two things. First, h A, I love your energy and your smile. It gets pepping me up this morning. And then in the background, I

need the story. First of all, I love the Muhammad Ali pick, but I need the story on the on the bleachers behind you, the bleacher chairs there, because those are pretty dope man. That is from Texas Stadium. I was a nice yeah. So once the rubble went down, I had to get those man. I pulled those out one oh six and one oh seven. Man, So you gotta be a Cowboy fan to sit in those chairs. So I'm gonna ask you to see if we could get you a VIP access over here in these seats.

All right, I tell you true story, true story as we get started here. I grew up a diehard Cowboy fan. You know, I grew up in San Diego, but my dad would do a lot of the chapels for the Charges and for the visiting teams. Or my dad went to seminary in Dallas. He went to Dallas Theological Seminary. So he used to sell programs at Cowboys games, like when he was right out of college. So he had been a Cowboy fan from way back. And then the Cowboys used to come out there as they do now.

Spent a lot of time in California, so he developed a good relationship with coach Landry at that time. So as a kid, we would go down and see that the preseason game against the Charges, and we would go to the Cowboys practice. So I've been a Cowboy fan all growing up. You know. The nineties was when I was in high school. So those are fun times. But

I had never been to Texas Stadium. And I went on a trip with my dad and we had a layover at DFW and it was a long layover, and so I don't ren remember where we're going, but I know we had a long layover in my dad said, okay, we got off the plane. It was a lot easier, like pre nine to eleven at that time to be getting in and out of airports. So we've got a cab.

We went to Texas Stadium. I don't know how there was security was not there apparently, because we walked into the stadium, walked onto the fifty yard line to the star and I remember I was probably like twelve something like that, and I just remember how crown the field was. I had never seen a field that was that crown. You stand in the middle and just look downhill to the sidelines, but was So that's the only time that

I've ever been in there. I've been in the New Stadium a bunch with work, but the only time I've ever been in Technas Stadium and see those bleachers there was when out a long layover DFW as a little kid. Oh my god, no, that is crazy, man, That Crown was there all the way through the eighties, late eighties and early nineties, so that had to be at that time. But DJ Man, I really appreciate you for joining me.

But I gotta ask you, man, how are you and your family doing doing all of this COVID nineteen that we have going on in America? Yeah, I think you know, like all of us, right, we're just hitting in there just to a new way of life. We've been able to get out a little bit more. I mean, we were really cooped up for a very long time, and you know, California, like Texas, we've seen you know, spikes. So we're very careful wear a mask and social distance

and we follow all the guidelines. But we've played a lot of card games as a family. We've said a lot of time together. I tell you what, there's some things and I think from a broad standpoint, like for football wise, from operations standpoints, outing, and even like personally, there are more efficient ways to do things and maybe we've done them in the past. And I think once we get on the other side of this thing, some

of the practices we've picked up. I know I have like individually work wise as well as the simple things like calling ahead for your order and then pull up into the parking space and they bring you out your food while everybody waits in that long drive through line. Genius. So I'm trying to find some positives that we can take out of this when this is all over. How are you? How are you going? By the way, man, Man, Man, hey, I'm the same. I'm the Juno champion in my household,

so crownding myself. So this a lot of card game, card games, board games, all of that going on over here. But with the time that I have with you, man, I want to get right into a DJ and so I'm going to ask you to play Roger Goodell. You are the commissioner of the NFL. Right now, you feel richer right right now? I say that you're so with everything that's going on with COVID nineteen and everyone is waiting to hear what this season is going to be like.

And again I'm asking you to play Roger Goodale. So you're going down into your Roger Goodale bunker and about to see your lazy boy, and you're thinking to yourself self, I'm a genius. I'm the leader of the largest one of the largest leagues in the world. Are you thinking that you're going to delay the NFL the start of the NFL season because of the of COVID nineteen or go forward and take examples from MLB and NBA and if someone comes down with it, we'll just isolate quarantine

things like that. What do you think this season is going to look like and what's going to be the best way to go through a season start to finish. Well, He's got so many decisions he's got to make, and that's a lot of weight on his shoulders when you think about the obviously start with the safety of everybody involved at the very top of the list, and then you also have the finances involved for everybody that's in the league and associated with the league. So that's a

lot of responsibility on his on his plate. I mean, look me personally, I know there's been some talk about out, you know, going we're going down to two preseason games, and now there's talk players association. You know, I would prefer if we had no preseason games, and to be honest with yeah, I'm okay with that. Whatever gets us to week one safely that we can launch this thing and get it started like that's the first phase is

can we get this thing up? Um. So once you can get it up, now we worry about how do we maintain it going forward. But I think that's the first place I would start. And you know, I you know, in a normal year, having you know, two three preseason games, I think it is beneficial for was probably a bit much. But in this special, unique circumstance, man, let's just get

to week one. If you come to come to training camp with you know, say eighty players, limit that number down a little bit to say eighty Um, no preseason games. You just gotta get yourself ready to go. Allow for the fact that it's a sixteen games season. You know, you can you can afford to adjust a little bit in the first quarter of the season, then find your stride and still have a chance to accomplish all your goals.

So that would be the area that I was going and then have the plan in place that once, um, you know, once we do have you know, the pose of tests are inevitable. They're going to happen. Is those proper protocols you negotiate with the players Association so we can take care of these guys. But I'm optimistic if we can get to the first part of it, which is get the thing going right, get us up to week one, that we can make the adjustments as we go along to get through a season. Yeah. Now, look, man,

I am I told you before in our introductions. Man, I'm a big fan of yours. I followed a lot of your podcasts, and I want to ask you Mike McCarthy question. And you know, as Mike McCarthy's basically at Green Bay, he had one hundred percent of his playbook at his disposal because of Aaron Rodgers. Now he's in Dallas. He has a young quarterback, well fifty year quarterback and

Dak Prescott. I've heard you make a lot about twelve personnel, and you know, Mike McCarthy loves of love and personnel and he can do a lot out of twelve as well. But you talked about those teams that have had success, and these are some of your upper echelon teams like the forty nine ers and the Vikings that played that

big boy Bawling. We have a running back that is ball control personify, right, And so when you look at Mike McCarthy and just basically the learning curve with him and Dak Prescott sending him Obviously with the contract, he's going to be in the upper one of those quarterbacks as far as his contract, but as far as playmaking ability, how does Mike McCarthy fee and grow Dak Prescott from

where he is right now? Well, you know, I think, you know, we talk about the importance of twelve personnel and the shift the league has made a lot of those top offenses are utilizing that. Well. The Cowboys, you know, even as a different coaching staff, offensively move the ball

as well as anybody last year. And I think when you look at the addition of Ceedee Lamb, they're kind of built as an eleven personnel team and they're gonna be able to spread you out and then let Zeke take advantage of some of those lighter boxes because of the weapons that you have on the outside. So I'd anticipate we'll see more of that. But I'm fascinating, you know,

Mike McCarthy. We just think of the offense that he ran, you know, in Green Bay and going back to the Niners, having the time off that he did to study trends, to study the college game as well, you know, as the unique skill set that Dak brings to the table. You know, Dak and Aaron Rodgers, they're both athletic, but Dak what he can do as a runner is on

a whole other level. And so I'm curious to see how much quarterback run game they're going to incorporate into this offense, because you won't find a better backfield in terms of the combination with Zeke and Dak in terms of the size and the power to be able to do what they want to do and the durability to hold up to some of that. So that, to me is what I'm fascinated to see, is do we see

the exact same offense we saw in Green Bay? Are we going to see some some new additions and a newer version as some of the things he learned during his time off Absolutely Now with one of the stronger parts of our team has been for years, our offensive line. I mean, we have p pro bowler all the way across now with the retirement of Travis Fredericks, which us all off guard for this dreadful disease, but we wish

him nothing but the best in his retirement. Now we enterest Joe Looney who's had an opportu the need to step in for Frederick in the past. However, in the draft we go in and we get in the fourth round a guy by the name of Tyler Beatis from Wisconsin and All American, all World guy. Also at left guard we have Connor Williams and Connor McGovern, a guy from Penn State that missed all of last year because

of a peck injury. Now, aside from Tyler Badish Beardish, all of these positions are interchangeable Week one, starting five for the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously your usual suspect and left guard, right guard and right tackle. Who do you sing me it's gonna start for the Dallas Cowboys at center and at guard. Yeah, I think you're gonna see Looney and I think you'll see Counor Williams. I mean that to me. I think you start with just have an experience and

you're in a new system. I think that that veteran group right there with those guys, I think that's where you start, and we'll see what Beotist can do as he gets adjusted to the NFL game. I know they love to pound the rock and you saw that in college with him him and you saw him move people. But I thought past protection, there's still some room for growth for him and to develop. So you know, look,

it's the NFL. As much as the Cowboys, as good as they are running the football, it's still you're gonna put the ball up a lot, and there's still some development for him there in the passing game. So I think I would trust the guys that have been there a little bit, and then with McGovern and be honest, you kind of let's let's get them up to speed

because in any year you need depth on the offensive line. Now, when you start thinking about potentially what could happen if you get a positive test and guys have to sit down, you're gonna need to come into the season with nine guys that are gonna be able to roll through and play eventually at some point in time. So we'll see him, We're gonna see all those guys, but that would be the five I would start out with. All right, that's an answer I was looking for it. Man. Now move

the sticks with you and Bucky. I want to tell you I have you guys. I get alerts every time you post a podcast, and I promise you I've already been. I've already been a guest on the podcast with you yelling from my car. But you know, when I look at it and I'm just wanting to go on the other side out of the ball with the Cowboys defense.

And look, we had a big loss and free agency with Byron Jones leaving Fort Miami, right, but executive VP Steven Jones and also Will McClay go into the draft and they get a guy that you have ranked in the second round and Andrey blond Dix. But I believe that we got a absolute still in the fourth round and Rensie Robinson out of Tulsa. I know you have a lot of great things to say about him, and obviously income and Mike Nolan and the and being the new DC. How do you see these rookies making that

impact for the Dallas Cowboys secondary. Well, I think when you talk about dbs that can come in and make an impact, you talk about guys that can get nose to nose and play man. You know, because as you're adjusting the schemes and coverages and adjustments that can take some time to get comfortable. And with the limited offseason, you know that's that can be a little bit of a challenge. But when you're talking about guys that go nose to nose, and that's what Reggie Robinson can do.

I mean, he's got the size, he's got the length of speed. To me, he's somebody that would just outstanding ball skills. So there's a lot that he can bring to the table, and I think he will have a chance to get on the field relatively early. I'll make sure to see that competition between those guys with him at Diggs. You know, Diggs is Diggs is Again you talk about somebody can get nose to nose and do

all those things in press coverage. Absolutely, I think Robins has a little more upside than Diggs, even though he was selected later. So that's one of those deals where I think somebody's picked higher and everybody just assumes at that position and that role is going to go to him early on. I wouldn't write Robinson out of that just yet. I make sure to see those guys battle it out. Now. I gotta ask you, man, as far as Diggs and Robinson, who do you believe has the

longer NFL career between the two? Well, I mean, that's it's tough to say, at this point in time, obviously with Digs, you look at the pedigree, you know, with the family, you look at playing at a high level at the top program in the country in Alabama. That's you know. I just think if you're saying what's the safer pick, probably Digs. But if you're saying who has the most upside, I might even lean towards Robinson on that and just that he has a little bit more

that he can achieve. He's gotten further distance to travel to get there. But I think that could be a pair we talk about this guy or that guy, that couldn't be a combination where that's your starting corners um in the future for this team for a long time. Yeah, DJ, I believe that Robinson, had he gone to a Power five school, he would going a lot higher in the traff But look, this is now, we've gotten to the end of this man. We can kind of let our hair down a little bit. And I got well, you

can let your hair. You got more. You got some beer going there by the way, mustache. It lasted for twenty four hours and they got shut down. Executive decision. Hey look it looked good, man, You look like a guy that gets Hey, you look like a guy that still gets id at the store anyway, So it kind of gave you that Latin love or look. Bro. Yeah, it was. It was not a good situation. It was

not a good like when the kids. When you've got one daughter calling you the skinny Paul Blart, and you've got another daughter, you know, calling you Mario from the Mario Brothers. It's not It's not a great place to start. So we had we had to send him packing last night. Paul Blart. Yeah, they had to get it cut off real quick. Right now, I got to ask you. I gotta ask you some. I gotta ask you some. This is my favorite part, man, I rapid fire questions. Now.

I know that you are a big time baseball fan, right yeah, I've done my homework. I know you're a baseball guy. The top of the ninth in in the bullpen opens, you got one guy to come through that door. I got two names for you. Yeah, Mariano Rivera are a rich Goose gossage O. I would take Goose just because I'm a Padre fan, but I would I would try and summon. I would see if they're where's Trevor Hoffman at us. He just he's got to be back of that bullpen somewhere. That's my guy. Give me and

get Hell's bells comes. I mean, like people think about Entrance, you know Entrance music. Now it's like no big deal and everybody has it. He was like the dude that was the one, like nobody had that. He did it. And then I think after that, Mariono Rivera started coming out with Sandman or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, but no so Hoffman. I mean when you think about the old Jack Murphy Stadium, the old Qualcomm Stadium was a football stadium where they played baseball basically, and they'd have big

games in the playoffs. You'd have you know, seventy five thousand people and they're for a baseball game, and then you'd hear that, you just hear the gung and the whole place would just go nuts. Yeah. Fun times. Absolutely. Now. I know you had an opportunity to see a lot of NFL stadiums, and I want to ask you about if you would rank these as the worst stadiums, and okay, two stadiums in particular, Oakland Coliseum or the VET in Philadelphia. YEP,

I would say I've been in both. Just I would say Oakland's worse because it's more recent in my memory having gone up there. It's just there's leaks everywhere, like it was not a good situation. Then you see the palace they're moving into in Vegas. It's gonna be nice out there. That's a big win for us calling Charger games to head to Vegas for that one instead of to the coliseum in Oakland. Absolute upgrade right there. Now, I gotta ask you, flower of corn tortillas, corn all

day long, Corn of flower never waits. That is crazy corn all day long. All right, I got a name for you. What comes to mind? I say this name Chris Mortenson, Oh mentor friend us, He's the best. That would be what I would say about Mark the best. All right. Now, final final question. I'm gonna put you into Michael J. Fox de Lorean from Back to the Future. Oh nice, okay, And I'm gonna ask you what were

you doing on September twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four. September twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four, I would have been June. I would have been a junior in high school. Probably, I don't know what day of the week that was but high school football during that time. What's going on September twenty fifth. Oh, you just went for two hundred and fifteen yards and a cutch couple, a couple of tubs, you know, just doing it, easy work. Uh, therefore as

an alcohol Christian beating. Yeah, man, how did you see? I gotta do my homework. And the thing is, I may be new, I may be new to this business, but I realized you never give away your sources. Right. That's good work right there. Heck, that's fantastic. That was Brethren Christian. That team they had, they had a player by name of Reggie Davis who was a line He was a quarterback in a linebacker. He went on to play the University of Washington and then played the National

Football League for several years. But yeah, they were They were very athletic. It was a good team. Yeah. I told you I'm gonna put you in the deloring and I went against the time to see and for the deloring. I figured you relate to that. But DJ, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Man. I'll tell you what anytime, man, I really enjoyed it. I loved everything about it, from your background to your bleacher, to your questions to your research.

It was awesome, all right man. Well, look, thank you so much for sitting down with me. I hope to get an opportunity to speak to you in the future. If you want to read any articles on DJ please go to NFL dot com. I do recommend that you subscribe to as podcast with Bucky Brooks and that's moved the sticks on Apple again, thank you so much for joining us. I'm HECKM. Harrison and thank you for joining Talking Cowboys.