Talkin' Cowboys: Marcellus Wiley 1-on-1

and god knows we're all hoping for that. But today I have a special guest, a ten year NFL that All Pro Ivy League Hall of Famer, author, former ESPN, NFL analysts, and current hosts of Speak for Yourself on Fox Sport one from Compton to Columbia. My man, Marcellus, that dude Wiley, how are you? Brother? Of doing great man? And thanks for the obituary before. It always feels good.

But I know who I'm talking to right now, so I gotta i gotta address the elephant in the room first and foremost, I'm sorry Dallas Cowboys for who you got in terms of Marcelves Wiley and production and performance. My one year cup of coffee in Dallas. But I was so blessed to be one to call Dallas one of my four homes in the NFL. And I still get the most love and adoration and fan support from the Dallas Cowboys despite me giving them my worst performances.

But hey, sometimes you're the last person to realize that you're no good anymore. And I realize that in Dallas for ourselves. Hey, once the cowboy, always the cowboy, you know, the model. And so this whole one on one series that we have, Man, it's all about going and talking and having those conversations with former Cowboy players or someone that's linked into the metro play. So this is a really important series for us, and man, I'm just so thankful to have this opportunity to sit down and talk

shot with you. But before I get started, man, I want to just ask you, how are you and your family dealing with all of this COVID nineteen ism man that we're having to deal with right now. Yeah, my wife, I'm so blessed to have her in terms of her

understanding of the medical world. She's anesthesiologists and with a nurse background, she understands exactly how we should tackle medical issues and health issues when they're obviously invading everyone's life right now in terms of the personal, the public, what you should do in terms of mask and social distancing. She's a great translator of all the information that is flying by me and all of us left and right. That said, I've really created my own island in terms

of my social distancing, my quarantining. We've been as great as you can be in any circumstances. And my kids, thankfully three of them are very young for one and a couple of months old, so they don't know any different unless we show it in our emotions, show it in our reactions. Yeah, they missed school, but at that

age two of them didn't even attend school. And my four year old was like, well, this is a long break, dad, And we talk about Corona and there are some things he asked for, and I say, well, once the Corona virus is gone. So now he uses that a part of his conversation, like, once the Corona virus is gone, Dad, can we go here? So tecting my energy, I'm protecting

my family. And I know a lot of people are affected in a negative way by this, and I make sure to have my empathy for them and do my part, which is be responsible, socially distanced, and make sure I keep that mask on. Everybody has to do that, and that is the going thing going for everybody. You know, keep that mask on, stay safe, And just really happy to hear that you and your family are dealing well

with this because these are at first times. I mean, I've never seen anything like I know you haven't either, so it's definitely an adjustment to everyone's lifestyle. But I want to relate this to the NFL and what's going

on right now. You being a ten year veteran in the NFL and having to get your body prepared for the rigors of an NFL season, and you have articulated that very well in your career as a broadcaster, but just looking at the new environment with COVID nineteen and I also have to get ready for us man this from your opinion, do you believe that we're going to see a traditional NFL season that starts in September and finishes in February. We will see an NFL season, it

won't be traditional, and that may be a positive. Take you back a couple of months where we had the draft and it wasn't a traditional draft, but it was a positive in terms of we're us watching these players in the comforts of their home, and even the commissioner sitting there on this is big sofa just chilling. You humanize the experience because a lot of times you can get far away from the core of the matter, which

is someone made their dreams a reality. The first pick overall Joe Burrow and mister irrelevant who I don't know his name. That's the point. That guy made his dreams of reality, as well as undrafted free agents, and it was just good to see the human element come out using the technology like we're using right now. And it was the highest rated draft history, So like it was a positive, that positive. I think that's gonna be the

same with the NFL season. Two things are gonna be at play, and I want fans to understand saying one that football in the NFL is a television product. They make billions and billions of dollars because of TV writes. They make millions and millions of dollars because you get to go to the game and get to sit there in your seat and buy popcorn, buy beer, and get a jersey. Y'all know the math. Billions versus millions, billions are gonna win. So what they need to do is

lean into Look, we understand the economic health balance. And you can't say this in so many ways. You got you gotta know how to dance with elasticity in this one. But I'm gonna say it to you correctly and directly. We have to treat COVID when it comes to the NFL experience like we do physical injuries. If you get a high ankle spring, you're out four to six weeks. If you get corona, you're out two weeks. Quarantining simple

as that. Don't care who the player is, Sorry, don't care what team it happens to, and sorry, we're not stopping the NFL. Why do you have to approach it that way? Because anything short of that, you're gonna be jump starting and stopping foot on the brake, foot on the gas, and you're not gonna go near where you're intending. So I think fans will understand from leadership if they say we're going to play this year, but no fans in attendance. And the Fellas said, well, depending on city

by city, state by state, we will have fans. I'm o't care with that. But if we don't have fans, imagine this, you're watching the game at home, and we all know we love a game at home because if you're at home, you get to watch all the games, whether it's red zone, flipping the channel, you got eight hours of straight football, if not more. No traffic, no long bathroom lines, nobody yelling at you, security not running by you because someone just had a fight, all that stuff.

It's you to remote your beer. You're chilling and you're watching the game. You're like, we're the fans. Oh they are there. CGI. We watch Jurassic Park and we have never seen a real dinosaur in our life, but we think they're real. We watch Jurassic Park. They need to CGI to fans into the arenas and make them guys jump up, make them gals jump down, make them scream, make them have boredom, whatever happens during the normal course

of the game. Give me three hours of fake people in the stands on the sideline and give me my normal football game. That's as close as we can get to reality. And I think that's the best proposal. Do you just tie in Jurassic Park and CGI and to the fan experience, Libby, I gotta because Jurassic Park one of my favorite movies. And when you said CGI, I was right there with you. In the bubble contained everybody else. You have no hands out the windows, don't get your

home made off, you know. So that's the same thing absolutely with the virus. But you know with things restarting, with the MLP restarting their season, also the NBA, and man, what they're doing in Disneyland. I mean, they're putting these guys in a bubble for three months. That's not gonna be any outside. You know, nobody going outside, nobody going inside.

And when you think about that as a player, with everything that they're trying to do to ensure that that will be a season, is that something that you think that you could have adhered to during your playing days. Hey, there's a lot of reports about how the bubble is

gonna look. Some people call it the bubble. Some people call it an illusion because you gotta be real, like those service essential workers at room service, the maids, they're going home, They're not staying in that bubble like you know. So the bubble is not even perfect, whether it's in reality or even in imagination, it's not going to be perfect. And the players supposedly can go to certain local restaurants. Supposedly they can go golf, you know, take their mind

off the game. That's gonna break the bubble as well. So that's why I lean into what I said, which may sound a little heartless, but it's the reality. If someone contracts it, put him in a corner et y'all see the movie. Put them in the bubble with his whole little bit bubble. He just gotta sit there for two weeks. That's that's life. He has a high ankles, praying for two weeks. That's how we're gonna treat him. But in reality, what I've been able to do it absolutely.

I'm not even gonna lie to you, guys. I tell you exactly my emotional thought process. It will be this. I get paid not for the things I want to do. I get paid the big bucks playing a child's game for the things I don't want to do, because they give us millions and millions of dollars and we have to make tremendous sacrifices. But guess what they also pay you for all the things that are not glamorous about

the game. So you got to keep that in mind that a paycheck comes with service, and I have to serve not only my job and something that is a dream that is now in reality for me. But more so than that, you have to look at it from the perspective of I only have so many years to do this. I don't care how good, how great I am. I have the finite shelf life. I only have a few years to do this. Whether that's ten years, twenty years, or two years, that is short in comparison to what

life is offering you. So as a means to an end, which sports are, I have to go out there get my game on while I still can, while I'll still love healthy mind, body and spirit. So for me, it would have been a no brainer. People be like, wow, you're not nervous. I said, yeah, but I've been nervous for every football game too. I still played dinner. So I'm gonna do thing with this. I'm gonna understand the risk, but I know I would be out there trying to

ball out. I'm good. Man. Well, listen, we gotta get down to it. You gotta buckle your seatbelt, man, pull

your astray out because we bring it some smoke. Right now, I want to talk to you about this year's the Cowboys team that obviously everybody thought that the Cowboys would be going defense at seventeen, and when you saw the Cowboys take Cede Lamb at pick seventeen, where you as surprised that that the Cowboys picked him at seventeen or that he fell to seventeen more than he failed to seventeen.

Watching him play some of those four coming games, You're like, yeah, Lee, like he was a joystick out there just just going through the defenses. You're like, just do the special next level of talent. And look, I'm one of the guys that lean offense when it comes to how you share approach. You you're scouting approach, your personnel, and your philosophy. You gotta lean into the offensive weapons because I played defense. I actually played on the number one defense in the

NFL one year we lost in the wildcard game. You understand, people don't get this, and I'd be like, I'm trying to tell y'all, if a great offense versus a great defense, the defense is gonna lose a hundred and one times out of a hundred and It may not add up like that in the numbers, I get it, but in reality, in my mind, I'm like, a great defense will keep a team to three points. Six points, yeah, a great offense is like we were scoring thirty, Like we're putting

up thirty, so minimum. And so I'm like, when you have that collision course, if it's a tie, if they're comparable, lean offense, it's much easier to score than to go out there and saying you're not going to score. So you one mistake, one gap assignment that has missed, that's six points, and that could be the ball game. You're a great defense. You gave a one on playing. But the offense is like three and out, three and out.

We saw it last year with the Chiefs. Three and out, three and out, three and out, all that down ten and all that down twenty one and and why and then it's over. So I'm glad the Cowboys leaned offense. I'm glad they leaned into the receiving corp even though they have a great duo. Now you got it, so and Dak Prescott just has more weapons to play with. So I think it was a smart play all right. Now,

if you know anything about Dallas. Man, there's a date that we all have circles on the calendar, and that's you lout of the fifteenth, and I'm sure you, like everybody else, your phone just blew up with a notification that somebody you know who, you know where just got a ten year deal, which amplifies everything that we have

going here in Dallas with Dak Prescott. What do you think that Dak has to do or what hasn't he done to actually get that contract that pushes him into that stratosphere of some of your upper echelon guys in the league. Yeah, it's amazing that there's a new ceiling in an NFL based on this new ten year deal. Right, And if I'm Dak Prescott, I'm like, the ceiling is

heaven who ten year deals? And we don't know the numbers yet, but for me, I'm not signing anything under five hundred million, Like if there's not half a billion because of the TV deals and the new CBA's hell no, I'm not signing this. So we'll see what the numbers are, but that can't do anything else. This is on Jerry, This is on Stephen in terms of chasing that high and I know it's tough. It's easier said than done.

Their first six years owning the team, they want three super Bowls, y'all, Like imagine buying a team and then you blink and you're like, oh, every other year we won in the Super Bowl and then contention pretty much every other year. Insane. But now since that moment in ninety six, they've been chasing that high and they spent money here, there, everywhere trying to get it. And then finally they find a fourth rounder who basically supposed to

sit there behind Romo with chill, Romo has hurt. He comes in, he wins thirteen games his rookie year, and I think somewhere in their spirit they said, maybe this is the time we don't have to spend it, and we may wait, maybe we can get him on the cheat finally, because we spend all our money trying, let's try a different approach. First time ever a Cowboys quarterback

has been franchised. Despite when you put the gun to his head last year and said we're not going to get you a new deal, go out there and play your last year of this deal out, he just went out there and pr personal record said, oh before you said, oh, team success, yes, but you don't have the individual numbers. Then he went out there and got the individual numbers. Says, stop moving the goal post, Hobbie, I know what it is. You're trying to keep me for the lolow. All right,

here's the problem, Jerry and Stephen. The lolo keeps getting higher and higher because when Dak looks at what Patrick got and what the Shan's gonna get and it won't last as long, but maybe a Lamar Jackson next year, Oh good, Laurence, and then they're gonna keep coming and keep coming because you're gonna have a way to trivia. Lawrence, we can talk about to him. Maybe how about just too many guys gonna get paid? Jimmy g was the highest paid quarterback in the year in the league two

years ago now like mid pack. So the point of the thing, Hey, if you don't want to pay him now, you certainly gonna pay him later. Yeah. The price goes up, it don't go down, right, So absolutely so. And another what I want to get to is something that I think is is very awesome about your career. Now you have played for some Hall of Fame coaches and Marv lev and Bill Parcels and Marty Schottenheimer is a guy that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Just

my personal opinion. Yeah, man, And in that transition for you in San Diego, your coach first was Mike Riley, and then obviously Mike Riley gets gets let go, and then it comes to Marty Schottenheimer, right, coach that has respect already of the locker room from what he's done in the league. Already looking at this current Cowboys gene change from Jason Garrett and now Mike McCarthy, how do you feel that this veteran group is going to be able to deal with the mind state change and just

you know, just overall strategy change with Mike McCarthy. Well, I think it's gonna go. Well, Mike McCarthy's kind of underrated as a coach. He has a Super Bowl shifts high went for centage. People sleep on him. He wasn't even in the top ten rankings. I just saw a couple of days ago and I'm like, we got other guys in there, and this guy's want it all. And he helped evolve with Aaron Rodgers into one of the

greatest quarterbacks we've seen. But for some reason, I guess because he had reports of getting a massage at work, which I've done a dolland times like that, all of a sudden, names he's not a great coach. Whatever, b ask Anyway, we move forward to the point where we're here now, and you get a coach that walks in and every coach walks in like they're a new sheriff

in town, and here's my new set of rules and laws. Remember, whenever you see someone and football's militaristic, it's kind of like, yes, sir, no, sir, I do the right things. You got an assignment. You go out there and you do your assignment. Whenever you see someone in that position, you always check their sleeves and you check their stripes. And if it's a former player, they got a certain level of stripes. If it's a guy who has a record of winning and success and

building programs, he has more stripes. You look at Mike McCarty's that sleeve is full of stripes. So his message should resonate quickly with these guys, and it should be effective because you trust in it. Most of the time you waste for the new coaches just trying to trust him. You're like, all right, I hear you. And especially when it's a younger coach than you, it's tough. But Sean McVay didn't prove that. But you get the young guy

in there. He wasn't even good. He didn't even go thro and they're like, man, if he don't shut up, and especially if it doesn't work fast. So Mike McCarty, he has that luxury of experience or resume, and they should work for the Cowboys absolutely. Now when you look at the going and I want to touch on something that I think is going to resonate with you, and that's the Cowboys defense. Now, they had their struggles last year. It's documented they lost some guys in production with Robert

Quinn who went to the Chicago Bears. But they did upgrade with dump Terry Poe and Gerald McCoy, Alvin Smith being reinstated into the league and also Randy Gregory. With the addition by subtraction maybe mantra that we're going into with this season. Do you believe that the Cowboys have solidified their front as a defense, Well, definitely on paper.

You gotta respect that. Here's the thing you look at, look at this team, and you look at their under achievement last year, and maybe they're overachievement a couple of years ago. What's the law of averages? Like, were they really in terms of talent and more so in execution? A lot of times you get lost in the talent conversation. Could you just read the names and you read their production, you think it all adds up. It's not about adding up.

It's about fitting in, you know. And a lot of times you can be greater than some of your parts or lesser form that chemistry that bond, the unspoken language. When you can have that as a defensive in with your defensive tackle, just look at him, he's like, Yeah, I know we're about to get this. We run a play that we don't even have to call or even have to speak on. That's what you need, that cohesion. So the projections of the defense, yeah they look talented.

Yeah they're gonna have a chip on her shoulder. Could last year they kind of let the Cowboys down based on expectations. But it has to come together. I am not one to predict how things are gonna look because I've had too many teammates that said yes, sir no, sir war paint, all right, let's go out there and kill them and sorry as hell. And then I had guys who was just laying back chilling, watching watching TV, reading magazines, giggling, and out there and destroy your books.

So it's about collective mindset and cohesion. We'll see how they played. Now. For Jerald McCoy, what I think is very interesting. This guy has been all world, all pro in his career. Now he's at the downside of his career. And relating this to your time in the NFL ten year, your ten year career, Gerald McCoy, This is going to be his tenth year. As you know, Cowboy Nation, our expectation of Gerald McCoy, as he's come in and fix

the problems that we had up front. How do you feel Where do you feel he is right now and where his production will be after ten years in the league. Yeah, I mean this pretty much in terms of perception, will be his last attempt to preserve that name of Gerald McCoy, And it's you know, look, it's hard to make an NFL roster. Let alone get on the field and make plays. Let alone be a name that everyone knows when you say it, Gerald McCoy. Oh yeah, I know he is.

So he's already had tremendous success to live in that same realm and perception of expectation. This is it. He messes up this year, and trust me, they're gonna be looking at him like, yeah, all right, yeah you can. You can like try for the position, you can work to be the starter. Like it's just a whole different animal. And I've been there. I've been at the top of the mountain and at the bottom, going down fast with

no breaks and know how it goes. So this is the last opportunity where people will hold him before seeing it in high regard. The problem is if you don't live up to this moment, if you fall shorten this moment, even if you do great things next in the next situation, next year, whatever it may be, they're gonna be hesitant to give you your fair do So if he's Jerald McCoy of old, which I expect, he knows what it is. This is some crazy circumstances to try and like continue

your career of greatness. But he needs to be on his grind and on his mis and stand out. If not, it's gonna be a far far drop from what it used to sell us. There was a name that if that list and Marcus Lawrence now here in the Dallas market. We look at our guys through microscope. You know, we're concentrating on them all the time. You a guy that the part of the national media. You look at everybody, all thirty two teams. But in your opinion of DeMarcus Lawrence,

he's all world to us, right? But do you see him as that Apex Predator top five guy and his position in the NFL? D law Man who that dude the ball got a chance to talk to him this offseason as well. I love the guy on the field, off the field of respect for him. What you have to do is find the consistency necessary to be one of the greats, and that's something that is very difficult to achieve. I had two great years and then a couple of years and then who's that? And the point

of it is the greats. I played with Bruce Smith, I played, I was drafted to be the next Bruce Smith. He left. They cut Bruce Smith because of me. That's like walking around saying they cut Michael Jordan because of you. You're like, yeah, I'm the man I've been in that place. I've been in those shoes. If you can't consistently stay in that position. And last year was not the best of d Law, and Dan is so weird. It would

he had five sacks, So Dan is weird. You can go out there and not do that much and the ball just drops and the quarterback is grabbing and you're grabbing sack. There's times when you could just have contained coach, like all you gotta do is run up the field and stay still. Quarterback bootlegs right to you. There are plays when you're like, yo, I ain't really like do that much and I got one. And then there are plays where you beat three dudes and the third second,

fourth second, you're going right to the quarterback. He grows the ball and that gets nothing. That gets no mess, no metric. So I saw the film of d Law. He still got it. D Law has top five potential the years prior to this. He showed that in execution and production. But it's tricky out there watching Bruce Smith, no one studying the gang, Studying guys who did that consistently excellent for five, ten, fifteen years. That's a whole different animal than having a couple of good years and

one suspect. So I just want to see the consistency. I think he has a talent. I think he has the mindset. It's just you gotta keep those numbers up there or we're gonna come at you. Bro. Mysell is that is a wonderful answer. Thank you for that. And I think you know again, the way that we see him, he's all world you know, and comparable. We know that he's that dude too, right. But I got something for you, man, I got some rap rapping this whole thing up. I

got some rapid fire questions for you. I look, man, I've done my homework on you, my homework on you. I know all about you. Man. It's been a pleasure just getting to see your career and where you came from and all of that. Man, So I know you being a California guy. California is the land of Taco. So we're gonna we're gonna get this started, right, corn or flower torts, Corn, no doubt, no corn, no doubt.

All right, So players, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel, Elliott, Kathy what yeah, yeah, I mean, look, I love you, Zeke, but I need a little more consistency. You let Dack down last year to hold out using Marshall Falkes your microphone, and then some of these issues off the field. I ain't hurt Smack, none of that and and Smack playing nine positions with no quarterback. Yeah all right. So you spend time at Columbia, so you're a bit of a New York guy as well.

So New York pizza, Roscoe chicken and waffles. That's because they both are the best. Um, I would have to go Rosco's because my rationalist, I've had great pizza outside of New York, but I haven't had great chicken and waffles really outside of roscos And either Rosco's has fallen off because the chicken ain't is good, but the waffle. The waffle has never lost the game in his life. But the chicken. They need to they need to actually import Popeyes into Rosco's for the chicken part and keep

their waffle. That's answering, all right. So big question, because I know you are a come to California guy that went to Columbia all the way to New York. During the heights of the East Coast, West Coast of be Tupac of Biggie whoa you are wrong for these questions. I would have to take Tupac because he had more albums, more songs, more body of work. But in terms of

like who's the better rapper? Who Biggie? Biggie had two albums, one was a double disc, one just a regular album and he already went to Mount Rushmore on two albums. You were like Yalli. His flow is delivery, his style, his lyrical play beats everything like Biggie. Biggie was better for me. Like in terms of songs top he's a top heavy roster, but the depth like Pok has so

many and so many different styles of himself. So if the whole amount of songs, it would be Biggie, but Biggie into too short, man, it was too shorter career kind of Terrell Davids to feel like a very standard or something, you know what I mean? Yeah, so conflicted on that, you know I'm hurting. I hate the question more well, I tell you what, marcellis. Thank you so much for sitting down with me. Man. I hope that we get an opportunity to do this again. Man, stay healthy.

Uh yeah, man, this is These are some strange times and Also, I want to tell everyone that's watching this thank you for tuning in. But if you get an opportunity to order the book Never Shut Up by Marcellus Wiley, you could go to his website Marcellus Wiley dot com and order the book. Did I do that right? Did I plug it right? He did it right? Man. I appreciate you so much. Cowboys my father's favorite team since hello,

he's from Tyler, Texas. It was a dream come true to play for the Cowboys and respect the Cowboys' nation no matter what. Man always got love for you because they showed me so much. And I'm Heckma Harrison and this is talking Cowboys