Ozzie Newsome

Published Feb 1, 2021, 11:00 AM

On episode 19 of Club Shay Shay, Shannon welcomes in his former boss: former GM of the Baltimore Ravens and fellow member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Ozzie Newsome.

This episode is packed with memories and stories from Shannon’s time in Baltimore, touching on Ozzie’s decision to sign Shannon, the Ravens’ 2000 Super Bowl run, players like Ray Lewis, and late owner Art Modell. 

Ozzie also reveals his thought process going into the NFL Draft each year, his honest and upfront nature in dealing with player contracts, Lamar Jackson’s strengths, hiring John Harbaugh, and the importance of bringing on veterans like Calais Campbell, Dez Bryant (and in 2000, Shannon) to elevate the team.  

As a two-time All-SEC & College Hall of Fame player at the University of Alabama, a three-time Pro Bowler & Pro Hall of Fame inductee with the Browns and an NFL executive since 1991, Ozzie Newsome has decades of football knowledge and expertise. He and Shannon break it all down, from the late 1970s to the present day.

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Hello, Welcome to another edition of Club sha Shay. I am your whole Shannon Sharp also the proprietor of Club Shashay and the guy that's coming by to have a drinking conversation to date is my farmer boss. He's also a three time Pro bowler, two time first team All Pro. He's an All Decades nineteen eighties tight end, two time Super Bowl champ of an executive, National High School Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Brown's Ring of Honor, the Worth of Oz my former boss, Ozzy Newson. All my life and grinding all my life Second Fice custle back Price, one slice got the Browner dice swap all my life. I've been grinding in all my life, all my life. Then grinding all my life, sacond Fice hustle back Price, one slice got the brondic to swap all my life. I've been grinding in all my life. Oh, how you doing today? Bro? I'm doing good. Shannon's always a great opportunity for me and you to have a little chit chat, to go back and forth. And you know what, and I tell people I say other than I have a very Yeah, he was my boss, but we're kind of like he's like my older older brother because he we're always joking and carrying all with one another. So it is. It's always good to catch up with you. How you go ahead, and I was gonna ask you, how have you been. I've been good, you know, Uh, like I'm here in the office, as you can tell, and uh, just finished with practice, and uh, I was just finished watching some college tape a little bit, you know, because pretty soon the draft will be here. So I'm staying busy, enjoying what I'm doing. And if you could guarantee me a victory on Sunday, I'd be a real happy man. Holdo you retire. I thought you would gonna be less busy, You gonna get a chap to do more golf and enjoy life. It seems like, yeah, you go, you got a better job, but you working just as hard. It's cold outside. I can't go play golf, you know, when the weather's like this. I'm better off in the office. So are you enjoying the new role? You transition? You're the executive executive vice president, So do you enjoy the new role? Now? Yes, I am. I really am. You know, Erica was with me. I think he was the second person that we hired when we moved over from Cleveland, so we got twenty three years together. Steve did a great job with the transition. You know, had it set up five years in advance, so we kind of knew what was going to happen, and it's been going really good. Enjoy My relationship with John Harball, Dick Cass and Steve has just been unbelievable. And you know, I'm still around the players all of the time. Then that keeps you young. So are you watching more take than you did before? How I mean? So what's the ratio now as opposed to watching practice, watching film on college the guys free agents. I'm doing more now because I don't have to do I don't have people walking in my office every five minutes, but you know, some issues that they probably could handle themselves, but you know, they always want the boss to handle it. So I have more time to watch tape. And I enjoy going out to practices, and I watched the practice tape, So I'm doing a lot more. All of the things that I wanted to do and I couldn't do because I had all those other things to do. I'm able to do it now when I look at the twenty twenty Ravens. Obviously, twenty nineteen was an unbelievable season for you guys. You had a great record, Lamar Jackson, the United VP. It didn't kind of end the way you wanted to. So when you go back and look at twenty nineteen coming into twenty twenty, what were some of the things that you wanted to do to make sure twenty twenty twenty ended better than twenty nineteen. Well, you know, I think we matured as a team in twenty nineteen, and that maturity did not end with the way we wanted to by getting beat in the first round. But I think we learned from that. You know, you can learn from losing just like you can learn from winning, and so I think we did that. You know, Uh, Eric and I and our group, we did a good job of putting together a good roster. It was different this year because we had the sixteen practice squad players, so we could build a bigger depth for our football teams, because you're gonna need some depth as you go through it. And uh, you know, in the second year with Lamar and how great Roman and John him have embraced Lamark and putting him in a role that he can be who he is. And our players understand that. So we're better defensively. You know, we're still good in the secondary. You know, we were starting to get some pressure and you know with me, you know, getting class and Derek Wolfe, you know up front where we can stop to run when we have to stop the run. Well, I look at you guys, and I look at what you've done. You've always been a guy that's looking to get that that veteran fregent that come that come from somewhere, that's one before. That's a great locker room guy. And when things he makes sure things don't get to the head culture. They doesn't have to go upstairs. They can handle it within the locker room. And I believe that's the guy in Calais Campbell that you mentioned. How what is he meant to your team? Well, you know we had that with you and Rob Wilson. You know we had with Tony Sarah Goose. We've we've always had that veteran players you just just discussed described that can come in and they understand our culture and our culture is you know, we all going to allow you to be who you are, shoot your own time, practice heart, and play well on Sunday and then all the rest of the stuff takes care of itself. But to have someone to come in like Klaas who was thirsty to win, you know, and he was being able to bring his leadership ability to match you with our ability to find ways to win games. He's been a great match like it Wasn't you appreciate that? But you signed going to What were you thinking when you signed Daz? Dad hadn't played on a very long time. He was coming off a very serious injury, Achilles injury. And you know, at his skilled position, especially the wide receiver, the Achilles injury is probably he's normally the death blow. It used to be the ACL, but modern medicine has made the ACL guys come back stronger, faster better from ACL, but the achiling is not so much. What were you thinking when you signed Daz Bran Well, you know it was a relationship that Eric had with his an agent. We brought up Dazz in seven or eight weeks before we signed, and he came in and he worked out and you know he needed to get in football. Ship. We told him, you know, take the opportunity to go get yourself in football ship ship and we'll bring you back in for another workout. That's what Eric promised Dads. And he came back in and he was in football ship. And what he does he provides a bigger target when we get down into the red area. You know, we got Marquees and we got Duvenai, and we got Willie Sneed. But now we have a more bigger physical receiver down in the red area that can make some contested catches because you know, things are tight when when you get down in the red area, but a guy can go up and make a contested catch. You tried to sign Dad a few years ago and that didn't work out. Why did you think and not work out there? And had he not gotten over being released because a lot of times you and I have talked about this in the past, when guys have been in a situation for an extremely long period of time, if tough, when a team releases you, it's almost like a relationship. You're like the shock up. I'm no longer a cowboy, I'm no longer patriot, I'm no longer this. Do you think that has something to do with it, no question, no question it did you know, I think he was in shock by getting released. You know, he needed to take some time for this. And you know, the jump right in this situation that we will offer him, he just wasn't comfortable with, you know, and he and he took a whole year off, a year and a half off, and then obviously he signed with the Saints. But you know, those things happen, you know, but I think a relationship was built with theirs during the time, a trust factor was built with him, and so when it came time for him to try to come back to play football, then he picked up the phone and called Eric, I'm looking at you. The last you You've been great at this and we'll talk about this. Your last draft. The last player you selected in the first round was Lamar Jackson. What did you see Ozzy and him that would make you trade back into the first round and select him, because he's anything but prototypical. Why were you so convinced we need this guy and we'll build the fortress to around him. We're gonna play to his strint, not bring him in and make him play the hours. Well, you know you have to give the owner, Steve A. Shoddy. Uh, you know, that was a draft that had five quarterbacks. I think going the first round start with Baker at the beginning, and uh and Steve, you know, knew it was time for us to start to look toward moving away from Joe and he felt like that class was a good enough class to do it. And what we did with the first pick, we were able to get a tight end, as you know, and Hayden Hurst. So that was going to help us in the immediate you know, you know, we Joe likes to throw the tight ends. That was gonna help us in the immediate. But then we saw an opportunity. Ericad did his homework and he knew Philly was thinking about moving out. They wasn't very happy with who they saw on the board at that point, and we had some additional resources with some extra picks, so we made the phone call. They were willing to do it, and we got Lamar in, you know, just saying hey, you're a quarterback. You could come here and play quarterback. But I think you have to give all the credit to John Harbaugh, to Greg Roman and those guys because in that second year they said, hey, we are going to do what Lamar do. We're not gonna turn him into Joe Montana or Dan Marino. You're gonna allow Lamar to be who Lamar is. And you know what, he's a tremendous talent. He's an unbelievable person. And you know we is when you get in our business, Shan and this, you know, you play to a player's strength, correct, you know, That's what we did with Lamar, And you know what, it changed the game a little bit. And I think there are going to be more quarterbacks. They're gonna be coming out. There's going to be like Lamar, and I think he's not a trendsetter. As you know, so many people make the mistakes. You have a system and you're like, well, this is my system, this is what I this is what I run offensively, this is what I run defensively. But you know, the really good coaches they find a way and says, okay, this is what you do, well, I'm gonna let you do that. If this is what you do, well, I'm gonna let you do that. And for you for you guys to take Lamar sif okay, you're back, and for Greg Roman to build a system around this young man's strength. Not a whole lot of people were willing to do that because that's what you had to do. If you make him a prototypical quarterback, I don't know if he can succeed at beings sending yeah because she hadn't. You and I both know if they would have had us blocking five techniques and nine techniques and not throwing us some balls. I see how you're shaking your head, then they it wasn't gonna worry happen. Yeah, But like I said, all that credit goes to Greg and John having the willingness to say, hey, we are going to do this, and you know what, and it his Lamar and Lamar you had moved by in because you know people weren't trying to change him. You mentioned John Harbaugh and you on staff. When you hired John, what was it about job? Because special teams coaches don't normally get hired. They're normally former head coaches, office coordinators, defensive coordinators. You don't normally hire a special teams coach to build a head coach. And that's what John Harbor's background was in. And you guys, you a team Bashadi, You're like, this is our guy. Well, you know, the special team coach, you know, they deal with that fifty second and fifty third player the whole time. Yea, you know, they they're they're trying to figure out every week who are the best guys that they can get to be able to go out and perform. So they understand the mechanics of the roster, you know, and that's huge when you're dealing with a new head because he understands that, you know, we need to keep that eight offensive lineman or ninth offensive lineman. We can't have that great special teams player we want. So he understood that. But but the other thing that John did that last year before we got him, he went coach to secondary, so we had someone that was coming in the building that number one was probably the best special teams coach of his time, but had all so spend time on defense. So this is a guy that can walk into two rooms and be able to fix some things. And then of course, you know, his dad was a longtime coach, his brother was, so it was football. You know. It's his sister married a basketball coach, and this coaching in college, so you know, it was it was all about football sports coaching and uh, you know what, and it's been an unbelievable high and he's an unbelievable person with him and his wife's Ingrid and their daughter Allison. You talk about that, you talk about the relationship because you know you and I early early in my career, out of those special teams, anybody really tried to play special teams. Everybody's trying to be the start on offense, everybody's trying to be the start on defense. And for him to be able to take all those personalities, he's like, guys, I understand that you want to be in a different room playing offense, catching touchdowns, running the ball, or getting the sacks or getting interceptions, but this is a third of what we do. And to get guys to buy in, I think that's the biggest thing for a head coaches to have communication and to convince the guys to believe in what he's said, no question about that. And you can't teach that. You know you have that. And the thing that you know, because I don't even remember, you are a pretty good special team. If you're a good special teams player, then you're probably gonna be a good position player in either offensive defense because you realize, you know, this is my time. Well, I'm on special teams when I'm young, and I'm gonna be good at that. Then that helps you to be good at that. But yeah, but having John having all of those understandings and dealing with the different personalities because you know you got you know, first round defensive backs to be like, nah, I don't want to play on those special teams. If you have to be able to get them to play on special teams, because it is one third of the game. After you look at you started this. The first started this at nineteen ninety six, and there are very few people that can say I've drafted a Hall of famer. Your claim to fame, You've already you drafted three Hall of famers. It subs it's probably gonna be the fourth end of lamarking teen you on the path, this will be five. What's your thought process when you go into the draft looking for a player? It is it take? Is it game? Is it feel? Is it talking to the guy? What is it that made you in nineteen ninety six? Says Jonathan Ogden and ray Lewis. Because when you guys moved from Cleveland to Baltimore, the popular pick. Everybody wanted Lawrence Phillips. You wanted somebody that can sell tickets, but you like an offensive lib, an offensive liab, but don't sell tickets. Yeah, but you know, we spend a lot of time building our board. You know, it starts it actually starts a month after the draft, where you know, scouts have to do grades on the upcoming seniors. Okay, so you have nine months worth the work. And when we were in that draft, and you know, it was no doubt that the number one player was Jonathan Oden and you know, Kevin Hardy, we liked him. He goes, Simeon Rice goes, you know, and we're setting them and you have mister Modele wanted us to take, you know, Lawrence Phillis. But if you're going to start something, which we were starting, and then you help people believe in what you're doing, and if you're gonna rate someone to be the highest rated player, you can't pass it. Even though we had Tony Jones, who you played with themselves, but we could not pass, you know, and that set the board, and of course as we get to raid, you know, then we were lucky enough to have that second pick in the first round and he was the highest rated guy at that time. So that set the tone is, hey, do all your work, you know, get your boys set and stay true to the board. You when I look at I mean obviously and these guys are transcending argument. You make the case that Ray Lewis is the greatest middle linebacker to ever play the game, one of the greatest defensive players. Ed Reid, in my estimation, is the greatest free safety, strong free whatever you want to rate it. He's the greatest free safety I've ever played against and never taken off on on tape. What is it? What is it at convisition? Okay, Jonathan Doctor should be the number one player on if I we were the number one pick, Hey we take Jonathan Doctor. What is it about a guy? What is it that can see Channa? You guy's a football player. People in football. Right at the end of the day, you got your your measurables, you got all your psychological testing, you got all your interviews. But at the end of the day, it's the guy a football player. Priest Homes Prest Homes was a football player. RuSHA Yanna was a football player. Jermaine Lewis was a football player. So you know, at the end of the day, you have to get a guy that's a football player and forget about some of the other metrics that we use. Is he a football player and if he's a football player, he's gonna play for it. I forgot. Yeah. I didn't gonna end up in the Hall of Fame too, because all those Pro Bowls and first Team All Pro. So you and guess what, you could end up going into Hall of Fame again as a contributor. I had. I thought I had it. I thought I had you you're gonna have two to one. Well, but Shannon, you know you and I are on the same cult to sack already. Man, you know, but you get moving to another building, you would have two thousands in the same subdivision. You know. Hey, we're just gonna enjoy them first ones. Okay, that's enjoy those first ones. You know, but if it ever happens, it'll be the shortest speech in the history of the holiday. I had to set there and listen at all the rest of them. Yeah, hey, I don't know. I hopefully we'll have it. But you man, can you imagine with all the guys that they missed twenty twenty and they're coming back in twenty twenty one. Man, that thing might have to start at five o'clock in the morning. They go to midnight. Hey, but they say, you have to we have to pack a lunch and were gonna be there. Yeah, yeah, man, there's gonna be a lot of people on that stage dozing offsit. So how do you feel? How do you feel about this season? Do you like where you are? Obviously you like to win a few more games, But I'm looking at you guys, the last two three weeks of the season, this is the best you look all year. Well, Shannon, you know, it's been a a typical season with the coronavirus, right, I mean, and you know all the different protocols. You know, there's a lot of anxiety away from the football field because of dealing with COVID nineteen. You know, and today you can do this and tomorrow you may not be able to do it. So all thirty two clubs that have to deal with that, and you know, and we went through that situation where we I think had nineteen guys there was not able to play the cause of COVID, But you know, we made it through that. We weathered that storm and right now, you know, you know, I think the guys feel like that, Hey, we got to this point last year and we didn't take the next step. And it was probably eighty ninety percent of the team was only that fourteen and two team last year. So I I think they're looking forward to taking this year and going one step further. Let's get back to your Let's get back to go back to where it started. You grew up in Alabama, a small town called Muscle, Alabama. You worked in the cotton fields. What is it about you a lot of your childhood? What do you remember most well? You know, what is that you need to work? You know, hard work pays off. You know, what you and I endure was nothing that our parents had to endure. It with segregation and integration and all of that and the things that started changing when you and I were coming along, but it didn't change for them. But you know what, they never gave up from being good people, good hard working people that loved each other. And so those things that you just carry with you, you know, and I saw it, you know, as I was growing up and things started changing when I was coming up. You know, I could go to a predominantly white school, I could go and play Little League baseball. That didn't happen with my older brother and with my parents. So I saw things changing and I appreciate that. You know, I appreciate the past. Is it some bitterness, Yes, there's a lot of bitterness, but I appreciate the past, and that past has helped me to get the where I am today. There a lot of times when I talked to when I talked to kids today, I said, dude, find something to do as a child, because that'll tell you what you want to do or don't want to do as an adult. Growing up, how I grew up, I knew I didn't want to work on no farm and do what my grandfather did. I knew I didn't want to work at the factory. I didn't want to do any of that. So all the things that I did as a child, it let me know what I didn't want to do as an adult. I agree with you one hundred percent. Man, Hey, I always wanted to take care of these hands. Man. You know, I mentioned that you grew up in Alabama and you were of age when the Edmund Pettis, when bloody suddenly happened on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. What happened in also the sixteenth streak Baptist Church in Birmingham. What do you remember about those incidents? Did your panson at that point you're talking about you're talking about you're talking about being eight and ten and eleven years old. But I was aware of that. But what you did? You watch your parents and how they handled it, okay, and what they did they just kept us closer together, you know. And then you know what you learned, how to bite your tongue, you know, you learned what battles that you had to fight. You know, you couldn't fight every battle, you know, so you learn that from being in those situations and seeing what was going on. But you know, it was about It was about the family, the neighborhood and all of those things where everybody took care of each other. It's the only way we could make it. I'm looking at this in nineteen seventy two, you take your tea, you take your football team to the state championship, your batbot team. You ask you you were the hoopebby. I ain't known you were the whop Hey. If I was, if I was instead of being six three, if I was been six five or six six. I've been in the NBA, you know, but I was six foot three. You know, hey, and I learned a long time. You can't be six foot three trying to play in the paint. You know, it just don't work. So you go to Obviously, at that time the two if you're in Alabama and you're a great football player for the more time than not, at that point in time, you're not leaving the state. You're going to Alabama, or you're going to Auburn. Obviously coach Bryant is at Alabama. What made you decide to go to Alabama? Well, you know, I was in the U I think the fourth or fifth class of African Americas there was allowed to go to Alabama. Okay, Wibber and h and John Mitchell had just graduated. Yeah, I came in as a freshman and they were only selecting a few of us at that time. You know, at each class that was an even number, which mean because we could, you know, room together, right, you know. So there was a lot of things that people didn't realize that was going on during that time. But I committed to go to Alburn because you talked about that seventy two high school football Championship where the quarterback on that team went to Auburn, the other receiver went to Alabama. They were a year ahead of me. So when I was coming out, you know, because Ship Jordan was talking about a few Gargas was a guy named Gargas and Newsom could be another, the next Sullivan, the Beasley, and so they were selling me on that. So I committed to Auburn. But then you know what, John Mitchell came up. We went to dinner, and it was just something about Alabama that was different, you know, And that's why I switched from Alburn went to Alabama. Best decision I made. Talk to us about coach Bryant. What type of coach was he was? He hard? I mean you until the day everybody that refers to him, nobody called him. Even the coaches call him Coach Bryant. Hard but fair, okay, you know. And the lessons that he would he taught us from the day we got there, when we were freshmen up until we graduated from there are the lessons that I'm living right now. A lot of the principles that I believe in about whether it being a gym for the Ravens or being a football player for the Bran. Those lessons would talk to me by coach Bryant, there are things that you live with. He was able to take lessons that we learned from the football field and applied him to our life away from the football field. And any player that you talked to that played under him will tell you the same thing, Ozzy. Obviously, Alabama it was still still even though you you came up and things were a little different, it was still you know, kind of like, okay, blacks here, wife there. What how did it make you feel that you go to it, you play in the stadium eighty thousand and they're chairing for you, but those same ones might turn around and call you the N word or say something out of pocket to you. Well, you know what that I talked about, being able to bite your lip, bite your tongue, him with balance to fight. But the one thing about it, and my mother and my father found out, my parents on that when you went to Alabama, you were an Alabama football player, okay, and that separated you from everything you know, and then whether you wanted that or not, it did. You were black, but you weren't really black. You know, you were an Alabama football player, you know, and I wore that Crimson White and I say road tip. I mean, you look, look at this Alabama Player of the Decade of the nineteen seventies. Two times suh all sec SEP SEP six consist it's all American. Your final season. You're coming out in the draft. Obviously you're coming out. What do you think of what's the process? You're like, Okay, I'm going somewhere and I'm gonna be able to take care of my parents. Well, you know, it was interesting. I was coming out and I think the league was split. Some teams wanted me to play wide out and some team plumbing they were gonna move me to tight end. Okay, you know, so I didn't know. I didn't you know where I was going to come in. And I could tell you the receivers who was in that draft are the ones that went before me. Uh, West Chandler, H James Lofton, John Jefferson, You okay, Kim McAfee. People don't realize how good John Jefferson, how good West Chandler, Jay Lofton in the Hall of Fame. But West Chandler they call him the move man because the war goggles West Chadler could run riser that that Eric Coryell system. They were magnificent, I understand. And j J could catch it BB in the dark too. So look, that was a great group, so you know, and so hey, I get drafted by the Browns. I go in at first mini camp. I'm there a rookie mini camp. I played wide out, okay, and and I was having some success. You know, they taught me some things. But then after the mini camp we stayed over for an additional week and Rich coach tight who ended up becoming the head coach of the Jets, so you know, he was my tight end coach was to receive a tight end coach at that time. And he told me Sam wanted to see me, and so to go up the head coach at the time, exactly right, yeah, Sam Chilian richik Leana. So I go up and he said, you've proved in this mini camp that you can play wide receiver in this league and you probably be a good one. He said, I want to move you to tight end. I think he'll be a great tight end. And he said, ozy, we're gonna throw you to football. When you had tight end. That's all you needed to hear. Exactly, That's all you needed to hear. You wanted the ball. Yeah, your last year at Alabama you didn't win the national championship. That's like it's normally like a four gone conclusion. You go to Alabama, you stayed four years, You're gonna win an SEC title, and you go with a national title. That's that's that's about like a poor gone conclusion. Well, there's a reason why that I'm that team that Alabama's playing tomorrow. Yeah, that I have a little bit of a hatred four because we went into that Bowl game and we played Ohise Steak, we beat them, and uh Texas loss and not the Dame jumped from four to one and jumped over us and became the national champions you know, And so I have some bitterness about that, and hopefully Nick Saban will use some of that again tomorrow when when Alabama plays know the Dame. Some of my bitterness. I look at some of these great Alabama players from Derek Thomas, Barstar, Don huss and Joe Namath, Leroy Jordan, John Hanne COORTNELI has been at yourself, Juliyo Sharlotte Lexander. You gotta my Rushmore? Who's only my Rushmore? Of Alabama players? I think you have to start with Don Hudson. Okay, you put him up there. I think you got put John Hannah. Okay, you have to put him up there? How many do I get to put? You ain't got the Rushmore four? You got four heads? All right? Well then okay, well then I got two? Right, yes, you can must Hannah. But then you got putting news him up there. You know what the other one would beat Dwight Stevens. People don't realize how good the White was. He's right, he was on. He was on the pace to be the greatest singer that ever played before he got his knee blown out. He was no question now, you know. But they got this new generation coming up, but we got to see, you know, what their longevity is going to be because each year we keep pumping out some new ones. But right now, right now, you know those four, it is gonna be It's gonna be hard for somebody to remove one of those four off of Mount Rosman. I'm bias DT because I've never seen a guy I'm going to understand, but that Dt the way he could bid and bid that edge. You and I didn't worry about that because he was going in one direction and we were going, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't even don't ask me to block here. If I ain't got nothing for him, you got zilled. That's why you play him on a pack of all that money. In the right tackle, with all that money, I'm going to cake passes. So if I got him covered, but I ain't trying to hear him. One of the things when I looked at a guy like Derek Henry and a lot of people say, well, the running back position is is is obsolete and he's too big, he can't get started. Are you surprised the amount of success Dereck Henry is having. Well, you know, I watched him for three years at Alabama, you know, and I remember when they recruited him to come there, you know. And you know, we have all these phobias and we say what guys can and can't do, But you know what, you have to watch a guy play, you know, and Derek can be you know, we all know that at some point, if you're an athlete and you can be in, then you're gonna be able to play on this level and you can be in and he's got a mean stiff on. You know, you go back to Earl, camera, you go back to Chuck. You know those guys were big like that. But you know, you just you know people. It was Earl, but and Chuck Mutch. You know, Chuck Munsey was unbelievable. It was a big Yes, you're Tony Albert another one. So there have been other big backs and so Dad and he went to a good system in Tennessee where it's a downhill system. I mean, and we've played him twice and we still have him time to tackle him yet, you know, once he gets going in the fourth quarter. But I don't know if we've seen backs like Earl was stocky. Earl was two forty, but Earl was what five level? We've never seen a guy six four, two fifty five, two sixty because I don't care what anybody say that, but have stoped listing that man at two forty. He is not too party Ozzy and you know it too well. Like I said, you know, his ability to be in his vision and he's got good feet. And then the other thing is he can finish. Yeah, he gets that in that secondary half of the times, guys are trying to find angles, not to get there to tackling he can finish. Yeah, they tried to wait until get past when they can jump on his back because they don't want to come up to the front, up to the side, because I kept off trouble. You you mentioned the guys that currently playing Derek Henry argably the best running back. Julio. Let's talk about Julio. You know something about receivers. When would your rank Julio well as a physical specimen right at the time, you know, and I saw Julio play in high school and he was a man playing against boys, you know, when he was a seventeen year old at the fully High School where he went to high school then. And but he's a phenomenal talent. And you know, I don't know if you heard the story that DeMarcus Cousins got dumped on by Julio. You know, so that's saying something like that. But unbelievable physical specimen, got great hands, he can you know, you got some You got to Marvin Harrison, you got the Steve Smith's of the world. You got some guys that can do a little of this, a little of that. Julio can do it all. You know, He's just one of those things. You know, he's he's had some issues with his injuries, but when he's got his game on, you know, he can do it all. Unbelievable physical specimen. I want to know who the wire receiver coach, because as big as Julio is, Julio's two is six two and a half six three two thirty and can run robbs like one hundred and eighty five pounds wide receiver Cavern Riddy can run robles. Somari Cooper, Jerry Judy, Devon, Taste Mill, all these guys can run the route tree. Well you know what. And Alabama, one guy recruits the next guy, you know. And uh, because we got some young guys there right now, Davante Smith and you know, uh, the the young kid that got her. Those guys got a wanted by the other guys. You know. So that's what happened that you come here. This is what's going to happen to you. You can be the next one. Everybody wants to be that next one. If they go there, they can be that next one. Right Uh. Your draft, you mentioned some of the guys that were in your draft. Also in that draft. Uh, Earl Campbell, James Lofton, Clay Matthews junior, You, Doug Williams that you guys with that draft would loaded you are still you know, uh with the with the CASA City Yeah, yeah, did Terry Miller. Yeah, it was a it was a heck of a draft, you know. And uh, I remember I got to know a lot of those guys from you know, being on the different All American teams, you know, and they were all a great bunch of guys, you know, great people as well as good football players, you know. So yeah, it was a it was a real good class and I think we unpacted the league once we all got our chance to get on the field. Your rookie year, your name, Brown's Offensive Player of the Year as a rookie, as a rookie. That never happened, that had never happened before. What I mean, well, I think, you know, I came in with some notoriety because I came from Alabama and people had seen me play. You know, I wasn't an unknown quantity when I got there. But you know what happened is is, uh, they were struggling with the quarterback position and they didn't know where they didn't think Brian Site was going to be the guy. But he had a breakout year that year, you know, and you know, and so we became you know, we started throwing the ball all over the park with myself, Dave Logan, and Reggie Rucker. You know, we had to crew us in the backfield, so we were throwing it all over the park. And so I just got in to be a part of that, and I put up some numbers, and I think, you know what a lot of people say, people like what's new? And I was new, you know, and I think that's how I want that one. I was new. You had some heartbreak the drive John Elway, and then a few years later you lose to them in different What do you remember standing on the sideline watching the drive, Well, I learned a lesson because you know, we we had gotten ahead, and and I watched John take that team down the field. You know, my buddy Hanford on that third and eighteen, I don't know why he was trying to play a seven route when he knew you advanced. Johnson was one of them, a little ole guys. Yeah, okay, all right, what's gonna running in? He and I still haven't gotten over that. You're what I see in my reminded. But you know, I learned a lesson. We got the ball back, but we had spent out watching that drive. That drive drained everything out of us. So when we got the ball back, we wasn't prepared to go out there and go win the game. So you I've learned, and I try to tell this to other people that when you're not on the field, you need to be getting prepared to go back out there for the next series. Don't be a spectator. You know, you can watch sports selling all of that once you get home, but you need to be preparing yourself to go. Because if we'd have prepared, we could have went back out there, kicked the field goal and win the game. It's funny that you say that because I was a guy I never still didn't watch the game. I'm sitting there, I'm sitting down, I'm on the jumbo trying because there ain't nothing I can do. All that yelling for me as shure. Yeah, I'm yelling from but I'm sitting on the bench because knowing that I'm gonna have to go out there neither I'm gonna have to hold on to the ball to make sure they don't get it again, or I'm gonna have to go help try to win this game, no question to mean. Yeah, And like I said, it was a great lesson that I learned during that time and I've utilize said for the rest of my career. Ozzie, A part of your job is not only drafting players, but sometimes you have to have tough conversations with players. Ray had uh. I came in a two thousand when Ray was going through what he was going through, a few years after I left, Jamal go through something and then you had the incident in twenty fourteen. What was some of the things that you shared with the guys to help, especially Jamal and Ray turned not only turned their playing careers around, but their lives around. Well, I knew the person, you know, and I always I don't talk to the football player. I talk to the person, okay, you know, and I deal with and it's it's a man to man conversation, right, you know. And you know, I'm just Ozzi, he's Ray, he's Jamal, he's Ray, right, you know what, We're just talking man to man, you know. Forget about my title and what you are. Then when you can have a relationship with people and you can talk to people that way, then you can be able to say some things and they'll appreciate. They may not want to hear it, but they will appreciate it because they can say some things back to me that I don't want to hear it, but I know it's it's something that I need to hear because that person is really unleashing all of his feelings to me and I need to hear whether I want you or not. So it's always say hey, I'm gona take my hat off, You take your hat off, and we just two men talking. Is that the toughest part of your job when you have to have those type conversations? Uh? No, The big ones are not the hard one. It's the ones that you know. It's certain guys that you know, number twenty ones that that did all the little things. Those are the ones you know, because you're gonna, hey, dude, you need to say if you to turn the corner, he ain't turned the corner yet, you know. So it's some little guys that keep doing those little things, not showing up, you know, sleeping in means and all of that that. They're unprofessional professional Those are the one that drives you because, you know what, they're hurting themselves more so than they're hurting me, you know. So it's it's it's all of the little ones. The big ones. You know, you can deal with that because they only come. You only gonna get them once every four or five years. You don't want them. They only come once every four or five years. That two thousand, two thousand you put together, did you know two thousand would be special? Did you know that team had the capabilities of getting to and winning the Super Bowl when you constructed that team? No? No, I did not, you know, I you know, I thought we were gonna be good on defense. I didn't know where we're gonna be at because we started off with Tony Banks at quarterback and we had been brought in Trent you know. You know, I think and now we were talking. I was doing an interview with a guy from USA today today, I think, even USA today, and he talked about the momentum that was built in the two thousand drafts, you know, and the two thousand and how we all of a sudden we got momentum. And the same thing happened in two thousand and twelve, you get your momentum. You know. I just think that that team grew so close together and we had an identity. You know, we were gonna play the way we were gonna play on defense. We were gonna do what we do one on offense, and we had You ended up even making the plays that you have to make it like you did and it gets the Raiders. You know, oh, wouldn't need it was a couple of plays. You were that three points shooting. I guess you would say you and so yeah, but no, that was a special group. It was a special group. But I think the leadership of you, Rob Wilson and Goose took those young guys because you know, Ray and Peter and all those guys and Dwayne they were very young. But we because of you guys, and you all had had success, had won. Y'all came in and showed those guys what to do and they followed you yall's lead. Well, you concerned that we went to Tampa that Brian says, Okay, I'm not gonna have room check. Now we didn't have room check all year. Well you concerned, like, oh my goodness, the jokers ain't come in and ain't no telling what's gonna happen. I just hope they show up on Sunday, No, because I think, yeah, again, the leadership we had, y'all had control of that. You know, y'all had control. And if I could keep you guys from going out there, and I knew the rest of the guy that was, that was the thing. You know what I think the thing is that what I told the guys said, look, you better look around because you think it's gonna be like this next year. It's not. Somebody's going Coaches are gonna leave, players are gonna lead, being free agency, being big way. And you don't want to be the guy that says, man, I went to the super Bowl. You want to be the guy that says I won the super Bowl. There you go, exactly right. It was like I said that, it was the leadership of that team, but we also had guys that were willing to follow you as leadership. That's what wanted for us. I'll say, how do we get more guys like yourself in the position like you have, like you are the black general managers, the black head coaches. Because if you look at the makeup of the league, seventy percent of the players are African American, but it's not represented and positions of coaching, position of making moves to brain player. Then how do we change that dynamic. Well, you know, I serve on two committees. I'm on the Competition Committee, which we do all of the major rules from the Workplace Diversity Committee, and we have a Commissioner, Roger Goodell, who's committed to change in that landscape. And what we have to do is to fill the pipeline with qualified candidates. But to get those qualified candidates in front of the decision makers, those guys need to be setting in front of them and let the decision makers have that not you know, filter them through the up, through the ranks or whatever it is, and they never get a chance to sit in front of Steve and Shoddy or Jeffrey Lorrie or Bob Kraft. We need to make sure that those guys get a chance to set with those guys because those guys know how to make great decisions. So that's what we're doing. You know, we're spending a lot of time and making shield we got the right guys. Were even helping guys to you know, prepare themselves to interview or prepare themselves. How to They mean, every the enemy is preparing himself for all of this, So we're doing it. Is it gonna change overnight? No? You know the problem is, you know, I have a little pamphlet right here, and the numbers in nineteen ninety eight are just like the numbers are now. You know, we haven't we ever made a bit yet. But you know, I think there are people that are committed to it, and I think we have some young guys that are qualified that if they get in front of that right person, that we can start to change those numbers. Because if you hear all excuse me, you hear this all the time that the NFL is a copycat league. Well, hell if your copycat, look at Baltimore. There's at the Luciers that's been in charge for all these years, and they play. Look at the way his teams plays, Look at the players that he's drafted, look at what they do. They've only had only had two coaches three coaches fits. I mean once they got Brian Billick and now they have John Harbaugh. So in the last twenty plus years they've only had two coaches. There's something too that now if the league is copycat like we failed is shouldn't you be copying that part? Yeah? But yeah, yeah you would. But then there's some other successful people too, right, they may prefer to copy those you know talking about that's like in some barriers that have to be broken. Shannon and h We're trying, well, we're trying, you know. I feel good about what our effort is. Right. I don't like where we are as a league when it comes to, you know, two African American general managing four head coaches. That's not that those are not good numbers. But I like to have this conversation with you three years from now and hopefully I can say we've gotten better. We've gotten better, but it'll take us three years for it to happen. I think are when we talked about some of your great players. Now, obviously Jonathan played, I think Jonathan, I think Jo played eleven or twelve years, he retired, A raven Y Ray played seventeen years, all seventeen in Baltimore. Ed Reid, how difficult is it a decision when you're dealing with a historically a transcendent player, and obviously you wore all your transcendent players to retire ravens. How difficult was it to like, we can't go that extra step for Ed Reid or South? How do how do you? How do you make that decision? How do you? And John Harbor and your staff sitting down as the guys, we're going as far as we can go, and this is it. Well, let's start with once a raven, always a raven. Okay, we will start with that. But you know what, we you know what, as in anything in life, you understand that there's a limit in how far you can go. And right, but when you fudget a little bit, yeah, but when you have to look at the totality of what you're trying to do and build a football team, then you can only go so far. And so it's at some point and I've always said this, and I said it to you when you went back to different I want you to make all the money you can make, which you told me all I can pay you. You know, if you got a chance gonna make some more, go somewhere, please go. But this is all I can do, right, and I want you to do And you know what, and we still can hug and shake hands because I appreciate what you've done, but you know, you only have so many years that you can make this type of money, right, and you need to go ahead and make it if you can. And if you can, I'm welcome you back. You'll see a part of the family. And that was the thing that I remember most because I remember having a conversation that year. The Super Bowl was in New Orleans, and I remember having a conversation and you asked me what I you know, you asked me what I was gonna do. And I ask and I asked you, I say, what do you think I You're like, hell, boy, you went to the Pro Bowl, you had you led the tight ends and catches. You can still play. But let's have a conversation in a couple of weeks, and you know we'll see me go. And I was like, you call me. You asked me what I want to do. I said I wanted to play, and you say, you said that a boy. Now this is all I can pay you. Now we're gonna release you. Now go eight, you get you get some money, You're gonna get more than what we can offer you. But if you don't find out what you like, come back. We can do something. And I think that's the thing that everybody loves most about you, Obsy, because you're honest, You're upfront with him and you tell him how it is. It ain't no well, Absy said this, and then somebody else said that, whatever you say, take that to the bank. Well, you know, this relationship building because I know that I'm gonna see players five years from then, ten years from nine. I want them to be able to respect me like I respected them, and I can want to show them the appreciation for what they did when they were a member of the Ravens. You Jimmy Smith's credit, you had said that the off the field problem that he has, he said, you with one of the main reasons to help him turn his life his career around. I mean you talked about said sometimes you just have the conversation. You take your head off, they take their head off. This man to man, I'm not your boss, You're not a player. I'm a man to a man talking to a man trying to help resolve an issue. But you know what, but within that, I got to tell you some things that you may not want to hear. Okay, well, he's some things that you need to change, you know. And you know, Jimmy just did an extension with us today, you know, for another year, you know, and he he has he's a raiser and now you know and and so. But you know, there's something, there's some tough conversations. Hey, you need to change, you know, or we're gonna have to change. And you know, but I know you. I've known you since you know, you were twenty one years old when we you know, went through the whole recruiting and drafting process, right, you know, I know what's deep down inside of you. And you can't change, you know. And when they change, then they become more valuable in that locker room because now they can tell their stories to those young kids. Also, you play for you, mister m'dell. But he would go crazy if we heard us call him mistim because you said, that's my grandfather, miss Modell. So you had to call you had to call him Art, Art Modale. He gave you the opportunity. At the time, no one else had given a person of color that opportunity to run a franchise. Talk about your relationship with Art. You know, I could say it was a father's son, it was owner Jim, it was on a player, it was uh And then I must could say some negative things too, because sometimes it wasn't as good as they thought. But you know, but that was a trust factor that mister Modelle had with me and that I had with him. And some of those conversations were not very easy, you know, of me saying this is what we need to do, he telling me we can't do that. But you know what, I really respect him as a man. The man had a great heart. It was nothing he wouldn't do for his players. He loved it. You know. It's it's you got these corporate owners now, you know, And but no, this was mister Model's life. Matter of fact, this office that I mean, this was built for him, right you know. And when Eric took over, he took my office and then I moved in here, you know. And I'm proud to be sitting in that man in that man's office right now. And I think that's the thing you mentioned, the corporate side of it, because the corporate bill bosses are not used to being next to the workers. Well as mister Art looked at them like, hold, those are players. And I remember he would always be on the golf cart. He'd always come back there on the golf cart and you'd be fit on the golf cart winner and then me and me, Rod and Ray would come up. He's like, either you gotta get off cause they can win game for me. You can't do nothing for me, So get off and let him take the golf cart the gout. His driver would take us up to the and come back if you guys would get back on the cart. But he was an unbelievable man, do you I believe And I've had conversation with voters that are there belongs to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He's not the only owner that's ever moved their team. There have been so many and they still get their rightful respect. And so for some reason he's been denied his rightful place. Which of they buff in Canton, Ohio? Shannon, you a one hundred percent correct. And I was on the selection crew for the for the one hundred anniversary and and I had to do a presentation on mister model, you know, for him to be a contributor. And you know, and I said, now, and I said, so all of those things that you said, you know, because there are other owners. Al Davis moved the Raiders twice, you know, all of them. Yeah, exactly and suited. So there he is. There's no doubt that art model belongs in Ken. There's no doubt in my mind, you know. And I just hope that, you know, if we continue to push, that he will get there at some point, you know, And there's that faction to continue. Don't want to give him his due, but when you match him up to all of the other owners that in the National Football League and what he did with TV and being the first, first and only president of the league, he deserves to be in Ken and at some that time, at some point, I hope he gets that opportunity. You have a very unique relationship with coach Belichick. You became director of pro personnel under him when he was the head coach of the Cleveland Brown. Talk about your relationship with coach Belichick. Well, you know, it was a situation where I retired in ninety and he was hired and we had our first meeting and he asked me, if you know, do you want to are you gonna play again? I go to the old coach. I think it's time. He's what I could use you as a player. I could use your leadership in the locker room. You know what it takes. But I made that decision. But then I was fortunate enough to go to work for Bill. Bill does not get the credit. Well, I guess he is getting in there for the football knowledge that he has, the work ethic, that he has, what his beliefs are. And I was able to sit there and learn from him for five years, you know, and he would push me in the areas and I'd be like, Coach, I don't I don't think, No, you got to do this in order for us to be a success. So I would say, so much of what I have enjoyed being a general manager I learned under Bill Belichick in those five years that we were in Cleveland. He gave me a foundation and that foundation has helped me to be where I am today. And A but you paid it. But I look at what you've done. When I was in Baltimore, you had James shack has director pro personnel. You had a John Wooden and you remember we the veteran players shot in first class in front of the play and me and shock. It was not you already known. It was that there was not no one wan sleep because we're gonna talk and jo all the way back. Hey, you know what, I still have those conversations with Shock now. You know, we talk you know once, you once every couple of weeks. And you know, he he loves those times. You know, he loves to be able to tell you. You know, he'll tell you, hey, Bill Russell needs to borrow one of your hands because he's got lem rings. Stuff like that, you know, But yeah, I love it. But he was a great football man. And you know I talk about what Bill taught me, but having Shock and Wood and then feel Savage to work along with me in those first years, and they helped me to learn because I needed to lean on some other people and they had the experience and the expertise. You know, I love Shack. You know I love Shack and you'll always shall you. It's quicker bout a. It's quicker about that, shill. Let meagine the recruiting process or the free agency process in two thousand. Why did you think you needed me? I mean, there are the other titles available. You didn't necessarily need. What was it about me? My playing style? Because I remember, I want you to tell a story and then I'm gonna share another story. Well, you realize we got being coached too that year. Yeah, correct, Ye, Well then we needed both of you guys, and what we were going to be it was you being coached Jamal Cadre Pat Johnson, you know, so we're gonna beat up people and then we were gonna try to strike, you know, and so we needed you. You were going to be a mismatch guy, you know, because and Being did all the dirty work. Yeah, we know that. And he enjoyed it because he was getting a chance to play and win him another Super Bowl. So the pieces just came together. But we needed someone that the quarterback could trust and they could trust you. I remember you had the conversation with me, uh, because I I flew back with because mister Modell was down there. As I mentioned, Ray was going through this situation in two thousand and Art was already in Atlanta. So I ended up flying back with him. If I'm not mistaking that Sunday, and I remember getting to getting to the facility and you were. You were there, and he said, Ozzy, don't mess this up. I got him primed and ready for you. Now you just don't mess it up. And I remember you and I we went to breakfast. The next we went to dinner that night. We had a conversation with the breakfast the next morning and he says, now we're gonna do this. He says, I don't want you to change. He said, I don't hurt everybody that told me how you are in the locker room. You talked how hard you worked. He says, I want that exact shell and sharp that was in Denver for the last ten years. I want that got to come to Baltimore. Well, Shannon, that's why we allow you to be who you are. You absolutely we're not a cookie cutter organization where you know, you got to wear a tie. You got there with sport cuts. You gotta walk in here and you can't talk. No, no, no, no, we won't. Every player that be that's a part of the Baltimore Ravens to be who they are because if you who you are, it'll show itself out on the football field, it'll show yourself in the meeting room if you are who you are and you're not trying to be someone else. Were you ever concerned because you know in that playoff run there was no love lost between us and Tennessee. Uh. Jeff Fisher and Brian Billy didn't care for each other that our teams, our players did not like them, and it's still that way till this day. And we definitely didn't like the Raiders. So where you concern, like, man, this might be getting a little bit out of head. They might be doing too much talking. Nah nah nah, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, not not with that. Well, because y'all couldn't now talk Brian. The more talk of the y'all day, the more talking Brian did, you know. And you know we couldn't. I couldn't keep him quiet, you know. But no, you know what, and uh we had Steve mcnah had to come and play for us for a year and we had a chance to talk about that, you know, about that rivalry that we had with Eddie, George and that whole group, and then in the course with the Raiders in that group. You know. But you know, hey, we were built, we had we were built to be able. You have to look at the quarterbacks that you had. McNair, Brunell, Cornel, Stewart, Jeff Blake. I'm trying. So we had to have a defense because all those guys would take the ball down and go run with So we have to have a defense that could go track those guys down, you know, keep it from getting an extra first down, you know, and keep a drive going. So that's how the defense would be. And offensively, you know what, Hey, with the quarterbacks that we had, you know, we had to play a game where we didn't put the game in the quarterbacks hand, right, and we needed somebody that could you know what. The good thing about j Shannon and I could say this, and I don't give you too many accolades, you are a quarterbacks friend because they may not have to be very accurate, but you would make the catch for him. So and we needed that. That's what well, that was my job that I got the name Big Platchet because we didn't need a whole lot Even earlier, I mean, having took conversation with Brian, we knew if we could get up ten and we didn't turn the ball over, you couldn't beat us. You were not going to drive the ball, save the eighty yards on that defense and get a touchdown. So if we got the lead and we and you didn't get a pick six or scooping's car, it was over. It was over. That was and it was so enjoyable, and you know what, and that style of football still wins. Watch how the playoffs play out. You know. Now we got some you know, some athletic quarterback that can do that are doing something, but they're doing it with their feet and extending drives with their feet. But at the end of the day, you still win football games. And decembon January the way we won it in two thousand. Going into the Super Bowl. You watch film of the Giants, you saw every game they played, you watched their opponents. Did you think they could beat us? No? I was I was skeptical. I didn't like the match up from their standpoint, you know, but you have to play the game, you know, and you have to remember that, uh was it was it they had They got a once we scored, they got a pick six two yeah my career. Yeah. And uh so we got a holding call they got negated it exactly right, you know what, So otherwise it would have been a tie game, I think supposed to being a tie game. So you know that helped us. And then Jermaine with the kickoff, gave us that you know, you gave us that extra little push and then that's it. I remember what Ray told you. Hey, you know that's hey, y'all got us teen. That was enough and they weren't. Yeah, yeah, well, I mean that was the thing. I mean, Ray was like, hey, I remember and talking to Marvin. I mean that might be a great you look at this that defensive staff with Marvin Lewis, Jack del Rio, Rex, Ryan Uh, Mike Smith was on that. Yeah, getting a getting I mean we go to the Raiders and we get up on and we scored on them because we scored seven nothing. And I remember coming to the sideline and Ray and Riley were going to the super Bowl. I'll look what your bean were going to super Bowl. Man, it's a first quarter the Super Bowl. He's like, say they're not scoring. I'm like, if we going to the Super Bowl and didn't come there, because we might not have been glass. You didn't get caught. Man, I'm glad you didn't get comes. They could catch me mad. You know I turned your bowls. You look, you've been around the game a long long time. Where would you rank that two thousand Ravens defense. You we know about the seven to seventy I think, well, seventy seven, seventy eight, seventy nine Steelers. We will know about the eighty five Bears, the two thousand Ravens, the O two Bucks, the what is it? The fourteen, the twenty twelve uh Leasion, the boom Seattle. Where would you rank as far as all time great defense? Where would you putting that two thousand Ravens? Well, you know, if you go by hall of Famers, you have to do, say the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think they got maybe five or six Hall of Famers all over them. But you know, as I said, as you and I talk about, you know, the tight end group, they all belong on the cult to side. You know, you know, a color sack. There's only so many houses and so many people can go on that cul de sac, you know, you know, so they all belong on there. Uh. You know I experienced the seventies with the Steelers and those guys and what they could do with me and Joe and else Greenwood and do I mean, you know, and you know blunt, I mean, you know I still got pains from that. But you know, but those defenses that you talked about, the all in the eighty five Bears, I played against that defense outs, Well, I'm gonna put them all on that cult To side. You know what, and then if I have to choose which house I on the lead up, I don't think I'll be wrong by choosing any one of 'em. The quarterbacks in today's game, you look at the way they could do this kid, Patrick Mahomes and the way he can throw the ball with his rolling left or rolling right. Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen. Are we airing the golden age of the mobile quarterback? That because when you say mobile quarterback used to be he was mobile, but he couldn't throw. Or the pocket pastor could throw from the pocket, but he couldn't move. These guys have elevated that. So they can throw from the pocket and they can throw on the move. They're athletes, johns Allen, He's an athlete. Patrick Mahomes an athlete. We have athletes playing quarterback, and an athlete can do multiple things. Okay, you know that, you know, you know, you got your eight things you want. They can do eight of 'em. They can do seven of the eight, and so you know it's we're in the era of the athlete playing quarterback. We're no longer with the statues and the different things that was during our time and before our time. Now the athlete. That athlete who started off when he was six and seven and eight years old playing quarterback being an athlete, is now an athlete that's playing quarterback in the National Football League. Either your last Super Bowl the miracle run in two twenty twelve, that was unbelievable because you go on the road. Now, you go beat the Broncos who had just blown you out like three weeks before, and you loth I think the Houston Texas they take you apart. Did you think, like, man, I don't know what. Did you think you could get it together in time to make a run. Well, you know what? And I can say this, and Ray has a big party. We lost in New England in the finals in the SC championship game here before where we have to drop past by the I think Lee Evans h we missed a field. Go but you know what. And Ray got up in that locker room and he goes, you know what, God don't make now miss That's what he said. You know what, I go, that's right, you know what. We wasn't supposed to win. So we go to that next year and Joe gets hot, you know, Joe gets hot in the playoffs. You know and once Joe got hot, then I think that it ignited everyone else, you know that, and Jacoby started, everybody started to play at a level above who they really were. But it was Joe that was a catalist. I read what you said, you admire Phiel Jackson and how he's able to win but also win with like the you know when you when you end the game, you got egos. I don't care what anybody tell you, people like, well this guy don't have no ego, bulljive. The better you are, the bigger the ego that you have. How you say you you you admire Phield because he had Shaq and Kobe had Michael and Scotty. What is it about him that that you admire so much? Well, Number one, he managed some of the greatest players to play in the NBA. He meant and he molded those guys into a team, and he made winning the most important thing, right, That's why I admire him, you know. And he did it at two different places. He made winning Okay, yeah, we got Michael and we got Scotty, and you know when we got a lot of you know, he he got those guys to say the most important thing is winning. You know, we need to win, so that's why I and then he going does it again with the Lakers. So I admire his ability to mold young men into a team and have one goal and that's winning. How much more difficult is your job made by social media? Because obviously when you played, there was none of that. When I played, there was none of that. It wasn't about clicks, it wasn't about like, it wasn't about TikTok, it wasn't about you know, doing everything for show. You went out there and you played hard and then you let the chill far where you made. But it seems like now everybody wants to record everything. I'm studying by plays, I'm watching film, I'm at pride, this, I wash it my car sharing. Times have changed. You have to let the players understand that it's different now, you know, and what you think you can do and people won't see it. They got they got ways of seeing you, So don't do it, you know, just don't do it. And so that's what you have to be able to tell them, you know. And I don't understand Instagram and Facebook, and I'm not on any of all that. I've got no idea for that but I know they are. That's what their life is all about. So you have to we have to educate them on that, just like you and I got educated about going to clubs, you know, or what neighborhood. So you we spend time educating guys on on social media so that they can understand how bad it can be not only for them, but for our organization and for their families, you know. So we have to educate them on that, and we are people that are professionals that do it. Uh. I appreciate you taking time by today. I know you're busy. You got the big plush office now. Congratulations war You know I be in touch with you know. I called from time to time just to just to ask how the second the third best tied in the history of the game doing. Hey, Shannon, Always welcome your calls. Man. You know, I enjoyed watching you and my man on first and my first take. What's your as undisputed? Undisputed? Yeah? The undersputed? You know what. Sometimes I can sit there and listen to you, you know, but then sometime I'm gonna know I haven't had enough of Shannon to day. Now you don't want you know what, go ahead? You were doing what you're supposed to be doing. You're talking, you know, you were doing the time. I'm sure your grandmom and your granddaughter told you that, boy you can talk. Yeah that's what they told me. Say, Yeah, you could do that. But I need you and Kevin Burn and Steve but shotta to getting the room because I think at some point in time I might need to be in the raven Ring honor. I really do. I think I think I made a big valuable cause, ABU. I think y'all need to put it in I go. I know, I think on the twenty eighth or the twenty ninth of January, they're gonna have a virtual reunion if that Super Bowl team, you know, so I'll see you on that virtual thing. Then okay, so what that'd be the twenty twentieth, twenty eighth or the twenty ninth of January. Yeah, it's the twentieth anniversary of the team. Yes, yeah, and they want they gonna have a virtual party, you know, for for two and a half hours. Uh. We get an invitation, y'all, y'all standing fold out of the what y'all said. I mean, I need to get somebody need a jacket or something. You know what, I don't work in that department. You know I appreciate it. Back, good luck and rest of the season. And I talked to you down the row, brou look a man that's good with you. All my life, grinding all my life, Sack fights, hustle back, price, one slice got the thanks. That's why all my life, I've been running all my life, all my life, been running all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, bay, the price, one of the slice, not the broiling dice. And that's why all my life, I've been running all my life,

Club Shay Shay

NFL legend Shannon Sharpe—3x Super Bowl champion and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame—sits do 
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