Tron.
How does it feel to be starting a new chapter in your career?
I feel it's great. Honestly, it feels great. I feel like it's at the This timing is actually great, you know, moving on to something new. And ever since I got here, everybody's been welcoming and you know, get me up the speed higher. Thing it's done here and it's been great so far.
What goes into the process of moving finding a new team and then also you got a family. We're just talking about it off the air before we started the pod that those people are going to have to experience a lot of changes as well.
Yeah, you know with the whole process and everything. You know, I'll leave that to my agent as far as you know where I should go, since you know more about that than I do. And you know, for the it sucks. Suck. The part that do suck about it is, you know, me coming here. It's hard on the kids. And that's that's why. That's the thing that's that's breaking my heart
because it's less time with the kids. But as we all know, this business is a lot of sacrifice in order to get what we need to get to, and so they understood my kids understand, and I understand that has to work.
So thirteen years in Dallas. You know, you guys played the Jets early last season. If I would have told you maybe after that game, amen, you can be lining up in green and white next year, what would your thought.
At the time. I probably would have never belaved it. Yeah, I thought at the moment that I would have finished my career in Dallas. But we all know how this game goes. It's just you know, you never know what could happen, and it's a business, and so you know, you get the opportunity to go somewhere else and then you know, try to get the ring somewhere else.
So you're thirty three, you're gonna be thirty four in December, But do you feel like a rookie again in some respects?
No? No, no, And wake up every morning and still those years remind you that you know, you you know year four routine now, But it's just the energy waking up is excitement and coming to work and you know, being around the guys and you want to learn something new that I haven't learned before, And so.
How much do you enjoy this aspect of it?
Like you didn't have to be out here in voluntary workouts, so that's not part of the CBA, but you were out here all the time, and now the off season is wrapping up with mandatory medi camp.
Yeah, I think I was playing it earlier. Somebody that you know in Dallas. We you know, we kind of started a little bit early as far as like captain workouts and Captain's running the workouts like around March, and you know, we continue on for off season program. OTA's a mini camp, and you know, majority of the guys
is always there. And that's how we was always kind of brought up being in Dallas is you know, just be there for the you know, being there for the off season kind of you want to be there with the guys. They make it. They make it walking like you want to be there working with you guys and learn something new.
And so do you live in the gym?
I mean, Sala was saying the other day we're talking about it, that he was looking at you in the weight room, Robert Salas walking by and there's Tyron on the bunch. She's just wrapping up four hundred plus like it's nothing like he does one hundred and thirty five. Now, Salo is kind of downplaying himself a little bit because he's a strong guy himself. But do you live in the weight room.
I enjoy getting stronger. I love the aspect that like, the more you working the wait in the weight room, the stronger you'll get. And I love that aspect you see the you see the results after working hard in the weight room, that you feel stronger. And for me, I just don't want to lose. I don't ever lose that. I always want to feel like I'm pushing heavy weight.
So has it always come easy to you?
Don't take that the wrong way, because that's not to say you're not putting in the work.
No, as far as your strength.
Is concerned, No, for me, you know, growing up, I can never really put it on weight, so that the lean on strength. So even in high school, I was a skinny guy, so I don't thing I could lean on it was my strength. So I just built up much muscle as I possibly could. And in my head, I always try to tell myself I want to be the strongest guy out there on the field. And so I knew I couldn't gain weight, so I might as well try to gain muscle. And so for me, over
the years. I was just trying not to lose that aspect of it.
So how lean were you in high school before you actually took off went to USC from eight to time, it's like two fifty really, and you couldn't put on weight.
Put him weight what they went to USC put on like twenty pounds playing there, but it was still just straight just muscle. Yeah, I didn't, but also in college didn't have the funds to get eat like how I should, right, And so I'm sitting there eating McDonald's and taco Bell and Dell Talk and everything, just trying to and that is still don't even put it on weight.
So body fat wise, can I ask you, like what your percentage is?
Because you're walking.
Around the hallway here you look like a receiver who just was just you know, sick five you know three?
What three? And you look like you're about five percent.
I don't know now it's actually been a wall since I checked it, but I want to say probably the last sign was probably around fifteen or sixteen percent.
How has your workout regiment changed in terms of when you broke into the league compared to what you're doing now.
Let's see when I got in the league, it was kind of just you know, we had a guy in Dallas and Mike Woysik. He kind of trained me and like kind of just he's there by my side every steparate way, and he kind of he's always just challenged me, you know, like when I go to the weight room, it's like a challenge, Yeah, and he's always just you know, like little fake bets like here and there, I bet you one hundred thousand you can't get this weight up right now. And so it's like I was like, are
you challenging me? And so that kind of just stuck with me. And so even when I get to come here, I still came to keep that saying aspect of like you know, he's in the back of my head, I need to like lift more, right, be stronger, and like I need to try to get this extra rep in to feel that little strain.
Yeah, what exercises do you like doing the most?
I like like a little bit of everything. Honestly, I'm always interested in trying to find something new that could help out or anything like that.
So what music you listen to in there when you're claying around the ways.
So I know the younger guys got there. You know, they're kind of newer music they listen to now, But for me, I have no problem listening to like old school R and B. Yeah, and just kicking back and like just getting my work in. Yeah.
Okay, So I wanted to ask you going back and we talked about USC a little bit and coming out your number nine overall selection by the Cowboys in twenty eleven.
But let's go way back.
Where do you get your work ethic from? Because you started out as a kid long hours, right.
Yeah, So when I was younger, ever since I was like five or six years old, we had a family janitorial business, and you know, we took pride in our you know what we did because you know, the better we did our job, the more work we'll get. And so you know, pay wasn't great. You know, we fairly struggle growing growing up. But you know, for me, I knew that, you know, we do a job, well, we'd get another job that you know, I'm cleaning windows outside of a building. I didn't make sure I'm the best
window cleaner out there that you've ever seen. And I took pride in to night if it was any little streak, everything like that, I'm just like, wait, hold on, this ain't done yet. You gotta look at different angles and things like that, or clean or carpet clean or anything like that. You have to make sure it's done right. And so for me, it was, you know, high school, we were i'll play I'll play a game on Friday night. Next day Saturday morning, we're driving to a long destination
for work somewhere. It could be like go to Sacramento or Arizona for for a job and not really any kind of restaurants like that. And so it's kind of taught you that mindset of you know, nobody really cares how tired you are because you still got to do the work.
You carry that mindset on the field.
Yeah, because nobody's feeling sorry for you.
And when you're talking about your family as far as the business is concerned, how many of you were going.
From place to place as far as traveled.
So it was you know, me, my mom and my step my mom's excised my stepdad at the time, and then I had my stepbrother, stepsister, and then my little sister. She didn't work. She kind of just stayed out of the way. And then it just us grinding away yeah, and then we might have a couple of other family members coming in to kind of help out here and there,
but other than that, it was just us. And so we'll go like say, we will drive to Arizona, you know, four hour drive, go clean the building, and then get right back in the road, come back home. And so like plans to do things over the weekends or hang out with friends, that work came first and so and hanging out with France came last. And so we got back in time from after work and the next day, then you can go hang out with your friends. But at that point, you just you're done.
What would your friends said? What ever, your buddy said.
We're having like a little good together at the house, or you want to come over to play video games? I'm sorry, I gotta hit the road this weekend, and I like growing up, all my friends kind of understood. And then but that's just how things were.
Where did your craftsmanship come along as far as the way you approached the game out there on the field, because the first word that comes to my mind when watching you is you and you're an effortless mover and then also master technician.
Yeah, you know, I got to give a lot of respect to Bill Callahan. He early in my career, he he just gave me that mindset, like how to approach the game and like how to study the game and how to read things while I'm on the field, and like just technique wise, he harked on a lot of technique. And Bill Callahan was here.
Yeah, so legendary offensive line coach, one of the best stuff, no doubt.
And so you know, he instilled in me that like everything was just second second memory or you know memory and musclemory on me. And you know, even when we were retired after practice, we got to continue working on something after practice, right, And it's you know, he stilled to you. He instilled in your mind that it's always
something else. It's always something to work on. Even the worst thing is you say your head that you got it, because you're never going to just have it, and it's always something new you could learn, because as this game goes, it always switches up different rushers and things like that,
different people to go against. So you got to have something that you could have to battle against that and so and then I got lucky enough to have another you know guru last year with the Salaria and so, and you know, he was so you know about helping his guys and making sure that the technique was right and everybody else on the same page. But he wanted to make sure everybody was going to be great, and he wasn't going to and he wasn't gonna feel like
he did his job and everybody wasn't great. So he he did everything his power to, you know, to help everybody out.
We talked about your strength. You're striking. I think you're one of the best strikers that we've ever seen. Tell me some stories about your hands and then the way you've used them over the years.
Honestly, you know, I kind of go back to Bill,
you know, he just taught us. You know, this is all confidence because everybody could have a strike, but it's all the technique of the strike and having your feet playing it in the ground and but still able to move while punching, and placement of the hands and things like that, and so honestly, the more of the thing is like whether like placement in the hands or strike or anything like that, you just gotta have confidence because everybody, no matter who you are, how strong you are, you
play long and have you confidence in your hands, you can have that strike, but just got to have confidences different. It's just, honestly, is probably just experience over the years. Just know how to handle certain things.
When you get your hands on somebody. What's going on in your mind when you when you have that initial shot, Can you have your hands on somebody?
Uh shoot block them forever because you never know alone the quarterback's gonna hold the ball. And and we had the same you know last year, you know, on your one, one out of eleven, and that kind of that that just that same kind of you know, stuck with me that like you know, once you have your guy, your guy blocked up, that like right, let them go. Yeah, yeah, you don't know what's going on behind you, and you
know what's going on down the field. You're focused on is to handle that guy right there in front of you.
Do you hear a whistle when you're out there?
Sometimes? Other than sometimes I don't, And I just keep going until like all right, chill, chill, chill. And it's kind of you gotta have that mindset to kind of play, not play at the whistle, but played through the whistle.
How much pride you take in the fact that, hey, I got the quarterback's blind side Hi Dack last year, the last few years in Dallas.
Now I got Aaron behind me.
I just know that, like the like the team, the quarterback, and you know, everybody's depending on the old line in d line to set the tone of the game. And for us as an old line, whoever's back there, they need to know that we have their back no matter what, and we're gonna give everything it takes up up front.
So as far as being in there in the trunch, just take me inside. Are you a guy who is going to tell some buddy you're in for a long day vocally or you're just I don't talk, you don't say any say anything.
I'm not one of those big right rack guys and like talking and everything like that. I like staying neutral and just focused on the job I need to get done. Because if I'm up here, then I'm always be all out of whack, right, And the best thing is to always try to stay neutral as possible, And because you never know what happened in the game. And I had that mindset.
Do you think even if you didn't play football, that.
You were gonna be successful no matter what you did, because that mindset coming back from being part of that janitorial business way back when with your family, whatever profession you chose, Tyrone Smith was going to excel at it.
Yeah. Uh, my fiance kind of gives me a hard time. She was like, you just love working, don't you. I say, yeah, I said, I feel I feel a little uncomfortable with I'm just sitting around not doing anything.
You anxious a little bit.
I just feel like I need to be I need to be doing something, that said, just sitting around. I need to accomplish something at least a couple of things throughout the day, Like I feel like I did something and yeah, if I was doing something else, I'll yeah, I'll be the best best at that job by you know, more more than anybody. And so yeah, it's just for me. It's got a lot of pride more than anything, no doubt about that.
The striking, the playing through the whistle, but also the feat. How important are the feat for any offensive lineman? And with you watching you out there on the practice field throughout OTAs here at the start of mandatory mini camp, there is no wasted movement.
It looks like a teach tape.
Well you know, as you get older, you you can't waste a movement at all. And and for me, and like I'm so I'm like detailed as far as like I'm looking at film, you know why was I Why was I a tic late on this? Or why was any good position for this part? And then I started looking at this start from the ground up, start looking at the feet, like I had a waste moving in my feet. I kind of rocked a little bit and like, gotta take that out, even it's like less than a second.
You gotta get everything that every vantage you can. And so you know with the feet and everything like that, and far as like pass pro your feet can't stop. And especially with these type of rushers nowadays, you know there's a lot of fast, you know, speed rushers and things like that. Guys like to move around jump around nowadays, and your feet can't stop because they're waiting on it, right and they're trying to set up a move for you so you can stop your feet so they could
work and move off of it. That's a d Lineman wants you to stop your feet because they have because they have a free go.
But how have you avoided penalties? Because when I say that, I mean it complementary because your grip is legendary and you never let the guy go.
You know what I'm saying.
Well, there's certain like things like yeah, you of course you have your hands outside it's holding, but but it's different when you got a guy kind of vised up on the inside and kind of just it's I don't know, is this more of you got to have good, good strength, but like gotta have your hands in the right place and be smart about it and stay in front of your guy. And the guy's kind of like I've happened to me a couple of times that like kind of guy kind of gets away from I'm still hooked onto
him and then like get a holding call. But like when you gripped up and when he gripped into those paths, you got to stay in front of them and they keep your feet moving and do your do something you know in your tool belt to kind of take his power out. And but it's just you know, got to go to the whole like long thing hot to like do this technique. But like, yeah, I just got to have your feet settled.
But the grip strength, where does that come from? Your naturally gifted, you're living in the weight room.
But also does that go back to childhood as well, to grow.
Maybe a bit? Yeah, so grown. So growing up we of course we worked a lot, but also like we did a lot of yard work. And so for me as a kid, even then, I looked at everything as a challenge, like, yeah, we're like doing our own work in the backyard, building something in the backyard, and got to carry dirt back and forth to the front in the back and I'm like, you know, lo, this willbarrow as much as you can. I'm like, I don't see
how much I could carry. And you know that just for me, that was just me just being weird, because I always feel like I love to feel like I'm strong, and I guess I guess a little bit a part of that comes from that. And for me, it's just you know, after a while, like you gotta do everything he takes to make sure that guy doesn't get to the QB. And no matter if your fingers get messed up, like minds are a little bit already, just a little small sacrifice to make sure you get to win.
Eight time Pro Bowler, five time All Pro, twenty ten NFL All decade team. What keeps you going at this level at this point of your career, because a lot of guys, frankly would say, hey, man.
I've had a hell of a career.
I've had maybe a Hall of Fame career right now. If I put a period at the end of the sentence, Tyrone Smith, you can make the argument, this guy's a Hall of famer.
What keeps you going right now?
Honestly the love of the game. There's no job like this anywhere. And you know, for you know, some of us on the team that haven't got one yet, you know, still chasing that ring. And you know, if you see the opportunity that you could possibly get one, then why not take it.
What do you think about the talent assembled out here? You've played on a lot of talented clubs yourself. You were just in the playoffs last year. I think you've played in nine postseason games throughout your career. What do you think about the Jets, your new team.
I see a very high potential of them to be something great, and you know, I feel like we're forming it out there in this offseason, and I think a lot of guys. I think a lot of guys realized what we can't do, and we just got to stay together in his off season leading into the training camp and continue working on the field and pushing each other and just showing that we could be something great on the field.
What's your best Rogers story so far? I know his lockers next to you. Can you share?
No? Honestly? For me, it's just being in Dallas, just knowing what Rogers did to us, you know, a couple of years him being there in Green Bay, and so you know, he you know, broke our hearts a couple of times, you know, you know, fourteen and sixteen, those are the kind of years that kind of about sting those couple of years thing. But I know that he is, you know, something great, and he has to like the knowledge and the wisdom of the game that nobody else has.
And I know that. You know, if you're on the same page as him, then a lot of great things can happen.
Left to right? What do you think about the projected starters here?
Yourself at left tackle, John Simpson left guard, Joe Timman at center, a VT fellow usc Alowment right guard, and then of course Morgan Moses over there at right tackle.
Yeah, I feel like we got a good group of guys on the line, and good strong group of guys. Honestly, very intelligent group of guys. And you know, me and me and Morgan when we bring to it, you know we got you know, guys being the game for a long time, right, and you know everybody has a little
piece they could add to this. And you know, honestly, I'm I'm excited because everybody's willing to work, and even on the field, if something is if everybody has a question about anything, nobody's like, you know, shine away from asking questions. And we're all together on this as far as make sure you get it solved before we'll go back on the field.
Right, How beneficial do you think spring was for OLU fashion, Carter Warren just coming out here, Max Mitchell, those guys we've talked about like a VT working his way back, Morgan working his way back, those guys getting some reps out here.
Honestly, these guys impressed me and looking at their you know, how they played last year. As far as you know, we look at taping, you know, in our room, you know last year's tape and then you know how to correct it for this year. And those guys have just from watching the film that like I could tell they just make it made a huge improvement for this offseason and they're out there griding every day to make sure they have it right.
Yeah, you can see Carter Warren taking strides. I know you weren't here last year, but he's a young buck. And then Max benefiting and you got some pieces there, Wes Schweizer, I wanted to ask you about av T though, Yeah, what's your relationship with him? Obviously you want to usc well before him.
But yeah, you know, we never really got there really like sit down and talk, you know, before I came here. But I could tell that he's he's just itching to come back onto the field right now, but he's you know, he's grinding, he's grinding away and to rehab things that he's doing right now. And then he's in the you know, in the online room with us, you know, you know,
learn still continue learning. But I could tell that he's, you know, just watching the film from you know when he you know, when he was healthy and playing that he's a beast and he's he's healthy, he's he's a soppable type of guy.
Speaking of beasts, What do you think about that running back behind you in Breese Hall, what he was able to do last year and then the potential now with a healthy Rogers, some reinforcements up front like yourself.
It makes you excited, excited for the run game and incided block for these guys. And you know that's off old Lineman. He got guys back there like that. That all excited excite you. I don't know what will So we got.
To come full circle here your jet coming he You're were in Dallas for thirteen years, you grew up in California, went to see what do you think the match not just here in an organization, but you coming to New York because everything that you're about is putting a hard head and going to work.
Yeah, and this is what this city was built on.
Yeah, yeah, no, you guys, you know it's still something great here. Trying to forgot how to answer the question, but like, yeah, it's with any kind of football team. It's like you said, it's putting a hard hat on. For me. It's just different for me, you know, being in Dallas for so long and you know, coming to the comes to the East Coast and being in part
of a team. It's just you know, for me, it was just like, you know, you forget them, you know, you got the you know, I got the giants over here, you know. But it's it's kind of shows you a different now, different mindset, you know when you come here as far as like, you can tell the city is back in this team. Yeah, and you can tell this, you know, everybody around here is excited for what you know, what we can do.
How you feel physically?
Feel great?
Okay, so let's end here wrapping out.
Hm.
We asked you about the bunch before, So if you were just heading in there right now, what are you doing on a bunch? Uh?
Shoot? Today today was kind of like just kind of keeping the strength up, kind of just you know, a little light reps, but it was today it was just three reps of three fifteen and then like sixty three, sixty five and then finish it on four or five. So I could just feel that little heaviness. How about squat squat You're gonna learn as you get older, you don't squat the same way. Yeah yeah, and so you
leaned on a lot more. You still do a double ed squat, but you lean on heavier squats for like single legs, okay, and so you have that functional movement, but you also you know, strengthen your leg and individually, but you still go kind of heavy on that. So like you go two places over two plates, just on a single leg and you feel like you get some kind of work in.
Yeah, yeah, what's your favorite exercise now? Mm hmm.
I love squatting. You know what they allowed me to do for squatting, I love I love benching, but I love like the little small things that go along with it. You got to like the auxiliaries as far as like a little shorter workouts or you know a little movement here and there, because I feel like the little small you know stuff that stuff that not that major workouts, but like the small stuff that goes along with it. It's going to keep you healthy for the for the long run.
And you're always looking for small ways to get better. Yeah, what's the summer looking like for you?
Camp?
So we got you know, finished on mini camp this week. Spend some time with some time with the kids, you know, during the summer break, get get get married next month, and yeah, get ready for camp.
That's awesome.
A lot of exciting things happen in your life. You talked about new chapter here, joining the Jets, new chapter, getting married, Yeah, and then the kids obviously going to have new home as well. Yeah yeah, Tyrant, this was a blast. Really appreciate it, no problem, Thanks for having mem mm hmmmmmm